The Diego Diaries: Down Time (272) edited for boo boos
-0-On the airfield
"I want to tell you about Prowl," he began.
Prowl's wings went up and behind him tension hit their backs like a freight train from the assembled family group. Ratchet dialed out the alarmed family energy and grinned. "No one in the ranks who had seen us sort of grow up together and the army did that, could have predicted our friendship. We grew up as this war wore onward. No one would have been able to foresee any of this now. We all had our roles. I was the 'mad doctor'. Prime was the saint and he is. Prowl was the 'uptight mech who had to make things work' and it was thankless and lonely making. It was hard to be friends with someone who had such a thankless job and had to make the tough decisions. But Prowl did.
"He's the smartest mech I know. He's also a lot of things you don't know. He's unintentionally one of the funniest mechs I ever met," Ratchet said as the crowd laughed and several soldiers called out. Ratchet grinned. "He's also the heart and soul of our army and armed forces. He takes care of us. He anticipates for us. He never wastes us, ever.
"He makes sure that the plans made to do things don't waste a life. They really work. They work if we follow them and sometimes we actually do. I'm speaking to you, Springer and Kup." Catcalls and laughter met that. Then it was quiet again. "It's easy to be understood if you're Optimus. He's our Prime. Even the slagging Matrix acknowledged the purity of his spark. But the rest of us … we're shades of gray.
"We have a great thing going here. Some of us are very hard working and are never off duty. Jetta is one. The Alpha staff and Beta. Prime is never off duty. Prowl is never off duty. They have this amazing family anyway and those of us who want and make families know how hard it is to be that busy and have such great little mechs as they do. I know myself with seven of my own."
The crowd nodded and murmured. "THEY ALL LOOK LIKE IRONHIDE!" someone called out.
Ratchet smirked. "THEY DO, LUCKY LITTLE SLAGGERS!"
The crowd erupted in laughter as Ironhide preened with his daughter in arms.
"I want to name this sparkling Prowler after Prowl," Ratchet began before he was buried in shouts and applause. "I know that means a lot more slagging Praxian rules but I want to honor the mech who has become one of the best friends I ever had. Before Earth, I never had a chance to know him as more than a colleague. Now I do. We even brawl and get arrested together."
Prowl glanced at him with alarm as the place erupted. When it settled, Ratchet continued, pointedly ignoring the slightly ruffled winger beside him. "I love Prowl. He's my friend and my brother. I helped him and the Prime hook up. I helped separate Miracle and I babysit their little mechs a lot. I helped with Prime's genitors in their recovery and Prowl's as well. I love this family and all of the members and allied friends too. I love this city and all of you. I may never know you much if at all but I love you. I am so glad that you're here.
"Our kids will grow up with yours. I will separate your sparklings, help your elders as well as you and support our city. As we recover, as we reclaim who we are, we are adding little elements for the future. This sparkling and all others including all of you are our future. I love you." He paused a moment as did the crowd. Glancing sideways at a solemn Prowl, he grinned. "I want you to see the son of Ironhide and Ratchet, the brother of Orion, Praxus, Hero, Sunspot, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. I want to show you Prowler."
With that, Ratchet FINALLY lifted the blanket.
Prowl paused, then looked. He stared at the sparkling, then stepped in front of Ratchet. He looked at the sparkling, then Ratchet, then the family who started forward. They crowded around. They stared at the baby, at Ratchet, at Prowl, the baby, Ratchet, each other, then Prowl. Finally, after a moment of surprise, Prowl snatched the bundle. "Thank you, Ratchet. I will cherish this forever." He then turned and held the infant up.
The crowd was silent a moment taking in the baby, then the group including a smugly smiling Ratchet. Then they brought down the roof with their laughter and approval which was a figurative event to be sure.
-0-Three joors later sitting in the conference room after 45,000 individuals pledged themselves to the newest and littlest Autobot
Sparklings sat on laps as the entire family and as many friends as the giant room could manage, which was a lot crowded around the conference table where Prowl sat with the infant. Prowler was laying on the table before him staring at a tiny servo. He lay on his blanket, his awesomely spectacular protoform on display for everyone. Prowl looked at him with a lazer focus as he memorized every inch. Then he looked at Ratchet who sat next to a smugly smirking Ironhide. "You are mad. Elucidate," he said defaulting to computer speak.
