TF - Unwanted Ch 1

Chapter 01: Unwanted

Shocked, disgusted and admittedly to a great part also terrified the mech starred into the mirror, or more precisely at the reflection of his spark and especially the aberration.

Now, every medic would tell him, that it was definitely not an aberration, but he was the Lord High Protector Megatron and for someone like him having been knocked up by stranger after a night of too much highgrade definitely qualified the result as an absolutely unwanted aberration.

In a spur of the moment decision the silver warrior pulled out a gun from subspace and tried to take aim at the sparklet, but it was too small and circled too fast around his own orb to take aim and while temporarily of unsound mind Megatron wasn't suicidal, left aside, that of all the ways to die for a cybertronian this had to be the most undignified.

Growling the Lord High Protector put the gun away again and closed his chest plates. He obviously wouldn't get rid of that mistake now, but sooner or later it would have to slow down, or maybe it would just perish on its own. Things like that happened and he surely wouldn't be considerate of it. Either it slowed down so he could remove it, or the strain of his daily work would kill it, one way or the other, he would get rid of it.

*~*~*~*~*~*

It was a prime example as to why Megatron refused to trust anyone or anything, although he had to give the misshapen some credit: it was persistent and already a master of survival. For almost a vorn he had done everything short of dying and consulting a medic to get rid of it, but it just wouldn't perish and he was sure it was only racing when he opened his chestplates, as if it knew that its survival depended on it. Trying to starve it to death hadn't worked either, only resulted in Megatron feeling like slag and promoting it from aberration to parasite.

The other consequence was that the Lord High Protector had to admit defeat for the first time, when the pain became unbearable, and went to see one of the best medics on Cybertron. Sadly he was also one of the most obstinate and while he did free the much larger mech from the parasite it definitely hadn't been part of the plan for it to survive, be placed into a protoform and hold into his faceplates.

"And what am I supposed to do with that?"

"That, Lord Megatron, is a sparkling and you will need to take care of it" the medic replied unimpressed and the misshapen actually had the nerves to make noises and grab for him.

The silver warrior looked from it to the medic and tried to leave, only to have the medic stand in his way again.

"Lord Megatron, he is you son" he said, as if it meant something and found himself pressed against a wall the next moment.

"This thing is a parasite. Keep it, if you like, I don't care, but breathe one word to anyone about where it's from and I'll slowly destroy everything you hold dear right before your optics!"

For all his bravery, faced with this threat, all the medic could do was nod and following justified instincts he hid the unwanted sparkling in the crock of his arm. The Lord High Protector gave one last warning growl, then he finally left and let the medic to his own deceive.

"Teacher, did I just see the ... Holy Primus!" the small femme breathed and cautiously stepped closer. After everyone else had refused her because of her size and the three younglings she had quite literally taken under her (door-) wings, he had made her his apprentice and so far not regretted that decision. The few problems she and her sons created – she could hardly leave them alone the whole orn, so they had taken over the area behind the desk – the femme made up with a sharp mind.

"Ah, alright, then I didn't see Lord Megatron entering or leaving this building and I have absolutely no idea where the sparkling comes from. I'll just get a blanket and some sparkling graded energon. Guys, you stay here and watch the nice uncle doctor for me. I'll be back in a few" the green coloured femme instructed her adopted creations when seeing the terror on her mentors faceplates and sped away.

Blessed be that femme and her fast reactions, because for all his experience the medic couldn't do anything except taking care that the sparkling didn't start to cry.

Now how should he tell his mate that their family just got a new addition, because his apprentice definitely had enough younglings to take care of and he doubted anyone else would be willing to take in a sparkling the Lord High Protector rather saw dead.

*~*~*~*

It was later that orn, when the medic returned to his home, that the full gravity sunk in. This orn had rattled him to the core and, if nothing else, the relieve to see his bondmate chase their own, laughing sparkling through the flat stood testament to just how much.

"Oh nonononono, not up ... oh, great! Jazzy, get down here, right now!"

