The Diego Diaries: Down Time (274) edited for boo boos
-0-The next morning, early, at the dojo
They sat on each end of a couch in the social corner of the dojo. In the middle sitting with a calmness that was catching, Dawg gandered around. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker sat on either side of him, their grins firmly in place as they waited for the word on their dog.
Kup studied him, then looked at the twins. "That's a slagging fine creature. Looks Wrecker to the bone."
"He is," Sideswipe said pointing to a tiny red brand on a brawny shoulder.
Everyone leaned over and noticed it. Kup nodded. "Knew it. Little slagger is a Wrecker."
"He doesn't give a frag about too much. He likes to walk, eat and sit. Makes him about perfect," Sunstreaker said as he grinned at his dog.
"Gets along with the kids does he?" Drift asked.
"He lets them climb all over him," Sideswipe said nodding.
It was quiet a moment as they studied the dog some more. "Don't let Xantium see him. That mech'll steal him," Springer said with a nod.
Everyone else nodded. "That big mech will hang him in the cockpit like fuzzy dice," Sandstorm said with a grin.
They all nodded some more. Lon leaned forward and stroked the dog on his helm. A big wet tongue licked him, then lolled out as the big friendly dog 'grinned' at him. "I think I like him," he said absently as he sat petting the big dog.
Dawg liked him too.
-0-Elsewhere
Ratchet hobbled out of the berth room with an infant in arms and three following behind. They had decided they liked the new baby and wanted to 'help'. It had taken longer than it should have to bring the little sparkling online and accessorized. Dining had been accomplished, at least for the house shorties. He himself would get food elsewhere. There were a lot of options. These little doodles however were topped off and ready to rumble.
Ratchet sat at the table and put Prowler on a blanket laying there. Next to it were two little Seeker hatchling bags and assorted toys, hats and booties. Ratchet grinned. "I see that you're all kitted out."
"We have to do the rounds," Ironhide said as he slipped Orion and Praxus into their harnesses. Sunspot sat on the couch, fed, refreshed, his dog and book bag next to him. "We need to start on our educational regime with the littlest ones. They were interrupted. We have to establish a baseline for Prowler to build on."
"That's always good. Being on the school board has made you aware of such things I see," Ratchet replied smiling as the big mech looked at his troops. They looked up at him with a smile, then he shooed them to the door. It opened as Blackjack and Tie Down peeked inside. "Ready to go?" Tie asked the tiny bots.
Both sets of arms went up and they were gathered.
"You two ready to go?" Blackjack asked Sunspot and his dog. Both got down nodding. "We are," Sunspot said taking his grand atar's servo. With a lot of grins and goodbyes, they walked out and the door closed.
Hero who was sitting on the floor watching got to her peds and turned to the both of them. "A!"
"WHAT?" Ratchet asked with a grin.
Hero smiled and chuckled. "A! ME!?"
Ratchet and Ironhide blinked. "Whoa. You better not let them hear her speaking or you will be arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor for keeping her out of school." Ratchet looked at Ironhide. "You do understand you're on borrowed time."
"Don't turn me in, old mech, or I'll be hard to live with," Ironhide retorted.
"Like you aren't now?" Ratchet said rising. He stood watching as Ironhide expertly slipped Prowler into his bag with a brand new dollie of Perceptor complete with telescope. Sliding him into his hold, they both turned to stare down at Hero. She had walked over and was staring up. She smiled like the sun and held up her dollie.
Ratchet and Ironhide both looked at each other, then down at her. "I do believe she's been hanging out with her brother too long. Take care of that, Ironhide. Do we really want two delinquents? They might make a gang or something," Ratchet said as he leaned down to kiss the dollie. Hero chuckled and held it up for her old dad. Ironhide picked her up and kissed it. "Good femme. Now into the bag," Ironhide said.
He slid her inside and she lay in his servo with a big grin on her little face. Then he slipped her in with a blanket to lie on, dollies galore and closed the hatch. Patting his hold, he looked at Ratchet. "See. They both fit."
