Chapter 52

-0-Ironhide and Ratchet at the quarters

They sat on the couch relaxing from the excitement of the news and the unexpected blowout in the hallway. It was comfortable in the way it always was when they were alone together. When you could access everything with another, then there's nothing left unsaid. That level of comfort and disclosure would make a human poke their eyes out but to the Cybertronian people, it was normal.

The thread that held them together no matter how hard the turmoil they were immersed in was the most permanent and binding commitment of their lives. The only thing that could sever it was death and now with an infant, they were winding another one into their own tapestry.

Ironhide was as contented a mech as it was possible to be. The hilarity of the prank war had born fruit and now he was going to be something he never felt he would ever be, given the life and circumstances in which he lived. He was going to be a father.

He thought of his own, his big old pa, Blackjack. He thought of his other father, the one who separated him, his Ada Alor. He remembered his grand genitors, several generations of them and he knew that they would love this baby as much as they loved him. He'd been raised in an ocean of love, in a family that doted on him almost to his detriment.

He remembered walking in tidal pools at the Sea of Mercury with his grandpa or appa, Raptor and his amma, Raptor's bond, Turbine. He remembered all the lessons his Amma Turbine had given him about his culture and religion as an elder and Maker of the Elder Clan of Primus, the oldest clan known among their people. He remembered his Appa Hard Drive and Amma Delphi, the genitors of Appa Raptor. There was no thing he could even accidentally want that they wouldn't try to find for him from the smallest pebble to the hardest and rarest toy for his box. He remembered his ada's genitors and other relatives … Appa Trooper and Amma Scout, Auntie Lissie and Uncle Steiner. They taught him singing and dance, let him act out his little skits to their great delight and told him stories of The Beginning when the Pantheon lived directly among them.

He knew that they would be rapturously in love with this baby. He also knew that he couldn't think of them without terrible suffering so he didn't. He took Ratchet's servo and squeezed it, feeling imminently better when he did.

Ratchet squeezed it back as he wandered down the familiar roads of family and home himself. Ironhide's musings had bled over to him and they were of one mind on the infant … their elders would have loved him passionately.

He thought about his genitors, his atar, Tie Down and his ada, Ravel. They were as lovely as the day was long and to him they were the pantheon whose love made all things possible, the most self sacrificing, hardworking and decent mechs he knew. He thought about his grand genitors, his Appa Ratchet who he was named for, Ratchet's bond, his lovely mini-con femme amma, Docker, Appa Chan and Amma Corr, all of whom he worshiped like the gods he felt them to be. They worked terrible low paying jobs to sacrifice their own well being to get him some little toy or treat even if it meant someone didn't eat well for a while.

He was born in the projects and lived the tenement life all his orns until he was spotted as a potential gifted doctor and given a chance no one of his caste was ever allowed otherwise. Unless you had some value to the powers that be, you were locked into your place and there was no other hope for better or different.

He'd made it through the University, never giving up even when he wanted because when he came home four hopeful love filled faces greeted him, asking all about his orn and what he had learned. Their own yearnings and dreams for better and a good education would never be fulfilled but the life of sacrifice and effort that had led to his chance would be enough for them because it was all for him, their little Sonny.

It was a pain in his spark like the thrust of a sword to think about them normally but now it was worse. He stepped away from the gold tinged memories of his family, their little shop, RTR Tools that made museum quality weapons and tools through processes only they knew and leaned into Ironhide. "It's a blessing and a curse isn't it, Ironhide," he said.

Ironhide lay his helm on Ratchet's. "It is. They would've loved this moment, all of them."

Ratchet nodded. "Then we'll love it doubly for them. Okay?"

Ironhide quashed the emotions that threatened to spill over. "Okay," he said as they sat together in their tiny quarters on a base in the middle of a great ocean on a planet that they hadn't ever heard of a few years before in a solar system without much to recommend it on the far edge, the Orion Arm of a massive star and black hole conglomeration they called The Great Galaxy.

Or as the humans insisted … The Milky Way.

-0-Brig

"I would like to speak to Sunny, Red Alert," Bluestreak said pausing before the jailer who was sitting at his station watching the compound and beyond via numerous screens.

"I can't let you, Bluestreak. You'll need permission from the Officer of the Day."

"Who is that?" Blue asked shifting from foot to foot anxiously.

Red checked his screen. "It's still Prowl but shift is changing soon," he said.

Bluestreak nodded then hurried away.

=0=Ironhide and Ratchet

The sensation of tingling passed through his digits as Ironhide touched the tiny spark that hovered next to Ratchet's. He removed his servo staring at the little spark trying to visualize it separated and alive, sitting on his hands, looking at him with the devotion only sparklings could have for a genitor. Ironhide tapped the catch and Ratchet's chamber closed, the light fading from the room but not from Ironhide's eyes.

He grinned. "Pretty cute."

"He's going to look just like you," Ratchet said. "I have spoken."

