Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry about the delay in posting. I recently got a new job and they had me working through last weekend right off the bat. I will likely continue to be delayed, but I will try to at least post a chapter every week or two.
Dawnbreaker and Knightfall let out happy giggle as they stepped through the ground bridge, both tugging excitedly at their carrier's arms. Starscream chuckled lightly, shaking his helm. "Slow down, Sweetsparks. There's no need to rush. The Autobots aren't going anywhere any time soon." He assured, having no trouble holding his two little ones back from running ahead. Soon enough, they passed through the other side of the gate, where Optimus stood waiting. The twins each gave a happy squeal, reaching their free servos out towards the towering mech. "Oppy! You play with us?" Dawnbreaker asked happily. Optimus let out a chuckle, happy to see the two of them had gotten better at pronouncing their th's and l's, but shook his head. "Perhaps another time, Dawnbreaker. Today, you will be playing with Bumblebee."
"Bee-Bee?" Knightfall asked, tilting his helm slightly to one side as he absentmindedly stuck one of his digits in his mouth. The two of them rarely got to play with Bumblebee, but now that Optimus had mentioned it the twins could remember their carrier saying something about spending the day with the young scout. They also remembered Starscream saying that Bumblebee was going to have a sparkling, just like Knock Out did a few months ago. That made the two toddlers excited, happy to be getting another playmate soon. Then again, they were told they couldn't play with Deadstop yet because he was still too little.
"Then you come play with us and Bee-Bee!" Knightfall decided, folding his little arms across his chestplates and nodding his helm. Optimus shook his helm. "I'm afraid I cannot. I have work that must be done. I promise I will play with both of you next time." He replied with a small smile. The two toddlers gave a small groan of defeat before being led away by their carrier.
Once the three were out of sight, Optimus made his way over to the main control console where Ratchet was standing. The medic glanced up at the Prime, noting the adoring smile still plastered across his face. He vented a sigh, immediately returning his attention to the screen ahead.
"No."
Starscream immediately made his way back towards the Autobot's barracks, coming to a stop in front of Bumblebee's quarters. The door opened as he approached, the young scout coming out to greet them. The twins let go of their carrier's servos to run forward, each hugging against one of the yellow Autobot's legs. "Bee-Bee!" they both squealed out, nuzzling their faceplates against his legs. Bumblebee gave the two a series of happy beeps, resting a servo on each of their helms. Dawnbreaker then reached up and gave the scout's swollen abdomen a light pat. "Baby kick?" he asked, staring up at the sports car with a small smile. Bumblebee shook his helm slightly. 'Nope. Sorry. I think he's recharging right now.'
Starscream couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he watched his sons interacting with Bumblebee. They were so excited to have children their own age to play with soon. "Alright, you two behave for Bumblebee. I'll be back to pick you up later." The Seeker said, to which the two toddlers immediately let out a groan. "You no stay and play?" Knightfall asked, a small pout forming on his lips. The jet vented a sigh, shaking his helm. "No, Sweetspark. Not today. I promised your Papa I'd… err… 'Play' with him today." He replied, his faceplates heating up a bit. Honestly, he just wanted to give Bumblebee a chance to get used to caring for young children before his own was born. Knightfall and Dawnbreaker had recently turned two, not exactly newborn sparklings, but they would be good practice for the expectant scout. Besides, it gave Starscream and Megatron a rare moment alone.
'It's okay, guys. I've got a few things planned for the three of us to do together. Do you two like coloring?' Bumblebee asked, using what seemed to be just the right words. The twins looked back up at the scout, a huge grin on each of their faces, their optics wide. "We get to color?" Dawnbreaker squealed out, bouncing on his pedes in excitement. The two of them loved coloring, but their parents would only let them as long as someone was watching them, afraid they'd start drawing on the walls or something. Starscream let out a soft chuckle, taking that opportunity to sneak away while he still could.
Bumblebee soon found himself sitting in the rec room on the large, Cybertronian sized couch as he watched Dawnbreaker and Knightfall. The twins were sitting on the floor with several large sheets of paper scattered between them, both quietly concentrating on their pictures. The scout smiled contently, letting a servo rest against his gestation chamber. If his own sparkling was as well behaved as these two, he'd have no problem being a good carrier. Suddenly, he felt a tug at his arm. He looked down to see Dawnbreaker standing in front of him, looking up at him expectantly. "Bee-Bee? What color he gonna be?" he asked, pointing a digit up towards the sports car's abdomen. Bumblebee blinked his optics in confusion. 'Ummm… I don't know yet. No one knows until he's born. Why?'
"Cause I drawing our family and I gotta draw him too!" the toddler replied, holding up the piece of paper he'd been working on. It was mostly vague scribbles, but Bumblebee could make out several familiar figures. He noticed there was a small gap between a blue bot with a black face and a yellow one with big blue optics. The scout almost had to fight to keep coolant from welling up in his optics. That was so sweet! 'Well, why don't you make him whatever color you want. I'm sure he won't mind if you don't get it just right.' Bumblebee whirred out softly, giving the toddler a pat on the helm.
