The three of them flew home in complete silence. Swift didn't dare speak up first - both her parents seemed angry enough that she feared they would start ranting if she said anything. Sooner or later she knew she was going to have to explain herself to them, but she didn't want to be the one to volunteer that information. But the longer it took them to start asking questions, the more her internals churned with apprehension.

Glory finally broke the silence once they had touched down on the balcony of their apartment, but it was only with a firm, clipped order. "Go to the living room and wait for us."

"Yes, Mom," she replied, her voice soft as she ducked inside.

She had barely claimed a seat on the couch when Blitzwing walked in and sat down beside her. His expression was hard with anger, but his wings twitched - a tic she'd come to recognize as a sign of worry or fear. Guilt stabbed at her, mingling with her own worry and anger. She hadn't meant to scare her parents… just make a stand for a cause she believed in.

Wildfire trotted into the room shortly after Blitzwing, optics bleary as if he'd just woken up from a nap. When he saw Swift he immediately bolted to her side and nudged his head under her hand, snorting and snuffling in an effort to comfort her. She absently stroked his muzzle, but his presence did nothing to soothe her churning tanks or her whirling spark.

As the minutes ticked past she squirmed in her seat, waiting for Glory to come in or for Blitzwing to say something. Evidently her father was going to wait until both her parents were present to speak, but what was taking her mother so long? Was she so upset she needed to calm down before confronting her? She certainly hoped so - her parents had never yelled at her, but knowing she'd kindled their anger was bad enough.

By the time Glory finally entered the living room Swift felt far more relief than apprehension. Whatever her parents planned to do to punish her, it couldn't be worse than the dread she'd felt waiting for it, right?

Glory didn't sit down with the others, but slapped a tablet on the low table in front of Swift. The image on said tablet was one she'd seen countless times before - one of two Seekers, one blue and one black and violet. The blue Seeker was gazing serenely at the camera, while the black Seeker had one arm around the other mech's shoulders and wore a goofy grin.

My great-uncle, Swift realized. And his partner. But why is she bringing them up? I never even knew them, what do they have to do with this…

"Thundercracker and Skywarp," Glory told her, voice sharp with anger. "Your great-uncles - Skywarp may not have been related to me, but he was an uncle nonetheless. They fought for the cause, and in the end they died for the cause, gunned down by Optimus Prime himself."

Swift flinched as if she'd been punched in the abdominal plates. "Mom-"

Glory reached down and swiped the tablet with a fingertip before Swift could go further, flipping to another image. "Megatron. Leader of the Decepticons, and a role model for so many young mechs. Mortally wounded in the Battle of Autobot City."

"Mom, stop-"

"Whirlwind, your great-grandfather, killed during an Autobot raid before I was even sparked. Nightwatch, your friend Stardust's first adoptive father, murdered by Autobot extremists during the Knights of Cybertron uprising. Sweep 8994, killed in the bombing of the Fleet Fox during the Knights of Cybertron uprising. Killbison, killed during the Knights of Cybertron uprising. Hellbat, killed during the uprising. Firestorm, killed during the uprising-"

"Mom, stop it!" Swift swept the tablet off the table with a swipe of her hand. "I get it, okay? You think all Autobots are evil and I'm horrible for being around them!"

"That's not my point!" Glory insisted.

"It… kinda looked like that was your point," Blitzwing noted.

Glory gave Blitzwing a LOOK, silently demanding to know what side he was on, before turning back to Swift. "My point is that there are many people in your past who fought to keep the Decepticons and their cause alive. Who lived in pride of wearing our sigil and who died defending it. And your actions today spit in their faces. How can you disrespect your own faction like that, in front of so many people?"

"I wasn't spitting on anyone," Swift protested. "We just want to be able to choose for ourselves what faction we call ourselves… or even to not choose a faction at all. Why do we even need factions anymore if Cybertron's at peace?"

Glory's mouth froze open as she struggled to come up with a counter-argument… but Blitzwing stepped in at that moment.

"A faction isn't just a sticker you slap on if you feel like it," he told her. "It's part of your heritage. It's something that goes back generations. You rip off your faction symbol, you're not just not taking sides - you're turning your back on your heritage too."

Swift stared down at her hands. Of course they were going to bring this argument up. "I'm not turning my back on my heritage. I can still honor who I came from without wanting to follow in all their footsteps, can't I? I just want to be able to choose-"

"Choosing is one thing, even if it's quite frankly an awful choice," Glory cut in. "But going out and causing a scene like this is something else. Do you know how scared we were, Swift, to see a riot on the news and realize you were at the center of it? To see you not just joining the mob, but egging them on?"

