OMG, this chapter ended up being so long! But I had no choice as there was no place to put a break. And I owed it to my readers for putting off the sibling rivalry chapter. So, sring a cushion for your aft, something to eat and drink, and maybe a box of tissues before you start reading.
Oh, I'm sorry if I got Red Alert's character all wrong. I don't really know the mech at all. But I needed the medic to be much different from Ratchet for the scene he was in.
So on with some sibling rivalry. Kacey shows she has her mother's temper. And poor Optimus is getting pulled in all directions trying to cope with his sparkmate, his children, and his duty as Prime.
Kacey
It was late in the day. Father hadn't returned yet from his mission. Mother was in the main room reading a summary report Prowl put together for her so that she'd be up to date and ready for duty within the next week or so.
I was done with my homework and was getting my first really good look at the twins as they slept in their crib side by side. I had learned about how a spark gives a protoform life. It was a fascinating process to me, much like everything else. I was curious about a lot of things.
Trion felt it was important for me to know everything about a transformer before I could even transform. My earliest lessons were of the intricacies of a spark and how it gives a protoform life and how the spark alters the physical characteristics of it's protoform to match its genetic coding. The entire alteration process takes about a six journs from start to finish.
Here it was, not even forty eight hours after their sparks gave life to their protoforms and the facial features were half way done forming on Orion and Ariel and one could already recognize their features. Father would be happy as they both appear to resembled mother. There isn't another face in the universe that brings so much joy to my father's spark than that of my mother.
I smiled to myself. Perhaps, Orion and Ariel weren't so bad to have around after all.
I reached to them with my spark as mother suggested I do so that they get used to me. I tried to be as gentle as I could so I wouldn't frighten them. Only it didn't work. They both woke and started their wails. I tried to send them my love to calm them but they pushed me away and cried even louder.
My spark sank.
"Kacey, what are you doing?" mother asked as she rushed over.
"I was just watching them sleep," I explained. "I tried to reach them with my spark like you said. I didn't mean to wake them. I don't understand why they don't like me. I'm their big sister."
"It will take time. But from now on don't do that unless your father or I are with you."
"Yes, mother," I frowned dropping my head a bit.
"Don't try so hard. Be patient. Now, are you done with your homework?"
"Yes, Wheeljack said I could take today off since he went with father and the others. But there's an important project I'm working on, can I still go to the lab?"
"Go ahead," she smiled.
"Thanks, mother," I said, hugging her tight.
I hurried to the lab, anxious to get back to work on my project. It was basically a small robot I was building as a toy. It was the assignment Wheeljack gave me. And he was going to allow me to program it too which was why I was anxious to finish the body. The processor was going to take much longer to work on and I hadn't even come up with a basic program yet.
Everything was going smoothly for an hour. Then I hit a snag….literally. As usual, I did what I saw Wheeljack do on a number of occasions and tried to force the bolt into place with the tool. And like on many of those occasions the tool ended up in a place it shouldn't have been. At least, I didn't injure myself as often as Wheeljack.
Knowing Ratchet would have my aft if I yanked the tool out I left it in my hand and headed straight to the Med Bay. Only Red Alert was there today. I had forgotten that Ratchet left with father.
"Hi Nitro, hi Chromia," I smiled as I walked over and climbed up on one of the exam tables, knowing the drill rather well. One look on Nitro's face told me all I needed to know as he laid on his side on an exam table. "Ah, Nitro's maintenance check-up. Not very fun are they?"
"No," he grumbled, looking very uncomfortable.
"What's the problem, Kacey?" Red Alert asked, not looking up as he was busy with a probe in a not so comfortable spot for Nitro.
"It can wait. Doesn't even hurt," I smiled.
Chromia took one look at my hand and smiled, shaking her head.
"I thought Wheeljack left with Optimus and the others," Chromia said, caressing Nitro's head as he grimaced.
"He did. But I've often worked alone in the lab."
"Primus, Kacey, you're leaking energon all over the place!" Red Alert gasped when he looked up.
"It's no big deal," I told him. "I've had this happen before."
"I'm going to have to call your mother," he said as he finished what he was doing.
"Can't you just put it in a report?" I asked when he turned his back to me presumably to gather what medical instruments he needed to attend to me. "That's what Ratchet does."
There was a long moment of silence before he spoke to me.
"Protocol states that a parent or guardian must be present when dealing with a youngling's injury."
"No, please don't call my mother!" I pleaded. "She'll fritz!"
"I'm sorry, Kacey," he said as he turned back to me. "I've already called her. She's already on her way."
Chromia
One thing I really liked about Ratchet was he was better with the younglings than Red Alert. Oh, he was a cranky mean mech with the mature femmes and mechs but he knew how to be gentle with the younglings when it came to their maintenance check-ups. In fact, all the younglings preferred Ratchet even going back to Cybertron when Bumblebee, Sunny and Sides were younglings.
Red Alert did not. I felt bad for Nitro and promised myself that next time I will make sure Ratchet is on duty for my son's check-up. I felt even worse for Kacey because she was nearly in tears and looked somewhat frightened.
"Red, you could have just put it in a report," I told him quietly before he headed over to Kacey. "She's not that badly damaged."
"I'm sorry, Chromia. I must follow protocol."
"Sometimes you need to know when to stuff protocol up your aft and think of your patient's emotional needs first!"
"You're son's check up is over. You may go now," he said flatly to me.
"Nitro, go on. I'll catch up," I told him, helping him off the bed.
Kacey was right, Elita was going to fritz. I really need to have a long talk with her about Kacey. Ironhide told me a few things that bothered me. I know Elita loves her children as much as she loves Optimus. Only she seems a bit overprotective of Kacey which is not like her at all.
"Primus, Kacey! Your hand!"
"It's nothing, mother. I'm fine," Kacey insisted as Red examined her hand. "I've done it before."
"What?" Elita yelped.
"Actually, I've gone over all of Ratchet's medical reports he turns in to Prowl. Kacey has been in the Med Bay on average of three times a week resulting from an accident in Wheeljack's lab," Red volunteered.
Oh, I could have blasted him for that one if I had my plasma rifle! If Nitro were still here I would have had him get it for me.
"But Wheeljack's been in the Med Bay on average of three times a day!" I countered. "Elita, you know him. He's brilliant but accident prone in his own lab. Kacey isn't accident prone."
"On two occasions both he and Kacey were treated for blast wounds from explosions in the lab," he continued.
I groaned covering my optics. Frag the rifle, I'll throttle him!
"What?! What in pit was Optimus thinking?"
"Elita!"
"No, Chromia! Kacey, I'm sorry but you're not going in Wheeljack's lab anymore."
"Mother! Please!" Kacey pleaded, nearly in tears.
"No! I'm going to have a long talk with Optimus about this. I can't believe he allowed this!"
"Elita, you're overreacting," I told her. "You know how Wheeljack runs his lab. He's been the same mech since Cybertron."
"I am not overreacting!"
"The pit you are!" I exclaimed, grabbing her arm and taking her somewhere out of Kacey's audio receptor range. "Elita, don't do this to Kacey. She'll resent you for it. She loves working with Wheeljack."
"She is my daughter and I have to do what I can to protect her. She'll thank me later."
"Elita, why are you being so overprotective?"
"Kacey is the next Prime. I can't take any risks with her."
"She is also a youngling. You said you wanted Kacey to have a normal younglinghood. Then for Primus sake let her live it! Let her do the things she loves and be with the friends she cares about. You can't protect her every astrosecond of everyday! She's a youngling and she's going to get hurt from time to time."
"KACEY, GET BACK HERE!" Red shouted from inside the Med Bay.
"Mother, please don't take away my lab privileges!" Kacey begged as she came out into the hall, her hand still leaking energon but the tool now had been removed.
"I'm sorry, Kacey. I must do what I think is in your best interest."
"That's fucking bullshit!" Kacey yelled angrily through her tears at Elita. "We're not in Trion's lab anymore, mother! My life isn't at risk every astrosecond of everyday!"
"You are a Prime's daughter and I will do what I must to protect you! And for that foul language, you can add another week of no internet!"
"Fine! Besides, I don't need your protection! I did just find on my own for a while! I can do it again!" Kacey countered then stormed back into the Med Bay.
"Don't say a word!" Elita glared at me as I opened my mouth.
