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Description
Ratchet was, unsurprisingly, developing a processor ache.  It wasn’t the fault of the sparklings.  Oh no.  It was because every time Skywarp, Thundercracker, or Starscream brought the tiny mechs by, his systems tensed before he could stop it and now that he started to think about it, his entire frame was going to ache later if he got any time to relax.

“Who have we checked?” he asked tiredly and First Aid searched for the datapad he had been using.  Behind them, Prowl was still in stasis lock and will probably be stuck like that until everything was sorted.

It had been fairly easy to transport everyone back to the Ark., with a majority of the mechs as sparklings and no one wanting to fight after the merciless display of power that the Seekers had given.  It was as simple as herding everyone onto a transformed Skyfire and trying to keep their audios function with crying sparklings everywhere.

“We’ve got Optimus Prime, Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and Beachcomber of our side so far.  Of the Decepticons, Megatron, Soundwave, Mixmaster, Scrapper, Scavenger, and Swindle.”

“How many more?”

“I’m not sure sir.”

With a huff of air through his vents, Ratchet said, “Bring the next one in.”

First Aid did as he was told and was only faintly surprised when Swoop walked in with a rather tiny Grimlock, Slag, and Snarl in his arms while Sludge followed close behind.  The three sparklings were nibbling on Swoop’s fingers while Sludge was trying to play with his feet but the Dinobot didn’t seem to care.

“Oh Primus…”

It was definitely going to be a long day.

oOo

“So…”  Perceptor started, uncertainty lacing his voice.  Skyfire was a comforting presence close behind him, and he was the only reason why the microscope was willing to be in the same room as the three seekers.  That, and the numerous sparklings sure helped.  “Why exactly are you so protective of the sparklings?”

“Is it that surprising?” Starscream asked, venom in his voice.  Though it was a bit hard to feel threatened by the seeker when the bright red and white form of Inferno was practically attached to his head, tiny fingers clinging onto the helm vents while he nibbled on a corner.  “We weren’t programmed to be sparkless, ruthless aerial fighters from the start.  There were many times during the academy when I had to act as an escort when sparkling had to be transferred to and from the nurseries.”

“No body was willing to mess with a seeker protecting a sparkling,” Thundercracker said with a nod.  Climbing on his back was Beachcomber, the sparkling geologist comparing his coloring to that of Thundercracker.  “We were originally to be the best and quickest way to protect sparklings.  We were trusted with the future of Cybertron.”

“Until Megatron came along,” Starscream spat.  “Because of him, our programs became corrupt when he forced us to fight for him.”

“What about…”  Perceptor glanced to the last seeker in the area.  Skwarp wasn’t even trying to appear as if he was pay attention to the talks.  He had Trailbreaker, Hotspot, Swindle, and Scrapper all climbing over him and he was chirruping away, playing with them as if it was the most natural thing to do.  And if what the other two said was correct, then it probably was.  There were still a few sparkling with Ratchet and First Aid, and Swoop and Jazz were also taking care of many others.  Perceptor was now certain that any future battles will be over who gets fed first and who’s turn it was with a toy.

“Warp is the youngest of us, and the last to become and Decepticon,” Thundercracker explained dryly.  “His instincts are less buried than ours.”

“So if this keeps up, you two will start acting like this?” Skyfire asked, sounding amused.

Starscream’s optics narrowed at the question but before he could do anything, the door slid open and in came the red form of Frenzy, Soundwave carried on his back as he went up to the lead seeker.  “Hey boss.  He won’t stop fussin’ for any of us.”

The seeker glared at the two normal Autobots for a few more moments before easily lifting the telepath off of the Cassetticon, cradling him close and cooing softly as he coaxed Soundwave to remove the mask.  When the mask was gone, Soundwave caught a hold of Starscream’s hand and got a finger in his mouth, now relaxed with the new chew toy.

Frenzy watched, amused by this.  It was only by luck that the Cassetticons were too far away to be caught by the explosion and they seem to be handling their creator turned sparkling fairly well

“Some of us will be a bit more dignified about it.”  Thundercracker crossed his arms, smiling as Wheeljack toddled over to the Autobots and holding up a bit of plastic to show them.  A bit uncertain, Perceptor took the plastic and thanked the inventor, receiving a giggle in reply as the sparkling wandered off again, this time on his hands and knees.

“I’m actually surprised that you haven’t had any instinct pop up like this.”

“I was a transport shuttle,” the large Autobot answered.  “I didn’t have the same programs as you three before the war.”  What Skyfire didn’t say was that he felt a brief flash of rage when he saw Motormaster about ready to hurt Bluestreak.  He wasn’t sure if that had something to do with the same instincts the seekers had or that a comrade was about to get hurt.