Swift shook with barely restrained anger, and a less shy mechanism than her might have unleashed their fury at that moment. As it was it took all her self-control not to burst out yelling at her parents.

"What's going on with you?" Blitzwing demanded. "You're hardly talking to us anymore, you're off joining anti-faction rallies behind our backs, you're not even introducing us to your friends… what the frag's going on? Talk to us!"

Swift took in a deep vent of air, hoping to calm down… but instead she exploded, as if that intake had only kindled a raging fire in her spark.

"Oh, NOW you care about what's going on with me!" she shouted, rising to her feet with such force that she pushed the couch a good few meters back. "NOW you're suddenly concerned about your daughter! It just took me getting attacked and one of my best friends getting injured for you to finally start caring!"

"We've always cared-" began Glory.

"You could have fooled me!" Swift shot back. "All you two have cared about for the past orn is the fact that you got Vector Sigma access and are going to have another sparkling! I guess now that I finally got my upgrade you can stop caring that you have a daughter and go about replacing me with a brand new shiny kid!"

Glory reeled as if she'd been slapped… but Blitzwing looked sparkbroken at the accusation. Swift's own spark panged at his expression, but she was on too much of a roll to stop now.

"You wonder why I haven't told you much about what's going on with me… well, you haven't bothered to ask! You've been so wrapped up in building the new sparkling that you haven't even noticed when I come home at night, or when I bring someone new home! And you just assume I'll be okay with you replacing me with something smaller and cuter - you're even going to give them Wildfire! Without even asking me if I'm okay with giving him up!"

"Swift, it's not like-" Glory began.

"No!" Swift snapped. "Don't pretend to start caring now! You don't care that my friends and I have been planning a peaceful rally for weeks! Or that we've wanted to rise above all this nonsense about factions for so long but have been scared to because so many of our parents fought in the wars! Or that I write fanfiction and love it, or that I'm so scared about the future and university, or that I have a girlfriend now and her parents are Autobots but I love her anyway!"

"Kid-" Blitzwing blurted.

"I'm NOT your kid anymore!" she screamed. "So go on and replace me! I don't care! Because you sure as slag don't care about me unless I'm embarrassing you in public!"

And with that, she stormed past Glory and Blitzwing and onto the balcony. She heard her parents call out for her, heard Wildfire's anxious whinny, but she transformed and screamed off before she could change her mind and turn back.

She had no idea how long she flew, soaring over Polyhex and Kaon and cities she had flown over in the past but never visited, climbing higher until the atmosphere thinned and the horizon became a gleaming curve in her vision. But by the time her rage finally cooled she was exhausted, and she set her course for Polyhex once again. She wasn't ready to go home, not yet, but if she was going to brood she at least wanted to brood someplace familiar.

Her comm blazed with messages - the bulk of them from her parents, probably angry demands for her quick return so they could ground her or lecture her some more. She deleted all from Glory and Blitzwing, then turned her attention to the few that remained. Astrotrain and Steelwing had tried to contact her, and there was a single note from Harmony that she opened immediately upon recognizing the comm code.

Made it home safe. No permanent damage, just a headache. Grounded until the heat death of the universe, but at least I'm all right. Hope you're okay.

Swift fired off a quick I'm okay before turning her attention to the rest of her messages. She hoped Harmony's creator was just worried for her and not as hostile towards her factionless views as her own parents were of hers. And hopefully the two of them could still figure out a way to see each other - if Glory and Blitzwing didn't decide to stage an intervention or ground her for life.

Steelwing's message was next: Windsheer and I are home now. Looks like everyone from the rally made it home safe. Media's going nuts over this - and of course the rally's being blamed even though we weren't the ones chucking garbage. Might want to lay low awhile until this blows over.

Sighing in relief that everyone made it out okay, she opened Astrotrain's message. Maybe she could stay with him for awhile, until she felt like talking to her parents without screaming. But one look at the message killed that plan in its tracks.

Kid, come home now. Your parents are emotional wrecks right now, and Blitzwing's parked himself on my couch and refuses to leave. I know this whole factionless thing's important to you, but it ain't worth cutting off your family!

She scrubbed that message and touched down in one of Polyhex's shopping plazas. No, she couldn't go stay with Uncle Astro, not when it sounded like he'd allied himself with her parents. She wasn't cutting her parents off or anything, just distancing herself so she could cool off. And while part of her wanted to fire off an angry retort that he'd been raised in a foundling home and didn't know what it meant to have a real family, she knew that she would deeply regret those words later.

