A/N: It's a frakking long chapter, but it's one that I've had the most fun writing. Kudos and cookies to those who guessed who Nova Alert's sparkling is! Red Alert!

Synopsis: Tense moments as we find out Starscream's fate. But don't worry! Help is on the way! Stealthshadow and Nebula try to go through the proper channels while 'Warp and TC take matters into their own hands! Surprise ending! Should the answer be yes? You decide!

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Stealthshadow, Nebula, and fritzing Nova Alert are my creations. Wraith and Wraith technology also belong to me as well as the story of the Seekers in Cybertronian history.

Primacron is one of the moons named by Fire From Above, much love for your creativity. I named the other moon Devrasigma and I finally came up with a name for Starscream's creator. I wasn't going to give her a name but Moonsong struck me as an appropriate name for her.

A huge Thank You to all my reviewers! I'm sorry I haven't had the time to answer everyone, but I just want you to know that I appreciate each and every one of you who reads, and hopefully enjoys, my story!

As always, constructive criticism is welcomed. Reviews given much love. Stealing is not.

Chapter 13 – On A Wing And A Prayer

Nova Alert walked into the waiting room with a scowl of pure disgust plastered across her normally calm features. She glanced around the full room looking for the dark blue form of Nebula in the crowd.

The blue femme leapt to her feet upon seeing Nova Alert and rushed through the milling mechs in the waiting room, worry marring her faceplate, "How is he?"

"Please follow me," Nova Alert curtly motioned towards the hospital's main consultation rooms.

Nebula wrung her hands as the doctor ushered her into the room and shut the door. Her fuel pump lurched painfully in her chest. Starscream had lost a lot of energon and was in a near catatonic state on the trip to the hospital. The medics were tight lipped on the way, keeping Nebula in the dark about the youngling's condition. She knew enough from her Guardian Flier training to know he was in bad shape with his brand new wing hanging haphazardly from his body; the laser blast had torn through the newly created servos and severed two secondary energon lines. She had tried to comfort and hold him to reassure the lost looking youngling that she was there and he was not alone, but the medics kept her at bay as they tried to stop the bleeding in his wing and assess the damage done to his hands.

"I don't have to tell you that the Precinct Warden is looking into this matter. Domestic violence is a serious offence -"

"Like slag it is!" Nebula seethed in anger. "This wouldn't have happened at all if the Warden had done something about this when I brought it to his attention twelve stellar cycles ago!"

Nova Alert held up her hands to calm the furious femme, "I realize that this has gone on for quite sometime. There were numerous old scars under his basic protoform, and I informed the Precinct Warden after I finished their reformat this morning."

"And?"

"And the Warden has decided that until the investigation is complete, Starscream is to be placed in a foster setting as soon as we complete his repairs."

"How long will that be? I want to take him home tonight, if possible."

"We should be done shortly, but," Nova Alert crossed her arms over her chest. "He will be placed with an approved foster family."

Bright violet optics flared in rage, "I am perfectly able to care for Starscream and it would be better for him if he was in a familiar setting."

Cerulean blue optics gave the irate femme a level stare, "I'm sure you believe that you are capable to take care of the youngling, but he has gone through a very traumatic experience and needs to be with a family that is experienced in taking care of orphaned younglings."

Nebula's voice rose as she glared daggers at the doctor, "Thundercracker and I are his family. He has spent more time with us than his own creators!"

"The youngling needs to be in a stable family setting with two parental caretakers who will be able to provide him the best possible recovery."

"Are you insinuating that I can't take care of multiple sparklings because I'm a single creator?" The level and silent look from the white femme answered Nebula's furious question. "I can take better care of him than a squadron of 'parental caretakers'. He trusts me and I know for a fact that he will not respond to whoever you assign his care to."

Nova Alert gave a belabored sigh, "The decision has already been made and the family that will care for him will be here shortly."

Nebula opened and closed her fists rapidly, "Fine. Whom do I talk to so I can get his custody transferred to me?"

The white femme shrugged, "You would need to go through the proper channels with the Warden's office, but I wouldn't bother. Only two creator families are considered for foster care."

"I will go through the proper channels then." Nebula gave Nova Alert a final glare as she opened the door, "Oh. And prepare for Starscream to react badly to being forced to go with unfamiliar mechs."

--

Skywarp and Thundercracker appeared at the door before Nebula had a chance to knock, "Where's 'Screamer?"

She forced a smile for them, "Why don't you two play outside for a bit while I talk to Stealthshadow?"

The questioning look Thundercracker gave her made her spark twist painfully, "Is he still at the hospital?"

The black and silver flier appeared in the doorway and patted the younglings on the shoulders allowing Nebula passage into the house, "Go play for awhile."

Thundercracker and Skywarp watched as the door shut behind them before they turned and looked at each other. The events of today were unreal. It had started out with the excitement of finally getting their wings… then things turned horribly wrong. And now Nebula returned without Starscream.

"Do you think he's dead?"

Thundercracker's optics popped out of his face at Skywarp's question. "What?! No! He's not dead!"

Skywarp looked back at the closed door, "But she didn't tell us where he is…"

Thundercracker turned his attention to the door that, for now, blocked access to the unanswered question.

"Then he's probably still at the hospital. Right?" The black and purple youngling asked the door.

"One way to find out." Thundercracker turned on his comlink, "Hey, 'Screamer? Where are you?"

There was no answer.

Skywarp tapped his foot impatiently, trying to push away the twinge of fear that was forming in his fuel pump. "Let me try. 'Screamer? You there?"

Their comsystem was silent.

"Maybe he's in stasis?" Thundercracker offered the idea as he fought with his own worry.

Skywarp stared at the door, "Maybe."

--

"And then she had the gall to imply that I wasn't an appropriate parental figure for Starscream!" Nebula angrily paced the floor of Stealthshadow's home, ranting about the conversation with Nova Alert. She stopped abruptly and looked at the irate black and silver flier, "What do I do, Stealth? I've already contacted my old wingmate and she said that she would expedite my request, but she also warned me that single creators were not given custody unless they were a family member of the youngling!"

Stealthshadow drummed his fingers on his crossed arms, "There are a few strings I can pull too, but we might be stuck waiting."

"But they're going to put him in a house with strangers! He needs to be with Skywarp and Thundercracker!" She crossed the floor to him and looked up into the emerald green optics with her pleading and impassioned violet ones. "He needs us, Stealth."

"I know, Nebula. But even as much as I want to, I cannot just warp in there and take him. We have to abide by what the Warden's office ruled."

Hurt flared in her optics and she glared at him, "You didn't have a problem earlier today with bending the rules."

Stealthshadow's green optics narrowed, "I was about to put him under citizens arrest-"

"But then your energon blade slipped and nicked his main energon line, right? I may not have been among the elite Wraith ranks, but I know exactly what mark an energy stiletto leaves."

He frowned slightly, "Are you going to turn me in for getting rid of that piece of filth? Because he swore he was going after Starscream-"

Nebula's optics flashed from violet to a deep magenta, betraying her turbulent emotional state. She weighed her words carefully and her voice wavered as she tentatively reached out for the black and silver flier, but she pulled her hand back at the last moment. "I want Starscream back, Stealth. And I will do whatever it takes to get him back, but he needs to be with us. Especially now."

