-1Sweet Child of Mine - 11
Two months later…
Stormfire wandered around the labs where a black and orange protoform had been built and was now waiting for it's spark. Prowl had, once again, written the programming and it had been decided this new sparkling would be a medic. Ratchet had helped with the programming and now, two months after the spark had been brought to the base, it was time, yet again, to bring another femme online.
This time, the room was less crowded than before; the twins, Storm, Prime and Ratchet were in the room, watching and waiting. Ratchet brought the spark casing towards the protoform and retracted the chest plates, setting the casing just inside. The chest plates closed as the spark began the task of forming to the body.
Not long after the twins had shown up with the sparkling, Prowl and Jazz had found Barricade's remains in the desert nearby. They'd brought him to the base, but there was nothing Ratchet could do for him. His casing had been ripped out and his spark was long since dead. Storm had asked Ratchet to use part of Barricade's protoform to build the new protoform and Ratchet had thought it a good idea.
As the gathered group watched, the protoform's optics slowly came online, flashing a greenish blue then dimming just a little before the femme moved slowly, her head turning to look at them.
"Am I alive?" she asked softly. Ratchet nodded slowly.
"You are indeed, my dear. Do you know your name?"
"Thunderstrike," she answered quietly. Ratchet nodded slowly as he turned to the others. Prime frowned a moment, pulling Ratchet to one side.
"Why did we give her a name that sounds distinctly Decepticon in nature?" he asked softly.
"Her father was a Decepticon, Prime, and he gave his life to save hers. I thought it was fitting to honor his memory somehow." Prime sighed softly but nodded slowly.
"Of course," he answered quietly. He looked back to find Storm and Thunderstrike standing near each other, the younger femme hugging Storm, her head on Storm's shoulder. Storm rubbed one hand against Thunderstrike's helm, talking quietly to her in Cybertronian.
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe watched their daughter and the other femme and Prime watched as Sunstreaker reached down, entwining his hand with his brother's, holding tightly. Prime had rescinded the restraining order two weeks ago and so far, everything was going well for the twins and their daughter. It looked like things were slowly coming back to normal…
"Prime?" Prime tuned back in to the here and now to find Sideswipe standing in front of him.
"Yes, Sideswipe? What can I do for you?"
"Is she coming with us or…" Prime shook his head.
"She's going to be with Ratchet for the time being," the leader answered softly. "She's been programmed to become a medic so, it would be best to have Ratchet raise her for now." Sideswipe nodded slowly.
"I think that's a good idea. Storm wants to stay with her tonight. I told her she'd have to okay that with you first." Prime nodded.
"I think it would be fine," he said, looking over at Storm and Thunderstrike. "Probably a good idea, actually."
"Thanks, Prime," Sideswipe answered quietly before turning and walking back to his twin. He whispered something against the side of Sunstreaker's helm and the yellow twin nodded, speaking to Storm quietly before turning and leaving with his brother. Prime walked over to Storm and Thunderstrike.
"Storm, if you want to stay with Ratchet and Thunderstrike tonight I think it might be a good idea." Storm smiled up at him and reached out to hug him.
"Thanks, Prime," she said softly. "And thank you for understanding all of this and for helping."
"Of course." He turned then and left the infirmary, heading back to his office as he did so. Ratchet looked at the two femmes, just watching them as he did so. It wasn't hard to see Barricade in his daughter, in her mannerisms and in her tone… but she was the better side of him… and Ratchet wished the black mech had lived long enough to see his daughter come online…
Sideswipe led Sunstreaker back to their quarters, pushing him inside as the door closed behind them. In the past few weeks, Sideswipe had cut down on the time he'd spent with Mirage and Mirage had taken to spending more time with Stormfire, giving the twins time to heal things between them. There were many nights when the young femme stayed with Mirage rather than bother her fathers by returning late in the evenings. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker didn't mind, though. They both knew their daughter was safe and in good hands with Mirage.
That, however, is not what was on their minds as Sideswipe pulled Sunstreaker into their room, hands slipping between crevices, stroking at wires as he did so. Sunstreaker whined against the feel, his body shaking as his hands sought out the same places on his twin's body as well. They just did make it to their bunk before Sunstreaker turned and sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling Sideswipe closer to him. Sideswipe leaned down, pressing his mouth tightly against Sunstreaker's.
Sunstreaker pulled him closer and lay back on the bunk, pulling Sideswipe down over him, the red warrior more than eager to follow. He pressed his body down against that of his twin and then looked at him, their optics meeting in a very intense gaze.
"Think we can do this without creating another sparkling this time?" Sideswipe asked Sunstreaker, his voice hoarse with need.
"I think we'll be fine this time," Sunstreaker said softly before pulling Sideswipe back down to him once more…
Optimus had left the infirmary and walked back to his office, his spark heavy with everything that he knew would come down to him sooner or later. Barricade's death because he chose to do the right thing; the new sparkling that would never know her father; Storm, who was fast becoming of key interest to the Decepticons; the twins, who were trying to repair their fractured relationship; Mirage, who had left Sideswipe's side to guard over his former lover's daughter. Everything eventually found its way to his shoulders and as a leader, there was only so much he could do before he shut down from it all.
As he reached his office, he heard footsteps around the corner and turned as Bumblebee came around the corner and just stopped, watching him. Optimus watched him for a moment then opened his office door and walked in, knowing the younger mech would follow behind him. He heard the footsteps behind him and then heard the door close and lock before he turned around to find Bumblebee still watching him quietly.