"Nuhu" the silver sparkling grinned happily, but then he spotted his other creator and just as fast as he had climbed up the cupboard he was down again and running to his carrier.

"Well, hello, Jazzy. I'm glad to see you, too. Hide."

"Welcome home, Ratch. Hard orn?" the black mech asked, peeling their sparkling from his mate's faceplate, so he could also have the chance to steal a kiss.

"You have no idea" the medic replied dryly, wondering why he hadn't been asked yet about the sparkling.

"What? What? Tasty?" Jazz suddenly cried exited, pointing at the buddle in Ratchet's arm, obviously thinking his carrier had brought home some sweets. That his code writer was letting him hang from his scuff bar he didn't seem to mind at all.

"No, that's not something to eat. It's a sparkling."

Once made aware of it Ironhide looked from their own sparkling, to the new one and finally to his mate.

"Did I miss something?" he asked irritated and very concerned when he noticed just how stressed his partner really was, but the hunted look in the medic's optics was him actually answer enough. When Ratchet looked like this it was best to not ask and just go with it.

"I see. Well, then this is not just a sparkling, Jazzy, it's your new little brother."

For a moment the silver sparkling had to ponder whenever or not he liked this new development, then he grinned and wiggled free to get a closer look at his new brother.

"Ironhide ..."

"Admit it, that's exactly what you want, and I don't mind. Jazz obviously doesn't either and if that little apprentice, Ghoststorm, can handle three at once on her own, I see no reason, why we shouldn't have two."

Ratchet starred, too surprised to put up any resistance when the larger mech pushed him on the couch. He really had expected at least a bit resistance, considering the panic attack the warrior had had when presented with the fact that, yes, his bondmate was bearing and they soon would be creators, if he wanted to or not.

"Ratch, listen. I don't know why you decided to literally bring work back home, but I know you long enough to tell that you already made up your mind. You had that same look when you told your creators just where they can stuff their "that warrior is not good enough for you" and look where we are now. So how about we just spare ourselves the trouble and just adopt him first thing when the administrations open tomorrow morning."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you know where I have him from. Primus, I don't even know where to start" Ratchet sighed and tried to get Jazz to let go of the new sparked, but the mechling had other plans.

"No, mine!"

For a moment Ratchet feared the new sparked would start to cry again – a terrible sound, not only because of his already activated parental subroutines since Jazz' creation – but the little mechling merely looked around a bit, wiggled a servo free and curled it around Jazz' arm.

"See? They agree with me. And if it's as bad as it sounds I'm all the more for keeping him" the black mech pointed out with an amused smirk, but quite serious. Then he leaned down to get a closer look at their newest addition. He seemed really small, even for a sparkling and had yet to gain any colour except for those cute red optics.

"So, does the little one have a name already?"

"Hide, he was sparked just this morning!"

The other mech grinned knowingly.

"So you did give him a name already."

" ... Starscream."

"Ah. I can't wait to find out why. Well, Starscream, welcome to the family."

Starscream cooed, as if he knew that he had just been adopted by the most protective couple on Cybertron, and Jazz grinned, because he did know, at least as far as he could with his sparkling processor.

Ratchet smiled.

"Ironhide, if I ever voice any doubt about why I bonded to you, please remind me of this orn."

"Ah. Okay, but that is one pretty long list already."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, well, there'd be our first meeting, our first date, the first kiss, a whole lot of other first I rather not name in front of the sparkling ... want me to continue?"

"Love you too, Hide."

"Now that's something you can remind me of."

*~*~*~*~*~*

In the end memories was all Ratchet had left. Well, not really, his family was after all still alive, but not whole anymore and it's been that way for a very long time. It had been such a close call with Jazz; they would have almost lost him to Megatron for good, after he had already taken Starscream from them, although the warlord had never wanted the sparkling that had turned into a formidable flier.

"Calm down, Ratch. Nothing of this is your fault" Ironhide gruffed from the otherside of the berth were their creation laid, until now keeping silently watch.

"I almost lost him, too."