Stealthshadow nodded gravely. He did not want to lose the youngling either, but they did not have many options open to them. The black and silver flier sat down at the table and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. There had to be a way to get past the red tape of the Precinct Warden's office quickly. Nebula sat down across from him at the table with a heavy sigh. She was trapped between her creator instinct wanting nothing more than to rush in and get Starscream back and her diminishing patience to wait for the legal system to see the reason behind why the youngling needed to be with her and Thundercracker.

The black and silver flier looked up at her with a small twitch of his lips, "Get up."

Nebula raised an optic ridge at him, "Why?"

Stealthshadow stood from the table and motioned with his right hand for her to stand. "We're going exploring."

"Exploring? At a time like this? Are you out of your mind?!"

He took a hold of her arm and hoisted her gently to her feet. "Yes, but that is neither here nor there. We need to go nose about that house before the authorities clean it out."

She gave him a strange look, but did not shake off his arm. "Why?"

"Remember? She told you to take care of him in case anything happened." Green optics met violet ones with a flicker of hope, "She went back to the house for a reason, maybe she left something behind that would help us claim Starscream's custody."

A tiny smile appeared upon her lips. "She snuck out of the safe house without anyone seeing her leave. But what if she came back to see him with his wings…"

"And what if she didn't? Which means we need to go snoop around for ourselves." Seeing Nebula brighten at the prospect of actively pushing through the red tape brought a smile to his faceplates. "Have you teleported anywhere before?"

"No, why?"

Stealthshadow wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Hold your breath."

--

Thundercracker and Skywarp watched through the window as Nebula and Stealthshadow disappeared.

"Where do you think they're going?" Thundercracker lowered himself off his tiptoes and looked at Skywarp.

"Probably to go get 'Screamer."

A burst of quiet static came over the comsystem, "'Warp? TC? Are you there?"

Thundercracker grinned at the black and purple youngling. "Hey, 'Screamer! Where are you?"

Starscream whispered over the comlink, "I'm at the hospital. They are trying to make me go with these strange mechs so I'm hiding. Where is Stealthshadow and Nebula?"

"They just left. They're going to get you."

"Can you tell them where I'm at so they can find me? I'm in a storage closet on the east side of the fourth floor."

"Gimme one klik and I will," Skywarp closed his end of the comlink and opened the one with his creator.

"'Screamer is in hiding in a closet on the fourth floor."

Stealthshadow sounded confused, "Hiding where?"

Skywarp gave Thundercracker a puzzled look as the blue flier talked in hushed tones to Starscream. "At the hospital. He is going to wait for you there, but you better hurry. They're trying to make him go with these strangers."

There was a pause on the other end. "… We're not going to the hospital, 'Warp."

Optic ridges rose in surprise. "Huh? Why not?"

There was another pause and Skywarp heard his father-creator circulate air through his intakes, "We can't go and get him. At least not yet."

"But he's there waiting for you…"

"Listen to me, 'Warp. We're going to get him back, but we've got to do some stuff first before we can."

"Why can't you go now?"

"We just can't, okay? Tell Starscream that we're going to get him, but it might take awhile."

"…Okay."

"'Warp. Tell him to use his training to keep out of sight. Hide in the air ducts if he needs to. And if he can, try to cause as much trouble as he can without getting caught. He has my permission to tear the place apart." There was a malicious edge to Stealthshadow's voice.

Skywarp reopened his comlink to Starscream and Thundercracker, "Stealthshadow said to tell you to use your training, 'Screamer. Cause a lot of trouble and don't get caught."

"…Okay, are they coming soon?"

"They'll be there soon, 'Screamer."

Thundercracker looked puzzled, "They didn't go to the hospital?"

"No," Skywarp peeked into the window again. "They said they have stuff to do before they can get him." He glanced at Thundercracker, "I hope they do it quickly."

--

Stealthshadow frowned at the dried energon on the walls of the kitchen. He was a top operative in the Wraith and had seen many atrocities in the war, but seeing where the femme's energon splattered and stained the walls made his fuel pump want to rebel and purge its contents.

Nebula knelt over the spot where the red and silver femme had died and whispered a silent prayer to Primus. "I promised her that we would take care of her sparkling, please help us keep that promise."

The black and silver flier turned away from the wall and sifted through a stack of holopads on the counter, "We need to hurry up. Starscream is hiding in a closet at the hospital."

"He's hiding?" Nebula stood up and faced him.

"They wanted him to go with strangers and he fled. I told 'Warp to tell him to hide in the air ducts."

"Then we better find what we need quickly." She exited the kitchen and began searching through the living room.

They searched in silence, pouring over the contents of each room and carefully checking over every micron that might hold the key to getting the youngling back. The rooms were in the same shape as the kitchen with furniture sporting numerous dents and dings from being used as weapons. There was no decoration in the house besides the beat up furniture and a tall shelving unit that held numerous data pads. Stealthshadow stood in front of the shelves and let out a low whistle, "This might take a bit." He looked over his shoulder at Nebula, "Feel like a bit of light reading?"

The dark blue femme lifted up a cushion on the beat up couch and found a small wrapped parcel wedged into a ripped seam. Carefully, she extracted the parcel and opened it up, gasping softly at the small stack of holopictures she found. She turned to face the black and silver flier and activated the stills. "Stealth, look at this."

He crossed the small room in two strides and peered at the stills clutched in Nebula's hands. The first picture was red and silver femme smiling for the shot with a tiny red sparkling cradled in her arms. Next one was her holding the sparklings hands as he tottered on unsteady feet. The next was the sparkling holding up a data pad with the Cybertronian alphabet scrawled across it. Another still was of the red and silver femme smiling and sitting cross-legged on the floor hugging the giggling sparkling sitting in her lap with his arms thrown up into the air.

"Anything in there besides the pictures?"

Nebula sighed and stored the holopictures in her subspace pocket, "No, but if she stashed the pictures she might have stashed other things."

"Keep looking." Stealthshadow went back to the shelves with data pads and started pulling each one out. He scanned over the contents of each pad before stowing back in its original spot. The data pads were mostly science texts with a handful of history and major literary works. His search came up empty and he turned to look for his next task.

"We've covered this room, I'm going to go check upstairs." Nebula started up the stairs, her light footfalls making almost no noise.

The black and silver flier frowned and headed back into the gruesome kitchen; he would have preferred to check upstairs. He snooped around the kitchen and made a point to not look at the stained walls. The energon dispenser was broken and the heating coils would not light. There were only two partially filled, stale energon cubes and a handful of damaged cups stashed in the cabinets. Stealthshadow growled to himself, he should have acted sooner and put that slagger down. He opened another row of empty cabinets with a disgusted sigh; he was about to give up and go help Nebula upstairs when he saw the card. It was carefully taped to the underside of the bottom cabinet and if he had not seen the soft reflection, he would have passed right over it. He pulled it from its hiding place and activated the data card. The splash screen for Iacon Investment Union flickered to life with the flashing password prompt. He looked on the other side of the card and under the shelf for a clue as to what the password would be, but found nothing. The black and silver flier glared at the flashing prompt, the hint of a smirk forming at the edge of his lips. He typed in 's-t-a-r-s-c-r-e-a-m' into the card and the credit account opened. He balked at the amount of credits in the account – there was enough to get the youngling through his first nine stellar cycles at the Academy. The femme had been stashing credits away for Starscream's schooling. "Hey, Nebula?"

