Updraft woke up, and was immediately bored.
Even in her dreams she just wandered around the apartment, taking her energon and picking up books without reading them. Just as the door unlocked and she heard Thundercracker and Skywarp's footfalls, she'd wake up, optics bright. She'd frown, and roll back over, but there was nothing else to do but get up.
If Starscream was home, Updraft would walk to the energon tap and back, and stay in her room until the door shut behind him. If he wasn't, sometimes she would turn on the news in Standard, or read lessons to herself. If Starscream was tipsy when he waltzed back in, she would ask when Skywarp and Thundercracker could come back. Engex always made him happier.
"Not now," he told her, again and again, maybe patting her helm on his way back out. Every time she could see the moment where she left his mind, until all he thought about was the party ahead. Updraft would lock the door behind him, and go take a bath. It was hard to feel bad under the warm shower.
Updraft would stand in front of Starscream's mirror after a long bath, turning to make sure she'd buffed out every scratch. Her paint was fading on her shoulders—maybe she was washing too much?
She had plenty of time to stand there, because it seemed that Starscream spent less and less time at home. Maybe he was staying with his friends, instead of bringing them back to his berthroom. That was a relief, because Updraft hated strangers in the penthouse.
"I want Thundercracker's frequency," Updraft said one day, in front of the big screen. Even on a stool, her chin almost touched the keypad. The access bar went red onscreen, and she sighed. "Skywarp's?"
Another denial. It didn't have her voice, of course. Even sparklets with present parents probably couldn't access a private comm. "Their address, then, computer? Can I have that?"
Of course not. She frowned hard, and smacked the shutdown button. It wasn't even midway through the day yet. Updraft had read and reread her new textbooks, memorized her whole virtual map, and read Starscream's Vosian histories. It had been a week since she'd found something new to do, because the romance books had been a bust. Updraft had read some paragraphs and snapped it shut, face screwed up in disgust.
Someone whizzed past their window, much too close. It didn't make her jump, but her optics followed them as they turned, out towards further buildings. Skywarp had pointed their building out to Updraft once. It wasn't a far flight, but that was the whole problem.
There were, however, shuttles.
For visiting non-fliers, and those who couldn't access their protocols for whatever reason. Updraft had asked once after watching the news, what Nominus would do on his next visit to Vos. He would have private shuttles, but use the same bays.
Thundercracker himself had never used one. He'd looked at her in real surprise when she'd asked why not.
Updraft had another bath, so she would look shiny-new, and so she could think. Starscream kept shanix cards in the drawer, throwaway ones he received or forgot about. Updraft didn't know how to check how much they carried, so she took five and hoped for the best. She packed away the rest of the sweetsticks (not many, because Starscream hadn't been shopping). After a moment's deliberation, she put her polish in, too.
They would be so surprised to see her. Thundercracker would be happy with how much she had learned, and the sweetsticks in the drawer were Skywarp's favourite flavour.
There was a shuttle bay in the shopping centre downstairs. Updraft had passed it when she had visited, and seen a handful of mechs get in. More had simply dived off into the sky, of course.
She paused as she got off the elevator, the doors shutting behind her. This place had seemed smaller from Skywarp's shoulders. Bots and their wings towered over her. Many stared, but Updraft tried hard not to look. It was just like Starscream's parties, if she absolutely had to energize: walk like you meant it, and don't look back.
It also took her much longer to find that shuttle bay. There were so many legs to dip around, and no friendly anchors to stick close to. But no one stopped her. Updraft was sure someone would, especially when she passed that detailing place she'd been taken to.
She paused, finally, some ways away from the sign-in desk. What did she say to the workers? If she said she lived in the building, they'd walk her back up. Maybe even call her carrier, and then she would be locked in. Updraft couldn't stand the thought. But she'd never had a reason to lie before.
Finally, she strode up to the desk and put the most expensive-looking card on the counter. She could barely see over the edge, and the worker stared down in surprise as she opened her mouth and said, "I'd like a ticket to The Red Heights, please." Updraft's voice was small, and fortunately it barely wobbled. Pleased, she straightened up. She knew The Red Heights was where Skywarp and Thundercracker lived. They had pointed out the rosy buildings themselves, and which one they lived in. Third floor from the top.
The attendant had gone nearly bug-eyed from staring at her. His wings twitched nervously. "I'm sorry, kid, are you...lost? Do you need some help?"
Updraft paused. Finally, she shook her head. "My carrier's asked me to meet him in The Red Heights," she said firmly. "He can't get me right now, but he trusted me to do it. I'm excited," she added brightly. That came easily, because it was true.
The attendant picked up her card and examined it critically. Satisfied, he set it down again, meeting her optics. "Are you old enough to travel alone?" he said, almost to himself. "Sparklet protocol is...well, hm. There is none."
"I'm close to upgrade," Updraft said quickly. This was a complete lie. It would be years before she would start her upgrade consult, let alone have her spark moved over. "It'll be fine. These are my carrier's cards, see? He hates mechs arriving late, so don't get him mad."
After a moment, the mech picked the card back up and scanned the chip. The name that popped up on his screen must have shocked him, because his blue optics flashed, and hastily he handed it to her. "This seems to be in order, but...the Air Commander doesn't have an attendantfor you?" He looked over her head, like he was expecting someone to show up.
Updraft shook her head, and her optics hardly flickered.
"No. He says I have to, uh, foster independence," she said. "It's not far, right?"
"Well, no." He typed something, and handed back her card. A red glyph was stamped on it now, making her fingertips glow. "That's your boarding pass. Does he know you have to walk some ways? Or do you have antigravs?"