"You don't see the possibilities do you," Ratchet said. He glanced around at the group. Only Sideswipe and Sunstreaker showed a clue. "This sparkling is spectacular for a reason."
"I won't argue," Prowl said. He sat staring at the baby. It was like a time warp. He was looking at himself as a brand new sparkling. The only thing different from his own protoform, paint scheme and design was the tiny white Ironhide face staring up at him.
The infant was a slavishly perfect copy of Prowl.
Miler rose and looked over Prowl's shoulder, a slight catch in his vocal processor. "Oh, Prowl. Hand him to me. It will be just like holding you when you were a newborn."
Prowl complied and Miler held the infant. "He's so perfect. He's so beautiful." Miler turned and showed Venture who was having his own emotional moment as well.
The infant was perfect, shiny and spectacular. He had tiny black peds, forearms and legs from the knees down. His upper thighs were white along with his upper arms and tiny servos. His aft and chassis were black and so were most of his wings which were in the mech style, big and long. They even spelled 'police' and 'to serve and protect' on both doors.
His little sweet face was perfectly white along with the rest of his helm, a helm that fronted a little Ironhide face minus the distinctive finials. On top of all of that, he bore a brilliant fully functioning yet immature red chevron. It would be some time before the chevron or wings would be able to process and gather information. Such was the beginning of every informational or winged mechanism.
The room was silent, then Sunstreaker leaned in to look. "This looks good on him," he said with a smirk. It broke the tension. "I'll get his tattoos on today."
"Good," Sunspot said with a smile. "He needs a Wrecker tattoo as well. I'll ask Uncle Kup."
Everyone smiled at Sunspot and Spot who was leaning against his boy. Then they turned to Ratchet. "Explain the 'possibilities'," Elita said with a smirk at the most wayward humorous senior officer she knew.
Ratchet grinned. "Alright. Consider when he's big enough to walk around on his own. We can go to the studio and get a picture."
"Of him? I don't get it," Prime remarked.
"Of him with Orion, Praxus and Miracle," Ratchet said with a brilliant smile.
They all looked at him for a moment, then the twins exploded into laughter. "It will look like the four of you were shrunk! It won't explain Ironhide's face," Sideswipe said around his yucking. "But there you four will be, memorialized. Maybe we can use that image for a postage stamp." He continued to laugh even as the room began to join him.
Ironhide who was sitting beside Ratchet, his arm around the mech's chair looked at him. "I think they're getting it."
Ratchet nodded. "I also want one of all of us kneeling behind our little poltergeists as well. They should be hung in the lobby of every building in town."
"They might be," Prime said laughing. He looked at Prowl who was looking at Ratchet with a WTF!-OMG! expression on his handsome face. "We need to tie one on," he said to the big medic.
"I agree," Ratchet replied.
"Well, there goes this evening's frag," Springer said to Drift who laughed.
Breakdown who was standing by Springer, a flabbergasted Knockout beside him grinned. "I'll help you keep them out of the slammer."
"You're on," Drift said glancing fondly at the former Stunticon.
STUNTICON!
Knockout who was standing with his arms folded over his chassis glanced up at Breakdown. "AND YOU THINK *I'M* CONCEITED!"
"YOU ARE!" -Everyone in the room including Prime.
He looked at them, then frowned. "Well!"
Hilarious laughter met that as the infant made the rounds. Even Knockout held him marveling at his size. When he reached Ironhide at last, he held his son with a big grin. Looking at Prowl, he nodded. "This is a big honor and you know it."
Prowl nodded. "I do. I get him when I want him. I get to be there for his events including conferences. I get to have a say in his activities and have a responsibility to take him if anything happens. I also have genitor's rights over him and his bond."
"Oh great," Sunstreaker groaned to great and intense slag.
"This is a great honor, Ratchet and Ironhide. I accept it and thank you. This is a wonderful little baby."
"He is," Ratchet said nodding. "I wouldn't have named him after you if I didn't love ya."
"Get a room," Sideswipe said before he was elbowed hard by a very emotional Bluestreak.
Prowl grinned at him, then looked at Ratchet. "This planet is the best thing to happen to us."
"I'll say. I have seven to your five sparklings. Ha-ha, Prowl!" Ratchet said leaning forward. "WHINER!"
