Optimus Prime's View:

There were times when I disliked being a Prime and this was one of those times. I had to report to Central Command about Sideways, but that meant reporting Starlit as well. The moment they heard of her glitch, she'd be unqualified to do anything but be a maintenance bot for the rest of her life. I knew she was more than that; she was brilliant and had a talent for building and fixing just about anything.

I also couldn't reveal that Prowl and Starlit's Sire was a 'Con. They'd both be taken in for questioning that would definitely reveal Starlit's problem.

I sighed and hesitated calling them, knowing Sentinel would most likely be the one to answer. There was no way he'd listen to reason.

"Can't make the call, can ya?" I was startled by Ratchet's voice. I delayed answering in case anyone was in audio range. "It's just you and me Prime. Bee's on patrol, Bulkhead is at the tower and Starlit's training with Prowl. You and I both know that idiot won't listen." He tilted his head towards the screen.

"I know...but I have to report what happened."

"You don't have to report everything…" the old medic smirked. I sighed. "In fact you don't have to report anything if you don't want to."

"You and I know we'd be in hot water if they ever found out the truth. I can't lie…"

"But you can bend the truth." Ratchet jumped in and shook his head. "It's up to you, Optimus." He crossed his arms and stayed quiet when I hit the enter key to call Command.

"What is it now Optimus?" My old teammates angry voice came in before the screen flickered on to show his angry face filling the screen. We needed to get that fixed…

"We need to report a Decepticon incident. Sideways…"

"Sideways?! Never heard of him. You just making up names now Prime? We got them all last time we came." He cut me off. Actually Lockdown caught some of the left of Starscream clones, Blitzwing, Lugnut and Swindle, who'd been in stasis lock for a while. Besides that, they had all escaped capture...under his watch.

"There was one we couldn't track. He may have been working with Lockdown to avoid capture." I was already tired of listening to him. "That doesn't matter now. Sideway's was taken offline."

"You're supposed to capture them not kill them Optimus!" He growled.

"I know, it was...an accident. He fell into an iron vat. He intended to use them on us but luckily wasn't able to. He was here after Starlit. Apparently he wanted to reprogram her and use her against us." This got Sentinel's attention. "He succeeded, but we were able to bring her back. She will be ok after some time, but the 'Cons seem to be experimenting with reprogramming bots." I left out as much as I could, but I knew he'd ask why Sideways would want her.

"Thanks for the intel, we'll keep an audio out for anything more about it." He said and cut the call. I was stunned. He didn't ask his usual amount of questions about a situation.

"Well that was easy…" Ratchet spoke up again when he knew it was safe.

"Yeah...I wasn't expecting that." It had me worried that he knew something I didn't.

"For now count it as a blessing. Her secret is safe and Prowl's along with it. Hopefully we can gain a little bit of control over her problem before they come back."

"I hope so, for her sake."

Starlit's View:

The glitches seemed to be getting worse. Prowl and I were in the middle of a training match when suddenly my vision went to static and a conversation I had with Jazz flashed before my optics. Next thing I know I'm flat on my aft on the floor with Prowl hovering over me, asking if I'm ok.

"I'm fine…" It came off angrier than I meant.

"What was it this time?" He asked as he helped me up. At least he didn't yell at me for lashing out.

"It...was just Jazz and me talking." I shrugged. There wasn't more to it than that, even I don't know why my processor brought it up. "Why would my processor bring up a pointless conversation?"

"You have to remember there really isn't a reason. You processor is merely purging them in a random order."

"I wish it would stop…" I muttered, but Prowl heard it.

"I wish I could stop it, but I can't. I can try to help you work through them but…" He

trailed off.

I knew there was no cure, I was slagged and doomed to be a glitch the rest of my

lifecycle. I could wish all I wanted, but there was nothing to be done for a damaged memory processor.

"You can still do what you want to do." Prowl said putting a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to stop pursuing engineering. You don't have to…"

"I know I can do what I want, but others will stop me, Prowl…" I stopped him. "They'll only see me as a glitch." He didn't say anything because he knew it was true. Especially now that Sentinel was running things. While I was reprogrammed, apparently Ultra Magnus was attack and now the big chinned glitch head was acting magnus.

