Protectors Of The Young.
Chapter Six.
Ratchet found himself unable to move, transfixed by the sight in front of him. He watched as Thrust lowered the sparkling until she was directly above his mouth, and flicked his glossa over her to clean off some of the energon.
Then the sparkling wriggled - and laughed.
The sound startled Ratchet out of his frozen state, but still he did not move. The sparkling was still alive, but Ratchet feared that could change if he startled the clearly insane Seeker. He had to work out a way to get the remaining sparkling to safety, but how? Even if he called in Skywarp, there was no guarantee the other Seeker could take the little femme to safety, especially if Thrust had a firm grip on her.
As Thrust continued to lick the sparkling clean, Ratchet's practiced medic's optics scanned her body, and that's when he realised that despite the large volume of energon in evidence, not only did the sparkling Thrust was holding appeared to be uninjured, but there was no sign that the other three had even been there. No fragments of limbs or armour, no wires or shredded metal. He was missing something somewhere. Taking the risk of scanning the almost-clean sparkling, who clicked and whirred as Thrust turned her to clean her other side, Ratchet found no sign of damage or injury.
It was at this point that the Seeker spotted the medic, turning his head to look at him. Ratchet smiled in a reassuring way, holding out his arms.
"Don't you think it's time the little one got some recharge?" he asked, hoping he would not be provoking the Seeker to violence.
"Um - Ratchet, hi, sorry about the mess." Thrust said, shifting the sparkling to a shoulder as he slid back along the floor to a drier bit. It was then that Ratchet saw what the Seeker's body had been obscuring - the energon dispenser on the floor, its thick glass cracked right the way around.
Abruptly all the evidence pointed to a far less sinister sequence of events. Ratchet stooped, and dipped a finger in the energon, licking it. His glossa's sensors confirmed that it was pure distilled energon, not the diluted stuff that comprised a mech's circulatory fluid. Although none of this explained the missing winglets, Thrust's mental state was no longer so suspect, so Ratchet felt it was safe to ask Thrust about them.
"Thrust, where are the three winglets that were in the cots earlier? Firefly, Pulsar and Lightning?" he asked.
"Oh, the Command Trine came by and said they were taking them up for a flight," Thrust said as he finished licking the sparkling clean. "They'll probably be back soon."
Ratchet gestured at the dispenser.
"What happened here?"
"I misjudged the clearance of my wing while swinging away and it caught the dispenser. It fell before I could catch it." he said. "As I bent to check the damage, this little one wriggled out of my arm and started rolling about in the mess. She wanted to play and I saw no harm in it." He looked over as the sparkling wriggled in his grip again. "She certainly doesn't look ready to recharge."
"That should have been securely hooked to the wall," Ratchet said. "It's removeable so they can be filled and exchanged. I guess I need to devise a more secure method of fastening them."
At that moment, the three Seekers of the Command Trine entered, each carrying their own sparkling in their hands, cooing to them and nuzzling them. They stopped short when they saw Thrust, who had got to his feet and was carefully stepping out of the pool of energon. Ratchet got the special suction device designed for such spills out and began cleaning up the spillage. He could not leave energon lying around, it was corrosive to humans and slippery for everybody!
Thrust wandered over to Starscream, pausing to stroke his sparkling, explaining to him what had happened: the other three Seekers nodded. Then Thrust turned once again to Ratchet.
"Can I take this one up for a flight? I won't take too long."
"Yes." said Ratchet, looking up from where he was finishing the cleaning job with a special sponge. "Prime might be interested to know if his sparkling is okay with flying and heights." he said distractedly. "Go ahead but be careful."
Thrust went out with the sparkling in his arms, explained to Ironhide at the gate that he was taking her for a flight, with permission from Ratchet.
"Like the Command Trine, I have taken the oath and sealed it with energon," he told the suspicious Autobot. "Check with Ratchet if you don't believe me."
Nodding, Ironhide dropped the forceful and opened the gate, allowing the Seeker to exit.
"You be careful with Terraprima." Ironhide cautioned him as he went out. "We're all fond of her."
Thrust stepped out, cradling the precious femme sparkling carefully, holding her to his canopy as he leaped into the air and began to fly. He flew up high before changing course. He knew that neither Ironhide nor Ratchet would have let him out if they knew what he was planning, but he wouldn't let the sparkling come to harm.
However, he could not hold out on his wingbrothers.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Thrust landed lightly outside the Decepticon Base, and headed for the gate. A quick com ascertained that Barricade was on gate duty, and Barricade let him in, looking with unreserved curiosity at the little femme who had gone to sleep in the crook of Thrust's arm.
"Good to see you back, Thrust. Your wingbrothers have been fretting, you should go and tell them you are well. Where did you get the sparkling?"
"This little femme is the offspring of Optimus Prime. She's called Terraprima. Isn't she cute?"
Barricade grinned, flexing his clawed fingers in anticipation.
"Well done, Thrust, give her to me and I'll take her to Soundwave. She will provide excellent leverage against the Autobots, especially if we make her…uncomfortable…while she is on-screen." He reached out his hands, flexing his fingers again, his eyes glinting with malice.
Thrust moved so suddenly that it was with some surprise that Barricade felt a hand grab him around the neck, and felt his feet leave the ground as the Seeker hoisted him and shoved him up against a wall, his feet flailing twenty feet above the ground. He looked down at Thrust's face, and the fury in the Seeker's optics generated a feeling Barricade had felt only rarely.
Fear.
"Touch this sparkling, Barricade, and I will let you live only just long enough to regret it," Thrust said in a low, menacing tone of voice. "I will protect this sparkling with my own life if need be, and do not think this is an idle threat: I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe."
Barricade felt the hand release him, and he dropped to the floor, staring up at Thrust in shock. Thrust had not finished, however: when he knew he had Barricade's attention, he continued to speak.
"If anything you tell anyone else, or anything you do brings the threat of danger to this sparkling, you and I will take a flight over the deepest part of the geological formation the fleshling natives call the 'Grand Canyon.'" He paused. "For you, such a journey will be strictly one-way. Have I made myself quite clear, Barricade?"
"Affirmative." Barricade answered, still staring at Thrust.
Apparently satisfied, Thrust walked off. Barricade began to compose a com to Soundwave, but then remembered Thrust's threat, and deleted it.
Soundwave did not need to know about this just yet, did he?
oOo oOO oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Thrust reflected later that he was probably just unlucky. He had guessed that the passageway to his and his wing brother's quarters would not be clear, but he managed to traverse the corridor with less resistance than he anticipated, as people looked up and scooted to one side or the other. He briefly wondered if something about his optics or stride was telling the others to get out of his way, but did not question it further.
He didn't think to look at where the other mechs' optics fell, or he might have noticed that they were focused not on him, but ten feet behind him. He was totally unaware of the other until he was just ten feet from his wing brothers' door, which was when the other spoke.
"Thrust-returned. Sparkling:show."
He would know that voice anywhere, it was unique. It also belonged to the only mech who could read his mind and know what he carried in his arm before he turned to face him. He hoped it would not come down to battle, because with a sparkling in his arms, he would be hampered, both by movement and by trying to keep the sparkling from harm.
Even so unencumbered, Thrust knew that he'd be hard-pressed in a fight against Soundwave.