Walk? Updraft had guessed the Red Heights had shuttle bays too, but maybe there was a foot bridge. It couldn't be far. Maybe it had neither, but she would figure it out. "Yes," she said, lying again. "Of course I have antigravs! For short distances, right?" They'd mentioned them in lessons once, when talking, again, about flight. Updraft had begged for some and had gotten a firm no.
He nodded, apparently satisfied. "You'll be fine. You're the first seat up front. This is the last run of the day, by the way. So don't doze off."
Updraft's spark soared. Somehow that had worked, and somehow she'd convinced him she was near upgrade and an independent femme. Without saying thank you, she rushed to the boarding line. Skywarp and Thundercracker would be delighted with how cunning she'd gotten. Maybe they'd even just let her live there. It wasn't as if Starscream would miss her small presence.
There was hardly anyone boarding tonight. Most coming through simply jumped over the edge themselves. She showed her pass, and the guard motioned her towards the other end of the shuttle. Updraft had to boost herself up onto the seat, where she parked herself in front of the window, and waited.
And waited.
She waited so long that she pressed her cheek against the window to look out, and count the jets going by. Despite her best efforts, she dozed off, and when her optics flicked on again the light had gone dusky outside. A rumbling under her got her fully awake again, and with a rush of excitement she realized they were moving. Finally!
Updraft scrambled to her feet to look out more easily, and the shuttle lurched. She squeaked, and was pulled back, grabbing the windowsill to sit upright. When she'd gotten used to the feeling, she peered over the edge of her seat. There was only one other person on the shuttle—a Seeker, with wings visibly patched over. Updraft couldn't ask what had happened to him, because he was in recharge. Even if he hadn't been, he was still a bit ragged, nothing like the sleek, shining mechs she knew. She slid back behind the seat and returned to the window.
It wasn't … anything like she'd expected flight to be. Maybe it was thrilling as a jet, but now they lumbered along, slowly between her building and the next stop. She got a good look at their side of the Heights as they left it, too, because Updraft had never once left its confines. It was tall, of course, and all sharpangles. No wonder Starscream liked to live there—it looked just like him. She tried to pick out their penthouse, but it was above more cloud cover. She counted floors instead, but lost track as they grew further away.
Eventually, they stopped, at something seedy and empty that seemed to be a station. Updraft sank below her window and curled up, waiting again to get underway. Only then did she notice a sign next to her seat, that listed times and places of arrival. Her fellow passenger shook himself awake at the stop, huffed, and disembarked.
The Red Heights wasn't listed on the sign.
She read it again, and only now did Updraft's spark start to twist up with fear. The attendant at the desk had said it was a walk from the last stop, but Updraft had been so eager to go that she hadn't thought that hard about the implication. Who would she call if she got lost? She had no comm, and no codes to reach Thundercracker and Skywarp, or even Starscream.
Updraft frowned, and squared her shoulders. "It'll be fine," she said aloud. The rumble returned, and they moved again. She was alone in the cabin now, so she got up and walked the length of it, holding carefully to the seat edges. At the other end she found an old datapad, full of long, complex articles about commerce and trace. It was dull, and there was Vos to look out at, so she put it down fairly quickly.
The shuttle rumbled to another stop, and the door opened. A mechanical , false-sounding voice nearly made her jump as it said "Final stop. Please disembark," over Updraft's head. She looked out the window a final time, and there was the Red Heights—still quite a ways out. Fuel tanks churning, Updraft ignored it and straightened up, walking off the shuttle like nothing had happened.
It was dark here. Even the lights were dim, the station attendant not even looking her way as she passed his booth. Were they lower down in the city? Updraft hadn't noticed a descent, but the buildings here loomed more ominously. She could still see her destination, cheerfully awash in lights and even higher up than it had been before.
There was nothing else to do but what the worker had said: start walking.
Updraft kept up against a wall, out of the way of people much dirtier and much more frightening than she'd ever been used to. Mostly people still flew, but occasionally someone visibly drunk stumbled by, and once someone with no wings at all walked past. She couldn't even see wheels, and she'd only seen that on her own little frame. She scurried past them.
At first she kept her hand against a wall, tight against it and away from passersby, but when she pulled it back she found it covered in grime. Horrified, Updraft moved faster, not really knowing where she was going, only the direction of The Red Heights.
Updraft coughed, and at one point looked up and realized she couldn't see more than a few feet ahead. People flew through the dirty air and walked by like nothing, sometimes their optics lingering in surprise on her. She moved faster, until she was running, still nearest to the walls and shop fronts.
Eventually, she had to stop. The air was like storm cloud, something her vents had to work harder to push through. She remembered a word she'd learned with Thundercracker, smog. At the time she hadn't pictured it. Updraft ducked into an alleyway, her coughs getting louder and more desperate. Not cycling air made her tired, and the taste of what she could choke in was nauseating.
"Hey, little thing."
Updraft stopped, and turned around. Her spark dropped when she saw the mechs, even bulkier than Starscream's new lieutenants. They were smiling, but she knew better than to let her guard down. Starscream smiled cold like that too.
One of them stepped forward, and Updraft found herself frozen. "You're an awfully tiny little thing to be on the lower levels alone." Maybe he'd had a hard life, and the cold smile wasn't his fault. His voice wasn't mocking, but Updraft didn't care. His optics flashed at her. "Need any help, tiny little thing? Got lost?"
Updraft didn't respond. The others began to laugh, and she ran.
