The Diego Diaries: Titan 10 (545) edited
-0-In the clouds
Ravel paused, then rose from the red chair in the living room. Appa Ratchet was at the shop with Tie Down so he was here watching the infants. It was morning and the colony's schools were closed due to the arrival of the meta-titans. The infants were up, fed and about the apartment playing together. The twinnies were with Hero and Praxus but Orion was by himself. Glancing at Prowler who was sleeping in a box near the window, Ravel put down his book, then walked to Orion's berth room door to peer inside.
Orion was talking to two dollies, a large bear and a large Cosmos. They were propped up on his little big boy berth so that he could rail to them. He was shaking his little digit at both as he laid down some sort of law. Ravel leaned in closer.
"YOU BAD! I GOOD! YOU NOT COME ME! YOU COME NOT ME ORION! I SAD! I CRY! I CRY YOU NOT GOOD ME! PO-PO CRY! HO-HO! I CRY! YOU COME NOT ME!"
Ravel felt the floor fall away as he watched the baby. Then he crept back out. Peering into the berth room next door, he noted that Praxus, Hero and the twins were fine. Turning, he walked to the living room window to peer at Prowler. He was sleeping sweetly. :Ironhide:
:Ironhide here:
:How are you, son? How are things going?: Ravel asked.
:Pretty good. Ratchet is working on Titan and Ace. What's up, Ravie?:
Ravel paused a moment, then told him.
-0-Moments later
Ironhide peered into the apartment, then entered closing the door behind him. "Ravie? Where is he?"
"In his room," Ravel said anxiously.
Ironhide nodded, then walked down the hallway to the berth room that belonged to Orion. He was no longer berating his ada and atar substitutes for abandoning him. He was sitting in his little easy chair holding the bear dollie as he rocked himself. He sucked on his thumb for comfort. Pausing, he looked up at his atar. Then he burst into tears.
It took all Ironhide had not to join him.
-0-A joor later
"Ratchet!"
A helm popped up out of a open panel that led into the guts of Metrobase where he was installing new components for those burned out long before in some far away place and time. "What?"
"There you are," Ironhide said as he stepped over cables, enormous boxes of components and other 'internals' that were getting installed. Next to him a monitor was playing with several bots on two other ships watching Ratchet, then doing the same thing themselves on Metrocon and Acroplex. He paused a moment, then looked inside the room. "That looks hard."
"It is," Ratchet said. "What's up?"
"Uh … well, Ravie called me. Orion was upset," Ironhide said suddenly feeling lame.
"I bet he was," Ratchet said with growing concern. "Did you go see them?"
"I did," Ironhide said. Then he opened his carry hold. Reaching inside, he pulled out a little bag filled with Orion. Orion looked up at him, then glanced at Ratchet. Then he began to cry.
-0-Several moments later
Ratchet sat with his servo filled with Orion. Sitting on the next crate over Ironhide held Praxus, the twinnies and Hero. They were concealed inside over sized Seeker-style bags, their bodies swaddled in blankets, their little helms covered in hats. Their helms were outside of the glittery gift bags which concealed everything else and as they lay on their genitor and grandgenitor's servos, they filled everyone in on their darkest fears and overall angsty ennui.
"ADA! I NOT COME YOU! YOU NOT COME ME! I CRY!" -Orion
"ORION CRIED! I WATCHED HIM! ATAR CAME AND HE CRIED! I CRIED TOO!" -Hero
"ADA. I WANT COME YOU? YOU AND ATAR? I CAN COME YOU?" Praxus asked with a smile.
"I think I'm going to cry now," Ratchet said.
"I think I will too," Gypsy said from one of the two sides of the split screen monitor.
Ratchet glanced at the screen, then grinned. "I hear ya." He looked at Ironhide. "What happened and how did you get this cute thing going here?"
-0-About a joor earlier
Ironhide stowed Orion in his hold, patted Hero, Praxus and the twins, then turned and hurried out. A short chat with Ravel had revealed a slow downward spiral by Orion. Hero and Praxus were less rattled but then they played together almost all the time. Orion free ranged, playing with them or alone. His problem was his sense of what happens when. When the family wasn't together when they were supposed to, he got upset. That he was the infant of two active duty soldiers meant upset was in his future a lot.
Ironhide walked to The Grocery Story in the Mall of Metroplex entering with the morning crowd. He headed back to the pick up department, then chatted with a clerk. He got what he wanted, then turned walking back to the apartment.
The schools were closed so there weren't as many civilians and soldiers on the streets nor were the subways working. They would not be up until noon the following orn at the earliest. He entered, went up, then stepped off heading for his own apartment.
Ravel looked up at Ironhide as he entered, three tiny femmes, a little mech and an oblivious infant on his lap. Ironhide grinned. "You have a bunch of sparklings there, Ravie. I think they like you a lot."
"Aren't they lovely, Ironhide?" Ravel replied with a smile.
"I won't argue with you," Ironhide said with a smile. He turned to the table and the requisite pile of blankets lying there. Hats as well were stacked ready to go. He reached in pulling out Orion who lay on his servo with a giant grin. "ATAR!"
Ironhide snorted, then grinned. "Orion. You little slagger, you." Putting him on the table, Ironhide strapped on a little dog hat. Then he swaddled him in a blanket. Lastly, he slid him into a silver gift bag drawing the string loosely around his neck. Holding him up to examine critically, Orion smiled giantly. "ATAR!"
Ravel snorted, then laughed. "You can't truly get that youngling down can you."
