Man, I am having a sensory overload right now. The teachers just keep piling on the homework! UGH! DX FFFUUUUU-! But I was able to keep sane by doing a bit of writing throughout the week.
But anyway, this starts off in Optimus's POV. The new sparkling will bet getting introduced to the kids and Optimus isn't exactly keen on that.
Hope you like it!
I gazed up at Ratchet, almost pleading with the medic to keep me hidden from the children. There was no telling how the young humans would react to my... new appearance. Ratchet merely looked back at me, optics telling me that I was going to see the children whether I liked it or not. I slumped in his arms, allowing myself to nestle closer to his chest plates.
"I will be seeing them now, I suppose." I ignored the snickers I heard from Bulkhead and turned my helm to look at Arcee, who was smiling gently at me. I had not seen that sort of smile on her face before. There was a deep sense of protectiveness emanating from that smile and I saw her optics soften considerably. The expression made me feel safe from harm.
"I'm never going to get over the way he's talking right now." Bulkhead chuckled. I frowned, reminded of the glitch in my CPU. I know I am speaking in a broken child-English but my CPU is not registering the language glitch as a problem. As of now I can only hear my usual English. The others seemed to take my frown as a saddened pout.
"Hey, don't look so sad. Being a sparkling can't be that bad," Bumblebee beeped from beside Ratchet, who was still holding me. I am sure that I will not enjoy it. I do not like the concept of being dependent on my team for virtually everything I need. This war was a burden enough and having their leader transformed into a sparkling without a means of returning me back to my original form can only make things worse for all of them. My frown grew deeper, knowing how difficult it is to care for a sparkling. Bumblebee buzzed, gaining my attention.
"Come on, little guy. Don't look like that." The youngling beeped in a strange way that, for a reason I do not know, made me laugh. Ratchet seemed to take this an invitation. Grinning, he moved me into the crook of his right arm and used left servo to give me the worst tickle session in my entire existence. I laughed and chirped harder, shifting in a vain attempt to escape Ratchet's tickling, never noticing the children walking into the room.
...Jack's POV...
The three of us walked into the well lit main room to see all the bots gathered around Ratchet. Huh. It looks like he's holding something, but Bulkhead's blocking the way. Miko ran up to stand by Bulkhead's feet and stared up, trying to see what was going on. I'm kinda curious, too. Arcee's almost never that interested in anything. And Bumblebee looked like he was going to melt in happiness. Raf and I exchanged looks and spotted Wheeljack standing a bit off to the side. He had this guilty look on his face. And what is that chirping noise?
"Hey, guys. What's going on?" Raf looked up at Bumblebee, who had barely acknowledged him. He was too busy doing something with Ratchet.
"What's that you're holding, Doc Bot?" Miko asked loudly. The other bots sort of just looked around at each other.
"Well, you're holding him, Ratchet. " I gave a confused look at Bulkhead's remark. 'Him'? What was he talking about? Ratchet sighed in frustration and stepped forwards. I gasped.
"Whoa! Arcee had a kid!" Miko exclaimed. I facepalmed, sighing into my hand. Arcee didn't come across to me as someone who wanted a kid, let alone have one. Arcee glared hard at Miko. Not surprising that she ignored the look. I focused my attention on the little, giggling transformer in Ratchet's arms. Bumblebee was practically leaning over the little transformer, tickling him in the stomach. His plating was red, silver and blue and he had a silver and black crest on his helm. His helm also had stubby ear finials... I gasped again louder this time.
"Is that who I think it is?" I managed to get out. Ratchet nodded.
"Yes, it is. This sparkling is our leader, Optimus Prime." If my jaw wasn't attached to me, it would have already hit the floor by now. How in the world did that even happen? How the heck was that even possible?!
"But... how?" Raf beat me to the question and we both stared at the little bot. He happened to look over at us and immediately turned his head away and pressed against Ratchet. The ambulance rolled his optics and made this weird clicking noise at the bot he was carrying. The little red and blue bot in his arms reluctantly looked back at us. His optics looked enormous and shone brightly.
"To make a long story short: an invention gone wrong." Wheeljack shrugged. I gave him a confused look. He was an inventor, too? Must've been one heck of a project to do that to Optimus. There is a lot I don't know about that guy.
Ratchet crouched down and gently placed the little bot down on ground in front of us. He tried to stand up on his feet but fell back down, unable to keep his balance. Jesus, he was tiny. He's only a bit taller than Raf! He got a really cute, frustrated look on his face as he tried, and failed, to stand up again. I approached him cautiously, like I had once to a scared kitten I found in my backyard. I have no idea if he's still, you know, there and not just a baby. If he's not, then I might scare him. If he is, then he might recognize me. I crouched down so that I was eye level with him. I could feel all eyes and optics on us as the room got really quiet. The little transformer had managed to steady himself on his feet when he looked at me and jumped back a bit, falling back on his butt. I stayed where I was. He probably didn't notice me coming towards him.
"Hey, little guy." It felt so weird calling Optimus 'little guy'. The guy was, what, three stories high? Well, normally, anyway. The huge optics continued to stare at me.
"You remember me?"