"Something bothering you?" he asked the younger mech quietly. Bumblebee shrugged and leaned against the wall.
"Did she come online?"
"She did," Optimus answered. "They've named her Thunderstrike."
"That's kind of Decepticon sounding," Bumblebee said, frowning slightly. Optimus nodded slowly.
"Her father was a Decepticon, Bee. Ratchet felt it was necessary to give her something of her father." Bumblebee nodded slowly.
"That makes sense, I guess," he said softly. There was silence for a few minutes before Bumblebee pushed off the wall and stepped closer. "Why are you so unhappy?"
"I'm not unhappy, Bee. I've just got a lot on my mind." Bee nodded slowly and stepped even closer, looking up at the older mech as he did so.
"I can give you something else to think about for awhile," Bee whispered, reaching up to rest his hand over Optimus' chest plates. Optimus looked at him, his gaze darkening just a little as his own hand covered Bee's holding it tightly.
"I'm sure you could," Optimus growled out softly. Not waiting for the younger mech to say anything more, Optimus leaned down, pulling Bee closer, pressing his mouth against the scout's, holding Bee tightly as he did so.
Bumblebee groaned softly, fingers sliding along Optimus' chest and sides, slipping into crevices, stroking wires, tugging at them gently. Optimus groaned at the feel, and moved them both towards the extra bunk in his office where he occasionally slept. Once there, he pushed Bee down beneath him, fingers following Bee's path on his own body, groaning at the sight of the younger mech writhing beneath him.
Bumblebee let his hands slide across Optimus' chest and his fingers slid beneath the plates there, brushing up against wires and servos, watching the leader's optics darken even more. When Optimus leaned down and dragged dentals against Bee's neck, the younger mech whined and shifted, hands tugging at the older mech's chest plates. Optimus knew what he wanted.
"Shh," he whispered softly as he reached up and opened his chest plates slowly, doing the same to the younger mech beneath him, his other hand brushing against Bee's face, trying to calm the scout. Bee arched up against him, the keening sound from his throat making Optimus shiver and when the chest plates were open, he leaned down and pressed in against Bee tightly. Bee cried out just before Optimus covered the scout's mouth with his own.
Hands slid along Bee's sides and down further, slipping beneath plates at Bee's hips, tugging at wires there, causing the young mech to groan and writhe even more. A pulsing heat between the sparks grew and it wasn't long before both leader and scout were lost in the heat between them, their sparks merging and pulsing between them driving them both into an intense overload that left them both offlined…
Next morning…
"You want to be a what?" Ratchet asked as he walked over to where Thunderstrike sat at the terminal, looking online for alt mode ideas.
"A motorcycle," she said quietly. "Storm showed me pictures of what my father looked like. I think this shows something of him." She tapped a button and a picture of a 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14 came up on the screen. It was black and showed a small orange stripe down the sides. Ratchet looked at it and nodded slowly.
"You're right, my dear. It does look something like your father." With a push of another button, he printed out the picture and handed it to her. "Come on, let's go outside and see if this works." They walked out of the infirmary towards the entrance of the base. "Scan the picture first."
"Okay." Thunderstrike held the picture up and quickly scanned it. Ratchet watched the wash of blue energy cover her protoform and nodded slowly.
"Good. Now, transform." Thunderstrike stepped outside the base and began her first transformation. Ratchet watched as the protoform shifted and turned until it was completely reformed in the black and orange Concours now in front of him. "How does it feel?"
"Perfect," Thunderstrike called back to him as she revved the bike's engine. "How does it look?" Ratchet chuckled softly.
"Like something your father might have chosen if given the chance," Ratchet answered quietly. "All right, transform back into bipedal mode and lets make sure it all works out right." Doing as ordered, Thunderstrike reverted back to bipedal mode and Ratchet made a quick scan. Everything fit perfectly. "Open your chest plates for me."
"Sure." Thunderstrike reached under her chest plates and flipped the switch that opened her chest up to the medic. Ratchet scanned the spark, glanced at the readings and nodded.
"Okay, kid. You're good to go." Thunderstrike grinned, closing her chest plates once more. "Feel up to a quick run across the dessert and back?"
"Oh yes," she said with a grin. Ratchet nodded and commed Prime. "I'm taking Thunderstrike out across the dessert and back so she can try out her new alt form. We shouldn't be gone long."
"All right, Ratchet. See you when you return." Ratchet nodded and turned back to Thunderstrike.
"Let's go." Reverting into his alt form, the H2 started across the dessert, Thunderstrike returning to the Concours form, following him. She stayed at his side to begin with them slowly pulled out in front. Ratchet watched her, scanning her the entire time. He didn't want her overheating her first time out.
They went halfway as far as Ratchet had first planned before he slowed and let her speed up just a little more. He watched the femme get used to her alt form as she pressed onward, her speed increasing as she became more confident in her movements. She skidded around a dune and came back towards him, engine revving as she raised up on her back wheel and quickly came back down.
"Behave," he warned her good naturedly. "No sense in exhausting yourself your first time out."
"Okay, Ratchet," she called out as she came past him. Ratchet turned and began following her back to base. She slowed, giving him time to catch up to her, then stayed at his side as they headed back. "Thanks, Ratchet," she told him quietly.
"You are most welcome," he told her just before he heard engines screaming overhead and an explosion just in front of them caught him off guard. He heard Thunderstrike scream but didn't know if it was in fear or in pain before a second explosion threw him into a roll and sent him offline….
TBC…