Chapter 32: Back Home
Ten years. That's how long we spent in hiding with the Circle of Light. I could never express how grateful I was to them for housing us and their understanding when certain facts came out about me and my family—and their willingness to help me confirm those facts to alleviate my uncertainties. And the fact Dai Atlas and Wing had agreed not to spread that information when they found out, understanding my feelings about it all.
Now, after all that time of honing my EM field manipulation, my skill with my Shard, and my fighting skills—which included my portals to a degree—and, of course, spending as much time as possible just spending time with Ratchet and building our relationship, we were ready to go back home.
"Thank you," I said sincerely to both Dai Atlas and Wing as we stood near the entrance to New Crystal City. "For everything."
"You are welcome," Dai Atlas nodded. "The three of you are welcome back anytime. You are of us now, after all. Carry your swords with pride."
My wings lifted a little, feeling a little bit of pride for being seen as one of them. My skills had definitely improved with my training under Wing and I certainly felt better prepared to be in the middle of a war than I had since I'd begun my Cybertronian journey. Ten years of focused training would do that, I suppose. There was still a level of uncertainty, of anxiety, but it was not nearly on the same mind crushing level as before.
"Are you sure you don't wish any of us to go with you?" Wing asked.
"I am certain," I replied, smirking in amusement. "You know where and when to find us if you ever wish to join us or simply visit."
"Indeed," Dai Atlas said, tone saying he still harbored no desire to change his status as a neutral. "Good luck in your fight against Unicron. We will listen for word of his defeat."
"I'll make sure to let you know when all is well," I assured. "Do not stress in the meantime. We will be returning to our time with plenty of time to handle it."
Drift nodded his agreement.
"And remember, Shade'," Wing said. "Do not let your brother bully you into doing anything you do not wish to do. If he tries to manipulate you again, stand up for yourself as your Prime already told you you can."
"You got it," I said, shooting him a finger gun, much to his amusement.
"Thank you, Ratchet, for your work with our medics while here," Dai Atlas said, addressing my intended. "Your skills have only sharpened in all these years. It is good to see."
"Just doing my job," Ratchet said gruffly.
"And remember what I told you about that potential problem," I added, shifting a wing slightly, uncertain if it qualified as meddling in time, but needing them to be prepared. Technically I was fixing a problem caused by Shockwave meddling in my processor, just like my leading the bots to artifacts.
"We'll be prepared if anyone should come knocking on our door at that time," Dai Atlas assured me. "We do have some protocols you don't know about."
"Good," I said, obvious relief in my voice.
We traded a few more words before saying a final goodbye. Then we left the city to exit the shielding to where I could open my portals—they had allowed their use within for me to hone my skills, but now that we were leaving they had tightened their security to be safe.
Solarcharge stood with the others as they waited. It was a week after Shadebreaker and the others had left as far as they knew, but it was the agreed upon time for them to return. Whether for more supplies or because they had gotten to a point in their Shard mastery they felt good enough to come back.
He still wasn't happy they had gone away, outside of his influence and grasp. Still, if she was back back now he may still have plenty of time—a month—to gain her trust before this was over. He may have to adjust his tactics a little bit, but he still had time. Not everyone had mastered their Shard yet. And, if he was careful, he may have some time after as well. Though he'd prefer not to linger once the temporary truce between the factions ended.
A portal opened, interrupting his thoughts, and he looked over at it from observing the others who were waiting to meet her.
Drift and Ratchet came through first, followed closely by Shadebreaker.
Immediately Solarcharge took notice of the fact she held herself with more confidence, and more armor had been added to her wings as well. Another thing that stood out to him was the fact she looked happy upon greeting the Autobots.
"Welcome back, fembot," Chromia said with a smile, accepting the hug from her.
"Thank you, it is good to be back," Shadebreaker said, even as shifted to give Ironhide a hug.
"You look like the trip did you well," Ironhide said gently. "How long was it for you?"
"Ten years," Shadebreaker replied. "I'll have stories to share." A sparkle flashed across her visor.