"Star...you're not a glitch."

"Yes I am!" I yelled. "I can't remember what I did yesterday because my processor was to busy purging useless memories! Just now I couldn't even block you! I know what I am Prowl, but you apparently can't accept it!" I had had enough of everyone telling me it was ok.

"You're right." He said after a click. "You do have a glitch, but you're not a glitch. You're clever, but you're processor acts up from time to time." He put a hand on the back of my helm and pushed out forhelms together. "But you're not a glitch." I understood what he meant. My glitch didn't make me who I was, it was just a part of me, a part of me I couldn't control. I closed my optics and felt coolant run down my cheek.

"I…" I couldn't think of what to say. He pulled away after wiping my tear away.

"You may not be able to control it yet, but you'll get there. I'll do my best to train you in processor of matter to help you hold them off, but it's not a cure. They will still come, but you may be able to hold them off till you get to a safe place." He motioned for me to come sit with him by the base of the tree. "Close your optics and clear you mind." He guided me to a meditative state.

The memories took the chance now that my optics were closed to flash clips in a rapid fashion. I focused on the sound of the wind and they slowed after a click or two. Prowl's calming voice then told me to feel the energy around me and try to focus that energy to one point of focus. For now, he wanted me to focus on clearing my mind to the point where not even the memories were bleeding through. Like him, I hummed to focus and soon the rooms usual silence was filled with soft hums.

It was working. The more I focused on clearing my mind, the slower and less frequent the fragments came. Before I knew it they were gone, at least for now. It was a start at least and I felt relaxed again.

Both of us jumped when Prowl's private computer went off. It was a call from the Elite Guard, the symbol on the screen giving it away. Prowl went over and answered the call and Jazz appeared on the screen.

"Jazz, what's wrong?" Prowl asked. From my spot by the tree I could see Jazz's worried face clearly.

"You free to talk, privately?" He gestured towards me. Whatever it was, this was serious.

"Starlit, I must cut this training short. We'll continue later this afternoon." Prowl was short with me, but I knew he was worried about whatever Jazz had to say.

Prowl's View:

Once Starlit was out of the room, I turned back to the worried image of my bonded.

We were too far apart for him to tell me what was wrong over our bond, and we promised each other we wouldn't call unless absolutely necessary. In his line of work, being bonded was a huge risk and wasn't really allowed. Jazz had the Magus' approval of course, but not Sentinel's. He could force Jazz to terminate our bond, but thankfully he didn't know.

"Prowl...I-I don't know what to say...or how to so I'm just gonna say it. I'm sparked." His words to a moment to sink in.

"Y-you mean…?" I was so shocked I was at a loss for words too.

"I've known for a few weeks but I couldn' sneak away ta tell you till now." Jazz smiled. "I'm worried about SP findin' out…"

Not only could Sentinel force us to terminate a bond, but our sparkling would be taken away as well. If our bond breaking didn't cause it to offline, they'd take it after birth to be raised away from their "defective creators."

"How far along are you?" my voice was calm, but inside I was excited and scared and...so many emotions I couldn't describe.

"Long enough I'm just startin' to show. Luckily he hasn't caught on yet but it's a matta of time." Jazz was scared and I could do nothing for him. "The twins have asked, but I haven't told them, least they let it slip…Just told them they're seeing things, but they're not stupid. They'll catch on soon if they haven't already."

"What can I do?" I asked, hoping he'd give me an answer, but I knew he was just as lost as I was.

"Prowler, I love you, but you know as well as I there ain't much to do. I'm gonna try my best to stay low, but SP is really getting on my last nerve. It's crazy here, baby. He's got everyone so paranoid...it's not the Cybertron I want to raise our bitlit on…"

"There is a way here. Bulkhead and Ratchet have been working on a space bridge. It will be operational soon. Can you hold on till then?"

