Autumn POV
I was almost dragging my pedes as I entered to quarters that I shared with Prowl. The first thing I saw was that couch, and I swear that I could almost hear it calling my name. I sat down on it and sank gratefully into those thick cushions. Oh Primus was I tired! I knew that it wasn't even noon yet, but Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had made me run laps around that track of painted lines until I was hitting more than two hundred miles per hour on that back stretch! I was totally exhausted, but at the same time, I was so pumped that I didn't want to sit still. They had me go around that track many times, and then I had to go the other direction, without those cones to guide me. I did it though. The gold one... Sunstreaker… he told me that I did good! They showed me how to do donuts, and spinouts. They even taught me how to do a police u-turn; by backing up really fast and then whipping my front end around and tearing off in the same direction without losing any speed. Then… then they showed me some drifting. I wasn't very good at that, but the red one, Sideswipe, told me not to worry about it, because learning how to drift takes a lot of time and practice. I knew that I had accidentally done it once, but apparently I got lucky that night.
Oh Primus, but I actually wanted some energon, but at the same time, I was too beat to get up and get some. The next thing I knew, Jazz was tapping on my wrist.
Jazz POV
As I walked past Prowl's quarters, I noticed that the door wasn't sealed. That could only mean one of two things; either Autumn wasn't inside, or she had forgotten to lock the door when she left. I walked in after signaling, but getting no answer. The first thing I saw was that nervous femme sitting on the couch in full recharge. I sent a comm to Ratchet, and he told me to scan her. When I did, I saw that she was pretty low on energon. He hated to do it, and so did I, but Autumn needed fuel. I grabbed a trio of cubes and added zinc, silicon, and titanium to a couple of them before tapping on her wrist to wake her up.
From the way she came out of her recharge, anyone could tell that she hadn't had an easy life so far. I think if she'd had a clear shot at the door that she'd have gone for it and ran like every Con that ever existed was after her. She pressed herself back into that couch while trying to get away from me. It wasn't until I held the cube out for her that she finally looked at my frame and recognized me.
"Here. Ah think ya need dis. Ya look wore out lil lady. What happened?" I asked her casually as she took the cube and I sat down next to her while making sure that there was some decent space between us.
"Prowl left me with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. They've been teaching me how to drive since early this morning." She answered before slugging down that first cube in a couple of long swallows.
"Jazz you won't believe it! I was going more than two hundred miles per hour!"
The way her optics were brightly lit, wide and that huge grin on her face plates told me that the twins hadn't really been all that hard on her, and that she'd enjoyed it… a lot! That was good. This femme really needed some good memories in her processors.
"Nah!" I retorted without hesitating. "Der ain't no way you can go that fast!"
I was acting like I really doubted her, but I had heard some of the human soldiers on the base talking about it. They'd actually been impressed with how quick she'd picked things up. I knew the reason behind that though. She learned everything she could because she was desperately trying to become someone who wasn't expendable.
"Yes I did!" She protested instantly. "I went so fast that the stripes on the runway looked like dots!"
As tired as she was, Autumn was still almost bouncing on the couch, and she had a seriously wide grin that almost stretched from one audio to the other. It didn't take a genius to know that she was still very excited from driving earlier, and that elated smile of hers told me a lot more than any thing she might have said.
I handed her the second cube that I'd added some minerals in, and watched her sip at it. This was an interesting thing to see. As long as she wasn't scared, or at least when she was happy, she didn't have any problem refueling, or recharging. I'd have to tell the others about that… especially Ratchet. In the meantime, I needed to make sure that she continued to feel good about something she had done… because that obviously helped.
"Sounds like if ya'd had some wings, ya woulda been flyin." I told her seriously.
Autumn looked down at the cube for a second, before she looked back at me and nodded her helm. "I think I would have." She said quietly in a tone of awe.
"Going that fast on the ground in the middle of nowhere is one thing, but I don't think I want to try to fly. I think a crash like that would really, really hurt!"
"Well, ah don't think ya gotta worry about Ratchet putting any wings on ya." I laughed.
"I hope not. I have enough to learn as it is." She said a bit sullenly.
"Ya don't need ta be so hard on yerself, girl. Yer getting tha hang o things. It just takes a bit o time. Most bots are several vorn old before dey even get deir youngling frame, but ya got yor adult frame right away. Dat takes some getting used too." I told her honestly.
"Maybe…" She agreed pensively.
"Well ya disappeared about noon, an here it is almost 1800 hours by human reckonin. What ya been doin this whole time?"
"When… when I got done with my driving lessons I came back here." She said before looking up at me with confusion in her optics. "I guess I fell into recharge… have I been in recharge this whole time?"
"Looks like ya have at that." I allowed. "I guess some hard work does ya good."
"I guess, but now I'll just be awake for the rest of the lunar cycle."
"In that case how about comin with me an meetin tha three bots dat just arrived?"
She looked up at me nervously. I could see her fear in the position of her wings. She obviously wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of meeting someone she didn't already know.
