I do not own Transformers, Nor do I own any other brands, shows, or patented materials that I may mention in this story now and in the future chapters.
{"Text"}- Com. Links/text messages/projected text. this is specified.
'Text'-Internal monologue/inner thoughts
XXXXX- Time change/text break
00000-Flashback: Someone is remembering, experiencing, or explaining what is happening
TRIGGER WARNING!
This chapter's conflict is based on poor information and poor interpretation of that information. It is important for character development so please be patient with the next few chapters.
1:26 am
Somewhere in Las Vegas Nevada
Both cars idled as they pulled up to the neon orange starting line. About 50 feet in front of them a man stood in the center of the street holding up a flashlight. He turned it on, flashing it once, then twice and before allowing it to stay on signaling the two vehicles to dig in their tires and launch. Both car's tires squealed as their engines roared rocketing them forward. The first, a dark orange Dodge challenger pulled ahead, leaving behind the mysterious black Lamborghini as they raced to the end of the block before turning a corner and speeding through a cluttered alley. The driver of the Challenger snorted a laugh as the Lambo swerved to avoid the many various piles of junk and debris in the alley. In response the Lamborghini's engine snarled as it exited the alleyway back onto a main street where it pulled up to the side of the Challenger. The driver of the challenger looked over at his opponent unable to see the driver as the Lambo had illegal tint. With a sneer the man pressed his foot to the floor running a red light in the process. He growled as the Lambo easily matched his pace before launching ahead of him as they entered a different alley forcing the Challenger to slam on its breaks to avoid a collision. This time it was the driver of the Lambo that snorted a laugh as he purposely fishtailed into a large oil drum knocking it over and spilling its contents into the alley. The driver of the Challenger swore as he skidded out of the alley, nearly colliding with the wall of a building before his tires gained enough traction to start gaining on the sports car in front of him. Shifting into a higher gear the Challenger once again paced the black Lamborghini just as they returned to the starting line. But at the last second the Lambo pulled ahead, their engine revving victoriously as he crossed the finish line first.
The driver of the Challenger swore as he crossed the finish line and pulled off to the side. With all of the alterations to his car, he had believed firmly that he would win against (what at the beginning of the race) seemed like a stock 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4. And yet there it was doing victory donuts in the middle of the road before it's window unrolled and a hand reached out to collect the large cash prize from the race runner. It then peeled out, leaving the group of street racers behind.
Out of pure rage, the driver of the Challenger decided to follow the Lambo, curious to see where it was going. …And to see if he could beat the poor bastard into giving him his money back.
Neither vehicle went particularly far, driving past several dealerships before arriving at another illegal street race. This time the Lambo joined three others, an Audi, and a Ferrari at a starting line. As the black Lambo pulled up between a silver and lime green version of itself the window unrolled and the same arm as before held up a wad of cash that was quickly collected by a young woman in a skimpy outfit. With the betting pool safely stored in her bra, the woman sauntered out into the street with a red rag. She called for the cars to start their engines, verifying that each driver was ready before raising her arms and quickly dropping the rag. All at once the vehicles took off down the road making the onlookers cheer. The driver of the Challenger decided to park along the side of the road. He would happily wait to get his cash back.
XXXXX
Despite the many vehicle alterations several drivers had added to their cars, the race had come down to the Black Lamborghini and the Lime green one. While the other drivers jockeyed for third place the two Lambo's actively fought for the top spot. The lime green one smoothly drifted around corners, while the black one kept his turns hairpin tight and precise. As they zigzagged through the test drive roads of the dealerships one would overtake the other only for a few moments before the other would catch up and take the lead. Ultimately as they rounded the corner, it was the lime green sports car that took the lead as they crossed the finish line.
Seeing this, the driver of the Challenger pushed off his car and started to walk towards the now idling black Lambo. He sure as hell was gonna beat the crap out of that driver now that he lost his money!
"Scramble! Scramble!" Someone barked as the wail of a police siren was heard nearby. Everyone ran for their vehicles as police poured onto the scene. Cars and people scrambled this way and that, to little avail as the police had sealed off most of the exit roads leaving one street as a funnel to the rest of the city. The Challenger followed by the Audi and Ferrari barreled down the road as the police followed close on their heels, having already cornered and arrested the driver of the purple Lamborghini. As the racers beat a hasty retreat, no one noticed where the black or lime green Lambos drove off to.
XXXXX
Shortly after the shouts to scramble, the black and lime green Lamborghinis took advantage of the chaos, slipping behind their namesake's dealership. The black Lamborghini silently pulled up to the open wash tunnel of the detailing department. Entering, the wash seemed to turn on all on its own. As the sports car was pulled through, the color of the Lamborghini began to bleed off, becoming lighter and lighter.
Despite there being no trace of black coloring in the wash, a shiny golden yellow Gallardo rolled out of the tunnel and parked next to a shiny red one just before 6 police cars raced past the lot.
All at once both vehicles shook on their axles with laughter.
"Pit that was hilarious!" Sideswipe laughed as his engine quietly started up.
"And those fleshbags call themselves racers!" Sunstreaker laughed back as they slowly rolled out of the dealership lot and past the orange Dodge Challenger who's owner was currently pressed up against its hood being arrested. The two shared more hearty laughter as they drove past their busted opponents as they escaped the consequences of their actions.
{"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker come in."}
{"Yes Prime?"} they answered sobering up quickly.
{"Please report to my office at once."}
{"Yes sir."} They both said as they began to race towards base.
["Do you think he knows?"]
["No…I haven't said anything to him. Have you?"]
["Pit no! Do I look like I want more punishment detail?!"]
["How the frag could he have found out?"]
["It's Prime. He knows everything."] Sunstreaker lamented as they turned off the freeway towards base. Once on base, they drove at a more law abiding speed as they approached their leader's office. Once there they transformed and stood at the door.
"Come in." Prime ordered from the other side of the door. Sideswipe dropped his arm, no longer needing to knock as he instead opened the door.
"Have a seat you two."
The twins silently sat in the chairs in front of their Prime.
"Do you know why I called you in here?"
The two looked at each other somewhat nervously before answering.
"No…"
Prime raised an optic ridge at their hesitant answer. He ex-vented softly.
"Is there something that you need to tell me?"
Again, the twins looked at each other in confusion before answering with more certainty.
"No."
Prime narrowed his optics a little, knowing that the two were most likely hiding something. However, as he checked the rosters, he saw that they had just finished night patrol duty.
"You were on patrol. Report."
"We each chose half of the city to patrol. The west half of the city was quiet. No sign of Decepticon activity."
"The east however did have minor spikes of Barricade's energy signature. As I investigated, I was unable to find a strong enough signal to track." Sideswipe explained.
"I see. We must remain alert. We still are not sure of what the Decepticons want with Lilac."
"Permission to engage if sighted?" Sunstreaker asked haughtily.
Prime thought for a long moment before answering.
"If you can engage him in combat with little collateral damage or witnesses, then yes. However, if not, push him toward a more secluded area and we will provide backup."
"Understood." The two said with a nod of their helms.
"Very good. Before I dismiss you, there is one more thing I would like to speak with the two of you about."
"Yes sir?"
"You both have shown considerable growth since joining my team. You are both fierce and powerful warriors, among the best we have."
The twins grinned openly at their Prime's praise.
"Thank you, sir!"
"Which is why I have a very special assignment for the both of you."
Both looked at each other confused before looking back at him.
"As you know, I have become the temporary legal guardian of Lilac. I have already begun the process to become her permanent legal guardian. In addition to this, I am also her protective guardian, just as Bumblebee is to Samuel and Ironhide is to Captain Lennox's family."
Both twins nodded their helms showing that they were listening.
"However, fate favors the prepared. While I fully intend to look after and guard Lilac, my duties create a conflict of scheduling as I and the others are still working through the treaty writing process. And it is only natural that the child will want to explore her new environment."
Prime added as he made optic contact with each twin individually.