"What color you want him be?" Dawnbreaker asked with a small smile. Bumblebee felt his faceplates heat up a bit. 'Oh, uhh… I'm not sure. I haven't really thought about it.' He replied hesitantly. It wasn't exactly the kind of question he was expecting. Still, the little mechling smiled up at the scout, bouncing on his pedes. "Cause Papa said if you wish reeeally hard, he look just like you want!" he giggled out happily, a huge grin spread on his face. Bumblebee couldn't help but stare down at the toddler. 'M-Megatron said that?' he asked in slight astonishment, to which the child nodded. "Uh huh! Papa said when we were in Mama's tummy he wished really hard that we would look like Mama, and he said we came out just like he wanted! Maybe it work for you!"
Bumblebee couldn't help but laugh at that. 'Oh really? In that case, I'm sure he'll turn out exactly how I want.' he replied, leaning down slightly so he could pull the little silver seekerling into a hug. At that point, Knightfall immediately jumped up from where he was sitting, running over to the couch and climbing up to sit on the other side of the scout. Bumblebee let out an amused chuckle, wrapping his free arm around the black seekerling as well. He'd almost forgotten he couldn't do anything with one without including the other.
"Umm... Bee-Bee? What his name?" Knightfall asked, staring up at the yellow sports car with curious optics. There was another question that he hadn't given much thought. He was still several months away from having the sparkling, but he hadn't thought of any names yet. He supposed he should talk it over with Soundwave soon. 'I don't know what I want to call him yet.' Bumblebee replied, running a servo over his enlarged abdomen. Knightfall rested his helm against the scout's gestation chamber as if trying to listen to the sparkling. "I think you call him Blurr."
Bumblebee was a bit caught off guard at that. 'Blurr?' he repeated, tilting his helm slightly. Knightfall looked up and gave him a quick nod. "Yeah! 'Cause you can go really fast! And when you go really fast, you kinda go all blurry. So, if you name him Blurr, maybe he go really fast too!" the toddler explained excitedly. The scout thought about that for a moment. Actually he kind of liked that. 'Tell you what… I'll talk to his Papa about it tonight. If he likes it, then I'll name him Blurr, okay?' he promised, hugging the little one close.
After a moment, the twins hopped down from the couch to back to their coloring. However, Bumblebee noticed something strange. 'Uhh… Dawnbreaker? What's that on your neck?' he asked hesitantly. Dawnbreaker looked back over his shoulder, trying to see what the scout was talking about. "What's what on my neck?" he asked, eventually spinning in a quick circle trying to catch up with whatever it is. The action made him dizzy, causing him to fall back on his aft. 'Just hold still.' Bumblebee said, making his way over to where the silver seekerling sat and kneeling down behind him. He tilted the child's helm forward and nearly offlined at what he saw.
There was a single wire hanging down out of the back of Dawnbreaker's helm. How in the Pit did that happen? He hadn't done anything to get himself hurt! He was just coloring for Primus' sake! How was he supposed to explain this to Starscream? He had to get this fixed before the commander got back, and he needed someone that would be just as terrified to tell the twins' carrier as he was to do it. Needless to say, Ratchet was out of the question. Bumblebee immediately scooped the two toddlers up into his arms, sprinting for the ground bridge controls.
Knock Out let out a moan, arching his body against the medberth below him. "Ahh! Breakdown!" he cried out, his servos gripping tightly at the edges of the berth. "Nhh! Faster, babe! Faster!"
"Hey, you promised you'd keep your voice down. You're gonna wake Deadstop up…" Breakdown whispered into his mate's audio sensor, though his warning was mostly drowned out by a loud groan of pleasure from the doctor. He lifted his aft further up in the air, forcing his partner harder down against him. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh Primus yes!" he shouted, trembling underneath the larger mech's sturdy form. Suddenly, the door to the medbay flew open, causing the two to freeze in place in shock as the Autobot scout dashed in.
'Knock Out! I need your help! I-' Bumblebee stopped himself mid-sentence, his optics widening slightly. Unfortunately, it was one of the young mechlings he carried in his arms that spoke next. "Breaky? What you doing to Knock Out?" Knightfall asked curiously. Breakdown immediately hid his handheld buffer behind his back, his faceplates quickly heating up. "U-umm… Nothing…" the larger mech mumbled out, averting his optic away from the three younger ones. Meanwhile, Knock Out let out a groan of disappointment, still clinging tightly to the medberth with his aft lifted unflatteringly up in the air as if waiting for his mate to start polishing his back again. "It just couldn't last…" he grumbled out.
Of course, as if on cue, a sparkling's crying began ringing throughout the medbay. Knock Out vented a sigh, getting up and making his way over to the infant's berth that had been set up off to the side. He returned a moment later with Deadstop curled up in one arm, holding a small bottle of energon against the now content sparkling's lips. "Alright Bee, what is it?" the doctor asked softly, though there was a distinct hint of impatience in his voice. He couldn't see why the scout hadn't gone to Ratchet instead of him. Sure, old Hatchet wasn't as talented, or smart, or as good looking as himself, but it hardly seemed worth the extra trip for the yellow mech to come all the way to the Nemesis. Bumblebee immediately set the twins down on the medberth. 'Fix him! Fix him fix him fix him!' he squeaked out nervously, pointing a shaky digit towards Dawnbreaker.