Skyfire had stiffened when a request came over his comm., and he saw Thundercracker do the same.  They both nodded and as they stood, Thundercracker took Beachcomber off of his back and placed him onto Skywarp’s back and Skyfire said, “Ratchet just requested us and he sounds a bit desperate.  We’ll be back shortly.”

The others nodded and watched them leave and after a minute, Perceptor realized that he was now left alone with two seekers and a bunch of sparklings.  “So…” he started.  “Apparently you know best.  How do we take care of them?”

One red optic looked up at him but Starscream didn’t take his attention away from Soundwave.  Perceptor didn’t know if it was possible for it to get any weirder.

oOo

Thundercracker winced as the sound of things being broken reached his audios and it didn’t take him long to find out why.  He and Skyfire came upon the room that Drag Strip and Wildrider were placed in only to see that it had been torn apart by the two enraged Stunticons.

Pressed into a corner was First Aid, holding the sparkling forms of Dead End and Breakdown, simultaneously trying to calm them down and watch for the larger mechs’ moves.  Only Ratchet was close by to protect them, a blaster one hand and energo-scalpels in the other.

Thundercracker acted without orders or prompting.  The seeker jumped into the air, slipping around the mechs and forcing Drag Strip back into Skyfire’s grasp.  The shuttle easily caught and restrained the mech but Wildrider actually fought back until Thundercracker was able to force the mech to the ground, resting his weight in the middle of his back with one turbine heel pressed against the side of Wildrider’s helm.

“Leave,” was Thundercracker’s hissed order and Ratchet quickly escorted First Aid and the sparklings out.

Before they got too far, Skyfire caught Ratchet’s attention and asked, “What happened?”

“The sparklings managed to slip away from us.  When we got here, I guess the realization of what happened sunk in and they couldn’t be controlled.”

The shuttle nodded.  “We got it from here.”

As Ratchet continued down the hall, Skyfire looked back to Thundercracker, glad that he wasn’t on the receiving end of the seeker’s wrath.

“You two are such ingrates,” the flyer grounded out.  “I know that you’ll be grieving because of Starscream and I, but I swear to you now, if I had choose, I would destroy any mech that threatens a sparkling, Autobot or Decepticon without any qualms.”

Wildrider tried to get back up but Thundercracker forced his head back down again, grounding the thruster a bit more.  “You and Wildrider will be separated until we’re sure that you two won’t destroy each other.  After that, we might allow you to visit the rest of your gestalt with the company of myself, Starscream, or Skywarp.  Am I clear?”

At first, the Stunticon made no move to answer.  But then his optics shuttered and a soft, keening cry left the mech.  Satisfied, Thundercracker left him, locked the door to the room, and escorted the others to another room and left Wildrider in that.

Skyfire shuddered at the distressed sounds the mechs were making but at this point in time, there was nothing that anyone could do to help.  With the problem taken care of, the two flyers headed to the medbay to pick up the other sparklings, which were practically shoved into Thundercracker’s arms.

Thundercracker didn’t protest the actions.  In fact, he immediately turned and headed back to the large hanger where the rest of his trine was, careful to keep Dead End asleep while trying to calm Breakdown, crooning softly.

“I believe that it the last of them,” Ratchet said tiredly, rubbing his optics.  “Would you mind staying with the sparklings?”

“Not at all.”

“And send Perceptor down.  We need to formulate some energon for the Sparklings before any of them get hungry.”

“Yes sir.”

Skyfire left Ratchet and First Aid as the two ‘Bots turned to look at Prowl, debating on whether they should fix him now or leave him be since the second in command wouldn’t get much rest after this.  It didn’t take long to make it back to the others, meeting Perceptor halfway and giving him the message.  With a faintly baffled expression, the microscope agreed and went on.

The red and white shuttle didn’t know what to expect when he got to the hanger.  It sure wasn’t for the three seekers to be curled in a pile, various sparklings all around them and even in recharge draped over them.  Jazz and Swoop were there too with the sparkling they volunteered to watch.

“C’mon, Sky,” Starscream said, his voice slurring a bit with sleep.  “You’re going to need to get as much recharge as you can.  In a few days, it’s going to be hard to do unless we get some help.  We will definitely need help.”

At his feet, Wheeljack and Beachcomber reached up, wanting to be picked up and Skyfire obliged, smiling as the two sparklings settled down in his hands and slipped into recharge.  Skyfire walked over the rather large pile of mechs, both big and tiny, and settled down in a clear spot.  A few of the other sparklings climbed his leg armor before relaxing and recharging in what appeared to be the most uncomfortable positions.  Skyfire figured that Starscream was right.   They’re going to need help.

