NOTE: First of all, its FIREBIRD234 not 456. I conquered the dyslexic letter stuff but not the number. Firebird, you da bomb. :D :D :D I also fell asleep last night for a nap and now its today. I only awoke because a moose was in my backyard eating my birdseed. :D :D Yes, I live in interesting times. I will make up for not having a piece out last night by trying to do at least two today. :D ON WITH THE SHOW!
=0=The Diego Diaries: Down Time (271) edited for boo boos
-0-Morning
"Ratchet."
He drifted in a sea of tranquility much like the one he lived in when the sound of a fog horn broke the link between his processor and recharge. Blinking, he turned his helm. A tiny face was looking at him staring over the rim of the berth. He blinked, then sat up like he had been shot. "HERO!"
A tiny femme was standing beside the berth holding on to the edge of it with both teensy black servos. She was tiny, standing, hilariously happy to see him and adorable. Standing behind her, a dollie in each servo, Praxus and Orion smiled like binary suns. Sunspot and Spot stood beside Ironhide and all of them smiled at him.
"A first time thing, Ironhide," Ratchet said as he picked up his daughter. "You included me. FINALLY!"
Ironhide snorted and shook his helm. "She just got up and walked in here. She fell about four times but she made it. As for the rest, I'm up. What about you, old mech?"
"You do understand, Ironhide, that the school will nail her if they find out she's walking," Ratchet said as he cuddled the baby against his cheek. She gripped his face and smiled brilliantly. "A!" she said in a loud (for her) voice. "She knows me," Ratchet said with a blissful smile. "You know your old 'A' don't you."
Ironhide snorted and glanced at the covered crib on Ratchet's side of the berth. "Get the sparkling ready. We have to go."
"Slow down, big boy. I have it in servo." Ratchet rose and stretched, then put Hero down. She steadied herself and looked up smiling brilliantly. Then with a look of utter concentration, she turned and wobbled around the berth. She was so short she disappeared from view as she went around the end of it. When she reached the others, she smiled. "A!"
Ironhide grinned. "Who is the prettiest femme in the room? Who is smart and still needs her old mech more than school?"
She smiled at his attention. "A!"
Ironhide grinned smugly at Ratchet. "See?"
Hero looked at all of them, then Orion walked to her to hand her a dollie. She took it. Then he took her servo and they wobbled out into the apartment. Ironhide watched them entranced. He had his moment, then hustled the others out to eat, Spot following amiably behind.
Ratchet turned and pulled off the cover blanket from the crib. The sparkling blinked and looked at him, smiling almost immediately. "Ah," Ratchet said. "You take after Hero I see. Good." He picked the baby up and pulled out his feeding tube. Sitting on the berth staring at the airfield beyond, Ratchet took a moment to really, really enjoy his life.
Moments later...
"Did you shine him?"
"I did, Only One. Praxus, you can't take all your dollies. Just one."
"Ada, I shined up Spot. He's going to be on the platform too, right?"
"He is, Sunny Bunny. He's family too." (grin)
"I THINK HE IS! HE'S SO WONDERFUL!" (brilliant smile) (pet, pet, HUG!)
(grin) "I won't argue. Did you invite the Hu An?"
"I did, Ratchet. Larc said she would be honored to be there."
"I want to include them too, Ironhide." Pause. Scans the room and all in it. "You ready?"
"What did you put on him?" Ironhide asked as he inspected the simple soft hats he had put on Orion, Hero, Sunspot and Praxus. This was a formal occasion so simple black knit hats sufficed with space for finials to protrude. The Autobrand on the side was inspirational.
"I put what you picked out on him. The booties and blanket. The hat will go on when he's seen." Ratchet grinned. "Are you ready to go, Coco Chanel?"
A down link shut off before the words were barely out of Ratchet's pie hole. "Ha-ha, Ratchet," Ironhide said with a big grin.
They turned and walked to the door heading downward to the grand opening. As they did, an EXTREMELY attentive Prowl and Company joined them along with two sets of grandgenitors with barely concealed agitation...
"Really, Ratchet, I don't know which side of the family you come from," Ravel chided in his small statured utterly well mannered slightly peeved way. Blackjack, Alor and Flint just smirked with the pleasure of Ratchet's inspired mayhem and his sweet little ada's gentle reactions.
"You do," Ratchet said. "Your atar."
"My atar was a ..." Ravel trailed off. "He was a good mech and never put my ada through the Pit."
"Grandatar Ratchet was a holy terror," Ratchet said. "My namesake was awesome."
