TG 'verse. Prime base in Iacon. Not so prodigal's return
Rodimus scowled absently as he watched Oriana 2 dance around Springer, realizing even more forcibly just how many holes Kup and Moonshadow's deaths were leaving in the lives of he and his.
-We don't even have a babysitter anymore. And... no Kup to tell us the best way to deal with those slagging Meredronians. This stinks.-
He turned away moodily and walked the short distance to the main repair and medical facility, brow ridges quirking as he entered his sparkmate's lab and saw her standing firmly behind her chair as she studied the largest monitor on the console.
"What have I said about stepping on Chiproaches?" he asked as he came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"No idea what you're talking about," she said absently, optics still on the display of complex charts.
He gently pushed her to one side and looked down. "My mistake. What have I said about stepping on Datasprites? Are you trying to slag Blaster off?"
Panacea shrugged and absently told Teletraan 2 to magnify one part of the lowest chart.
Rodimus shook his head as he watched the tiny green and gold recording mech babble at them earnestly before turning and buzzing away. "What are you looking at?"
"Sunstreaker." Panacea scowled and shut everything down, then finally turned to look at him.
"No better?" He didn't really need to ask with the weariness he was feeling from her.
"She's alive." Panacea shook her head. "Sideswipe swears she knows what's going on around her, but there's no way of really knowing that. I wasn't able to save much data from her old processor."
Rodimus put his arms around her and rocked gently, feeling relieved as she relaxed and leaned against him. He knew that she wasn't asking him to fix things, and that she wouldn't appreciate words of empty encouragement.
"I love you," he murmured instead, kissing her helm.
"I know." She sighed and leaned a little more, but then lifted her head. "Tell me Springer's bringing her to Arcee."
"Of course. I learned my lesson with Spike. Springer is not safe to leave alone with sparklings."
"I'd still like to know how a guy with that much processing ability wound up taped to Mom's monument while he was taking the kid for a walk in the park."
"I want to know why." Rodimus chuckled, feeling encouraged by the lack of pain from his mate as she spoke of their second created.
"That, I'm afraid to wonder about." She pulled away and turned toward the door. "Especially since Spike always insisted that Springer had done it himself."
"Oh, Spike had something to do with it." He followed, grinning now.
"Duh." She waited so that he could walk beside her, looping her arm through his as the fingers of her other hand gently rubbed his forearm.
He smiled at the familiar caress, thoughts of invading giant aliens far away for the moment as his mind went back to nights under a moon laden sky when both of them viewed the world from a different perspective and through different optics.
Then he stopped as he registered the presence of another mech in the starlit courtyard. "Uh... hello, can we help you? ...After you explain how you got into a private family compound, of course."
The stranger stepped forward, the soft light glinting off his white paint as he shifted suddenly from stillness to motion. Rodimus felt Panacea's hands tighten on his arm, and felt her spike of surprise, but didn't understand till he saw the other mech's face.
His mouth fell open. "Skytrail?"
"I'm family," said his eldest son simply. "I've come back."
-We don't even have a babysitter anymore. And... no Kup to tell us the best way to deal with those slagging Meredronians. This stinks.-
He turned away moodily and walked the short distance to the main repair and medical facility, brow ridges quirking as he entered his sparkmate's lab and saw her standing firmly behind her chair as she studied the largest monitor on the console.
"What have I said about stepping on Chiproaches?" he asked as he came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"No idea what you're talking about," she said absently, optics still on the display of complex charts.
He gently pushed her to one side and looked down. "My mistake. What have I said about stepping on Datasprites? Are you trying to slag Blaster off?"
Panacea shrugged and absently told Teletraan 2 to magnify one part of the lowest chart.
Rodimus shook his head as he watched the tiny green and gold recording mech babble at them earnestly before turning and buzzing away. "What are you looking at?"
"Sunstreaker." Panacea scowled and shut everything down, then finally turned to look at him.
"No better?" He didn't really need to ask with the weariness he was feeling from her.
"She's alive." Panacea shook her head. "Sideswipe swears she knows what's going on around her, but there's no way of really knowing that. I wasn't able to save much data from her old processor."
Rodimus put his arms around her and rocked gently, feeling relieved as she relaxed and leaned against him. He knew that she wasn't asking him to fix things, and that she wouldn't appreciate words of empty encouragement.
"I love you," he murmured instead, kissing her helm.
"I know." She sighed and leaned a little more, but then lifted her head. "Tell me Springer's bringing her to Arcee."
"Of course. I learned my lesson with Spike. Springer is not safe to leave alone with sparklings."
"I'd still like to know how a guy with that much processing ability wound up taped to Mom's monument while he was taking the kid for a walk in the park."
"I want to know why." Rodimus chuckled, feeling encouraged by the lack of pain from his mate as she spoke of their second created.
"That, I'm afraid to wonder about." She pulled away and turned toward the door. "Especially since Spike always insisted that Springer had done it himself."
"Oh, Spike had something to do with it." He followed, grinning now.
"Duh." She waited so that he could walk beside her, looping her arm through his as the fingers of her other hand gently rubbed his forearm.
He smiled at the familiar caress, thoughts of invading giant aliens far away for the moment as his mind went back to nights under a moon laden sky when both of them viewed the world from a different perspective and through different optics.
Then he stopped as he registered the presence of another mech in the starlit courtyard. "Uh... hello, can we help you? ...After you explain how you got into a private family compound, of course."
The stranger stepped forward, the soft light glinting off his white paint as he shifted suddenly from stillness to motion. Rodimus felt Panacea's hands tighten on his arm, and felt her spike of surprise, but didn't understand till he saw the other mech's face.
His mouth fell open. "Skytrail?"
"I'm family," said his eldest son simply. "I've come back."