"It is for that reason that I am assigning the both of you as her bodyguards. Should we have been on Cybertron, it would have been customary for her to have bodyguards already as the offspring of a Prime. And given the circumstances of how she has come into my temporary custody I believe that it is paramount that she has protection at all times. While I do not believe that any of our allies would turn her in, I do not wish to take chances. Nor do I want her to leave this base without one of you, or another Autobot, at any time."
The twins sat in stunned silence, making their Prime smile.
"I have chosen you two because of your speed, agility, and fighting skills. I know that you have what it takes to keep her safe. I also know, Sideswipe, that you and she have struck up a rather unique friendship. Such is another reason for why I chose you to guard her." Prime finished as he looked between the two of them, seeing that they were still stunned. Hiding an internal chuckle, he spoke again.
"Do you accept your orders?"
"Yes Prime." They both said aloud as they nodded their helms. Though Sideswipe looked far more pleased than his twin did about the situation.
"Excellent. Then you are dismissed. Your duty begins today when you see her."
"Yes Prime." Sunstreaker said as he and his twin stood up to leave.
"Thank you." Sideswipe added in parting as he and his twin walked out of the room.
XXXXX
Sunstreaker sulked as he and his twin walked towards the training room.
["Oh come on! At least we didn't get busted!"]
["Shut up! It's bad enough that you brought that thing-"]
Sideswipe growled making his brother correct his wording.
["Her here in the first place! Now I have to sparkling sit it! Might as well be additional punishment detail…"]
["Her. And you don't have to sparkling sit her."]
["You heard Prime's orders!"]
["Yeah…but you already have punishment detail that you'll be doing for a while, so its not like you're gonna have a lot of time to hang out with us anyway!"]
["Gee, thanks a lot."]
["You're welcome!"] Sideswipe chirped as they arrived in the training room. The two remotely turned on the lights before heading to the center of the room. Sideswipe dropped into a battle ready position as his brother drew a sword.
["Best 2 out of 3?"]
["Nope. I won't lose."] Sunstreaker said with a smirk as he launched himself at his twin. Sideswipe easily dodged to the side snorting internally to himself at his brother's arrogance.
'Sparkling sitter my aft. She's too smart to need something like that.'
He mused as he deflected a blow with the hilt of his own sword.
XXXXX
4:30am
Both Ratchet and Ironhide sat inside their Prime's office as he finished giving an oral report of his agenda for the next two days.
They had been called there to receive a schedule and a briefing on recent and incoming shipments and their assignments for the next three days. Ratchet was grateful for the shipment of scrap metal and supplies sent by the U.S. Government, even though he would have to go through the lengthy process of smelting, and adding minerals to create materials that would be suitable for their medical needs. Ironhide provided an update on the status of his completion of his punishment detail, as well as some important information about the training program that he and Lennox had come up with for the new recruits to N.E.S.T..
"The recruits should be arriving within the next 8 days. Thus far, their background checks are clear." Optimus said as he accessed the database.
"Speaking of, what do you intend to do with the youngling? I am to meet her in the recreation room at 7:15 for her morning fuel intake."
"Have you decided on when to tell the rest of Lennox's team?"
"I have not yet decided on when to tell the rest of his team. I would prefer to do so sooner rather than later as I imagine they will have questions about the child that they may find roaming their base today."
"She most certainly should not be "roaming" this base. That child needs boundaries." Ratchet said firmly.
"Strong boundaries. The human's internet says that younglings her age need structure and firm boundaries, rules to abide by so that they do not get into trouble." Ironhide added.
"Ratchet could you please give her some guidelines on where she is not permitted to go on this base while she refuels?"
"Yes Prime."
"Thank you."
"Even with verbal boundaries that child should still have optics on her at all times. After the stunt she pulled a few days ago…" Ironhide growled.
"She had multiple opportunities to try and escape our custody at the mall yesterday with Epps and she made no attempts."
"More than likely because she had no less than one set of optics on her at all times. The child needs supervision at all times." Ratchet pointed out agreeing with the weapons specialist.
"I have no reason to believe that she intends to run away."
"We had no reason to believe that before, and yet she left without our noticing." Ironhide grumbled.
Prime resisted the smile forming on his face. Though the two were taking a very authoritarian approach, it was clear that both mechs before him cared about the safety of the child.
"I do not wish to confine her to her quarters, nor do I wish to confine her to my office for the day. Curiosity is normal in sparklings and younglings and it should be nurtured. I believe that if we allow her the freedom to explore, that she will do only that. We must give her an opportunity to do the right thing with boundaries in place." Prime said with a nod of his helm.
The two mechs looked at each other warily. Their Prime (as far as they could tell) had never been a long-term guardian of a sparkling or youngling. Even when it came to caring for Bumblebee, the Prime only cared for the mechling in times of emergency, or during brief moments when he requested it or volunteered to assist. This was entirely different.
"I can assure you that the child will be fine. I have assigned Sideswipe and Sunstreaker as her bodyguards. Once they are done with their training, they will be keeping an optic on her."
"You assigned those two to be her bodyguards?!" Ratchet said in incredulous disbelief.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I did."
"Prime, the goal is to keep the youngling out of trouble! With those two, who knows what kind of mischief they could get into! " Ironhide exclaimed.
"Who would you choose as a replacement then?" Prime said simply. The two mechs were about to speak when he gestured with one servo for silence.
"Ratchet, you of your own admittance, and Jolt are quite busy cataloging, storing, doing inventory, and creating resources for us to use. Correct?"
"Yes Prime." Ratchet confirmed.
"Ironhide, even without you finishing your punishment detail, you would be working with Lennox's team for most of the day. Correct?"
"Yes Prime." Ironhide gruffly confirmed.
"Jazz is still adjusting to his repairs, whilst moving into his quarters, and tapping into communications frequencies so that we can intercept transmissions to and from the stars. He is also monitoring transmissions on Earth including human transmissions about Lilac." Prime explained.
"Given that everyone has assigned tasks that are imperative to our base functioning at it's highest level and given that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are the only two mechs that would be able to take on such a task, I feel that I made the right decision." Prime said simply.
"Sideswipe has already begun forming a friendship with her. On that principle alone, I believe that she would be less motivated to leave. However, even if it wasn't, the updates to our security system should ensure that she does not go wandering off without our being alerted to her doing so. Furthermore, both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are fierce fighters, and their alt. modes can provide a very quick retreat if needed in an emergency. They make the most logical choice for a bodyguard." Prime explained.
The two officers sat stunned in their chairs. They could not believe what they were hearing.
Optimus smiled. "Did you two not recommend that they receive more responsibilities at our previous outpost?"
"Yes, but not these kinds!" Ratchet blurted out.
"They'll corrupt her, if she hasn't already been corrupted by them!" Ironhide added.
"I am not so certain. I believe that this will give them a chance that they never had before to act with responsibility. They know that I chose them specifically for the job and why I chose them. Putting off her needs, convincing her to do the wrong thing, or putting her in harm's way is unacceptable. They know this. They will not fail in their duties." Prime said with finality.
The two mechs looked at their Prime with firm expressions. Both could tell that he cared for the child, but both were concerned about the approach he was taking. He clearly was not going to change his mind.
With frowns Ironhide and Ratchet nodded their helms once in understanding. Prime nodded his back before dismissing the both of them to their tasks for the day.
{"I cannot believe that Prime would assign those two glitches to watch over the child!"} Ratchet said over a private com. frequency to Ironhide.
{"Slgging pit spawns! Who knows what kind of trouble they and she will get into."} Ironhide grumbled darkly.
{"We can not allow that. Not in good conscious."}
{"What do you propose then? Prime made it clear his decision was final."}
{"Yes, but we can lend our assistance as needed."}
{"How? I do not know much about how humans raise their progeny. Lennox only has a sparkling femme."}
{"Their internet seems to have many resources about how to properly raise a child."} Ratchet said as he began sending files to Ironhide. Opening a few at a time, he scanned over them quickly.