Description
Ratchet was, unsurprisingly, developing a processor ache.  It wasn’t the fault of the sparklings.  Oh no.  It was because every time Skywarp, Thundercracker, or Starscream brought the tiny mechs by, his systems tensed before he could stop it and now that he started to think about it, his entire frame was going to ache later if he got any time to relax.

“Who have we checked?” he asked tiredly and First Aid searched for the datapad he had been using.  Behind them, Prowl was still in stasis lock and will probably be stuck like that until everything was sorted.

It had been fairly easy to transport everyone back to the Ark., with a majority of the mechs as sparklings and no one wanting to fight after the merciless display of power that the Seekers had given.  It was as simple as herding everyone onto a transformed Skyfire and trying to keep their audios function with crying sparklings everywhere.

“We’ve got Optimus Prime, Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Wheeljack, and Beachcomber of our side so far.  Of the Decepticons, Megatron, Soundwave, Mixmaster, Scrapper, Scavenger, and Swindle.”

“How many more?”

“I’m not sure sir.”

With a huff of air through his vents, Ratchet said, “Bring the next one in.”

First Aid did as he was told and was only faintly surprised when Swoop walked in with a rather tiny Grimlock, Slag, and Snarl in his arms while Sludge followed close behind.  The three sparklings were nibbling on Swoop’s fingers while Sludge was trying to play with his feet but the Dinobot didn’t seem to care.

“Oh Primus…”

It was definitely going to be a long day.

oOo

“So…”  Perceptor started, uncertainty lacing his voice.  Skyfire was a comforting presence close behind him, and he was the only reason why the microscope was willing to be in the same room as the three seekers.  That, and the numerous sparklings sure helped.  “Why exactly are you so protective of the sparklings?”

“Is it that surprising?” Starscream asked, venom in his voice.  Though it was a bit hard to feel threatened by the seeker when the bright red and white form of Inferno was practically attached to his head, tiny fingers clinging onto the helm vents while he nibbled on a corner.  “We weren’t programmed to be sparkless, ruthless aerial fighters from the start.  There were many times during the academy when I had to act as an escort when sparkling had to be transferred to and from the nurseries.”

“No body was willing to mess with a seeker protecting a sparkling,” Thundercracker said with a nod.  Climbing on his back was Beachcomber, the sparkling geologist comparing his coloring to that of Thundercracker.  “We were originally to be the best and quickest way to protect sparklings.  We were trusted with the future of Cybertron.”

“Until Megatron came along,” Starscream spat.  “Because of him, our programs became corrupt when he forced us to fight for him.”

“What about…”  Perceptor glanced to the last seeker in the area.  Skwarp wasn’t even trying to appear as if he was pay attention to the talks.  He had Trailbreaker, Hotspot, Swindle, and Scrapper all climbing over him and he was chirruping away, playing with them as if it was the most natural thing to do.  And if what the other two said was correct, then it probably was.  There were still a few sparkling with Ratchet and First Aid, and Swoop and Jazz were also taking care of many others.  Perceptor was now certain that any future battles will be over who gets fed first and who’s turn it was with a toy.

“Warp is the youngest of us, and the last to become and Decepticon,” Thundercracker explained dryly.  “His instincts are less buried than ours.”

“So if this keeps up, you two will start acting like this?” Skyfire asked, sounding amused.

Starscream’s optics narrowed at the question but before he could do anything, the door slid open and in came the red form of Frenzy, Soundwave carried on his back as he went up to the lead seeker.  “Hey boss.  He won’t stop fussin’ for any of us.”

The seeker glared at the two normal Autobots for a few more moments before easily lifting the telepath off of the Cassetticon, cradling him close and cooing softly as he coaxed Soundwave to remove the mask.  When the mask was gone, Soundwave caught a hold of Starscream’s hand and got a finger in his mouth, now relaxed with the new chew toy.

Frenzy watched, amused by this.  It was only by luck that the Cassetticons were too far away to be caught by the explosion and they seem to be handling their creator turned sparkling fairly well

“Some of us will be a bit more dignified about it.”  Thundercracker crossed his arms, smiling as Wheeljack toddled over to the Autobots and holding up a bit of plastic to show them.  A bit uncertain, Perceptor took the plastic and thanked the inventor, receiving a giggle in reply as the sparkling wandered off again, this time on his hands and knees.

“I’m actually surprised that you haven’t had any instinct pop up like this.”

“I was a transport shuttle,” the large Autobot answered.  “I didn’t have the same programs as you three before the war.”  What Skyfire didn’t say was that he felt a brief flash of rage when he saw Motormaster about ready to hurt Bluestreak.  He wasn’t sure if that had something to do with the same instincts the seekers had or that a comrade was about to get hurt.