She didn't know if she was followed, or if she was still going in the direction of the Heights. Fear gripped her spark like a vice and she rushed forward, trying to stay against the wall and far from the drop-off. Suddenly Vos wasn't a beautiful, flier's city—down here it was dirty and smoggy, full of people she didn't understand.
Updraft ran until her legs gave out. Then she crawled to one side, out of the way of anyone else. Another alley, but this one was almost a street. Starscream would never find her. He might not even look for her. She'd never get to the The Red Heights, with her vents wheezing and her fuel tanks churning. She shuddered, and leaned over as her fuel tank was gripped with pain and she retched. With surprise, she realized she'd brought up her energon from earlier that day.
Something about this air, that was so hard for her to see very far through, was making her hurt. She had done everything wrong, and now she was lost and stuck. And dirty, but her insides felt so wrong that it hardly registered. Shakily, she didn't even flinch as she lay herself on the dirty ground. Updraft had never been sick before. But she'd never had to breathe through such dust and grime, and sit alone anywhere but her own lavish home.
Updraft threw up again, to one side, and wheezed. It was so hard to pull good air in that she was getting systems warnings—her frame was too warm, but she shivered. She couldn't even cry.
It felt like a very long time, but maybe it hadn't been. Nobody bothered her, but things were hazy and cold. She thought she had made some small sounds, but they didn't sound like her voice. They rattled.
She woke up against to her shoulders being shaken. Updraft shivered, then remembered where she was and how she was probably dying. And there were strange, broad hands on her, the glow of optics making her dizzy. She tried to scream, but it came out hoarse. She coughed instead, wheezing through the smog.
"Little one," said a voice.
At first Updraft shrank back, pushing her fist out weakly. The voice spoke to her again, and a huge, gentle hand wrapped itself around her wrist. With a jolt of recognition she realized she did know this voice, but she had only heard it once, speaking low and gentle to her in Starscream's apartment the day he'd come home.
"I'm sick," she rasped. The big mech's red optics flickered, and Updraft forced hers brighter. Dreadwing, that was right. Gold face. He'd been gentle with her.
"Indeed," he said. He seemed surprised, and Updraft shuddered as she felt herself being lifted. It made her hazy all over again. "And far from home."
Updraft couldn't speak again, and a wave of nausea took her as she was tucked against Dreadwing's chest. A memory hit her, of her old nurse and being held close to a spark. She shivered, and faded out in another wave of pain.
She wasn't awake, but there were moments of awareness.
Coughing, and thin air. Dreadwing's soft, low voice, then many voices, and a rush of noise and brightness. Pain, and then nothing at all.
Updraft woke in a very white room, under a thermoblanket. This surprised her, because at home she'd never used one. Under it she was still shivering, and her vents still rasped a little. But she was clean again, not gasping for clean air like before. She tried to rub her optics and found her wrist caught. An energon line, pricked carefully into her wrist. She shut her optics back off and shuddered, the sensation unpleasant.
There was a crash at her other side. Updraft almost jumped up, turning just in time to see a purple mech rush towards her, scrambling from seats against the wall. She only registered Skywarp fully when he'd stumbled to her berthside and pulled her in. He squeezed, and Updraft squeaked.
"Hey!" he said, muffled against her head. His nose was pressed to her cheek, and Updraft realized his arms were shaking. "Updraft! Look at you, all awake! Finally!" Updraft snuggled into his arms, and decided her adventure had somewhat succeeded. She obviously had gotten time to spend with Skywarp. Even scared, shaky Skywarp.
"Your apartment is really weird," Updraft said, and Skywarp laughed, pulling back. The smile was familiar, and she relaxed.
"This," Skywarp said, dropping loudly into the nearest seat. "Is a hospital. Dreadwing took you here to get better." His hand was still on the back of Updraft's neck. Still shaking. He was still grinning at her, splayed out in the chair, but Updraft's frame rippled with unease.
"The lower levels made me so sick," she said. "My vents weren't cycling."
A shadow crossed Skywarp's face. "They don't circulate the air for the lower castes," he said. "The air's cleaner up here. But, don't worry! You'll be fine."
The more she thought about it, the sicker Updraft felt. Her vents cycled clean, but her fuel tanks ached. She frowned, sliding lower under her covers. "Is Starscream mad?"
"Yep," Skywarp said cheerfully. "But he thought you'd—he got really worried when he realized you'd left by yourself. He likes to know where you're at."
Updraft frowned harder. Starscream didn't feel much of anything towards her. What he did have usually made her want to lock herself up. Wasn't that why she'd left in the first place? To go see mechs who had liked her?
"I was trying to get to the Red Heights," she said. Skywarp's hand on her neck twitched, and he pulled it away. "I got on the shuttle and it didn't take me all the way there. So I got lost."
"Yeah," Skywarp said, almost to himself. "Yeah, we caught up to the workers and figured it out. But by then Dreadwing had already run into you." His hand reached down, and squeezed the one Updraft didn't have an energon line through. "We're going to leave you our comm frequencies, okay? So if you need TC or me, you can get us. No more big adventures like this."
"Yeah," Updraft said glumly, though she'd wanted those too. Starscream would take her home, and probably put cameras in the apartment. He wouldn't let her out again till she was upgraded. Or maybe not till long after that. "I just missed you. I thought the shuttle would go all the way to your buildings."
Skywarp went silent. He pulled his hand away, and Updraft pulled the thermoblanket over her head. Right away she heard Skywarp shuffling, his weight leaning on the berth's edge.
