Author's note. Written by me and the-writing-mew.
What kind of trouble does Valour get into? Read on to find out.
Enjoy and please review.
...
Megatron was in a meeting with Ultra Magnus as he received a report that his mate has fallen ill and now the three mechs, that included Starscream were rushing into the med bay.
"Optimus! Oh thanks Primus you're okay!" The Emperor said when entered the med bay and hugged his mate close.
However, everybody present, except Megatron noticed that the Consort was not hugging back his bonded or at least was happy to see him. "What happened, are you ok?" He said finally releasing enough his mate to see his face.
Optimus just nodded and smiled weakly before answering. "Yes my lord, I'm ok... I guess it was just a shock... But I'm ok now, don't worry..." That made Megatron smile kindly and kiss him softly on the cheek while Optimus involuntarily looked to the other side.
Every present bot held different gazes and different thoughts...
Hook thought. 'How is it possible he doesn't realizes yet his mate doesn't loves him because he's his jailer and that he's just acting!? Ohhh Emperor Megatronus, what kind of idiot did you raise?'
Red Alert thought, 'How dare he?! My poor little brother cannot even rest in peace from him!'
Starscream thought, 'Well, well, it seems that the little Prime's not happy with Megatron...maybe it's because the jerk just took him away from his environment, forced him to bond as quickly as he could so he will never escape his side or be another's... Megatron, as your friend I'm thinking you can be a jerk sometimes... Have you not noticed that your obsession with your unwilling mate could kill him? ...hmm...if I tell him this or he will ignore me or will rip off my wings and shove them into my aft...he' better realise for himself why his Consort is unable to spark.'
Ultra Magnus thought, 'Optimus Prime...my Optimus... Still sacrificing yourself for our cause, I wish I can repay you for all your suffering... I am so sorry...'
As if noticing all the attention, Megatron turned around and watched his audience.
Starscream cleared his throat and said. "I am glad to see you doing better Consort."
Privately he thought that at least he and the Sire of his Sparklings had worked things out before having their little brood. Sure, he'd chosen the Mech because he was the best choice but that didn't mean he mistreated him or anything. Megatron could have at least courted his intended before bonding with him, even his Seekers didn't move that fast.
"Thank you, commander," Optimus said with a small nod before looking over at Ultra Magnus. "Sir, how are you?"
Feeling like his Spark might break, Ultra Magnus said softly. "I'm very good Optimus but you...gave me quite a fright when I heard you'd taken ill."
"I'm sorry for causing you concern," Optimus said quietly as Hook noticed that Red Alert did not look happy. He wondered why that was. "But I am much better now."
He looked at Red Alert and said. "I'm sorry for scaring your s-son, will you apologise to him on my behalf?"
"I will, he understands that accidents can happen," she said reassuringly.
"Good," he said as Hook came a little closer to check his vital signs. As the Medic did this, Optimus looked up at Megatron and said.
"I'm feeling much better now my lord, you should get back with Commander Starscream and Ultra Magnus."
"Are you sure? Megatron asked with concern.
"Yes," Optimus said with a smile.
Megatron smiled back and gave him another kiss.
"Alright love, you just rest and I'll see you later. Let me know if you feel ill again."
"I will," Optimus promised and Megatron left with Starscream and Ultra Magnus, the latter shooting him a sad look.
"Kid," Hook stated once they were gone. "Megatron's never going to notice anything unless you say something."
"What do you mean?" Optimus asked and Hook resisted the urge to roll his optics.
"It's obvious to everyone but your mate that you're not happy," he stated bluntly. "And he's to besotted with you to realise that you don't return his feelings. You need to talk to him, try to work something out."
Optimus looked away miserably as he said.
"I don't know what to say to him, he'll be angry."
"He'll be shocked," Hook stated. "And probably upset but I don't think he'll be angry. But he will be if this continues and you suffer a worse attack. You're making yourself ill over this, what do you think will happen when you conceive?"
Optimus flinched violently at this and Red bit her lip although it was unseen by Hook. The old Medic sighed and said.
"At least think about it, there's no point in you being miserable. I know you didn't want this and can't get away from him but that doesn't mean you have to be unhappy. That blockhead isn't cruel or evil, he's just thick when it comes to certain issues."
"Alright, I'll think about it," Optimus said although he didn't really mean it.
"Good," Hook said before glancing at Red Alert and saying. "I think you've already introduced yourselves but this is my new Medic, Red Alert."
Optimus actually gave a real smile and said. "We knew each other when we were young. Her father was my medic."
"Oh," Hook said in mild surprise. "So you're friends? Good."
He looked at Red Alert again and said. "You two should spend some time with each other; I think it'll do you good to be with a close friend again."
Why did that suggestion make him feel strange?
"I would love to be able to catch up with Optimus," Red Alert said with a wide smile. "Would...you like to meet my son sometime?"
Optimus swallowed before nodding. "Y-yes, that would be nice."
"Once he's rested, you could take him for a walk," Hook declared. "At least I can trust you to know what to do should a relapse happen."
She nodded as he then beckoned her to follow, leaving Optimus to rest on the berth. Once they'd moved away, Hook muttered to Red Alert.
"Try to convince him to deal with this issue. Megatron won't believe anyone if they tell him Optimus is unhappy, Optimus needs to tell him face to face."
She made a slight face; she did not like Megatron and did not think Optimus should be forced to like him. But she also couldn't bear to see him so unhappy so she said softly.
"I will do my best."
"Thank you." Hook said while looking at her for a while...a too long while that made her feel a little awkward.
"Sir?" She tried. 'What is he thinking; he cannot know that my son is actually Optimus's son...'
"N-nothing... I apologize, Red Alert..." He almost stuttered the entire sentence before walking away quickly as the femme looked at his retiring frame feeling more relived with herself.
...
Meanwhile...
Valour and Bumblebee returned to the resting place after their work was done, it was the next turn now that was taken for the real servants to serve the nobles and the sparklings that were naughty to continue working as a way of punishment.
"So...you saved the Consort?" Bee said in awe at his friend.
"No... I didn't... He just passed out... My mommy and her boss will be the ones who will save him since they are the doctors, not me." Valour said in modesty but his friend still looked at him as if he was some kind of superhero.
"But still! You were awesome! Will you become into a medic someday? ...you're not afraid of blood, right?" The yellow sparkling said and Valour shook his head 'no' while drinking his energon.