His reaction surprised me completely. He actually raised his optic ridge at me. "Course I do. You Jack." His voice had surprised me more, though. For some strange reason, I expected that even, baritone voice I'm used to hearing from Optimus. But then again, if I hear a deep voice like that coming out of a baby, I'm going home and staying there.
"Awww, his voice is SO cute!" Miko squealed. She raced over to him. It made it no better that Optimus was talking like a little kid.
"So, what's it feel like to be tiny? I bet is sucks, you usually being the biggest bot here. Hey, what..." Miko threw question after question at little Optimus. After a few seconds, he looked like he was going to get upset. He probably can't help acting like a little kid, either. I stepped in for her sake. I can see Arcee glaring daggers at her.
"Miko, that's enough. You're gonna make him cry."
"Okay, but I've got one question. Can you say my name? Please?" The Japanese girl's eyes sparkled as she stared into Optimus's large optics.
"...Mee... Meeko." Everyone laughed at his slightly strained response. Even Ratchet had a hard time holding it in. Knowing he was getting laughed at, Optimus crossed his arms over his little chest and tried to look frustrated as he sat on the floor. It just turned out looking down right cute.
Raf walked over to little Optimus and sat in front of him. "Can you say my name?"
"Raf." He said in a young child's voice. I smiled slightly and looked up at Ratchet. I bet he knows the whole story.
"What exactly turned him into a baby-err, sparkling?"
"Wheeljack was trying to create something called a stasis grenade. It was charged with a very high amount of energy, meant to knock a mech into stasis for a certain amount of time. It malfunctioned and went off, causing the explosion we all heard earlier. The energy traveled to the wrong section of his CPU, or brain, and kicked his healing systems into overdrive. They repaired him to the point of effectively reversing the aging process. You need to find away to fix this, Wheeljack. Otherwise, you'll be in very deep slag." Ratchet sent a heated glare over at the white Wrecker, who gave him a cool, innocent smile.
"So who's gonna watch Lil Boss Bot?" Bulkhead asked. Bumblebee buzzed immediately, getting an arched eyebrow from Arcee.
"Do you even know how to take care of a sparkling?"
Bumblebee turned to her, buzzed and beeping at a faster pace. There was an almost accusign toen in his voice as he beeped at my guardian. Arcee responded, putting her hands on her hips.
"I probably know about that than you do."
I sighed, shaking my head. Arcee isn't going to back down anytime soon.
...Optimus's POV...
I sat on the floor and watched Bumblebee and Arcee argue about who would watch over me. Soon Ratchet joined, stating firmly that he knows the most about the care of sparklings. Bulkhead tried in vain to keep the peace. I could no longer understand anyone fully anymore. It started to escalate and I did not approve of any of it. I was normally the peace keeper in the team, but, I know I am in no place to assume that position. I could feel the childish emotions start to overcome me yet again. I could not have such discord over me. There on the floor I decided to end it the way my strengthened, child instincts told me.
"Waaaaaah!"
I quietly cried, effectively ending all the arguments. I quickly picked up from the floor and pressed against a warm chassis. I looked up to see Ratchet cooing gently at me, rocking me from side to side. Eventually, my crying stopped. Much to my surprise, I was not in the slightest bit embarrassed about the display. Ratchet glared up at the rest of the bots in the room as soon as I had calmed down.
"We will all take shifts. All of us except Wheeljack, who will be working on a way to get our leader back to normal." Arcee came over and took me from Ratchet's arms and held me protectively. Ratchet turned to Bumblebee and Bulkhead.
"You two, take the children home." It was already late in the day, and I am certain that their parents (and host parents) are concerned. Bumblebee nodded and transformed, opening his doors. Miko groaned in annoyance, but put up no further protest and waited for her guardian to collapse down to his vehicular mode. I stared as Jack and Rafael climbed into Bumblebee, bags in hand. I continued to watch from Arcee's arms as Bulkhead and Bumblebee sped out of the base.
"He is kinda cute," Wheeljack commented. I turned my head to gaze at the Wrecker, who had moved to stand in front of Arcee and look down at me. Arcee gently pulled my fingers out of my mouth. When had I started chewing on them?
"Don't chew on your fingers, Optimus. You don't know what's on them." Arcee scolded. Ratchet laughed, apparently amused at the sight of my being scolded by someone other than him. The medic did plenty of scolding when any one of us came back from battle, sporting wounds that he believes could have been avoided.
"Arcee, since you seem to take such a liking to the new sparkling, you will have the first shift. Tomorrow morning, report immediately to my medbay so I can give him a checkup." With that, Ratchet headed towards his tools, hissing a threat that I'd rather not repeat here at Wheeljack. The Wrecker held his servos up in surrender.
"Alright, I get the point! Ya don't need to be so violent with those wrenches!"
Ratchet never looked away from his tools, picking up his favorite throwing wrench and cleaning it. "No, I don't need to. But it seems to be the only effective way to get a point across to you bots."
"Whatever you say, Doc." Arcee turned and left down the hall carrying me as Ratchet hurled his wrench at the Wrecker, giving him a huge dent on the side of the helm. Ratchet threw all of his wrenches, but he liked to throw that particular one since it was rather heavy. No one was spared from the wrath of the wrench when Ratchet was angry, not even I.