"You find something?" She called from upstairs.

Stealthshadow closed the data card and stashed that in his subspace, "Yeah! She was saving credits to put 'Screamer through the Academy."

"She wanted the best for him…" Nebula opened the door to a tiny, dark and cramped room and tried the light switch. It had been broken off at the base. She sighed and activated her running lights, sweeping them across the space that was slightly bigger than a storage closet. The lights hit the small berth and two neatly organized stacks of data pads. This must have been his room, she thought as she sat down on the small recharge berth. She picked up the top data pad and casually glanced at the title, 'Identifying Alien Technology'. It was one of the texts Stealthshadow had assigned for homework. She picked up the first pile and stashed it in a subspace pocket and was about to do the same to the other when a flashing light on the bottom data pad caught her attention. She pulled it free from the pile and activated it. The text spilled across its screen, its yellow light highlighting her curious features. Her optics drank in the words as her breath caught in her intakes. She brought the data pad to her chest and bowed her head, Thank you.

"Stealth!" She leapt to her feet and ran out of the tiny room and bounded down the stairs, "I found it!"

--

"They're not back yet, 'Warp." Thundercracker sat fidgeting on the top step. He was starting to panic and they had not heard back from Stealthshadow or Starscream since the youngling had entered the air duct system at the hospital. He glanced at the black and purple youngling, "Why haven't they brought him back?"

"I don't know," Skywarp paced back and forth in front of the door growing more agitated by the moment. The wait was killing him and if something didn't happen soon, he swore he was going to burst. Somebody needed to do something. And it needed to be done now. He punched his open palm and stopped pacing. His mind was made up as he yanked the front door open and ran inside.

Thundercracker stared after him in surprise, "Did Stealthshadow tell you anything?"

"No," Skywarp called back at his friend from inside the house.

The dark blue youngling ran into the house, "What are you doing?"

"Taking matters into my own hands." The black and purple youngling appeared with the flat-head spanner and jimmied the lock on the forbidden closet open.

"'Warp! What in the name of Primus-"

"We're going after him, TC." Skywarp opened the door and entered the closet.

"But we'll get in trouble…"

Skywarp stuck his head out the door and glared at Thundercracker, "We haven't heard back from 'Screamer in two joors! You can sit on the steps with your thumb in your mouth like a crying sparkling, but I'm going after my best friend!"

Thundercracker gaped as Skywarp went back inside the closet and started to rummage around. He stood there while his conscience fought with reason. They were not supposed to go in the closet - Stealthshadow made it very clear that it was off limits no matter what. But the hospital was trying to separate them and send Starscream with strangers! Follow the rules or stop them from taking Starscream away. What if he never saw Starscream again? Was that really worth abiding by what Stealthshadow had warned? No. Getting in trouble for going into the forbidden closet was worth the consequences if they could get Starscream back. Rules be slagged! He squared his shoulders and walked purposefully into the closet. He was going to help rescue his best friend! "Do you have a plan, 'Warp?"

The black and purple youngling turned to face his best friend with the most evil and malicious grin Thundercracker had ever seen. "My creator gave 'Screamer permission to cause as much trouble as he could. So we're going to help cause enough trouble to take down the entire hospital!"

"But how?"

Skywarp's grin turned malevolent and he walked over to one of the walls lined with weapons.

Thundercracker's optics popped out of his faceplate. "Wait! Wait, we can't use weapons!"

The black and purple youngling pulled two small guns off the wall and tossed one of them to the dark blue youngling, "Relax. Tazer-darts are legal and only give a mild shock when on the lowest setting." Skywarp activated the magnetic clip on the dart gun and pressed it against his hip. "There are extra dart clips over here, TC. And grab those bags over there. We can use them to hold flash and smoke grenades."

Thundercracker picked up a bag as doubt started to fill his mind about using a weapon on another mech, even if it was just a tazer-dart. "I don't know about this, 'Warp…"

"Don't come then. I can do this by myself."

The dark blue youngling looked at the bag and growled; he had committed himself so far by entering the forbidden room, might as well go all the way. "Where are the flash grenades?"

Skywarp's optics flashed evilly as he pulled a handful of small black satchels out of a crate, "Over there."

"What else do you think we can use?"

The black and purple youngling glanced around the room as he deposited the satchels and smoke grenades in the bags Thundercracker was holding. His optics rested on a lower portion of the wall and he pointed to it, "Those."

Violet optics widened in shock, but Skywarp stopped the youngling from making a fuss, "You've used the training rifle before. And I've stashed a couple boxes of the special rounds for the right opportunity to come up, and I think now's the time."

"Special rounds?"

"Yep! My kind of special rounds, too!" He held up a clip filled with the multicolored pellets.

Thundercracker groaned. "Oh, Primus. You're going to get us killed, 'Warp."

"This is war, TC. We can't let them take 'Screamer away." Skywarp dropped six cases worth of 'special' rounds into the bags and then pulled two of the training rifles off the wall.

"How are we going to get to the hospital carrying all of this?" Thundercracker looked blankly at the gun Skywarp handed him.

"We're going to teleport there."

"But you can't even warp between here and my house without getting dizzy!"

"That's why we're going to make small jumps," Skywarp activated the magnetic clip on the rifle and attached it to his shoulder. "Ready?"

"How am I supposed to get there?"

Skywarp grinned mischievously and grabbed Thundercracker's arm, "Like this!"

There was a shocked yelp that cut out as the two younglings disappeared in a flash of purple light.

--

The lights of Iacon danced over the sleek blue flier as she flew side by side with the barely visible black and silver flier. They didn't bother with the traffic lanes, opting for the less crowded lower atmosphere flight as they streaked towards the Precinct Warden's office chambers. Even as Primacron and Devrasigma set in the west and the night grew longer, Nebula and Stealthshadow were undeterred in their quest to bring Starscream home.

"Slaggit! 'Warp won't answer the com." Stealthshadow groused over the link to dark blue femme.

"Neither will Thundercracker. They're probably talking to Starscream over their comsystem."

"Or causing trouble…" The motion detector he had set in his weapon storage room went off. "FRAK! When I get my hands on those two-"

"What? What's happening, Stealth?"

"They're in my storage room."

"In what room?"

Now was not the time to tell Nebula that the younglings were messing around in his room full of Wraith equipment and weapons. "Stuff they shouldn't get into." The lights from the Precinct Warden's office came into view, bathing the lower levels of the Iacon Towers in soft white light giving Stealthshadow the distraction he needed. "We're almost there."

