It was a fight just to get the younglings to go through the GroundBridge. Voltage insisted that no one could be behind them, having declared to the others that they couldn't trust their saviors quite yet, and Nova unconditionally refused to allow Ratchet to be anywhere near the femme, claiming that it would send her into another fit, while Cypher stood rooted to the spot, looking like a lost turbofox kit. Finally, Arcee convinced the rest of the Autobots to allow the younglings to follow behind them and trust that they wouldn't simply run away.
Once they arrived at the outpost, a whistle came from behind them, and they turned to see Cypher gawking at the equipment, Nova staring up at the high ceilings, and Voltage kneeling to pick up Miko's abandoned guitar.
Bulkhead grabbed her wrist, his optics hard. "Don't touch that," he growled.
Obligingly, she set the guitar back down. She flexed her back, rotating her shoulder joints with a pained expression on her faceplate. Her narrow, slanted optics offlined as she stretched, and she laced her digits together. Upon noticing the Autobots watching her, she demanded, "What? I haven't had room to exercise my joints in forever, sue me."
"We'd been kept in that- that box for weeks when you found us," Cypher added, touching her arm to indicate that she should relax.
"Those fraggers refused to give us energon unless we begged for it, and even then it was only scraps." Nova was shaking as he recalled what the humans had done. His servos shifted into plasma blasters, and he looked around wildly, expecting to see the black-clad MECH soldiers surrounding him.
Ratchet started over to him, but Voltage stepped in the way, a low, threatening rumble emanating from her engine. She set her jaw and held her arms out to block his view of the mech. Her optics narrowed further as he tried to step around her, and she seemed to be about one moment from throwing herself at the medic. "Stay away!" She pushed at his chestplate, struggling just to make him stagger back a step.
Picking her up and setting her aside, Ratchet tutted at her.
Although she started howling again, she didn't activate her weapons systems, instead electing to slash at him with her clawed digits. She darted around him and tackled Nova to the ground, keeping him pinned under her while she snarled and puffed out her armor.
Cypher rolled up behind her, put his servos over her optics, and began to hum soothingly. He jerked his helm at the exit, amber optics wide behind their visor. Once Ratchet complied, moving so that he was hidden behind a wall, he uncovered her optics and started running his digits up and down in the gap between the wheels positioned between her shoulders. "Shh, Volts, he's gone. Okay? He's gone now, see?"
"I can still smell him."
Nova squirmed underneath the femme, pushing her off of him. "You were crushing my wings." He clambered to his pedes and turned his head to examine his wings, which were indeed a bit crushed. His expression soured. "Now I'll never be able to find out if I can actually fly."
"Wait, you don't know?" Arcee stared at him, incredulous. How could a flier not know if they were capable of flight? Unless… he'd never transformed before. No, that was a ridiculous thought. She shook her helm to dispel it, muttering under her breath that of course he'd transformed before; he was clearly almost an adult.
"I just- I can't remember." Nova scrambled to recover. He sighed. "It's been so long…"
Heavy, thundering footsteps echoed about the outpost, and as the Autobots turned around, they took a collective step back upon seeing that it was their leader. Optimus towered over them, his faceplate creased with what appeared to be confusion. "Have you located the children?"
"Optimus," Arcee began, gesturing to the younglings, "this is Nova, Voltage, and Cypher." She cycled her vents heavily and steeled herself to deliver the news. It wasn't working. "When we arrived at the last MECH base, we found them instead of our kids. And… And we learned that MECH had killed Jack, Miko, and Raf months ago."
Optimus offlined his optics, bowing his head regretfully. Finally, he looked back up. "We will not allow this turn of events to keep us from our mission, though we mourn the loss of our young friends deeply."
There was silence for a moment before Nova hissed, "That's it?" He had started to shake again, gritting his denta. Immediately, Voltage and Cypher were beside him, steadying him. "That's it? Those humans murdered children in cold blood, and all you do is talk about it? What kind of protectors are you that you won't take out MECH for what they've done?" His voice had risen to an angered shriek, and he pushed his companions aside, stalking up to Optimus and standing on the tips of his pedes with crimson optics aflame.
"Peace, Nova." Optimus placed a servo on the young mech's shoulder guard, which only served to anger him more.
"Don't fragging tell me to calm down, Prime!" Nova screeched. He batted Optimus' servo away, wings twitching in agitation as he continued, "Your friends—the children you were supposed to take care of, for Primus' sake—were murdered, and the only thing you do is say you 'mourn their loss deeply.' Fragging pathetic!" He poked at the much larger mech's chestplate, his clawed digit leaving a scratch across the glossy finish.
Ever patient, Optimus merely allowed the youngling to burn out his anger before rumbling, "We are not the kind for revenge, young one. That is the way of Megatron, not of the Autobots."
And then Nova broke down in hysterics. He nearly doubled over laughing as the others looked on. "We saw your kids as they were dying, and they begged us to kill MECH because you never came for them."
Cypher's optics narrowed, and his expression suddenly seemed to turn vicious. "The little one was cursing up a storm, screaming that he never should have trusted you to rescue them."
Bumblebee whirred, horrified that Raf would lose faith in him so quickly. He threw his servos up and left the hub of the base, his footsteps hurried and staggered. He had to get out of here; hearing any more would make him physically sick.
"The girl cried her poor little heart out, saying that she wanted her parents—that she wanted to be back in Japan," Voltage snarled, her blue optics murderous. She strode up to Bulkhead, placing her servo flat on his chestplate and shoving with all her might. "And in the end, she hated you because you did nothing to save her."
"Miko would never-" The green mech broke off, coolant welling in his optics. He shook his helm, unable to do more than that.
"And what about Jack?" Arcee had to stop herself from rushing Nova and shaking him until he gave her an answer.
Nova's laughter quieted down, and he gave her a wolfish smile. "He said he wished he had really left that day, because he wanted to kill you for dragging him into this stupid war."
AN: Optimus is freaking hard to write. He's not that expressive either in his words or in his actions, so it doesn't mesh with my writing style that well.