Hello everyone~ Thank you for your wonderful reviews! Sorry the last few chapters have been kind of dark and sad but I hope this one makes up for it all! There are some obvious time jumps in this chapter and lots of Aquafire mouthing off and being the tough femme that she is.
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers sadly, HasTak does. I claim Aquafire, her trine, Skyblitz, Wildfire and Bolt.
A stellar cycle passed before Aquafire and Bolt were forced to flee Praxus. Not only because Shockwave managed to track the Seeker down but because they'd run out of resources. The pair found themselves just outside of Iacon, which probably wasn't the best of places to be but they would have to make due.
"Bolt, are you okay?" Aquafire asked the young sparkling as he cuddled close to her cockpit. Over the past stellar cycle, the two had formed a very close bond and the femme rarely left Bolt alone for more than a few breems at a time. The small Praxian himself was fiercely attached to her, he made it quite obvious that she was to be near him when he fell into recharge and when he woke. His favorite place to rest was right against her chest, listening to her spark beat as she sang to him. He also liked when they went flying and he was strapped safely into her cockpit, either in her alt mode or bipedal mode. It was a great experience either way.
Bolt nuzzled the sensitive glass and mouthed it softly, conveying that he was hungry to her. Instinctively, Aquafire extended an energon line from her wrist and held it to his little mouthplates, watching with a smile as he latched on and suckled. It was a thing she knew Carrier mechs and femmes did when they wanted to feed their young but that was what confused her. She'd never given birth to a sparkling, so not for the first time, she wondered why her parenting protocols would be online like this. She brushed the thought off, as she always did, and watched Bolt as he fed. When he finished, he let go with a tiny chirp and waved his servos at her, little doorwing nubs flickering happily.
"One day, we'll be safe from Shockwave," She promised him, kissing his forehelm softly. He chirped in understanding and clung to her, offlining his optics as he nuzzled close. Aquafire suddenly picked up movement behind her and roused the tired sparkling. "Bolt, I want you to go and hide for me, okay?" She murmured against his audio. She gently set him down and watched him dash back into their temporary house.
"Servos where I can see them," A feminine voice called out. Aquafire raised her hands, not wanting to get into a confrontation with the other femme. "Turn around slowly," The Seeker did so, gritting her denta to stop from remarking or snapping at the other bot. She found a blaster pointed straight at her face once she turned around and squashed the urge to swat it away. "What are you doing here, 'Con?" She demanded. She was a red color and undoubtedly an Autobot.
"Hiding," She said simply. The other femme hadn't expected to hear such a feminine voice from a model such as she but didn't let it show. "I'm an ex-Decepticon."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" She pressed.
"If I were an actual Decepticon, I would have already shot you," She bit out, not wanting to play games with this femme. "I left the 'Cons but I'm not about to tell you why." The whine of the femme's blaster had her wings sitting rigid on her back. She caught Bolt out of the edge of her vision and silently prayed that he stayed put... but being the stubborn sparkling that he is, he did exactly what she did not want him to.
He ran out to her.
Bolt started chirping and clicking angrily at the offending femme, clinging to his adopted Carrier as he did so and glaring at her. The femme was startled by the sparklings appearance and looked from him to Aquafire before sending a comm. link to Elita-1.
:Firestar to Elita-1, come in.:
:This is Elita-1.:
:Elita, I found the 'Con, it's a femme and she has a sparkling with her.:
:Bring her here, Firestar, I would like to speak with her.:
:Yes, ma'am.:
Firestar looked at Aquafire and the sparkling that was now nestled in her arms, still glaring at her.
"Come with me," She told her. Aquafire followed the other femme to what she suspected was the Autobot femme HQ. They were met by a pink femme, who had a kind smile on her faceplates despite being faced with an ex-Decepticon.
"Welcome to our base," Aquafire nodded warily, not yet trusting these femmes.
"Before you say anything, I am not a Decepticon," Aquafire snapped. "I left them for a reason," Elita's optics flicked down to the sparkling in her arms. "A few reasons actually."
"I've been told Megatron condones bonded pairs," She spoke again.
"I have no bonded," She spat. "I took this sparkling in after I found him abandoned."
"How do we know you didn't kill his Creators?" Chromia, a blue femme growled out. Moonracer surged forward and snatched Bolt, who instantly began to wail when he was taken from Aquafire. The Seeker femme's optics widened and she let out a terrified sound when he was taken.
"Don't take him!" She cried, reaching for the sparkling as Moonracer backed away. "Please, give him back!" She let out a pitiful sound then.
"Moonracer, hand the sparkling back to her," Elita ordered once she observed the Seekers behavior. The other was reluctant but she handed Bolt back to Aquafire who immediately calmed down and held him close. The sparkling settled as well as he clung to her, chirping and clicking in distress as he shook. "What is your designation?"