"He was," Tie down said looking over his shoulder. "After all, he WAS your ada's atar." He turned back to his conversation with a grinning Optimus Prime and missed all the smiles from the awww moment everyone else was taking.
At the corner of Metroplex Highway 1 and Cultural Center Road, the trine and sparklings as well as Venture and Miler stood waiting. Standing beside Sunstreaker, Silverbow waited too. Her genitors would be at the event but she had been given a short cut. She and Sunspot would be there from the start since she insisted that a sparkling couldn't be named in HER FAMILY without her there too.
With smirks galore, they said, "Go to the trine's house and we'll meet you there afterwords to get you back to school."
She did.
They gathered, traded slag and turned. Crowds were gathering at the location and it was going to be big. Even the Guardians were coming to see the new sparkling. Ratchet looked at the smirking crowd around him. "Who wants to do the preamble?"
As one, they turned and walked toward the airfield.
Ratchet snorted and looked under the blanket. "It would serve them right if I just turned around and took both of us home." With that, he stepped off into the brave new world of familial scorn and community appreciation.
-0-Sunstreaker and the platform
He picked up sparklings one at a time and put them on the platform. Kneeling to pet Spot, he then gestured. Spot who looked at him jumped up onto the platform and sat down next to Sunspot who hugged him standing with his arm around the big dog's brawny shoulders. The sparklings watching almost as one instinctively moved closer to him to stand. Others stepped up and the last one, Flint moved to his spot as all turned to the crowd.
It seemed every elder in the city was there including the schools and half of Seekerdom. Ratchet had been called to the Aerie Hill Medical Center the night before to watch Sky Warp separate his hatchling into an incubator. His screaming had been almost as epic as Starscream's scorn.
Thundercracker wavering between fear and hilarity was smart enough to be silent. The hatchling was big and perfect. Sky Warp was tired and pissed off. Starscream was proud and sarcastic. Thundercracker would get loaded afterwards.
All in all, a typical day in Seekerville.
Ratchet stood up on the platform next to Ironhide. Behind him were his genitors, Ironhide's as well as Prowl's but not Prime's. Those two were parked in front of the huge fireplace monitor watching the show which was broadcast live on IntraComm Channel 5. Ratchet had not okayed them to be in a crowd yet. A jostle in the wrong place could set them back. They would begin rehab today which meant slow moving trips down to the Hospital and the beginning of their rejoining with the universe. They would begin reconstructive surgery in two orns. Then the world would see them as they truly were. They would do so in the company of Their Boys and their profoundly beloved only son.
The trine stood smiling and smirking, sparklings in arms as the adults began to gather up the tinier specimens of the family. "No preamble speakers? Slaggers?" Ratchet asked as he turned to face the mob behind him. Silverbow raised her arm but was hugged up instead by a chuckling Bluestreak.
"We're all talked out, Fertile Myrtle," Sunstreaker said with a smirk.
"I'll remember that, ADA!" Ratchet said with satisfaction as Sunstreaker's smirk faded slightly with the future possibilities. "Ha!"
"Do you want me to speak for you, Ratchet? I don't know how this works but I will if you need me," Ravel said with a slight worry.
Ratchet looked at his ada and felt the earth move once more. His little ada was the cutest star in his constellation. "All you have to do is tell them what you feel as an introduction, Ada. You don't have to if you can't. I can order someone here to do it for you," Ratchet said casting a gimlet optic at most of the lower ranking individuals on the stand. They blanched. He smiled.
"I will do it. What do I do?" Ravel asked stepping forward.
"The microphone will carry your words if you step on that mark there," Ratchet said pointing to a cross on the platform floor.
Ravel nodded and stepped forward hesitantly. "Hello," he said.
A wave of return greetings and claps met that as 45,000 individuals settled to listen. Ravel glanced back at Ratchet who stood nervously. He nodded encouragement so Ravel turned and began.
"I am Ravel. I am Ratchet's ada."
Thunderous applause.
"Thank you. I just want to tell you about my son and our family. We were rescued from Cybertron and when we came here we were really sick. I had no idea that we had a family here and that our family would be linked to a holy figure like our Prime." The crowd became completely quiet. Ravel was speaking old school, the kind of conversation that automatically brought a hush to listeners. "We are very blessed and go to the Temple regularly to give our thanks and ask Primus and the One to help us find everyone who needs us. My son helps do that.
"He also helps us by having a family. Every sparkling is a future. For me, I never expected to see him again. That I am here is a blessing and the way things are supposed to be. Now we have another sparkling. We are so lucky. I ask Primus and The One for you to be as lucky in your lives as us. I hope everyone you love finds you and that we can make a world here for our babies that can be a safe home. I wish that for you, our elders, the Seekers and our new friends, the Hu An and the humans. This infant will have a good life because of our Prime, because Primus wants it and because of all of you with your efforts. We all are One."