--

Skywarp grunted as he and Thundercracker teleported into the dark protoform reformatting room. The two tottered on their feet fighting to regain their equilibrium from the trip. "Smaller jumps definitely work better."

"I'm going to be sick…" Thundercracker staggered over to a waste receptacle and purged his tanks violently.

"No better place to get sick than a hospital." Skywarp leaned against one of the tables as his balance returned. "Hurry up and lets find him."

Thundercracker opened his comlink, "'Screamer? Where are you?"

"I'm hiding on top of the service elevator. When are Nebula and Stealthshadow going to get here?"

"Slag them, 'Screamer." Skywarp burst over the line, "We're here to get you out."

There was a pause before Starscream answered, "…What do you mean?"

"I mean, TC and I are here to get you out."

"How?"

Skywarp had that energon chilling malicious grin again plastered across his faceplate, "Guerilla warfare, sparkling."

"TC? What is he talking about?"

Thundercracker grinned back at the black and purple youngling as the rush of the upcoming 'battle' hit him, "Don't worry, 'Screamer. We've got it covered, just stay put."

Skywarp had already opened the bag and handed Thundercracker a clip full of brightly colored pellets for the practice rifles. "You remember how to load these, soldier?"

The dark blue youngling smirked evilly at his friend, "If I remember correctly, my aim is better than yours, grunt."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, mech with the most hits wins." Skywarp loaded his rifle and reattached it to his arm.

There was the slight tint of dread in Starscream's voice, "What do you mean 'with the most hits'?"

There was a soft click as Thundercracker refitted the tazer-dart gun to his hip, "Wins what?"

"What are you two doing?"

Skywarp continued to ignore Starscream. "Five bags of energon goodies that they don't have to share."

"Hello? What are you two idiots doing?"

The dark blue youngling palmed three flash grenades and mirrored Skywarp's mischievous smile, "You're on."

--

Nebula and Stealthshadow landed on the front walkway to the Warden's office and were greeted by the night watch. "This is government property and you are trespassing."

Stealthshadow subspaced his military badge for the civilian guards and drew his wings up behind him to emphasize exactly who and what he was. "I need to speak with the Warden immediately."

They backed down slightly at having a Wraith officer demanding admittance. "You'll have to come back in the morning, the Warden has gone home for the night."

Nebula angled herself around the black and silver flier, "Tomorrow is unacceptable. I need to speak to him tonight. Where is his residence?"

"That information is classified-"

Stealthshadow's arms crossed over his cockpit and his voice dropped to an icy tone, "If you can't give her directions to him, then call him here."

"But sir!"

"Open the com and call him. Tell him his old buddy Stealthshadow wants to see him."

The guards shared a 'we-don't-get-paid-enough-for-this-slag' look, but when they turned back at the imposing black and silver flier they were surprised to see two massive Vulcan cannons hanging just below Stealthshadow's strong arms, a mounted dual-barrel null-ray on one arm, a photon rifle with a sniper scope mounted on the opposite shoulder, a gunblade clipped to his left hip and an unknown gun with a silencer on the right. They would swear later that he walked up armed like that, because they never heard any subspace pockets opening.

He gave them an easy and innocent grin with a cold edge to it, "Are you calling the Warden, or not?"

The color drained from the guards' faceplates and one hurried back to the guardhouse where the emergency comsystem was located.

Nebula stepped closer to the smirking Stealthshadow and spoke softly to him, "Was that truly necessary? They could have seen that as a hostile threat and opened fire on us."

He looked over at her with a twinkle in his worldly green optics, "They needed the persuasion that only a high quality weapon can provide. Wouldn't have mattered if they tried to fire on us, anyways. I jammed their pistols the moment we landed."

"Did you need to bring out your entire arsenal to persuade them?"

The black and silver flier turned his attention on the guard who quickly approached them, "This isn't all my arsenal. I just couldn't pick which one of my favorites to show them."

The pale guard stumbled back to the others, his optics never leaving the body of the imposing warrior. "The Warden says he will be here in two breems."

"Should we wait inside for him?" Stealthshadow stepped towards the guards with that easy and innocent grin spreading across his faceplate, "No need to stand outside like civilians waiting for mass transit. I think it would be best to wait inside for him. Don't you agree?"

--

Thundercracker could barely keep his excitement from boiling over, "We need a blueprint of the hospital so we can plan our attack, Air Commander Skywarp!"

The black and purple youngling laughed, "I agree, Air Commander Thundercracker! How are your computer hacking skills?"

"I'm not as well versed in the fine art of hacking as Air Commander Starscream is, but my skills will be sufficient for gathering the information we need, Air Commander Skywarp!"

Starscream sighed loudly over the comsystem, "You two are complete idiots. They'll detect you the moment you access the mainframe."

Thundercracker giggled manically as he accessed the protoform reformatting computer and surfed the public directory files. He quickly scanned through the folders until he found what he was looking for, and crowed in satisfaction as he brought up the building evacuation plans on the main screen. "I have procured the plans to the building, Air Commander Skywarp. Shall we commence with 'Operation: Sparkling Rescue'?"

Skywarp burst out laughing hysterically at Thundercracker's official name for their daring rescue. It took him a few moments to calm down enough to hear Starscream swearing at them.

"Dirty slaggers. You are going to get caught with all the noise you're making."

The black and purple youngling continued to snicker, "Can you print copies of the map, Air Commander Thundercracker?"

"Already completed, Air Commander Skywarp!"

There was another sigh over the comlink, "Where are Nebula and Stealthshadow?"

"Not here." Skywarp took a data pad with the map on it and looked over the area. "Lessee here… There are six service elevators. Which one are you in, 'Screamer?"

"You're serious about this?"

"As serious as the Pit. Which elevator, 'Screamer?"

They could hear Starscream cycle air through his intakes, "Northwest corner… fifth floor. The elevator hasn't moved in over a joor."

Thundercracker traced a path between the protoform reformatting room and the elevator in question, "It shouldn't be too hard to get to him, but there are nurse stations every 200 yards… six stations between us and that elevator. It will be difficult to get past that many mechs."

"That's why we have the smoke grenades." Skywarp pointed out the main air duct systems. "What if we cut through some of the air ducts?"

"Wait. You brought smoke grenades? Where did you get those?"

"Stealthshadow's closet." Thundercracker shook his head and pointed out junctions in the ducts where the systems did not connect. "No go for this area. We'd need to dodge in and out of the air ducts to cross the building."

"You took smoke grenades from that room?"

"We're fully armed, 'Screamer." Skywarp counted the number of rooms between them and the elevator, "Too risky to try and find empty rooms and hallways to cross and bypass just to find access to an air duct."

"What does fully armed mean?"

"Relax, 'Screamer. We've got it covered."

Thundercracker grinned and pointed to a room in the basement. "That's our first target, Air Commander Skywarp."

"Huh? Why?" He pushed the dark blue youngling's finger out of the way. "'Main Generators'?"

"We create a small short in the lines that lead to the lights in the building. Flickering lights won't cause the backup generators to engage and it won't disrupt any of the medical equipment. Disorient and distract, remember? Easiest way to infiltrate is cause a minor disruption that distracts attention from you."

