Here's chapter 23 everyone! Thank you for your continued support :D
Lots of cute moments in this chapter as well as an awkward one involving poor Bolt.
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, HasTak does. I claim only Aquafire, her trine, Skyblitz, Wildfire, Lightning Bolt and the unborn sparklings.
Remember to review everyone! It would make me feel soo much better
The twins were not at all prepared for Aquafire's reaction when they entered the med bay for her daily check up. Smokescreen was there as well, apparently ready for whatever the femme would do.
"Aquafire, focus," The gambler murmured, guiding her over to the medical berth. He looked back at the twins and his optics flashed as he passed an idea on to Ratchet, who nodded in silent agreement. "Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, come over here please." The twins quickly moved to Aquafire's side and looked at Smokescreen, wondering what was going to happen. "When Ratchet comes over, I want you both to get her attention, no matter what, understood?"
"Yes?" They were completely confused. They watched as Ratchet moved towards them and suddenly, Aquafire lost it. She started screeching and howling, trying desperately to get away. In the back of her mind, she knew she was safe, but the part of her that demanded protection of the sparklings saw the medic as a threat and thus something she needed to get away from. The twins grabbed her servos and let her squeeze them tightly as they murmured to her, trying to get her to calm down as Ratchet backed off, giving them space.
The medibot knew better than to sedate the Seeker, he'd tried it before and she'd been terribly hurt when she'd awoken from the exam. She hadn't trusted him for some time after that and it was only recently that he'd taken over her daily exams once more. It was safer to let Smokescreen calm her down before he did anything.
"Shh, it's okay," Sideswipe whispered. "It's okay, no one is going to hurt you. We won't let anything bad happen, alright?"
"We'll be here the entire time," Sunstreaker promised softly. "We'll make sure nothing happens." Aquafire's terrified cries slowly faded away and her trembling frame stilled. Smokescreen smiled and praised the femme for her progress as Ratchet moved in and tapped her chestplates gently. There was a moment of tension before the glass of her cockpit split open and uncovered her spark beneath the plating.
Curious, the twins peered inside and were awed by the sight of the two small sparks that were attached to Aquafire's bigger spark. They pulsed and thrummed happily, beating at a slightly faster rate than Aquafire.
"It would seem they are almost ready to move down to your gestation chamber," Ratchet told her softly. "I was unsure if your body would be able to handle carrying two sparklings but it seems you are doing just fine."
"What... do you mean?" She squeezed the twins' hands softly.
"Normally, a mech or femme carries only one sparkling at a time," He explained. "A sparkling spark can usually be removed and placed into a frame designed by the Creators, which is what most couples choose to do. It can also be allowed to move down into the gestation chamber, which, over the months, begins taking metal and alloys from the Carrier in order to form the sparklings protoform. This process can of course be stopped in order for a couple to build their own sparkling frame. Now, in the case of twins, it's slightly different. We aren't built to handle twins, it's a huge drain on the carrying bot and usually one of them fizzles out from lack of energy and strength."
Aquafire let out a whimper of fear.
"That is not always the case," He assured her. "Bots carrying twins are normally kept under observation and the sparklings are monitored very carefully. Depending on the Carrier's frame type, mass, even heritage, the twin sparks are removed one to two months before they are actually due and placed in sparkling frames. They are then kept in intensive care to ensure their survival." He saw the femme visibly relax but they both knew it was a little too late for them to begin fabricating sparkling frames. Pit, they hadn't even talked about making sparkling frames before this and Seekers weren't known to do so in the first place. "However, Seekers seem to be built to withstand multiple sparklings," He continued. "I've known Seekers to birth triplets in the past and they were completely fine. Something to do with your coding and the metal additives in the energon in Vos, it's never really been explained or studied."
"My Carrier was the eldest of four, though the younger ones were the triplets," Aquafire whispered. "My grand-carrier was as healthy as they came." Ratchet nodded and closed up her plating much to her own relief.
"You two take her back to her quarters and stay with her until she has completely calmed down." Ratchet told the twins. Smokescreen handed Aquafire a cube of medical grade and waited for her to drink it all before he moved away. "Once you've done so, I want you to come back here. We have much to discuss."