Primus, little Kacey was so much like Elita when she got her temper flaring. I just hoped Optimus could get through Elita's stubbornness as I obviously wasn't going to be able to.
Optimus
The day was long with no results. I was comforted by the fact that I had my family to come back to. However, my smiled faded fast as I entered my quarters. Elita's body temperature was a few Kelvin above normal and she looked pissed off.
"Is this a bad time or should I come back later?" I smiled, wondering if she was mad at something I did or something I forgot to do.
I hope I didn't break a promise to her too. Primus, does becoming a father cause one to lose their memory recall?
"Your daughter got hurt today in Wheeljack's lab."
"Is she ok?" I quickly asked.
"She's fine," Elita replied calmly. "Stab her hand."
Elita paused. I had a feeling this was only the beginning of a long argument.
"How could you let Kacey continue to work in Wheeljack's lab after it exploded with her in it?" she demanded, getting to her feet.
"It wasn't that big of an explosion and Wheeljack takes good care of her. I saw no reason to discontinue her work. She loves to build things."
"What about all her other injuries? Was he taking care of our daughter then?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Red Alert showed me a list of Kacey's visits to the Med Bay. She's stab her hand five times, cut off a finger twice, had her foot smashed, and other multiple visits to the Med Bay for simple lacerations."
I blinked at her. I had no idea what she was talking about. Not that all those things sounded bad to me. They sounded like typical accidents in an engineer's lab. Wheeljack's actually done worse to himself in his lab; he actually blew his leg off once so a few cuts or severed fingers didn't bother me one bit as all were easily repairable.
"Ratchet puts everything that goes on in his Med Bay in his daily reports. I'm sure that if Prowl thought there was reason for concern he would have brought these injuries to my attention," I told her.
"Primus, Optimus you can't be blind to what goes on with our daughter," she growled at me.
"I'm not blind. But I can't watch her every astrosecond of everyday. She's a youngling. She's going to get into things, she's going to get hurt and there's nothing I can do about that. I've tried to be the best father I can be by allowing my child the freedom to do what she wants within acceptable limits."
"As am I. Which is why Kacey is not to go into that lab anymore."
"Elita, you're overreacting."
"No, I'm not."
"Be reasonable. You've already grounded her from all the other things she loves. I'm not going to allow you to take this away from her."
"Optimus…"
"No, Elita!" I said forcefully, asserting my position unafraid to harm her now that she wasn't pregnant. "Now, I will compromise with you. Kacey's only to be in the lab if Wheeljack's in there with her and supervising her."
"Fine," she growled at me, folding her arms across her chest. "But Ratchet is to tell us about Kacey's injuries right away and not just put them in a report. And Prowl is to tell you everything that goes on with Kacey on this base if she turns up in anyone's daily report."
"Very well, I will talk with both of them in the morning."
"Good, now I'll be back…I need to go for a drive. I'm still fraggin pissed off at you."
I nodded, knowing it was best to stay out of Elita's way when she was angry with me. She would calm down and return to me in a better mood. I hope.
Once she was gone, I went to Kacey. During the argument with Elita I could sense my daughter's distress though she was trying hard to keep it from me.
"Kacey, please stop crying," I cooed to her, lifting her into my arms.
"Mother took away my lab privileges!"
"No, she didn't," I smiled, wiping away her tears. "I convinced her that you can still go to Wheeljack's lab but only if he's in there to supervise you. Now that seems reasonable, doesn't it?"
"Yes, father," she smiled, wrapping her arms around me. My spark welcomed the love and gratitude she sent me. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said, holding her close.
"Did you find uncle?"
"No, we searched a few other leads with no luck. But don't worry. We'll find the Decepticons eventually. Now, it's time for you to recharge."
"Can we watch the sunrise in the morning? We haven't done it in so long."
Her blue optics stared expectantly up at me, pleading with me to say yes. To be honest, I just now realized that it had been a long while since we watch the sunrise together. It used to be our daily routine.
"Sure," I grinned, kissing her forehead.
"I love you, father," she yawned as I laid her down.
"Love you too."
She was in recharge by the time I finished covering her up. Before leaving the room I checked on my little twins. They lay on their backs side by side in deep recharge. Their tiny sparks beating in rhythm with mine. A long sigh escaped me as a caressed the small faces. I smiled happily noticing how much they were starting to resemble Elita.
At least the entire day wasn't a total disappointment. We didn't find the Decepticons but my children were happy and content as I turned the light off to their room. Now, if I could just make Elita happy, it'd be a nice ending to this day.
Elita
Our quarters were mostly dark when I entered them. It was very late or very early depending on how one looked at the time. I quickly checked on my sparklings. Both were recharging soundly. Kacey was hanging halfway off the bed. I frowned at her as I put her back up and covered her.
I don't understand why Optimus doesn't see how important Kacey is to us all. She's our future and she must be protected.
I pushed those thoughts aside. I was tired of thinking about it. I retracted my battle armor as I headed to the bedroom. Quietly I climbed onto the bed beside my sparkmate. A part of me was glad Optimus was recharging as I didn't want to start another argument with him. I hated it when we argued.
He's just so…stubborn. We both seem to have totally different views about raising our daughter. But we need to both come to some sort of agreement.
I sighed, feeling his hand tenderly stroking my arm in the darkness. I reached for it, interlacing my fingers with his. He said nothing as I turned to see the penetrating gaze from his blue optics. He didn't need to say anything when he gave me that look. Some things never needed to be said between us. We were both sorry for the argument we had earlier, we both loved each other deeply.
I could never be angry at him for too long any more. I know how precious each astrosecond we have together is after spending so many orns apart. He knew it as well as he kissed me. I knew we might not have long as the twins could wake up at any moment. But I wasn't going to deny him.
I needed him as much as he needed me at this moment. And our need for each other was always greatest after an argument. We were always both eager to express how sorry we were and how much we loved each other as we passionately made love to one another.
"Shh," he quickly breathed into my audio receptor. "The walls may be sound proof but the doors aren't."
"Right…don't want any interruptions do we?"
"No," he purred, covering my mouth with his.
Hard as I tried I couldn't keep entirely quiet. I blame Optimus as he knowingly knew how to pleasure me well whenever we made love. Not that he was that quiet either as I knew exactly how to get him to groan loudly pleasure.
"Hopefully that wasn't too loud," I giggled, feeling our sparks' rates slowing together.
I felt a low rumbling chuckle deep within his chest as he nestled down on me. He snuggled his head beneath my chin. I couldn't resist caressing his audio receptor with my fingertips. No one knew it but it was the one spot that if you caressed him just right his vocal processor emitted a purring sound.
I smiled happily, feeling his purring against my chest.
"Hmm, that feels good," he whispered.
"Do we have time to bond? We haven't bonded our sparks since our first night together on Earth."
Optimus sighed, lifting his head up, his optics staring affectionately at me.
"Sunrise is in twenty minutes," he said, caressing my face. "I told Kacey I'd watch it with her. We used to do it everyday when the weather permitted it."
"Why did you stop?"
"I missed you," he smiled warmly. "We'd been apart for over ten orns. I couldn't bear to leave you alone in the morning. Besides, you're so beautiful to watch when you're recharging I couldn't take my optics off you."
There was a soft almost timid knock on the bedroom door.
"Do you think she heard us?" I asked quietly.
"Do you need more time to interface?" our daughter questioned innocently through the door.
"Does that answer your question?" he laughed, rolling off me. "At least we didn't wake the twins up."
"Speaking of twins, can you watch them for a bit after your time with Kacey so I can get a few hours recharge?" I asked, stretching lazily.
"Sure," he said, kissing me. "Love you."
"Love you more," I said, watching him as his battle armor slide into place.
I sighed. I never got tired of watching him do that. It was impressive and beautiful at the same time. Only not as gratifying as hearing Kacey laughing wildly when Optimus picked her up and tickled her, teasing her about eavesdropping.
"I didn't hear much!" she giggled, as they headed down the hall. "You weren't that loud this time."
"This time!" Optimus laughed.
I smiled listening to their laughs fade as they left our quarters. Recharge came instantly once I was alone for I was so comfortably relaxed.