A maniacal grin spread across Skywarp's face, "I'll teleport down there and cut one of the lines… Aw slag."

Thundercracker raised an optic ridge, "What?"

"I don't have anything to cut with. We need to find a laser scalpel or something for me to use."

The dark blue youngling smirked and reached into his bag of tricks. He rummaged through their tools of havoc and pulled a small handheld device out, proffering it to Skywarp. "I thought we might need this, so I brought it."

The black and purple youngling turned the device over in his hand until he found the activator. Carefully, he pressed the button and the energon dagger flared to life. "You little glitch," Skywarp threw his arm over Thundercracker's shoulders and made a fake sniffing noise. "I am proud to be on 'Operation: Sparkling Rescue' with you, Air Commander Thundercracker!"

Thundercracker snorted and grabbed the dagger from Skywarp's grasp, flicking it off and smacking the magnetic clip on his simpering friend's leg. "I don't know how much of a charge it has since I just picked it up off the shelf, so don't turn it on until you need to use it."

"What has a charge? What are you two doing?!"

"Hush, 'Screamer. Let the big 'bots finish their planning."

"We'll need to deactivate the door alarms as well," Thundercracker started to point out the security doors that spread across the entire hospital.

"Wouldn't it be easier to activate a few of them? Keep the staff chasing their tails?"

"No," The dark blue flier shook his head. "Then they'll know something is up and be on the look out."

"True. So I'll take out the door controls, too."

Starscream's patience was worn out, "Here's a question for you two, glitchmice. Just how are we going to get out of here? Why can't we wait for Nebula and Stealthshadow?"

Skywarp let loose a martyred sigh, "Because they said they can't until they do some stuff. All right?"

"What stuff?"

"They didn't tell me what. Now shut up, 'Screamer."

"Okay, ' Warp," Thundercracker pointed to four different rooms on the map. "While you're taking out the lights, I'm going to the ventilation fans and setting off the smoke grenades. That should give us some cover so we can get to 'Screamer."

"Sounds good." Skywarp pulled a small black satchel from his bag and handed it to Thundercracker, "I can teleport out of sight, but you can use these to escape if someone sees you."

"What are they?" The dark blue youngling opened the satchel and peered inside.

"Marbles. The bags are designed to burst when thrown on the ground. Just toss it behind you and run." Skywarp shouldered his bag and held out his hand to Thundercracker. "Ready when you are, Air Commander Thundercracker!"

He stood up and held his hand out to the black and purple youngling, "Good hunting, Air Commander Skywarp!"

"Let 'Operation: Sparkling Rescue' begin!"

"You two are insane…"

--

Nebula sat nervously in the Precinct Warden's office, reading and rereading the notarized data pad that held Moonsong's will. I never knew your name until now

The night watch guards didn't perceive her as any sort of threat… unlike the heavily armed black and silver Wraith leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and his optics dim.

Stealthshadow did not need his optics to tell what was happening in the room. He could hear the uneasiness of the night watch; irregular spark beats, churning fuel pumps, the creaks and whines of tight and tense servos… But he paid them no mind; their distress was easily tuned out. He was more interested in the dark blue femme. He could hear her fingers sliding over the data pad as she reread the contents for the 90th time, her racing spark beat, the strong pulse of her fuel pump, the tightness in the way she was cycling air through her intakes. She was more than nervous – and he could smell the fear coming off her in waves.

"You should relax. You're scaring the guards," He smirked over the comlink he established with her.

"I think they're more worried about losing their jobs because you forced our way in here," She did not flinch at his sudden intrusion. "And don't you know it's rude to hack into another mech's comsystem?"

He could feel her optics on him and he smiled, "It's not a hack…technically. I just extended the range of my communication frequency to include any nearby Guardian Fliers. You happen to be the closest."

"A retired Guardian Flier. Nice try, though."

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine once Convoy sees the will." He heard her hands tighten on the data pad.

"What if they still won't give him to us? What if they-"

He raised his optics and gave her a pointed glare, "Everything will be fine. We will get him back."

"But…"

"None of that," He flicked his optics towards the door as he heard the front gates open. "He's here."

Nebula stood up quickly as the night guards ushered the Warden into his office.

"We should call the Guardian Fliers -"

"- heavily armed-"

"-practically forced his way in-"

"-should we call for backup?"

Stealthshadow winked at Nebula and he pushed himself off the wall as the imposing blue and red mech entered the room, "Convoy! Long time no see- wait. Who the slag are you?"

The young mech crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Stealthshadow, "I'm the Precinct Warden, Ultra Magnus."

"Where the slag is Convoy?"

Ultra Magnus looked annoyed, "He's now Arbiter Convoy. Is there something I can help you with?"

Nebula stepped forward and held out the data pad to the large mech, "We need your help to get our sparkling released from social services at the Iacon Medical Facilities."

Any trace of annoyance fled from the new Warden's faceplate as he took the data pad, "Why is your sparkling with social services?"

"Well, he's not 'ours'. But his custody was given to us by his late mother," Stealthshadow pointed to the data pad. "She was killed today by her mate."

Ultra Magnus looked at the data pad with a slight frown, "I heard about that earlier. The sparkling is okay?"

"He is," The worry Nebula had exhibited previously disappeared as her fierce creator instinct took over. "But social services want to put him with a foster family when he really needs to be in a familiar setting with us."

"I see," He read over the contents of the data pad. "Well, everything seems to be in order on Moonsong's will… notarized by Barrister Hightower. He was just raised from Counselor less than a deca-cycle ago, at least that tells me this isn't forged."

"Forged?" Stealthshadow stepped up to the Warden and jabbed at the data pad. "You think we forged this?"

"This is about a sparkling's well-being here." Ultra Magnus gave the black and silver flier a level look, "I can't just turn over custody of a sparkling to an armed mech who shows up at my office in the middle of the night."

Nebula calmly sidestepped Stealthshadow, "It's not forged. If you are worried about the legitimacy of the document, then please call the Barrister and verify his signature. I want everyone to realize that we care very much for Starscream and his well-being."

The Warden looked at the blue femme as if he was weighing her character mentally, "I believe you. Let me contact social services and we -"

One of the guards rushed in. "Sir? We've just gotten word that a fire has been reported at the Iacon Medical Facility."

Stealthshadow rubbed his forehead and shuttered his optics with a groan.

Nebula grabbed his arm, "What did you-"

The black and silver flier held his hands up in defense, "I only told him to cause some trouble. Not to set the place on fire!"

--

Thundercracker crawled away from the ventilation fan as fast as he could. He learned the hard way with the first fan that setting off smoke grenades while standing in front of it was a bad idea. He gave a cursory sweep of the room before he exited the air duct. "Phase one of 'Operation: Sparkling Rescue' is complete, Air Commander Skywarp!"

The lights were flickering erratically as he slipped to the door and peeked out into the hallway. There were alarmed voices coming from the north and he could hear footsteps as mechs ran down the hallway in search of the fire. "'Warp? You okay?"