"Updraft? We're not mad, that's not...I'm sorry, kiddo. I just feel bad you got hurt trying to see us. We should've..." She heard him stepping back. "You can come visit us real soon, alright? We'll make it happen."
Updraft wanted to apologize, and reappear from under her blanket, but her vocalizer wouldn't work. She waited under there until she heard Skywarp get up, and walk across the door. It shut gently behind him, and she poked her head back out. When she vented in air, her systems rattled. She curled up as tightly as she could and offlined her optics instead of thinking about it, because now how would she have time with Skywarp now?
Nauseous again, she fell back into a restless sleep.
Thundercracker had been right. Skywarp was used to that, after years at his side, but this time he had known. This wasn't all fun. Sparklets were fun, but they could also worm their way into your processor, make themselves loved and then have something awful happen to them. And sometimes, that awful thing could be because of you, and your idiot boss who you couldn't quit.
He got as far as the energon dispensary downstairs and slid onto a bench, pressing his forehead into his hands. They had kept calling, but Starscream would send them back. Occasionally indicate she was still reading, or hunting through his own books to keep herself entertained. He complained about his water and energon bills from her many, many baths. So he paid some attention, but not enough. And now they were paying for it.
They'd been looking for Updraft by the time Dreadwing found her, but that hadn't been why he'd been in the area. (Skywarp wasn't entirely sure why, actually—maybe he missed living in the slagheap that was Kaon?)
What if they'd never found her? Or gotten there too late? The slave trade was alive and well in the lower levels, but even without that, her little vents had been clogged up so fast. And the effects had been much worse than the doctors expected. So something wasn't right. All because Skywarp hadn't broken enough rules, just this once.
Someone dropped down next to him, and Skywarp recognized the weight as Thundercracker. Trust TC to find him at his worst. "She hates me," Skywarp mumbled, into his palms.
"I doubt it," Thundercracker said. He was quiet for a moment. "Whatever you said to her—and don't worry, I already know it was dumb—she's just going to think you're angry at her for running away. Which you'll have to fix."
"Yeah," Skywarp said. He pulled his hands away and sighed. "Yeah, guess so. TC, you were right. This isn't a game, I mean...if she'd died. I couldn't take it."
"She didn't," Thundercracker said sharply, sharp enough for Skywarp to look up. "Don't think like that. Anyway, Starscream left again to fly. Clear his head."
Skywarp nodded. Starscream really had been frantice, when he got that call from Dreadwing and realized Updraft wasn't at home. Skywarp hadn't called it love. None of them were sure what to call it, actually, but Starscream had seemed wild at the idea of life without her.
He smiled weakly, bumping Thundercracker's shoulder with his. "His face when the nurse asked him who was watching her," he said. "Priceless."
Thundercracker, of course, didn't smile back. He stood up, stretching his wings and yawning. "I need to talk to the doctor again, if you're done feeling sorry for yourself. He wants to test for SRD."
Self-repair deficiency wasn't common, but it would explain how bad atmosphere had been enough to squeeze Updraft's spark. Skywarp winced, before standing up to join Thundercracker down the hall.
"Do you think they're gonna do anything?" he asked Thundercracker. Now that there was no way to deny Updraft spent all her time alone, he had been wondering what would change. "Starscream will raise hell if they take her away." Skywarp frowned at the thought. Maybe they'd put her with a pair who had already raised a newspark to adulthood, ones who at least had cursory knowledge of what to do. Maybe they'd send her to Iacon. Or-
"They won't," Thundercracker said, starting down the hall. Skywarp had to jog to keep up, because his conjux was setting his furious pace. He stared straight ahead. "Starscream has too much money. The required investigation-there is one, I looked-will happen, and they'll write down some nonsense so the Air Commander doesn't get in any trouble." He glanced at Skywarp, his optics too bright. "But he'll probably let her have her lessons again. That's the whole reason she left."
Skywarp let his whole body slump. "We should have snuck up there. We've done worse to slag off Starscream! Thundercracker..."
The glow of Thundercracker's optics softened. He tapped the back of Skywarp's neck. "I know. She's tough. Even if she's got SRD, it doesn't mean much. She'll just have to take care."
"We should take care of her," Skywarp said, looking up. His brows furrowed. "I bet if she lived with us she'd be happy. She wouldn't run away."
"Don't be stupid," Thundercracker said, but his steps slowed. "We're only slightly more qualified than Starscream, and we're not better by much," he said firmly. The finger on Skywarp's neck became the comforting palm of Thundercracker's hand. "I guess both of us got suckered in by that sparklet. I miss teaching. She gets so excited."
"And she's funny, too," Skywarp said, finally smiling. "The way she wiggles in her seat when you're taking out her books. And holds up her homework like this. 'TC, look! All done!'" He demonstrated, holding his arms out straight as a rod and almost knocking a nurse right over. Thundercracker pushed his arms down in a practiced motion.
"I should teach you, too. Manners."
"You'd think I'd have learned by now."
"One would think."
They found themselves outside Updraft's door again, and once again found themselves face to face with the Kaonians. Skywarp stiffened, and Thundercracker's hand left his shoulders, but Dreadwing was only leafing through some gossip rag and Skyquake slept against a wall. They baffled Skywarp-they'd met Updraft for all of five minutes, and as far as he could tell neither of them had left the hospital.
"I'm guessing," Dreadwing said, without looking up, "that this isn't all you read in Vos." He looked from Skywarp to Thundercracker. "I thought one of you would be with her."