Ratchet
Red Alert told me what happened in the Med Bay yesterday and how Elita demanded copies of all my daily reports pertaining to Kacey and her injuries. I barely recharged dreading the morning; of course it had to be the one night that Galen actually recharged all the way through too. I knew it was only a matter of time when Elita would show up to let me have it. I had sincerely hoped she didn't come with a laser cannon to blast my aft.
Was I so relieved when I got Optimus' call to come to his office! At least I knew Optimus would never blast me no matter what I did. However when I got there I was surprised to see Prowl already standing there as Optimus sat behind his desk. The young mech didn't look too happy at the moment as he rubbed his forehead, something I noticed he's been doing a lot of lately.
"This is in no way reflects upon your performances as officers," he started, resting his hands on the desk and looking up at us. "But I will do anything to calm my sparkmate's processor. I'm requesting that I be informed of any incident no matter how small with regards to Kacey. I want to see the reports myself. If she's in the Med Bay either Elita or myself are to be contacted immediately."
"Of course, Optimus," Prowl said without hesitation. "I probably should have told you before."
"No, Prowl. You did nothing wrong. Besides, I'm not sure I would have wanted to hear about all of Kacey's injuries. I worry for her enough as it is."
"Optimus, I must apologize…"
"No need to Ratchet," he smiled to me. "What's done is done. Let us move on." He paused, leaning back in his chair. "That's all."
"Yes, Prime," Prowl said, then hurried back to his duties.
"Ratchet, can you stay a moment longer please?" Optimus asked as I reached the door.
I turned as he stood up and moved to the corner behind Elita's desk. It was then that my sensors detected the little twins were in the office. I wasn't paying attention before.
"Please, take a seat," Optimus requested as he sat on the floor near the large thermal blanket where the twins were laying.
They're bright blue optics seemed focused on Optimus as he smiled down at them. A few soft chirps and beeps emanated from the vocal processors as their little arms and legs moved about. Optimus put his hand near them, allowing them to latch onto his large fingers.
I sat quietly in Optimus' chair and watched this rare tender moment between a father and his sparklings.
"That's a tight grip you got there, Orion," he cooed.
The sparkling blinked his optics and beeped happily. His sister started to cry as if she felt left out.
"Shh, don't worry, Ariel, you're as beautiful as your mother," he smiled at her, leaning down and nuzzling her face with his.
Her cries ceased and she smiled, her tiny hands reaching for his face. I heard a few soft clicks and chirps emanating from Optimus' vocal processor, imitating sparkling talk. He did it rather well for both Orion and Ariel giggled happily sounding off a few bleeps and clicks of their own up at their father.
Orion yawned wide as his optics flickered slowly until they went offline. Not more than a few moments later Ariel's optics were offline too. Optimus kissed them both on their foreheads, covering them neatly with a blanket.
"Primus, they're so beautiful, Ratchet. I can't believe I helped to create them," he said as he slowly straightened back up.
"Yes, it's a miracle coming from a lugnut like you," I said.
He turned and gave me a look. I gave him that grin of mine so that he'd know I was joking. I was actually very proud of him.
"You did a wonderful job, Optimus. You and Elita both."
"Thank you. That means a lot to me."
"Not that I want to ruin this lovely moment, but I do have a Med Bay to get back to."
"Right, I'm wondering if we have anyone on base qualified to help Kacey with her nightmares. They continue to plague her. I know you got me help with mine when I was a youngling. I want that for my daughter as well."
"Let me check everyone's personnel files and I'll get back to you in an hour or so."
"Thank you, Ratchet."
"You're more than welcome, Optimus," I said getting up from the chair. I paused at the door. "How is Kacey taking to the twins?"
"She's upset that they pushed her away when she reached out with her spark to them to let them know she loved them. We had a long talk about it as we watched the sunrise."
"Well, it will just take time. They'll adjust to her. As long as she's adjusting well to them. Just be mindful of her. She could get jealous if you and Elita spend too much time doting on the twins."
"Oh, before I forget, Elita and Chromia were wondering if Moonracer could bring Galen over so the sparklings can start developing bonds with each other. Elita wants Orion and Ariel to get used to other sparklings. Says it will help their social skills later as younglings or some slag like that."
I laughed, "I see Elita's laying the law down early with the twins."
"Yeah, tell me about it," he snorted.
"I'll tell Moonracer, I'm sure she won't mind."
Kacey
Per my father's instructions I was to report to Stormreaver for my first session to help deal with my bad dreams this morning after Trion's lessons. She was one of the femmes on the ship that rescued me on Cybertron. Apparently, she was the closest thing to a shrink, as the humans call Psychiatrists on Earth, we Autobots had.
Personally, I didn't want my head examined. I saw nothing wrong with it. I didn't even remember most of my dreams. They seemed to be a nuisance more so to those around me as I wake up screaming occasionally. Well, mainly I wake up the twins with my shouts. I tried to quiet them this morning but as usually they shunned me, cried even louder which of course got mother up, then I got another lecture. Thankfully father was there to rescue me for our morning ritual.
"Ok, Kacey, I'm just going to ask you a few questions today. I want you to give me honest answers," she smiled at me. "You ready?"
"Yes, ma'am," I answered sitting up straight in my chair.
"What is your favorite thing to do?"
"That's easy, I love to fly!"
"Can you tell me why?"
"Because it's so wide open up there in the sky and in space. You're free to go in any direction."
"So, you would say there are no boundaries when you fly?"
"Yes. Only now I'm grounded. I still have another five days before I'm allowed to fly again, if I don't slag up that is."
"And how do you feel about your punishments? Do you feel you deserve them?"
"I don't know. Father only ever punished me once. But nothing I do seems right for mother."
"Do you love your father more than your mother?"
"Primus no!" I said adamantly. "They're just different. But I love them both. I can't love one more than the other. That's not fair."
"What about your little brother and sister, how do you feel about them?"
"I'm not sure," I replied honestly. "They don't like me."
"And that troubles you."
"Yes. I want them to like me. I'm their big sister."
"Ok, one more question then you can go," she smiled. "What are you most afraid of?"
I frowned, dropping my head a bit.
"Be honest," Stormreaver reminded me.
"I'm not sure," I answered, my optics glancing up to see her reaction.
I used to certain. I was afraid of losing my mother when we were on Cybertron. Then I was afraid of losing my father once I arrived on Earth. I can't imagine my life without either of them. But I can't shake the loneliness from my spark when I wake up from my dreams. Until I know what's causing it I can't truthfully answer the question.
All she did was make a note on her data-pad before she looked back up at me.
"Ok, you may go now," she smiled. "I'll see you again tomorrow."
"Yes, ma'am."
The rest of my afternoon was mostly uneventful. Two of Rox's friends, Derail and Saberon decided to not take anymore of Rox's crap and started hanging with Nitro, Firestar, and me now. He tried to bully them back into joining him but I protected them as I had protected Nitro on a number of occasions. Thankfully we only had a verbal altercation and not a physical one else, I'd get grounded even longer from flying or driving or whatever else mother could think of.
At the end of the day, I returned to my family's quarters. Surprisingly, father was off duty early. Only he had his arms full when I came in as he was holding the twins, who were crying as usual. I wondered if that's all sparklings ever do is cry and recharge?
I paused in the doorway of my room and listened as he hummed the same tune he used to hum to me. I sighed. Yet another thing he doesn't do with me anymore. He used to do that after I had a really bad dream. Now he sends me to a shrink!
"Why don't you ever hum that to me anymore?" I asked him as I sat on my bed.
"You're getting older now, Kacey," he smiled.
"That's not really an answer, father," I told him and decided not to push the issue. "You may want to try a different melody. That one doesn't seem to be working."
"You may be right," he chuckled as the twins cries only increased in volume.
"I'm going to go in the other room and do my homework."
"Ok," he said, not even looking at me as he juggled the twins around in his arms.
By the time I was done with my homework, mother was back from her training session, the twins finally shut up, and I was told to go to bed. Father tucked me in, apologizing that we won't be able to see the sunrise tomorrow as he had a mission to go on. I was disappointed but didn't let him know that. I knew his missions were important.
In the middle of the night I woke up screaming. I cringed, waiting for the twins to wake up. They didn't. Then I realized they weren't even in their crib. Only one other place they'd be. I was a little hurt that my parents didn't even hear me scream from my nightmare. More so, I didn't want to be alone in my room.