"Come on. Finish yer energon an ah'll take ya ta meet em. Ya ain't got a thing ta worry about, Ah've known these bots for a long time. Dey're some good friends o mine, an ah'm pretty sure ya gonna like em, cause I know they'll like you!" I told her with a smile while offering her my servo.
Autumn POV
I gulped down the energon that Jazz had given me. It was pretty good, and Primus knows I needed it, but I wasn't very sure about meeting these new bots. Look at Smokescreen; he's Blue's brother, and I'd hoped that maybe he would like me, but that had turned out all wrong.
I stood up feeling the energon flowing through my tanks, giving my frame fresh power. It felt good, and I couldn't but wonder how I was going to feel in a few breem after meeting these new bots.
I took Jazz's servo as we left Prowl's quarters, and followed him to the main hangar, and I couldn't stop my wings from flicking in all kinds of directions. They weren't hard to spot, because all three were talking with Optimus and Ironhide. That alone made me not want to go over there. I could see that all three of them are a bit taller than I am, and I could tell from they way they were standing that they knew how to fight… good! Jazz had shown me that, and now I was able to finally use that information. Not that it would do me any good yet.
Optimus seemed nice… at least he wasn't mean to me, and Blue seemed to like him. But Ironhide… that mech scared the spark out of me. I'd only dealt with him a few times, but I knew, just knew that he hated me, and wanted me offlined. Jazz led me over to the group and flashed a huge smile.
"Autumn… dis is Elita-1, she bonded ta Optimus, and Chromia is bonded ta Ironhide, an Arcee ain't bonded but she won't take slag from a mech neither." Jazz told me.
I looked at the three of them and I could feel my wings sticking straight out from my back. All three of them were about my height, but Elita was a white and rose color, where the one called Chromia was a sapphire blue. Arcee was a silver and purple color, and all three were looking at me with hard appraising optics.
Elita POV
Jazz walked over to us, bringing another bot with him. I didn't need to be Perceptor to see that she was both nervous and scared. I could see that much in the position of her door wings. That alone concerned me a lot! Why would an Autobot be frightened of meeting others in her faction? It didn't make any sense. Then I received a com signal.
:Go easy on er. She's a bit skittish, but she can be a good friend if she likes ya.: ~Jazz
:If that's the case, then don't worry, I will.: ~ Elita
"Autumn, that's a very unusual designation. I like it."
"My… carrier named me that when I was… sparked." She said nervously. I could tell that she was stumbling over a couple of the words, as if they weren't quite what she meant to say.
At the point, Optimus excused himself to do something; I didn't really pay any attention to what because of what I was seeing in Autumn's wings. Fear, tension, nervousness, and even a readiness to bolt. Jazz telling me that she was skittish was one thing, but what I was seeing was something far worse. This femme looked almost like she was ready to have a spark attack! She was that frightened of us for some reason.
"So how long ago did you arrive on this base?" Arcee asked casually after a few moments of awkward silence.
"A- about… three… three months ago." She stammered looking like she was either about to run or start leaking from her optics.
Right then, Optimus returned bearing four cubes of energon which he passed out to us. I couldn't help but notice that the color of the energon that he gave to Autumn was somewhat different than what he gave to the rest of us. Before I could say anything, Chromia spoke up.
"Interesting color of energon… what's in it?" Chromia all but demanded.
"Gold, titanium, zinc, and silicon have been added to it." Optimus answered as he ran a single digit down Autumn's back.
"Zinc? That's for sparklings; bots with developing frames, or those who are recovering from major repairs!" Chromia exclaimed suspiciously.
"Yes it is. Autumn is sixteen and a half terrestrial years old, and although she has her adult frame, she is less than one fourth of a vorn in age." Optimus replied calmly as he continued to stroke her back.
I almost dropped my cube of energon. I could readily see that both of the other femmes where just as shocked as I was. Who in their right processors would bring a sparkling into this horrid war?
Even as Arcee and I grabbed Autumn and pulled her away from Optimus with Arcee gently rubbing Autumn's wings in a method guaranteed to sooth her circuits, Chromia was advancing on Optimus with a murderous rage building up inside her. I could see the signs. Chromia was about to hit full combat mode, and lay down a level of plasma fire that had always sent many times our number of Decepticons running.
I quickly started rubbing my servo around Autumn's back to help keep her calm. While Chromia continued to advance on Optimus. I didn't blame her at all. Autumn is a sparkling! There was no youth center here; no other femmes to help guide her, and teach her what she needed to know. She was a femme alone in a swarm of mechs! Primus! It was no slagging wonder she was frightened of meeting new bots!
"Care to tell me just who had the brilliant idea of creating a sparkling here?" Chromia demanded in a hiss.
"It ain't like that! If ya will just hear me out… I can promise ya that ya'll learn the whole situation." Jazz answered quickly with his servos held up in front of him.
"You have our attention Jazz. Now speak!" I seethed.