"Aquafire," She whispered. "I'd actually been hoping to run into you for some time now, Elita-1. I seek shelter from Shockwave."
"Why's he after you?" Arcee, another pink femme, asked curiously.
"I escaped from him," The other femme's murmured amongst themselves. There were not many that could pull off such a thing. "The circumstances under which I was kept there will not be revealed... it's too painful for me."
"That is understood," Elita nodded. "I grant you safe haven with us so long as you pledge yourself to our cause," Aquafire was stunned by this but if it meant she could keep Bolt safe and out of Shockwave's servos...
"Fine," She muttered. "I won't be of much help for a while though, Bolt still needs my constant care."
"That is understandable," Again she nodded. "It is nice to see a sparkling again," She commented, smiling at the frightened mechling.
"I found him in the ruins of Praxus over a stellar cycle ago," Aquafire whispered. "Next to his dead Creators. I could find no records of the sparkling so I took it upon myself to name him, though it was originally just a nickname. His full designation is Lightning Bolt, though Bolt will do just as well." The other femmes relaxed and slowly began to crowd around the Seeker and sparkling. Bolt squeaked and tried to hide, clicking furiously up at Aquafire until she allowed him to hide in her cockpit. "He's rather shy," She explained. The other femmes just began to laugh and started talking with the Seeker. Elita watched this with a smile on her faceplates, knowing full well that having Aquafire and Bolt around was going to change everything.
998,837 years later
Aquafire sighed when she arrived in the new base provided by Alpha Trion. They'd had a lovely encounter with Shockwave and the Decepticons, who ruined their other base (not counting the explosion used to escape). The Seeker had remained in the background the entire time, not trusting herself to be around the other Autobots when they'd come to help.
"You seem troubled," Elita broke through her little daze. "Would you like to talk?" Over the years, Elita-1 had become something of a mentor to the Seeker femme as well as someone she could confide in should she need it.
"Shockwave knows I'm with you now," She rumbled. "He'll undoubtedly tell Megatron who will order my immediate capture. This would endanger you and the other femmes once more... as well as Bolt. I cannot remain with you much longer, Elita."
"If you feel that strongly about it, I'm certain I can come up with a solution," Elita assured.
"Thank you," She relaxed a little but her wings were still held high and tense. A little black and white blur shot out from another end of the base and Aquafire soon found herself with an armful of excited youngling.
"Mama!" Bolt hugged her with a gleeful smile.
"Bolt, you're getting too big to be jumping on me like this," She groaned teasingly. Over the past millions of years, Bolt had grown from sparkling to youngling right before her optics and she always had to remind herself of this fact. "One of these days you're going to knock me over."
"Nu-uh, you're bigger than me and stronger, I can't knock you over," He giggled.
"What happens when I become an old bot like Alpha Trion? Then what will you do?" She smiled, kissing his helm.
"You'll never be that old!" He squeaked out. "Grandpa is... well, he's as old as Cybertron!" Bolt had met the old mech once and had since started calling him grandpa.
"You want ancient, you should see old man Kup!" Chromia hollered with a laugh. The Autobot femmes had told Bolt many stories about the war, though he preferred hearing silly stories over the serious ones of war. Aquafire walked back to the others with Bolt now clinging to her back, arms wrapped around her neck with a smile. Elita went to her personal quarters and thought of how she could keep Aquafire and Bolt safe.
-X-X-X-
"I received a transmission from Elita-1 this morning," Optimus looked at his gathered officers. "She is sending someone to Earth within the orn."
"Any details?" Prowl spoke up, frowning.
"She would not divulge any to me," He sighed. "Just told me to wait for her next call and to bring a team in case the Decepticons find out."
"Well, tha's rather vague," Jazz chuckled.
"That it is," Optimus nodded.
-X-X-X-
A week later, Optimus, along with Jazz, Ironhide, the twins and Ratchet were found standing guard outside of the designated space bridge. The Decepticons had yet to catch on but they knew the moment that it activated, Megatron would no doubt send his men to fight them.
"I wonder who they're sending?" Sideswipe asked aloud.
"Probably another of our men," Ratchet snorted. The bots fell silent as the space bridge activated. At the exact moment, Starscream, along with his trine, flew overhead.
"Autobots! Protect the space bridge!" Optimus shouted over the sound of laser fire. They vaguely saw the gates open as they focused on warding off the Seekers. The twins leapt after them and grabbed hold of their wings with gleeful shouts. Ironhide shook his helm as he watched and took careful aim at a screeching Starscream.