My optics narrowed. The twins had my spot in between mother and father. Undeterred, I quietly crept up onto father's chest and curled up. The pulsing of his spark was comforting to me as I fell back into recharge.
Some time later, I awoke to the audio receptor shattering screeching from my brother and sister. This was immediately followed by mother yelling at me and father telling her to calm down. I must have fallen off father's chest or he turned over and then I fell. Regardless, I was lying on the twins and they didn't like it one bit.
The over head light came on as I was yanked up off the twins and placed on my feet. Mother picked up Orion and father picked up Ariel.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt them," I said, feeling very bad that I made them cry.
"It's ok, Kacey," father said, as he rubbed Ariel's back, holding her close.
"No, it's not. Optimus, she has to stay in her own bed."
"She didn't mean it, Elita."
"I had a bad dream," I wept. "I was afraid to be alone."
"Then tell someone…"
"You were both recharging!" I interrupted my mother. "Neither one of you even heard me scream! And why is it that the twins can be in the bed with you but I can't?"
"Kacey, I want you to go to your room, now," mother insisted, calmly.
"Answer my fucking question!" I demanded.
"Kacey!" father snapped angrily. "I will not tolerate that kind of language when talking to your mother! Now, apologize then go to your room."
I looked up at him, trying my best to hold back my tears. Instead of apologizing I turned and ran to my room. I sat in the corner and cloaked so they wouldn't see me and let my tears fall.
A few minutes later, once the twins were quiet father came into the room. He looked around, sighed then sat on my bed rubbing his forehead. I sensed the sadness and frustration within his spark. He rarely seemed happy around me anymore. I shielded my spark from him. I didn't want him to feel any worse than he already did.
"You're mother and I think you're getting to old to be sneaking into bed with us," he exhaled sadly.
"But what if I have a bad dream? Who will come to me?" I asked as I uncloaked.
Father turned to look at me, his blue apologetic optics locking on mine intently.
"Call me and I will come, I promise," he said, holding out his hand.
I hurried to him, climbing onto his lap, allowing him to hold me close. I nudged his spark, asking for his love and forgiveness. His arms tightened around me giving me what I wanted.
"I love you too much, Kacey."
"I love you too much too."
I felt him slowly sigh.
"I'm not going to punish you for using that language. But I'm begging you to not use it again when talking with your mother. I will punish you the next time. Understand?"
"Yes, father," I nodded.
"Good, now try to recharge for a bit before your lessons with Trion," he said, laying me down on my bed. "I'll see you some time this afternoon."
I nodded, pulling my blanket up. My optics went offline as he kissed my forehead. Then he was gone. I couldn't go back into recharge. I tried. I didn't understand what was going on between mother, father and me. I do know things would have been fine if the twins hadn't been born. But then I can't blame them, they're helpless and didn't asked to be born.
As a result of my wandering processor and lack of recharge my focus lapsed during Trion's lessons. He wasn't too happy with me and assigned me some heavy reading as homework for an unscheduled test the next day. This of course put me in a bad mood for my session with Stormreaver. Needless to say, I wasn't in the best of moods when I was with the other younglings either.
"It sucks that we can't go outside today," I grumbled.
"There's a blizzard outside," Nitro reminded me.
"Kacey, play the game with us," Derail suggested politely.
"I think I'll do my reading assignment. I have a test tomorrow. Trion's tests when he's angry for me not paying attention are not easy."
Luckily there was a computer in the class room and I was able to pull up my reading assignment. Taylara didn't stop me as she said we could do whatever we wanted as long as we stayed in the room. Then she made the mistake of leaving us unattended when she took Zym and Jayde for their maintenance check-ups leaving Firestar in charge. So of course, Rox decided to take advantage of the situation.
"OW!" Derail yelped, getting my attention.
I turned in time to see Rox punching Saberon in the shoulder making the young mech cry.
"Leave them alone!" I growled as I hurried over towards them.
"See, you're wimps because you let a femme defend you!" he snickered to them.
"They wouldn't need defending if you'd quit acting like a shithead!" I countered.
He pushed me but I didn't retaliate. I remembered what Ironhide told me. I turned to walk away.
"Are you afraid, Kacey?" he taunted.
"No, I'm not afraid of you weakling like yourself," I replied calmly, keeping my back to him. "You're not worth wasting my time over."
"Kacey, look out!" Nitro shouted but Rox had already tackled me from behind.
He used the full weight of his body to take me down. My head hit the corner of the desk on the way but only dazed me a little. Good thing Rox didn't know how to actually fight so it was easy for me to work my way out from beneath him.
I got my mask up just as he punched my face. Knowing I couldn't reach his head I dropped down, spun and leg whipped him, knocking his feet out from under him. Then I pounced on him, hitting his face over and over. Hawk and Sockets both tackled me down. Desks went sliding across the room as we crashed into them. The other younglings were shouting for Rox and his friends to stop.
"Hold her still!" he yelled when Hawk and Sockets lifted me to my feet.
Rox threw a punch at my face but I was agile enough to dodge it even though my arms were restrained. Not like they could hold me, I was just as strong as them even though they were older than me. When he lunged at me again I brought my foot up hard right into his groin. He dropped fast to the floor holding himself. Without hesitation, I threw both my legs up and over my head, flipping right out of Hawk and Sockets' hold on me.
I managed to send Sockets sprawling onto the floor with a flat foot pushing hard against his back before Hawk tackled me. He was more agile than Rox. His fists were faster but I managed to start blocking them.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" sounded a deep bellowing voice that I knew all too well.
Hawk quickly got to his feet. My spark was pounding in its chamber in fear as I had never heard that angry of a tone from my father. I clamored to my feet to see him, Ironhide, Prowl, and Nitro in the doorway of the classroom.
"Rox, started it!" Firestar quickly informed my father and Ironhide. "Kacey was just defending herself."
"We know, Firestar," Ironhide said, confirming my theory that Nitro ran to go get them.
They knew. Yet I was still unable to meet my father's optics with my own. I felt the frustration now more than ever in his spark. Once again, I was saddened by it, bowing my head further still. Tears formed in my optics. My father's two huge feet suddenly loomed into my blurred view.
"How's the mech?" father asked.
"He'll live," Ironhide answered. "I'll take him to the Med Bay just to be certain."
"Kacey…"
A choked sob involuntarily emanated from my vocal processor. I couldn't stop it. I felt exceedingly terrible for how my father felt. I don't know how to make him happy again when he's near me.
"I'm not angry at you," he said, kneeling down before me. His hand gently lift me chin up. "Frag, you've got a nasty gash on your forehead." He quickly lifted me up into his arms. "Prowl, I'm taking her to the Med Bay. See to it that this mess is cleaned up and have the younglings looked after."
Father quietly carried me to the Med Bay. I couldn't tell if he was angry with me or not. He said he wasn't. But he didn't seem happy that was certain. I remained quiet, keeping the troubled feeling deep within my spark away from him. I didn't know what else to do. I just wanted things to go back to the way they were.
Ratchet
"It's just a scratch," I informed Optimus, who stood right behind me as I examined Kacey. "Nothing to worry about."
I turned, giving him a look and he immediately backed away. I didn't need worrying parents hovering as I tended to their youngling even if the parent was Optimus and the youngling was his daughter.
"You didn't recharge fully," I commented to Kacey. "You're energy levels are below normal."
She merely nodded her head, her sad blue optics locking on mine for a brief moment before they widened in fear glancing past me.
"Primus, what did she do now?" Elita questioned.
And in that instant I saw Kacey's fear turn to anger.
"That's it! Just assumed I did it without asking any questions, mother!" Kacey lashed out.
I refrained from laughing as she looked and sounded much like Elita when she was angry. She even had the same crease between her optic ridges that Elita would always get.
"Kacey tried to walk away from the fight," Optimus explained. "She was merely defending herself."
"Rox wasn't even damaged as his interface systems are no where near coming online yet," I said, working on sealing the wound above Kacey's optic ridge. "Good thing for him too. He may have never been able to produce sparklings with has hard as Kacey kicked him in the groin if he was fully developed."
"I'm sorry, Kacey, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions."
Kacey's crease softened but I could still see a flicker of anger in her optics. I was surprised too as she's never had anything but love for her parents.
"I'm going to keep Kacey in the Med Bay for a few hours," I said, turning to address them. "At least until her energy levels are back where they should be."