{"These seem tailored to raising a youngling who had no structure, a youngling who lived as they wished on the streets."}
{"Yes. Many sources say that younglings like Lilac can be what they consider "troubled" or a "problem child". Most of the resources advertise strong boundaries and firm consequences for misbehavior."}
{"Striking a child is a form of punishment amongst their race?"}
{"Yes, but not to the point that she was. The most common form of punishment for younglings is a "spanking" wherein the child is struck on their rear."}
{"I see. Perhaps only in an extreme circumstance should we use that. Prime's directive and all."}
{"We should not strike the child. But…perhaps there is another way to simulate the discomfort…humans are receptive to static electricity and small shocks. One of a low enough charge would surely suffice. Especially given that the goal is to punish or redirect, not to abuse and torment. But again, only if the situation warrants it."}
{"Understood."} Ironhide said as they parted ways in the halls.
XXXXX
It was 7:15 when Lilac rolled out of bed feeling oddly sore. She groaned as she stretched listening to her body crack and pop.
BANG BANG BANG
"AH!"
"Youngling! You are late for your morning fuel intake!"
"Oh…uhh…s..s..sorry?"
"Don't 'sorry' me child! Get out here!"
Lilac swallowed hard as she darted towards the door opening it to see a rather annoyed-looking medic.
He narrowed his optics when he saw her making her instinctively shrink into herself.
"You are late."
"I'm…I'm sorry."
He grunted irritably as he scooped her up ignoring her startled squeaks.
"In the future, be on time to your fuel intakes. I do not have all orn to sit and wait for you to show up."
"Yes sir…" Lilac said lowly as they entered the rec room. Ratchet sat her down near one of the human sized tables where a plate of toast, eggs, bacon and cheese sat with a bottle of water.
"Refuel."
"Th…thank you…"
Ratchet grunted again as he walked over to an Autobot sized table where a light purple cube sat. Lilac watched as he put the cube to his lips and swallowed, the purple color draining from the cube.
Ratchet caught her staring and turned making Lilac look down at her plate.
"Refuel youngling. The longer that food sits there the more likely bacteria and viruses are to begin growing in it."
"Yes sir." She said as she picked up the fork next to the plate. As she ate she wondered what she would be doing that day.
"Alright child. Hold still." Ratchet ordered as she finished her food. Lilac froze as a laser shot out of the medic's wrist scanning her from head to toe. He grunted as he looked at the results that appeared on his HUD. Lilac swallowed uncomfortably as she put her fork down.
Optics brightening to their fully vibrant dark blue Ratchet looked down at her once more.
"Ground rules for this base youngling;" Ratchet began making her sit up straight.
"You will not speak to the staff, unless spoken to. They all have tasks and duties that they must complete without disturbance. Understood?"
Lilac nodded her head in understanding. Making the medic frown.
"You will give verbal answers when spoken to directly. While nonverbal communication may have been fine when you were on the streets, or traveling with Sideswipe, it is not something that we appreciate here. Understood?"
Again Lilac nodded her head. In response Ratchet glared. Realizing her mistake Lilac muttered a nervous apology and confirmation that she understood.
"The armory, weapons ranges, training rooms, and enlisted barracks are off limits to you. You are also not allowed into our quarters or offices unless you are invited in by the owner of said spaces. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir."
"You are not to leave this base under any circumstances without myself, or another Autobot accompanying you. You are no longer a free-range feral femme. If you wish to leave this base, you must make arrangements. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir."
"You are to arrive to your meals on time. You have a way to keep track of time on your wrist. I expect you to properly use it. Your meal times will happen at precisely 0700, 1130, and 1730 hours-"
"Huh?"
"0700, 1130, and 1730 hours…" he repeated before sighing at her confused expression.
"7:00am, 11:30am, and 5:30 pm."
"Oh…"
"As I was saying, you must be on time to your meals. You are to be in your quarters recharging by 8:30pm. Failure to be on time will result in consequences. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir."
"Very good. You are free to do as you like so long as it does not violate the rules I have set forth." Ratchet said as he turned his back, ready to leave.
"Yes sir."
"Also, I have come to understand that when something is done for someone on your planet, it is customary to thank them."
"Th…thank you for the food."
"You are welcome." The medic said as he left the room. Lilac sat at the table dumbfounded. Why was he being so stern? What was she supposed to do now? Looking down at her plate and empty water bottle she figured that the best place to start would be to clean up her dish and recycle her empty bottle. Nervously she got up from the table and walked over to the swinging door that she believed connected to a kitchen. Carefully she peeked her head inside to see that it was empty. As she entered she took note of a small circular wooden table, an old Mr. Coffee maker on a counter and a large metal contraption next to a double sink. As she continued to walk through the room she saw on the other side of the sink an old microwave that sat on the counter next to a large greyish white refrigerator. Just beyond the refrigerator was a double oven, and on the opposite side of the kitchen from the oven sat an old gas stove. Beyond all this at the back of the room was a door, and next to it sat a trash can.
Very quickly Lilac threw away the wrapper from her cheese before going to the sink to wash her plate. She was unsure of who had made her breakfast, but she was sure that she didn't want to be rude by just leaving her dishes around. Once she had finished washing the plate she left the kitchen quickly as she heard what she thought were other people coming in from outside. She skirted around the corner just as a few soldiers walked into the recreation room talking amongst themselves.
'Oh good. They didn't see me. That was close!' She said to herself as she looked at the long hallways frowning in thought.
'Maybe I should go back to my room….' She thought at first. Her subconscious however had other ideas.
'Aw come on! Where's the fun in that!'
'But I don't want to get in the way….'
'Oh please! Live a little and have fun! There's so much to explore!'
'But Ratchet-'
'Ratchet said I could explore so long as I stay away from the armory, and weapons ranges!' She reminded herself as she set off up the hall.
"I better ask him where those places are just in case. I don't want to get into trouble on accident." she said to herself as she made the remarkably long trek up to the Medbay. Once she got there, the doors opened for her right away.
"Ummm Hello?" She said shyly, getting Jolt's attention while he was putting away supplies.
"Hello Lilac."
"Hi…"
"How are you today?"
"Oh…I'm good…. how are you?"
"I am quite well, thank you."
"Ummm…do you know- "
"What are you doing in here youngling?" Ratchet said tersely as he walked out of his office.
"Oh! Ummm…. I-"
"Did I not make myself clear when I said that you are not to interact with those who are currently on duty on this base?" He snapped, making her jump.
"Y…Yes…but- "
"Are you injured?"
"What? Uhhh…no…"
"Do you feel ill?"
"No…."
"Then you have no reason to be in here distracting my assistant from his current task! Leave!" The medic said brashly, making her frown sadly.
"But- "
"Don't worry Lilac. We can talk later when I take my break okay?"
"Okay…" she mumbled softly as she walked out of Medbay. When Sideswipe said that Ratchet could be grumpy and mean…she hadn't really believed it. Sure, she had seen him acting irritated a couple of days ago, but he had never been so forward with her.
Shrinking in on herself, she decided to take the first hall on her right, leading away from the Medbay. Maybe if she was lucky, she would run into Sideswipe.
XXXXX
Lilac took her time as she walked marveling at just how large everything was in comparison to her. Doors were huge, air ducts were huge, even some of the Autobot furniture that hadn't been moved into its permanent place seemed ridiculously large to her.
'Makes sense! Everyone else around you is a friggin giant.' She snorted to herself as she came upon another set of doors. This time she had to stand in front of them for a moment before they opened. She reasoned that the doors were probably on a bit of a delay since this wasn't a medical aid room that needed easy and quick access during an emergency.
As she leaned into the darkened room someone surprised her from behind.
"HEY!"
"AH!"
"Did Ratchet not tell you that the training rooms were explicitly off limits to you?!" Ironhide thundered as he came storming up the hall. He was dirty and dusty from his punishment detail outside. Lilac gulped.
"Y…Y….Y…Y..Yes…"
"Then why are you trying to enter one?!"
"I…I…I…I..I didn't know-" She squeaked timidly.
"Did not know what youngling!"
"I didn't know this was a training room!"
Ironhide growled as he leaned close to her making her even more nervous.
"I do not believe you."
"I really didn't know!"
"How?!"
"I didn't see a sign!" Lilac shouted.
"It is right there on the wall!" Ironhide barked as he pointed to the sign on the wall.
