Forgotten Lullaby ~ Pt 2

Headshot looked around the campground, nerves on edge passing by the other autobots who were packing away boxes and crates onto the ship's cargo hold. Only the few remaining tents and the contents inside were left in place. The mech only stood and stared endlessly until a servo landed on his shoulder. "Ya gonna be ok?"

"About what?"

"You know….us leaving...saying good bye."

"What? Oh that! Yay a I'll be fine." He knew from the tone he used Kup would never go for it. How right; Kup glanced at him sternly, optics sending quite shivers up his armour.

"You haven't told her yet have you?"

"Course I ha-"

"Don't lie to me Headshot. Why haven't you told her yet?"

The mech sighed "I….I just wanted her to think she had more time to think about it."

"And then what?" the teal mech rested his fists on his hips. "Suddenly put her on the spot to decide klicks before we go? Does that sound fair to you?"

Headshot looked at the older bot unsurely. He was right. What was he thinking? Actually, this whole thing had his mind in a blur. Both common senses and rationality had both eluted him, sending his subconscious into a spiral. "Siighh….no. It's not. I'll go tell her this aftern-"
"Nope. Ya tellin' her now."

"But I have guard duty with-"

"I'll take your place, no more excuses. You. Go. Now." He viciously shoved the other mech, pointing to the woods. "And don't bother comin' back until ya tell her."

"Alright, alright! I'm going!"

Kup watched until the silver car transformed and disappeared from site. "I hope you realize what you're getting into kid." He sighed and switched his cy-gar to the other side of his mouth. "Don't be surprised if it starts to hurt."

"So then he told her and then they got bonded right?" Phoenix chirped.

"Slag it! Will ya let me finish! You wanna know the whole story or what?" the old mech exclaimed.

"Well it would cut some time if ya skipped through some parts." Rodimus shifted in his berth. "I mean we kinda already figured out what hap-"

"Shut it the pair of ya! I'm telling the story my way and that's final!"

"Ok! Ok!" the younger bots slightly leaned away."

"Hey," He came from behind her as she looked over the Cliffside.

"Hey." She turned, weakly smiling back.

"Look um..I have something to tell you. We are actually leaving in about 4 day's time."

"Oh," she held back a gasp, behind a white hand over her lips "that soon? But I thought you said-"

"I'm sorry…I…guess it must have slipped my mind. Kup needs help finishing half his drinks you know." He nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his helm and avoiding her worrisome gaze.

"I see…." It must have been some klicks or so before either of said a word. Eclipse was the first to turn and stare up into his blue optics. "Headshot..you must understand that this is not an easy decision for me."

Panic jolted up and around his spark, feeling it pound against his chest. Why? If it was the other way he would have gladly come and live with her. Her scooped her hands and clasped them in his own. "Why? Why is it so hard for you? Do you not like me that way? I know we only been together because of your ship but…Slag it Eclipse; I KNOW we both feel it….that…you know; 'spark'! If I had to do the same; I would choose you!"

Her expression was hard to read, he hoped that she could see how much he was hurting for an answer. But his spark only shrunk when she slowly slid her hands out of his. "Would you? You would just leave the home you have always known and the friends you have without any notice? You would just willingly leave Kup your best friend; without any trace of a good bye?"

"Well," the mech's cheekplates burned. She did raise a good point, but it did not stop the small irritance inside from growing. "Maybe not but…you told me you haven't seen your family in eons, nor been to your planet. So what is it that's stopping you?"

"Headshot," the anger rise in her voice struck him like a knife, her eyes glaring sharply. "I may not have been home for some time; but that does not mean that I do not have to forget about my people's culture. Finding a mate is a big deal to us." The mech stood dumbstruck; watching the golden winged alien flare. The tips of her hair turned from blue to red, the white dots that were stars turned black. It was like her entire frame inverted as she ranted on. "You're turning this whole thing around like I have nothing else to care about! Like I have nothing else in my life! Well believe it or not I do! We cannot just simply drop everything for one we might consider to have feelings for!"

"Consider!? CONSIDER!?" Patience reached its peak. Headshot bore his denta angrily "You're 'considering' liking me? What? Do I need an interview too?"

"Headshot you don't understand!"

"I think I understand enough to know that I'm apparently not good enough for you to 'consider' being with!"

"Headshot I-"

"You know what? Forget it! Just….fix your ship and go already!" With a stomp of his pede; he turned and marched as quickly as he could away from her…away from the horrible mess he had just made. His denta grinded, but he wasn't sure if it was from the anger or the tears he was fighting to hold back. He marched; avoiding Eclipse's now saddened gaze from behind. Her body fading back into its natural bluish-black.