"Well, I-" Before he could answer properly he was interrupted by a piercing scream that once again caught the attention of all the sparklings.
"NO! I don't wanna go! Noooo!" It was Slipstream who was screeching and crying as she held against a table as if her life depended on it, her brothers were being restrained too because they tried to defend her.
"It is your carrier's orders little mistress, you will be transferred with your-" The much older seeker tried but the femmling was not cooperating.
"Nooo, let me go! I don't wanna go with him, nooo!" She continued making a show that somehow made Valour feel pity for her.
"You should have thought in that before behaving like a runt again and dragging your brothers with you, now, come on, let go, you're only making it difficult!" The older seeker continued struggling and wrestling with her and she was losing grip.
"Nooo! Help me! Somebody help me!" She cried in desperation making this time Valour react. Was that bad the place she was going?
Running towards her he tackled the seeker and was able to release a crying Slipstream from his grasp. "Let her go! She doesn't want to go!" He demanded standing in front of her as if protecting her from the attacker.
The seeker stood and looked down at him. "Stand back, is her carrier's orders, she broke the rules for the last time, it won't be tolerated, now move away!" Aggressively the seeker demanded stomping towards them.
Slipstream covered behind him as she nursed her little hands and wings before Valour spoke again. "She promises to be good!"
Once again the already choking atmosphere turned even tenser at his words before the seeker said: "She already promised that and so far lied, this was her last chance, so now she must-"
"I will speak for her, she will behave, if not, she can be taken away... Please...just ONE more chance...," Valour begged the seeker and this one seemed to consider it for a second.
"I will speak to her carrier... He's the one who has the last word, not me... But, even if the Commander accepts your terms and she continues with her ill behaviour, she will be taken away without another word," The elder said before walking away and taking the other seeker adults with him who released her brothers.
"Sister!" Her brothers jumped towards her and hugged her tight. Valour smiled kindly at them and started towards Bumblebee again before someone took him by the hand.
When he turned around he found Slipstream's big red optics, he smiled and say. "Just promise not being naughty and your carrier will leave you alone."
She continued looking straight into his own blue optics before anyone could react, she licked his cheek.
Everyone froze, even her brothers who were actually petrified.
"Eww...you just needed to say thanks," Valour said while cleaning his cheek from her saliva and she tilted her head to the side.
"I've forgotten...you grounders kiss like...," She finally said reaching for him once again and kissed him dangerously close to his mouth.
However, Valour's reaction was not what she expected...at all... "You're welcome," He said with a smile before kissing her too on her cheek and now that she froze at his actions and let go of his hand, he just walked away.
Slipstream took her little hand to her cheek and flushed, soon her brothers surrendered her and she said to them dreamily. "I think I've found the one I will bond with..."
Meanwhile Bee was shocked as Valour returned to his side. "What?" He said to his yellow friend.
"Do you know what just happened, dude?" Bee hissed so only Valour could hear. "That was practically a declaration for a seeker!"
"What?" Valour asked innocently confused tilting his head to the side.
"Everything! Defending her, kissing her!"
"I was just returning the gesture...," The red and blue mechling said innocently.
Bee rolled his optics, clearly his friend had no idea how Seekers work.
"What do you know about Seekers?" he demanded.
"Uh, well, they've got wings," Valour tried.
"Apart from that," Bee said, giving him a punch on the arm as Valour giggled.
"Well...," Valour said slowly. "I heard my grandpapa say their loud and like to be naughty in public, especially when flying. I once saw a pair hugging in mid air but mama wouldn't let me watch. She said it was private."
This made Bee grin.
"Yeah, I've seen that before," he confirmed. "My Sire calls it making babies midair."
"Ooh," Valour said with wide optics, he would have to question his mama on the subject. "Really?"
"Really," Bee said with a firm nod before glancing back at the little brood of Sparklings. "But do you know how they get together?"
"How?" Valour said curiously.
"The main Seeker claims the other," Bee stated knowledgeably. "By chasing off anyone else who might want their Femme or Mech. Their fight to protect them and if their future mate wants them back, they kiss the main Seeker. The main Seeker then kisses them back."
"Oh," Valour said. "So...?"
"So you just betrothed yourself to her," the yellow Sparkling said with satisfaction. "Cause you defended her and then kissed her back."
"What?" yelped Valour, looking over at the Seekers and seeing the brothers looking at him curiously while Slipstream gave him a little wave, giving him what he'd often called 'kissy' face when he saw couples look at each other.
"But...we can't get bonded," he exclaimed. "We're too young."
"You still have to be her boyfriend," giggled Bee gleefully. "You've got no choice."
"Primus," Valour exclaimed, how was he going to explain that to his mama?
"Maybe someone else will challenge you," Bee said consolingly. "Then if you lose, they'll be her boyfriend. Or femmefriend, whatever."
Valour nodded but he had a feeling he wouldn't get out of it so easily. He decided to change the subject and said. "Do you want to come over and play sometime?"
"Yeah!" Bee said happily, liking that idea a lot. "Can I come tonight?"
"Sure," Valour said with a smile. "That'd be great."
Meanwhile, Starscream was waiting to take his daughter to her Sire and growing impatient.
"What is taking so long?" he demanded as Megatron lounged in a chair, carefully reading through a report. Ultra Magnus had returned to Iacon a short while before and Megatron could now relax, especially as his mate was doing better after his collapse.
"What is the problem?" he asked his commander lazily.
"I asked the Sparkling carers to bring Slipstream to me as soon as their work was done," he explained with a snap. "She's going to the University until she can learn to behave properly. No one likes manners better than her Sire, he should sort her out."
"Hmm," Megatron mumbled, only half listening. Starscream sent him a look of disgust, his wings flaring out in annoyance before one of his Seekers arrived.
"Where is she?" Starscream demanded. "Don't tell me you didn't manage to bring her?"
"We...there's been a development," the Seeker said, clearing his throat.
"What development?" Starscream snapped furiously.
"Well commander, while we were trying to bring her along, a little grounder stopped us and said we couldn't take her, that she would behave if we let her stay."
This caused Megatron to look up with interest as Starscream stared in disbelief before exclaiming "What!?"
"We explained it was your decision of course," the Seeker said. "But we decided to let her go for the time being to give her another chance on the basis that she would be his responsibility. But then..."
"But then what?" Starscream demanded, not liking this at all.