"I imagine," Ironhide said, sounding amused.
"You and Ratch' get bonded while away?" Chromia asked in teasing tones.
Shadebreaker chuckled, wings making shy motions. "No, not yet," she said. "We've been talking more about it, however. It's probably not too far off."
"They grow up so fast," Ironhide pretended to lament.
"You didn't even know me when I was a child," Shadebreaker said, clearly amused.
"You're my apprentice, good as, fembot," Ironhide gruffed.
Shadebreaker chuckled fondly, then turned to Optimus as the mech finished a short conversation with Ratchet.
Solarcharge frowned as he watched Shadebreaker greet the Autobot leader with pleasant tones and familiar motions. It was clear she had missed her Autobot friends while away. He would have to take her bonds into account when considering how to broach certain subjects with her when the time came.
"Welcome back from your trip," he said when she finally had greeted all her friends. "I hope it was pleasant and beneficial."
"It was," Shadebreaker replied, a hint of guardedness in her tone. "I have mastered my Shard entirely. As has Drift."
Solarcharge nodded. He was not surprised to hear Drift had mastered his Shard, since he'd been nearly there when they had left. "You said you were away for ten years?" He asked.
Shadebreaker nodded, watching him.
"I see," Solarcharge said. "Well, I am glad you were able to master your Shard." He still thought he would have pushed her to do so faster, but what was done was done.
"As am I," Shadebreaker said. "How goes training everyone else?"
"More progress has been made since you left," Solarcharge said. "We are not yet ready to face Unicron, however."
He wasn't certain, but he thought he saw a smug look cross his sister's face for just a moment before it disappeared.
"I would've been surprised if we were," Shadebreaker said simply. "Given how little you have worked with Megatron."
"He'll get caught up," Solarcharge said. "He's already moved into the power storing phase. Granted, he just made it there, so we will see how quickly he grasps it."
"It will work out one way or another," Shadebreaker said, shifting a wing thoughtfully.
Solarcharge wondered if she would take Megatron on a trip of his own if he failed to master his Shard on time. If she really thought that would be safe. He narrowed his optics at her, but before he could say anything more her attention was grabbed by the arrival of Bumblebee and Jazz and she split away from him to greet them with a huge grin.
Optimus moved to watch her with him. "I hope you have seen that perhaps you do not understand as much as you think," he said.
"Hm, perhaps," Solarcharge said, shifting a wing in a conceding motion.
Optimus pat his shoulder before moving away again.
Solarcharge shifted a wing slightly as he watched Shadebreaker interact with her friends, calculations running through his processor.
I sighed deeply in contentment as I looked out over the ocean, pedes submerged in the water. "It's good to be home again," I said.
"Indeed," Drift agreed. "Though I get the feeling your brother is very unhappy that we ever left."
"I got that feeling from him as well," I agreed. "But he can get over it. I accomplished the goal of mastery of my Shard. He should be satisfied. My mastery of my Shard is what he wanted."
"I get the feeling that is not all he wants from you," Drift said, glancing over his shoulder.
I glanced back to see what he was looking at, but saw nothing. My wings shifted, but picked up no more energies from bots besides himself and the Praxians—Bluestreak and Bumblebee—building a sandcastle a little ways off, having come to the beach with us to relax. Perhaps he'd merely been checking, since he'd been lurking wherever I was for so long.
"I mean," I said. "If he wants some kind of relationship with me, he needs to be less manipulative than he was before we left." I knelt and plucked a large hermit crab up from where it was stuck on a rock under the water. I gently set it on the other side of the rock from where it had started. "And less stalker-y."
"I doubt he has changed his character over the course of a week," Drift said. "I know Optimus had a talk with him, however, so we'll just have to wait and see."
"Indeed," I agreed. "But let us focus on other things. This is down time, after all."
Drift nodded. "Shall we help the Praxians with their sandcastle?"
"Yee," I said, grinning.
We moved back away from the water and joined the two Praxians in their castle building. It turned out they were trying to replicate a building from the original Crystal City. It was interesting to see it compared to what we'd seen in New Crystal City.
