A/N: Good news for those who wanted to see Ironhide in the fic. You'll get a little cameo from him here. :3

...

CHAPTER 28
Memories

It was only a little after Coldsteel had been created that the first incident that Hound told Mark about had happened. He and Aquastrius had just moved into the new Autobot base in which they would be living, due to Hound's newfound involvement in the war. Of course, raising a sparkling while being in the middle of war had never been what Hound had wanted. In fact, he had wanted a simpler life in a small home in Iacon. He'd gotten the Iacon part, but the rest of it hadn't exactly come to fruition. But he knew he was doing the right thing in deciding to join the army and fight for the freedom of Cybertron from the Decepticons.

If only he were as good a sire as he was a warrior sometimes.

His mate had left him alone with their sparkling for three hours so far. And even though he thought the mechling had sat still in his crib while he was filling out reports, he had soon turned around to find that Coldsteel had disappeared. His first, and strongest reaction was of panic. Had someone snuck in and stolen his sparkling when he was distracted? But who in the Autobot base would do that? Who would want to? His processor worked on an absolute overload, he'd already torn apart his quarters, and now, as he rushed out into the hallway and began his frantic search there.

Of course, of all times to run into his older brother, Ironhide, this would be it. Hound had barely registered that he had run into the mech's rough plating, though he nearly barked at him, stopping himself only as he realized it was Ironhide. "Oh 'Hide thank goodnesss!" Hound shouted, his voice in panic mode even moreso than before "Have you seen Coldsteel? I turned my back on him to work! I thought he was taking a nap!"

"Hound, slow down." Ironhide waved him off slightly "He's only crawling at the moment. The little guy couldn't have gotten far." Hound put his hands on his hips, with narrowed optics "Oh right, I'd almost forgotten. This was your offspring." He snorted "Welp, I would be preparing for a proper tearing out from Aquastrius if I were you. When she finds out you lost her sparkling, she'll tear your spark out, at best." He added.

For a moment, Hound looked ready to scream, but it quickly faded as he noticed the look in Ironhide's optics. At this point, Hound flared with annoyance. "You know where he is, don't you?" The smug grin on Ironhide's faceplate was all the mech needed as an answer "Ironhide, what on Cybertron have you done? If I find my creation firing off cannons, I swear to Primus..."

"Hush." Ironhide snorted "I'm the cool uncle, but even I wouldn't think to let a sparkling anywhere near my cannons." Hound sighed in relief, though it only lasted a minute "He managed to do a good job of crawling his way to them himself!" Hound's optics widened, his processor nearly on the fritz by this point "He's in the weapons vault right now, safe and-."

"Ironhide, I'm going to offline you!"

Hound couldn't have run for that weapons vault of Ironhide's if he even tried. And with good reasons, once he had arrived, he found his sparkling alright. The sight he beheld was a small sparkling about the size of an adult human, with green plating and blue accents, as well as wide ocean blue optics, with little hands all over an army grade blaster. "COLDSTEEL!" The sparkling jumped, the weapon firing on a discharge just as Hound had rushed over and scooped him up, lucky for them, the blast only hit the wall "PRIMUS! Coldsteel, what in Primus's good name were you thinking? How did you even crawl out of your crib!?" He asked.

The sparkling barely replied with a quiet whir, reaching up to touch his sire's faceplate. The giggle he emitted reminded Hound that his son literally could not even understand a word of his scolding. Sighing a little, he shifted Coldsteel slightly, keeping as wide a smile as he could on his face. "You can't do that you little troublemaker." Hound told him gently "But I suppose on the bright side, with your ability to sneak out so easily, you might have a future ahead of you in special ops." Hound laughed quietly.

Coldsteel purred lightly, resting his head against his sire quietly. Hound grunted, as much as he hated it, his son probably could away with anything if he kept looking up at him with those blue optics. "He's actually a natural shot." Ironhide snorted as he stepped inside, watching as his brother started for the door "Red Alert is going to tan my hide for that though."

"Tell him to get in line." Was all Hound could say.

...

"I really wish I had met Ironhide now." Mark spoke as the story ended, Hound turned his optics to him "He sounds like he would have been an awesome uncle." That earned an optic roll from Hound, though the boy shrugged "But yeah, that sounds like something I'd do as a kid. When I was five I almost took my dad's brand-new Hummer for a joy ride."

Hound's optics widened at that, not liking the mental image. A five year old was a handful enough without adding getting behind the wheel to it. "Oh boy, most of you humans have those so-called "terrible twos" you must be an overachiever." Hound poked Mark gently getting a giggle from him "But that is nothing compared to what your brother did when he was a little younger than you were now." He said, searching for the entry.

"I bet he never road on the head of a hundred-foot t-rex!"