Thundercracker frowned. Skywarp valiantly resisted the urge to slump. "She wanted a rest," he said quickly. Then clamped his jaw shut, because no matter what Dreadwing had done for her, Skywarp didn't owe these low-castes his effort.
"There's a number of interesting histories of Vos, and books on flight in any genre you can come up with," Thundercracker said. He had moved to peer around the hall corner, looking for the doctor. "Next time you're out rescuing sparklets, pop into a bookstore."
"We didn't realize she had no nurse at all," Skyquake said. Now his optics opened, glinting red. "Even the lowest 'bot has a cohort, and the little scrap was by herself."
Skywarp snorted, dropping down on the bench next to Dreadwing. "Right. Because Kaon's so rich and full of sparklets. Tell us about your years of experience."
Dreadwing looked over at him then, and Skywarp shrank back a fraction. These mechs were low-caste and rough. They were also big, and frightening, and could snap Skywarp at his sleek waist without issue. "You haven't known her much longer," Dreadwing said, still calm. He turned back to his magazine. "Or met any others, really, according to Starscream."
Right. Starscream. Skywarp looked over, optics narrowed. "So, uh...mind explaining what ol' Screamy keeps you two around for? Thundercracker and I were forged next to him. Still no word on why he brought you home."
"Don't worry about it," Skyquake said. "This'll be the last week we stay in this dump."
A lot of bearing to call Vos a dump after coming from Kaon, a place so bad its Senator was named after two nasty animals. Skywarp wondered idly if "RATBAT IS A BATHMAT" was still carved into the wall at the Iacon Senate house. Thundercracker at been every bit as appalled as Skywarp was pleased with himself.
"We knew he was reprehensible, but there's nothing honourable about this," Dreadwing said. "What a lonely child."
"No," Skywarp said. "He's richer than the Vosian Council."
They sat in silence for a moment. When Skywarp looked over, he could see Thundercracker in conversation with the doctor. Skyquake offlined his optics, and Dreadwing leafed through another datapad. This one's cover featured Starscream, at yet another party in yet another compromising position.
Skywarp couldn't even blame them for leaving. At least they seemed to have a choice.
"Thanks," he mumbled. Dreadwing looked up, expectant. Skywarp frowned, but met his optics.
"Thank you," he said again. "You saved her life. And-I mean, y'know. She's got a real place in my spark."
They said nothing else after that, but it felt better.
When Updraft woke back up, she was more alert. She knew right away, too, that someone was still in the room with her, and she grumbled, rolling towards the window.
"We don't need to speak," Dreadwing said. Updraft paused. "But they don't want you left alone for now. I'm pleased you're alright."
Updraft narrowed her optics, and looked out at him from under the rim of her blanket. "You found me," she said.
"I did." Dreadwing was massive, nothing like the Seekers she knew. He almost didn't fit in the hospital room's chairs. It would be funny, if Updraft wasn't determined to feel sorry for herself. "You got very far from home, little one."
"Mm-hmm." Updraft turned back to the window, pulling the cover over her head. "I wanted to get to The Red Heights."
Dreadwing quirked a brow. "You had a lovely blue height to live in last I saw."
Updraft shifted. "That's not funny. I wanted to see TC and Skywarp."
"Yes. You were very determined."
Updraft rolled over again after a moment, eyeing Dreadwing with suspicion. He sounded like he thought all this was funny, and Updraft didn't feel like making all that many jokes. She sat up slowly, though, finally staring properly at the big mech. "Did Starscream send you to find me?"
He shook his head. "I found you on accident. On my way to the hospital with you I got the warning that you had gone missing."
Updraft looked hard at her thermoblanket. "Then you told Starscream?"
"No." Dreadwing shifted, probably not all that comfortable on the little chairs. "I brought you the rest of the way here, then informed them. Your spark was shrinking as I walked."
Updraft sat bolt upright at that. Dreadwing's optics went bright, and Updraft realized she had scared him. Fair, because he had scared her. "I was gonna die?"
"But you didn't," Dreadwing said. He frowned. "I apologize for frightening you. Alternate outcomes don't matter, only the one that came to pass. You're much too young to worry about death."
Updraft cocked her head, brows furrowed at him. "You're very serious. You're like Thundercracker—are you a teacher?"
Dreadwing, getting up from his seat, chuckled at her. "Only a soldier. The Air Commander has uses for myself and my brother's skill." Skyquake was his name, and Updraft remembered how he'd pretended not to laugh at Starscream.
Updraft looked at him for a long moment. When Dreadwing gave a small nod and turned towards the door, Updraft stretched out her good hand.
"Wait a minute!"
He paused, and Updraft straightened her back again. She looked down. "Um. Thank you. For carrying me to the hospital."
He smiled. To Updraft's surprised, she realized she wasn't so annoyed when he did, and let him open the door to go.
Past him, in the opposite direction, came several more mechs than she'd rather see now. Skywarp she was relieved to see, because she had been bad to him earlier. Thundercracker she smiled outright at, and every bad feeling she'd just sulked through turned into a glow. A doctor, with his red-and-white colours, and...
Starscream. The glowing feeling dropped from her spark.
She stared the most at Starscream, because he looked nothing like the last time he'd left the apartment. Not dirty, but...scuffed. His knuckles were scraped white, and when he saw her staring he covered them hastily with his other hand. It didn't help, because his left hand was no better. Thundercracker and the doctor spoke in low voices, pointing at a datapad, and Skywarp took the same seat he had before.
"I was mean to you," Updraft whispered, and Skywarp looked up sharply. "Sorry."