"I can see that. Just hope that Neo or Herling don't have one," Ratchet said as they turned to walk to the door. It would be a leisurely walk to Ops Center for one of them. The other would disappear into the underground of the city. He would do so to avoid a certain Praxian sparkling thief. Ironhide had read the fine Praxian print too when Ratchet told him the infant's name. He would really, really, REALLY have to be on his peds now.
-0-Elsewhere
Optimus Prime walked into the berth room of his genitors after rapping gently on the door. "Come inside," the cheerful voice of his ada called out. He did and found them getting up from recharge, moving slowly but in a much more fluid manner. "Good morning, son," Kestrel said pausing to hug Optimus.
Optimus held him as he watched his father stretch his arm. "Is there pain, Atar?" he asked with concern.
"No, not now. I was told to flex the joint to help with protoform development. The doctors said it would heal better that way," Tagg said turning to look at his son. He felt intense pride in Orion but he hid it, a lifetime of suppression riding him hard.
Optimus nodded. "You will be having reconstructive surgery tomorrow and your original formats will be restored. Then they will recondition and refurbish your armor and colors. We can get your engravings back as well."
"I can't really remember what I looked like," Kestrel said from somewhere in the middle of Optimus's arms. "It will take time to get used to again."
"I remember. You both were beautiful. I have given images of both of you to the team who will restore you. I have kept them with me always."
Kestrel hugged his son. "Hold me, Orion. I have dreamed of this for more time than I can remember."
"Ask me something hard, Ada," Optimus replied with emotion.
-0-Elsewhere
"Are you ready to go?" Arcee asked as she paused in the kitchen of their apartment.
Ultra Magnus who was fresh from the shower nodded. "Almost," he said walking to the small office across from their large berth room.
The apartment was bigger than most because Magnus was a big mechanism. It was spic and span, the few personal items they both had accumulated put on display. The rest of them were locked away in a enormous gun closet in the spare berth room.
Rank had privileges.
She walked to the door and leaned on the doorjamb. Magnus was downloading the overnight dump just as Prowl was probably doing. "Anything to lose recharge over?" she asked.
"Paragon made a break across the migration route to meet up with the Decepticons on the other side. I imagine there will be an alliance between them."
"No doubt," she said walking over to read over his shoulder. The data was flying but they both read it easily. Their ability to read and absorb information was stupefyingly quick compared to the that of organics. "122 new jailbirds. Burris is in the jail with the possibility of charges for abusing low castes. I wish he would try and abuse me."
Ultra Magnus glanced up at his bond. "There is nothing low caste about you," he said with a cold tone. "No one will ever be allowed that liberty as long as I am alive."
Arcee grinned at the big ruffled mechanism. "Ditto," she replied as she slipped her arms around his neck. They continued on the data download, then left together for work at the Ops Center.
-0-Elsewhere
They sat together in Springer's office, Drift's peds up on the low table. "What do you think about Dawg?"
"He's a phenom," Springer said as he reviewed the night's haul. 10 troublemakers out of 1.5 million citizens. Not bad at all.
"What about you getting a dog like that? He's got Wrecker written all over him," Drift suggested.
"He does. I think I saw it on his shoulder," Springer replied sitting back. "I like that dog. If I ever got one, it would be just like him."
"He's semi awesome," Drift said with a grin.
"He is. Sort of tailor made for us," Springer replied. "You will note that dog had no pot belly."
"Or a mullet," Drift suggested. "Frag Bay."
"I hear ya," Springer said rising. "Let's go pester Optimus. Then we're off shift. Wanna frag?"
"Yep," Drift said as the two turned to walk out of the office and City Hall. "Never thought you'd ask."
"I was overcome by the dog," Springer said with a grin.
"Ah," Drift said before the rest was lost in the early morning change of shift.
-0-Ops Center, Alpha Shift, Autobot City, Mars
Ratchet wandered in with the Cybertonian equivalent of a breakfast sandwich. It looked like an egg mcmuffin but wasn't. It was also the size of a truck tire. In Ratchet's servo, it looked normal size. He sat, took it from its box and began to eat.