"I don't think giving Wheeljack CPU damage is going to make him work any faster. Don't you agree?" Arcee smiled down at me. I never answered her question, but looked around. We are heading towards Arcee's quarters. She seemed to get the hint as I shifted uncomfortably in her arms.
"Did you really think I was going to let you stay in your room alone? You may still be Optimus, but you're also a sparkling. And stop trying to eat your fingers."
I took my digits out of my mouth as we reached Arcee's door. The moment she opened it, I realized I was the only bot to ever be allowed in her room. Not even Cliffjumper was allowed in her quarters. For a long time, Arcee was afraid to get close to someone for fear of losing them like she had Cliffjumper and Tailgate. She is still reluctant to become attached to Jack, especially since she is aware of just how much in danger he is the moment he is around us bots. Her affection towards me is a sort I had never seen from her before. Perhaps my current state reminded her of the days before the war, of a time when sparklings and younglings could run and play freely without worry.
I pressed closer to the warmth of her beating spark. I, along with the rest of us wish for those days to return. The war seems to have gone on forever and there looks to be no end. But, what has a beginning, also has an end.
This war will end. I am sure of it.
Arcee set me down on her berth and stepped back to look me in the optics. "You stay right here. I'm going to get some energon for you." The stern look on her faceplates got the message across as I sat there. She turned and the room, but not without taking a last glance at me. Once she was gone, I observed my surroundings. Her room was plain. There was a desk and chair in the corner of the room. There were a number of datapads on her desk and a few were fixed onto the wall. On one of those datapads was a picture of Bumblebee, Tailgate and Arcee standing and smiling in the streets of Iacon.
I looked away. It was those memories of times past that hurt you the most in this war. But... it is also those memories that drive us all forward. We all want to relive those memories and we all will fight for a brighter future.
Feeling recharge creep steadily into my processor, I lay down on my side and curled up. This day has certainly proved to be interesting. My change has yielded some rather interesting results. However, I can only hope that the Decepticons do not find out about this. Megatron will undoubtedly take advantage of my current vulnerability. I shuttered my optics, surrendering to the pull of recharge, under the hard white light shining down on Arcee's padded berth.
Hopefully, it will not take Wheeljack long to correct this issue.
...Agent Fowler's POV: Next Morning...
I sighed as I watched the skies in the cockpit of my F-35. I'm starting to lose my touch. Missed a field report from Prime. And if I don't get that report ASAP, I'll have to deal with more paperwork than the massive load I already get from the military. Plus, I could get into major trouble with the higher-ups. Even with the knowledge that the Autobots are more than capable of taking care of themselves, they still feel that the bots need to be watched. In my mind, that's completely ridiculous. The Autobots would never do anything against mankind. I've got Prime's word on that. But... I get paid to do my job, not question the authorities.
I circled around the air strip by the Autobot outpost and landed smoothly. I climbed out of the cockpit and headed for the door nearby. I walked down the well-lit halls and reached the small elevator door. Once inside, I pushed to button leading down to the bottom floor. Hopefully nothing out of the ordinary happened. With the 'Cons. That just meant more paperwork for me.
The elevator stopped and its doors opened. I arched an eyebrow. This was strange. As far as I know the bots don't pay that much attention to Ratchet. They were all staring at something he was holding, but I couldn't see what it was since the ambulance had his back to me. Same with the children. Reminding myself that today was a Saturday (so I should expect the kids to be here at theis time of day), I walked left the elevator and walked towards the railing.
"Would someone mind telling me what's going on here?" Everyone turned and looked at me at the sound of my voice. Ratchet turned around as well, letting me see exactly what he was holding.
I raised my eyebrows. He was holding a small cube of energon in one hand and was feeding a baby transformer in the other! The baby had his eyes closed and was clutching the sides of the energon cube in Ratchet's hand, bringing it closer to his face.
"Who decided to settle down and have a kid?" I glared at all of the bots in the room. Bumblebee's doorwings hitched in embarrassment, while Arcee and Bulkhead gave me an incredulous look.
"As nice of a scenario that may be, no one here did." Ratchet answered. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Then whose kid is he?" If he's here, where are his parents? And how did the Autobots get him? Rafael walked up to me while I thought through a million different answers to these questions.
"Agent Fowler, does he look familiar to you?"
"No, why?"
"...Well, look at him a bit harder." Thinking of nothing else I could do, I stared hard at the kid in Ratchet's arms. His plating was red, blue and silver and there were stubby finials on the sides of his helm. My eyes widened in shock.
"Is that Prime?!" And at that instant, the little bot's eyes snapped open to see me.
So... How was that, you guys? I've never done Fowler's POV before, so I don't really know how I did on that. I wanna thank all those who reviewed to previous chapter. I didn't expect so many people to like this one.
In the next chapter, Arcee's going to take her shift watching sparkling Optimus. But being a sparkling, who knows what's going to happen. See you then!
P.S. Can someone tell me where the whole idea of Ratchet throwing wrenches at people came from? I tried looking, but nothing has been giving me any straight answers.