The Diego Diaries: Onward (609)
Leoness: Nope. ;) :D
-0-Diego
He stood in the sunlight that filled the room through the open doors. He was tiny compared to Ratchet and Ironhide, a little yellow and white figure with a big white dog sitting next to him staring at the roomful of humans with wary optics. He had entered, then told the humans his name. His voice quavered in spite of himself. He looked back at Ratchet and Ironhide, then the humans again. "I was a Decepticon. I fought in battles. I got shot and hurt. They beat me sometimes. I tried to be brave and tough but I was scared. I hid a lot. I was hungry too. No one loved me until now. I never had a home or anyone to hug me. I was always afraid but I tried to not show them I was. When I did they hit me more."
The temperature of the room dropped. The creature before them was a tiny format, someone smaller than the mini-cons that they had seen and met already. This was a child, a small one even though he was taller than most of them. In context with the two adults who watched him tensely, it was clear that he was a very small, very young child.
"I don't like humans. They hurt me. When I was here to fight against the Autobots, I was forgotten when they left. I had to live on my own and I was so scared. I don't like organics. They like to hurt me," he said. "Before I got to have a family, I had no one. No one loved me because my ada and atars were gone. I don't remember them much. I remember sitting on their laps. I remember singing."
Ironhide shifted on his peds, his upset visible even to humans unused to his alien visage. Ratchet looked tense, both of them staring intently at the tiny figure standing before the huge crowd of humans literally by himself. It was painful to watch.
Sunspot patted his dog. Then he looked at them with a brighter expression. "I HAVE A DOG! I GOT A DOG! MY ATAR AND ADA GOT ME ONE!"
The humans sitting silently shifted slightly with discomfort. Then a woman stood and walked toward him kneeling. She smiled slightly, then held out her hand palm upward. Sunspot who was startled hugged Spot who was watching the human with a very direct stare. The woman who was a civilian counselor nodded. "What a very beautiful dog. What do you call him, darling?" she asked softly.
Sunspot stared at her a moment, then looked at his dog. "I call him Spot."
"He looks like Petey," she said with a smile.
"DO YOU KNOW PETEY TOO!?" Sunspot asked with intense surprise.
"I do," she replied. "Will he let me pet him?"
"HE LOVES PETS! I PET HIM ALL THE TIME!" Sunspot said forgetting a moment that she was human. He nudged Spot so the big dog stood and walked toward the woman. He was nearly the size of a big grizzly bear so it was daunting as he walked to the woman with his optics never leaving her face. He paused to sniff and analyze, then licked her face.
The room chuckled even as she did. She touched Spot's face feeling the cool metal of his armored body. Her strength wasn't up to finding the texture that Sunspot loved, the softness of his ears, the delightful tenderness of his tummy. It all felt hard and metallic to her. Sunspot smiled, then walked to the pair. "HE LIKES YOU!"
"I like him," the woman said with a chuckle. "I like you too. I am sorry for what happened to you. You are a beautiful child and deserve all the happiness possible."
He looked at her, his arms around Spot's neck. "I don't like humans. They shot at me."
"They didn't understand. If they had known they would have been kind. I didn't know until you came in what a great little boy you are," she said.
He considered her, then looked at Ratchet and Ironhide. They nodded with encouragement. He looked at her, then stood straighter. "Do you want to see me transform? I can transform."
She looked at him, then nodded. "I would love to see you do that. I am so amazed by how wonderful your people are."
He smiled at her, then stepped back. He concentrated a moment, then began to make the adjustments. It was slow but steady. When the last change was made a tiny fighter jet sat before her on tripod gear. She looked at it with astonishment as did everyone in the room but Fulton and Morshower. They had seen Sunspot do this before. They also knew that he wasn't old enough to do it, another legacy of the Decepticons.
She stood up, then walked to him. Kneeling, she ran her hand gently over a wing. "Sunspot, this is amazing."
A soft chuckle could be heard from somewhere in the vicinity of the nose cone. "I LIKE TO DO THIS! ITS FUN!"
"Do you fly?" she asked.
"I am taking lessons," Sunspot replied.
"Do you change back?" she asked.
"I WILL!" With that, the tiny mechanism began to transform back. He finally stood up, his little robotic mode once more visible. He grinned at her. "SEE!?"
"I do see, darling," she said with a grin. "Thank you for showing us these talents. I am amazed."
"My teachers help me fly. I have teachers from my clan who help me know things. I don't know all the things they want me to know. My teachers are Seekers too." He smiled as Spot came to him and sat leaning against Sunspot again.
"Do you go to school now?" she asked.
"I DO! I go to school and I can read now!" he said with a giant smile. He had forgotten she was human. "Mr. Terradive is my teacher. He was a Decepticon too but he's an Autobot now. So am I. See?" he said turning his shoulder to show his Autobrand. "My brother painted it on my shoulder. Look at these," he said pointing to other things, tiny marks that were glyphs. "This is my ada's name and my atar. These are my brothers and sister. My family," he said with a smile. "I wanted them here because I love them and they love me."
The atmosphere of the room was funereal as the painfully innocent child forgot his fears of humans in a conversation with a kind person. It almost seemed as if there were only the two of them in the room.
"You have brothers and a sister. I see them on the teevee sometimes. Your sister is so cute and tiny," the woman said.
"HERO IS SO CUTE! I NAMED HER!" he said with a smile. "I never had a sister before. She is my hero."
The lady nodded. "She probably really needs you to help her. You are probably a really great big brother."