"Don't ask that of us," Sideswipe snapped irritably. Ratchet gave them both an incredulous look before he scowled.
"It concerns Aquafire," Ratchet growled out.
"So what?" Sunstreaker helped the Seeker to her pedes and glared at the medic. "If you want to talk to us, you can do it right now while we're still here. Otherwise you can kindly frag off and leave us to care for our femme." Ratchet glared right back and flicked his gaze between the trio. He knew that a week before Aquafire found out about the sparklings, she'd gotten together with the twins and at first, he'd been skeptical of the whole thing. But seeing them worry after her the past few weeks and now seeing them here with her in the med bay, supporting her, comforting her, he knew that the relationship was real.
Ratchet had always secretly hopped that the twins would one day find happiness after all the many vorns of suffering they'd gone through back on Cybertron. He would have never guessed that they'd one day settle for a feisty Seeker femme who at one time was their enemy. But, he supposed stranger things had happened.
"Come back when you want to," He finally told them. "Now get out of my med bay." The twins happily led Aquafire away and back to her own quarters. They all got settled on the berth and laid in blissful silence for some time.
"If Sire were here, he would be grilling you two," Aquafire muttered against Sideswipe's shoulder.
"Why?" The red frontliner hummed softly.
"To make sure his little princess would be happy," She smiled a little. "And that you two would stay with me."
"What was it like growing up in Vos?" Sunstreaker murmured, trailing the tips of his digits over her back struts.
"It was..." Aquafire paused, trying to remember. "Peaceful for the most part. There was so much open space so we could fly as freely as we wanted to. There was the occasional fight but it was nothing serious, just two trine leaders trying to see who was the strongest. I remember there used to be fights over unclaimed mechs or femmes and which ever partially formed trine won, got to add that bot to their trine."
"That sounds messy," Sideswipe chuckled. "And fun."
"I never had to deal with it," She muttered. "I knew who my wing mates were before I even hit my youngling years." She paused as she remembered Steel Wing and Storm Ridge. "I can't imagine how those who never find their trine feel," She continued. "To a Seeker, trine is everything, it's pretty much our goal in life to form a trine. They are just like family, sometimes even more than that. Most trines end up becoming bondmates so their bond runs even deeper. They are the trines I used to look up to when I was younger. They were amazing when they flew, so perfectly in sync with one another..."
"Hey, Aquafire..." Sideswipe nuzzled her softly. "If your trine was still here, would you have still wanted to be with us?" Aquafire looked at him with pained optics.
"I... don't know," She admitted softly. "I wouldn't be able to make that decision, Sides." She buried her faceplates against his throat. Primus, she'd loved her trine mates but if she'd been forced to choose between them... she was pretty sure her spark would break. No matter what, somebot would have ended up hurt in the end.
Sideswipe knew he'd asked the wrong question and apologized over and over again to the femme. He eventually coaxed her into raising her helm and captured her lips softly.
Aquafire kissed back gently and shuttered her optics as Sunstreaker began trailing kisses over her shoulders and wings. Sideswipe deepened the kiss, cupping her cheeks in his servos as he did so. Aquafire soon found herself settled in the red frontliners lap, arms wrapped around his neck as they kissed. Sideswipe settled his servos on her hips gently and trailed soft kisses down her neck to her cockpit. He kissed the sensitive glass, smiling gently as he did so.
"Primus, I can't wait to see them," He whispered. He leaned up and caught her lips again just as she moaned, arching into Sunstreaker's servos as he trailed them over the sensitive parts of her frame. Just as things were heating up, the door cycled open and a carefree Bolt walked in.
"Mom, I'm-" He froze, optics wide as he stared at the three bots on the berth. Aquafire had a stunned expression on her face while Sideswipe grinned over her shoulder at the youngster. "I'm... going to go see Prowl," He turned and bolted.
Aquafire was fairly sure that had been the most awkward moment ever for her son.
"You two are glitching idiots!" She grumbled. "You didn't lock the door."
"We didn't think anyone would come in," Sideswipe shrugged. Aquafire scowled and gasped when Sunstreaker nipped at her wing.
Soon after, the trio settled down and started talking about possible sparkling names though none of them seemed to click in Aquafire's processor.
