Lots of twists and turns in this chapter! Aquafire faces the consequences of the mating cycle and there is a special surprise for everyone at the end! I bet you can all guess who the little one is ;)

I'm sorry for not updating War Within a Spark lately! I've come to a bit of a road block on that one lol but fear not, I'll figure it out soon! For now, enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, it belongs to HasTak. I claim only Aquafire, her trine, Skyblitz, Wildfire, Lightning Bolt and the currently unnamed sparklings.

Remember to review everyone! Reviews make me write faster! And they make my day even brighter :D

Aquafire was relieved when her heat cycle finally ended and she was able to leave her quarters without constantly needing to interface.

"Aquafire, can we talk with you?" Sideswipe wrapped a careful arm around her as he spoke. Sunstreaker placed a servo on her thigh and squeezed though he didn't immediately pull it away. "After all that's happened, Sunny and I just wanna know if you really have any feelings for us?" The Seeker's optics widened a little as she looked between them.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have sought you out during my cycle," She sighed softly. "And the only reason I went to Starscream was to fulfill my codes demands to mate with at least one Seeker. My protocols tagged Starscream as that one Seeker." The twins nodded in understanding and shifted closer to her. Sunstreaker moved his servo from her thigh to her waist, his arm wrapping around her slowly.

"So where do we go from here?" Sunstreaker murmured, nipping at the tip of her wing.

"We either forget it happened or... we can try to start some sort of relationship." Aquafire whispered softly. The twins looked at each other, communicating silently before they leaned into her, lips just touching her audials.

"We want you for ourselves," They whispered. Aquafire shivered lightly and groaned as they began nipping at her throat, making a show of claiming her. Sideswipe grabbed her chin and pulled her helm to the side before he kissed her softly. Sunstreaker did the same thing though his kiss was much more passionate.

Their moment was interrupted by none other than Chromia.

"About time you three got together," She snorted, saying this loud enough for the entire rec room to hear. A few groans and curses were heard along with a few triumphant cries from several other mechs and femmes. "Looks like 'Hide owes me quite a bit of credits," Chromia crowed happily.

"You bet on this?" Aquafire shouldn't have been surprised but she was.

"Lots of us did," She grinned. "Not sure who started it though, it's never been clear though I'm fairly sure it was Jazz or Smokescreen." Aquafire scowled and the blue femme grinned before she sauntered off to collect her winnings. The Seeker sighed and looked at the twins, vaguely wondering if she'd made the right choice by entering into a relationship with them.

The days after that passed by blissfully and Aquafire was more than amused when she saw Jazz and Prowl one day. The SIC looked ready to crash as he was helped along by his grinning mate. Her finely tuned sensors allowed her to pick up exactly why they were like this and chirped in glee. She passed Skyfire as she was walking and the larger mech paused to glance at her, optics flashing. Aquafire was a little unsettled and picked up her pace, darting around a corner to hopefully get away from the large shuttle.

Skyfire had Seeker coding in him and thus he too was aware of when a bot became sparked. She'd noticed him staring at her for the past few days and was trying to brush it off as paranoia but the more she thought about it, the more likely it became.

The next day she woke up to her tanks rolling and promptly got off the berth to purge in the waste bin.

"Mama, you okay?" Bolt sat up and shuttered his optics tiredly.

"I'm fine, sweetspark," She promised. Once she was sure she was done, she returned to the berth and pulled him close, smiling gently. A few joors later, they were up again. Bolt was out practicing and Aquafire was in her quarters, pacing. She'd purged a few more times since she'd gotten up and was starting to wonder if she had a virus of some sort.

'It's nothing.' She thought, trying to convince herself that it truly was nothing. And yet, her spark was telling her otherwise. The Seeker threw herself back onto her berth and forced herself into recharge.

A week later, she still had the symptoms and finally gathered up enough courage to run a few diagnostic scans on her frame. Externally, everything was fine. Internally, everything was fine, no sign of a virus. But when she ran an even deeper scan, she let out a scream and frantically sent a comm. to Ratchet and Smokescreen. The two came running not a few moments later and found her huddled in a corner, muttering indistinctly.

Ratchet tried to approach her a few times but she would always flinch away and start whimpering. Finally, Smokescreen tried his luck and was somehow able to get close enough to pull her into his arms. He could tell she was not in her right mind as she clung to him, muttering and darting her optics about in a frantic manner. She was also deathly afraid of Ratchet, which surprised the Praxian since she'd never shown such fear towards the medic before.

"Aquafire, can you settle down for me?" He asked, keeping his voice low and soft. The femme chirped and looked at him with wide optics. "It's alright, no one here will hurt you," He looked at Ratchet as he said this. "Ratchet won't hurt you. He's a medic, he's here to help." The medibot cautiously moved closer, optics locked with Aquafire's. He knelt down when he was close enough and held his servos up, showing her he meant no harm.

This seemed to relax the Seeker as she loosened her grip on Smokescreen and ceased her rambling.