"Whatever you think is best, Ratchet. Please keep me informed, I need to return to the command center."
"Very well, Optimus."
I moved out of his way as he leaned down and whispered something into Kacey's audio receptor then kissed her cheek. She gave him a small smile, nodding her head. Whatever he said was between them but it made her mood a little more cheery.
He and Elita talked quietly for a few moments while I tended to Kacey. I observed the little femme was unusually quiet. She always had something to say to me be it a joke about my lack of a bedside manner or a question about how my little mech was doing.
I didn't pay any notice, figuring it was because she was tired as her systems indicated to me. But when I had asked Elita how all the sparklings were doing I noticed how Kacey rolled her optics and turned away from Elita and I as we talked. Elita didn't even notice as she talked excitedly about the twins taking to Galen rather well.
My medical sensors discretely monitored Kacey throughout the conversation. Right up to the point where she fell into recharge. At that point Elita had left as Chromia was having a difficult time calming Ariel down.
Alone, with Kacey as my only patient currently, I moved to my desk and worked on my report. In my personal journal that no one ever saw I made note of the chemical and temperature changes in Kacey's body when Elita talked about the twins. It didn't take a genius to figure out the little femme was jealous of her siblings.
"AAHHH!"
Kacey's scream nearly caused my spark to extinguish as it jolted me from my deep thoughts. I rushed into the private room to see her sitting up and trembling.
"Bad dream?" I asked, helping her to lie back down.
"Yes. Where's father?"
"He had duties to attend to," I smiled at her.
"Can you call him for me please?"
I didn't hesitate to use the intercom link to the command center and asked for Optimus.
"I'm sorry, Ratchet, he left on an urgent mission a few minutes ago," Prowl told me over the link.
"Have him contact me the moment he's available."
"Of course. Prowl out."
There was no mistaking the hurt in Kacey's face. She was trying desperately to not cry.
"Optimus will come to you as soon as he can, you know that Kacey," I cooed to her, covering her up with the thermal blanket. "Try to recharge. He'll be back before you know it."
She nodded then turned away from me and curled up. I didn't need my sensors to tell me she was quietly weeping. I waited until she was back in recharge before calling Ironhide over my internal communicator. Luckily he was still on the base.
"Is she ok?" he worriedly asked, glancing into the private Med Bay room.
"I'm worried. One of us needs to have a long talk with Optimus or Elita…or both."
"I'm not saying one word to Elita! Friend or not, she will blast whomever for stepping on her toes."
"I think she's over reacting…"
"They're still so young, Ratchet. And they're still learning how to be parents. It's not something you learn overnight. It takes orns to get it right. Then there isn't even a guarantee that you will get it right. As parents, we just hope and pray we didn't slag up too much with our younglings."
"That's true," I signed, rubbing my neck. "I worry constantly about the decisions I'm making with regards to Galen. Are they the right ones? How will they affect his future?"
"Why does he only lubricate on Optimus?" Ironhide added with a smirk.
"Yeah, that too," I snorted.
"Listen, I'm worried about Kacey too. But the twins just arrived and the entire family needs time to adjust. Let's give them a few days before we tell Optimus or Elita about their parenting skills."
"Very well. I'm telling you this; Galen is going to be my only child. I don't think I could handle sibling rivalry."
Optimus
By the time I had returned Kacey was recharging in her own bed. Ratchet told me about that she had a bad dream and was asking for me. Of course, I instantly felt bad for not being there for my daughter when I had promised I would. I even planned on apologizing to her in the morning.
Only morning came and went quickly for me as I was called to the command center. A wormhole had been detected far out in space near the fifth planet in this solar system. Nothing emerged from it but I remained in the command center and had all patrols, even the base on high alert.
At mid day I made a point to visit my daughter, who at Ratchet's request was taking the day off from studies and the younglings. Before I even opened the door to my quarters I could hear Kacey and Elita yelling at each other.
"Where are you going?" Elita demanded.
"To my room! That's where you're going to send me anyway! That's what you always do, isn't it?" Kacey questioned then stormed off down the hall.
"What happened now?" I asked.
Elita groaned loudly, covering her optics as she sat down.
"Why has she become so defiant with me? All I did was asked where she had been for the past hour and she just went off."
"I think she may be mad at me," I frowned. "She had a bad dream yesterday and I wasn't there for her. I'll go talk to her."
"Be careful, she may have her laser cannon handy, she's that pissed."
"Sounds just like her mother," I smiled, making her laugh softly.
I walked into the room. I couldn't feel what was in my daughter's spark. But I could see she was angry as she lay on her bed glaring at the ceiling. I glanced, noticing the twins were recharging in their crib so I approached my daughter keeping my voice down.
"I'm sorry about yesterday, Kacey."
She turned away from me as I sat down.
"You know my duties are important to all of us."
"But your duties are more important than me," she replied softly with a hint of anger in her voice.
"I can't protect my family if I don't do my duties. As my daughter, you know that more than anyone else on this base."
She remained silently fuming. Primus, she was really mad.
The twins both suddenly started crying. I didn't hesitate to move to them to try to quiet them down. Of course, they had no intention of doing so.
"Frag, Kacey, I'll be right back," I told her as I picked up the twins and carried them out.
My internal communicator beeped at me and I let loose a long string of Cybertronian curses that even made Elita raise her optic ridges at me as I handed her the twins.
"This had better be good!" I growled.
"We found the Decepticon base!" Prowl told me.
I should have been glad or relieved. Only I wasn't.
"On my way," I told him, muttered a few more curses in my native language as I headed back to Kacey. "Kacey, I'm really sorry. I have to go. We found the base. I have to be there to investigate."
"Fine, go. Do your duty," she stated flatly without even turning to me.
"Kacey, please, I truly am sorry," I told her, sending her my love as I always do through our bond.
For the first time ever she didn't take it. I persisted until a long last her spark opened up to me.
"I do love you," I told her, hugging her closely.
"I love you too," she sighed.
Prowl
We weren't very happy when we returned from investigating the Decepticon base. It had been deserted for several days. Optimus wasn't too happy. He was silently brewing the entire trip home. Not one of us attempted to ascertain why as we were afraid he'd take our heads off. Even Ironhide told us to back off.
It wasn't until the next day when two incident reports came in to me that I understood why.
Kacey.
I have to admit, I haven't seen much of her lately. Her head injury prevented her from fulfilling her once a week shift in the command center. She actually came to me and asked if she could still work her station. Only I told her Ratchet had to clear her first and that we both knew that wasn't going to happen.
She marched off. Perhaps I should have paid attention to her more. Then I might not have to tell Optimus about her altercation with Rox in the hallway before class and her sneaking into the armory. Only he didn't react as I thought he would. He simply blamed himself for it.
In that moment, I realized his duties were interfering with his family. I could see it in his gestures, his movements. It troubled him more so than he was letting the others to believe. However, I could see it in his optics as each day passed every time I brought in a report regarding Kacey.
Things were escalating as she actually broke Rox's faceplate during another altercation between them yesterday. Ratchet was able to repair the youngling's face. But everyone on the entire base knew something was wrong with Kacey. I most certainly knew it. Kacey was trying to get the attention the only way she could.
Today was the worst I believe as I stood silently still at the open door of Optimus' office. He and Kacey were just finish what appeared to be a heated discussion.
"Maybe you need to schedule some time for me, father! Talk to Prowl, I'm sure he can fit me in somewhere!" she yelled then marched out of the office, pushing past me.
"I'll be in the command center," I told him then quickly walked away.
A few minutes later he arrived at my side. He was still fuming. And what I had to give him wasn't going to make him any happier.
"I'm sorry, Optimus, still no luck finding Megatron and the other Decepticons."
"Then perhaps you need to try harder!" he snapped angrily at me.
"We're doing…."
"Just find them!"
"Yes, Sir," I answered curtly towards him.
Optimus groaned quietly rubbing his forehead.
"I'm sorry, Prowl. Do your best."
He turned before I could respond. I didn't stop Ironhide from leaving his station. I knew when not to interfere with Ironhide or Ratchet whenever they dealt with Optimus. The two still felt he was their responsibility even though he was a grown mech.
Ironhide
"Optimus, is everything alright?" I asked walking into his office.
I've never seen him lash out at anyone the way he did at Prowl in the command center a few minutes ago. Of course, Optimus felt bad and apologized to his second in command before storming off to his office. I followed feeling something needed to be done.
