No Rhyme, No Reason 11/?
More from Hide here! And the sparklings receive their official names! Woot! Next chapter we'll find out about what Jazz has been up to!
Ironhide
"Sparklins!" I mumbled still too surprised to believe these two precious little lives were spared.
Both sparklings were clinging to each other. Well more accurately the crying one was clinging to the other. The other just happened to have his arm around him for comfort or protection. The one crying was mostly grey with red and black markings. The other little one was black and white with the developing red chevron being more pronounced than the grey one's.
I smiled. This little black and white mechlet was staring up with us, taking us in. And he was a little leery when Optimus suddenly reached in. The tiny mech pressed himself into the corner more and seemed to be protecting the other sparkling while avoiding Optimus' hand.
"No, Optimus. Let me," I said. "You have to be patient. They've been through one pit of a traumatic experience."
"Right, sorry," he said and quickly moved out of the way.
"It's ok li'l ones. I ain't gonna hurt ya."
I held my hands out to the little grey one first and just waited. He was hesitant at first but was quick to climb into my hands, warbling softly as I held him to my chest for a moment.
"Optimus, here take him. Whatever you do, don't feed him anything. Sparklins need special energon," I told him.
"Hide, I know about sparklings from the datafiles," Optimus counted, gently cradling the little grey mech.
"Your turn now, li'l one. I promise I'm not gonna hurt ya," I smiled, keeping my voice gently. "I'm here to help you and your friend."
This little one was different than the other. He seemed to be thinking about his predicament and what he should do. His big round blue optics were somewhat dim, probably due to lack of energon but I could see an intelligence in them. Ever so slowly, I moved my hands until they were around his midsection and then I carefully extracted him, being mindful to not rush.
At first the sparkling was stiff in my arms. Then once I put him close to my spark he relaxed, one little dirtied white hand clinging to my armor while the other held on tightly to a toy bot.
"There ya go," I smiled, still keeping my voice calm and soothing.
"Here's a thermal blanket. I notified Ratchet he recommended keeping them warm but to get them to him as quickly as possible."
"Thanks, Cliffjumper," I replied and carefully wrapped the blanket around the little black and while mech. "Make sure you have a good hold on your toy there."
The mechlet hugged his toy tighter, bringing his legs up. I felt a tremor from him and my spark ached for him.
How could Primus do such a thing to sparklings?
With a heavy sigh, I stopped that train of thought. I didn't want to think about all the sparklings we couldn't save right now.
"Shh, everything's ok now," I cooed to him, stroking the top of his helm. "Keep searching. Optimus and I are heading back with the sparklings."
I made sure my team went on ahead before turning to join Optimus in our trek back to central command. It was a quiet walk, save for a few timid chirps from the sparkling Optimus was carrying. My little one was quiet and still except for the tremors I felt from his little body from time to time. Each time I felt one I cooed to him softly, clutching his just a tad tighter, doing anything to comfort him.
"How's that one doing?" Optimus asked when command came into view.
"He's still tremblin."
"So's this one," Optimus frowned. "We got lucky finding them, didn't we?"
"Yes we did," I sighed. "Try not to take it to spark too much Optimus. You alone can't change the world no matter how hard you try."
"But something could have been done to prevent this, right?"
"Perhaps. But you can't think like that. We can't change the past but we can learn from it. Dwelling on could haves and what ifs will only bring ya more spark ache."
"I know. I just wish we could have done more."
"Me to," I smiled, patting him on the shoulder.
"Optimus! Your father is going to kill you!" Ratchet snapped and then leveled a hard glare at me as we approached the triage Ratchet and his staff had set up. As expected, there weren't too many survivors. "Both of you!"
"We already talked about it," I huffed, cradling the quiet sparkling close. "What's done is done. I deal with Sentinel myself."
"Fine, put the sparkling here," Ratchet instructed Optimus.
"He was quiet most of the time. Every now and the he'd beep or warble," Optimus said, gently sitting the sparkling on the exam table. Ratchet began the physical exam immediately, checking for any visible injuries. "They're Praxian mechs, right?"
"You read too much Optimus," Ratchet snorted, inserting his medical jack into the sparkling's forearm port. "But you are right. They're Praxian mechs. This one is very healthy. Systems are undercharged and low on energy but that's an easy fix. Oh and he has a name. Bluestreak."
"We found them both in the ruins where a youth center used to be," I said. "At least according to the map I have of Praxus."
"Youth Centers have strict rules and regulations on keeping their records as up to date as possible. They're sent and stored in the main database in Iacon. I'm sure we can access the records and find out if Bluestreak has any family anywhere else other than Praxus," Ratchet explained, removing the cable and wrapping the sparkling back up in his blanket. "First Aid. Feed him the special energon mix I prepared."
"Yes, Sir."
"Ok li'l one it's your turn," I smiled and then gently set the little black and white mechlet down on the exam table.
"I'm going to set your toy right here," Ratchet smiled, extracting the toy from the sparkling's arms.
The sparkling started at his toy intently. Instantly, I got the distinct feeling he didn't like Ratchet taking it away from him. And sure enough, his bottom lip stuck out, tears instantly filled his optics.