"I…I…Cant read it!" Lilac squeaked softly making the mech glare at her more before he took another look at the sign in question. Sure enough it had the Cybertronian glyphs for Training room 1 but there was no English translation.
"Did he not give you a map?!"
"No sir…he just told me not to go in there or to other places I should not be!" She said defensively. Ironhide grumbled irritably. He was fatigued, his frame was a mess, and worst of all he couldn't even take his frustrations out at the firing range or on those two twin terrors!
"Just keep walking then youngling. But let me make something abundantly clear; you are not to enter this room again unsupervised. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir."
"If you break this rule, you will have some form of a consequence or punishment detail. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir." She said sadly as he grunted before walking off down the hall.
Lilac resisted the urge to cry. She wasn't trying to make trouble. She was just trying to look around.
XXXXX
Jazz was sitting outside tinkering with a satellite dish. His goal was to modify the dish so that it could meet their needs.
'Primus I wish Blaster was here. Could really use his audios and optics for this.' he thought to himself as he continued to re-weld wires. He was listening to the multiple different frequencies when he heard the large doors to his right open. Quietly Lilac sulked out. Her head was down and her eyes looked watery.
Frowning Jazz stopped what he was doing.
"Babyspark?"
"Hmm?! Oh. Hi Jazz." She said softly as she began to hurriedly walk past him.
"Whoa there! Where ya goin' so fast?"
"Ratchet said I'm not supposed to talk to you guys."
"What'd ya mean?"
"You're busy working. I'm not supposed to bother you."
Jazz frowned as he set the satellite down. "I can take a break. What's got ya lookin' so sad?"
Lilac shrunk in on herself and looked away from him. Sensing something was wrong Jazz scooped her up making her squeak in surprise.
"A'ight, sparklin'. Ya ain't getting' pas' me. What's got ya lookin' so sad? C'mon! You can tell me!"
Lilac looked up at him with a small smile but her cheeks reddened at the thought of telling him about what the others had did to upset her.
"Not gonna talk huh? Fine. I know jus' what to do to get ya to spill!" He teased as he gently wiggled one of his claws into her side making her laugh.
"Nooo! Stahahahahap!" She giggled.
"Then tell me what's on ya processor!"
"Okay! Okaaahahahaaay!" She laughed as Jazz stopped. She looked nervously up at the mech who raised an optic ridge while grinning evilly at her. Slowly he moved his claw back towards her ribs.
"No!"
"Then tell me."
"I…I don't want to get in trouble…"
Jazz frowned. What could she possibly do to get into trouble?
"Did ya do somethin' wrong?"
"N…not on purpose…."
"What was it? C'mon sparklin'. I promise I won' get mad at ya."
"Everyone says that. And then they get mad at me…" She said in a small voice. Jazz's spark hurt for her. He and the others had a lot of work to do to gain her trust.
"Please sparklin'. I need ya to trust me on this."
Lilac looked at him hesitantly before swallowing hard and telling him the events of her morning. Everything that had happened just came tumbling out and she felt bad once she was done. Especially when she saw Jazz's confused expression.
"Lilac, sparklin', ya didn' do anythin' wrong."
"What? But I-"
"Sparklin' Hide and Ratch are typically cranky. They got a lot goin' on and they unfortunately tend to get irritated. That doesn' make what they said to you okay, but I hope it explains it."
"I didn't mean to bother them, or, or go somewhere I shouldn't have! Honest! I just wanted to explore, and I was going to ask for a map…and…and…"
"They yelled at ya, and scared ya."
She nodded her head as tears came to her eyes.
"Awww sparklin'. Its okay. Don' cry." He soothed as he hugged her to his chassis.
"I didn't mean to…I'll be good…I promise…" she sniffled as he hugged her. Guilt ate at his spark. Looking down at the satellite he frowned.
"Ya don' have to promise me that sparklin'. I know yer a good kid. Those two need to calm down a bit is all. You're a good kid sparklin, and ya should speak up an' be honest with them if they aint treatin ya fairly." He said as he picked up the satellite and began walking towards the doors.
"But...I'm not a good kid! You were working and…and…"
"Now I think I could use a change in tasks. Could I ask for yer help? Been wantin' to decorate my quarters but I'm not sure where to put what."
Lilac looked up at him with trepidation as they entered the building and walked past the room that made Ironhide yell at her.
"I got that dish fixed. I was only recalibratin' it when ya showed up. 'Sides, I kinda wanna finish workin' on my quarters. Room's so bland it hurts." He added making Lilac exhale softly.
"So what'd ya say? Care to help a new bot out?" he asked as they stopped in front of a door.
"O..okay." She said softly as they entered.
"Alrigh! Thanks Babyspark!" Jazz crowed as he set the satellite down on a desk. Lilac looked around in wonder. His room looked similar to hers before the bots helped clean it up. Only all of the furniture was bigger! There was a desk by the front door, and a bed like thing that sat against the west wall. On the south wall in front of her was a large storage cabinet, and on the east wall sat another desk that was cluttered with gadgets and gizmos.
"Pardon the mess lil' miss. The others like to tease me bout it but I got a lotta stuff left over from my previous function." He said as they fully walked into the room.
"Previous function?"
"I used to be a composer and musician remember?"
"Oh yeah…are all those things instruments?" Lilac asked curiously as she pointed over at the desk cluttered with things. Jazz grinned, happy that he could distract her.
"Glad ya asked Babyspark. Want me to show ya?"
"Yes please!" She said excitedly as he sat her down on the empty desk.
"A'ight. This here is a cyber-violin. It's what ya'd call a string instrument. Cool thing bout our string instruments is that we used differen' metals to make the strings so our music varied. For example, this here used titanium, but my electro lyre here used copper mixed with zinc like some of yer earth horns." Jazz said as he lightly strummed the instrument.
"Wooow! That sounds amazing! So pretty!"
Jazz chuckled before continuing. "This over here is my mixer. I used it to record sounds and mix 'em for bass tracks or other things. Fun fact for ya, lot of our music uses vocal components to harmonize."
"Really?"
"Course! Our vocal range is pretty big. There are frequencies that are too high and too low for yer race to hear, because of how our vocals are designed. Listen." Jazz said gently as he opened his mouth. Lilac froze as the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end before she could hear a very high pitched musical tune. She looked to Jazz with surprise making him grin.
"Wooow." She breathed as he chuckled. He opened his mouth, but this time, she could hear him trilling softly with a low tone. Then the pitch went up, before Jazz started vocalizing other noises, whirrs, clicks, trills, and the occasional beep like sound. Lilac had never heard anything like it and yet she couldn't help but grin. It sounded so amazing to her, and so strange, but she couldn't describe it as anything other than musical. Her hair was standing on end and her skin seemed to tingle with every different vocalization. After a few moments Jazz stopped, making her laugh with joy!
"That was so cool! I…I can't believe it! That was so amazing! I…I don't have words! It sounded so pretty, and fun, and amazing, ah!" She sputtered as her whole body continued to tingle from the vibrations of his voice. Jazz chuckled. "Thanks Babyspark! But for the record, that was only a vocal component warm up. Kinda our equivalent of scales."
"Wooooow!" She said dreamily making him laugh.
"Here, I got some of my old tunes if ya wanna hear-"
"YES PLEASE!" She squealed with delight making him laugh even harder as he went to his cabinet and opened it revealing a large advanced looking stereo system. They were going to have some fun.
XXXXX
Ratchet was furious. It was 11:45 and the child was nowhere to be seen. He had checked her quarters and searched the perimeter of the base three times and still couldn't find her.
{"Ratchet to all Autobots. Does anyone have eyes on the youngling?"}
{"No, I do not."} Optimus confirmed.
{"She's missing?"} Was Jolts worried reply.
{"Knew that youngling was going to pull some slag like this…"} Ironhide grumbled.
{"We haven't seen her since yesterday. Is she okay?"} Sideswipe answered for he and his twin.
{"I am simply trying to provide the child with her mid-day meal. She was meant to meet me in the recreation room five breems ago!"} He growled.