"Decepticons! Retreat!" The tri-colored mech screamed. The defeated Seekers hurried to get away from the battle... and the twins. Optimus took the opportunity to approach the new arrival, who was hidden beneath a cloak. He ceased his movements when he received a private comm. requesting that they speak only when within the safety of the Ark. Optimus nodded and transformed, allowing the arrival to ride in his trailer. When they finally reached the volcano, he let the bot out and led them to the Command Centre so they could speak privately.
"I am going to kill Elita for this!" The bot hissed, surprising the Matrix-holder greatly. "She didn't tell me I would be coming here!"
"Then we are, as the humans say, 'on the same boat', it seems," Optimus said. The bot removed the cloak and revealed herself.
"Optimus Prime," She greeted him. "You probably don't remember me but my designation is Aquafire."
"A Decepticon?" The Prime took a few steps back, vaguely wondering if his bonded had knocked a few chips loose.
"Ex-Decepticon," She snapped. "I left for a reason but I will not tell you."
"If you don't mind, I would like my officers to join us," Optimus told her slowly.
"Them and no one else," She growled out. They waited in silence for them to arrive and when they did, Prowl nearly crashed.
"Red's gonna fritz," Jazz whistled.
"Stand down," Optimus put his arm out to stop Ironhide from charging her. "She's no longer a Decepticon."
"Once a 'Con always a 'Con!" Ironhide growled out.
"I have my reasons for leaving them," Aquafire bulked then, not trusting any one of them. In that moment, Bolt decided to make his appearance. He was still small enough to fit in her cockpit, though it was a tight fit these days. He poked his head out after getting the cockpit open and trembled in fear when he saw the Autobots. He climbed out and clung to Aquafire, who held him tightly.
"A sparkling?" Prowl perked up, doorwings twitching when he realized the mechling was Praxian.
"Ah bet she kidnapped 'im!" Ironhide accused. Jazz slipped past Prime and took the youngling in his arms before backing up towards his fellow Autobots. The reaction was instant. Aquafire began to tremble in fear and mutter incoherently as she watched Jazz.
"Mama! Mama!" Bolt screamed, struggling in the saboteurs arms.
"She brainwashed 'im!" Ironhide snarled. "Poor thing thinks she's 'is Carrier."
"Give him back!" She wailed, falling to her knees. "Give him back to me!" She reached for the youngling, only to have Jazz step further behind Optimus. "Don't take him from me! Please!" She begged, openly sobbing.
"Optimus, unless you want an emotionally unstable femme on your servos, I suggest having Jazz give the youngling back," Ratchet informed his Prime. He'd been running scans the entire time and the moment Bolt had been taken, all of her readings had gone crazy. Optimus nodded to Jazz who set the youngling down and watched as he ran directly towards the distressed femme. "I'd like to take her to the med bay," He looked at the Matrix-bearer. "Run a few tests and talk to her. It's obvious she won't trust any of us."
"You have my permission," He nodded. Ratchet moved forward and gently pulled the femme up before leading her and Bolt away. While he did this, Optimus began a meeting with the other officers, as well as Red Alert.
"It's a complete security risk," Red Alert bit out. "A Decepticon in our midst? That's like asking for all of our secrets to be stolen!"
"She is an ex-Decepticon," Optimus told him.
"We don't know if she's telling the truth," He began to fret.
"What femme in her right processor would remain with the Decepticons if she had a sparkling?" Prowl cut in. The paranoid mech settled down as he let this sink in.
"We also cannot be sure if her trine is alive or not," Optimus added.
"That calls into question not only her loyalty but perhaps even her sanity," Prowl flicked his doorwings in irritation. "I've calculated the chances of her trine being alive and it is less than 2%."
"If tha's true then why ain't she offline?" Jazz questioned. "Seekers ain't known fer being alone too often."
"The sparkling," Optimus looked at the saboteur. "Is her reason for being online."
"How can ya be sure?" Ironhide grumped. Just as he was about to answer, Ratchet walked in, looking fairly slagged off.
"She defected a few vorns after we left Cybertron," He informed. "She lost her trine in battle," Jazz and Ironhide winced. "She tried to take her own life a great many times before she found that youngling. He stopped her from killing herself. They've been together ever since and he looks to her as a mother figure. I also did a quick check on her spark and she's had a sparkling terminated."
"Wha'?" Jazz frowned, visor flickering with rage. "Who would do such a thing?"
"I'll give you one guess," Ratchet snorted.
"Ol' Shocky?" The medic nodded.
"I haven't told her about it yet," He continued. "She joined Elita-1 and her femme's some time ago and pledged herself to the Autobot cause but it's quite obvious she doesn't trust us entirely. She has a great many issues, Optimus, I need to keep an optic on her for some time."
"Of course," He nodded. "I will speak with her when she is feeling well enough and-" He was cut off when they heard a loud shriek from the med bay. The mechs all looked at each other before they hurried towards the sound. They were stunned by what they found.