Optimus gave me a long helpless look. I hadn't seen that look on his face in a long time. I quickly shut and locked the door.
"Prowl, Optimus and I are in a meeting and not to be disturbed," I told him privately over our internal communicators.
"Acknowledged."
Prowl always understood and respected it when I was doing my duty as Optimus' guardian. He never questioned me or Ratchet whenever we asked to speak privately with Optimus.
"Tell me what's going on," I insisted gently as I sat down.
"I feel…I feel like I'm being pulled in all sorts of directions. Elita, Kacey, the twins….my duty as Prime. This morning, Elita and I were finally alone for the first time in a week. No twins, no nightmares from Kacey during the night. So, we decided to be…intimate. Right in the middle I felt the fear from Kacey's spark. She woke screaming for me."
Optimus rubbed his forehead and groaned in frustration.
"Elita got mad at me. I explained her that we told Kacey to call one of us. And I promised Kacey I would come if she needed me. She apologized for overreacting the way she did to me and we both went to check on Kacey."
"But Ironhide, Kacey's nightmares are getting worse. And so are her disagreements with Elita. Those two once they get their tempers going are so a like that they butt heads every time! I swear, Kacey is even provoking Elita now. And there are the fights with Rox, the incidents all over the base regarding Kacey."
"I feel like I'm losing control of my family. I don't know what's going on. I…I don't know what to do."
"First of all, any femme would get mad if you bolted right in the middle of making love to her," I had to say with a grin. Then I turned serious. "Bottom line, Kacey is jealous."
"Jealous?"
"I had the same issue with Nitro although he's not as volatile as Kacey when it comes to his outbursts. He'd silently brews like me. However, Chromia and I made a point to try and handle the situation before it became a major issue. "
"Kacey loves you so much. It was just the two of you. You were always together. Then Elita comes back and suddenly some of your affections are turned elsewhere."
"But Kacey missed her mother, she loves her," he insisted.
"Yes, she does. But then Elita got pregnant. You were spending more time with her. The twins were born, Kacey was left out. Even less of your time was spent with Kacey. You're duties are now getting in the way. She retaliating, trying to get your attention the only way she knows how."
"I talked with Stormreaver yesterday," Optimus frowned. "She thinks a part of Kacey blames Elita for being left alone in the Badlands."
"That may be so. I'm not an expert, I just know femmes. Kacey is jealous of Elita and the twins, of you being Prime. You'd better get a grip on your family or Kacey will lash at you next"
"Too late, she just did. I took it out on Prowl. Ironhide, I don't know how to get my little Kacey back," he said, his optics pleading with me for an answer.
"First of all, you and Elita need to have a long talk, no kids no interruptions. You both need to come to some sort of agreement on dealing with Kacey. Chromia and I have talked about this at length, we feel some of these rules you've laid down for Kacey need to change. She's not like other younglings, she will never have the normal life Elita wants for her. And, I agree with Chromia on this one, Elita is being over protective of Kacey. Yes, she is a Prime's daughter. But she is also a youngling, a young femme with a mind of her own, and she needs to be allowed some freedom."
"I know, I've been trying to get Elita to change but she's being her usual stubborn self."
I got to my feet. Optimus still looked as helpless and as uncertain as before.
"Optimus, when all else fails, the best advice I can give you is to keep being you. Forget about everything else and just follow your spark. It has never let you down before."
That alone seemed to make Optimus feel better as I noticed him sit up a bit straighter.
"Thank you, Ironhide, I'll remember that," he smiled to me.
Kacey
The week had gone from bad, to worse, and then to unfragging believably worse! I couldn't recharge because the twins were constantly crying through the night and waking me up. That's if I didn't have a bad dream that woke me up first. I've actually been trying not to recharge for the past two days now as my dreams frighten me now or more importantly, I can't rely on father to be there for me.
It's become so blatantly obvious that father cares more for the twins and his duty than he does for me. If he's not working he's with them. Primus, they are even in my parent's bedroom more than my parents are! Everyone on the base only seems more interested in the twins. I've had to resort to doing anything I can just to get my father to pay attention to me for five minutes.
But this morning was more than I could take. I woke up from a bad dream after only thirty minutes of recharge. My parent's bedroom door was locked. And worse, the twins were in there. From outside I could sense how happy the little slags were even as they recharged.
I couldn't take it anymore. I stormed out of our quarters. The halls were deserted but I cloaked anyway and headed outside. I turned my internal communicator off, shielded my spark and watched the storm clouds rapidly approaching on the horizon as the sun rose. I didn't see much of the sun as the clouds quickly blocked it from my view.
I didn't move from my perch on the cliff tops for the longest time. It didn't surprise me when I felt my parents calling me through our bond shortly after my lessons with Trion should have started. I was always early for my lessons. Today was the first day I would voluntarily miss them.
The dark clouds were above the base now. Snow started falling fast. The wind picked up. And my fury was at its peak.
No one saw me as I remained cloaked. I knew my parents would be looking for me. They'd try to use Teletran 2 to track me by scanning my cloak's frequency. I wasn't going to give them the chance to find me before I reached them.
Sure enough, there they were, sounding worried. Ironhide and Ratchet were trying to calm them down. Prowl ordered Hound to scan for the frequencies that Alpha Trion gave him.
"You can stop wasting your time," I said loudly as I uncloaked.
"Where have you been, we've been so worried," father said to me as he and mother came over to me.
I back away from them. To make sure I got my point across I started talking to them in Cybertronian. It was the only way to make sure I got the message across to them. And I didn't care if the entire base heard me.
"Oh, so now you're worried! Where was your concern this morning after I had a bad dream? I'll tell you. You were both recharging…with the twins behind a locked door! I could feel how happy they were to be with you. I once felt that way. But no longer!"
"Kacey…"
"What, you didn't think I haven't noticed how every time you're with the twins I can't feel the joy in your sparks?" I interrupted my father. "And when you're with me I don't ever feel that same joy anymore. I'm still your daughter whether you love me or not!"
"Kacey we do love you," father said adamantly, moving closer to me.
"Really? Do you?" I counted, moving further back away. "How can I believe you father? How can I believe you after you lied to me?"
I could see I hurt him. It was all over his faceplates and in his optics. His head dropped slightly and his shoulders sagged. It was true and he knew it. But I was undeterred.
"You promised things would go back to the way they were. You promised me you'd be there for me after a bad dream? You broke your promises father. You lied to me. After all that, how do you expect me to believe you?"
"We do love you," mother reiterated just as firmly as father.
"That's bullslag, mother. If you loved me then why did you send me off all alone on Cybertron? You left me to die all alone! Why would you do such a thing if you love me? WHY?"
Mother broke out in tears. I did my best to hold mine back.
"It's obvious that neither of you love me anymore! You both love Orion and Ariel more! Primus, the entire base loves them more than me. I don't even exist anymore. The twins are all everyone talks about."
I paused, moving back a few more steps.
"So I'll make it easy for all you. Everyone will be much happier, I promise you that!"
I cloaked then ran.
"KACEY, NO COME BACK!" father shouted, his deep voice reverberated off the halls as I made my wait to the exit.
Elita
I saw and felt the helplessness in my Optimus as he was frantically punching in commands on the main console of Teletran 2. I shared those feelings with him.
It made sense that Kacey was jealous. It explains why she's so against me all the time. But I hadn't realized things had gone this far that she felt like she had no choice but to leave us. I never wanted anything like that for my sparkling Kacey. It was in this moment that I realized everything was entirely my fault.
"What have I done?" I asked, unable to stop my tears.
"I am as much to blame, Elita," Optimus said to me.
"I've got it, Sir," Hound insisted, gently nudging Optimus to the side.
"I'm to blame," I continued. "I have been overprotective of her since joining the Autobots on Earth. I was only doing what I thought was right…what I thought I had to do….to make up for how terrible I felt for sending her to be alone to fend for herself. That was the hardest thing for me to do. It nearly broke my spark to send my little sparkling to fend for herself."
"Elita, you did what you had to do," Optimus insisted, moving towards me.
"Optimus, I'm so sorry for not listening to you. You were right. Kacey is a free spirit who doesn't do well when confined by boundaries or rules. I'm so sorry trying to make you be the kind of father you never could be. You love your children too much to be what I wanted you to be. I was wrong to even suggest that you change the mech you are."