"We didn't have much o a choice with Autumn. She wasn't sparked… she was born… as in she used ta be human. She's only been a bot for about one and a half human months, and she was changed from human to a bot by tha Allspark… or at least what was left of it. Her human sire treated er like total slag an even tried ta offline er a couple o times. We found er an brought er here after the second time. That was about a Terran week after we moved ta this base. We didn't get a choice in this!" Jazz explained quickly.
I turned to look at Autumn who was clearly frightened even with what Arcee and I were doing to keep her calm.
"Just relax Little One. You are with us now, and we'll make sure that you are properly taken care of. Do you even have a place to get away from unwanted mech attention?" I asked her firmly.
Autumn POV
"I… I used to have my own quarters when I was bonded to Blue… but… they… they took that bond away from me and… and now I have to stay in Prowl's quarters." I answered as best I could. I knew these new bots were highly fragged off. Even though they hadn't thrown anything yet, I could tell that they were madder than I have ever seen Ratchet get!
That was when I felt feeling of safety, security, and peace fill my spark. I knew that Prowl was sending me those feelings, but they weren't helping much. They way that one was rubbing my wings, and the one named Elita was rubbing my back was the only thing that kept me from running back to those quarters I shared with Prowl. That was when I saw him. Prowl was walking towards me with a fragged off look on his faceplates. I saw that, and I wanted to run, but those two new bots were holding me there. I didn't know what to do.
"Autumn, are you alright?" Prowl asked me in a surprisingly calm tone given his expression.
"She's fine, because she's with us now! Not that it's any concern of yours!" The blue one growled.
"Actually Chromia, it is my concern. I have established a Guardian's bond with Autumn, and I can feel her terror from across the base. She is not 'fine' as you put it. She is frightened!"
"How can she have a Guardian bond and a Sparkbond at the same time?" Chromia snarled.
"Her inappropriate sparkbond with Bluestreak was dissolved, through use of a method that was previously unknown to us. I had been designated to be her Guardian prior to that event. Therefore, once the sparkbond was dissolved, I established a Guardian bond with her. We have attempted to raise Autumn to the best of our limited capabilities."
"Mechs do not know how to raise a femme!" Chromia bellowed.
"What was we sposed ta do? Offline er till ya got here?" Jazz asked quietly but with a very sarcastic tone.
I wasn't the only one who flinched when I heard that. The three new bots did too. Not only did they flinch, but they started pulling me away from Jazz.
"That is not at all funny Jazz!" I heard Elita say from behind me.
"Yeah, well… it wasn't sposed ta be neither!"
We been takin care o Autumn as best we can. Why do ya think the Second In Command is her Guardian, and the Third In Command is tha one teachin er self-defense?" Jazz said angrily. "Yeah, you heard right… ah'm tha bot who's teachin er ta fight an protect erself, cause Primus knows she'll need it sooner or later. Pit… Prowl's even got Sunstreaker an Sideswipe teachin er how ta drive so she can use er alt mode properly when she needs ta run!"
That was when Chromia turned around to look at me. Her optics narrowed as she looked at me hard.
"Autumn…" She began in a firm but gentle tone that was not going to accept any kind of a lie. "Have they been teaching you those things?"
I nodded my helm nervously. "I haven't been able to hit Jazz yet, but he's not almost ripping my wings off like Ironhide and Mirage did the first time I reported for training. Bluestreak got stuck in the brig for beating the pit out them. Ratchet was really fragged off because he had to fix both of them after Blue got done. Prowl was teaching me Cybertronian history and culture… at least… I think he was. I don't know anymore. Most of my memories disappeared for a while, and I could hardly remember anything!" I said starting to panic as I started recalling that horrible time.
"Hey! Relax lil lady. Ol Ratch get yer memories back for ya didn' he? So jus relax." Jazz told me.
"I want to know why Bluestreak felt that he needed to attack his fellow mechs after her first training session!" Elita snapped.
"Jazz will answer all your questions, but before he does, Autumn needs to finish her energon." Optimus said with a stern look at me.
I tried to tell him that Jazz had already given me two cubes of it, but all that came out were the sounds of warbling chirps, whistles, and clicks.
Chromia POV
Hearing the sounds of sparkling speech behind me, I turned around in surprise to see that it was Autumn who was making those sounds. I knew that she was trying to reply to the instructions that Optimus had given her, because I am one of those few Cybertronians who can still speak with sparklings by using their method of communication.
"And just when did Jazz give you those two cubes?" I asked her somewhat bluntly.
"Right… right before we came here."
I could see that Arcee and Elita were still working the femme's frame in a continuing effort to sooth her, and that it was finally helping.
"Well, you might have plenty of fuel, but you still need those other elements to help your frame develop properly." I told her gently.
Her wings rose, and the expression on her faceplates was one of such surprise that I couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I can understand you perfectly, even when you speak like a sparkling. So just relax Autumn… you are in the care of capable bots now."