"I'll do my best. Send the coordinates when it's ready. It ain't safe here, even with SP's crazy laws in place."

"I will, Jazz. Please be careful." We exchanged our final goodbyes and ended the transmission before the Sentinel could trace the call.

My processor was reeling over what Jazz said. I'm going to be a Sire...But would I be better than my own? I didn't know the first thing about sparklings...

Starlit's View:

The base was quiet save for Optimus tapping away on the monitor station. He was seeing if any camaras picked up any 'Con activity on Earth. Apparently the 'Cons had escaped capture and made their home base on the Earth's moon now. They were up to something, but so far we weren't sure what.

Ratchet had left and joined Bulkhead were at Sumdac Tower working on a space bridge. Bulkhead let me see the design specks but I wasn't sure what it all meant. His handwriting was...bad but from what I could read it was a ground station made for long distance transportation. Something looked off but I'd never seen a space bridge before so I assumed it was fine. Little did I know there was a number off that caused the space bridge to transport things at random. They were trying to find Omega Supreme, which I was told was a war hero and was also the teams old space ship.

I wanted to ask Optimus if I could join Bee on patrol but I knew the answer. "You're not ready. You could glitch out there! Bee speeds and what if bla bla bla…" I sighed, not realizing how loud it was and alerted the red and blue mech I was around.

"What's wrong, Starlit?" I couldn't tell him about Prowl's illegal comm to Jazz.

"Just bored…" I said and walked towards him, curious to see what he found. "Find any 'Cons?"I turned the chair around and sat in it backwards, resting my hands on the back of the chair and laying my head on my hands.

"Nothing. They've been away for too long and we have no way of tracking them…" He always made it sound like the 'Cons rising was his fault somehow.

"We'd need to have an in to figure that out…" I thought out loud.

"And we don't have one as of now." He sighed. "I thought you were training with Prowl. Did...something happen?" Optimus implied I had glitched.

"No, actually it's helping." Now that I thought of it, I hadn't glitched in about thirty clicks! A record. "Prowl…" I stopped myself. "Said we should stop for now so I don't get overwhelmed." I lied. I wondered if it sounded as fake as it felt.

"Well, it's good it's working then." Optimus didn't seem to catch on, but knowing him he already knew. "Did Prowl call Jazz or did Jazz call him?" Slag he was good…

"How did you.."

"I can see who's using their communicator from here." He smirked and turned to me.

"Jazz called." I sighed. "He sounded pretty urgent but Prowl kicked me out." I fessed up; it was better than having him pry it out. He would drone on and on about truth and how valuable it was just to get me to talk!

"Primus what could be going on now?" Prime said to himself. "You didn't catch anything?" I shook my head.

"They were really quiet till they knew I was gone." At that moment Prowl walked in. He looked dazed but weirdly happy. "Prowl?" I got up and went to him.

"I'm fine...Optimus, I need to tell you something. This cannot leave this room." Prowl looked right at me.

"What is it, Prowl?" Our Prime asked.

"Jazz and I are bonded and are expecting a sparkling." Prowl said bluntly. Optimus sputtered at this but didn't really say anything at first. I was just in shock.

"H-how long have you been keeping this secret?! I...do you need time off or...Prowl why would you keep this from me?" Optimus was flustered but didn't seem too angry.

"I'm sorry, it's protocol when you bond an Elite Guard to keep it secret from everyone except the Magnus. I should have told you sooner but it wasn't till now that it became apparent we couldn't keep it quiet much longer. I don't know what to do, but if Sentinel finds out...you know what could happen."

I watched them exchange a look but I didn't understand what was going on. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"He could force us to terminate our bond and give up our sparkling." Prowl's tone was cold.

"You mean...take it offline?" Prowl's visor went dim for a moment, I felt a bit of his anger through our sibling bond.