"No," Ironhide said with a grin. "He takes after his old ada too much." Ironhide put Orion on the couch then turned for another. Praxus got a cat hat and a green bag. Hero got her poofy white hat and a yellow bag. Ironhide considered the twinnies. They considered him, then held out their little arms. He grinned. They got bear hats and blue bags.
Turning to Ravel who was sitting with Prowler sleeping in his arms, Ironhide grinned. "I'm going to line my carry hold with blankets, then stow them." He turned to the row of swaddled glittery animal hatted infants who lay on the couch. They all smiled gigantically at him at the same time.
"ATAR! THIS IS FUN! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW?" Hero asked with excitement.
"Other Atar … we do?" Uraya asked as everyone nodded.
"Its nap time," Ironhide said. He leaned down to inspect his troops. "You are going with me in my hold. You get to sleep there. I will keep it warm and dark. You nap, then we can eat lunch with everyone later. Okay?"
Uraya and Iacon glanced at each other, then smiled at Ironhide. He grinned. "I will take that as a yes." He turned picking up soft blankets. Folding them into a soft thick square, he slid it inside his hold.
Ravel grinned. "That looks comfortable in there. I might join them."
"You can. Just displace yourself into subspace, Ravie," Ironhide said with a chuckle. He picked up Orion, kissed his helm, then placed him against the wall in the back. Next came Praxus who began to sing, Yraya and Iacon who joined him, then a happly Hero who wanted TWO KISSES rather than the customary one, she was so happy to be with him.
When they were nestled and Ravie inspected, the chassis door slid shut. He turned grinning at Ravel. "Why don't you get a nap when you can? Its going to take a while for this crisis to pass. As long as they're out of school, I'll take them and part them out to others. You can keep Prowler and help Ratch without these hoodlums."
"I don't mind, Ironhide. I love them so," Ravel said standing by the chair smiling up at Ironhide.
Ironhide grinned, then leaned down kissing Ravel on the helm. "They love you back too." He grinned, then walked to the door. "We'll check in soon," he said, then turned and left with a carry hold filled with singsonging ECSTATIC sparklings.
Ravel smiled down at Prowler. "Looks like its just you and me, sparkling." He walked to the rocking chair by the window and sat. He would stay there humming lullabies to his sleeping grandson until his bond and father came home themselves.
-0-Metrobase
Ratchet peered into Ironhide's hold. "I think I see a forest of infants in there, Ironhide. I think you hit the glory hole."
A burst of babbling escaped as they saw his face. He patted and rubbed all of them, then sat back up. "The twins are on duty. If you want, you can give them each one. That will lighten the load a little. I can even keep this one."
"Then he won't have company and he'll cry again," Ironhide said carefully taking the infant back. He slid Orion back in, then stood up. "I have them now. We can trouble shoot this as we go. For now, I have to go back to Prime. He's Prime after all and no one does it better."
Ratchet snorted at the old joke, then nodded. "You better. He might need a chaos bringer to add to the chaos."
Ironhide grinned. "He might. Can't have him wonder where I am."
"Keep in touch. When they get out of hand master it, Ironhide. Can't show weakness in the face of such odds."
"Count on it," Ironhide said with a grin. He walked to the door, then out heading somewhere else with five sparklings swaddled and drowsing in the warmth of his hold.
Ratchet watched him go, then grinned. "Fraud." With that, he turned to the screen filled with smirking smiling doctors. "Okay. Let's get going. This mech has a date with home shortly."
With that, they all began to put in new parts to the overall environmental control systems of their respective ships.
-0-On a berm of dirt near Metrotitan
Prime and the senior leaders of the city who were present stood on a dirt pile watching as the experts worked to make things come back to normal even as it added more fully functioning cities to the mix. Ironhide climbed up, then turned to stand beside the group. "Looks good. I just saw old mech. He's having the doctors watch him on screen to do the same things on their ships that he's doing on Metrobase."
"Smart move," Starscream said nodding. "That doctor is half mad but he is a miracle of medicine."
Ironhide grinned. "He is, the slagger. Guess what I have in my hold at this very minute?"
Every optic in the group turned to him with amusement. "Is this 20 questions or will you tell us?" Optimus asked as Prowl smirked beside him.
Ironhide snorted, then popped his hold. Inside, five sets of tiny optics heavy with the urge to sleep turned to look at the light streaming in. Then as one, they yawned. The door slid shut. "They missed me."
Prowl turned, then paused as Prime gripped his arm. "Where are you going?"
"To get Miracle and a bag," Prowl said smirking at both mechs. "Got to keep up with the Losers."
Everyone snorted, then laughed as Prowl walked away toward the city. Starscream glanced at everyone with a smug expression on his face. "It would seem that grounders don't have the gift of foresight," he said. "Leave it to me to think ahead," he said as he popped his own hatch. Inside laying on soft blankets in a warm hold were Pip, Dart, Flit and Swift.
The scorn and hoots that brought didn't dissuade him from allowing a couple of the mechs including Prime from holding them. Starscream merely stood by proudly watching as his sons were loved on by former enemies that had tried as hard as he had to them to end his life. The world was upside down it seemed but here in this place all was well.
When Prowl got back with Miracle swaddled in his hold it was nearly time for Metrobase and Metrocon to transform to root mode and walk to their pads several miles away. All they had to do was not step on the highways, underground tunnels for trains and conduits as well as the Temple, Mausoleum and Basilica.
Piece of energon pie.
-0-TBC December 7, 2013