30 Days and 30 Nights: Day 4
Cybertronian time references similar but not equal to our own: astrosecond ~ second, klick ~ minute, joor ~ hour, cycle ~ day, deca-cycle ~ week, orn ~ month, vorn ~ year
A/N: Inspired by far too many cute pics of Prowl and Jazz as sparklings on deviant art.
Day 4: Toddlers
Sparkling duty.
It wasn't something forced upon any mech or femme - no bot wanted to deal with distressed sparklings in the aftermath of forced sparkling duty. So only volunteers had sparkling duty integrated into their regular scheduled duties. And only a select few were given the task of taking care of all five sparklings at one time.
Much to many mechs and femmes' surprise, Ironhide was one such mech.
The big red mech prided himself on being a competent caretaker, ignoring the jibes from his fellow Autobots. Ironhide was confident in the kind of mech he was and didn't give a slag what anyone thought of him. His reputation as a general kick aft mech wrecker spoke for itself. While the soft place in his spark was reserved only for sparklings and the femme he loved more than life itself.
Besides, there was no denying that he was exceptionally good at sparkling duty just as he was exceptionally good at kicking 'Con aft. The sparklings were always happy, cleaned, well fed, and knew to keep the safety activated on a weapon before touching it. The 'Cons were always dinged, dented, or charred with wounded egos from having their aft handed to them by an old mech.
Only this cycle…well this cycle just wasn't Ironhide's cycle.
The smallest sparkling and newest addition to the Autobot ranks, Bumblebee had a mild system upset. The normally bubbly, chipper, yellow mechlet was cranky even as he recharged restlessly which worried the big mech wrecker. He called Ratchet several times to ensure that little Bee was going to be fine and even insisted the CMO stop by, much to the medic's disgruntlement.
The twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, took a little longer than usual to put down for their recharge. When Hide got one quieted down the other would start crying. And since the twins were barely a deca-cycle older than Bumblebee, they couldn't move around much and only knew to cry when in discomfort. In the end, he figured out they just wanted to feel the warmth of a strong spark pulsing near theirs. It was easy enough since he had two arms and they were both out within klicks.
However, with Ironhide's attention focused on the three little sparklings, the two older sparklings didn't hesitate to take advantage of their unexpected freedom, especially because Ironhide forgot to put up the barriers to keep them confined to the main living room of Hide's quarters. Which on a good cycle was fine as the black and white duo were usually well behaved little mechlings.
Again, this cycle was not a good cycle.
Ironhide entered the main living room of his quarters and knew something was wrong. A soldier's instincts worked just as well on sparkling as they did on the battlefield. Of course, common sense also told him it was far too quiet. That and there was no sign of the little mechlets anywhere except for the abandoned toys on the couch.
But then Hide should have expected something like this to happen. After all, the two little mechlets had recently mastered the art of running from one place to the next and did so every time their tiny peds touched the floor. Walking never crossed their processors.
"Prowl…Jazz," he called.
Tiny mischievous giggles erupted wildly for a moment from behind a chair.
Hide rushed at it.
Shrieks and giggles sounded as two black and white blurs disappeared behind another piece of furniture. There, their boisterous sounds faded into quiet, rapid clicks and whistles. A sure sign they were discussing what to do to Ironhide next.
He wasn't worried about where they went or what they were plotting just yet. He was more concerned with the empty container of energon goodies that was behind the chair. Crumbs and dirty hand prints on the floor was definitely not a good sign!
"Oh no," Hide's voice quivered, his mind attempting to come up with some sort of plan to coral the little over-energized pit spawns.
Jazz was already hyper enough as it was. Add energon goodies and the mechlet had enough energy to take on a Decepticon battalion! Prowl, though he was quiet by nature, had his moments, especially if Jazz got him all riled up. The pair together when energized could wear down the most seasoned soldier!
Even worse, the fact that Hide could distinctly hear both little mechlets giggle and clicking rapidly meant one thing…trouble.
A beep sounded indicating the door to his quarters was about to open.
Frag! Figures, for once Ratchet was right on time!
"No!" Ironhide shouted but was too late.
And in a flash, the door opened to his quarters to reveal the cranky CMO and trouble occurred.
"What in the pit?" the CMO exclaimed, leaping out of the way as the sound of two highly energized and jubilant sparklings trilled and squealed with delight as they literally rocketed out of the room. "What that…hey you aft!"
"Move you slaggin' idiot!" Ironhide shouted, shoving Ratchet out of the way in a not so polite manner, sending the CMO to the floor. He couldn't believe how fast the two little black and white mechs were! "Just check on Bee and watch the others. I'll be back."
"You'd better be back! I'm not getting stuck with the sparklings! Some of us have work to do!" Ratchet yelled, while still sitting on his aft, as Ironhide raced down the hallway in the direction Prowl and Jazz sped off to.
Meanwhile, in another part of the base…
Optimus had been walking slowly while reading a report when he stopped and curiously looked up from the datapad. The sound of Ironhide's voice echoed loudly through the hallways. Optimus tilled his head curiously, wondering why his weapon specialist was calling for Prowl and Jazz to stop. A moment later he got his answer and what Prime saw emerging around a turn was…laughable!
Mischievous and highly intelligent as always, Prowl and Jazz zipped around the turn like pros and raced straight towards Prime as fast as their tiny alt forms' wheels could take them. Which was faster than anticipated judging by how desperate Ironhide was trying to catch up to them.
A quick beep from Jazz's horn and a loud chirp from Prowl's siren made Optimus hastily get out of the way. He didn't want them to get hurt by colliding into one or both of his large peds. But he had to laugh at their audacity as they zoomed by. Most Decepticons would never dream of challenging the Prime in such a manner and most Autobots would never be so bold as to beep their horn at their Prime.
"Thanks for nothing, Optimus!" Ironhide shouted over his shoulder while he sprinted by.
"They're only toddlers once, Hide!" Prime countered.
"Retribution! Primus does deliver! Remember that, Prime!"
The End.
End Notes: There may or may not be a sequel to this using prompt 28 (Bots behaving badly). I'll let you readers decide.