Ok so now we are back in the present time. This is the second last chapter of the story, so things are starting to calm down...or are they?
Also, big thanks to Flareup4Ratchet and BumblebeeLover237 for help with this chapter. I couldn't have come up with the idea for it without you guys :) So, Bumblebee and Ratchet will give you hugs.
Anyways, to the story!
Starscream and Ratchet walked out of the vortex, and it disappeared. They looked around, and they were in the same place they first went back in time. Starscream grimaced, and Ratchet placed him on the ground. The medic knelt down, and gently ran his fingers over the wound, "I need to fix that before it gets infected," he said. Starscream lid down.
"Ratchet, I'm sorry for what I said about Red Alert," he said after a long silence. He heard Ratchet sigh.
"No, you were right. I was upset that I didn't save her," Ratchet said, as he sat down on the ground, "It was hard for both us," Starscream nodded, and sat up, grimacing.
"I wonder what they look like. My sparklings," Starscream said with a smile.
"Sparklings?"
Starscream and Ratchet turned their helms, and saw two Seekers before them. Starscream's optics went wide.
"Thundercracker. Skywarp," he whispered, as his trine walked over to him, and sat down on the ground. They embraced each other, and Ratchet smiled at this. Starscream closed his optics, feeling their sparks' warmth against his own, "I...I thought you were offline," Stasrcream said, opening his optics again and looking at his brothers. Thundercracker shook his helm.
"We were hiding. We're sorry we didn't come to you sooner," he said, as he helped Starscream up. Skywarp placed an arm around the young Seeker.
"Not getting into trouble, are you?" Skywarp asked, looking down at his side. Starscream chuckled.
"You know me," he said, as they walked over to Ratchet, "Ratchet, this is Skywarp and Thundercracker. My trine."
"Since when are you sided with the Autobots?" Thundercracker asked, eyeing Ratchet. Starscream chuckled.
"It's a long story," he said, as Ratchet simply shook his helm at them.
"I'm guessing you're not the oldest then, are you Starscream?"
"Thundercracker is the oldest, then it's Skywarp, then me," Starscream said, "Are you going to call for that ground bridge or are you going to let me die from lack of energon?" Ratchet narrowed his optics at him.
"Watch it Starscream," he warned, "I may make your next check-up very painful," Starscream simply chuckled again, "Optimus, requesting a ground bridge."
There was a pause, then they heard Optimus' voice.
"Ground bridge activated, old friend."
Optimus turned to the bridge as Ratchet, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp came through. Miko began cheering and jumping up and down, "Yes! They did it!" Starscream rolled his optics, and Thundercracker placed him down on a berth. The two Seekers bent down, and all three of them began speaking in their native language. Bulkhead looked over at Ratchet.
"His trine," Ratchet said, crossing his arms, "It's better Starscream explains everything," Optimus walked over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Glad that you're back old friend," he said with a smile. Wheeljack was cleaning up Ratchet's tools, "Arcee is resting at the moment, and so are the twins," Starscream looked up. Optimus turned around as a red and white femme came out of where Arcee and the newborn twins were placed. She looked over at Optimus.
"Optimus Prime, Sir. Arcee is still weak, but she will be fine. I have some energon drip feeding into her. Since she's too weak to feed her twins, I made up some formula for them, fed them and took care of them. All three are resting comfortably now."
Ratchet looked up from patching Starscream's side, and stood up. Optimus was blocking the voice of the femme, but she sounded so familiar. Optimus moved slightly as he nodded, "Good. That is th..."
"Red Alert," Ratchet whispered. The femme, Red Alert, looked around Optimus and her optics went wide. Ratchet walked over to her, and took her hands, "Is it you?" he whispered, "Is it really you?"
"I thought... you were offlined," she whispered, tears in her optics.
"I thought the same," Ratchet whispered, pulling her close.
Miko looked at Jack and Raf, "Are...you seeing what I'm seeing?" They nodded. Starscream smiled, and Miko looked over at him. He saw the three children looking at him.
"That's Red Alert, Ratchet's femme."
"Wait. Ratchet has a girlfriend?" Miko asked, surprised. Starscream nodded, "How?"
"It's better you ask him," Starscream said, as the two medics pulled away from each other. Even Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Optimus were speechless. Ratchet put his arm around Red Alert, and saw everyone staring at him.
"What?" he asked, "I can't have a femme?"
"It's just... I've never seen you so happy before," Bulkhead said, finally speaking for the four mechs there. They all nodded, "But...war does change a mech."
"Or a femme," Red Alert said, with a smile. Bulkhead simply chuckled, and walked over to Ratchet.
"You're gonna have to tell me this story Ratch," he said. Ratchet sighed, and shook his helm. Starscream stood up, his side all fixed up.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to go see Arcee," he said, and left the room while Ratchet was threatening Bulkhead with wrenches as he started teasing him about having a girl.
Starscream silently opened the door to Arcee's quarters, and slipped inside. He saw Arcee's figure on her berth, and the energon drips hooked up to her. He spotted a crib by the bed, and walked over. Starscream glanced at Arcee, and saw she was in a peaceful recharge. Starscream bent down and kissed her forehead, then stood up. He turned to the crib, and looked in.
Two sparklings, one a Seeker, were curled up next to each other. The Seeker had pale gray finish while the bot had a midnight blue finish. Starscream felt a smile across his facial plating. They were so tiny and fragile.
"Do you want to hold them?"