We built the sand castle with them for the next couple hours, laughing and telling stories. They were pleased to hear that I had gotten to see something of Cybertronian origin while we were away.
After completing the sandcastle, we took pictures of it and then lounged around for a while before departing for the showers. One didn't spend a while at the beach without having to stop by the showers to rinse off the sand and salt water. It was still always a nice time, however.
"Shadebreaker," Solarcharge greeted me later after having found me once again.
It was a chance encounter where I was alone while I was in transit after leaving Drift to go to the training grounds and I had been intending to go to the medbay to check in with Springer, who'd gotten back from a mission injured while we'd been away. Which was weird, given the fact we were at a truce.
"Solarcharge," I greeted neutrally. I tried not to be obvious about the fact I was looking for the bot that was meant to be accompanying him. "What's up?"
"I wish to show you something," Solarcharge said. "If you'd be willing to come with me off base for a little bit."
I shifted a wing. "I am not supposed to go off base without permission," I said.
"I have already gotten permission from Optimus," Solarcharge replied.
I raised an optic ridge and shot a comm to the Prime to ask the validity of this statement. I got a response back almost immediately in the negative, followed by a message letting me know Solarcharge had just informed the Prime of his intention to take me off base to show me something, but he'd have me back before he'd need me.
"Let me tell you one thing, Solarcharge," I said, crossing my arms. "Lying to me is not going to get you whatever you want from me. And I will always find out, even if not immediately."
Solarcharge shifted, pausing. "I was getting permission," he said.
I shook my helm. "One, you told me you had it already, so don't go changing your story cause you got caught." I said, placing a hand on my hip. "And two, you were telling Optimus that you were taking me off base. That is not getting permission, that is assuming you have it and he will not deny it simply because you are presenting it like you are doing it whether he grants you permission or not. That's called manipulation. And it's at least the third time that I know of you have utilized a manipulation tactic since being here. I don't appreciate such things either."
I flicked a wing and turned to leave. I was about to comm Prowl to inquire where Solarcharge's "bodyguard" was when he spoke again.
"I just wish to show you something our mother would've wanted you to see," Solarcharge said, stepping forward with one pede and tone earnest.
I clenched my fists. That sounded dangerously close to a guilt trip. I shifted my wings slightly. It was not fair of him to bring something of our mother in when I had no chance to ask her anything myself without time travel trickery. And we both knew how risky that would be after he'd already confirmed she never met me—any version of me—as an adult.
"I will bring you right back, I promise," Solarcharge said. "We need you against Unicron, after all."
I tilted my helm to look back at him, narrowing my optics behind my visor. He sounded sincere in his words, though he still could handle my Shard himself and I had no way how he had convinced Megatron to put up with having his weapons locked down to train among his enemies. For all I knew, this could be a trap. He wasn't a Decepticon, but he wasn't an Autobot either. Who knew what kind of deals he would make?
Vector had already given me to one Decepticon. Who says Solarcharge wouldn't give me to another?
"You'll like what it is, I promise," Solarcharge said, smiling encouragingly.
I sighed heavily, seeing he wouldn't give up until I agreed. "I will go on one condition," I said.
"What's that?" Solarcharge asked.
"We don't go alone," I said, even as I got a confirmation from Optimus that he'd send Elita with me, given Drift was otherwise occupied with training with Chromia right now. He himself was in a meeting so he couldn't go, and Ironhide was in the same meeting.
Solarcharge showed no visible reaction, but I could sense from his energy that he wasn't particularly thrilled. "This is a family matter," he said.
"And these bots are my family," I said, right wing flicking at that phrase. That phrase that had been used by my own human mother, who I loved dearly but was not perfect, to tell me not to talk to anyone about my struggles with anyone within the family. That phrase so often used by abusers that it made me question my whole childhood at one point. It was a painful phrase. One I did not trust.
"I will not go if you do not accept this condition," I said. "You aren't even supposed to be wandering base alone, anyways. Sure like treading thin ice, huh?" I brushed my shoulders clear of imaginary dirt.
