Author's note. Well, I certainly updated quicker this time, lol.
Suggestions are welcome.
Enjoy and please review.
When Skywarp woke up, he felt nothing was wrong. There was a message on his internal comm. but he didn't think he needed to view it straight away, it wasn't marked as 'read this or be scrapped'. He sat up, stretched widely, flexing his powerful wings, full of energy for he day's events. Of course, his first thought was of his beloved Sparklings, who judging by his quarters silence, were still recharging.
Because of this, he decided to have a cube of Energon so that he could then concentrate on them once they were awake. Normally, he'd go to the Rec Room as he liked to socialise but always had a few cubes handy just in case something came up. He'd take his Sparklings to the Rec Room but wanted to really focus on them without compromising his own energy levels.
Pleased by this stroke of logic, he brought out a decent sized cube of Energon and started gulping it down. As he did this, he reviewed ideas for what he could do with his Sparklings, he wanted to keep them happy and entertained. Maybe someday they could on a field trip on his cycle off, visit some of this area's attractions.
Of course, they'd need to make sure the Autobots didn't try and take his Sparklings but this shouldn't be too hard. All the needed was Prime's word and everything would be fine, besides, Starscream would be able to join them. Skywarp wondered how his Trine leader was getting on but he wasn't too worried.
Prime had behaved absolutely fine with Starscream when they had their day at the beach, probably the only thing Starscream would be missing out of was the company of other Sparklings. It was such a shame this War prevented more bots from having them but that was just the way things were.
He hummed as he looked over another data pad full of fun locations for his Sparklings, Soundwave had given them to him. He thanked his lucky stars that Soundwave had kids, it made things a lot easier when he wasn't sure of stuff, and he could just ask Soundwave. He could be cold but he did always give good advice.
"Sunnyside Park," Skywarp murmured softly, taking a big gulp of Energon. "Wide open grassy hills, ponds, dapple wood, sounds good."
He looked thoughtfully at the details for a few more minutes before putting the pad down and gulping the rest of his Energon down. Seekers preferred to drink their Energon fast to induce a quicker energy burst, they needed it to fly. As soon as he'd finished his cube, he was ready for action, one reason why Seekers made good parents.
He was now ready to wake and greet his beautiful Sparklings, the day was wearing on. Their bedroom was dark as he crept in, he wanted to admire them sleeping first. All his little Mechs were sound asleep, Skyfire was even snuggling with Ratchet. He reached down and tickled Ironhide, saying softly.
"Time to wake up my dears."
"Mmm," Ironhide grumbled, rolling over onto his front, a gesture that he had no intentions of getting up.
Skywarp just chuckled, once the others were up, Ironhide would be getting up soon enough. He seemed to hate missing any action that was going on. Skywarp now walked over to his Femme's cot and that's when he got a shock. Chromia was in there happily sleeping away, but Elita...wasn't.
"Lita?" he said, worry entering his tone as he searched the cot but she definitely wasn't there.
He started searching under both cots and then the rest of the room but she wasn't there at all. He started to panic, where had his beautiful pink Femling gone? He started to call her name but there was no answer. However, it did cause the rest of the Sparklings to wake up in confusion.
"Whazzup?" Ratchet growled, blinking his optics in confusion before sitting up.
"Elita's gone," Skywarp cried in a panic, rushing around the room, trying to think of a place he hadn't looked yet.
"What!" the Sparklings cried in alarm.
"Someone's taken her," Chromia yelled angrily. "Daddy, tell Mega-Aft to get them to give her back."
"Mia," he scolded but absentmindedly as he paused to call his leader.
"Sir, Elita's disappeared," he said urgently as soon as Megatron answered.
He heard a growl of frustration before his leader rasped out.
"Didn't you bother to check your internal comms?"
"Not but," Skywarp started to say, opening it only to find...
"Oh."
"Oh indeed," Megatron growled over the comm. "I have your little brat, I'll return her later, she's staying with me for the time being."
"What about Energon...?"
"I'll feed her, attend to your other brats Skywarp," Megatron said, cutting across him before disconnecting.
Skywarp let out a huge sigh of relief before remembering about his poor other Sparklings. They looked so terrified that he hastened to assure them. Picking up Chromia and cuddling her close, he said soothingly.
"It's okay, I just talked with Megatron, he found Elita earlier and he's looking after her."
"Why was she out?" Skyfire asked curiously as Chromia snuggled into their daddy.
"Megatron only said she was out being naughty," Skywarp said, Megatron's message had been very brief.
"Elita's not naughty," Ironhide said in confusion.
"She can be," Chromia said thoughtfully. "But she never gets a chance to normally, she's supposed to be the one telling bots off."
This made the other Sparklings pause in thoughtfulness, they really hadn't known that about the Femme Commander. Ratchet now piped up.
"What naughty thing did she do?"
"I don't know, I'm sure we'll find out later," Skywarp said with a small smile before saying. "Come on darlings, let's get you some Energon."
They all nodded, and once Skywarp had lifted them out, obediently followed him. They were all wondering how the pink Femling was going but only one wondered about their absent Sparkling brother, Starscream.