Knock Out arched a brow plate before turning his attention to the silver seekerling. The toddler immediately let out an excited giggle, holding up a piece of paper for the doctor to see. "Lookie!" he squealed out, a huge grin spreading across his face. Knock Out vented a sigh, but gave the child a small smile. "That's very good, Dawn." He began before shifting his attention back to Bumblebee. "So… Why did you need to interrupt me again?" he asked, his optics narrowing as if to say he'd better have a damn good excuse. The scout gave a few impatient beeps before turning Dawnbreaker around so that his back faced the doctor.
"Oh Primus! What happened?" he gasped out, quickly passing Deadstop to his mate so he could better work with the injured toddler. 'I don't know! He was just sitting there with me and I saw it sticking out of his helm!' Bumblebee beeped out nervously. Knock Out leaned down to get a better look at the wire, but didn't want to touch it, afraid it would hurt the child. "U-umm… Does it hurt, sweetie?" he asked hesitantly, to which Dawnbreaker shook his helm. The action nearly made Knock Out's spark stop. "No no no no! Don't do that!" he squeaked out hastily, holding the child's helm still.
Unfortunately, before he could begin examining the boy, he heard the door to the medbay open again. "Breakdown, since it sounds like you're finally done with your mate, Megatron left some nasty scratches on my wings that I'd like you to buff out for me if you could." Starscream announced as he made his way over to the group. Suddenly, he froze, noting the yellow sports car trying to hide behind Knock Out. "Mama! Lookie!" Dawnbreaker called out, trying to hold up his picture so his carrier could see it past Breakdown. The Seeker felt his faceplates heat up, feeling slightly embarrassed for having said what he did in front of his sons. Not that they understood what it meant...
Breakdown immediately moved to the side as Starscream made his way forward, not wanting to be caught in the middle of the commander's wrath while holding his infant son. The Seeker came to a stop in front of the silver seekerling, a soft smile spreading across his lips. "Aww, did you draw that all on your own? That's very good!" he praised, giving the toddler a small kiss on the forehelm. Dawnbreaker gave a giggle. "Uh huh! And Knightfall did a picture too!" he said, turning towards his brother to see if he brought his along. The other three adults froze, watching as Starscream clearly noticed the wire hanging out of the child's helm.
Rather than exploding in anger as they expected, the Seeker calmly reached out, grabbing Dawnbreaker by the waist and pulling him back. "Hold still, Sweetspark. This might hurt a little…" he mumbled out, tilting the toddler's head forward. He then slipped a slender digit up the back of the seekerling's helm. After a moment, Dawnbreaker let out a small yelp of discomfort as many more silver cords dropped down out of his helm. 'Ah! What'd you do?' Bumblebee squeaked out, flailing his arms in a panic. Starscream arched a brow plate at the scout. "What do you mean? They're just data transfer cords, like the ones Soundwave has. They're only a different type." The Seeker explained as he pulled Knightfall over and repeating the process on him, dislodging the twenty or so long thin cords from where they were stuck on the inside of his helm. The other three could only stare for a moment.
"Wait… You knew those were there?" Knock Out asked, still somewhat in shock. Starscream gave him a casual shrug of his shoulders. "No, not really. Cords like these run in my family, but it likes to skip a generation or two every now and then. I was starting to wonder if they'd get them, but looks like they just got caught on the inside of their helms. Honestly, it's because they have their sire's helm. If they had my helm, they'd have just grown out normally and wouldn't have gotten tangled up like that." Starscream replied as he ran his digits through Knightfall's cords, trying to get them to lay as neatly as possible down the toddler's back. The little black seekerling let out a soft whine of protest, not liking how his carrier tugged at the wires. Bumblebee stared for a moment, his door wings fluttering nervously. 'So... I didn't break one of his neck cables?' he asked. The Seeker let out a scoff. "Oh no, no... He'd be screaming right now if you had." he replied, giving the scout a dismissive wave of his servo.
Starscream then turned his attention back towards his two little ones, who were still curiously examining their new features. "Alright boys, Mama's got a new rule; no pulling each other's cords. Okay?" he said, to which the twins both nodded their helms. Their carrier smiled down at them. "Good! Then let's go tell your sire before he thinks you've been broken too." He added mostly to himself before scooping them up and carrying them out. The other three stood there for a long while, just staring at the door. Soon enough, though…
"What in the Pit happened?" came Megatron's bellowing voice from down the hall, causing Bumblebee to flinch. Knock Out came up behind the expectant scout, resting a servo on his shoulder. "Down the hallway, second door on the right. I'll have Soundwave meet you there." He whispered softly into the yellow Autobot's audio sensor, to which he meekly nodded his helm. The doctor smirked as he watched Bumblebee make his way out of the medbay. He knew the best medicine for such a stressful day would be for him to have a quiet moment with his lover.