A murmur rippled through the crowd and shouts of agreement met that blessing. Ravel paused. "We have a new sparkling. Thank you for coming to see him. My son will speak now," he concluded. Turning to Ratchet, he smiled as the crowd erupted. Ravel stepped back overwhelmed by the approval. He was self effacing, resigned to believing that he still 'had a place' to keep to, so this was new.
And good.
Ratchet kissed Ravel's helm and turned stepping forward. As he did, so did Prowl. :Attention hog:
:Loser. That's what you get for naming him after me: (smug smile) :You did read the fine print?:
:I did and named him for you anyway, whiner: (huge grin)
They stood enjoying the view until the sound died down and everyone waited expectantly for anything. Word had gotten around.
-0-In the city
"Ratchet and Ironhide are going to name their sparkling at the airfield today."
"I'm going."
"Give odds on what it looks like?"
"Nope."
Elsewhere ...
"HEY! SHUT OFF THE COMPRESSOR!"
(racket subsides) "What?"
"We get to go to the naming at the airfield if you want."
"Ratchet is unveiling Ironhide 5.0?"
"SNICKER! SNORT! HA-HA-HA!" -two entire crews at a work site south of Terra.
"Yep."
All of them turned and walked off the site heading for the airfield.
At another work site just getting enclosed as a controlled habitat...
:We are invited. I think it is a good thing. Whomever wishes to go should come now. They have a space near their children and elders for us to watch: Larc said as he turned to walk to the Cybertronian sized air lock that would allow big things including their hosts to enter their massive habitat which would be airtight and operational in two orns.
The entire Hu An population of Mars dropped their gear and tools to follow Larc to the air field.
-0-On the platform
The crowd quieted as Ratchet waited, the sparkling recharging peacefully in his arms. Ratchet had dialed down his audials so he was comfortable under his blanket. When it was quiet, Ratchet began. "Hello, again, hello," he said mimicking a song he liked on the radio. The crowd snickered. Apparently, they liked it too. He grinned. "I have a new sparkling. I lost a bet to Ironhide and here we are again."
Uproarious laughter. Huge frown from Ravel.
Prime's parents chuckled. "I like Ratchet, Tagg."
"So do I, Kes," Tagg replied as they sat comfortably on the big chairs in the vast living room of their son's apartment.
At the shindig...
Ratchet smirked. "No one would do the preamble but my ada. Isn't he the cutest sweetest mech you ever saw?"
The roof if there had been one would be hovering in the troposphere. Ratchet smirked again. "I want to tell you about Prowl," he began.
The smirk on Prowl's face faded. So did the one on Prime's face. So did the smirks/smiles on the faces of Ironhide, Venture, Miler, the trine exempting Sunstreaker and Sideswipe who were anticipating EXTREME AWESOMENESS FROM THEIR ADA *YET* AGAIN!, Ravel who looked alarmed, Tie Down who looked expectant in a good way because he recognized the awesomeness of his son who was JUST like Grandatar Ratchet, Blackjack, Alor and Flint who geared up to belly laugh, all the sparklings who didn't have a slagging clue what was going on and thought the attention and approval of all the people was for them including Miracle who sat in his grandada's arms and waved with a giant smile, Spot who grinned at his boy who was grinning at him oblivious to everything else, most of the crowd who were waiting for the good stuff, Jetta who was sort of clued in because he and Ratchet really shared the same vibe and personality, Elita who loved every single time Prowl got shafted because she knew it was good for his uptight personality, the Priests who could see that Ratchet's aura was still almost white, Neo, Roto, Terradive, Laret, most of the school and hospital staff who really knew Ratchet and loved him anyway, Breakdown who had come to love Ratchet like the Ada he never had, Knockout who loved it when ANY SLAGGING Autobot got the shaft, Astrotrain who was deliriously happy in his pre-bond with Sky Dive so anything fun was FUNNER THAN USUAL, Jazz who loved mayhem, every mini-con in the city because even though Prowl rated as a mini-con he never acted like one even though he did get slag faced and arrested a lot and brawled with mechs three times bigger, a mini-con trademark that they felt he hadn't earned because he was slightly taller than them and had pretentions and a few Decepticons still out there in the ranks of Megatron's army because Prowl had slagged them and any time he got his rather shapely aft handed to him was a good thing.
And Barricade.
TBC 2013 (4)