Starscream's POV
Starscream buried his face against Sliverbolt's chest, he was shy about meeting the other flyers. He knew he that after teasing and taunting them, they had every right to hold grudges. Starscream really hoped this wasn't the case, he just wanted to enjoy some flying, not get yelled or smacked.
At least Sliverbolt was holding him nicely but Starscream had often called him a weakling for being afraid of heights. The little Seeker nervously glanced up at him and muttered.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Sliverbolt said in confusion.
"For being mean to you," Starscream said miserably. "I didn't mean it, I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Sliverbolt said kindly. "My own team has a go at me about that, you're not the first."
"But I shouldn't have," Starscream said earnestly, making the Arielbot smile.
"I forgive you," he said gently. "And I'm grateful that you're apologising, that's very mature of you."
Starscream managed to smile up at him but quickly hid his face again as they approached the other Airelbots. The smallest one was giving him a rather haughty look but the others merely looked curious. They didn't say anything however, allowing their leader to say.
"Shall we get started, I think Starscream's dying to get back into the air."
"Why do we have to take him?" Slingshot whined as though he had better things to do.
"Because we've never interacted with a Sparkling, especially a Seeker one," Sliverbolt said calmly. "It's a good learning experience."
"He's been flying a lot longer than us," Skydive said reasonably. "And there's no harm in taking him for a short flight."
"Fine," Slingshot huffed before activating his thrusters and shooting up into the sky.
"Just ignore him, he's stubborn," Sliverbolt said gently.
"You're really tiny," Fireflight said in wonder. "Are all Sparklings like this?"
"Yeah," Starscream said with a small nod.
"Wow," was all Fireflight could see, he really seemed fascinated by Starscream.
"Let's get going then," Sliverbolt now said briskly. "You're not bothered about any height are you?"
Starscream shook his head, as long as they were holding him securely, he'd be fine. The Airelbot leader nodded with a smile before taking off to join his team who were already in the air. They started to just fly around, getting used to the air and trying to really feel it.
Starscream whispered a few pointers to Sliverbolt as they started going through manoeuvres, he could see they didn't function as a full team quite yet. Their all had personality quirks, and they hadn't worked out how to use these to act as a proper unit. Starscream helped by saying someone needed to check on Fireflight as he got distracted easily but someone also needed to keep tabs on AirRaid as he had a habit of madly rushing into things.
Skydive seemed very interested in what Starscream had to say but the young Seeker quickly learned that Skydive was more interested in talking about battles than actually being in them. Starscream managed to tell them about little exercises they could try, to try and form a proper Bond between them all. Eventaully, the little Seeker got tired and Sliverbolt took him back down to Optimus, thanking him for all his help.
"Thank you for looking after him," Optimus said warmly, he'd enjoyed seeing Starscream have fun in his natural habitat.
"It was our pleasure," Sliverbolt said seriously and as Optimus took him, said softly.
"Look after our little brother."
And shot back into the sky to join his other brothers. Starscream stared in awe before snuggling against his daddy, feeling very contented and happy.
Elita's POV
Elita happily snuggled against whoever was holding her close, they felt so nice and warm. They had a nice Mechly smell to them and she intaked deeply, finding it very soothing. It always made her feel safe that kind of smell as it reminded her of her beloved Optimus who would protect her from any kind of harms.
The only thing spoiling her rest was a dull ache she seemed to have in her aft which was really starting to bother her. She reached down and gave it a good rub, hoping that would solve the problem but while it soothed it, it didn't make it go away completely. She groaned loudly, all she wanted was so enjoy her snuggled but the ache was so distracting.
"Mmm," she grumbled, giving her rear another good rub, desperately trying to rid herself of the ache but it was no good.
"Looks like the message got through," a deep, slightly rasping voice said, making her jump and open her optics.
"Megatron," she gasped in shock, she'd no idea the Mech she was snuggling was her worst enemy.
He offered her a smirk, he was lying on his side with her snuggling up to the place between neck and chest. One of his hands had been supporting her, keeping her warm while they slept. Her face started to heat up as she remembered both why she was there and why her aft was sore.
This of course only caused him to smirk wider.
"Remembered little one?"
"Yes," she said, giving her aft another rub. "Why you'd have to smack so hard, it still hurts."
"It wouldn't be a proper punishment if it didn't leave a lasting impression," he said lazily, taking a tighter hold of her and rolling onto his back, taking her with him.
She clung tightly to him before relaxing when she saw he was just changing his position. She relaxed again, resting her head against his chest as he lightly stroked her back. She shifted her head so she could look at his face, his optics were closed which surprised her a little. When he'd first caught her, he'd given the impression of getting up but now he couldn't be bothered.
"Are you getting up?" she asked softly, now curious.
"When I'm ready," he muttered lifting an arm to brace the back of his head.
"Mmm," she murmured, resting her head down again.