"When we left them," the Seeker said slowly. "Your daughter thanked him by giving him a kiss and then a grounder kiss as he was confused by the gesture. And then...he gave her a grounder kiss back."
"He... WHAT!?" Starscream shrieked, making the Seeker flinch and Megatron asked.
"Just who was this Sparkling with intentions on Starscream's daughter?"
"I believe his name was Valour," the Seeker said slowly as Megatron stared before roaring with laughter.
"I knew he would bring something to this place," he laughed, slapping his knee with gusto. "Well Starscream, do you approve?"
"What do you think?" Starscream said furiously. "The nerve of him, thinking he can betroth himself to my daughter, well, I'll soon sort that."
"Uh...he is a grounder," the Seeker offered. "He might not have known..."
"Of course he knew," Starscream retorted. "Why else would he act in such a fashion?"
"Well..."
"Where is he?" Starscream demanded. "I must deal with this straight away."
"Let us not be hasty Starscream," Megatron said, getting to his feet. "You don't want to scare you little future son in law."
If it was possible Starscream's optics sparkled in utter rage before turning hastily towards the hallway, wings held high in threatening aggression.
"Starscream?" Megatron tried again before the seeker came to an abrupt halt surprising the Emperor and the sparkling carer with a flinch.
The air commander turns around and looks at the caretaker with a thoughtful expression.
"Did the mechling said she will behave under his responsibility?"
"W-well yes...," The caretaker said and Starscream nodded while frowning in thought.
"Maybe it is a good thing..." Starscream said to himself. "If she wants that mechling back for now she will behave in order to stay with him..." Then turned back to Megatron. "Maybe I must accept my new little son in law and HE will put her in order!" He exclaimed.
"I just need to talk to that creature's mother in order to tell her he was betrothed to my daughter and that they will bond in the future...well, unless someone challenges him now and wins, which I doubt and I wish my daughter to bond to a flier who's worthy of her blood lineage but as long as this kid keeps her obedient...is not a bad idea...," The seeker babbled for a while before Megatron spoke again.
"Ok then, you approve; however you still need to speak to his mother," The Emperor offered and Starscream stopped before looking at the other seeker present. "You can go now, dismissed," He waved his hand at the other and with a small reverence and odd looking glare at the ground he left.
"Come on Megatron, if we're lucky we will catch that femme near Hook and the old rusting medic might do something stupid," Said with a smirk Starscream making Megatron smirk as well.
"After you, my dear air commander...," The Emperor said making Starscream grin smugly and bend gracefully for the other. "Why thank you mighty Megatron."
And then both mechs walked away.
...
The medbay...
Red Alert sneezed quietly thinking that someone was thinking too much about her but soon shrugged it off as she needed to put some order into this newly received medicine.
But she cannot stop thinking that something's gonna happen...soon...
'Nah! Maybe I'm just getting too paranoid,' The femme thought for a moment before continuing with her work without noticing she had an audience.
For one side was Hook looking at her dreamily and practically day dreaming about her and him and that she was the most perfect bot in the universe...and what took her so long to born! He was getting old!
And for the other side were Starscream and Megatron, hiding and holding back their laughs at the medic's expressions...anytime and Hook will do something stupid...because that is what mechs in love do, stupid things while trying to be perfect in front of the one they considered 'the one'.
"So," Hook said, clearing his throat as he grappled mentally for a subject. "Is your Sire likely to come to Kaon?"
"At some point," she said absentmindedly. "Valour would be upset if his grandpapa didn't visit."
"Ah," Hook said, feeling like a fool as Megatron and Starscream sniggered to themselves. "Well, I'm sure he won't disappoint."
She nodded, still focused on her task. "Are you interested in meeting him?"
"That would be good," he admitted, feeling a little hot. "If his standards are as high as everyone says they are, then...we'll get along fine."
"Don't worry, you'll get along splendidly," she assured him. "The two of you should get out for a drink."
"Yes...that...yes, we should," Hook stated as Starscream almost shrieked with laughter.
"There's your opening," Megatron chuckled quietly so that only a smirking Starscream could hear. "Ask her out for a drink."
"Would you...?" Hook started to say but didn't finish. Red Alert waited a moment before turning to him with a curious expression.
"Yes?" she asked politely.
"...Would you look after this place for a bit," Hook said in a slight rush. "There's something I need to take care of."
"Of course, you can rely on me," she said with a sweet but innocent smile as Hook nodded before practically fleeing the room.
Megatron and Starscream waited until he was out of sight before roaring with laughter, this was just too much. Poor Hook couldn't even bare to ask the Femme out for something as simple as a drink, the Mech was utterly hopeless. Once they'd recovered, they entered the Med Bay, causing Red Alert to look up with surprise.
"My lords, can I help you?" she asked as Megatron stated. "Starscream needs to discuss something regarding your son."
"My son?" she repeated, optics widening. "Has he done something wrong?"
"No, he stood up for my daughter earlier and prevented her from transferred to the University," the Seeker replied and she frowned.
"If you don't mind me asking, why was she being taken there?" she asked.
"My Sparklings can be...shall we say, disobedient," Starscream explained. "The Mechs all look up to their sister, they follow her lead but she just inspires them to be naughty. She's been warned about her behaviour and I thought some time with her Sire, away from her brothers might teach her some manners."
Red Alert had briefly heard that the Air Commander wasn't bonded despite the number of Sparklings he had but she didn't really know much else.
"But as I said, your son defended her and promised that she would behave if given another chance," Starscream continued. "He even said she would be his responsibility."
"Oh," Red Alert said, not sure what to make of this. "I'm sure he meant no disrespect commander, if she was distressed, he would have wanted to help."
"I'm sure he meant well," Starscream said silkily. "But when she thanked him with a kiss, he returned it."
This made Red Alert smiled although she was a little surprised. Valour was such a sweet Sparkling, she was glad he hadn't pushed the Seeker Femmling away or something like that. But Starscream was looking at her expectantly and she realised he had more to say.
"Do you know what defending another Seeker and then accepting a kiss from them means?" he asked and she shook her head, she certainly didn't.
"Well, you son has just betrothed himself to her," he stated matter-of-factly and it was a moment before she realised what he'd just said.
"He what!?" Red Alert yelped in complete shock. "But...he's just a Sparkling."
Starscream shrugged. "The age doesn't matter," he told her. "I'm not sure if he knew what he was doing..."