{"Uh…not that I mind going out to look for her again…but has anyone else noticed that Jazz hasn't said a word? Camera feed shows that he carried her and a satellite into the main hallway a few hours ago."} Bumblebee said.
Ratchet's optics dimmed as he checked the feed. Sure enough he could see the saboteur carrying the youngling up the hall.
{"Thank you, Bumblebee."} Both Prime and Ratchet said, though Ratchet sounded far less amused than Prime.
Quietly the medic stormed over to Jazz's quarters where he could already hear laughter echoing over the music that was playing. Using his medical override he opened the door. Lilac was standing on one of the newly installed shelves that Jazz put up to store his things.
"So I got this trinket from-"
"Jazz and Lilac!" Ratchet barked making the two jump in surprise.
"Oh! Hey Ratch! What's-"
"Do you have any idea what time it is?!"
"Uhh…"
"Oh no…" Lilac gasped softly as she looked at her watch.
"You were supposed to meet me in the recreation room over fifty minutes ago youngling!"
"Hey now, easy Ratchet! We were only hangin out! She was helpin' me decorate an' we lost track o' time."
"Did I not speak to you this morning child, about using that time piece on your wrist to ensure that you were punctual?!"
Lilac shrunk in on herself and swallowed hard. "Yes sir…."
"And yet here I am retrieving you yet again for one of your meals!"
"Easy Ratchet! I shoulda kept better track of time. Honestly this is mostly my fault. She's jus' a kid!"
"She is a 'kid' that needs to grow accustomed to how we do things around here!" Ratchet snapped as he scooped Lilac off the shelf she was standing on.
"And Prime wants that satellite dish calibrated and placed in its designated position ASAP. Jolt is also expecting you for a motor control test in half a joor." Ratchet grumbled as he strode out of the room with the child.
XXXXX
Lilac was sat down at the same table as before. This time a ham sandwich, an orange and a snack sized bag of potato chips greeted her.
"T…thank you…" She said shyly as the medic glared at her. She quickly and quietly ate her lunch. The medic harumphed and crossed his arms as he watched her eat.
"You were extremely tardy youngling."
"Yes sir…I-"
"Tardiness is not something that I will tolerate. You are to be in your quarters recharging at 8:00pm this evening."
"But…but you said 8:30 earlier…"
"That was before you disobeyed the rules." he said sternly as he placed a small piece of paper down on the table in front of her.
"But…I didn't mean to-"
"Be that as it may you still distracted Jazz and Jolt from their tasks when I explicitly told you not to. Do not continue to argue this with me child." He sternly cut her off before pointing to the paper in front of her.
"This is a map of the base. As you can see there are indications on said map of where you can and can not be. Do not make that same mistake again. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir…" She said lowly before she finished her lunch. Ratchet was about to leave when she realized something.
"Ex…excuse me?"
"Yes child what is it." He said sounding exasperated.
"Do…do you know where Sideswipe is?"
"No. Last check of the roster he and his twin were training before they went-"
"Good afternoon Ratchet. Hello Lilac."
"Good afternoon Prime." Ratchet said respectfully before looking back to the child.
"Sideswipe is currently off base. Sunstreaker is-"
"The twins?" Optimus asked.
"Yes. I am not sure of where Sideswipe went."
"Sideswipe is currently looking at different automotive replacement and maintenance supply stores. Apparently when they were sparring this morning, he and his twin scuffed up their paint and finish so he decided to go and see if he could find some supplies for frame upkeep. I'm sure he will return shortly."
"Oh…thank you." she said sadly. Ratchet nodded his helm before walking out of the room. Optimus looked down at Lilac and smiled gently.
"Is something troubling you little one?"
"Oh..uhhh…No…no I'm okay…"
Prime smiled gently at her before his optics dimmed. Frowning his optics brightened.
"My apologies, but I have a briefing with Captain Lennox and Sargent Epps."
"Okay…." she said softly. The Prime could tell that she was upset, and he didn't want to leave her, but he did need to go.
"It is not a very long meeting. If you are not busy and if you would like to speak with me, I will be in my quarters and be available to chat at 4:30."
"Okay." Lilac said innocently, making the mech smile as he left. Lilac cleaned up her dishes and left the room walking slowly to her own. She punched in the number and entered grabbing a book from her bookshelf. She hopped onto her bed and tried to get comfortable as she read, constantly looking at the clock and wondering where her friend was.
Finally, at 4:30 she couldn't take it anymore. She decided to go and see Optimus in his office. Sure, the large mech scared the dickens out of her, but she'd rather be with him and have someone to talk to than try to sit in her room and agonize over the time.
Quietly she stood up and put the book back on her shelf. Looking at the map she found the Prime's office. It was not far from her room. Just up the hall and to the left, It would be the first door she would see.
Taking the map with her Lilac traversed the halls quickly and quietly until she was just steps away from the Prime's office.
Ironhide, who was walking towards the recreation room caught her out of the corner of his optics and frowned. The Prime had just entered his office with the request to all Autobots not to be disturbed for a few hours as he had some things that he needed to finish.
And here was Lilac walking up to his door.
"Youngling do not disturb the Prime."
"But-"
"You are not to enter his office without his permission."
Lilac couldn't help it. She had had a rather nasty day and she just wanted to talk to somebody!
"The map says that I can. He said that I could come by at 4:30-"
"Do not take that tone with me child."
"Or what?! You're not being fair!" She snapped uncharacteristically as she glared up at the mech who narrowed his optics at her. Faster than she thought possible he stepped forward and scooped her up, making her yelp in surprise.
"Put me down!"
"You are being very disrespectful right now child. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
"Let me go!" She growled as she squirmed in his hand. Ironhide walked her back to her room and remotely unlocked the door. Carefully pushing it open he set her down and gently pushed her inside.
"Hey!"
"You are to stay in your quarters until your evening fuel intake."
"What?!"
"You are not to leave your quarters until it is time for you to refuel."
"No way! That's not fair! I didn't do anything!"
"Watch your tone child!"
Lilac glared at the mech and crossed her arms. Suddenly she remembered what Jazz had told her that morning.
"You are not being fair! Why can't I just knock on his door and ask him myself?"
"Because he gave the order for him to not be disturbed."
"I didn't get that order….He didn't tell me that…"
"Yeah, well that is why I am telling you now."
"But I should at least knock and see if he changed his mind-"
"What part of no do you not understand youngling!?"
Lilac reared her head back as her lips wobbled ominously. "Now you're being disrespectful!"
She said sounding upset. Ironhide was quickly losing his patience.
"You are to stay in this room until further notice!" He barked as he closed the door in her face.
Lilac stared at the door in outrage. This was beyond unfair!
Now she was not the type of person to tattle on someone. After all she didn't want anyone to get into trouble. But after what Jazz said earlier, and given how unfair she felt she had been treated that day she decided that she should go and tell the Prime. So shortly after her door closed she reopened it and stormed out. Ironhide wasn't more than a few steps away when he heard her door open. She was storming out and she looked like she was dead set on getting into the Prime's office.
"Where do you think you are going youngling?!"
She did not answer him and continued walking with purpose towards the Prime's office.
Ironhide growled quietly as he closed the difference between himself and the child. He scooped her up again eliciting loud protests from her. Quietly the mech back tracked down the hall. He turned the corner and started his way back towards her room as she continued to writhe in his grasp when he felt her picking at the wires in his digits, seemingly trying to pull one out. Fed up he stopped in the hall and glared at her. She growled back at him.
Now fully out of patience, Ironhide quickly turned his servo so that his palm was facing up. He pinned Lilac, who was face down, under his thumb digit while he channeled a low-level electrical current into his index digit on the other servo. Quickly he pressed his index digit into her bottom allowing her to feel a sharp shock.
"OW! What-"
Ironhide gave her another zap making her yell out again and squirm.
"STOP!"
Zap!
"AH! STOP IIIITTT!"
ZAP!
"PLEASE!"
ZAP!
"PLEASE STOP! IT HURTS!"
ZAP!
"PLEASE!" She wailed as Ironhide continued to give her bottom low leveled electrical zaps. Soon Lilac was shaking and sobbing.