"Oh, now don't cry," Ratchet cooed but it was too late.
The sparkling wailed loudly.
"JASS!" he cried out, reaching with both his hands towards the toy.
"Way to go Ratchet, ya made him cry!" I snarled grabbing the toy and the sparkling, reuniting them and cradling them both up against my chassis. "Shh, there now li'l one. It's ok."
"Hey, I need to examine him!"
"Then do it. I'll hold him."
"Fine," Ratchet sighed tiredly.
Of course the little one made the physical exam as difficult as possible pulling and yanking his arms or legs out of Ratchet's hands every moment he could. He even clicked harshly at Ratchet a few times which made me chuckle.
"He must not be in pain if he could move around like that. I'll uplink and do a scan of his systems. Hold his arm still."
"It's ok, li'l one. Ratchet's not going to hurt ya, I promise," I cooed, holding his small arm so the CMO could access the forearm port. The sparkling whimpered into my chest, pressing his face against my armor. "Hurry it up, Ratch. He's breakin ma spark."
"Same as the other one. Undercharged and low on energy. Unfortunately this one has no name. It may take a while to find it or he simply doesn't have one yet."
"How old is he? Maybe he can tell us," I smiled. "He seems like a smart little fella."
"He's just over a vorn. So he should have a limited speaking vocabulary. Of course he may not even have a name at all. Sparklings with no names have usually been abandoned. Once adopted they're given a name and it's encoded into their systems."
"It's not gonna hurt to try. Can you tell me your name?" I asked.
The little mech blinked his optics at me.
"My name's Ironhide, but you can call me Hide for short" I said pointing to myself. Then I pointed at the CMO. "That there is Ratchet. And this here is Jass. You like Jass, don't ya?"
"He's not going to tell us," Ratchet grumbled.
"He can. I know it. It just takes patience. Hide," I said, tapping my chest. "Hide." Then I tapped the toy's chest. "Jass." And then I tapped the sparkling's chest. "Hide…Jass…"
"Prowr."
Ratchet made a surprised face upon hearing the little one's soft voice.
"Hmm, not sure if that's how to say his name or if that's as close as he can get it," I mused. "Can you say it again? Hide…Jass…"
"Prowr."
"I think he means Prowl," I said and the sparkling giggled.
"Prowl it is," Ratchet smiled, patting the sparkling on the head. "I'll make a note in medical medical report and see what First Aid can find on him."
"Jass!" Prowl said excitedly, touching my Autobot insignia.
"No, I'm Hide."
"Jass!" he repeated and showed me his toy.
"Well I'll be. Jass is an Autobot. Are you an Autobot too?"
Prowl nodded his head.
"That's good to know," I smiled, caressing the top of his helm.
"Ironhide, don't get too attached to him," my friend warned in a gentle tone.
"Hide!" the sparkling grinned nuzzling his head against my hand and purred.
"I don't know Ratchet. I think it might already be too late. He seems to have formed an attachment to me."
"Well, Optimus doesn't need his mentor anymore," Ratchet sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sure Sentinel would approve you as Prowl's guardian provided nothing turns up in the database."
"And Bluestreak," I stated. "We can't separate them. For all we know these could be the last Praxians ever sparked."
"That's for Sentinel to decide," Ratchet said just as Sentinel arrived.
"What's for me to decide?"
"Sentinel, Sir," I saluted and transferring Prowl into my left arm.
"Does it have to do with the sparklings I heard my son was responsible for finding?" the Prime requested, his deep voice calm. Too calm in my opinion.
"Sentinel, I…"
"It's quite alright, Ironhide," he interrupted. "I just had a quick talk with Optimus. He will never do such a thing again. And I did agree with his logic. It's highly unlikely the Decepticons would attack Praxus again. There's nothing left to destroy. However, when I heard we rescued sparklings I had to see them for myself."
"This one is named Prowl and the little one over there is Bluestreak."
I straightened up to my full height.
"Sir, I would like to formally request that I be their guardian," I said, making Sentinel raise an optic ridge at me.
"Don't seem so surprise," Ratchet huffed.
"I sparkling sat the twins on a number of occasions and survived. Not to mention the countless times I sparkling sat your hellion. I do believe I can handle these two little Praxians."
"I will have to think about it," Sentinel said. "Let's find out if they have any family first before we decide their fate. For now, Ratchet I need you to get a medical team ready. We leave in three klicks. We finally received word from Powertrain. The Autobot base just outside of Praxus was hit hard and they have many casualties and refugees."
"Primus, we thought the base was lost," I gasped.
"Apparently there isn't much of a base left. One of their engineers rigged a communicator together from scraps. I'm going with Ratchet. Optimus will be going with us as well. Ironhide, I'm leaving you in charge here."
"Yes, Sir," I replied.
"The team's ready, Sir," Ratchet announced.
"Let's move out," Sentinel ordered.
I pulled the sparkling closer to my chassis as they left. Prowl warbled up at me, curiosity shining in his optics.
"Everything will be alright," I smiled to him, trying to convince myself as much as him.
Up next we go to Sentinel's POV and find out what's happened to Jazz