"Of course he didn't," Red Alert said hotly. "We are still learning about the Seeker culture and we certainly didn't know about that. Surely you are not expecting my son to bond with your daughter?"
"I would prefer a noble Seeker," Starscream stated. "But if she really is going to behave for him, then I do not mind letting the betrothal stand for now."
"Forgive me," Red Alert said. "But I do not want my son pressured into anything, if he wishes to bond to someone, I want him to decide that for himself when he is of age. And surely it is not fair to mislead either your daughter or my son."
Red Alert started paling; her little Valour, was he going to run under the same fate his carrier?
"I think I did not make myself understand, medic, my daughter promised to behave for him, just one little slip in her behaviour will send her with her sire, it will be more than enough to challenge your son's claim on her and the compromise will be broken.
Please understand, I just want Slipstream to become an educated lady according her rank, she's my heir and her current behaviour is unacceptable... If your son can help me in that task I will be eternally in debt with you," Starscream continued hoping that the femme was listening to his speech.
"Slipstream is very intelligent for her age, she started speaking practically after I've sparked her as proof and such intelligence is clouding her good senses of what is good or bad in a society," The seeker took a breath. He just hoped she accepted. "As you said, they're young, when they grow they may forget about this and take different paths, I will not stop your son from taking another as a bonded nor I will to my daughter...but please...as a creator to another, I don't want to separate her from her brothers but will see myself forced to if she continues and your son can help."
Red Alert looked at him after hearing his whole speech...maybe her son will not run after his carrier's fate after all and now a desperate carrier came practically begging for her aid and understatement of the situation.
Well, at least they will not be forced to bond and will have quite a while to know each other; it seems her son gained a little seeker friend...or girlfriend?
...she actually doubted that they would end up bonding someday.
"Very well," she said. "If this will help keep Slipstream with her brothers, then I am happy to allow Valour to be a good influence on her. But I will be explaining to him that he is under no obligation to bond with her and that he's to be a good friend to her. He is a good Sparkling and will do his best."
"I'm sure he will," Starscream said with a smile, interested to see in the coming cycles if Slipstream's behaviour really did change.
She smiled back just as Megatron asked smugly. "Where is Hook?"
"Oh, he had to take care of something," she told him, wondering why he was smirking. "I'm not sure when he'll be back, he asked me to look after things here."
"Really?" he said. "Ah well, it was nothing important. Keep up the good work Medic Red Alert."
With that, he exited the Med Bay with a flourish.
"You must dine with me and my family sometime," Starscream suggested. "You can learn more about Seeker culture then; we can get to know each other better."
"We would be honoured," she said, inclining her head respectfully. "Valour would love learning more your culture."
"It's settled then," he said briskly. "I will call you when I can arrange a date; I will need to make sure my offspring will behave themselves."
"I'm sure they will," she said, bowing as he nodded before leaving.
"I wonder what father's going to say about this?" she murmured to herself. He'd probably have a fit, she'd have to break it very gently to him and assure him, Valour wasn't about to be forced into an arranged bonding. Like his carrier.
When Megatron entered his quarters, he found Optimus curled in a chair reading a data pad. The grey Mech smiled and strode over to give his beautiful mate a kiss on the cheek.
"How are you love?" he asked softly and Optimus gave him a smile, saying. "I'm fine now my lord."
"Good," Megatron said with satisfaction. "You'll never guess what happened today?"
"Oh?" Optimus said with polite interest.
Megatron grinned and said. "Starscream's daughter Slipstream managed to land herself a betrothal."
"She did?" Optimus said in astonishment.
"Yes, to her champion Valour," Megatron chuckled, still thinking the whole thing was very amusing.
However it could not be said the same for Optimus who froze, his breathing stopped and started seeing everything blurry again.
"It was a good day indeed," Megatron continued without noticing his mate's distress. "And the best of it all was Hook, that old fragger will pay me for separating us before... I bet that Red Alert is not even a little aware of his feelings..." He chuckled before once again his mate collapsed.
"Optimus...?" He tried seeing his unresponsive mate. "Optimus!" He screamed in shock. "Not again, my love..," He started before lifting his limp mate and charged after the medbay himself; he did not have time for Hook to recover his head.
...
Meanwhile...
Valour run to his max speed towards the medbay once he found out where it was, he needed to tell his mommy that unconsciously he gained a girlfriend...
...and that said girlfriend just couldn't take off her optics from him; once he thought she was cool, now that she is scary!
"Mama!" He entered the place and almost tackled Red Alert when hugging her at top speed.
"Son? Valour?" She tried but he was so distressed that his terrified optics started leaking tears.
"I'm sorry mama, I'm so sorry..." He mumbled against her chest so she took him up and took him into a more private place. "I didn't know... I'm sorry...!" He continued.
She only caressed his head and cooed him softly. "I know... I know what happened... I was informed...," She said softly making him lift up his head in surprise.
"You do?"
She explained him that Commander Starscream was there and spoke to her about the situation and even told him about their conversation. Sometime later he understood.
"So...he wants me to help him to keep Slipstream out of trouble and teach her some manners?" The sparkling asked not really believing him.
"Yes, you're not going to bond with her, just help her to become a good femmling, can you do that?" His mother said caringly.
He considered this for a while before answering. "I guess I can...but...mommy... I think she's in love with me..."
Red Alert laughed at this. "You two are too young to know about love, maybe she's just thankful for your actions and wants to be your friend, which will make easier the task for you in correcting her; some sparklings listen more to their friend than their creators... I think that's her case."
"And her brothers...," Valour added and she nodded. "They only listen to her, not anyone else."
"See then, sweetspark? She needs your help," She said this kissing his forehead making him feel better and more confident about the situation.
However...
"Medic!" They could hear the Emperor roaring and once they went to see they saw that indeed was him...
...and Optimus.
"Optimus?" Red Alert gasped in shock as Valour stared with wide optics.
"He collapsed again," Megatron said, almost panicky. "You must treat him!"
"O-of course," Red Alert said, setting Valour down and gesturing to the berth. "It must be a relapse, I'll examine his Spark."
Megatron laid him down on the berth and Red Alert set to work, carefully opening up his chest to take a look. The grey Mech stood anxiously back, he was becoming very worried about his mate. Was he developing a Spark problem? Was there any way to fix it?
Valour watched his mother work before looking at the Emperor. He looked really worried and Valour wondered if there was anything he could do to make him feel better. He then remembered that Bee had given him some rust sticks, his friend apparently always had a little stash of sweets in his sub space. He took a couple up and held them up to the Emperor who looked down at him in surprise.