"So beautiful," Sunstreaker rumbled as he held her. Sideswipe had left some time ago to report for patrol, leaving Aquafire and Sunstreaker alone together. "Our pretty little Seeker." He kissed her cheeks and lips softly. "Stay ours?"
"Yes," She whispered, vocals hitching softly. Sunny kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her to hold her flush against his frame. Aquafire wrapped her own arms around the frontliners neck, offlining her optics as she gave in.
"We'll never leave you," He promised softly. "Not ever again. We want the sparklings, we want to be there for them and for you." Aquafire nodded and curled into him. Sunstreaker held her protectively, resting his chin on her helm as he let out a soft vent.
-X-X-X-
The twins slowly figured out a schedule that kept one or both of them with Aquafire at any given time in the day. And if they both had patrol, they made sure that she was with Prowl. They had gotten used to the little panic attacks she had during her daily check ups and were slowly working to calm her down before it even started.
"Good morning, babe," Sideswipe purred, kissing the femme softly. Sunstreaker was already gone, having had early morning patrol to report for.
"Morning," She murmured tiredly, kissing back. Sideswipe got out of the berth and snatched up the two cubes of energon he'd already gotten for her earlier. He gave her the medical grade first and then the sweetened low grade. "Where's Sunny?"
"He had early morning patrol," He hummed, drinking his own energon. "I'm off duty today and so is he once he gets back. Looks like Prowl got a hold of the duty roster again." Aquafire smiled at this and made a mental note to speak with the tactician later. "Feel like going outside today? You know what Ratchet said, you gotta get up and move, fly while you still can."
"Don't remind me," She shuddered. She knew that within the next few weeks, she would be grounded until after the sparklings were born and that in itself upset her. She hated being grounded like that.
"Come on," He tugged her to her pedes gently, smiling. Aquafire sighed and let him do so, holding his servo loosely as they left the room. "Do you feel up to flying?" He asked softly once they were outside.
"Yes," She nodded. "If I start feeling weak, I'll land." Sideswipe nodded and let go so she could transform and take to the sky. He watched her with a smile, taking the flight to memory as he watched. She was so beautiful in the air where she belonged, so graceful and carefree. He wished his brother was here to see her right now but the red frontliner settled for sending images to his twin over the bond. He felt a surge of pride flow back through the bond and smiled.
Aquafire soon landed, intakes heaving, but she was smiling, obviously happy that she'd finally gotten out and into the air.
"You feeling better?" Sideswipe smirked gently, wrapping both arms around her waist.
"Much," She purred softly. She leaned into him and let out a sigh as her frame slowly settled down from the flight.
"Come on, lets go back inside," Sideswipe smiled and led her back into the Ark. Jazz passed them whistling a happy tune, a little skip to his step as he walked.
"Prowl must be in a good mood," Aquafire chuckled. Sideswipe nodded in agreement as they continued walking. The red frontliner kissed the top of her helm as they walked, holding her close, and finally they made it to the med bay. They stopped just outside the door so they could take a moment to calm down.
"Aquafire, you'll be alright," He told her. "Ratchet won't hurt you or the sparklings. Today is just to see if the sparks have moved down into your gestation chamber, remember?" Aquafire nodded and took a few deep breaths. The pair entered the med bay and took up their usual positions. The femme tensed when she saw Ratchet but remained otherwise silent much to everyone's surprise and relief. She still hesitated before opening her chestplates and clenched Sideswipe's servo tightly when Ratchet began poking around.
"Well, it looks like they've moved," He told them as he stepped back. "You don't have to come in every day anymore, just every other week or so."
"Thank you," She breathed softly. After a few scans to confirm, Ratchet gave her another cube of medical grade with the needed additives and sent her on her way with Sideswipe.
"No more Hatchet every day," Sideswipe crowed happily, hugging the femme as they entered her quarters. Aquafire smiled softly and slipped out of his embrace to lay down, feeling tired already. Sideswipe smiled and laid down with her, happily wrapping his arms around the Seeker to hold her close.
This was how Sunstreaker found them upon his return and with a soft chuckle, he joined them, powering down for a nap. He would ask them about what Ratchet said later, for now he wished only to relax.