Returning to camp base he ignored everyone, never pardoning himself when he bumped into another. Even Kup; who was about to speak but was snubbed by a cold shoulder that disappeared behind a tent flap.

"Wait…you're making this up right? He couldn't think that that was it?" Phoenix was balancing on the edge of her seat.

'See? Now if I went and skipped all this you would have never known how the rest of the story fits together!" The teal mech tapped the tip of his cy-gar; letting the ash fall to the floor if not disintegrating in the air.

"Ok you were right." She gestured with palms in the air. "Please go on." She folded her leg.

"Right." He leaned back against the bedside table with his elbow. "Where was I? Ah yes…a couple of days later…"

"Kid?" Kup poked through the tent flaps, scanning the bare inside. "Kid?" There was still no answer. He stepped inward, there were only a few small crates shoved in a corner left. Everything else was packed on the ship ready to go; there wasn't much time for a game of hide-and-seek. "Kid where are y- oh there you are." He found the mech sitting on a crate bent over his knees in the shadows of the corner. "Siigghh…look…Headshot; I tried to warn you. I didn't want ya to get hurt with the reality of things but…that's just how it is." He started to worry when the other mech didn't reply. "Look um, I talked to Eclipse later that day; she told me what happened and I won't deny that I probably would have felt the same way you did but what you said before you left-"

"I know." Came a small reply. "It was uncalled for. I should have considered her feelings as well but," he sighed "I was in such high hopes of finding someone to..ACTUALLY care about….apart from you Kup. Someone…to give me a reason to go home." Kup didn't know what to say; never has he heard Headshot speak straight out like this before. Not without some sort of smart-aft quirk anyway. "No, I needed the hurt Kup. I guess it was just one more life lessons I needed to learn. Anyway," the silver mech rose to his pedes, never glancing over to the other. "It's too late now. She's gone. My only regret is…I never got the nerve to say I'm sorry." He paused in the tent opening, starring blankly into Kup's optics.

"Aw kid, look I-"

"It's fine. Besides…maybe I helped her to avoid anyone who is anything like me." Again both mechs were silent. Headshot looked down, scuffing his pede into the dirt. "Welp...might as well finish packing. Nothing left for us here." He grabbed the closest crate next to him and quietly left; leaving Kup alone with his thoughts and sighs.

A couple of mega cycles later everything had been stored away. Nothing but a few dents and scorch marks in the ground where left from where ever anything was originally placed. "All right mech's," the lead shouted "Let's go move out! Where heading home!" the group rejoiced with whistling quick swings of metal flasks, lining up and marching onto the ship for their new war-free home.

Kup held back from the rest of the group, not seeing Headshot anywhere among the crowd. He looked back past the last few remaining rejoicing bots to find the younger mech starring off into the starry sky in the opposite direction. When Kup placed a servo on his shoulder the mech flinched and turned back over his shoulder with widened optics. "Oh…hey." He said calmly.

"Hey." Kup let out a small smile "You know uh…once we get down there it`s gonna be one pit of a party. Not just for our victory but for a few old bots and my self's retirement. What do ya say?" Headshot forced out a small smile, draping an arm over Kup's shoulders.

"Sure. Sounds good. I think where both going to need it anyway." The teal mech placed his own arm over the others. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. Drink?" He held out up a flask of High-grade.

"Haha sure." Headshot swung down a mouthful.

"Now it was a bit more than half way home when we noticed some funny goings on down in the storage compartment…"

"What the slag was that?" said a mech.

"What was what?" asked another.

"I swear I saw something glowing move in there!" the first bot looked through the door's small window.

"Oh for Primus sake, if you that scared of a little vermin just move and I'll get it for ya." Kup grumbled shoving the mech out of the way and pulling out his blaster out of its holder. "Headshot, come on. You need the practise anyway."

"I think you've got that the other way around old-timer." Headshot smirked.

"Watch it." He scowled, but not for long. It was good to know his friend's sense of humour was coming back. Blasters at the ready they slowly made their way into the dim room.

"You femmes have fun," the second mech scoffed "just make sure not to break anything."

"No promises mame." Kup taunted as the steel door closed. They maneuverered through and over the mounds of crates and tarps, lifting anything that something small could hide under.

"Looks like there's nothing here." Headshot put down his wrists. "Guess he was just seeing things-"Something thumped among the shadows; the mechs reacted rising their weapons once more.