Solarcharge stared at me for a moment before making a conciliatory motion with his hands. "Very well," he said. "Who do you wish to accompany us?"
"Elita will be accompanying us, seeing as how my bodyguard and Optimus are both busy," I said. "She will be here shortly."
"So be it," Solarcharge said, bowing his helm, seeing I was leaving no room for argument.
"Do I get any details about this thing you are showing me?" I asked to pass the time while we waited for Elita to arrive.
"It's more of a place than a thing," Solarcharge replied. "The rest, you will see when we get there."
I shifted a wing, uncertain. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to go anywhere with this mech who seemed to make a habit out of lying and ignoring rules. I had confirmed his story about my being Cybertronian originally, but that was the only thing we really knew for certain he wasn't lying about. Beyond the whole Shard control stuff.
We're really risking the whole universe on whether he's telling us the truth of how to deal with Unicron, I thought dryly. Though I see no reason why he would want to follow the World Eater. And the murals seem to concur with him.
Elita arrived before I could ask him if he had plans for after Unicron was dealt with. That was ok. I could ask him later. When he was in a better mood, maybe.
"Hello Elita," I greeted warmly, smiling when she transformed and walked up.
She smiled in return. "Shadebreaker," she greeted. "Welcome back. It is good to see you made it back in one piece."
I bowed my helm slightly in acknowledgement of her words. "It is good to be back," I said, a bit meaningfully with a slight glance toward Solarcharge.
"Where are we off to, now?" Elita asked, though I was fairly sure Optimus had told her everything I had told him.
"Solarcharge wishes to show me something," I replied.
"You do not need to come with, if you are busy, however," Solarcharge said, clearly trying one more angle to get me to go alone with him.
"Nonsense," Elita said, waving this off. "No Autobot is to leave base without another Autobot accompanying them at any time." She explained. "I am afraid, you are quite stuck with me. That is. Unless you'd rather wait for Ironhide or Chromia."
Solarcharge physically flinched. "That's ok," he said. "This will suffice."
I blinked and watched Solarcharge move away before leaning toward Elita slightly. "What happened while I was gone?" I whispered.
"I'll tell you later," Elita whispered back with a sparkle in her optics.
"Are you coming?" Solarcharge asked over his shoulder, a wing shifting.
"Don't get your gears all ground up, we're coming," I said, resisting the urge to roll my optics. Honestly, dude interrupted my day and he's the impatient one.
He waited for us to step up behind him before lifting a hand and opening a portal in front of him. Then he waved us through.
I looked at him for a moment and without missing a beat, linked my arm with Elita's so he didn't have a chance of causing her to be left behind without making it blatantly obvious he left her behind on purpose.
Elita seemed to immediately understand my intent, because she just placed a hand delicately on my arm and walked through with me as if we were walking regally into courtroom, helms both held high.
Once through the portal, I was slightly distracted by the awe I felt by the structure we were in. It was clearly of Cybertronian make and also very much under water. My optics tracked alien ocean life as it passed by domed glass as Solarcharge came through the portal behind us and closed it.
"What is this place?" I asked quietly as I released Elita's arm now that the risk of him throwing her back through was lower. Not that it was gone, or even that I thought he absolutely could, but I digress.
"Home," Solarcharge replied, moving to a wall and hitting a switch that turned some lights on.
I turned my optics from the ocean creatures—all of which seemed to have some kind of bioluminescence to them—to the architecture of the building itself. The ceiling wasn't all windows into the water, much of it a boring metallic gray. The walls not covered by windows were that same gray color, but were painted along the bottom half with swirls of color and different pictures were hung along the walls.
There was a living room area that took up a good portion of space, as well as a connected kitchen area. A hallway led the way to other areas.
"Mom set this place up before I was even born," Solarcharge said. "It's undetectable by scanners."
"So…you wanted to show me where you live?" I asked cautiously, wings shifting and frame tensing. Undetectable. If he disabled my portals, and incapacitated us, he could keep us here, hidden, for who knows how long. Why had I let him bring us here?