Prowl's sneering retort was lost in the laughter and scorn.
-0-Out there
Paragon listened to the news as he worked out his plans for the battle groups that were gathering in the next sector over from his own. The outline of the vast region was as follows. He was located to one side of the vast migration route of their people heeding the call of Prime and Starscream. On the other side in a large area of small planets and debris, three big battle groups were waiting to hear from him. Located closer to Prime's system, itself a very problematic installation was the fortress called Fort Apache.
They were a square of mayhem. He had dug in along with Prime. Now he had a plan to have the new group join him and dig in where they were. They would have the migration route in a pincer movement. He was more than aware of Soundwave's fortress in an asteroid belt close enough to make trouble but far enough to require space bridges to really exact punishment.
They were the other side of the coin, Soundwave's fortress and Cybertron. Five different spots, a star shaped diagram of extreme menace and so far Prime was ahead. They had a huge space bridge, a smaller one and some of their ships had them as well. They could probably materialize right here in his Ops Center and slay him where he sat. They would have to get their slag together.
They were also getting ready to meet a species called the Hish. He had only second and third hand knowledge of them but they were supposedly allies of Megatron with a disgruntled attitude about him.
Get in line, slaggers, he thought. He looked at the screen and saw that a big habitat was rising north of the Autobot City Airfield, a structure with a transparent dome with various buildings inside. He wondered what it meant and set an alarm for the broadcast made at something called '2000 hours on the Terran Military Clock'. That news broadcast usually summarized the orn's activities on Mars for the dinner crowd. Rising, gathering his datapads, Paragon walked outside to the airfield for the swift unsafe dash across the migration trail to his meet ups.
-0-At the Prime Residence
They had a pot luck, everyone bringing the show to Tagg and Kestrel. They both were lucid, pain free and happy. Kestrel sat holding the baby while everyone divied out food to the infants. Tagg sat petting Spot as he enjoyed the happiness all around him. It had been too long since he had felt any.
There was a knock on the door and Bluestreak jumped up followed by Sideswipe. They opened it stepping out. Ratchet felt their excitement all day but kept his peace. He had caused enough mayhem for now. They all turned back to each other. Then the door opened again. Bluestreak leaned in. "Sunstreaker."
The big mech looked up from where he sat on the floor supervising sippie cups among the stature challenged. "What?"
"Close your optics," Bluestreak said.
Sunstreaker looked at him a moment as every optic in the room turned his way. "What? Why?"
"Because I asked you, Sunny. Do it. For me," Bluestreak said in a sweetly pleading way.
Sunstreaker looked at him, then shrugged off lining his optics.
"Keep them that way, Sunny, until I tell you to online. Okay?" Blue asked pleadingly.
He shrugged. "Alright." He sat stilled, his optics offline as the door opened. Sideswipe stepped inside, his arms filled with something.
Spot turned from Sunspot and looked at the bundle, rising to stand. Sideswipe knelt before Sunstreaker and placed it on the floor, moving back to stand next to an electrified Bluestreak. It was intensely silent. "Online, Sunny," Blue said.
He did, then froze. Looking at the big form in front of him, he looked at his bonds. "What's this?"
"His name is Dawg," Sideswipe said.
Sunstreaker looked at the big animal in front of him. He was immensely muscular and tough looking. He had a face that would terrorize a Predacon. It was fierce, flat nosed and the dog's teeth protruded a bit, fierce sharp canines visible to the optic. He was white with brindle patches all over. His optics were brown, his ears and mug black.
He was AWESOME.
He was the Cybertronian version of an Old English bulldog.
"What the frag?" Sunstreaker said as a smile slowly spread over his face. He looked at Sideswipe and Bluestreak. "What is this? Dawg?"
They nodded and knelt, patting the animal that sat on his smaller behind, his tongue lolling as he began to absorb the message about his new life, a life he had agreed to at the well. "He's an Old English bulldog, Sunstreaker. He's as bad aft as it gets. He's yours. He's all of ours but he's for you."
Sunstreaker looked at him, then ruffled his soft ears. The bulldog licked his servo and stared at Sunny, his mouth open, his tongue lolling. He was content. He knew what he had to do and he accepted. This was his 'boy' and the family all around him was his too.
That is when Spot really saw Dawg.
-0-TBC
2013 (4)