Hound only smirked, but shook his head in response, finding the story and beginning.

...

"Of all the stupid things you could do!"

"Aquastrius, go easy on him."

Hound backed up with his arms raised as his mate turned to him with a deep glare in her yellow optics. Even when she was angry though, Hound could still not help but gawk, even the slightest bit, at her. She was beautiful when she was calm, but when she was angry, she was too, between her slim frame, and sky blue armor. "Are you even paying attention to what your son did?" She asked.

That was enough to snap him out of his thoughts, and towards the twelve vorn old in front of him. Coldsteel looked rather guilty, lowering his gaze to the floor as he traced his peds along int. "Huh, right." Hound nodded his head "Tell me again, son. What were you thinking when you set that paint and feather bomb in the hallway for the visiting seeker officials?" He asked "You do understand how many of them have joined the Decepticon cause already?"

Coldsteel hung his arms, and groaned. "I thought it would be funnier! I was really looking to hit Magnus though, he's been an aft lately. But then the officials came by and I just... I was weak. It was too good of an opportunity!" Aquastrius seemed to rub her foreplate lightly "Come on, carrier! You saw it happen, you can't tell me it wasn't funny!"

The femme narrowed her optics, and looked ready to smack her creation, if she hadn't loved him too much to do it. "You're lucky the seekers found is humerous, or I'd be making you write an apology to each of them!" She threw her arms up and turned to Hound "Hound, deal with your son. If he keeps shouting "stupid" in my receptors I may just lose my head!"

Hound watched as she exited Coldsteel's berthroom and into their living room. He crossed his arms, and looked over at Coldsteel, who now sat down on his berth, the look of guilt never faltering. "So, did you get the smug one?" Hound asked with a chuckle, surprising even his son, who looked up at him in shock "What was his designation again? Starscream?"

"Yeah! He was the only one who got mad!"

"Good. I never liked him, he keeps flip-flopping loyalties. I'm surprised he was even allowed on base." Coldsteel giggled slightly, and Hound grinned "Don't worry too much about yer mother. She's just a little worried, what with the war getting seemingly worse." He picked up the now exploded bomb that was resting on top of a data pad case beside him "Next time, just show a little more judgement. You know seekers are known for their temper."

"Yes, sire."

"That's m'boy." Hound rubbed his helm and set the bomb in Coldsteel's hand "Keep it, I don't think anyone would believe you did it without some proof." He added, the mechling chuckled as Hound sat on the berth, and began to gently tickle some of his loose wiring, causing him to burst out giggling "You're good at this, but again, I mean it. Cool it down, I love ye too much to lose you."

As Coldsteel squirmed, Hound continued to hold him close, tickling him even more. "Okay! OKAY! I swear!" Finally, Hound let him go after a good minute of this "... I love you sire."

"I love ye too." Hound stated, kissing the youngling's helm "But you're grounded for the next three Megacycles." Coldsteel groaned "Does the tickle monster need to come back and turn that frown upside down?" He asked.

"NO!"

"I think he does."

And so, for the next few minutes, all that could be heard through the quarters was the loud giggling of a youngling.

...

"Wait, wasn't Starscream the Decepticon second-in-command?"

"After we got tired of his flip-flopping, yes." Hound nodded "At the time though, the seekers hadn't chosen a clear side yet."

Mark nodded back, making an "OH" motion with his lips and shaking his head. "Still, I don't even think I'd have the guts to do something that ballsy." Hound chuckled a bit, nodding sadly "You really loved him, didn't you?" He asked, as if he didn't already know.

Hound smiled, and ran a finger gently through his foster son's tuft of brown hair. He could see the boy was getting drowsy, and thus he knew there would only be time for one more story and began to search for one more with his sparkmate. "You and Coldsteel..." Hound began, his optics shuttering "Were - Are the two best things that I have ever done in my life." He explained.

"Me?"

"Would you be here if I didn't feel the same way about you?"

Mark wasn't about to argue about that, so he simply leaned back. "Aquastrius sounds like she was a hoot too." Mark told him, laughing lightly "Are you gonna tell me one she's actually in for longer than five seconds?" He asked teasingly.

"I was just getting to that." Hound grunted "You little brat." He joked.

Hound gently rested his finger on top of his head as he began the final story of the evening.

...

Hound hated working late, but he especially hated it on the Cybertronian equivalent of a human weekend. It was the time where he got to spend the most time with Coldsteel, who was now fourteen vorns, and what's more, he knew it worried Aquastrius sick. Yet here he still was, his head rested against his hand as he tried his best not to pass out into recharge at his desk. "Hound, it's almost been an entire megacycle." He heard a sweet, melodic voice speak up, as his optics lifted to see Aquastrius in the doorway "Can't you come back to our quarters?"