"He'll be okay," Valour said reassuringly. "Mama's the best next to my grandpapa, she'll look after them."
Megatron blinked before accepting the Rust sticks almost unconsciously. Valour smiled at him and Megatron was struck by just how sweet it was. How he dearly wished he had his own red and blue Sparkling who would smile in just such a way with him.
"Thank you," Megatron finally said, making Valour beam up at him.
"Everything seems alright," Red Alert said slowly. "He seems to have suffered a fainting fit. What was he doing before this happened?"
"He was just reading," Megatron said.
"Is that all?" she asked. "Where you talking to him about anything?"
"I was just telling him about your son's betrothal," he said, his lips tugging at the corners as he still found this funny. "And he just collapsed."
Red Alert turned back to Optimus so Megatron couldn't see her scowl. Of course poor Optimus would have a fit, he must have thought his son was suffering his fate, being forced into an arranged bonding. Meanwhile, Valour piped up.
"But I'm not really bonding with her am I?"
"Of course not dear," Red Alert said, closing Optimus up. "It's like we talked about, you're just going to help her behave better."
"Okay," he said brightly.
"My lord, Optimus will be fine," Red Alert stated, turning back to Megatron. "I'll just keep him here so that Hook can quickly examine him. I can let you know when he wakes if you wish."
Megatron paused before nodding; he wanted to talk to Hook about this. Glancing down at the little Sparkling he said.
"You're a good Sparkling Valour, perhaps you can help my mate smile some more?"
"I can do that," Valour said with a wide smile.
This made Megatron smile and he left them to it.
"Darling," Red Alert said softly. "Would you wait outside while I talk to the consort? I've got your portable holo deck you can play with it."
"Okay mama," he said, accepting it and walking out to the waiting room.
Red Alert sighed in relief, now she would have privacy in order to talk with Optimus. Luckily, he came round soon after, groaning with the after effects of his faint.
"Wha...?"
"Optimus, it's me Red," she said softly. "I'm afraid you're in the Med Bay again."
"Huh?" he said, squinting up at her. "Why?"
She smiled and said. "Valour defended Slipstream and promised he would make sure she behaved. She was very grateful and kissed him and the little charmer kissed her back."
Optimus felt his chest go tight and he started to speak but she silenced him.
"I am not allowing my son to be bonded to anyone he does not chose to be with," she said firmly. "Starscream would prefer she be with a flier but he is allowing this for now in order to see her become a proper lady. I explained very carefully to Valour what is happening, he will not be forced into an arranged Bonding. That's why you fainted, isn't it?"
He looked down sadly, he gave him away so he will not run his fate by any means! And what if Starscream changed his mind and let this continue forever and in the end his son will be forced onto that femmling?!
"Optimus... I know what you're thinking... I said I will never allow it," Red Alert said sternly.
"They can force up the situation...," He started with watering optics.
The medic just shook her head. Optimus can be a real idiot sometimes since the knowledge just refused to pass through his processor.
Not taking it anymore her brother's idiocy she just followed her father's example...beat him hard on the head. "I said I will not allow it! And no one will stop ME!" She barked.
Optimus flinched; she can be really scary sometimes, especially in his position.
Well... Maybe she will keep her word...or will just carry on...
Valour seemed to have found a really good and strong mother. He smiled sadly at that.
...
The next day...
Valour walked into the crèche while looking for his yellow friend and once he devised him he ran towards him.
"Hi Bee!" He said while sitting. "How's everything?"
"Quiet so far...the seeker siblings have not showed up so far...," Bumbleblee stated before his optics widened at something behind his friend.
But before Valour can ask what was wrong tight little arms hugged him from behind surprising him. "Hiii~i!" He could hear the voice of the seekerlet femme against his audio before she licked him again on the cheek.
"Ewwww!" Valour said before she let go of him and he cleaned his wetted cheek with the back of his hand. "Stop doing that its gross..." Said turning towards her and meeting her huge red optics.
She was beaming with joy and it was obvious for everyone present and proof of that was when she reached for him again and kissed him on the cheek. "Carrier approves!" She said after.
Valour and Bumblebee looked at each other before the latter smirked at him. Then the little red and blue mechling remembered the conversation with his mama.
"Mama approves too," He answered and her little wings rattled with utter joy, however, he continued. "But I need to approve you," She froze. "I don't want a naughty mate, even less a naughty friend."
Silence followed and she looked at him petrified. "But...but-" Slipstream tried but he continued.
"We're not going to bond yet, we're too young and you know that, however I want you to behave and become a good bot." He said and then she sat looking at him with a lifted optic ridge.
"Of course we're not going to bond now, who you think I am? Megatron and you the Consort?" Shs said matter-of-factly and Bee started making signals for her to shut up. It was a vox populi thing but forbidden to speak about. "He took the poor mech one day from his environment and seconds later he was forcing him to bond, why you think he always looks so unhappy?" She continued and Valour froze. "I want to know you more, but I already know I want you to be my bonded."
"Wouldn't you prefer a flier?!" Bumblebee intervened seeing his petrified friend.
"Nope, I like Valour, he's cute and brave, he will be mine; you have a problem with that?!" She said threateningly as if seeing him as a rival.
"Yeah, I want my friend to be happy, and if you want to become HIS mate then you will need to behave properly...if you know how to do that of course..." The yellow mechling smirked at her; it was a challenge.
"Of course I can!"
"Then why you don't?" Bee bit back.
"Because carrier is always busy and this is the way to call his attention!" She confessed before continuing. "But now I have my Valour and that won't be necessary anymore..." She purred before hugging the petrified sparkling who now seemed to react.
"You have to be my friend first!" Valour said and she nodded.
"So, that means sister became weak?!" Thundercracker said with a sneer and she turned her hateful gaze towards him and as it wasn't working she quickly crossed the table and hit his head hard against the table making him cry.
"That means you will behave too! I will fragging kill you if you make me lose MY Valour!" She roared and the other lowered his wings submissively and nodded.
Valour can only look half amused at that and smile sadly. She reminded him his grandpapa now...and how much he missed him.
"Does anyone else desires to argue?!" She stated and all her brothers shook their heads no. "Good..."
She turned and smiled sweetly at Valour.
"Don't pay them any attention," she declared. "I'm the one in charge and they'll do as I say."