"I help her with her toys. She has a lot and when she wants me to help her I do. She is funny. My little brothers are cute. They are funny. When they have to take a bath, they run around and try to hide. They do that because they are playing a game with Atar. They like to wrestle. On the weekends we jump on Atar when he's in recharge. He pretends not to hear us but he always does. We go to the park and play." Sunspot turned to his genitors. "WE HAVE SO MUCH FUN!" He turned to the lady again. "DID YOU KNOW WE GOT TO GO CAMPING? WE DID! Uncle Optimus and my atar got tents and we went camping. ALL OF US! IT WAS SO FUN!"
The lady grinned. "I saw you in the football games. You and your family and friends."
"I LOVE THE GAMES! MY BROTHERS ARE PLAYERS ON KAON! They let me be the team helper. I CAN'T WAIT! THEY PLAY ON THE TEAM! THEY WILL WIN NEXT TIME! I KNOW THIS!" he said with an impossible sense of happiness. "MY BROTHERS LET ME BE ON THE TEAM!"
She smiled as she knelt petting Spot. Sunspot was relaxed as he spoke to her. "You have really amazing brothers. They were really good in the game. Were you on a team in the infant league?"
"I was. I was a forward," Sunspot said as he focused on the lady. It was as if the others weren't there. "I got to come into the game when they had the final one. Did you see us? Every one of our teams were there."
She nodded. "I did. Everyone got a trophy didn't they."
He nodded. "Kip and Spinner didn't want anyone to feel bad if they lost so we didn't keep score."
"That was really nice of all of you," she replied as she settled on the floor.
"We like to play. We get to be scouts pretty soon. MY ATAR IS THE MASTER OF THE AUTOBOT SCOUTS!" he turned to look at Ironhide who was standing with less tension but intense concentration on his boy. "YOU ARE THE MASTER, RIGHT, ATAR!?"
Ironhide nodded. "I am."
"We camped. It was so fun. We got to do things. We dug up rocks and climbed hills. Uncle Optimus and my atar are the best!" he said with a smile.
"They sure are," the human woman said. "You seem so happy."
"I am. I never had a family before here. I never got a present and I was always scared. Megatron didn't like me. Shockwave and Soundwave hated me. They hit me and made me do things I didn't like to do. No one cared before here. I GET TO GO TO SCHOOL! I LOVE SCHOOL!" he said with a glance at Ratchet who managed a grin and nod. "I can read and write now."
"You are probably an amazingly good student, Sunspot," she replied.
"I try really hard. I want to be a doctor and a soldier. I want to help my family. My genitors say I have to share my teachings with my brothers and sister. They're so small, they need me."
"I bet you are the best brother. You help them a lot I bet," she replied.
"I try. I don't want them to be sad," he said. "We play together and do things. I have grand adas and atars. They are my family. I didn't know I had a family until I was caught by the Autobots. Then I did. My ada and atar take care of me and I take care of them."
"You have good support," she said. "But then, I think taking care of you would be a great thing to do."
Sunspot smiled brightly. "I do all I can do to help my family. My grandgenitors have a store and I help them after school. They make things like knives and swords. I get to help them with their working. They make the best tools ever made. They put them in the museum."
She nodded. "That is wonderful. You are safe now. You have a family and home. You get to be who you are and no one can hurt you. What a fortunate little boy you are."
He looked at her a moment, as if realizing she was organic. He leaned into his dog who leaned into him. "You are organic."
She nodded. "I am. You are metallic."
"Organics hurt me. I'm afraid of them."
"Not all organics will treat you badly, child. Some of us love you," she said softly. "Some of us have our own children. We love them too."
Sunspot glanced at his pensive genitors, then back at her. "What are your younglings like?"
"I have a daughter and a son. They're in college," she said.
"I WANT TO GO TO COLLEGE! I WANT TO HELP! I WILL HELP MY ADA AND ATAR! I WANT TO HELP UNCLE OPTIMUS AND UNCLE STARSCREAM HELP OUR PEOPLE!" He smiled. "I never went to school before. I want to go to college too. My ada and atar will be proud of me if I do."
"I think they are already, don't you?" she asked.
He looked at them, both of them nodding encouragement. Then he looked at her. "I think so. My conference at school is coming in an orn or so. I think it will be good."
"It always is, sparkling," Ratchet replied.
He looked at Ratchet, then smiled brilliantly. He looked at the human, then reached out touching her hair. "You have things on your helm."
She chuckled. "We call it hair."
He nodded. "Oh. Do you have a dog?"
"We have two dogs," she said.
"TWO!?" Sunspot replied with surprise. He looked at Ratchet and Ironhide, then the woman. "Wow."
She laughed. "I think so."
"My appa has a cat. He loves his cat. He got one from Santa Prime at Christmas Surprise," Sunspot said with a smile.
"Santa Prime?" she asked.
He nodded. "He looks a lot like Uncle Optimus. I love him. He's nice like Uncle Optimus."
She smiled. "I noticed that."
Behind them listening to the pair, the rest of the room sat silently. It was as if to move would be to break the moment.
"What is the best part of your new life, Sunspot?" she asked.
"My family," he said.
"I am glad for you, baby," she said.
Sunspot looked at her, then Ratchet and Ironhide. For a moment, he just looked at them, then he turned back to the woman. He nodded. "Thank you." For a moment, they just looked at each other, two aliens finding common ground together. Then Sunspot held out his servo. She looked at it, then gave hers. He gripped her wrist in the warrior way as he looked at her. Then he grinned. "I have to go home now. My grandada needs me to help him at the store."
She gripped his servo and nodded. "You're a good boy, Sunspot. Thank you for letting me pet Spot and talk to you. It is one of the best things in my whole life."
He looked at her, then nodded. "You're welcome." He held her hand a moment longer, then let go. Looking at the others, he turned and walked to Ironhide who picked him up. Without another word, the two left, a big dog walking alongside the pair.
His part of the conference was over.
-0-TBC February 1, 2014 edited 2-5-14