Chapter 64
-0-On the beach
"Bond with me, too."
Bluestreak, his spark furiously fluttering in his chassis looked at Sideswipe, falling into the fear and hope savagely and nakedly displayed on his face. He nodded. Then Bluestreak looked at Prowl who watched him with an expression of fear, hope and uncertainty. "I want to, Prowl. I love them. Both of them. I have for so long I can't remember when I didn't."
Prowl who pulled himself together then nodded. "You have to be certain, Bluestreak. This isn't a game. It can't be undone."
"I know," he said moving to stand in front of Prowl.
Prowl gathered Blue into his arms, holding him tightly as he felt a sadness that he couldn't explain fill his spark. He loved his son. He had protected him, helped him find his way, educated and trained him to survive in the world they lived in, teaching him everything about their culture that Blue's genitors would have wanted him to know.
Now he was stepping away from that protection, laying his spark open to what, Prowl couldn't guess. He just prayed to Primus at that moment that Bluestreak was making a good decision. But because he had and it felt evident to Prowl that Blue was in love, he would support it.
His way.
Prowl looked at the two standing side by side, two halves of a whole picture, each of them reflecting in their faces and optics the desperate hope they both felt. They wanted Bluestreak and it appeared that they loved him deeply, too. That's all Prowl wanted to know. The trine wasn't something he cared for but he understood the predicament the twins faced. They really were half of a whole. "Bluestreak. Go back to the hangar and wait in my office. I have to talk to the twins."
Bluestreak looked at him with an uncertain expression then nodded. He turned to look at the twins. Then he smiled, a warm smile just for them.
They shifted, smiling back, then watched at he walked away to head back to the hangar. When he was gone, the three turned back to each other. There was a deep stillness.
Then Prowl spoke to them. "I found Bluestreak. He was wandering half dead in the destruction of our city. Ironhide and I, we found him. He was covered in his mother's energon. He wanted his mother and we found their home, the remains of his parents scattered everywhere in the blast hole that was his home. He must have been playing in the street or something to miss having died himself. He was half destroyed and incoherent, helpless to survive on his own so he became mine. Sometimes I see that youngling when I look at Blue, that devastated little lost kid with no one, with wounds and pain that he still hasn't been able to put wholly aside."
A seagull called somewhere, its high pitched call echoing over the water.
"I love him. He's my son. I will always watch over him. I will watch you, too. I will ..." he hesitated, warring with the hard aft that he was to most who really didn't get to see all his sides. "I will watch you, too, and hope that what I think I see is real."
"It is," Sunstreaker said quietly.
Sideswipe nodded.
"Good. I will invoke the declaration if I see otherwise and as long as it lasts you'll not be able to be with him not even if you're bonded. That's the power I have and I won't hesitate to use it. I want you to know that. As for bonding, I don't like trines. I don't know how this will work but I'm going to trust Bluestreak. And I'm going to trust you. Both of you, until you prove otherwise."
They nodded, their optics intent upon Prowl.
"I want a Praxian pre-bonding period." Prowl shifted slightly, relaxing a little. "You can't be together intimately for six decaorns. Then you'll bond and that'll be it forever. There's a small ceremony and I will ask Prime to officiate. Maybe it can be the first bonding service in Autobot City. I can see if we can do that because I know in my spark that his family if they had lived would want him to have it. It's our way as Praxians and you have to accept that part of us if you want to be a part of our family."
They nodded. "We can't be with Blue for six decaorns? We can't touch him or talk to him without a chaperon?" Sideswipe asked.
"You can. But you can't 'face. No intimacy. None."
They stared at him then each other.
"I'm asking you mech to mech to keep this agreement, this requirement and service to me and Blue's genitors. I know Bluestreak's genitors would have made this requirement of whoever Blue would have bonded with had nothing happened to Praxus and to them. They would've because it's our tradition to do so. You will do this for them in their memory to honor them and you will do this for me. I need your word given on your honor."
They both looked at him, then each other. They looked back at Prowl again with a nod. "You have it," they said in unison.
"Then I'll put the complaint in abeyance. I won't end it yet. I'm still … I still need it there for my sake. But I'm going to trust you as much as I can right now. I want to trust you. I want this to work if this is what Blue wants. If we're going to be a family, and I want us all to be a family, then you must meet me half way."
They nodded. For a moment they stood together silently then Prowl walked to the hangar alone. The twins watched him go, each occupied with their own thoughts. Then they looked at each other. "He wants it to work," Sideswipe said quietly.
"It will," Sunstreaker said. "What I'm not clear on is how this is going to work logistically after the bond."
Sideswipe smiled in spite of himself. "We'll figure it out."
Sunstreaker smiled. "I guess we will." He grinned again. "Maybe we can email Starscream."
-0-In Prowl's office
Prowl explained his position. Bluestreak listened.
"I want the pre-bonding because we're Praxian. I want to know that we'll remain Praxian and observe as much of our culture as we can, where we can, especially the family traditions. Your genitors, they would have required that you pre-bond and have a service. We have to honor them, Bluestreak."
Blue nodded as memories of his parents, merely impressions after the attack destroyed his life with them hovered around his spark. "I'd be proud to do that, Prowl. I want you to know how much I love you today. I will always be your son and you will always be my father."
Prowl nodded as old emotion filled him. "I will always protect you. If I have to put a complaint forward even if you're bonded, I will. I wouldn't do it to hurt you, Blue. I want you to know that."