Valour nodded, he believed her. She settled herself beside him and he started to wonder if she was always going to do that. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with her but he was really enjoying his close friendship with Bee and didn't want to neglect him. But he supposed it was early days yet, no doubt they could work out some sort of understanding that meant Valour could be free to be with others but also when he could play with her. She did have numerous brothers; she'd surely want to play just with them at times.
"Is everyone ready?" a voice suddenly called and they looked up to see a new bot who was small and thin. He was black with yellow ziz zag lines hugging his form. His visor was actually a scarlet red and made Valour instantly think he must be a Decepticon even though Autobots could easily get themselves red visors.
There was a chorus of "Yes!" which made the Mech smile slightly.
"My name is Hornet," he told them. "You know what we're going to do today?"
They all shook their heads.
"Well, we're entering the cool season of this part of the planet's hemisphere," he informed them. "And that means it's also berry season. You Sparklings are going to help with today's harvest and then we're going to learn what their used for."
"Eating," a little Sparkling sitting somewhere behind Valour piped up, making several Sparklings giggle.
The Mech seemed to have a sense of humour and he smiled indulgently.
"Yes, they are mostly for eating. However, it's not much fun just stuffing them into our mouths when there are so many others tasties we can create from them. Such as sauce for frozen treats or luxury crystal berries that love stuck bots buy for their intendeds. Would you like to learn how to use those berries?"
"YEH!" they all cheered happily.
"That sounds awesome," Bee exclaimed, his mind already imaging all the delicious sweets he could get out of this.
There was a lot of excitement among the Sparklings, this sounded exactly the kind of thing that they'd all enjoy. An idea occurred to Valour and he leaned over to Slipstream and said.
"Maybe you could make your dad something special; he'd probably really like that."
"You think?" she asked and he nodded.
"I gave the Emperor some rust sticks when he came into the Med Bay with the Consort, it made him smile."
She considered this before nodding; it was worth a try at any rate. Kaon Palace had its own gardens which could easily supply most of the cities needs. Of course, lots of things came in from around the Empire and Cybertron its self so there was no need to rely solely on the gardens meaning many lovely treats could be created from the beautifully tended produce. The garden they were visiting was at a bit of a distance from their learning centre so all the Sparklings got to travel inside a large triple changer who took them up into the air, allowing them to gaze down at the vast buildings.
"This is so cool," Valour breathed, his little nose pressed against the view screen along with his friends.
"I know, I can't wait," Bee agreed before whispering. "I bet we can eat some of the berries without anyone seeing."
Valour giggled before remembering his grandpapa lecturing on over stuffing yourself on treats.
"Not too many," he cautioned. "Or we'll get a sore tummy and mama wouldn't be happy. She'd make us take icky medicine."
Bee pulled a face, he hated medicine.
Sometime later they reached the field and they were given some baskets so they could pick the berries and they separated and started picking them.
From time to time Bee and Valour would pick one and savour it, after all the red and blue mechling was not fun of a tummy ache or lectures from his mom...even less the medicines which were always bitter.
"Hi Valour," Slipstream came behind him and when he turned she kissed him on the cheek. He just giggled and saluted back with another kiss before he realized what he did.
Slipstream was livid to say the least and took something from her basket. "For you..." She said holding up for him a rather big, shinny and red crystal berry with a heart shape.
Bumblebee's jaw could have fallen for all he knew but Valour make him a gesture to continue.
"Thank you..." He said taking it from her happy hand and she grinned; he turned around to continue as she was leaving too but then something stopped her.
She saw something on his back...something that grounders should not have...
Frowning she reached for it and touched it gently causing a reaction in him...he jumped and giggled.
"Hey...!" He said shivering in delight at her touch. "Don't tickle me!"
However the seekerlet femme seemed intrigued at the thing on his back and without another word she grabbed him and turned him around to investigate further. "Hey! What are you doing?!" He started but then she answered;
"What are this doing in your back?" She said touching the little nubs again causing him to giggle uncontrollably again and squeak.
"Hey! Leave him!" Bumblebee started but one look from her stopped him.
"Wing nubs?" She then concluded while examining him. "Autobots don't have them... I can swear your sire is a Decepticon flier."
Valour then released himself from her grasp and looked at her worriedly hiding those things from his back.
"If you wish so, you can have them activated and can fly with me and my brothers, just ask your momm" She said matter-of-factly before noticing Bee shaking his head. "What?"
"Valour is adopted...he doesn't know his real creators..." The Minibot sparkling answered sadly.
Valour also smiled sadly and told her. "Maybe I don't know them but I've never needed them since my mommy and granddaddy always gave me everything I've needed and I love them so much... I don't know why they gave me away but there must have been a strong reason son I cannot judge them."
Slipstream lifted an optic ridge at that, maybe Valour tried to hide it and can lie anyone else about not caring, but not her. However, she liked him happy so decided to drop the subject. "I'm sorry... I didn't meant to say that... I just want you to know that you can fly, you have the equipment to do so and maybe your mom never told you because to fly you need a flier to teach you...and it can be hard... Like learning to walk again," She offered and hugged him tight before kissing his cheek again.
"I can teach you." She offered with a smile. "I bet your wings will be awesome! Don't you think?" She then addressed Bee who just nodded, and to have him smile again she reached behind him and touched him there again causing him to giggle and shiver.
"I will love to...but must think about it, must talk to mama," He said and she nodded understanding.
"I hope she says yes...then maybe we can get Bee a jetpack to fly with us too, after all his creators wouldn't mind." Slipstream said and Bee shook his head madly.
"N-no thanks... I value my life..."
That caused Valour and Slipstream to giggle at him.
"Scaredy bot," Slipstream teased and he stuck his glossia out which was stained purple thanks to the various berries he'd scoffed.
This made his friends giggle some more before Slipstream suddenly spotted Skywarp about to plunge his head into a basket in order to start eating them. She scowled, while the adults turned a blind optic to the odd berry scoffed, they would not appreciate Skywarp coating himself in them.
"Hey," she exclaimed, marching over to him.
"What?" he whined, wings fluttering. "I want berries."
"You'll make a big mess if you do that," she told him before grabbing a handful and offering them to him. "Eat nicely."
"Don't wanna," he pouted before yelping as she pinched his wing tip. "Oww, that hurt."
"If you don't behave, they won't let you pick berries ever again," she declared and his optics went wide.
"But I like picking them," he complained. "Their tasty."