"But only almost. He's still alive, thanks to you. It's been but a klick since you said yourself he'll make a full recovery. Come one, you need some rest. He'll be fine."

"Yes, and what about Starscream?"

"He's always been a master of survival. He'll be fine, too, and I told you I saw him leaving Mission City" Ironhide grumped and led his mate to their room. After their victory over Megatron the Autobots had started to build a base near Tranquility. It was improvable, but it had a small, functional med bay and actual recharge berths.

"I'd rather have him all beaten up here on my tables than who knows where in who know what condition! We should have never told him."

The black mech almost sighed. They had been through that particular topic so often, that he had to give up counting.

"I know, but it was still the right thing to do. He asked and he had the right to know. We couldn't have known he would ... react like this. The only one to blame for all this is Megatron and he got what he deserved."

"That doesn't make it any better."

*~*~*~*

Although Ratchet was at a point where he would actually admit that he needed rest, he couldn't find any, so after what felt like an eternity but in reality were hardly a few hours the medic returned to his med bay, only to stop at the door when he heard music.

Now usually he would have stormed in and given Jazz a run for his money, scaring them all like that, and be it only because his son would have turned up the volume a lot more and be it only to get some attention.

"Turn it off. Someone could hear us."

"Everyone is either in recharge or on patrol, Star, and they'll definitely hear Red cry, so bear it like a mech."

Shocked beyond words the medic peeked into his domicile and almost got a spark failure. It was quite a challenge to recognise her, but it definitely was his former apprentice and now fellow medic, Ghoststorm. The femme had never been overly vain, but her paintjob was now so ruined as if she hadn't bothered with it for vorns and with all the dents Ratchet had to wonder if she was actually still able to transform at all. Seeing that he could almost hear the dirt gritting in the other's joins she very likely could not even move without pain and the red visor was also irritating. The medic caught himself thinking that she probably hadn't smiled in eons, probably not since she suddenly vanished in the early vorns of the war. Nobody had known what happened to her, but apparently had she joined the Decepticons. It was at least their emblem he could see on her chest plates and their air commander she was stripping of his armour– the actual reason for the medic's distress.

Noticing that Ironhide had followed him Ratchet motioned him to be silent and have a look. A part of him wanted to storm in and hug their second son and throw a major tantrum, but the other part felt that it was important what the unusual pair was discussing and that they would be better off listening first.

The black weapon specialist fought a similar inner battle, but in the end they agreed that this definitely wasn't the time to rush anything. For all they knew any action could, for various reasons, lead to a battle of undefined scales and Jazz could hardly get himself out of harm's way. It had taken long enough to stabilize him as it was.

"Why did you insist coming here anyway? They hate me" Starscream whined, his optics never leaving Jazz's form, worry and longing obvious in the red orbs.

"No they don't. Trust me; they both love you as if you were their own. For Primus sake, you are theirs. You should have seen the way Ratchet looked at me when he had made is mind up, which, by the way, had taken him but a breem."

"But I shot at them."

"Left aside that they shot back, I know how deadly your aim can be. If you'd wanted to hit one of them you would. We've both done horrible things to just stay alive, but the only crime you committed against you family was to no return to them when I told you to. I know, I'm not any better, but I couldn't just leave you there and someone had to do the spy work."

"Spy?"

"Don't act all surprised. You knew I gave every information I could to either Prowl or Jazz. That's how I've been buying our safety from all sides. Repairs for the Decepticons, information for the Autobots and the one or the other unexplainable escape of a certain saboteur who just didn't learn to stay out of our HQ. We all did what we had to and now that it's finally over I can't wait to see my sons again."

"Then why are you still here?"

Ghoststorm hesitated and by the lack of sound also stopped working for a moment.

"Because I'm just as scared of their reaction as you are, more so probably."

"I doubt that."

"Oh really? Well, let me get that straight then. When you left and joined Megatron you told them, right? And when you realised that the old scrapheap will never accept you for who and what you are and that Ironhide, Ratchet and Jazz really are your family, you were already in so deep you feared they wouldn't want you anymore. So you kept on going, but it only got worse, right? Don't deny it. I know you from the orn you were sparked and were with you through all that slag."