Skywarp reached out, and tapped under her chin. His smile was back, nervous but real. "You weren't," he whispered back. "You're sick, so you can do whatever. Don't worry."
Outside the room, Dreadwing and Skyquake crowded the doorway. This was more pairs of optics than had ever been on her at once, and in spite of her urge to be brave, she shrank away, against the wall behind her berth. She didn't feel like the sparklet who had lied to strangers and boarded a shuttle to nowhere.
She didn't have time to answer Skywarp, because the doctor came up to her other side. His wings sloped downwards, and his optics were very, very bright, in a way that made Updraft think he was really smart.
"I'm Pharma," he said. His accent was like the newscaster's Iacon one, perfect Standard. "Do you have any pain?" he asked her, picked up her pricked wrist and turning it over, gently, in his hands. Updraft winced.
"Now I do, 'cause you're touching the needle."
Skywarp grinned with delight, and Thundercracker frowned. The doctor didn't seem bothered, touching her shoulder with a diagnostic tool. Then he looked down at his datapad, optics narrowed in thought. "I'm still waiting on test results, but I think the SRD diagnosis is a safe bet. Type 1," Pharma said, to Thundercracker now.
"So she's sick, then?" Starscream asked sharply. They all turned to look at him, and he puffed up, clearly trying to be commanding. "Will it cause her problems in the future?"
"It shouldn't," Pharma said. "Maybe if you keep leaving her unsupervised and letting her run through the smog levels. She'll just heal more slowly than the average." He set his diagnostic tools aside, leaning down to peer into Updraft's optics. "The term 'self-repair disorder' is very explanatory, Air Commander. Just take care when her self-repair protocols are in need."
"I'll be careful," Updraft said. Pharma turned to her, and his lips quirked. Updraft straightened up, to prove how certain she was of it. "Now I know better."
"Your caretakers will have to hold you to that, then," he said. His optics twinkled at her, before he turned away. "You seem like a skilled troublemaker."
Updraft beamed, and turned to Skywarp, who grinned back. She knew he would like that. Pharma strode to the other side of the room, towards Starscream, and Updraft saw how he smoothed out his expression before addressing his carrier.
"I haven't worked in Vos very long," he said. Into Starscream's hands he dropped a small bag. "So I'm not all that used to the culture. But in Iacon sparklets are cherished."
Skywarp had gone silent, but there was another suppressed noise from the doorway. Starscream shot the big mechs outside a sharp look, before curling his claws around the bag. "What's this?"
"She needs to take that twice a day, morning and evening," Pharma said. "Legally, I have to give it to her guardian. But Thundercracker, I expect you to make sure she gets it."
Thundercracker raised a brow. "We'll manage. Thank you, doctor."
Updraft watched the look on Starscream's face, fascinated by the several expressions he seemed to be trying to overcome, all at once. "Yes," he said finally, back straight. "Thank you, doctor. Is there anything else?"
Pharma turned back to Updraft. "Be good. Sparklets are rare these days, you know. Look after yourself." That seemed to be all, and Dreadwing and Skyquake stepped back to let him leave the room.
Starscream, in silence, took the bag and placed it on the nearest table. At the same moment, Skyquake stuck his head into the room.
"Good to meet all of you," he said. One optic winked at Updraft when he turned to her. "But this is about all we can take of Starscream and Vos." The big mech stepped fully into the room, Dreadwing close behind and hand held out. "It's been an experience."
"What?" Starscream's optics bulged in shock. Normally Updraft loved that face of his. "You're leaving my service? After all I've done for you?"
"This city is not for us," Skyquake said flatly. "We'd be more comfortable elsewhere."
"You can't! You're actually useful! Do you know how rare that is?! You're—"
"Returning to Kaon." Skyquake turned to Updraft, nodding to her. "It was a pleasure serving you, little one. This life wasn't as easy as we expected."
"You can't!" Updraft said, before she could think about it.
Everyone paused, and she was very aware of the silence. She shrank back, frowning hard. "You can't," she said again. "You saved my life."
"I did," Dreadwing said, turning towards her. He hadn't spoken at all yet. "It was an honour, little one."
"But we have no loyalty to the Air Commander," Skyquake said, cutting in.
Updraft wasn't entirely sure what pushed her forward now. "But I want you to stay!"
"Why?" Skywarp said, to her right. He sounded genuinely surprised. Updraft was surprised, too, at how her spark twisted up at the thought of allies leaving her, a couple of degrees closer to Starscream.
"I want them to protect me," she said. Her voice was firm, and she looked hard at Dreadwing. "I-I'll feel safer. Maybe you'll save my life again. And Starscream is never home anyway, so you'll hardly see him!"
She could feel Skywarp and Thundercracker's disbelief on her. All she felt was the need to not be alone.
Skyquake grinned, briefly, at her, and it was the most emotion she had seen out of either of them. When he turned back to Starscream, his face became stony. "My twin and I pride ourselves on our loyalty," he said. "We did our best for you, but the only good we could find was the money. And her."
"Then get out already," Starscream snapped. "Primus knows my only other good lieutenants are enamored with my daughter, I have enough of that. And now that everyone knows I have her..."
"...and that you don't take care of her..."
"Enough, Skywarp," Starscream said quickly. He shifted uncomfortable. "We all make mistakes. The Air Commander's heir will have the same enemies I do."
Dreadwing touched Skyquake's shoulder, and Updraft watched them carefully. Something unspoken passed between them, before they turned back to her.