Skyfire had stiffened when a request came over his comm., and he saw Thundercracker do the same.  They both nodded and as they stood, Thundercracker took Beachcomber off of his back and placed him onto Skywarp’s back and Skyfire said, “Ratchet just requested us and he sounds a bit desperate.  We’ll be back shortly.”

The others nodded and watched them leave and after a minute, Perceptor realized that he was now left alone with two seekers and a bunch of sparklings.  “So…” he started.  “Apparently you know best.  How do we take care of them?”

One red optic looked up at him but Starscream didn’t take his attention away from Soundwave.  Perceptor didn’t know if it was possible for it to get any weirder.

oOo

Thundercracker winced as the sound of things being broken reached his audios and it didn’t take him long to find out why.  He and Skyfire came upon the room that Drag Strip and Wildrider were placed in only to see that it had been torn apart by the two enraged Stunticons.

Pressed into a corner was First Aid, holding the sparkling forms of Dead End and Breakdown, simultaneously trying to calm them down and watch for the larger mechs’ moves.  Only Ratchet was close by to protect them, a blaster one hand and energo-scalpels in the other.

Thundercracker acted without orders or prompting.  The seeker jumped into the air, slipping around the mechs and forcing Drag Strip back into Skyfire’s grasp.  The shuttle easily caught and restrained the mech but Wildrider actually fought back until Thundercracker was able to force the mech to the ground, resting his weight in the middle of his back with one turbine heel pressed against the side of Wildrider’s helm.

“Leave,” was Thundercracker’s hissed order and Ratchet quickly escorted First Aid and the sparklings out.

Before they got too far, Skyfire caught Ratchet’s attention and asked, “What happened?”

“The sparklings managed to slip away from us.  When we got here, I guess the realization of what happened sunk in and they couldn’t be controlled.”

The shuttle nodded.  “We got it from here.”

As Ratchet continued down the hall, Skyfire looked back to Thundercracker, glad that he wasn’t on the receiving end of the seeker’s wrath.

“You two are such ingrates,” the flyer grounded out.  “I know that you’ll be grieving because of Starscream and I, but I swear to you now, if I had choose, I would destroy any mech that threatens a sparkling, Autobot or Decepticon without any qualms.”

Wildrider tried to get back up but Thundercracker forced his head back down again, grounding the thruster a bit more.  “You and Wildrider will be separated until we’re sure that you two won’t destroy each other.  After that, we might allow you to visit the rest of your gestalt with the company of myself, Starscream, or Skywarp.  Am I clear?”

At first, the Stunticon made no move to answer.  But then his optics shuttered and a soft, keening cry left the mech.  Satisfied, Thundercracker left him, locked the door to the room, and escorted the others to another room and left Wildrider in that.

Skyfire shuddered at the distressed sounds the mechs were making but at this point in time, there was nothing that anyone could do to help.  With the problem taken care of, the two flyers headed to the medbay to pick up the other sparklings, which were practically shoved into Thundercracker’s arms.

Thundercracker didn’t protest the actions.  In fact, he immediately turned and headed back to the large hanger where the rest of his trine was, careful to keep Dead End asleep while trying to calm Breakdown, crooning softly.

“I believe that it the last of them,” Ratchet said tiredly, rubbing his optics.  “Would you mind staying with the sparklings?”

“Not at all.”

“And send Perceptor down.  We need to formulate some energon for the Sparklings before any of them get hungry.”

“Yes sir.”

Skyfire left Ratchet and First Aid as the two ‘Bots turned to look at Prowl, debating on whether they should fix him now or leave him be since the second in command wouldn’t get much rest after this.  It didn’t take long to make it back to the others, meeting Perceptor halfway and giving him the message.  With a faintly baffled expression, the microscope agreed and went on.

The red and white shuttle didn’t know what to expect when he got to the hanger.  It sure wasn’t for the three seekers to be curled in a pile, various sparklings all around them and even in recharge draped over them.  Jazz and Swoop were there too with the sparkling they volunteered to watch.

“C’mon, Sky,” Starscream said, his voice slurring a bit with sleep.  “You’re going to need to get as much recharge as you can.  In a few days, it’s going to be hard to do unless we get some help.  We will definitely need help.”

At his feet, Wheeljack and Beachcomber reached up, wanting to be picked up and Skyfire obliged, smiling as the two sparklings settled down in his hands and slipped into recharge.  Skyfire walked over the rather large pile of mechs, both big and tiny, and settled down in a clear spot.  A few of the other sparklings climbed his leg armor before relaxing and recharging in what appeared to be the most uncomfortable positions.  Skyfire figured that Starscream was right.   They’re going to need help.