Chapter 152

-0-Houston

They landed and drove off, heading for a storage locker where they had arranged for the weapon to be placed. It was easier than going to Intel-Martin directly so they made their way through traffic to the Alamo Storage Facility. Dark was coming upon them and it made it easier to pull around to the back to wait until the businesses and warehouses around them closed and the people went away. There was the odd remark about the awesome cars parked here and there but after a while it was quiet.

-0-Diego Garcia

Ratchet walked through the rec room with Orion firmly in his arms to enter the Ops Center. He walked down the command deck toward Prowl.

Without a word, Prowl who was doing three things at once swept Orion into his arms and with a nod to Ratchet turned back to his tasks.

Ratchet with a fat chuckle walked out the door to the N.E.S.T. HQ where the investigation team had returned so he could give his testimony.

The sun was warm overhead and the sound of seagulls could be heard beyond the base as he sauntered over. Re-directed to the administrative communications hangar, he entered to walk inside, pausing before the speaking platform and the huddle of humans there upon.

Fulton looked up and grinned, rising to walk to the edge to stand closer to the tall white medico. "Hi, Ratchet. Where's that little baby of yours?"

"He's with Prowl," Ratchet said with a grin. "He's sort of got sparkling fever."

"I heard," Fulton said turning to the investigators. He introduced them.

Warren Roberts stepped forward. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Ambassador," he said with a smile.

"Thank you. I'm glad to meet you, too. You're about the fifth person for the fifth incident to whom I've had to give testimony."

"So I gathered," Roberts said with a grin. "If I may, sir, could you please tell us what happened regarding the hit-and-run incident?"

Ratchet began. Again. "I got the call from Ops Center in the embassy that there was an incident at the beach and that there might be injured, including infants. I think that my spark stopped for a moment, then I grabbed a medi-kit and ran as fast as I could go to the beach. Prowl and Prime were there among others when I reached them and began to render first aid. The babies were hysterical with fright and Hound was down with a mangled ped. He'd been hit by the vehicle. Everyone was in shock and everyone was frightened half to death."

"Did you see the vehicle?" Roberts asked.

"No," Ratchet said shaking his head. "I cannot tell you much beyond the damages to the mechs and the lingering effect this has had on the sparklings. They already were severely harmed by their experiences prior to this. We've all worked hard to let them know that they're safe, that we'll protect them and then this happened. I wish I could tell you how angry our soldiers and all of us are about this."

Roberts nodded.

Ratchet leaned in. "I have a sparkling, the little black mech that you might have seen in the pictures I showed during the last hearing."

"I saw them. He's a very adorable child," Roberts said.

Ratchet nodded. "He's the soul of my existence. If anything happened to him nothing would be standing on this island, people or buildings that wouldn't be destroyed."

Roberts nodded. "We're interested in reaching the truth as much as you are, Mr. Ambassador. I'd like to know if you have any ideas about who might be responsible."

"I do," Ratchet said calmly. "The trouble began with Jason Daniels. When he came with bodyguards, something I find hard to reconcile with the levels of security of this facility, things went downhill. I can only assume he has some reason to have them because of his feelings for us. We don't mingle with non-military related civilians much when its clear that our company is somehow offensive to them. All of the civilians that are part of our scope are those who work with us for other agencies and whom we hold in very high regard. Daniels is the outlier. He's the odd man out. He's the focus of all the problems and I believe that he asked the mercs with him to provoke us to cause trouble."

"Why?" Roberts asked.

"To break the treaties, to break the trust, to break the alliance between us and the soldiers of N.E.S.T. and Colonel Fulton's base. He wants to divide us and get the Autobots out of the treaties because he hates us for reasons of his own. He does not have the best interests of this world in mind when he does. You couldn't defeat the Decepticons without us. No one ever has."

Roberts nodded. "Would you be able to supply medical reports related to this incident to us?"

"I'll ask our Prime. Most of that's classified information. I'll seek his advice and abide his decision," Ratchet answered.

Roberts nodded. "Thank you, Ambassador."

Ratchet nodded then grinned at Fulton who was grinning at him. "You've shown them what washed up in our brig?"

"I have," Fulton said with a chuckle. "They've met."

Ratchet looked at them. "Lucky you."

Roberts grinned and nodded. "Lucky us."

-0-Med Bay, Autobot City, Mars

They sat on comfortable chairs talking quietly together. In the incubator three tiny Seekers resided growing ever bigger every day. Starscream had taken to spending all of his time in Med Bay watching over them. It was quiet there and he was mostly alone except when the shifts changed. The medics made themselves busy and seldom did they cross paths.

It suited him at the moment. Sitting here singing to them, watching and waiting for them was a balm to Starscream's confused state of mind. He wanted to be around them as much as he could because he knew in the end Megatron would come eventually and it would all be over. He didn't know how this was so. He just knew that it would happen. So he sat beside them taking care of them, softly singing as he watched them. He memorized every detail. He knew in the end it was all he would get.