"Why don't you want us to leave?" he asked. The others could hear them, of course, but his voice was low enough that it didn't matter. "Is it really that you would feel safer? You are very safe in your home, and here."
Updraft looked away, at her blanket. "Well...I don't know," she said. "I don't want you to leave."
Dreadwing and Skyquake exchanged another look. Skyquake frowned hard, but when Dreadwing turned back to her his face was gentle. Updraft felt the others' optics on them, and their disbelief, but she focused in on Dreadwing's face.
"When you save someone's life, you form a bond," he said. His words were careful. "It can't be broken regardless of why you saved them. Is that what you feel?"
"Please," Thundercracker said under his breath.
Dreadwing ignored him, but Updraft glanced at Skywarp at that moment and saw his face deep in thought. She turned quickly back to Dreadwing, because Skywarp generally only went puddle-deep in thought and she couldn't be distracted. Dreadwing was treating her like a grown-up bot.
"I don't know," she said quietly. "Maybe that's what it is. I just...want you to stay."
"My twin would like to go home," Dreadwing said. "But...I wouldn't object to staying with you, little one. Your world is safe, but it can become very dangerous. Which you've learned."
"For spark's sake," Starscream groaned. He put his hands on his hips, looking hard at them. "I should have expected this from no good, low-caste-"
"If we leave your service," Skyquake said, straightening up, "we'll no longer have any reason to defend you. And I've never worried much about the law, sir."
He raised his hands. Cracked his knuckles. Skywarp squeaked, and Starscream's optics appeared to be trying to leave his head. Updraft sat up, bolt upright.
"Then you should both stay!" she said quickly. "And he'll keep paying you, as long as you're nice!"
She had never assumed about Starscream like this before. At least, not in any positive way. Updraft braced herself, imagining what he'd be like when they finally got home, when she would be alone in the apartment with him.
But he didn't do anything. He opened his mouth to speak, and closed it after a moment, looking like he'd woken up without wings.
"Fine," he sighed, sagging from the shoulders. "Fine. Be her bodyguards or something if you want, you'll still be paid well. But you'll be on call," he added. "I need fine soldiers."
Skyquake grinned darkly. "We're fine mercenaries, aren't we? Hard to lose."
"My daughter needs rest," Starscream said. He looked straight at Updraft, who resisted the urge to hide under her blanket. "We're done here. Everyone out."
"But, boss-"
"You too, Skywarp," he snapped. "Out."
Updraft's friends filed out slowly, Skyquake first. He turned to her and winked just before he left, and Updraft felt Skywarp's hand brush her cheek as he passed. It was affectionate, and she realized how much she'd missed them. Maybe they'd saved her once too, and that's why they couldn't leave.
Starscream shut the door on Thundercracker, who had paused to give Updraft a last look, and then they were alone. Updraft watched him settle himself in Skywarp's vacated seat, and wondered if they'd ever spoken properly like this. Without anyone to act for, and no distractions like work or flight or partying.
"Well," Starscream said.
Updraft made sure she looked into his optics. She shifted uncomfortably, under her thermoblanket, waiting for something angry or mocking. "Well?" she said back.
He frowned. "Well, I thought you were gone for good!" he snapped. There was the familiar bark, but none of the bite Updraft knew. Starscream's optics dimmed. "Look at yourself. Imagine asphyxiating to death, like an organic! You were foolish."
"Well, I didn't as-phyx-iate," Updraft said, sounding out the word carefully. She frowned too, pulling her shoulders inward. "And—and it's not like you would have cared anyway," she said, mustering up some of her leftover courage. "You could do the same things without me."
Starscream stared at her, and Updraft braced for impact. It never came, and Updraft began to wonder what would have happened if she'd never been found. Starscream sighed, a soft huff from his vents.
"I didn't want you," he said bluntly. Updraft slumped. It wasn't that she hadn't known, but it stung. "But you exist," Starscream added after a moment. He reached out, and tapped Updraft's cheek with one claw. She flinched, and he pulled back like he'd been burned. "And you're mine. I have a right to raise you as I please. Don't forget that you live in the finest building in Vos, and were carried by its finest Seeker."
Updraft didn't respond. Thundercracker would probably tell her, gently, not to be too surprised by all this. He and Skywarp would leave her books and candy, maybe toys, and it wouldn't make her feel any better. She was preparing to pull the blanket back over her head when Starscream spoke again.
"I'd be...unhappy if my only heir got herself killed. That's an understatement, really." Updraft looked back up, and realized that Starscream wasn't looking her way. He was staring at his scraped knuckles, turning his fingers over in his lap. "You wouldn't even have made it to full upgrade. I don't condone that level of failure for anyone, much less myself."
Updraft remembered Thundercracker's anger at the party, at Updraft's grimy condition. How in Starscream's anger, he kept her friends away and kept her at home, for reasons Updraft barely understood. She understood this even less.
She said nothing, waiting for Starscream to look up. When he did, he smiled, and it glinted cold and humourless. Updraft relaxed. She knew that face, even when normally it made her recoil.
"Always remember you are mine," he said, optics glinting. "I carried you on my spark, and that means a part of me resides in you. So you will become something, of course. I expect nothing less. Have we reached an understanding?"
Updraft stayed silent, but after a moment she forced a nod. Starscream chuckled, reaching out to pat her cheek again. Her spark twisted, and she folded her hands under the blanket. Maybe Thundercracker knew why Starscream was so confusing.
"Now then!" Starscream said quickly, standing up. "I have paperwork to do so you can be released, and so the Council forgets this whole fiasco. So rest, my dear. I'll see you when we go."