"The energon blade died. I only got some of the door alarms disabled."

"One's by the service elevators?"

The soft swish sound of Skywarp teleporting echoed over the comlink, "They weren't marked. I started at one end and it died around the middle."

"I hear alarms coming from somewhere." Starscream had stopped telling his friends that they were insane and was now expecting them to get him off the top of the elevator any moment.

"Hopefully 'Warp got rid of the alarms right by you, 'Screamer." The footsteps were getting closer to Thundercracker as a huge puff of smoke billowed into the room. "Aw slag."

"What's wrong, TC?"

"Trying out the marbles." He darted out into the smoky hallway and threw the black satchel on the ground, which exploded into a rolling mass of silver bearings. Without looking back, Thundercracker took off in the opposite direction with the tazer-dart gun in his hand. So far he had not used it, and he hoped it would stay that way. He skidded to a stop just before another nurse station that was still manned; the mechs were preoccupied with the fire alarms and the flickering lights. He pulled out another smoke grenade and rolled it under the nearest desk. It ignited and a roiling mass of gray fog spilled into the area. Thundercracker ducked and ran past the confused mechs. He found a lift to the next floor and got in, flattening himself against the wall and punching the 'up' button. "I'm in the southern elevator heading up to the fifth floor. Where are you, 'Warp?"

"Back at the protoform room. The smoke hasn't reached here yet."

The elevator came to a stop and the door slowly slid open. The blue youngling peeked out into the hall; it was empty but there were panicked voices somewhere nearby. "Are you going to run for it?"

"Exiting and running now!"

Thundercracker eased out into the hallway, his optics wide and scanning constantly for any movement. He readied another smoke grenade, "I'm heading to you now, 'Screamer."

Skywarp roared over the comlink. Gunshots followed close behind.

"'WARP!"

The black and purple youngling's raucous laughter drowned out Thundercracker's worry. "Nailed him right between the optics! One hit for me, TC. How many have you got, Huh? HUH?!"

"You're slaggin' crazy, 'Warp."

"Energon goodies. Don't forget, TC."

"Just hurry and get up here." The blue youngling crept along the hallway, dodging in and out of the shadows.

"BWAHAHA! In the aft! I shot him IN THE AFT!" Skywarp cackled madly, "He never saw it coming!"

"Hey!" Thundercracker froze. "Where do you think you're going? AHHHHH!!"

The red and white mech that had been striding up behind him now twitched fitfully on the ground. Thundercracker nearly dropped the tazer-dart gun as he backed away from the mech he had shot. He had forgotten to turn down the setting. Skywarp's mad laughing shook him out of his stupor, and he spun and ran down the hallway.

"You guys should have seen it! That guy will be cleaning paint out of his mouth for joors!" Skywarp giggled manically.

"'Warp! Make sure you turn down the setting on the dart gun."

"I did. Why?" The black and purple youngling gasped loudly. "You shot someone with a tazer-dart at full strength?!"

"Yes. I mean, no. It was at half. But it knocked him down."

"Was he out cold, TC? Because you can really damage an unarmored mech-" Starscream began to lecture.

"I KNOW! I KNOW!" Thundercracker dodged into a supply closet just as more mechs came barreling through the hallway. "He had some armor on and people are running in his direction now."

"Now you don't see me." Skywarp was up to something… "Now you don't see anything at all!"

"'Warp!"

"I took out a whole line of mechs with a flash grenade. Their optics won't work for breems!"

"Will you quit playing and get up here!"

"You have all of these toys at your disposal and you won't even try to have some fun?"

Starscream huffed loudly, "The elevator shaft is starting to fill with smoke."

"I'm almost there, 'Screamer." Thundercracker peeked out into the hallway only to duck back inside as another wave of mechs ran past.

"About time." He sighed in annoyance.

There was a loud 'FWOOSH' sound and Skywarp cackled over the comsystem in glee. "Fire suppression systems are fun!"

"SKYWARP!"

"I'm keeping them occupied, TC!"

"Fine! I'll get 'Screamer by myself." The blue youngling promised himself that he would kick Skywarp's aft once this was over.

A martyred sigh escaped Starscream, "And how are we going to get out of here?"

"Easy. I'm going to teleport you out, then come back for TC."

Another belabored sigh, "And how are you going to get to us if you're 'keeping them busy', 'Warp?"

Skywarp's laughter died. "… I'm on my way."

Thundercracker slunk out of the closet and edged down the hallway, making doubly sure that no one else would sneak up behind him again.

Shots echoed over Skywarp's end of the line with minimal laughter from him. "Fourth floor, east side. I'm almost there. Why didn't you take out more of these mechs, TC?"

"Well, lets see here. I know!" He sneered over the comlink, "Because I have to run like a normal mech since I can't teleport all over the place!"

"Pfft! You could have at least tried to take out some of them."

"We're here to get 'Screamer, remember?" The doorway to the service elevator was down the hallway to the right. "Hurry up and get here."

Skywarp appeared in a flash of purple grinning manically. "BOO!"

Thundercracker jumped backwards and put his hand over his spark, "Don't do that!"

The black and purple youngling stuck his tongue out at him.

"The elevator is moving! Where are you two?!"

They ran down the hallway and opened the security door that led to the elevator. "We're here!"

Skywarp pounded on the 'up' button. "Come on, come on, come on!"

They heard the lift lurch to a stop, but the doors did not open. "What the slag?"

"It's stopped between floors!"

There was noise behind them in the hallway and both younglings swung around to see multiple light beams trying to pierce the smoke. They looked at each other with wide optics. They couldn't get caught now. Not when they were so close to completing their mission!

Skywarp reached into his bag and started pulling grenades out. "Everything into the hallway! Marbles! Grenades! Everything!"

The two younglings bombarded the hallway with everything and Skywarp even got the fire suppression system to activate. Thundercracker started punching the button again trying to get the elevator back to their level, but it did not budge.

"Try opening the doors."

They wedged their fingers into the crack between the doors and pulled, forcing the reluctant doors open with a moan of old, worn pulleys. The elevator stayed where it had stopped, and as Skywarp and Thundercracker peered over the edge, they realized just how far down it had fallen.

They could see Starscream's violet optics in the dim light from somewhere near the ground floor.

Skywarp groaned, "Aw slag! You're down at the basement, 'Screamer!"

Thundercracker glared at the black and purple youngling, "Just teleport down there and get him, 'Warp."

"Would have been easier if the elevator worked." There was a purple flash…

But Skywarp remained exactly where he was.

The two younglings stared at each other blankly. "Uh, you're supposed to be down there with 'Screamer, 'Warp."

"I know."

Thundercracker frowned, "Then why aren't you?"

"I don't know." There was another purple flash, but it was much weaker than the last and Skywarp was still on the landing next to Thundercracker. His optics widened as he tried again, and again, and again until he stood there panting in exhaustion.

Thundercracker just stared at him in disbelief. "We are so slagged."

Starscream's thin voice echoed up the elevator shaft. "What's wrong?"

Skywarp slumped to the floor, "We're really, really slagged."