Ironhide laughed. "I can see it. Eventually."

-0-In the Brig

Sideswipe sat on the bench that formed the berth for his cell, the shimmering energy bars that held him most of the illumination in the room. Sunstreaker sat on a bench next to him, the bars between them high enough energy to hurt if they decided to go at each other again.

They didn't.

They ignored each other.

For about a half a breem.

"You're a slagger," Sideswipe said turning his helm to glare at his brother. "Would you clue me in?"

"You want to be with Bluestreak."

There it was.

Out in the open.

Sideswipe schooled his face to impassivity, then he looked at Sunstreaker. "You're full of it."

"Am I?" Sunstreaker replied as he stared at Sideswipe critically. "Open the link wider and tell me that."

Sideswipe looked away with a shrug. "Whatever. Go ahead and believe whatever you want. You usually do."

"I'm right," Sunny said leaning back to rest his head against the wall. "You know I am. I know because I've felt it for a while."

"For the sake of argument," Sideswipe said glancing at him with a critical optic. "What if that's true? So what? Bluestreak is lovable."

"He is."

It was silent a moment.

"Tell me what you want, Sideswipe," Sunny said looking at his brother with an expression that was hard to determine.

Sideswipe looked at him studying his brother's face and wondered if he dared. "You already know."

Sunny dropped his chin to his chest, shaking his head slightly. "I know," he replied.

-0-Ironhide and Ratchet late that night after dinner and laughs with the garrison

They lay together wrapped in each others arms. It was dark and quiet.

"Ratchet."

"Hm?"

"What do we do now?"

"Well, I behave myself and you're pardoned."

"Pardoned?"

"I declare the prank war over."

"But penalties and the treaty agreement..."

"Your words to those two miscreants paid any penalty that you owe, Ironhide."

It was silent a moment.

"I love you, Ratchet. I want you to know."

"I know, Ironhide. I love you, too."

Ironhide grinned. "Don't tell anyone."

Ratchet grinned. "I won't."

"What are we going to name him? We're still good for a mech?"

Ratchet nodded. "I wouldn't want anything else. I want it to look like you, with your pug nose and your finials. You have very attractive finials."

"I think your optics are the prettiest ever, Ratchet. I want it to have your optics and your build. You're sort of tall and gangling. I'm sort of not."

Ratchet snorted. "You're a bit robust but that's a good thing sometimes."

It was silent a moment.

"What do you suppose the younglings were fighting over?"

Ironhide shrugged. "I saw Bluestreak. He looked terrible. Maybe they're fighting over him, the glitch heads."

"I hope not. I like Bluestreak and Prowl will snap them in two," Ratchet said snuggling his helm into Ironhide's neck.

"He will."

-0-Prowl's office

"I just don't know."

Prowl regarded Bluestreak, inevitably seeing the injured hysterical infant that he and Ironhide had found wandering alone and dazed in the wasteland that had been their mutual home city. The bombing had been so intense that in all the confines of the city, under every searched boulder and fallen building Bluestreak was the only survivor found. One out of tens of thousands, even millions. All of that always flooded Prowl's processor whenever Blue was down. It was something he had never dealt with himself and even though he locked it away in his processor, Bluestreak was always the key.

He had clung to Prowl begging the Autobot to take him to his mother. Prowl had found what was left of her under a burned out building, the remains of his father nearby. Bluestreak had sat in shock, his little door wings burned in the fires lying flat on his back, his optics as large as manhole covers. He had gripped Prowl's servo and wouldn't let go.

Prowl had sheltered Blue as they waded out of the ash and water of his family's home so that he couldn't see the body parts of what had to be other relatives and maybe even siblings. It had been a hellscape of unimaginable proportions as they searched, Prowl for is family and Ironhide for his.

No matter where Prowl walked in the devastation, his own spark and that of Ironhide's crushed to nothingness over the devastation of their home town, Bluestreak had clung to him. Before the searching was over Prowl had taken him on as his own, getting full legal custody of the underage youngling to ensure he would have a chance to recover and find his footing in the world once more.

"What did they say to you?" Prowl asked as a frown formed on his face, the red of his chevron giving him a slightly menacing effect in combination.

"They really haven't ... at least Sideswipe hasn't. Sunny hasn't said he wants a trine but he also says he and Sideswipe are joined in a way that he can't describe. He said it was as if he was only half a mech without Sideswipe."

"What do you want? Do you want to be in a trine?" Prowl frowned deeper. His youngling wasn't meant to be in a trine, of that he was certain. Praxians didn't hold to such things, at least not in the cosseted rarefied prison of his caste that had been his burden to escape all his life. His ambitions for Bluestreak's happiness didn't involve complicated convoluted combinations with split sparked mechs. Especially these two hoodlums. He felt his ire starting to build.

"I don't know. I love Sunny but they compete with each other and pull pranks. I don't know what they're up to, maybe its not the way it seems," Blue said in a soft voice as he looked at Prowl with miserable optics. "I know you don't approve."