He strode out of the room, wings perked up high. For the first time, Updraft couldn't catch the moment Starscream forgot he had her.
She waited for someone else to come in, but no one did. She ended up picking up the tablet Thundercracker had left, thumbing through it until she found a program saved she liked. She had to stop when the nurse came with energon and took it away, promising they'd give it back later at Updraft's protests. Bored, she took her energy and recharged some more. In her dreams, she saw Starscream's shaking, scraped knuckles.
Voices woke her back up, but she worked to look asleep. Adults tended to say much more interesting things when they thought little audials weren't on them.
"I think he's afraid." Skywarp, conspiratorial.
"Well, of course. He takes her existence for granted." Thundercracker, hushed in case Updraft woke.
"No, I think he's afraid of what people will think. When they find out he let this happen."
"Mm. That's part of it," Thundercracker said. There was the sound of him picking something up. "I mean...I don't think he thought of her as a person until now. More like a pet."
Updraft stiffened up, but neither of them seemed to notice as Skywarp spoke.
"Yeah, and? He's worried people will see how he treats his pet."
"I know that," Thundercracker said impatiently. "It's deplorable. But I think she's one of his...you know, circle. You saw him when he thought she'd-"
"Don't remind me," Skywarp said, his voice taking on a darker turn. "He left a dent in my fragging shoulder while we were waiting, and I didn't even notice till today."
They were quiet. Updraft heard Thundercracker put whatever it was he'd fidgeted with back.
"TC?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we saved her life too?"
A pause. Updraft willed her optics to offline darker. "What?"
"What do you think she'd be doing, if I hadn't opened her door? Do you think that stuff Dreadwing said, about-"
"Oh, for Primus's sake. It's Kaonian superstition, Skywarp. Low-caste stuff. Just keep an optic on her," Thundercracker said. His voice softened. "And on Starscream, honestly. He's Starscream, but..."
Skywarp sighed. "Yeah. He's still Starscream."
Updraft had always figured Skywarp and Thundercracker understood her carrier best. They seemed to step around his moods no problem, and could talk back to him without retribution. She guessed she was still right about that. The frustrating thing was that they still didn't seem to understand much.
A few days passed. What everyone considered extremely important discussions, about how her life would change, were discussed (Starscream was present only sometimes), and Updraft only got interested once. From now on, when Starscream left the city for whatever reason, she would join him. Along with her new "personal guard," and Skywarp and Thundercracker.
She would never be alone.
Finally, she was discharged. She got her first taste of her medication and spit it out in disgust. It was
only Thundercracker threatening to hold her mouth open, and Dreadwing's firm presence (she couldn't let him think she was a baby), that got it in her in the end.
"Now I just feel sicker," she whined in Skywarp's arms, on their way out. They'd be taking a shuttle, because Updraft couldn't very well be carried across town. Her feet wobbled when she tried to stand up.
"It takes awhile," Skywarp said. "That stuff's slag, I would never make you take it if it didn't help."
He hesitated at the shuttle doors, because Skywarp and Thundercracker wouldn't actually be going with her. They'd protested, even if it meant the shuttle, and Updraft had been loudest of all, coming close to a tantrum for the first time in her life. But Starscream wanted her used to her new bodyguards. The thought of trouble later, alone in the penthouse, stopped her. Now he remembered Updraft existed, and she'd have to be careful.
"Enjoy babysitting," Skywarp said, as he handed Updraft off to Dreadwing. "Still can't imagine why you agreed to this."
"Someone has to make a warrior of her," Dreadwing said wryly. "I will see you in Iacon, lieutenant."
"See ya." Skywarp gave them a poor salute and stepped back. He looked much too serious, so Updraft stuck her tongue out at him. It worked, and his grin lit up.
"Yes, yes," Starscream said, waving them off. "You'll see her soon enough. Let's get this shuttle ride over with."
His wings were twitching in irritation, and Updraft grinned too.
Updraft was starting to like the twins' size. Dreadwing set her between himself and Skyquake on the bench, across from Starscream. They were broad, and interesting, and made her feel safe. Just what she'd said she wanted. She stared at Starscream, looking distinctly uncomfortable as the shuttle whirred to life and he moved, not of his own volition.
"Are you really taking me to Iacon?" she asked him. Starscream's optics flicked online.
"I suppose I have to," he drawled. "You can't be home alone any more."
"So Dreadwing and Skyquake are gonna watch me there?" she said.
"If that's what they wish," Starscream said, and turned to look out the window. His distaste for the arrangement was no secret.
Starscream had insisted that he not lose Dreadwing and Skyquake's "services," whatever those may be. Updraft wasn't sure, and no one would tell her what soldier's missions consisted of. So they would go where he asked them, or with him when he needed company. But they were serving her, and both had been clear about it.
She turned to Skyquake, craning her head up to look. "Have you ever been to Iacon?"
He grinned at her. "No, little one. I'm looking forward to the vacation."
Starscream's optics were shuttered, and he hmmphed, but said nothing. Updraft was still shaky on her feet and would have to be carried for awhile. She'd have to rest, which was boring, but Thundercracker had brought her yet more books and things to look at. And when it was over they'd all be going to Iacon for the new year, and the big Senate meeting.
Starscream wouldn't matter in Iacon, as far as Updraft was concerned. She was looking forward to her vacation, too.
What a long chapter! I thought about splitting it in two, but I think it works better as one. I hope it makes up for the wait, school is always a priority over fic. Enjoy! Up next: Iacon and all the fun that might entail ;D