He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close as I continued through my tears.
"Things were so much simpler on Trion's base. I miss my little Kaceystar who never hesitated to smile up at me, who never hesitated to send me her love. I didn't mean to push her away from me…from the father she loved. Optimus…"
"Shh, Elita. None of that matters now," he said to me, holding my face in his hand. "We'll find our sparkling and bring her home."
"This was her last position," Hound said. Optimus looked at the coordinates as he took hold of my hand. "The blizzard of the century is blowing out there making it difficult to track her."
"I highly doubt she can fly as the wind in combination with the snow will affect her telemetry," Trion said. "She'll be on foot."
"I'll get a search team ready," Ironhide said.
"No, this is something Elita and I must do."
"Stay in radio contact," Ratchet ordered. "It's not going to do your systems any good if you're over exposed to those freezing temperatures."
"I would suggest that if you don't find her by nightfall to return to the base," Prowl said. "The temperatures will be even too low for you to handle Optimus."
"Send us any new information on her location," Optimus ordered.
Neither of us said anything to each other as we made our way to the bases main entrance. I felt the worry and fear in my loves spark. It was difficult to distinguish if from my own.
"Keep reaching out to her," he told me as we stood at the door. "Don't stop…ever."
My spark sank as we went outside. It was freezing and the wind was howling fiercely. Optimus immediately got in front of me to block most of the wind and sleeting snow. But I didn't stop reaching out to Kacey. Whether she was being receptive or not, I didn't know. I just knew that she wasn't reaching out to me.
For hours, I followed Optimus through the icy snow and wind with no sign of our little sparkling. It was beginning to take its toll on my systems by late afternoon. One of the downsides of being a femme, our body temperatures didn't run as hot as the mechs.
"Optimus," I called, reaching out and touching him.
He turned, to face me. His mask covered with a thick layer of ice as was much of the front of him. But his optics burned with determination to find our sparkling.
"Where are we?"
"Not far from the base," he answered using our internal communicators. "I've been taking us in a grid by grid search pattern. I don't think she's gone very far."
"How can you tell?"
"Because we can barely see and move. She's a smart youngling. She'll find a place and wait out the storm. I just have to find where she's hiding."
"And if you're wrong?"
"I'm listening to my spark, Elita. It's telling me Kacey's not far from us."
If all else fails, one could always rely on Optimus' spark. It's never failed him. I've came to believe that so long ago. And after bonding with something so beautiful, I believe it more firmly than ever before. I just wish I could be as physically strong as he was at the moment.
"I'm taking you back to the base," he insisted when I collapsed against him.
"I can't move my legs," I said as he lifted me into his arms.
"I know, you're systems are freezing up. The temperature has dropped rapidly now that the sun as set. Just try to remain awake. I've contacted Ratchet. He's waiting for us at the main entrance."
Optimus moved as quickly as the blizzard permitted him. When we reached the main entrance I couldn't move my arms and I felt as if I was starting to power down.
"Lay her on this, it will heat her up," Ratchet ordered. "Got that blanket…"
"Right here," Moonracer smiled, as she started to cover me up.
"Optimus, I can't let you…"
"I'm going back out there, Ratchet. I have to find my daughter."
I saw Ratchet nod his head. He, like me knew that nothing was going to stop Optimus. Not even a blizzard. It wasn't in his nature to give up.
"Optimus…"
"Shh," he cooed softly to me. "I swear, if I have to, I will search to the ends of the universe and beyond. I will find our little Kaceystar and bring her home."
"I'll keep reaching out to her."
I watched my love disappear out the door. Ironhide quickly closed it to keep the snow and cold out.
"Let's get her to the Med Bay," Ratchet suggested.
"You move me from this spot and I will blast your aft!" I warned him. "I'm not moving until Optimus gets back with my sparkling."
"I wouldn't do it Ratchet. I'll help her blast your aft. I'm sure Chromia won't mind helping either."
"Very well," he grumbled.
"Ironhide, the twins?"
"Chromia's got them well taken care of," he smiled. "They've taken a liking to Sunny and Sides it seems."
"Primus, I hope you're joking. It's bad enough Kacey…"
I stopped and started crying. The ache in my spark was unbearable. I needed my daughter back.
'Kacey, please reach back to me…I miss you. I need you,' I said over my bond hoping my message would reach her.
"Optimus will find her, Elita," Ironhide said, taking hold of my hand. "He loves that little sparkling more than life itself. You should have seen the spark ache he went through when he found out he was a father."
"He worried for her?"
"You know he did," Ratchet continued. "I nearly had to remove the lugnut from duty. He was so worried for Kacey that he crashed while in his vehicle form."
My optics widened. Optimus never told me about that.
"But you should have seen the look on his face when he held Kacey during the days that followed her surgery," Ironhide grinned. "I never saw him so happy or content during all the long orns I've know him."
"He never put her down," Moonracer added. "If he had to, Ratchet, Ironhide or even Bumblebee held her until he came back for her."
"Primus, then when she was better, the early mornings she would wake half of us up," Ratchet groaned.
"More like you," Ironhide pointed out. "You were the one who deactivated her plasma burners. She was just getting back at you."
"She was a terror, waking me up with a snowball to my face," Ratchet laughed. "But my favorite moments were always of watching Optimus and her interact. You could see how much they loved each other. That's what made me decide that having a family was an important part of life."
"And he's been regretting it ever since," Moonracer joked, leaning into his arms.
It warmed my spark to see how much in love Ratchet and Moonracer were. I honestly never thought any femme would fall for such a cranky mech. But I see that being bonded and a father has been good to him. I've noticed that he doesn't get as cranky as he used to be.
After an hour, my systems were back to normal and I was on my feet. I remained there near the door, my spark reaching out to Kacey, periodically out to Optimus. His love was always returned quickly. I still felt nothing from my daughter.
Shortly after midnight, my sensors picked up Optimus approaching the door. Ironhide and Ratchet both stood up when I did. They must have sensed him too.
I gasped, covering my mouth. I could barely make out the red and blue of Optimus' battle armor. He was covered in a thick layer of ice. Icicles even hung off parts of his frame and his chin. In his arms was our daughter, curled up in a tight ball and nearly encased in a snow and ice.
"She's in stasis lock induced by the cold," Ratchet said, as he brushed the snow from Kacey's face.
Her mask was up, her face cover with ice. Flakes of ice fell onto her when Optimus retracted his mask so he could speak.
"I found her on a cliff top ten miles from here. It looked like she just curled up and fell into recharge."
"She seems preserved, no damage to her major or minor systems. Same goes for you, Optimus. But let's get you both to the Med bay and warm you both up."
Optimus
It was a miracle that I hadn't shut down. I fought hard to keep my systems from powering down. I was terrified every astroseconds I couldn't find my daughter. It had gotten to the point where I couldn't see with my optics and relied entirely on my sensors.
My optics returned to normal by the time we reached the Med Bay. Ratchet led Elita and I to lubrication room where critical patients were submerged completely in an energy enriched lubricate to help revitalize their systems. It was also good to relieve stiff joints and gears.
Personally, I only experienced it once a long time ago at the end of a long battle. Ironhide literally carried me, a young exhausted Prime, off the battlefield and set me in the tank where I fell into recharge in the warm, pleasant fluid.
The soft yellow glow of the energy fluid looked inviting as I stared down at it.
"We'll put Kacey in first," Ratchet said.
"You can't. Kacey's frozen solid to my arms and I can't move them either."
"Ok, get in," he ordered. "Submerge yourself completely. I'll monitor Kacey closely and let you know when to bring her up. Her form is much smaller and won't need to soak as long as yours, Optimus."
"I understand."
"I kept the fluid warm but not too warm," Wheeljack smiled. "I'll turn up the heat gradually over the next ten minutes to allow your systems to adjust."
"Ratchet…" Elita started, her optics pleading.
"Go on," he smiled to her.
With Elita at my side we stepped into the tank. The warm fluid already began working its wonders on my stiff legs. I heard Ratchet cursing as the combined weight of the three of us displaced so much of the liquid that it spilled across the floor.
Once completely submerged, my sensors detected the slow rise in temperature of the energy fluid. The fluid was clear enough that I could see that Elita never took her optics or her hands from Kacey. After some time, I watched as Kacey's form slowly uncurled in my arms. The ice and snow had finally melted away completely. And like on many previous occasions her battle armor retracted.