"Valour says if you scoff too many, you'll get a tummy ache and have to take yucky medicine."
This made him pause, like his brothers; he hated being forced to take any kind of medicine. But he was feeling hungry right now and wanted those berries. Maybe he could scoff them when Slipstream wasn't looking.
"Okay," he said, taking the berries she'd offered him. When she turned back to Valour and Bee, he stuffed a few more into his mouth. He could eat them and was sure he wouldn't get a tummy ache.
"You gonna eat that?" Bee was asking Valour, about his large heart shaped berry.
"I'll have it later," Valour declared, admiring its size. "I wanna show mama."
Slipstream beamed happily and hoped that he did get some wings activated. It would be so awesome to be able to fly with her intended. They continued picking until their baskets were full and they took them to the supervising adults.
"Not bad," Hornet mused, looking over their baskets. "Anyone feeling full?"
"No," Valour stated proudly as the others nodded.
Hornet grinned and gestured to where some Sparklings were lying on mats, groaning with overfull bellies of berries. And among them, was Skywarp.
"Skywarp!" Slipstream said in annoyance about to march over but Hornet stopped her.
"Don't worry about him, we were expecting a few Sparklings to over indulge," he assured her. "He'll get something to settle his tanks."
"I hope it tastes horrible," she declared, making him chuckle.
"You kids go and get cleaned up, you're all covered in berry juice. Once everyone's ready, we're going to sort through the berries, separating them into different groups and then we'll take them back to turn into treats."
This made the Sparklings beam and they hurried to do as told. Much later on, Valour had a little hamper of goodies that he himself had created along with the special berry Slipstream had given him. He knew his mother had been concerned about him being a servant but so far, it was so much fun. What they were doing right now was learning different skills and when they were a little older, they'd be able to put these into practice. He was aware the work would become harder as he became older but that didn't matter. As long as he enjoyed it, he'd be happy.
"Mama, mama," he called excitedly as he rushed into the Med Bay.
"What are you doing here?" a grumpy looking Mech demanded, turning as the Sparkling entered. "Beat it."
"I'm looking for my mama," Valour exclaimed.
"Yeah, I got that," was the even more grumpy reply.
"She's called Red Alert, she works here," Valour tried to explain.
"Well, she isn't here," the Mech informed. "And I don't have time to watch Sparklings."
"Is Hook here?" Valour tried, he might know where his mother was.
"I said beat it," the Mech said angrily, advancing on him.
Valour stepped back but the mech still advanced on him as if really hating his presence here and it didn't minded if he ran away because the mech will chase him anyways to kick his aft.
"Please... I just wanna find my mama..." Valour said before squeaking as the mech grabbed him by his shoulders roughly.
"Hey!" A little voice sounded and the mech scowled. "So we meet again..." Slipstream said. Once again Skywarp was ill because he'd eaten all the candies he did after his tank recovered and his siblings had to take him back to med bay.
"You...!" The mech said hatefully tightening his grip on Valour who winced in pain.
"Hey! Let go of my fiancée!" She demanded and as the mech just stood there like petrified she continued. "Attack!" she screamed pointing her little finger at the mech and not even a second later Slipstream and her brothers, minus Skywarp charged at the mech and kicked, beat, slashed and bit at him until he let go of Valour and he could stand back nursing his aching shoulders.
"Finish him!" Slipstream roared as she steps in front of Valour ignoring the show they were making.
The screaming mech was now on the ground as the little seekers ganged him all together with flared wings. It seemed that attacking the little grounder was a personal offense for them. The mech screamed for help but the other nurses and medics were too busy watching; besides this will teach him a lesson for his behaviour towards the sparklings.
"What in Primus' name is going on here?!" An old mech hurried up and barked at the little seekers. "Separate, now!" Then noticed the seekerlet femme. "Slipstream, you again?!"
"He started!" Slipstream declared. "He was hurting my Valour as he did it to me once!"
"Valour?" Hook said recognizing that name and looked down at the red and blue mechling nursing his arms.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I was just looking for mama."
"Did he hurt you?" Hook demanded, suddenly feeling very angry.
Valour nodded, saying. "I don't know if he meant to."
"He meant it," Slipstream said hotly as the Mech groaned, nursing various little wounds. "He's mean to kids."
Hook marched forward and grabbed him by the shoulder, dragging him up even as the Mech yelped. TripWire was a talented Mech, especially when it came diagnosing viruses and other internal faults. His problem was actually dealing with patients; he simply had no bedside manner. And it was becoming a big problem.
"TripWire?" he asked furiously. "Did you hurt this Sparkling?"
"No, I was just going to escort him out," the Mech protested, wincing furiously.
"You grabbed my shoulders," Valour said quietly. "It hurt."
As Hook glared furiously at him, TripWire exclaimed. "I didn't mean it."
"I've warned you about this," Hook said angrily. "There is no need to be rude or aggressive to Sparklings. I would put you on clinic duty but that would undoubtedly make things worse. Why don't we put a call through to a fellow Medic in Iacon?"
"Huh?" TripWire said in confusion and Hook smiled.
"It seems you don't know that young Valour's grandfather is Ratchet, or as he's better known 'The Hatchet'. Perhaps you've heard of him."
TripWire paled, he certainly had.
"Good," Hook said before smiling at Valour. "I've commed your mother, she'll be here soon and give you treatment. I'll apologise properly later and so will TripWire."
And with that, he marched away leaving some astonished bots.
"Why's he taking him to see your granddad?" Ramjet asked of Valour.
Valour smiled slightly and said. "He's really scary when he's mad."
This caused some chuckles, especially those who had ever seen Ratchet in action. Slipstream now came over to Valour and gave him a gentle nuzzle.
"You okay?" she asked, giving his cheek a lick.
"My shoulders hurt," he admitted, grimacing. "Those wing nubs...they hurt too."
"Their delicate," Slipstream said knowledgeably. "I think their growing a bit, that's why it hurts so much. You should probably get them activated soon if you want to fly. Sire says it's much easier than waiting until you're older."
"I'll talk to mama about it," he promised just as she came rushing into the room.
"Valour! What happened?!" She said while taking him from Slipstream and turned him around before finding some dents on his shoulders. "Who did this?! Who dared to hurt my son?!"
It was the first time Red Alert was this furious and she was just as scary as her father...or Hook.