I shared a look with Elita and could tell she was thinking the same as I. That we may have to be prepared for a fight here.
"Yes and no," Solarcharge said. He motioned toward the couches. "If you would wait here, I will return shortly with what I brought you here for."
Raising an optic ridge, I moved toward the couches with Elita, still feeling very much on edge. "I'm really second guessing humoring him on this," I murmured to her as soon as he was out of hearing range.
"I understand," Elita said softly. "But I believe we could take him together if we need to."
I nodded in agreement as we took a seat on one of the couches.
"Why don't you tell me a little bit about what you did while away? Was it all training?" Elita asked.
"A good bit of it," I replied. "Not just with the Shard, but also in combat and also with my portals. We ended up with the Circle of Light, actually. My combats skills got a great deal of training with them."
Elita's optics brightened. "You met the Circle? Was Dai Atlas still their leader?"
"In the timeframe we visited, yes," I nodded my helm. "I take it, you know him?"
Elita nodded her helm softly. "He was often at the events I would have to attend as a femme in one of the high castes," she answered. "He was a prominent figure in pre-war Cybertron. He shared the idea that the caste system was flawed, however, he was unwilling to join the war when Megatron refused to seek a peaceful means of change alongside Optimus."
"I gathered that much," I replied, feeling some sadness enter my hidden optics. "He still holds to those anti-war sentiments. They didn't stop him from allowing us to stay with them, however. And he didn't stop Wing from training Drift and I with the swords. By the end, he even accepted Drift and I into the fold. Ratchet is an honorary member as well, I believe, though he does not carry a sword."
"I'm impressed," Elita said, smiling softly. "You will have to show me what you learned sometime. And explain how you got Dai Atlas to accept a couple Autobots into the Circle of Light."
I grinned a little bit at that. "I will be glad to tell you the story." I said. "I also spent a good deal of time socializing with Drift and Ratchet. Went on quite a few dates with Ratchet while there, and enjoying the time we had together."
"I'm glad," Elita said softly. "I know it was hard for you to open yourself up to that relationship."
I nodded. "It was," I said quietly. "But I'm glad I did. He's a good mech, if a little rough around the edges. I can be a little rough myself, so…it works out."
"You two talk about whether you're going to bond yet?" Elita asked gently.
"We've talked more about it," I replied. "I don't think it's super far off. Not quite ready yet. We wanna deal with Unicron first, before doing that."
"Is that what both of you want?" Elita asked.
I nodded. "For different reasons, but yeah," I said softly. "We're gonna revisit the topic afterwards, see where we are. It's less of a lack of commitment and more of a…I didn't want us to bond beforehand, go off to face Unicron, die in the process and leave him with that pain and then he didn't want to bond beforehand and have me be navigating more new things that are kinda distracting while dealing with the World Eater."
"That's understandable," Elita said, giving me a look of understanding. "I've met some bots who don't even want to get bonded to someone until the war is entirely over."
"I suppose I can understand that," I said, tilting my helm with a frown. "But I think that errs too much on letting fear control your life."
"I can understand both sides," Elita said softly. "It's not dissimilar to you not wanting to leave Ratchet with the pain of immediately losing you to Unicron had you bonded while away."
"I suppose," I said, tilting my helm. "But even outside of war, one could get bonded and then get, um," I paused, thinking. Getting hit by a car didn't quite have the same impact on a Cybertronian. "Stabbed by a brigand?"
Elita chuckled delicately at my uncertain statement. "I get your meaning," she assured me. "But by that logic, why wait until after Unicron is dealt with to bond with Ratchet?"
"Partially because of his reasons existing," I shrugged slightly. "With his reasons, those reasons were more likely. It became a statistical analysis a bit for me. And there are more talks we need to have before actually doing it. Like whether we wanna do a ceremony or not."
"I see," Elita said, optics sparkling. "Some Cybertronians do, but it's not something we all do."
"Did you and Optimus have one?" I asked curiously, glancing slightly toward the hallway as I wondered how long Solarcharge would be.