"'Warp is too exhausted to teleport," Thundercracker called down to the violet optics in the dark. He heard Starscream sit down on the elevator dejectedly and whimper. How had things gotten this bad?

A beam of light penetrated the smoke behind him and illuminated the elevator shaft and he froze. Skywarp glanced behind him and sighed heavily. "Oh we are beyond slagged. We are so frakking slagged. I mean, frakked beyond being fragging slagged. Fragged, slagged… we are in so much trouble."

Thundercracker kicked the black and purple youngling. "We should have waited for Stealthshadow!"

"Have you noticed that he still isn't here?!" Skywarp spat at him, "We'd still be at my place waiting for them to show up and 'Screamer would still be stuck on top of the elevator!"

"If you hadn't goofed off so much, he wouldn't be stuck on the elevator!"

"I don't see you doing anything to help that situation!"

Thundercracker growled at Skywarp, threatening to kick him again, but stopped and glared into the slowly dispersing fog. They were trapped and Skywarp was right. He hadn't contributed much to their attempted rescue other than help wear out Skywarp's teleportation ability. Thundercracker slid down the wall to the floor and let his head fall back with a thump. His thought about how much trouble he was going to be in when mother-creator found out about this as he watched the smoke travel along the ceiling and into the elevator shaft. The thick wisps and curls of smoke were being pulled into the shaft as if being drawn by something…

Thundercracker leaned over the edge of the platform and looked up.

A metal grate hung over the elevator shaft with Cybertron's open night skies just beyond it.

He sighed. They were so close to freedom. If Skywarp could still teleport, they could leave through the grate…

There were more light beams coming through the thinning smoke. They would be caught any moment and Starscream would be sent away with the strange people. This would not have happened if they were Guardian Fliers. No Air Commander would have been caught trapped between enemies and an elevator shaft that led to freedom. They just would have flown away…

Thundercracker slowly stood up and released the magnetic clip that held the tazer-dart gun to his waist. He held it out to Skywarp, "'Warp. Shut the door and overload the electrical lock."

"Huh?" Skywarp looked up at the dark blue youngling, "Why? That's not going to stop them."

Thundercracker peered down the shaft again, "Just do it, okay?"

"It's hopeless, TC! We're trapped!"

Heated violet optics bore holes into the black and purple youngling. "DO IT!"

Skywarp got to his knees and crawled over to the door, "Fine. But it's not going to -"

There was a choked sputtering and the landing lit up with an orange glow.

Skywarp spun around as the door shut and gaped at the dark blue youngling who stood on the edge of the landing. "What the-?"

Thundercracker looked up and grinned at his friend. "Jam the door."

"Are you slagging insane?!"

"I have to be. I'm your best friend." He stepped backwards into the elevator shaft.

Skywarp lunged for Thundercracker, but he was gone. He leaned over the edge of the landing and watched in awe as the soft orange glow of unused thrusters filled the shaft.

The glow from above made Starscream look up and he gaped at the sight of Thundercracker slowly descending, his thrusters spluttering and coughing as the youngling concentrated on lowering himself.

"Primus, TC." Starscream stood up and laughed as the dark blue youngling landed awkwardly. "You're going to get stuck down here with me."

Thundercracker grinned wildly, "No, I'm not. If I can do this, so can you."

The red and silver youngling looked sadly at his friend, "I don't think I can."

The dark blue youngling activated his thrusters again and bobbed unsteadily in the air for a moment. "Just concentrate. You can do it."

Starscream frowned and shuttered his optics. One thruster spluttered to life knocking him off balance before the other engaged. He wobbled as he slowly lifted into the air. He opened his optics and giggled, swaying back in forth just above the roof of the elevator. The red and silver youngling looked up at Thundercracker with a wide smile.

"See?" The dark blue youngling smiled, "You're doing it!"

"Yeah!" He laughed and pushed himself higher into the air.

Thundercracker looked up at the still gaping Skywarp. "Did you jam the door?"

"Uh-oh."

His head snapped back to Starscream as his thrusters sputtered and went out, dropping the youngling on his aft back on top of the elevator.

Starscream sagged visibly and shook his head, "I'm too tired."

Two black hands picked him up under his arms and lifted him up off the ground. Starscream looked up at Thundercracker as he engaged his thrusters and lifted both of them off the elevator. "We're going to fall!"

The dark blue youngling smirked at his friend, "No, we're not." He looked back up at Skywarp, "Jam the door!"

The black and purple youngling's head disappeared and there were multiple shots from the tazer-dart gun, "I think I got it!"

Thundercracker carefully lifted Starscream to the landing and set him down. Skywarp threw his arms around the red and silver youngling's neck and hugged him tightly. "We rescued you!" He let go looking embarrassed, "Uh, TC was worried about you."

Starscream laughed and hugged both of the younglings, "I missed you guys, too."

The voices of angry and upset mechs pounding at the door interrupted their reunion.

Skywarp looked at the door, "How are we going to get out of here?"

"Up through the elevator shaft." Thundercracker reached around to grab Starscream by the arms again.

"I'm too tired to teleport, I don't think I can try and fly." Skywarp looked at them worriedly, "And what if I fall?"

"You're going to grab on to me and I'll carry you out."

The door shook from the pounding and Skywarp glanced between his friends and the weakening door. "But you're not going to have time to make two trips!"

"We're leaving all at once." Thundercracker was unusually calm, "You'll ride piggyback and I'll carry 'Screamer."

Starscream looked between his friends, "Are you sure you can do this, TC? That's a lot of weight to carry."

The dark blue youngling backed up to Skywarp so he could climb on, "Trust me. I know I can do this."

The door groaned on its hinges as Skywarp wrapped his arms around Thundercracker's neck. Starscream grabbed on to the dark blue youngling and held on tightly. He edged them off the landing and into the elevator shaft, and slowly they floated up to the metal grate. It took them a few kliks to reach their destination, all the while Thundercracker's balance improved and he quickly learned how to adjust his thrusters to keep them moving at a constant rate.

They stopped right below the grate and Skywarp reached up to push it open. It would not move so he made a fist and pounded it, shaking the trio as Thundercracker hovered.

Starscream pointed up, "It's bolted on to the shaft."

"Do you still have that energon dagger, 'Warp?"

"Yeah, but I used up the charge trying to cut the door alarms."

"See if it has any residual charge left," Starscream turned his head to look up at the others. "Sometimes energy based weapons regenerate a charge."

Skywarp fumbled for the magnetic clip on the blade, "Almost got it. Oops."

The energon dagger clinked and clattered on its fall to the bottom of the shaft.

All three sighed at once.

Thundercracker craned his head to peer at the black and purple youngling, "You bring anything else that we might be able to use, 'Warp?"

"Not that can cut through bolts."

"I have an idea," Starscream looked up at the others. "But it will depend on if TC can do it."

"Depends on what it is."

"Think you can channel a sonic boom at the grate?"

Thundercracker looked up at the grate. It was fairly thick metal and he never used his talent to destroy anything. Creating sonic booms was supposed to help his flying skills later on.