Prowl who turned from the data download paused, then walked to sit across from him. "I suppose Ironhide has the infant and figures he can elude me."
"Bingo on both counts," Ratchet said with a grin. "He's pretty stealthy for a big mech. Good luck hunting his aft."
"I can track him with Teletraan. If I have to, I may send Springer to haul him in."
"Speaking of the devil," Ratchet said as Springer and Drift walked in. Springer walked to Smokescreen to deliver his report as Drift sat down at the table. "No baby today?"
"Ironhide's doing a dance of doom with Granny and the schools," Ratchet said nodding toward Prowl. "He thinks he's going to elude the octopus here."
Prowl snorted. "Poor dumb slagger."
"That is one spectacular sparkling," Springer said moving to sit down as well. "Reminds me of someone but I can't put a digit on it."
They all chuckled, then Drift looked at Ratchet. "Did you really do that to make a picture of the sparklings when he can stand up? That's what Sunstreaker and Sideswipe told us."
"I did. I also like the format and Ironhide has a thing for chevrons, especially red ones," Ratchet replied as he finished his meal.
"Now you tell me," Prowl said smirking slightly. "And all along I thought he admired me for my processor."
Ratchet snorted. "That too," he said with a wink.
Heavy treads drew their optics and both watched as Optimus and Magnus walked into the room. They took a seat and grinned at Ratchet. "No sparkling?"
"He's bonding with his old dad," Ratchet said. "He thinks he has it all worked out to keep both Prowler and Hero. He's hiding out mostly with the sparklings somewhere underground. Mech is in special ops mode."
"Shall we go and bag them?" Drift asked Optimus with a smirk.
"If it comes to that, you will get the nod," Optimus said with a smile. "I want film."
They chuckled, then Ratchet looked at Optimus. "How are the genitors this morning?"
"They're much better," Optimus said. "They will have the reconstructive surgery tomorrow. I will be happy when its over."
Prowl nodded. "This is a big step in their rehabilitation, to have their looks back again. Having their armor reconditioned and repainted will be really good for them."
Optimus nodded. "I agree. I don't know what I'll think when they emerge as themselves again but I'm grateful for everything."
They sat together chatting about the migration, genitors, sparklings, light-footed Chaos Bringers and his tiny fellow travelers for a while, then Springer stood. "Time to take a recharge. Shift is over and the migration was a long hard job."
"That is Wrecker slang for 'high grade and a good frag'," Ratchet said with a smirk.
"How did you know that?" Drift asked with a chuckle. "By the way, I love Sunstreaker's dog. He's a bad aft."
"He is for a gentle natured cyberfox-canine hybrid," Ratchet said nodding. "He and Spot like each other. A lot."
"Sort of a one sided playtime when they're together," Optimus said with a grin. "Spot jumps all over the place and Dawg looks at him with disdain."
"Sort of like us when we frag," Drift said to Springer. He looked at Ratchet. "I'll leave it up to you to figure out which one of us is which."
With a din of laughter in their wake, they walked to the doors and outside. Springer smirked at Drift. "Telling our secrets out of school again are ya?"
"Some things are too good to keep to yourself," Drift said as they crossed the intersection at the fortress.
"I couldn't agree more," Springer said as they merged with traffic and disappeared into the early morning rush hour.
The sun was rising overhead and would be warm on solar receptors. Ironhide on the other servo wouldn't notice that much. He was busy going here and there underground ending up in the main ammunition storage facility under the Main Armory in the Fortress. Hero would wobble along with her Atar dragging a dollie behind her as he carefully explained all that she saw. In his arms mostly recharging, a little mech with a magnificent tiny red chevron would blink and look, listening to a voice he would revere all his life.
It would be heaven for the Chaos Bringer and bliss for the infants.
Ironhide, 1. School system, 0.
-0-TBC
2013 (4)