"Ok, Optimus, Kacey can come out. But you need to remain for another twenty minutes!" Ratchet shouted from above.
I nodded to Elita, handing her our daughter and watched as she carried our little sparkling away from me. The minutes passed slowly as my spark agonized to be near my daughter. I still couldn't reach her and was afraid I may never be able to again.
My tears blended in with the fluid as I wept. Kacey was right, I lied to her, and I broke my promises. I failed as her father. I deserved every harsh word she said to me. But I wasn't going to give up on trying to get my daughter back. I was determined to do whatever it took. I was never going to make the same mistakes again, not ever.
The astrosecond my twenty minutes was up I quickly emerged from the tank. Elita was there to greet me and helped to dry me off.
"Ratchet says she's out of stasis and in deep recharge now," she spoke softly to me.
"Can we take her to our quarters?" I asked, covering her hands with mine and holding them against my chest.
Elita looked up at me with teary optics. Her voice barely a whispered. Her spark aching as terribly as mine.
"I can't lose her, Optimus."
"We won't. I'm not giving up on her. I don't care how long it takes. We are going to get back our little Kacey."
Taking her hand in mine, I led us out into the main room of the Med Bay. Ironhide and Ratchet were watching over Kacey.
"Ironhide, will you…"
"The twins are already tucked in for bed with Sidewinder," he smiled. "Chromia and I will take good care of them for how ever long you need. And Prowl has everything under control. Neither of you will be disturbed."
"Thank you. Both of you, for all you've done."
"She'll recharge through the rest of the night," Ratchet informed Elita and I as I lifted Kacey into my arms. "Be prepared when she wakes. She probably won't be in the best of moods."
"Elita and I will be ready for anything. We have to be."
"Don't forget to recharge yourselves," he reminded with a smile.
Of course, neither Elita nor my self could recharge. We knew Kacey was going to need our undivided attention once she woke up. And we wanted to be ready for her.
But at least my daughter was where she belonged in our bed, between Elita and me as we rested in our protoforms. Both my arms were wrapped around my little Kaceystar. Elita hadn't stopped caressing Kacey's head once we settled into our positions.
Even in her recharge Kacey was shielding her spark. She wasn't letting either of us in nor was she letting us know her feelings.
"Are you ready?" I asked Elita, feeling Kacey beginning to stir.
"I'm not losing my daughter ever again," she said, sliding her arms around Kacey's protoform.
As I suspected, Kacey wasn't happy. She was livid. Spouting at us in Cybertronian swear words. Her arms and legs flayed about as she struggled to break free from our hold. And at the same time, Elita and I were persistent. We kept pushing at Kacey from within, never letting her rest, giving her all our love.
I believed I still knew my daughter's spark well. I suspected that the anger was a front. I knew she was hurting more than anything. I knew she desperately wanted us to love her. A part of her knew we still loved her. It was that part Elita and I were hoping to reach.
The more she struggled the tighter my hold on her became. It took some time for her shouts of anger to turn into sobs of frustration. Her exhausted form stopped struggling but I still held her close. The will of my spark unrelenting in making her understand just what she means to me.
Then finally I broke through to her. Her anger and frustration faded quickly and was replaced with regret of what she'd done.
"I'm so sorry!" she wailed into my chest, her small arms clinging on to me.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, my child," I smiled warmly through my tears as it felt so good to feel her love and affection for me in my spark again.
"I'm the ones who is sorry," Elita wept. "I'm the one who fragged…"
"We fragged up," I corrected my sparkmate. "We don't have any excuses for what we did. We only know we love you so much."
"I love you too," Kacey sobbed, turning in my arms.
I let her go as she wrapped her arms as tight as she could around Elita. I simple wrapped my arms around my sparkmate, keeping our little sparkling between us, smothering her with my love. We stayed that way even after Kacey cried herself into recharge.
Emotionally and physically exhausted, I finally fell into recharge myself. When I awoke, I found Kacey nestled snuggly in my arms, against my chest as I lay on my side. I smiled, kissing the top of her head, feeling the joy of in spark as she recharged peacefully.
It wasn't the same joy as before. It was much stronger.
"She really does love you, Optimus," Elita smiled quietly.
I looked over to see my beautiful sparkmate was staring intently at me.
"She loves you too."
"Yes, I know she does," she sighed. "But the two of you have a…special bond. A bond I nearly destroyed by making you change how you were raising Kacey."
"Elita, we're still learning to be parents," I said to her, wiping her tears away. "I'm sure we're still going to make mistakes. But our children should never doubt our love for them. We're a family; we're stronger when we're together. Together we can accomplish anything."
"So what do we do now?" she asked, caressing Kacey's head affectionately.
"For now, let's just enjoy this moment with our daughter. Once she wakes up we'll let her decide what to do today. I think we owe her that much. Then later the three of us will have a long discussion and what is best for Kacey."
"I do know one thing for certain," Elita smirked quietly at me.
"What?"
"We're going to need a bigger bed because I know we won't be able to keep them out of here. Not when it makes you so happy to have them so close to you."
"You and my children are what matter most to me. You're all so precious. I can't imagine my life without either of you."
Kacey suddenly yawned wide as she moved slightly in my arms. Her optics were still offline. Elita and I grew quiet, watching her and wondering if she was going to wake up. The room was quiet for several long astroseconds until Kacey started snoring softly.
"Primus, she snores like you do," Elita giggled.
"I do not snore!"
"Yes, you do."
"Not!"
"Do!"
"NOT!"
"Optimus."
"Yes, Elita?"
"You do snore but not loud enough to keep me awake. However, I did find it hard to fall into recharge when you weren't there, snoring beside me. I missed it…I missed you."
"Why don't we go back into recharge," I suggested. "And I'll try not to snore too loudly."
Elita laughed quietly at me. She fell into recharge before I did as usual. I loved to watch her recharging. She was always so beautiful and peaceful. Kacey was the same way too.
Later, when we woke, the three of us spent the day together. I took us in the shuttle to a desert where the three of us raced around. We even let Kacey fly for a bit, keeping in radio contact the entire time of course. Our little sparkling never hesitated to express her gratitude or love for letting her fly. She loved it nearly as much as she loved us.
Elita and I discussed with Kacey about what she would like to do on the base that was within reason. Her studies, training, and duties were to remain a constant. After that we gave her a list of options. Surprisingly she asked if she could still play with the other younglings and promised to not pick anymore fights. Of course, Elita was thrilled about this. We even gave Kacey two days a week to do as she wished anywhere on the base. Yes, anywhere included the recreation room.
Then at the end of the day I decided it was time to properly introduce Kacey, Orion, and Ariel to each other.
"Are you sure about this?" she timidly asked.
"You'll do fine this time," I smiled down at her. "I feel it in my spark."
"Ok," she sighed, glancing nervously at Orion then at Ariel.
I took Orion from Elita's arms first and gently placed him in one of Kacey's arms then did the same with Ariel in the other arm. Elita and I sat on opposite sides of Kacey to help her support both the twins and merely observed her.
"Try Orion first," Elita suggested. "If he's receptive then Ariel will be."
"Already protective of his sister?"
"Exactly," I smiled.
"At least they're not crying," she commented with a sigh. "Ok, here it goes."
I noticed Orion's optics suddenly focused intensely on Kacey as she reached to his spark with hers. He didn't cry nor did his optics waver from hers. His faceplates turned serious.
"Get used to it, Orion," she cooed to him. "I'm your big sister and I'll do whatever I can to protect you." She leaned gently pressed her forehead against her brother's. The very action made him giggle happily as he reached for her face. "I love you too, little bro."
As always, Ariel started getting excited. She wanted her turn and, like Elita and Kacey, didn't hesitate to be vocal about it as she let out a sharp bleep at Kacey. Ariel's optics flickered as she reached for her big sister's face. Kacey made a few noises with her vocal processor similar to a sparkling which made her little sister even happier.
"They like me!" Kacey said excitedly.
"Like? I think they adore you," I told her and was rewarded with the biggest smile I have ever seen on her lovely faceplates.
Up next, we'll have an interlude with Optimus to show the passing of time. Then we'll pick up after that with Kacey at 13 orns.