"Sound waves can be used to destroy and weaken materials. It's the reason why you're not supposed to cause a boom inside city limits, TC." Starscream seemed to read his mind, "And we've seen you destroy grease from the guns, remember? All you should need to do is try and concentrate on sending the wave up."

Skywarp leaned over his should to peer at the red and silver youngling, "Uh, won't that destroy our audio receptors, 'Screamer?"

"It will hurt like slag, but it won't destroy them. Or I don't think it would."

The black and purple youngling groaned, "Eh, do it, TC. If we can't hear afterwards that will make it easier on us when Stealthshadow tries to lecture."

Thundercracker circled air through his intakes slowly, "I'll try it. Just… hang on tight."

He stared at the grate as he felt the rumble start at his feet. Force the boom up. Force the boom up.

The shaft began to shake as the mechs finally broke down the door on the fifth level. They were given less than a nano-klik to look around before the sonic boom hit them, throwing them back into the hallway they just exited and leaving their audio receptors ringing.

If they had been able to hear anything at all, they might have faintly heard the voice of a black and purple youngling screaming 'WOOO-HOOO!' at the top of his intakes.

--

Nebula, Stealthshadow and Ultra Magnus arrived at the Iacon Medical Facilities at the same time. Smoke was billowing out the front doors while the lights inside flickered on and off at random intervals. Doctors, nurses and patients stood outside looking disoriented and bewildered; most had traces of fire suppression foam on them and a few lucky ones sported bright splotches of paint.

Nebula turned to glare at Stealthshadow who shrugged innocently.

A very frazzled Nova Alert stalked up to the group glaring daggers at the fliers, "YOU! This is all your fault!"

"Excuse me, uh, doctor-?" Ultra Magnus held his hand out to the angry femme that sported a bright purple paint splotch across her chassis.

"Alert. Nova Alert." She spat at the group. "I want these people arrested and locked up, Warden! Look what their sparklings did to my hospital!"

"Sparklings?" Ultra Magnus looked at the two fliers, "I thought there was just one sparkling in question here."

Stealthshadow valiantly tried to keep from grinning.

Nebula ignored him and tried to get the fritzing doctor to talk to her, "Where are they now?"

"They're holed up on the fifth floor. Security will have them in custody any klik now." Nova Alert stood under Ultra Magnus' nose and jabbed a finger into his chest. "I want them locked up. Do you hear me? I want them put away and their sparklings removed from their custody!"

The imposing blue and red mech spoke calmly to the angry femme. "Actually, I'd like you to release the sparkling known as 'Starscream' to their custody."

The flustered doctor balked, her cerulean blue optics nearly popping out of her faceplate. "Y-You- you can't be serious! They are unfit parents! Look- Just look at my hospital! This will take deca-cycles to repair!"

"Well, when the sparklings are caught we will discuss punishment and punitive damages." The Warden tried to placate the fritzing doctor.

It did not seem to calm Nova Alert at all. "And the sparklings? You cannot have younglings like these running about Iacon with no supervision!"

Stealthshadow cleared his throat, "I know for a fact that my sparklings, Skywarp and Thundercracker, are at home watching scary movies, and that they are both waiting impatiently for us to bring Starscream home."

The white and purple-splotched femme fell on the black and silver flier snarling. "You're lying! Both of you are single creators! Just look what happens to sparklings when they are raised in single creator situations! They destroy hospitals! MY HOSPITAL!"

Nebula put her hands on her hips and glared at the fritzing doctor, "Thundercracker does NOT destroy anything. I raised him better than that and I'll raise Starscream the same way!"

Nova Alert turned back to Ultra Magnus, "You can't let her take custody of the sparkling! She's not approved to be a foster parent!"

"I have the notarized last will and testament from Starscream's creator, Moonsong, stating that upon her death custody of her sparkling goes to Nebula." The blue and red mech held the data pad out for the femme to see.

"That doesn't matter! By law, custody of orphaned sparklings goes to the state or an approved family!" The femme jabbed her finger at Nebula, "She's a single creator and SHE DOESN'T HAVE STATE APPROVAL!"

Stealthshadow stepped in front of Nova Alert, "You're really hung up on this single creator thing, aren't you?"

The femme spluttered, "And you're no better! Look at you walking around armed! Weapons! In this day and age! You can't wandered around Cybertron like that! What kind of role model are you to those sparklings?!"

The black and silver flier held his arms out and all the weapons were instantly subspaced, "Is that better?"

Nova Alert just glared at him.

A wicked smile brushed across his faceplate and he winked at the angry femme. He turned around to Nebula and knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in both of his. "Wanna get bonded?"

Poor Ultra Magnus stood by watching the scene unfold. The doctor looked like she was on the verge of murdering the mech and femme who had interrupted his quiet evening with the urgent request to get the sparkling, who with his cohorts, had now done serious damage to Iacon Medical Facility. He realized now why his predecessor, Convoy, wanted out of this job so badly.

Nebula stared at Stealthshadow completely knocked off-guard by his sudden, and slightly crass, proposal. "I-"

The entire area rocked with an audio-splitting sonic boom that sent mechs shrieking in all directions.

Stealthshadow did not flinch as he smiled expectantly at the still stunned Nebula.

Ultra Magnus cringed with his hands over his audio receptors. This job did not pay enough for this. As the aftershocks died down, the Warden stood up to his full height and held out the data pad to Stealthshadow, "By the power vested in me, I grant full custody of the sparkling known as Starscream to both of you."

Nova Alert fell backward on her aft with a slightly crazed look slowly spreading over her features. Her com buzzed with the strained and tired voice of a security guard. "We lost him, Nova."

She shook her head to clear it, "You didn't catch any of them?"

"Them?" There was residual static over the line. "We were only chasing the one. The guard that was attacked identified the mech as a blue and black adolescent with a tazer and a paint ball rifle. Just a bored hoodlum, if you ask me. There was no fire; smoke came from grenades in the ventilation system. Besides the sonic boom, there is minimal damage from the paint and fire suppressant foam."

Nova Alert slumped forward in defeat. She raised a quaking hand and waved aimlessly at the still kneeling Stealthshadow and surprised Nebula. "Just… go away. I don't care any more. Just take your sparkling and leave my hospital."

"If there is nothing else you need me for, I'm going to try and salvage my evening." Ultra Magnus nodded farewell to the odd flier couple. "If you need to file a damage report, doctor, just have it sent to my office. No need for you to stress yourself out further."

The white and purple-splotched femme waved off the Warden, who transformed and left the area quickly.

Nebula just stared at the black and silver flier, "Stealth, I…"

"Look up."

"Huh?"

He cast his worldly green optics to the sky above them and she followed his gaze, gasping at the amazing sight.

Thundercracker was flying high above them, his dark blue wings spread out proudly. Starscream and Skywarp were hanging on to his back and gazing down at the street below them and they waved when they caught sight of Nebula and Stealthshadow.

The dark blue femme laughed with tears in her optics and wave back at them.

Stealthshadow stood up and pulled her close to him. He smiled at her when she looked up into his face, "Looks like we've got sparklings to go home to."

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