"I take no joy in doing that child. But you must learn how to behave." he said sternly as he once again keyed the code to her room opening the door. He carefully set the child down in her room where she scooted away from him with hiccupping sobs and terrified glossy eyes.
"You are to stay in here until Ratchet retrieves you for your evening meal. I do not want to see you try to leave your quarters for the rest of today, nor do I want to hear you being so rude and disrespectful to an adult again. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y…Y.Y..Y..Yes!" she sobbed fearfully.
Ironhide nodded his helm and walked off closing her door. As he walked he commed Ratchet and let him know about her behavior and the consequences he gave her.
XXXXX
When Ratchet came to retrieve Lilac, she was still sitting on the floor, her eyes glossy.
"Come youngling. It is time for you to refuel." Lilac numbly stood up and walked out the door. She followed Ratchet to the rec room and sat down obediently eating her meal. At some point the medic disappeared and Lilac was broken out of her trance as she finished her food by his reentry.
"Youngling, I have taken your scans and have found that you have not at all cared for your frame today. You have not brushed your denta, nor have you had a wash. I told you that you must maintain proper frame maintenance, did I not?"
Lilac gulped nervously. "Ye…yes?"
Ratchet nodded his helm quietly. "I also noted that your hair, has several "trichoptilosis" or "schizotrichia". 'Split ends' as they are called. These hairs need to be treated to prevent further damage."
"T..treated?"
"Yes. As it is, I do not believe it to be very sanitary for you to have such long hair. The fact that you actively sit on it, and that it can be nearly drug around behind you is quite unhygienic. As such I have taken the liberty of scheduling an appointment for you to have your hair properly washed and cut-"
"What?!" Lilac said sounding horrified.
"Please do not interrupt. Ironhide has already alerted me to your previous behavior, and I am in no mood to put up with poor behavior."
"You're making me cut my hair?! That….that's not…you can't-!"
"I can and I have. Tomorrow I will be transporting you to the hairdresser. By my estimations, you will have your hair cut to just above your shoulders-"
"NO! I won't go! You can't make me cut my hair because you don't like it!"
"Do not argue with me child! It is for your own good!"
"NO, ITS NOT!"
"That is enough!" Ratchet barked as he picked up Lilac and marched her to her room and set her down inside. "You are not permitted to leave your quarters until your morning fuel intake at 7:00. I strongly suggest you wash and brush your denta as I will not tolerate you endangering your health." He snapped as he closed the door. As Lilac turned her back her eyes went wide. The computer that sat on her desk was missing. So were the books on her shelf. There was a note on her desk in the computers place.
"For being disrespectful and rude, you are no longer permitted to use the computer or the books. Any future infractions in rules will result in further consequences. -Ironhide"
With wobbly lips she sat against her bedframe and slid down. This was so unfair! Silently she sniffled to herself before thinking of something. Reaching under her bed she found her backpack. Smiling to herself she pulled it out and found that all of her things were still inside it. Including notes on books she had read.
With a small smile she pulled out some papers and began reading, happy Ironhide hadn't thought to look under the bed.
XXXXX
The next day Lilac lay in bed. She was not going to go and eat breakfast, and she was definitely not going to leave her room so that Ratchet could go and cut her hair. Sure, the medic would be mad, but he wouldn't drag her out of her room kicking and screaming.
Sure enough when seven came and went the medic stormed over to her door and proceeded to bang on it furiously, making her hide her backpack under her bed again.
"CHILD! Open this door at once!"
"I'M NOT HUNGRY!"
"I can tell that you are lying!"
"EXCUSE ME?!"
"You will open this door and you will come and eat now child!"
"NO! I WILL NOT!"
"OPEN THIS DOOR!"
"NO!"
Ratchet huffed furiously.
"DO NOT MAKE ME COME IN THERE AND GET YOU CHILD!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"That's it!" He snapped quietly as he overrode the lock. Lilac's eyes grew wide as he opened the door and his holoform stormed in glaring at her. She swallowed thickly as he strode over to where she was sitting on her bed. Without a word the medic grabbed her and lifted her off her bed.
"LET ME GO!"
"Stop fighting me child."
"Get your hands off of me!" She growled as she wriggled in his grasp making him loosen his grip on her. Lilac scrambled away from him making him sigh in irritation.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way child. Now come with me."
"No." she hissed back at him. Ratchet rolled up his sleeves before running forward and grabbing her again. This time he kept a strong grip on her as she kicked and squirmed, hitting his holoform in the process. He grunted in slight pain as he tried to back his way out of her room.
"Something wrong Ratchet?"
"Oh nothing. The child is just being difficult Ironhide."
"So, I see. Perhaps she needs a little more motivation to behave?" He said as he allowed enough electrical current to rip through his index digit to make a crackling sound. Hearing this, Lilac stopped still, terrified.
"Do you want me to repeat yesterday's punishment child?"
Lilac swallowed hard.
"N..N..N…No…"
"Then I strongly suggest that you behave for the medic."
Lilac whimpered quietly as her body went still. Ratchet nodded his thanks to the mech before looking at the child.
"You still have not washed or brushed your denta despite me giving you a direct order to do so."
Lilac looked at the medic nervously as he glared at her and sighed angrily. "We will have to miss your appointment child. You are to go back to your quarters and wash thoroughly. You are to brush your denta and report to me out here. Am I clear?" Lilac looked at him warily, but she saw Ironhide glaring at her and she heard another crackle of electricity. She jumped and nodded her head vigorously. Ratchet raised an optic ridge.
"Yes…"
"Yes, what youngling?" Ironhide intoned.
"Yes sir."
"Good youngling. Now go and wash for the day. I will be right here."
Quietly Lilac did as she was told. Ratchet looked to Ironhide and gave a nod of his helm in thanks before noticing something. Lilac's backpack under her bed.
XXXXX
When Lilac was finished, Ratchet instructed her to put on the spare "armor" set that Epps had given her. Not wanting to anger the medic (or Ironhide for that matter) she listened and put on the outfit gifted to her. When she exited her room the medic scanned her and nodded his helm in approval. He picked her up and walked her to the rec room where her breakfast sat. He set her down and told her to eat. She again did as she was told.
As she finished her meal, Ironhide walked into the room making her swallow hard.
"Child, because of your behavior this morning, we will not be able to make it to your appointment." The medic said sourly. Lilac quietly exhaled in relief.
"However, I was quite clear yesterday when I said that I will not tolerate ill behavior from you. For that reason, you will be completing a punishment detail with Ironhide today and tomorrow."
Lilac looked up at the two mechs pleadingly and both shook their helms at her.
"It is too late for apologies youngling. This is your consequence for your poor behavior."
"But-"
"Are you trying to argue with us?" Ironhide asked with a warning tone. Lilac sunk low in her seat with a whimper.
"No sirs…."
"Good. Then with that out of the way we should get started." Ironhide said as he picked her up from where she was sitting. Lilac's heart sank as he carried her out of the rec room and to the left, going down a series of halls she had never seen before. These halls seemed to have a lot of doors that were human sized and a few that were large enough for the bots to use. Once they were at the end of the hall Ironhide set her down and proceeded to pull supplies out of his subspace.
"Since you had so much energy to fight Ratchet with this morning, I think we should put that energy to good use. You are going to wash and wax the floors in this hallway and the next one over." Each hallway in question was 200 yards long and 43 yards wide.
"What?! That's…that's not fair! This hallway is huge!" Lilac said in horror.
"Then you should have behaved."
"But you guys weren't being fair! I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Stop your arguing and whining child."
"Bu-"
"Would you like me to make it three hallways?"
Realizing that she was stuck Lilac groaned in annoyance as she looked at the materials.
"First, you will use the brushes and this paste solvent to scrub the floors. Then you will use the mops and this liquid solvent in a 2 to 1 ratio to mop the floor. Once the floor is clean, you will use this liquid wax to polish the floor."
Lilac looked at the mech with despair as he produced a large drum filled with water.
"Get started child. I want these floors sparkling clean before the end of today."