What's happening to me? she thought as she walked, picking a random street and bulling forward without caring where she was going. Just a few weeks ago she wouldn't have blown up at her parents like that, or stormed out of the apartment in a fury, or considered sending hurtful messages to the people she loved. What was wrong with her?

Then again, maybe all of this had been inevitable. So much had been happening to her lately that even she, quiet and reserved and introverted, couldn't bottle it up any longer. It had to come out sometime… and lucky her, it had erupted out like a volcano, burning everyone and everything it came in contact with. And probably scorched a few relationships beyond repair in the process.

She'd been walking aimlessly for some time before she noticed she was being followed. Knowing her stalker had shown up again should have terrified her, but at the moment it was just one more irritation. Of course he'd start creeping on her during an absolutely slaggy day… and of course he'd been just one more of the stressors that had piled onto her back until she'd finally cracked from the strain.

A hand rested on her shoulder. "Swift-"

Swift reacted without thinking. She spun, snatching her stalker's arm with one hand while grabbing him by the throat with the other. She slammed him into the wall of the nearest building and pinned him there, completely heedless of the stares the action earned her from passerby.

The silver mech's optics flared bright with shock, but curiously he didn't fight back. He just stared at her as she leaned in towards him, their faceplates a mere handspan apart as she vented her anger onto him.

"I don't know what the frag you want," she growled, "but I have had a horrible day and you following me around like some kind of creep is just the oil truffle on top of the energon sundae. So you're going to tell me who the Pit you are and what the Pit you want with me before I throw you into the nearest trash compactor, and then you're going to leave me the Pit alone!"

The silver mech raised his free hand. "Easy there," he murmured in his deep, raspy voice. "Will it help if I apologize that you had a bad day?"

Swift just glared.

"All right, never mind." He gave a rueful chuckle. "If you let go of me, I promise to answer you. But we're attracting a little too much attention at the moment."

As if on cue, a passing carformer stopped and spoke up. "Everything okay here, folks? Do I need to call the police?"

Swift released her hold on the mech's neck and hand. "No… we're fine." She didn't dare take her optics off of him, for fear that he would slip away while she wasn't looking, but she did back up a step to give him space.

"If you're sure…" The carformer looked dubious, but he nodded and went on his way.

The silver mech rubbed at his throat. "Whoever taught you self-defense, I commend them. I haven't seen maneuvers like that since… well, since the days of the war."

Swift looked the mech up and down, sizing him up. He certainly looked as if he'd seen combat - his silver armor still bore deep scratches and scars that he had never buffed out, either out of pride or simple apathy. And he still bore an obvious warframe, complete with tank treads and turret. In some ways he reminded her of Megatron, though he didn't have the regal expression or the striking eyebrow markings she'd seen in the old images.

"Why are you following me?" she demanded. "Why are you so obsessed with me? I've never seen you before."

"You have," the mech corrected, "though it's been so long that I'm not surprised you don't remember." He smiled, and somehow the expression did a lot to soften his craggy visage. "Sparklings don't always retain memories from their first few days, after all."

Swift stared at him. "What do you mean? Who are you?" Realization sparked in the back of her CPU, but it didn't fully materialize until his next words confirmed it.

"My name is Terminus," he answered. "And… I am your father."

Terminus lived in Kaon, in a small apartment in the lower (but not lowest) levels of the city. It was in an older building, slightly run-down but not derelict, and the mech did his best to keep it tidy and comfortable. Swift felt a little cramped in it, but then, it hadn't been designed with fliers or shuttle-formers in mind.

"Excuse the mess," Terminus said, stooping to collect a handful of datapads off a chair so she could sit down. "I didn't realize I would be bringing a guest home today, and things are a bit cluttered."

"I've seen a lot worse," Swift assured him as she sat down. "My Uncle Astro's place can get pretty bad…" She let her voice trail off, realizing that discussing her adopted family so casually to a mech who happened to be her real family probably wasn't polite.

Her family… her father. She still couldn't wrap her processor around the fact that she was talking to the mech who had created her, whose programming had helped develop her spark. For so long she had believed herself an orphan, that her creators had been killed soon after she'd come online. And now, one of them had stepped out of the shadows to claim her, and she still couldn't quite believe it was happening.

"Are you all right?" Terminus asked, sitting down in the chair next to hers. "You look a little shell-shocked."