"I don't," Prowl said shifting on the couch, looking at Blue more squarely. "But this is your decision."

Blue stared at the floor, his expression miserable.

Prowl feeling miserable, too, pulled Bluestreak into his chassis holding him in his arms. He leaned his helm against Blue's, the young gunner melting into his embrace. "I'm sorry, Prowl. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Blue," Prowl said as his expression settled into hard lines. "You don't have a thing to be worried about."

Blue on-lined his optics, blinking in understanding. "Oh," he said.

-0-Brig

It was silent.

Red Alert left duty as Kup took his place to sit at the monitors to watch the outside even as he kept an optic on the sulking duo in the cells behind him. He turned and regarded the two, a miracle of creation. They were precious to him, a couple of sparks after his own. Relaxing as he watched the outside, he thought back to the day he saw them, two pugnacious smart afts looking for some sport. By the time he got through with their first day as Autobots they almost were ready to cut their losses.

But they stayed and the Autobots were the better for it. That they stayed gave them a place, a purpose and the love of a lot of mechs who both admired and feared them, especially Sunny.

Kup wasn't afraid of the youngling. They loved him back, considering him a mentor, friend and father figure. He loved Sunny and he loved Sideswipe. This wasn't the first brig duty he'd done with them and it probably wouldn't be the last. He grinned. Sort of made the circle closed that way he thought. Sitting back to enjoy the sight of the two silently seething, Kup watched the night pass by quietly.

-0-Prime and Prowl

"And that's why I'm going to bash their heads together."

Prime watched as Prowl paced, his anger rolling off in waves. He sat back and enjoyed the show, the emotion on display nothing new to him. They had, after all, bonded and shared the throes of passion and other activities enough for him to know that Prowl had a lot of emotions. He just kept them under control. "What do you want me to do?" Prime asked, watching Prowl's wings quiver with agitation.

It was a pretty effect.

"Nothing right now," Prowl said. "I'm going to invoke genitor's rights with Bluestreak."

"And that means?" Prime asked with a slight smile on his face as a faded memory began to form around the words which were batted into law in the way distant past by genitors who had reached the end of their rope.

It happened.

"It means in Praxian Parental-Cultural law that they can't even speak to Bluestreak without me or my designated delegate present. I've already told Bluestreak and he understands my reasons and his duty as a Praxian. I think he agrees because he's confused about this whole mess given the prank and competitive history of these two.

"Being with Sunstreaker was what he wanted but the two of them? He knows my opinions on trines. It's not an Autobot thing."

"And why is that, Prowl? That it is not an Autobot thing?" Prime asked with a big grin.

Prowl stopped pacing to turn to him. "What do you mean?"

"I was thinking about the situation of Praxus and the Seeker Annihilation. There is also the general population idea that flying was a low status thing and no one had lower status than Seekers in our society. I was thinking about how sometimes you can confuse your emotions around difficult things and make conclusions that are not what one might do in other circumstances."

"Do you think this is about Seekers?" Prowl asked with surprise.

"Is it? They favor trines, though I've seen pairs before. Nitro is bonded with a grounder," Prime said.

Prowl stared at him and Prime could almost see the wheels turning as he examined his comments. Prowl who bled logic like some did energon wouldn't be afraid to consider challenged assumptions especially from Prime. They had rousing conversations all the time. They both loved to see what the other truly thought. "Then if it was … that would be … prejudice, then." He stared at Prime. "I know it was a real thing in my caste but ..."

"It could be, though given the circumstances it would take a lot not to harbor such things. I am not saying it is in this instance but it is a thought," Prime said.

Prowl stared at him, then paced a second. "What about the idea that this is some kind of competition? What about the history of that between them?"

"We can ascertain that," Prime said.

"I have a duty to Blue's family, Optimus. They were Praxians. They would want Blue to have the best and I try to be that genitor, one who can do that for them. I owe them a lot for the honor of raising him. I want him to remember and honor them by our rules," Prowl said.

"We will. Perhaps you need to study your feelings about trines. I have known many in them that were transformed by the emotional context they share. Perhaps it will be the making of the twins to have such a bond as Blue. After all, I can vouch for his main genitor," Prime said.

Prowl stared at him, then grinned faintly. "You're way too decent for a mech like me. I've put Machiavelli to shame before. Old stick up his aft Prowler."

"Perhaps, but what would be the fun in a life without you in all your many facets?" Prime asked with a grin.

Prowl grinned back. "Well," he said. "I'll invoke. For Blue's family, I will. I'm not mollified but I will do what Blue needs. I don't like his uncertainty and confusion." He looked at Prime with a slight smirk. "I'm upset," Prowl agreed. "Take that to the bank. Then he paused as a tough expression formed on his handsome face. "But I sure as the Pit am not confused."

Prime nodded before pulling the agitated Praxian into his lap. And for a while Prowl was neither agitated nor confused.

Again.