"You want to tell Prowl why these data pads aren't in tomorrow?"

His sparkmate's response to this was to approach him, push his chairs against the wall and kiss him on the lips. Hound smirked slightly, it was moments like these that really reminded him of why he loved this femme so much. She was so spontaneous, so beautiful, so seductive. Even as they became creators and grew older, she had never lost that peppy, but fierce nature that he had fallen for all those vorns ago. "Tell Prowl to go frag himself. He's always having you do mountains of data pads." She stated as she released him and sat up on his desk "You're always working these days, I hardly get to see you." She tilted her head "And have you forgotten the discussion of another youngling...?" She asked.

Hound stared up at her, leaning back in his chair. "Another? You still want to bring another sparkling into this Primus-forsaken war?" He questioned teasingly, the femme merely shrugged, and smiled "Primus, I still need to pencil time for that in, y'know. I've got lots of meetings, and missions, and..." She flicked him upside the helm for that one "What about a youngling?" Hound commented.

"I don't think it works that way." Aquastrius told him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Not the natural way, of course. I was thinking more about... The youth sectors." Hound told her, and she stared at him with wide optics of surprise "There are so many sparklings and younglings displaced by the war, sweetspark." He explained, wrapping his own arms around her waist "And we have so much love to give. We already have one of our own, so why don't we give our love to someone who needs it?"

The femme smiled in response, she always had liked his softer side. "Adoption, eh?" Aquastrius asked him quietly "I like that.. Another mech, though. I'm such a tommech I'm not sure I can handle a femme youngling that I didn't raise from sparklinghood myself." She then added "Maybe one around Coldsteel's age too, he's always complaining about how he doesn't have enough playmates!" She then added "We could turn that spare office next to yours into a bedroom, oh, or they could bunk!"

Hound stood up from his desk, plucking the femme off of it. The data pads were all but forgotten now. All that existed was this beautiful little piece of reality that was his life, and his sparkmate. The love of his life-cycle. "Sweetspark, we haven't even applied yet." He chuckled as they exited his office "How do you even know it will be a mech? We might only be able to get a femme."

"Just a feeling." Aquastrius replied with a "hmmm" "I really do love it, Hound. It's a good idea, especially since you were adopted too." Hound nodded in response, it had been one of the many reasons he had thought about it "But trust me, it's gonna be a mech. I always had the feeling that if we ever had another, it was going to be a mech..." She added.

Hound only smiled in response, taking her hand as they walked towards their quarters. They stopped in front of it, and opened it as the two of them entered. Immediately, Hound entered Coldsteel's berthroom to the side. He frowned as he realized his son was already asleep, yet that night, despite his fear of waking him up, he felt oddly compelled to approach him. Walking towards the slumbering form on top of the berth, he rubbed the thick of his back, and gently kissed his forehelm. The mechling shifted, and cooed as Hound smiled a little. "Sweet recharge, my precious one. I love you." He murmured as he made his way back out.

He had only just closed the door as Aquastrius pulled him forward. It was clear that adoption was not going to get him away from interfacing that night, nor did he want it to. That night, a gold, old-fashioned round of interfacing sounded just right. "I love you, Aqua." He murmured between their deep kisses.

"I love you too, Hound."

As they made their way to their berthroom, Hound remained blissfully ignorant. Ignorant to the fact that this was the last night that he would spend with his beloved sparkmate. That that had been the last time he would see his son at all. Ignorant that tomorrow, he would wake up to an emergency call that would take him away from the base, with many other high ranking Autobots, away from their families. Ignorant that tomorrow, a raid would take away everything he loved in life.

Ignorant, of the tragedy that was about to befall him.

...

Mark had stayed awake through the bits between Hound and Aquastrius, yet by the time the revelation came, he was out. Hound sighed quietly, perhaps it was for the best that he never knew that depressing revelation, and was instead left with the love he and his sparkmate had for each other. He leaned back, and took a deep intake of breath, it was only now that he thought about it. Aquastius had been right about her feeling, one day, he had found a little boy, alone, who needed his love. He had taken him in, he had planned to raise him.

What none of them had counted on was that she wouldn't be there to help, or that both she and Coldsteel would be dead by then. "You woulda loved our second little mech, Aqua." Hound spoke as silently as he could, staring up at the ceiling, as if speaking to the heavens "He may not have been an actual "mech", but he makes one pit of a good son."

Little did he know, while the boy's face was turned away from him, Mark gave the slightest of smiles. Though he never once stirred as Hound rested his head back against the berth himself, and let his systems power down beside him. Today, he made a mental note just before he went into recharge, would be another entry to add to his data pads on his time with his new family.