Sky Warp who was sitting nearby watching him was sick in his spark. Starscream was so in love with the babies it made him happy to watch. But he was also confused and weakened. He felt that he only had borrowed time and try as they might they could not get him to think otherwise. He sat with Starscream alternating with Thundercracker most days and as he waited he made a list of concerns. When Ratchet got back to remove the hatchlings in three orns he was going to ask him a number of things. Maybe there was something they could do to help Starscream believe that he would have a future after all.

Until then, they sat and watched their hatchlings. It was quiet and peaceful in their corner of the med bay on a base on an empty planet, in a small undistinguished solar system on a spiral arm of a very, very big galaxy.

-0-On the way

They left the fortress heading out into deep space. The distance between them and the refugees was at an optimal point. Radio contact had told the Autobots that they were looking at shuttles bearing 210 refugees guarded and supported by 40 Autobot soldiers. The specific content of civilians and soldiers was unknown at lift off but they were prepared for anything.

The shuttles carrying the refugees were operational but had gone through a lot and were in need of repair. The plan was to offload materials in flight and make repairs as they returned to Autobot City. Scanners were flung wide in all directions. Everyone was alert. This group was precious and important but they weren't especially useful to the Decepticons. The mini-con village that was following them, they were the ones that Shockwave would fight for, so they flew toward each other locked and loaded, optics wide open as they went.

-0-Texas

A big brawny man stepped out of the shadows walking with a smaller one. They were dressed casually and strolled along the path that led to the storage facility. Behind them, a tall handsome African-American male followed. The three of them passed the gate of the facility, then stepped off to move into the shadows between the two buildings. They paused for a moment then looked at the gate nearby.

"Do you have the key?" Will Lennox asked.

The two Autobots looked at him. their bright blue eyes strange to see in human faces. Although they were human appearing, they still seemed to be the Autobots they were. "We have the code. All we have to do is punch it in, get the device and leave." Jazz looked at Ironhide. "You ready?"

Ironhide watched as Jazz walked out of the shadows to punch in the code in the keypad at the gate. The gate opened and slid back allowing entrance. Behind them driving slowly as the three walked inside, Smokescreen followed in vehicle mode. Walking along the rows of small storage rooms they reached number 412. Pausing to look around as Jazz disrupted the security cameras through WIFI, they keyed the pad. The bin's door slid up and out of sight. Entering, they found a small wooden box sitting on the floor.

Lennox walked to it and knelt. "Can you scan this?"

"Already did," Ironhide said moving to kneel beside him. "Nothing inside but a plasma rifle." With his large hands he removed the lid off the box to look inside. Nestled in the straw was a black rifle of Decepticon design. He picked it up to look at it carefully. "It's all here," he said with a nod returning it and the lid to the box proper.

He picked it up, holding it in his arms as the three walked out to where Smokescreen was waiting. He popped his trunk and Ironhide put the box inside. The lid closed as Smokescreen moved onward heading for the gate. The others pulled the storage bin door down, walking for the gate themselves.

"Well, that was an easy one," Lennox said with a grin.

"Too easy," Ironhide grumped looking this way and that as they left the facility. The gate closed behind them and they disappeared into the darkness. After a moment, several vehicles drove onto the street and faded away into the night. Behind them with his signature dampened and his vehicle mode altered, Barricade followed.

-0-Med Bay, Diego Garcia

He wandered in walking to the back to park himself on a chair in Ratchet's office. Putting his peds on the desk, he waited. Ratchet who was nearby running data on a series of patients that had been radioed back from the rescue team, turned to look at him. "Hey."

"Hey."

Ratchet set the program to determine the probable course of treatment then walked inside his office to sit himself on the chair behind his desk. "Did your genitor ever tell you it wasn't polite to put your peds up on furniture?" he asked putting his own up.

Sunstreaker smirked. "No. Neither did yours, apparently."

"They did. I just didn't listen. Apparently."

Sunstreaker smiled then his expression faded. "Not quite three decaorns now."

Ratchet nodded. "Wheeljack and Perceptor are fabricating your sparkling's protoform today and tomorrow. The paint scheme will be last."

"I want it shiny."

"It will be when the spark is transferred. Until then it'll look gray."

Sunstreaker nodded. It was quiet a moment. "I hate this."

Ratchet grinned. "I know."

"Where's Orion?" Sunstreaker asked looking around.

"With Granny Prowl," Ratchet said with a chuckle. "I had to go testify to the investigation team so I left him with Prowl. I went to get him and Prowl said they were bonding so I left him. Feels kind of lonesome."

"Everyone wants him. You sort of get left out," Sunstreaker said.

"I do," Ratchet said. He pouted a moment. "I can only pout that long. I'm not Ironhide."

Sunstreaker smirked. "He's a bit of a sparkling isn't he."

"Completely."

It was quiet a moment. Then Ratchet leaned forward. "What's on your processor, Sunny."

He looked at Ratchet. "I ..."

"Yes?" Ratchet asked grinning slightly at the big mech's social ineptitude. Mech should have a flaw.

"This thing that you said … about being our genitors ..." Sunstreaker halted, his verbal ability falling into limbo once again. He frowned.