Despite everything she'd been through in the past day, Swift let out a little laugh. "I just found out the mech who's been stalking me for weeks is my father. I think that would shock anyone."

Terminus nodded. "It wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable… but looking back, my behavior was uncalled for. I'm sorry. I just… wanted so desperately to be sure."

Swift stared down at the floor a moment, trying to collect her thoughts, then looked back up at him. "How did you know? I mean… I'm upgraded now. I'm not a tiny sparkling anymore. How did you know I was yours? Did you sneak a CNA scan or something?"

Terminus shook his head. "I had visited the Iacon art museum by pure chance - I heard a few Decepticon artists were being showcased and wanted to see for myself. When I heard someone call your name, it caught my attention, especially because Swift isn't a common name… but I wasn't entirely sure until I saw your faceplate. You may have been upgraded, but you still have the same face… and the same optics."

Her mask snapped up, her automatic reaction to anyone commenting on her looks, but she retracted it just as fast. "Sorry… habit."

"No apologies are necessary." He gazed down at his hands. "I checked out public records, wanting to be sure, and found that you were listed as the daughter of former Air Commander Glory. It was no secret that you'd been adopted, but no spark-parents were listed on your records. I asked around for a little more information, and finally got an answer from a young mech in the Air Corps - that you were one of the foundlings from Shockwave's old academy. That, more than anything, proved to me who you were. That you had been found, and raised among other orphans until your adoption."

Swift hadn't realized just how much one could learn from public records… and she had a sneaking suspicion who the "young mech in the Air Corps" was. Next time she saw Valiant, she was going to smack him for his overactive vocalizer.

"I wanted to talk to you," Terminus went on. "I didn't know what I was going to say, only that I had to see you one more time, and learn what kind of femme you had become. I went about it entirely the wrong way… I didn't mean to frighten you or your friend… and for that, I'm sorry."

Swift felt her optics blur with overflowing cleanser, and she shuttered them in an effort to stem the flow. Had her father - her father - approached her as recently as a few weeks ago, she might have denied his request to meet with her. She had a loving family already, and had no desire to learn more about creators she had assumed were long dead. But somehow Terminus had stepped forward at a time when she had felt rejected by her adopted parents, and she couldn't help but cling to that lifeline as tightly as she could.

"What happened?" she asked softly, wiping her optics. "Where were you? All this time, I thought you were dead."

Terminus reached out and rested a hand on her. "I thought YOU were dead all this time, little one. You were sparked while I was still an active soldier - perhaps a mistake on my part, but I wanted someone to fight for, someone I could come home to between campaigns. But while I was out on the battlefield, the neighborhood where you and your caretaker were staying was firebombed… and when I returned and searched the rubble, I found no trace of you. I… I gave you up for dead. It never occured to me to look at Shockwave's academy for you."

Swift's shoulders trembled with emotion. "I… I wish I could remember… I'm sorry, but my first memories are of the academy. Everything before…"

Terminu made a soothing noise and squeezed her hand. "It's okay, little one. I'm not upset if you don't remember. We can make new memories. If… if you'll have me in your life, that is. I know you have your own family now."

"Things… things have been hard at home lately," Swift admitted, fighting back a sob. "And in all honesty, now that I'm upgraded, I wonder if they even want me anymore."

"I'm sure they still care about you," Terminus assured her. "Families fight all the time, but they still love each other. You and your parents may not be getting along right now, but things will smooth over. You'll see."

Swift wished she had his confidence. But right now, just having a sympathetic audial - one who shared a connection with her, who had loved her enough to seek her out despite believing her dead - was a help and a comfort. And she had an opportunity she never thought she'd had - to learn more about her origins, where she had come from.

Besides, Steelwing had advised her to lay low. And where better to lay low than someplace no one would look for her? It would give her a chance to calm down and plan her next move. If it worried her friends and the rest of her family… well, she could assure them she was fine without divulging her location to them. Perhaps her parents' anger would cool down if she spent a day or two away from home, too.

"Terminus… it might take me awhile to call you Father, but I'd like to get to know you a little better." She vented deeply and gave him a smile. "I hate to ask this when we've just barely been reunited, but… could I… um…"

Terminus chuckled. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, Swift. I have a spare room if you need it."

"Thank you. I won't impose too much."

"You're my daughter, Swift. It won't be imposing at all."

She squeezed his hand in return. She hadn't expected today to end with finding her long-lost creator, but so long as she had the opportunity, she might as well make the most of it.