"I know. You're a Praxian genitor. I know," Bluestreak said with a smile. "I love you, Prowl."
Prowl nodded. "I love you, too."
They looked at each other a moment as oceans of emotion and expression passed between them. Prowl arose and walked around his desk, pulling Bluestreak into his arms. "You understand the limitations of the pre-bonding period?"
"No 'facing, no intimacy, nothing that merges," Bluestreak said. "I have to observe the limitations of the pre-bond and then when six decaorns pass, there'll be a ceremony."
"Yes," Prowl said. "That's right. I asked the twins for their word of honor and they gave it. I want them to keep it. I hope you help them do that. I want our family, and they will be family, to be strong, united and loving. I want that for all of us."
"I do, too," Bluestreak said, hugging Prowl harder. "I wouldn't have a life without you, Prowl. I wouldn't."
Prowl smiled slightly. "I would hate to think what life would've been like without you, Blue. I love you, too."
They stood together a long time holding each other.
-0-Med Bay, at nearly the same time
He dropped the tool, the electrical spark running through his arm and down his side. Ratchet watched his ped jerk involuntarily. Picking up a scanner, he ran it over his chest, relaxing when the sparkling was pronounced perfection. /... of course it is.../ he thought, moving to fix the tool in his hand. /... his genitor is a Chaos Bringer.../
-0-Firing Range, at nearly the same time
"And this is how you duck a sword," Ironhide said, showing the movement designed to duck a Cybertronian sword as it swung toward him.
Special Ops soldiers hardened by many battles shook their heads. "How does a dude that big move that fast?" one asked.
Epps grinned. "You haven't met Ratchet yet."
-0-Med Bay, a little later
Ratchet stood at the lab analysis computer as an itch circulated through his circuitry. He analyzed, digested and peered at it from all sides. Then he stepped away from his logic circuits and accepted it for what it was. He wanted to frag the peds off of Ironhide.
Nodding to First Aid, he walked out the door heading up the corridor and out to the rec room. Not finding him there, Ratchet decided to go to the only other place Ironhide would probably be and that was the firing range. With a growing set of *!NEEDS!* and a gimlet optic, Ratchet of Cybertron marched toward the source of all solace, Ironhide the Patient, Ironhide the Magnificent Bastard, Ironhide, Chaos Bringer of Autobot Nation, Ironhide, the Sexy, the most comely and entertaining mech that Ratchet of Cybertron ever laid optics upon. Operation Frag Ironhide's Peds Off was underway.
-0-Ops Center
Jazz had gathered a small ops team to be on standby should it require a presence at the warehouse in Corpus Christi. He would lead it. Mirage, Hound, Smokescreen and Bumblebee would make up the team. Bumblebee would be available because he and the AllSpark, his family and little dogs were living on base until they could ascertain the threat was over. That or they had Starscream's carcass in hand. Either worked for Jazz who smiled at the thought as the team members began to gather.
-0-Nearing the firing range
Ratchet ambled along, his sensors extended to find his Only One. The day was hot and he felt pretty good, absorbing as much energy from the sun overhead as he could manage. His sparkling who was letting him know he was there pulsed back a tiny indication of his personality-to-come. It was bright and warm as Ratchet embraced it, copying and filing it for future reference and download to Ironhide even as he gently pulsed back energy for the tiny life in his spark chamber.
As he neared the firing range, he was only partially aware of the mercs sitting on their patio, beer in hand as a football game played on a television/tape player ensemble. They watched Ratchet approach, his big yellow superstructure a picture of balance, symmetry and power. As he got closer, one of them, Lawrence Dobbs smirked as he glanced at Todd. "Here come's your girlfriend."
Todd Baseman slapped Lawrence's shoulder, his beer fueled boredom rising in areas where his caution should have resided. "That's not my girlfriend. That's Ironhide's old lady. Haven't you heard?"
They laughed as they stared at the big mech walking by.
Ratchet heard them, his ire rising but he kept his focus. Prime said no fraternization with the … what did Epps call them?
Assholes.
He kept walking. One of them called out. "Hey! Ratchet!"
It irked him more to hear his designation coming from someone that small and insignificant. He decided to ignore them.
"I'm talking to you, Ratchet!"
Ratchet pausing in spite of himself looked down at them, at the tipsy man who was standing nearby looking up at him. A part of him was incensed. Another part of him began to assert itself in defense of his sparkling. A part of him wanted to put his ped down on the little fragger and smash him flat. But he didn't. He stared at the tiny insectoidal humanoid silently.
"Ratchet! I hear you're Ironhide's old lady. Is there any truth to that rumor?"
[Access. Search. Lady, Old. American slang, derogatory. Download. Access terminated.]
Ratchet frowned as he stepped back looking from one insectoidal humanoid to another.
The loudmouth stepped forward, emboldened. "Hey! I hear you fuck Ironhide! How does that work!" He pulled out his cell phone and held it up. "I have my phone here. Maybe you can give us a demonstration."
Something deeply buried in his programming awakened and sent a signal to Ironhide who received it in a part of his information database that was basic, ancient and unused. The programming all genitors and creators possessed, that designed to work in cooperation to protect a sparkling that the programming perceived to be endangered triggered and as they stood there, Ratchet with his arms over his spark chamber and the humans gathering around laughing, a roar like a jet plane exploding erupted on the firing range nearby.