Starscream turned around, and saw Red Alert in the door, "Uh, yes," he said, and she walked over. Red Alert reached down in the crib, and picked up the midnight blue sparkling. It stretched and yawned. Opening its optics, the crimson red ones stared into Starscream's crimson red optics. Starscream held out his hands, and Red Alert wrapped the sparkling in a blue blanket. She carefully placed the sparkling in Starscream's arms.
"This is Blaze, your son," she said, and picked up the Seeker.
Starscream looked down at Blaze. Yes, he could see some of his own features in his son, but he had his mother's finish. Blaze looked up at his father, and hid his face in the blanket, then looked up, smiling.
"And this is your daughter, Fireflight," she said, holding up the Seeker.
Starscream looked up at her, and saw Arcee's azure optics staring back at him. He could definitely see some of Arcee's features, but she was a Seeker, like him, and was pale grey, almost white, finish. Starscream's was darker than Fireflight's. The little Seeker held out her tiny hands to Starscream. Red Alert smiled.
"She knows you're her creator," she said, as she handed the other sparkling to him. Starscream looked down at the twins in his arms, and felt a warmth in his spark.
These were his sparklings, and he would make sure no one hurt them.
Red Alert placed a hand on his shoulder, "If you want, I can show you how to care for them. Arcee has agreed to it already," Starscream nodded, and he heard Arcee move. He turned around, and Arcee was sitting up on her berth, stretching. She opened her optics, and saw Starscream holding the twins.
"Starscream," she whispered, and Red Alert helped her up. Starscream handed the sparklings back to Red Alert, and pulled Arcee in for a hug, "Don't ever leave again," she said, muffled by his chassis. Starscream chuckled, and kissed her forehead.
"Why would I ever leave the one I love?" he asked softly, tracing her face with his fingertips. Arcee smiled at him, and leaned in to kiss him. Starscream kissed her back, holding her close," I love you Arcee," he whispered between the kisses.
"I love you too Starscream," the blue femme said back, and she placed her helm against his chest chassis. Arcee smiled at her twins, "Why not we bring them out so everyone can see them?" Starscream nodded, and he took Fireflight from Red Alert while Arcee took Blaze. Red Alert followed them out to the main entrance.
Ratchet turned around, "Is that them?" he asked, walking over. Arcee nodded, and Ratchet smiled at them, "Healthy and strong, just like their creators," Thundercracker and Skywarp walked over.
"Arcee, this is Thundercracker and Skywarp. My trine," Arcee looked at them, her optics wide.
"But...how? You said..."
"We were in hiding," Skywarp said, his optics on the twins, "We're uncles TC!" Starscream laughed, and gave Fireflight to Skywarp.
"This is Fireflight," Arcee gave Blaze to Thundercracker.
"And this is Blaze," Ratchet placed an arm around Red Alert.
"You never told me how you survived," he said softly. Red Alert turned to him.
"Two Seekers came out of nowhere and attacked Shockwave, forcing him to retreat. The Elite Guard showed up and took me back to their headquarters and fixed me up," Ratchet nodded, and kissed her.
"I'm just glad you're here," he whispered, but his optics were on Thundercracker. The Seeker winked at him, as he rocked Blaze back and forth. Skywarp was softly singing to Fireflight in the language of the Seekers. Starscream placed an arm around Arcee, and pulled her close.
They were together again.
Starscream was sitting next to Cliffjumper's resting place of the top of the base, "Hey Cliffjumper," he said, "I hope wherever you are, that you're at peace," He stopped, "I know you can't forgive for offlining you, but I'm going to apologize. I am sorry. I...I didn't know how much you meant to Arcee. I didn't know you were partners. If you were, you probably wouldn't listen to an apology from a Decepticon, but...I've changed. And... I promise that I will looked after Arcee, and make sure nothing bad happens to her."
"You better keep to your word," Starscream looked over his shoulder, and saw Ratchet standing a few feet away. Starscream stood up.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough," Ratchet said, and walked over to him, "Does...Arcee know it was you who snuffed Cliffjumper?" Starscream shook his helm.
"She can never know."
"Starscream, you'll have to tell her. How do you think she'll react if she found out from someone else?" Starscream turned to him.
"I can't do that to her. She trusts me too much," Ratchet crossed his arms, "Ratchet, you're not..."
"No," he said softly, cutting him off, "I won't tell anyone," They turned to face the sunset, "Starscream, I want to thank you. For...saving Red Alert," Starscream turned to him.
"It wasn't me," he said. Ratchet smiled.
"You saved Thundercracker and Skywarp, and they saved Red Alert. I talked to them a while ago, and they said that when they saw how hurt I was, they knew they had to do something," Starscream chuckled.
"Always wanting to help. That was the difference between me and them," he said softly. Ratchet placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You are helpful Starscream. No matter what anyone says. And if Megatron couldn't see that, then he just lost a great member of his team," Starscream looked at Ratchet and blinked a few times.
"Do you mean that?" Ratchet nodded.
"Medic's oath. Always mean what you," They turned to the horizon again.
They stood in silence for a while, then made their way back inside the base.
Everyone was already in recharge, and the humans gone home. Starscream nodded to Ratchet, and walked into Arcee's quarters. He walked over to the crib, and looked down at his twins. Blaze and Fireflight were curled up next to each other. Starscream pulled the blanket up more on them, and leaned down. He kissed both of them on their foreheads, and walked over to Arcee's berth.
Arcee was lying with her back to him, already in recharge. Starscream smiled, and lid down on the berth with her. He draped an arm around her, and entwined their fingers. Arcee sighed, and moved closer to him. Starscream closed his optics.
Yes, everyone was together again.
Next chapter is the last! And this story took place before "Partners"