XXXXX
Lilac was miserable. She had been scrubbing the floors by hand with a brush for hours with Ironhide as her shadow. If she missed a spot, he told her to stop and scrub it clean. If she left a streak of dirt behind, he made her go back 20 feet behind the streak and re-scrub the floor to ensure that the streak would be cleaned away. If she stopped to stretch for too long, he would growl at her to get going. He didn't seem to notice her crying as she cleaned either, or if he did he didn't seem to care.
By the time lunch came around Lilac was exhausted, and her body ached. She had scrubbed the entirety of the first hallway's floor and had just mixed the mop water when Ironhide stopped her. He delivered her to the rec room, deciding to get a ration for himself. Ratchet looked at Lilac with a curious glance as he sat down her food.
"Thank you Ratchet." She said meekly making the mech nod his helm in approval.
"You are most welcome child." He said before looking to Ironhide who smirked at him.
"I must say you are much much calmer now youngling."
"That's because she's been using her energy for something useful. I'll have her whipped into shape in no time."
Lilac internally groaned at that.
XXXXX
The moment that Lilac was done with her food Ironhide took her right back to the hall with the mop and bucket ordering her to get started. However, after half an hour the black mech explained to her that he had to go and assist the soldiers with training but that she was to remain in the hallway finishing her cleaning punishment.
"I have access to the camera systems throughout this base youngling, so don't even think about leaving this hallway unfinished. I will return when it is time again for you to refuel." He warned before walking away.
Once he was gone, Lilac took a moment to cry to herself, lamenting over how she got into such a predicament. Mindlessly she mopped until she couldn't mop anymore. Her arms were shaking, and she was out of breath. Slowly she slid down the wall she was leaning on and rested her head on her knees in exhausted anguish.
"I don't see you mopping Lilac! I want that floor sparkling clean when I return!" Ironhide's bark bounced around the hall. With a timid "eep" she got back to work discreetly looking up at the ceiling and walls for cameras and speakers. They were hard to see at first, what with all the sweat in her eyes, but sure enough they were there.
Finally she made it to the end of the hall and fell to her rear as tears came to her eyes. Ironhide walked up checking on her work before heading off to finish more of his own punishment detail.
"Hmmm. This looks good. You did not miss any spots. Now you need to wax it."
"Nooo! Please! Please no moore!" Lilac sobbed as she got on her knees and clasped her hands together.
"None of that now Lilac."
"I'm begging you please! Please don't make me wax the floor! I'll be good I promise! I'll be gooood!" she sobbed heavily. Ironhide simply frowned as he picked her up by the shirt and stepped over the floor where she most recently mopped. Silently he walked her back to the start of the hall and set her down next to the bottle of wax and the specialized mop needed to apply it.
"You should have thought of that before your antics last evening and this morning. Now I want to see this floor sparkle. You better get started, as your evening refueling session will begin soon." He said sternly as he walked off leaving her blubbering next to the mop and the wax.
XXXXX
Lilac had barely finished waxing half of the hall when Ironhide returned to take her to Ratchet for dinner. Once she was sat down she thanked the medic and hastily began eating her food.
The medic frowned as he saw this. "Slow down youngling! If you eat so quickly you will upset your stomach. And sit up straight! You will force your spine to curve unnaturally and unnecessarily if you keep sitting like that."
"Yes Ratchet. I'm sorry." She said softly as she corrected her behavior. Ratchet nodded his helm impressed.
"Very good child."
"Told you I'd get her whipped into shape."
"You most certainly did. Perhaps I should look for some common human manners. She should be behaving with a higher decorum as the child of a Prime after all."
"Do the elites of their race have separate mannerisms?"
"Perhaps…hmmm. Their internet said that youngling femmes used to go to charm, or finishing schools where they learned how to walk, eat, dress, and behave properly in society. They were also taught other skills…" Ratchet said trailing off. Lilac paled as memories from two and a half years ago began to flood her mind.
"Hmmm…perhaps we should find some of those lessons. I'm sure Prime would not want an ill-behaved young femme interacting with others to reflect poorly on him."
Lilac grew nauseous. Would Optimus send her away if she didn't act how he wanted? Would he force harsh punishments on her too?
Ratchet stopped his searching of the web and looked down to see Lilac staring into space, her eyes looking glassy.
"Perhaps I should have her return to her quarters early."
"She still has work that she needs to finish."
"Will it take her long?"
"Hmmm…I imagine not. Not with my supervision at least."
Ratchet thought for a moment before nodding his helm.
"Alright. You may take her to finish what she started, but once she is finished return her at once to her quarters. Lilac, you are to wash and brush your dentas before you recharge tonight. Do these things before you go to bed. Understood?"
Lilac was still staring blankly into space so he repeated the question.
"Is that understood child?"
"Yes Ratchet." She said back numbly. Neither bot seemed to notice.
XXXXX
Lilac finished the hall under Ironhide's diligent supervision. When he returned her to her room she walked in tiredly and went straight to the bathroom as ordered to wash up for the night. However once she left the bathroom she saw that even more of her things were missing. Most notably her backpack and her stuffed Panda.
"Wha…where?! Where's my…my stuff?"
"Ratchet and I confiscated your things. You will receive them when you can show that you can behave properly."
"My backpack! My notes! My mom's picture and Momo! What did you…where?!"
"Again, when you show that you can behave properly, you will get your things back, including your stuffed creature and backpack."
"No…no please! Please give me my backpack back! Please give me Momo and my mom's picture! Please you cant do this! Please!"
"I will come to collect you at six am tomorrow youngling. I expect you to be dressed and ready by 6:15. I also expect you to have a suitable apology for Ratchet as well. Now recharge." He ordered as he remotely shut off the lights and shut the door.
Something inside Lilac snapped. She crawled into bed defeated and depressed. With glassy eyes she sobbed into her pillow until she fell asleep.
XXXXX
The next morning Lilac woke up earlier than needed. She quickly went into her bathroom showering and brushing her teeth for the day. From there she went to her closet and put on the old clothes she was wearing when she first met Sideswipe. She pulled her hair up into a pony tail just as she heard a knock at her door.
"Youngling, time to go."
With glossy eyes and a neutral face Lilac took measured steps towards the door and opened it.
"Good morning youngling."
"Good morning Ironhide."
"Are you ready to finish your punishment detail?"
"Yes Ironhide."
"Good." The black mech said with an approving smirk as he offered his servo for her to get into. The child was far less spunky today. 'It seems our consequences are working.' He mused to himself as he strode off towards the second and final hallway that she would have to clean. Once there he set her down where she faced him directly. He quickly pulled the cleaning materials needed out of his subspace pockets and set them down before her.
"Same as yesterday youngling. First scrub with the brushes. Then mop with the 2 to 1 ratio, and finally wax with the liquid polish."
"Yes Ironhide."
"Good. You may begin." He said with a nod of his helm. Lilac started to begin the cleaning process only to slow down when her body began to throb with pain. Cautiously she looked back to see Ironhide glaring at her with narrowed optics.
"I…I'm sorry…my body hurts…"
"It seems that your frame is experiencing muscle fatigue due to your hard work yesterday."
"Yes sir."
"You will move slower, but I am confident that you will still finish this hall before day's end."
"Yes sir." Lilac said quietly as she got down on all fours and resumed scrubbing the floor.
After a while the mech left her alone, confident that she would not leave the hall. Lilac continued to mindlessly scrub the floor, working from one side of the hall to the other. She had barely finished a third of the hall when she heard the high pitched squeal of tires on the cement floor. Looking up in alarm she saw none other than Jazz come to a screeching halt just a few feet in front of her leaving behind a large black skid mark of burned rubber as he transformed.
"Heya Babyspark! What're ya doin' on the floor?"
Lilac looked at him and the floor behind him in distraught horror. Frowning he followed her eyes behind him before he truly saw what is was that she was doing.
"Why are ya scrubbin' the floor?"
Lilac was about to answer when someone behind her answered for her.
"This is her punishment for being so rude and disrespectful." Ironhide said. Lilac shrunk into herself as Jazz looked down at her again.
"Bein' rude an disrespectful? Doesn' sound like the femmlin' I been hangin with!"