"You're ours, yes," Ratchet said. "Unless you're having second thoughts."

An intense gaze met Ratchet's, a deeply emotional one.

"Ironhide and I were talking the other night. We want to get the paperwork done and formalize this. That is, if you and Sideswipe are up to it."

Sunstreaker nodded, his gaze focused on Ratchet like a laser. "We would."

Ratchet turned to the computer to pull up a screen. Moving through interfaces, he reached the place he wanted. Then he turned the screen. "I already filled it out. All it takes is your electronic signature and that of Sideswipe. Ironhide and I have already signed. See?"

Sunstreaker leaned in and saw their glyphs as well as the spaces for both Sideswipe and himself. He sent it, the glyph for his name appearing in the appropriate space. Then he sat in silence in apparent internal conversation. As he did, the glyph for Sideswipe appeared on the screen in the box next to Sunstreaker's.

Ratchet smiled and hit the accept data key. The screen signaled that the paperwork had been submitted and accepted. He sat back to look at Sunstreaker who was sitting back himself, his demeanor at last relaxed. "Done. Son."

Sunstreaker smiled.

Big.

Genuine.

Open at last.

-0-Bluestreak and Sideswipe

Bluestreak was standing at guard duty on the east turret of the fortress. The news came through the link and he smiled, pulsing back his intense love for both. The sun was up and the sky was a lovely shade of orange. He had walked through the citadel to duty and had passed Med Bay. Pausing to step inside, he walked to the incubator where the Seekers were resting and growing.

Starscream watching him without comment, remembered Bluestreak from something but he couldn't remember exactly where.

Combat probably.

The others had told him that he was a brilliant air commander and had fought valiantly in many battles. This was surely one of those opponents.

Bluestreak smiled as he looked at the colorful little hatchlings.

Nearby, watching with a vigilant and slightly frowning expression, Sky Warp waited, poised for any possibility. Thundercracker, himself more composed watched also.

"What pretty babies."

Starscream sat forward in his chair to rest his elbows on the arms. "They are beautiful."

"I love their colors, Starscream. Seeker babies are so cute."

"They are. From birth," Starscream said with satisfaction.

"How long until they can fly?" Blue asked as he looked up at Starscream.

"It won't be for a while yet," he replied softly. "They won't have the strength and their wings take a while to … what is it that Ratchet said?" he asked looking up at Thundercracker who sat in a chair nearby.

"Mature, Star," he said quietly.

Starscream nodded then looked at his infants with intense love and delight. "Then they will fly. It will be glorious."

"I hope I see it," Bluestreak said.

"I do, too," Star said quietly.

Bluestreak glanced at the Seeker noting his melancholy expression. "Why won't you, Starscream?"

"Megatron," Starscream said quietly. "He will come and find me."

"No, he won't. Not here. We won't let him."

Starscream looked at the Autobot, at the young face staring at him with a determined expression. It was an odd thing, he thought, Autobot concern for a Decepticon commander. "Do you think so?"

"I know so," Bluestreak said determinedly. "We won't let him come here. He won't come here. We'd shoot him on sight. Count upon it. No one is going to hurt you or your hatchlings, Starscream. My adopted genitor is Optimus Prime. You should know by now he won't allow it."

Starscream looked at Bluestreak silently as he considered his words. "That could be true."

"Count on it. I won't let them, either. None of us will. You're refugees here along with the rest of us. We're all one or we aren't. At least here."

Starscream looked at Blue, seeking the guile or the backdoor to the lie but it wasn't there. "I will have to think about this. I do not trust Megatron not finding a way."

"He'll have to run an awful gauntlet, Starscream," Bluestreak said quietly. Then he arose to go. "I love your hatchlings. I'm glad we have some here. This is home now." Then Bluestreak walked to the door and left.

Starscream watched him go then sat back to consider his words. The two Seekers watched him noting a minute change. Then Thundercracker got up and walked out the door. Starscream watched him go then turned back to the Seekers. Maybe it could be possible to see them grow up. He didn't know how and most of his processor was convinced otherwise. But the Autobot had told him that they'd be protected. Anything could happen, he thought, even as he was still convinced that Megatron would come for him in the end.

Bluestreak took up his post and for a moment was alone. Then he saw Thundercracker standing nearby.

The Seeker was silent, then walked toward Bluestreak. "Thank you for what you said to Starscream. He needs to hear that Megatron won't come and kill him. He's convinced he will."

Bluestreak frowned slightly. "We won't let it."

Thundercracker shifting his peds awkwardly as he stared at Bluestreak. "You're welcome to come anytime you wish to see the hatchlings. And if you want to talk to Starscream about … things … you may."

Bluestreak nodded. "Thank you. I will."

Thundercracker nodded then walked away into the facility once more.

Bluestreak watched him go then took up his post again. The sky was beautiful, the atmosphere calm. He watched the clouds swirl and form around the top of Olympus Mons on the horizon far away and thought about Seekers flying in the sky, filling it with their beauty and grace.

The day rolled on.