"Now, do you want to talk?" The Praxian prompted softly. "Anything you tell me will stay between Ratchet and myself, no one else will know." She shrank back against him when she felt the familiar hum that accompanied a medical scan.

"Please, don't let him touch me," She whispered. "He'll hurt me." She sounded like a scared sparkling.

"Ratchet won't hurt you," Smokescreen promised.

"Yes he will!" She insisted, wings flared. "He'll hurt me and take the sparklings!" Both mech's optics widened when they caught the last part.

"What sparklings?" Smokescreen held her a little tighter, knowing how traumatized she was over her last sparkling and it's sudden termination at Shockwave's hand.

"Smokescreen, hold her still," Ratchet had the mech restrain the femme before he manually opened her cockpit and exposed her spark. The Seeker shrieked and wailed but to no avail, Smokescreen was far stronger than she was. "By Primus..." Ratchet leaned back, jaw slack as he gazed into her spark chamber. "Two sparkling sparks," He murmured. He hastily closed her plating and looked at Smokescreen. "I will need you to be present at all check ups," The mech nodded. "I feared this would happen... I need to make sure she will not try to take her own life again."

Smokescreen didn't need to ask why.

After having lost the sparkling sired by her wingmate, he was sure the Seeker would be in a state of denial once she calmed down. If and when she accepted the fact, he was certain she would be consumed by her former guilt over the last sparkling. The only way to really keep her sane would be for her to sparkbond with the sparklings Sire, whoever it may be. Or to have someone there for her throughout the gestation period, that would be just as good.

"Stay here, I'm going to go find one of the twins or Jazz," Ratchet grunted. Smokescreen nodded and lifted the trembling Seeker in his arms before he shifted to sit on the berth. He stayed with her the entire time, trying to calm her down and sooth her fears.

"Shockwave isn't here," He murmured. "He can't hurt you or the sparklings. No one will hurt you. You're safe. Think about Bolt, he still needs you, alright? He'll be happy to have siblings I bet. Prowl's sparkling with have playmates too." She keened softly and curled up. "It's okay to be scared, Aquafire, but just keep telling yourself that no one can hurt you." She nodded shakily and looked up when the door cycled open. Jazz stepped inside ahead of Ratchet and rushed over, gently pulling the blue Seeker into his own arms. Smokescreen nodded to the saboteur and left with Ratchet to discuss their options.

"Yer sparked too, eh?" He smiled softly. "Prowler is sparked as well. Maybe our lil' ones can be playmates." He was trying to cheer her up, she knew, but she was just too scared and numb to really react. "Ah'm here fer ya, if ya ever need a bot ta talk ta. Prowler too. Maybe ya should talk with 'im soon. Might do ya some good."

"I-I don't even know who the Sire is," She whispered, trembling a little. "I was with the twins and Starscream..."

"Eh, both could be Sunshine's n' Sideswipes or one could be ole Screamers," Jazz smiled a bit. "It dun matter, cuz both o' 'em are gonna be 'Bots, not 'Cons. No one would think any less o' ya if one was Screamers. They would never 'ave ta know anyway." Aquafire caught on and nodded, sniffling a bit. "Yer gonna be fine, kay? Ya will get through this n' 'fore long, we'll 'ave three lil' sparklin's runnin' 'bout."

"I don't want anyone else to know though," She sniffed. "I know Skyfire thinks he knows... and now you, Ratchet and Smokescreen as well."

"It'll be a secret fer as long as ya want it ta be," He nodded. "What are ya gonna tell Bolt?" Aquafire flinched then.

"I... don't know," She admitted. "I'm afraid he'll be upset. I don't know how he'll react if I tell him."

"If ya want, Prowler n' Ah can tell 'im," Jazz offered. "He reacted well ta th' news o' Prowler being sparked."

"That would be best," She nodded. The saboteur nodded and rubbed the Seekers back softly.

"Will ya tell th' twins?" Aquafire trembled a bit, shuttering her optics.

"I guess I will have to," She whimpered. "I don't want to right now, I need to adjust."

"Ah understand," Jazz placed a friendly kiss on her helm. "Yer in a relationship with 'em now ain't ya?" He smiled a bit. "Hopefully, they do th' right thing n' ask ya ta be their bonded." Aquafire only nodded, hugging Jazz softly.

"Thank you, Jazz, for coming to talk to me," She whispered.

"Anytime," He smiled. "Whenever ya wanna talk with Prowler, jus' tell meh or come ta his office." She nodded and shifted out of his lap. "Get some rest," He told her as he left.

Aquafire laid on her berth, curled up in a tight ball as she fought back more tears. She was so scared and the fact that she didn't know who the Sire was frightened her even more. All she really wanted to do was take her own life and be done with it but a certain memory kept the thoughts at bay.

The memories of a small Praxian sparkling running towards her, clinging to her arm, screaming and crying as he held onto her.

It always broke her spark when she remembered how Bolt had cried and looked at her with pained optics, begging her to stay alive and stay with him.

Her promise to protect him and stay with him also stopped her from doing anything to compromise her or the sparklings lives.