"Sometimes that does happen..but we won't let it happen to you and Jazz. As soon as the space bridge is up, I'll go in with you and we can retrieve him." Optimus promised. "Starlit, not even Bumblebee can know this." I looked to the floor. I could keep secrets just fine, but the glitch might not. It hadn't happened yet, but I could talk during a memory purge without knowing. I had mumbled something once but Prowl couldn't make it out so it wasn't a big deal, but now...I could blow it.

"I won't tell." I promised. I would keep it the best I could.

Thankfully I was finally allowed out of the base the next day! I couldn't take it anymore. The stress of trying not to have a memory purge caused me to have them whenever I worried, and the last one I did say something to Bee. Thankfully the purge had been about my sparklinghood so it didn't matter. Apparly I called him creator...well I had been looking past him but thankfully the tell for my memory glitch is my optics turning white for a nano click. I was teased for it of course…

Ratchet let me go out but I had to stay with him, which meant I went to Sumdac tower with him. I spent the morning listening to him complain about Bulkhead's writing skills.

""How the slag can you read that?! His penbotship is horrible!" Ratchet yelled at me after I read to him what a note said. I threw it behind me and walked away before I lost it.

I walked towards the other side of the roof and looked over the city. It was pretty from up here. You could see almost all of it and in the morning light, it was beautiful. A ping rang through my audio alerting me I was receiving a transmission.

"This is Starlit." I answered.

"It's Bee, where are you?" He sounded excited.

"With Ratchet working on the space bridge..." I sighed.

"Come down! Sari and I are gonna go scouting."

"I'll try to get out of here...be down soon." I whispered. I doubt he'd notice if I snuck off. I'd take the yelling later, right now I just wanted out of here!

Bee, Sari and I ended up cruising around the city blasting music and stopping just to hang out. We hadn't done this is a while and it felt nice to do something normal. We stopped to get ice cream for Sari and were in a parking lot when Bulkhead called Bee in a panic.

"Have you seen Stalit!?" I could hear it through Bee's audio.

"Slag Bulkhead, not so loud!" Bee chided him. "She's with me, why? She's fine! Wait...slow down what are you talking about? Space bridge...ok. Jazz is back!?" I gasped in excitement. "We'll be right there!" I had already transformed and was ready to go.

The moment we entered, Ratchet tore into us. Called Bee irresponsible and me an idiot for going off like that. Had I glitched it could have been dangerous for drivers. I know, that's why Sari rode me...but we won't tell them that.

"Why let me out if you're gonna trap me on top of a tower while you work on a space bridge? You wouldn't even let me help, not only that you yelled any time I talked." I crossed my arms. "I didn't go out on my own, just like you told me. So I didn't break your rules."

"Ok now, let's all chill. No one's hurt, but Star you shoulda let Ratchet know at least." Jazz said from beside Prowl. I hadn't been able to see him around Ratchet. I hadn't seen him in so long, it took me a click to notice that he was just starting to show he was carrying. Ratchet mumbled in anger but let it go.

Jazz opened his arms as I ran to him, knowing I was going to hug him.

"Hey Sta'!" He laughed as we embraced. "How ya been."

Prowl's view:

After the excitement settled down and everyone settled in for the night, Jazz and I were finally alone. I laid my audio against the small bump and listened to the soft spark beat. My own spark swelled with love, which transferred to Jazz to the sparkling. He chuckled.

"They love you too…" Jazz smiled. "You'll be able to talk to them soon. Their spark isn't quite strong enough yet, but it'll get there." He took a hold of my hand and guided it to his abdomen. The bump was just above the red triangle on his abdomen but it would soon too swell as the protoform grew.

"Jazz...I-I can't express how happy I am." I said through our bond

"Me too...but slag it couldn't be at a worse time.." The black and white bot confessed. "Are we gonna be able to provide for them?"

I sat up and kissed his helm. "We will, you don't need to worry about a thing." But I worried about the same thing. Jazz and Ratchet explained what happened to them, that a Femme, Arcee, was taken by the 'Cons and they now possibly had some intel they could use, and we had no idea where they were. This could mean the end for us and it was a start to a new war. I wouldn't tell him, but I worried one of us wouldn't be there for our sparkling.

Please R&R