"I'm sure it seems out of character to you, but I can assure you that she was indeed quite disrespectful. Disrespect and poor behavior are not things that we will tolerate are they youngling." Ironhide said as he loomed over her making her tremble in fear.
Swallowing hard, Lilac turned towards Ironhide, subtly grabbing her left wrist with her right hand and digging her nails into the skin.
"No Ironhide."
"Good youngling." Ironhide praised. Jazz stood there feeling uncomfortable. Something was way wrong with Lilac and he knew it. His question was, if Ironhide could tell.
"Well…guess ya could be right…so she's gotta wash the floors?"
"Scrub them, mop them, then wax them. This is her last hallway. Providing that she continues to behave." Ironhide added making Lilac flinch and go back to scrubbing the floor with a numb expression. Jazz's frown deepened.
"That seems kinda harsh don't ya think? Shes jus a sparklin'-"
"I believe that this is an acceptable punishment. It has done wonders to re-direct her negative behavior." Ironhide interrupted. Jazz dipped his helm in understanding before looking back to the skid marks he left behind.
"That being said, I still feel bad bout what I did to the floor. I'll grab a brush an see if I can get the marks up-"
"That will not be necessary. She is not too far along in the process. She'll simply go back and clean that part of the floor again."
"Hide, I messed up the floor. It ain't right for her to redo the work she jus did!"
"She does not mind. Do you Lilac?" Ironhide rumbled making her tremble again in fear. Silently she looked at Jazz and shook her head. "You are to respond verbally child."
"N…no…I…I…don't mind at all." She squeaked very quietly.
Jazz gave a slight nod of his helm before looking back to Ironhide. "Alrigh'. Guess I gotta get goin'. Wanna check on that satellite, make sure it's workin right." He said with a nod of his helm to the both of them.
"Light training in the armory later. Ratchet said you're clear now."
"Alrigh'. See ya then 'Hide." Jazz said as he walked off. Once he was around the corner, he allowed his face to show a grim frown. Something was very wrong with her. She was shy when he interacted with her but this was different.
She was afraid.
The mech took a short peek back around the corner, watching as Ironhide loomed over her, grunting at her that she missed a spot. She was scrubbing at his skid marks. Glaring to himself Jazz looked over the roster for the twins and Prime. He wasn't the type of mech to go over another bot's helm. But fate favored the prepared.
XXXXX
Lilac had just barely finished removing the skid marks from the floor when Ironhide picked her up and took her to breakfast. Once she was set down, she bowed to Ratchet before sitting in front of her food with a calm neutral expression. Silently she picked up her fork and began to eat at a moderated pace. Her back was ramrod straight and her ankles were delicately crossed under her chair.
Ratchet nodded his helm in approval as he observed the child.
"Very good youngling. I can tell you had a proper wash this morning. Your posture and manners have improved as well. Perhaps my earlier assessment of you was indeed correct, and you simply needed motivation to use them." He said to her with a happy nod of his helm.
"What do you say to Ratchet youngling. That was quite a nice compliment."
"Thank you Ratchet, for your compliment." She said quietly, almost robotically as she nervously made eye contact with him. He nodded his helm once more as a familiar face walked in. "Hey! There you are Lilac! I've been wondering where you were!" Sideswipe said brightly as he entered the room. Immediately he could tell that there was something wrong.
"What's going on in here?" He asked suspiciously.
"Nothing. The child is merely enjoying her morning meal." Ratchet said with a frown at the frontliner. Sideswipe raised an optic ridge, something that he picked up from Lilac during their travels. She did not at all look like he was enjoying her meal. He had eaten meals with her, and she did not look this…stiff when they were together.
"Which made me recall. Lilac, it was not easy, but I was able to schedule you another appointment at the hairdressers today. We will be leaving base at 1300 hours today so that you may have your hair properly washed and cut."
Sideswipe frowned. He looked at Lilac who was looking at Ratchet with a neutral expression.
"How kind of you to do that Ratchet. Especially after her previous reaction. What do you say Lilac?"
"Thank you Ratchet for…making me another appointment…I…I'm sorry I was being a brat before…" She said.
Sideswipe knew something was wrong. This didn't sound anything like his friend.
"Cut? But Lilac, I thought you told me that you like your hair the way it is!"
"Her hair is not healthy the way it is. Which is why she is going today to have it cut." Ratchet said simply. Sideswipe looked at her and she looked at him with the same blank expression making him frown.
"But is that what she wants? Is she choosing to do that, or are you making her?" The frontliner asked with an accusatory tone as he narrowed his optics at the two officers. He could feel in his circuits that something had happened to her, but he didn't know what.
"Well why not ask her yourself?" Ratchet said simply as he looked to the child.
"Lilac, do you really want to cut your hair?" Sideswipe asked as he kneeled down to get more on her level. "You told me that you liked your hair long on our way out here…" He added noticing that she was staring down at her plate.
"He asked you a question child." Ironhide rumbled. Sideswipe watched her look up at Ironhide before turning to look at him with a neutral smile. "It is okay Sideswipe. I…I do want to cut my hair."
"Really?" He said with dry disbelief. He watched Lilac look somewhat cautiously to Ironhide and Ratchet out of the corner of her eye.
"Ye…yeah! Its…for my own good." She said. Looking to Ratchet and Ironhide he could see their approving smiles.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Well…okay. You wanna go hang out?"
"Unfortunately Sideswipe, she is currently preoccupied with her punishment detail." Ratchet said as he looked down at her with a small disapproving look.
"You also have training with Jazz in a few breems. Perhaps if she finishes with enough time, you can "Hang out" with her before she recharges this evening." Ironhide added.
Sideswipe looked at the two with a perplexed look. Lilac hung her head, staring at her plate. She was grabbing at her left wrist, digging her nails into it.
She was hiding something. Something very wrong.
'How can she already have a punishment detail?' He wondered to himself as he watched her let go of her wrist and go back to eating.
Sideswipe wanted to argue with the two, but he knew from experience that arguing usually led to worse consequences down the line. If his hunch was right, he needed proof. As much as he hated to leave her alone, he knew that he had to.
"Okay…well I guess I'll see you later then Lilac…" He said as he left the rec room catching the heartbroken look in her eyes.
XXXXX
Ironhide and Ratchet were content that Sideswipe left without questioning their methods. The frontliner often protested his punishments, so it would make sense that he would do the same when it came to his friend.
Lilac sat slowly finishing her meal. Outwardly she was the perfect child. She did not slouch, slurp or burp. She did not speak unless spoken to. She did not argue or complain. She sat quietly. Inwardly she wept. She hoped that Sideswipe would say something to her, or better yet, pick her up and run away. But she had no such luck. She was doomed to her fate. If she spoke out, Ironhide would zap her, and then order her to clean another hallway. Ratchet could very well have her hair cut even shorter. No. Being quiet, accepting her fate was the better option. She would behave. She would be a good girl. She would not make trouble again.
No one would see behind her glossy gaze again.
A/N: As I type this 2023 is coming to an end! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! As usual I will post when I can, and I thank you for your patience! Please follow, favorite and review this story! I will be responding to review in this chapter in a bit, I simply have to update the chapter again. Also, if you all could scoot on over to Archive of our Own to help generate some momentum on this same story, including comments that would be awesome! Due to the website problems here, I am uploading my work over there now too! It helps me see what my stat actually are since I can't access them here anymore. I have already begun the process of moving this story chapter by chapter, and I will be moving the others over soon too! Of course, I'll still post here and over there so if you don't want to make the move, you won't miss out! May you all have a wonderful and safe 2024! Hope to hear from you soon!
UPDATE:
Hello Readers! Due to the fact that continues to have issues with email alerts, uploading story stats and other website errors, I will be moving all of my works over to Archive of Our Own starting December 25th, 2023. My username on there is the same as here so please do not be alarmed if you start seeing my work over there under my name! My work has NOT been stolen or plagiarized! However, if you do see my work under a different name on AOE, , or anywhere else, please let me know as it may have been stolen or plagiarized. It has happened before sadly on Wattpad! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to writing and posting more!