But after a while, she got a little bored and started to take a closer look at the room she was in. It had a rather Spartan look to it but there was still a shelf filled with some data pads and cleaning equipment. It had the feel of a place which was only really used for sleeping in, something which Optimus did unless she was there. Although he also used it to get peace without doing any desk work, bots were liable to visit his office.
Since she was bored, she started to squirm a little, shifting on Megatron's body. She wanted to get up and explore, touch some things and generally examine them. But it started to irritate Megatron so he lifted her off his body, placing her next to him before relaxing again. Elita stared up at him for a moment before she started to crawl around his berth, dodging his body.
He did have a blanket but it was tossed over a stand near his berth and it looked like he didn't normally use it. Elita liked having a nice blanket to snuggle under, she enjoyed the sense of warmth and safety they gave. But it was sadly out of her reach and since she didn't want her bottom warmed again and knew Megatron wouldn't hesitate to do so.
But before she could do anything, there was a sudden shriek outside the room and the sound of a loud crash. Elita jumped and stared before guiltily realising what it must be, someone hadn't noticed the oil trail and had just slipped and fell down. But this also made her a little scared, surely Megatron would have heard that and now he'd want to punish her again.
But to her surprise, he just growled.
"Idiots."
She jumped as he suddenly grabbed hold of her scruff bar and brought her back to his chest. He cuddled her close as he said softly.
"You make a naughty Sparkling Elita One."
"I'm not that naughty," she said pouting, just as another scream was heard.
Megatron chuckled as he cuddled her against his chest, rubbing her back gently.
"I think you are my dear, it's an interesting change."
"I thought you didn't like us being naughty?" she said in confusion.
"I don't but I do appreciate the irony of the Autobot Femme Commander acting like that. You're supposed to be good at all times, aren't you?"
"Yeah," she said softly with a sigh. "Mm, but you've still been nicer than normal."
Megatron just lay still, she couldn't know that he felt guilt and some sorrow over Starscream. The Mech had been abused as a Sparkling but only the Autobots seemed equipped to help him, and Megatron didn't like the idea they could do more for his SIC than he could.
"I've been thinking about things," he said softly. "Starscream is a Sparkling now and...he's experiencing some difficulties."
"What sort of difficulties?" Elita asked in concern.
"I can't tell you," he said gruffly. "It's something personal, Elita but Skywarp will know soon enough, it'll be his decision whether or not he tells you.
She looked worried but nodded, there was no point in arguing over something like that. But there was something she could ask.
"Optimus is taking good care of him, isn't he?"
"He is," Megatron assured her, but he had a thoughtful expression on his face. "I'll tell you what Elita, why don't we go talk to him over the video com?"
"I'd love that," Elita said excitedly, hugging him around the neck.
He smiled slightly before rolling up, holding her steady with one hand. She happily cuddled into him as he exited his room to find at least three Decepticons lying in an oily heap at the end of the corridor. They had a dazed and rather bemused look on their faces as they stared up at their leader in shock.
He stared at them with contempt before backing out.
"Watch where you morons are going next time, get this mess cleaned up."
"Yes sir," they said as they miserably eyed the mess, not knowing that Elita had caused it.
Megatron strode away, and Elita only felt a little bit guilty but as a Sparkling, it was hard for her to focus on this over the excitement of seeing Optimus again. She wondered what the others were doing but figured they were at breakfast. Since they'd missed out on all the excitement, she'd have to find someone to make it up to them, maybe she could get some treats of someone. Probably not Megatron, that would be pushing her luck a bit, there was only so much niceness he could do with her.
When they got the Communication Room, they found Soundwave working at it. He turned to face them, his visor seeming to focus on Elita who buried her face against Megatron's armour. Megatron didn't comment on this, he simply told Soundwave to establish a connection with the Autobot base, in particular Prime.
They had to wait a little while but eventually Optimus answered.
"Megatron...? Elita," he exclaimed in delight at seeing her.
"Hi," she said, peering out from Megatron's arm.
"How are you darling?" Optimus asked kindly although he still managed to look curious at the fact Megatron was holding her.
"Good um," she broke off, looking up at Megatron. "I was a bit naughty earlier."
"Naughty?" Optimus repeated in amazement. "What did you do that was naughty?"
"I escape from Skywarp and created a slide using oil and wax and it was right outside Megatron's quarters."
Optimus looked both amused and horrified at this.
"I can't believe you did that," he said seriously as she smiled at him.
"Neither can I," she said with a slight giggle before turning serious.
"But Megatron had to punish me for being bad."
Optimus gave Megatron a glare that was only muted by his face mask. Unconcerned, Megatron said.
"You'd have done the same Prime, I gave her a spanking, nothing more. Does she look like I beat her?"
"No," Optimus admitted grudgingly. "But I would still prefer it if you didn't do it again."
"I'm afraid that depends on her," Megatron said smugly. "If she behaves, I won't have a reason to, will I?"
"What you been doing?" Elita quickly asked before the two could start arguing.
Optimus gave her a warm look before saying.
"Well, I took Starscream out earlier..."
To be continued.
Author's note. Skywarp talks to Elita about what she did and the Sparklings all have some fun together. Find out how that goes next time, until then.