"That idiot Tripwire, he did it!" Slipstream stepped towards her and informed her. "But Hook's dealing with him and said that the Hatchet will deal with him too."
At the mention of her father's nick Red Alert she stopped and looked down at the femmling before she continued. "We found him hurting Valour and me and my brothers took care until ol' Hook came," She hissed a sound before continuing. "He's always bad to sparklings, good thing we came in time or he was capable of shredding Valour into pieces!" The femmling seemed as angry as her.
Red Alert was about to turn and find Hook and that mech before her son stopped her. "Mama...it hurts..." Actually she felt her spark running cold, her son NEVER hurts!
"Oh...sweetspark..." She cried taking him onto a medical berth and started nursing his wounds quickly.
"Umm...excuse me... Valour's mom?" Slipstream then started and the femme turned towards her.
"I really appreciate what you did, thank you..."
"Slipstream," The femmling answered, "I am Slipstream," said her making Red Alert nod. "But...can you please give the bitterest medicine you have to my idiot brother? He's with a bad tummy...again..."
The medic stared for a moment and Skywarp groaned in pain. "I just wanted to get rid of the bitter taste of the other medicine..." He cried helplessly making his sister frown.
Without speaking Red brought some coolant and prepared it so Skywarp could take it, but the mechling was not cooperating so far. "Come on sweetspark, it will make you feel better." She tried.
"Don't wanna...is bitter..." He groaned between gritted teeth moving his head from side to side avoiding the medicine.
Slipstream frowned. "Warp, take it or your tanks will eat you!" She said taking a threatening step towards him, but before she can reach him Red Alert took his nose, opened his mouth and emptied the medicine deep down his throat forcing him to take it.
Everybody froze, even Slipstream who was nodding in approval while pulling an interested face that said 'not bad' and now she'd learned something new.
"Done," The femme said before returning to her son and continued fixing him.
"Mama...there's something in my back...some wing nubs...they hurts too..." He said and she paled. 'So, he discovered them.' She thought.
She looked towards Slipstream who was helping herself onto his berth. 'I bet it was her who noticed them and talked to him about them... I hoped he never finds out about them, but now...'
"Ma'am," Slipstream started. "Valour is a flier and as such is his right to fly; besides his wings will start growing, I don't know how long will they take to develop but carrier believes it is a good idea to activate them once he feels them." She informed the medic.
Sighing, Red Alert nodded. It was done, he knew...besides the femmling was right, they will start growing no matter what she gave him to retard the process...now she may need to give him something to accelerate the process of them growing.
"I've noticed, but never knew they would ever grow to become actual wings..." She lied in a way that not even Slipstream can detect her. "I will need to speak to a seeker medic or Hook about knowing what to do. After all it is not my area of expertise."
Slipstream nodded believing her and Red Alert looked at her deep scarlet optics as the femmling looked back firmly; the remembered something her carrier told her...
'Slipstream is too intelligent for her age...'
Could it be? How smart she can be?
She defended Valour and seemed to possess a hard temper, immense intelligence, courage and utter control over her mech brothers. Without doubt she is destined to big things. Everything that seemed to stop her was her size...
...and now she was touching her son! The medic's optics widened as Slipstream massaged his newly discovered wing nubs.
Valour cooed softly as her touch somehow calmed a little the ache. "Thank you..." He said softly and she smiled.
'She cannot be in love! She's too young to understand!' Red Alert thought almost desperately, then again remembered Starscream's words regarding her intelligence. 'It must be some kind of little crush or something! But...what if she is? Certainly looks like she's...courting him?!'
"Oh, mama," Valour suddenly said remembering something. "Today we picked some berries and make some candies with them... And look!" He said taking a big heart shaped candy. Behind him Slipstream grinned. "Slipstream gave me this berry she found and I've transformed it into a candy! Isn't it beautiful?" Innocently Valour said making his horrified mother nod while trying to cover her shock...
After all, her son, her baby was being courted!
"That's...wonderful," she finally said. Primus, she had a feeling things were about to get very complicated.
Megatron's office
"Something the matter, Starscream?" Megatron questioned as he poured a measure of High Grade into a decanter as the Seeker sat himself down.
"Not exactly," the Seeker said slowly. "I've just found out something very interesting about a certain Sparkling."
"Valour?" Megatron asked and Starscream nodded.
"Yes, they were all picking berries today and Slipstream discovered that young Valour has wing nubs. You know what that means."
Megatron nodded even as he felt shocked. Wing nubs could only mean that one of Valour's creators was a Decepticon. And since he clearly had an Autobot heritage, that meant he'd been created from a Decepticon/Autobot coupling. Judging from Valour's age, this must have happened at the very start of the inclusion of Cybertron and its colonies into the Decepticon empire.
Starscream now said. "I would like to know the Decepticon who would give up such a beautiful Sparkling, even newborn it must have been clear he'd be special. And I wonder why an Autobot would give him up to."
"And in a morgue of all places," Megatron said grimly. "Yes, this is troubling. Do you believe we should attempt to track down his creators?"
Starscream shrugged.
"If he does become my daughter's mate," he stated with a quirk of his lips. "I would prefer knowing who his family is, especially considering they abandoned him. But his adoptive mother might not approve of us looking, to her he is her Sparkling, she's raised him and might be worried his creators would attempt to take him away after all that has happened. There's been no indication they've tried to retrieve him."
His leader nodded, that was a good point.
"I shall discuss it with Hook," he decided. "He was in charge when we first started bringing Decepticons here, he might have an idea who the creator could be. I can't help but suspect they must be unbalanced to have done what they did."
"Agreed," Starscream said before suddenly smiling. "My daughter was the one defending Valour today?"
"Oh?" Megatron said.
"Yes, an unpleasant Medic was being rough with him, she and her brothers taught him a good lesson. I am planning to have Valour and Red Alert over to dinner soon."
This made Megatron smirk; he could only imagine how that would go.
"How is the consort?" Starscream asked politely. "Did he enjoy that volume on Seekers he recently received? It is good to know he's interested in our culture."
"He's devouring it," Megatron said proudly. "My mate is very scholarly, if he hadn't decided to become a Prime, he could have become a professor at the university."
"No doubt," Starscream agreed, toasting his leader with his glass of Energon. "To the future, might leader."
"To the future," Megatron agreed and drank deeply, hoping that soon he could be blessed like Starscream and Red Alert.
Author's note. How does Valour and Slipstream's relationship progress? Find out next time, until then.