"That didn't sound like any small vermin to me." Kup cautiously stepped forward to the direction of the noise. There was still silence again, no noise whatsoever but the humming of the ship's engine; echoing throughout the ship. Headshot looked all around but saw nothing until a quick flash of white whizzed by. "HEY!" The mech took off after it. "Kup! I got it!" he called, trapping the white glow into a corner.

"I got….Eclipse?!"

"Uh…hiya." She waved with a nervous smile.

"Shoty! What the pit are you yelling abou- Eclipse?!" the teal bot mimicked Headshot's reaction. "What the slag are you….how? Where you come from?!"

"Eclipse," Headshot lowered his weapons, unconsciously grasping her glowing white hands in his own. His words were lost; he muttered whatever sentences he could think of. "I thought you left. I thought you had gone back, I…I…" a calm hand slid over his cheekplate; he looked deep into her eyes. In the shadows her entire body lit up, her smile only becoming more beautiful by the soft glow around her lips.

"I never left Headshot." She spoke quietly.

"I'll uh…I'll leave you two alone." Said Kup. Headshot didn't even realize that all he did was turn around and whistled to himself. "Just act like I'm not here."

"You…never left? After all those horrible things I said?"

"The truth is...you were right."

"I was?"

"He was?" Kup looked over his shoulder.

"I thought you weren't here?"

"Yeah yeah I'm turning back ya drama queen."

"Hehe yes you were." She pressed closer, yet avoiding his optics "I haven't seen my family in a long time and…honestly I don't think I have any intention of going back."

"But then why did you-"

"I...I was nervous. The thing is, in my culture a mate is rare. Usually only royalty is allowed to breed if not we must ask permission to have one. Which is…more than frequently denied."

"Whoa whoa wait…permission? Assigned? That sounds horrible!"

"My kind, as you know can live for…basically almost forever. So we can't have new one's popping here and there."

"Ahh" He nodded "So this is all about population control."

"Well, yes, on my planet. But I know realize; I'm not on my planet anymore." She finally looked up to him smiling. "I guess I was just scared of what would happen if I met with another species instead of my own kind and…I think I've had more than enough time to make my final decision."

"And…that is?" his spark raced.

"I do love you and..I will gladly be your bondmate." Her lips gently pressed against his.

"But," he slowly broke away "What about your ship?"

"It was fixed weeks ago Headshot." She giggled with a blush.

"What?"

"I fixed it the within the first week we met."

"So, then why did you stay for so long?"

"Because after that attack by the insecticon I kinda of…found you interesting and the longer I stayed the more I…" she shrugged "Though I didn't know you liked me too until you came out and told me that night. But after you did I...I don't know, I guess I was overwhelmed by either panic or excitement and that's when the whole culture thing came in and I just didn't know what to do…"

"Eclipse."

"and then you said to go so I thou-mmm.." This time, it was her face being cupped; lips silenced by the other pair pressing against them."

"It's alright." His servos slid up her back, holding her close and avoiding ruffling her feathers. "You're here now. That's all that matters."

"Ahem," came a scoff "not to be a killjoy in this lovely reunion but there is the problem of..oh I don't know….SNEEKING AN ETERNAL BEING ONTO CYBERTRON WITH NO ONE SEEING?!"

"Hate to say it," Headshot released his embrace a bit; "but he's right. How did you sneak in here anyway?"

"I snuck on board when everyone boarded and the door only started to close." She replied.

"Obviously it won't be that easy when we land home." Kup searched around, inspecting every large crate he could find. "Maybe one of these can come in handy." He ripped the lid off one that was long and wide. "Nothing in here but junk anyway. Hop in."

"I..well." she shrugged. "Alright."

"Just one more problem." Said Kup helping Eclipse hop into the crate. "Where and how the blazes are you going to live if you're in risk of being scene at every turn? I mean..ya can't just walk around being all…" he waved his servo up and down as is showing eclipse as a display. "That."

"In case you've forgotten Kup," Headshot crossed his servos with a smirk. "In which likely you have; I have my old house back on Moon base 2."

"Ah right." The older solider pretended to ignore. "That old shack. As isolated as that farming quadrant is I don't know how you," he nudged the alien's arm "Are gonna be able to live with this runt and his…lifestyle."

Headshot shrugged his shoulders. "What? So it'd probably got a few dust bunnies and webs here and there since I left a couple years ago. Nothing a little clean-up won't do."