"We had a small one," Elita replied. "High caste bots usually have extravagant ceremonies, but we were at the height of the war, so we could only do a small one with our closest friends. I think we both preferred it that way anyways."
"That does sound more appealing to me than extravagance myself," I said drily.
"Chromia and Ironhide forewent the ceremony altogether," Elita said with some humor.
"Why am I not surprised?" I asked, smirking a bit.
"We did hold a little party for them after, though," Elita said fondly.
"Naturally," I chuckled.
Finally, Solarcharge reappeared coming down the hallway and I shifted in a way that indicated his return to Elita and she shifted her attention. He was carrying a box in his hands and I raised an optic ridge as he moved toward the couches and sat the box down on the table that sat between the two couches.
"I had a couple things to give you from our mother," Solarcharge said. "But, unfortunately, I have lost the datapad she had given me."
My wings shifted as something in his tone felt off. I wasn't sure why, though, since there was no proof and no way of knowing for certain on the truthfulness of his words at this time. It could simply be my distrust of him between my intuition about him and the lies up to this point.
"But I do still have this," he waved at the decently sized box before him as he stood opposite the table from where Elita and I sat. Then he sat down across from us. "I hope it can serve as a peace offering. I know we haven't seen optic to optic since I came into your life and I'm sorry for that, but I am just trying to get us through this trial, I really am."
I considered him for a moment. His tone still sounded off somehow, but he seemed like he was trying at least. Perhaps he had simply not been taught better? Who knew what our mother had and had not know about relationships? I mean, she'd been mated to our father, after all. And I wasn't sure if I was reading his tone well.
"I see," I said neutrally. I reached out toward the box and flipped the clasps open. I glanced up at my brother to see his encouraging nod and shared a look with Elita before flipping it open. Then I took a sharp intake of air of surprise.
Sitting inside the box was a beautifully crafted bow. It was black and deep purple in color—a darker purple than that of my armor. The shape was intricate and clearly meant to be effective and efficient for its purpose. Sitting alongside it was a quiver painted in the same colors with some arrows stocked within.
"Our mother's bow and quiver," Solarcharge explained as I ran a hand over it in slight awe, wings shifting. "She used to talk about wanting to teach you when we found you. I never quite took to it, you see. I prefer other weapons."
My wings shifted slightly. I could not deny that I had always liked the idea of using a bow and arrow. However, it did not feel like now was the time to add yet another weapon and new thing to learn. Maybe some other time. I could hold onto it until then. Or pass it on someday and it could become a family heirloom. Either way, this was a big gift. To give probably one of the few things he had left to remember our mother by to me.
"I don't know what to say," I said quietly.
"You don't have to say anything," Solarcharge said. "This is more from our mother than from me. I am merely the messenger."
I considered that for a moment. The cynical, suspicious part of me said this could be part of some manipulation scheme of his. But it felt genuine. Not much from him felt that way. I wanted to believe it for what it seemed. I could give him the benefit of the doubt, right?
"Well, thank you for messenging," I said genuinely after a pause.
Solarcharge bowed his helm in acknowledgement. "I understand if this does not make up for my missteps thus far in our relationship," he said. "But I hope we can move forward in better motions."
I looked up at him and considered. He had lied to me right before coming here, as well as blatantly broke the rules. I had already called him out for it, however, so it would be redundant to do so now. It really, really depended on how he behaved going forward. I hoped— I hoped he would take my earlier words to spark and not lie or manipulate anymore.
"One can hope," I chose to say softly.
Solarcharge hesitated a moment. "Would you like to look around? See where I grew up? Hear some stories?" He asked, sounding genuine and a little vulnerable.
I glanced sideways at Elita.
"We have some time," Elita said softly.
I looked back at Solarcharge, still feeling hesitancy to trust this, but deciding to give him a chance to prove me wrong. I would still keep my guard up and be careful, but I would give him a chance. "Ok," I said softly. "Let's do that."
Solarcharge smiled then and motioned as he stood back to his pedes slowly. "By all means, then," he said. "Let's get started."