Intermission 2
Lost Children
"When you lay me down sleeping, my heart is weeping because I'm keeping a place for all the lost children"
Strikezone was not a friendly femme and everyone at the Iacon base knew that fact. Optimus Prime was the bravest, or stupidest, mech there and her first friend because of it. He was probably the first to notice just how damaged she was, not physically because Ratchet was an amazing medic and had made sure the femme was better than new, no; all her damage lay in her processor. She couldn't remember anything prior to waking up in the Autobot's med-bay and that alone was enough to make anyone wary. On top of that, she knew nothing of herself, not her creators, her home, why she was in the gladiator pits, not even her own designation. She was nearly fully grown and she knew nothing about herself. On top of that, she seemed to be a skilled warrior, though she had no memory of learning any of it. The battle routines that they all relied on were drilled so deep into her that they were subroutines and instinctive. Optimus had spoken to her the first time to try and ease the turmoil he could see in her mind and quiet the whisperings of the Matrix. Any time after that was simply because they realized they enjoyed the other's company. She had even given him the privilege of naming her since they had given up hope of recovering her memories.
No one was quite sure how Strikezone and the Twin Terrors got together. The whole Command team had gotten together and unanimously decided that it would be a good idea to keep them away from each other. Since the femme was as wild as Sideswipe and as volatile as Sunstreaker and just as prone to snapping, though not as violently, they were right to worry. What they all forgot to factor in was the overly rebellious nature of all three. Once Strikezone found out about their decision, she decided it was time to meet with the twins and they defied the odds by becoming the best of friends. Somehow those clashing personalities worked and they even accepted her into their cadre, making her the first femme Blade Runner on that base.
It was Bumblebee that surprised everyone. The little mech had been the one survivor a particularly vicious attack on the Youth Sectors by the Decepticons. The Decepticons had seen fit to destroy the Sectors, so she and the rest of the Autobots that had seen fit to destroy them.
It had been her audio receptors that had brought her to the med-bay that first night. Ratchet had decided he wanted the sparkling there for the next cycle for observation so he left the little one in a specialized berth to aid his healing. Strikezone's audio receptors were sensitive, especially to high frequencies and sparklings used some high frequencies when they were distressed with no bonds to lean on. Like Bumblebee, who just wouldn't stop. She, Ratchet and Jazz were the only three who could hear that particular frequency and since Jazz was on a mission and Ironhide had most likely already dropped Ratchet into an emergency recharge, she had gotten up and headed to the med-bay.
He was a cute little thing, all big blue optics, bright yellow plating and the beginnings of doorwings. He was smart too, seeming to know just when she was lying to him that night to make him feel better. She ended up sleeping in the med-bay that night with him curled up to her chest armor, which was how Ratchet found them that morning and he promptly separated them and sent her off, though he stopped trying after the fourth time. When the little bot had finally been released from the med-bay, it had been perfectly natural for him to sleep in Striezone's quarters. Ironhide was assigned as his official guardian and the two could often be found together though the stubborn little sparkling refused to recharge anywhere but with Strikezone. Since most mechs on the Ark were already sharing quarters and she just happened to still have an empty room, they simply added a second berth in her room when Bumblebee got too big to keep sharing with her. They were almost always found together when they weren't on duty. Bumblebee was Strikezone's little brother as far as she was concerned and they were closer than she and Optimus in some ways. She was the one that had gotten him out at Tyger Pax and they both nearly died for her trouble.
Of course, all of that was before a separation that lasted a few thousand years and revelations about her origins that rocked her world right off its foundations. As she headed toward the lookout the day after Gabe's party, all she could think was, please, at least let me have my little brother back. Let me have something solid to ground me again.