"You had all that BEFORE you joined the ranks! Believe me," he cocked an optic ridge, still gazing at Eclipse "It is a TRUE mechcave."

"Excuse me if I'm not as uptight on organization as you are." The alien giggled between the two, "Seems like you're going to need a female touch around there."

"That's the LIGHT way of putting it."

Headshot gave no reply but a crossed-armed shrug.

"Alright, if we want this to work we need to keep this all on the down low. Eclipse, try to make yourself comfy as possible and well make sure no one moves ya but us." Kup explained as she lay back into the semi-empty crate; shoving the remaining pipes out of her way.

"We'll know it's you with this." The blaster attached to Headshots arm turned, than with a small streak of blue laser; marked the lid of the crate with a star.

Eclipse nodded nervously. "Ok. I trust you."

"See ya soon." The silver mech smiled. After she laid back the duo lifted the metal lid back on top, Headshot making the final fuse around its edge's.

"You two done making out yet?" came a call from the door.

"Like your helm there's nothing in here ya crankshaft!" the old mech growled. 'Nothing but the usual junk. Come on Headshot." A servo slapped down on the other shoulder. "She'll be fine."

Starring down on the crate for a few klicks longer; he turned and marched from the strange compartment following behind Kup.

"Whoa whoa wait…" Rodimus tossed his servos in the air and shaking his helm. "You mean to tell me you ACTUALLY snuck an alien species onto Cybertron? Hoe did you not get caught? Or even arrested?!"

"Actually, I too would like to know." Said Phoenix.

Kup rested an arm on the back of his seat. "Wasn't easy as that I can tell ya." He puffed his cy-gar. "Getting her crate off the ship; THAT was the easy part. Getting through inventory and customs check etc etc; pain in the aft! Noisy buggers. Anyway we got by telling them it was a 'personal souvenir'of Headshot's and from there on out we nabbed our pay, big congrats assembly blah blah. The memorial was the only reason why any of us actually stayed the entire time. Well…that and the giant party with unlimited booze. Good bots...every one of them. Saying one last good bye was all we needed to finally put most of us to rest." Silence filled the room. Phoenix looked down in respect as did Rodimus, allowing the veteran a moment to his thoughts." Anyway, as I was saying," he coughed. "After our final good byes, we hoped on the next shuttle leaving for moon base 2."

As sudden burst of deep laughter almost frightened the two listeners out of their seat and berth; Kup rolling his helm back chuckling. "Oh mech! You should have seen Eclipse's face when she first entered that dump. Classic." He wiped an optic. "Cough! It comes to this point when everything is nice and cozy. Your 'parents' had a little private ceremony; if it was actually legalized or not I don't think they cared either way. The house was cleaned up and actually LIVEABLE and a few Solar cycles later that we found out that Eclipse was….sparked? Pregnant? With you. THEN you should have seen HEADSHOTS'S face when she told him." He chuckled again.

"Wait," Rodimus paused. "What's…sparked or pregnant?"

"Apparently it's usually an organic term when...I guess in most cases femmes or females have another spark living inside them. Pit if I know anything more than that."

"In…side them?" Phoenix couldn't tell if Rodimus was even more curious or was about to lose his oil.

"Well actually," Phoenix smiled "While I was on earth I leaned that pregnant usually is when..."the two mechs leaned in while Phoenix explained what Rosie had taught her about earth birthing. Explaining in graphic detail made her so focus she did not realize how either listeners where slowly backing away with shocked and disturbed faces. "And that's basically what pregnancy is."

Rodimus optic twitched "Organics…..are ssooooo weird."

"I….really wish you didn't tell me that kid." Kup cringed.

"What? It's a normal thing and besides Kup you seen it before." She shrugged.

"One; normal for ORGANICS and two; I never saw the ACTUALL …..delivery. I mean…." He shivered "Now I'm glad I didn't...no offence."

"None taken. So…what happened after all that? Did they really stay in secret all that time?"

"You could say that. Hehe mech…It's been…Primus solar cycles sense I've seen an actual sparkling. But I still say you were the cutest lil' thing I did see." He winked.

Rodimus chuckled as Phoenix's cheekplates burned up.

Knock knock.

"Hello Kup." Eclipse opened the door, allowing him in.

"Hey Eclipse, hows it been?"

"Alright, come on in I`ll get you some oil."

"Sure thing," he plopped himself on the couch, peeking over the edge of crib in front of him. "Heyyy there. Hows little Eternia huh?" He tickled under the giggling femmes chin.

"PPffttt teehee." The purple sparkling wiggled.

To be continued…