"Papa... Sire... I'm so scared," She whimpered, hugging a pillow close. It was times like these that she wished Skyblitz and Wildfire were still functioning.

Slowly, Aquafire cried herself into exhaustion and then into recharge. Hopefully, this would all just be one bad dream and when she woke up, it would be a distant memory.

-X-X-X-

Aquafire had been dismayed and startled to find that it had all been real when she woke up the next day. Ratchet and Smokescreen checked up on her a few hours later, trying to encourage her to get out of her quarters and walk about but she refused, opting to stay hidden in her room for the day. The two allowed her to do so, if only to let her settle in and get used to the idea of being a Carrier.

Half-way into the day, the twins came looking for her and were a little upset when she refused to let them inside. Bolt soon joined them and she realized that she wouldn't be able to avoid her own son for very long.

"Only Bolt can come in!" She called out. She heard the door cycle open and Bolt darted in, urging the door to shut before one of the twins tried slipping inside as well. The youngster rushed to her and threw himself into her arms, nuzzling and cuddling softly.

"Mama... is it true?" He whispered softly. "What Jazz told me? Are you really... sparked?" Aquafire kissed his helm gently and cycled in a deep breath before letting it out.

"Yes," She finally responded. "I am. I'm so sorry, sweetspark," She hugged him tightly.

"Please, mama, don't try hurting yourself," He begged softly. "I love you, mama, please stay." Aquafire felt her spark constrict when he said this and let out a quiet sob.

"I love you too," She whispered. "Oh Primus, I love you. So very much. You'll always be my little mech. I promise, I'll stay." Bolt nodded and buried his faceplates against her throat, crying softly. The two remained like this for some time, comforting each other, reassuring, promising.

"Y-you'll tell Sunny and Sides right?" He whispered softly. "They're really worried about you, mama. They're scared they did something wrong."

"They didn't do anything wrong," She whispered. "I'm just... I need more time. I'm not ready to tell them."

"Will you at least see them?" He looked up at her.

"Maybe," She sighed softly.

"Mama... will you be with them?" She could tell he was a little hesitant. "They're good mechs, I know they are. I know they make you happy... don't they?"

"I guess they do, sweetspark," She admitted.

"Mama, they don't want anyone else besides you," He told her. "If they make you happy, be with them."

"Jazz is definitely rubbing off on you," She smiled gently. "We'll see, okay?" She took a deep breath again. "I love you," She whispered again. "Primus knows I'd do anything for you."

"Then be with Sunny and Sides," He insisted. "I want you to be happy, Mama, I want you to be happy like Uncle Prowl and Jazz, Aunt Mia and Ironhide, and all the others. I want you to have what they have. Primus knows you deserve to be happy." Aquafire could only smile at her son.

"Go see Jazz, alright? I... have things to think about." Bolt nodded and kissed her cheek before he left. The twins, annoying slaggers that they were, were still outside her door, sitting on either side like faithful guard dogs. She shook her helm and laid down, knowing it would be some time before she was ready to face them.

The question was: would she be ready?

-X-X-X-

Storm Ridge watched through the mirror as his former wingmate and lover spoke with her adopted son and smiled softly. A young Seeker stood beside Storm Ridge, loosely holding his hand as she watched as well. The little femmeling was a rich blue color with gray and white accents. She had a beautiful silver face with ruby red optics that shone with curiosity and playfulness.

Steel Wing joined the pair and grunted when the Seeklet pretty much attached herself to his leg.

"How is she?" He asked, leaning down to pick the sparkling up.

"Better," Storm Ridge sighed. "She refuses to see Sunstreaker and Sideswipe though."

"Still can't believe she's even considering getting together with them," Steel Wing grunted. Skyblitz whacked the back of his helm and glared at the younger mech.

"It is her choice," He muttered. "The past is the past, things have changed."

"It's obvious they harbor feelings for her," Wildfire added in. "Otherwise they would not still be pursuing her."

"I wish we could be there for her," Storm Ridge sighed miserably. He happily took the sparkling and set her on his hip, kissing her helm gently.

"Soon," A deep voice rumbled. The group turned and bowed their heads respectfully to the great golden mech. "Your time will come." He smiled gently and reached out, silently asking to hold the sparkling. Storm Ridge handed her to Primus and looked back into the mirror. "There are still things that must be done here before you can leave."

"Yeah, finding out who really killed us," Steel Wing snarled, clenching his servos. Primus was well aware of who the real culprit was but he was leaving it up to the two Seekers to figure out on their own. He was also painfully aware of how premature the sparklings arrival to his domain was. It took all of his years of control not to return her to the land of the living.

"Do not worry, young one, no harm will come to them," He cooed softly. The little femme cuddled against his chest and shuttered her optics tiredly. He chuckled and watched the group of Seekers as they gazed into the mirror, all of them murmuring and debating on who they should next spy on. Soon, he knew, the odds would be in their favor but as for how Aquafire would progress during her pregnancy... that was a mystery even to him.

"Till all are one," Primus silently handed the sparkling to Wildfire and faded away.