" ... "

"I take that as a "yes". Now you see, I haven't told anyone when I left. I just vanished from one orn to the other. I've been playing Decepticon medic and Autobot spy for the last eons without at least letting them know I'm still alive and although I know he's smart I doubt Prowl could figure out that I was the one playing all that intel into his servos. And every time I repaired and set him free again Jazz was already out of it. And then there is Red Alert. If they haven't changed as much in this war as we have I'll be lucky when Prowl punches me and Sunny and Sides give me the cold shoulder."

"But why did you come here with me in the first place?"

"Because it hurts. My spark aches to at least see them once, even if they don't want me around anymore. That will probably hurt more, but I will get over it, have to."

"And why do you think it will be so different for me?"

"They are your creators, Star."

"Megatron ..."

"Was an ignorant, stupid bastard, giving away the best thing that could have happened to him. He wouldn't even hold you, but Ratchet and Ironhide raised you and I'm sorry to tell you that you were a very ... stressing sparkling half the time."

"That's not helping" the seeker mumbled and Ghoststorm sighed.

"Hey, what I mean is that you did a lot slag and they still stuck with you. That's admittedly so far the worst you've done, but I give you my word that it won't change anything. Maybe the length of the dressing down and how long you will be grounded, but they will not abandon you. Never"

"And what about Jazz? He ..."

"... has been fighting tears since we came in and he's not the only none."

Outside the med bay the bonded didn't even need to look at each other, when they entered the room and had the first real look at their younger son. Starscream looked small without his armour, not at all like the feared air commander anymore, and he seemed at least as shocked about seeing them as they were, especially when they noticed the small, red sparkling in his arms.

"Oh Star ..."

"Ah, no, wrong address. Red is mine. Everything is alright, don't get your wires in a knot" Ghoststorm corrected before the other medic could even finish that thought and took the sparkling from the seeker.

"Where the slag did you find him?" Ironhide asked, not sure how to proceed from here. It was the first time in eons that they were all in the same room and he couldn't really help Ratchet fret of Jazz, who tried to sit up. And someone had to block the door after all.

"Find? I didn't find the little one. He's mine."

"Storm, you ..."

"Don't say it, teacher. I'm fine, Red Alert is healthy, and now hug you own sons or so help me, I'll show you just how I survived the last eons where it's even on the best orns the Pit. I'll go and find my boys now. It's no use to delay the unavoidable anymore" the femme grumped with a sad smile and just skidded out under the warrior's legs.

"Prime will crash when he finds out she's the mother of Prowl, Sunny and Sides" Ironhide mused, looking over his shoulder after the retreating femme. A pity he couldn't be there and see that, but then again, right now he actually didn't want to be anywhere else.


"I guess an apology is in order?" Starscream tried and curled closer into himself.

"How about you just come over here let me hug you, bro" Jazz suggested with his trademark grin, waving the seeker closer with one servo, while the other was clinked into his carrier shoulder so he wouldn't fall over.

"Are you ..."

"Star, really, I can't move right now and I want to hug my little bro until he's so embarrass he won't ever pull such a stupid stunt again. Now get over here."

Hesitatingly the seeker stepped closer, not sure what to expect after so many vorns on different sides of a gruesome war, but his worries were unnecessary. Starscream was hardly within reach of the other when Jazz reached out and snuggled him as if they were still younglings and the war never happened. It didn't make things undone, but it sure felt as if.

"I'm so glad you are alright. When Megatron ..." Starscream sobbed, clinking to him just as strongly.

"Hey, I'm older, but that doesn't mean I didn't catch up a thing or two from you. Besides, Ratch wouldn't let us die."

"Damn straight. Now lay back down, before I do it" the medic threatened, falling back to old habits already, but still he laid his arms around both and prevented them from moving at all.

Ironhide shook his head amused and got the other two berths.

"Up" he warned and being bonded Ratchet knew what he meant and pulled their sons up on the berth, when the warrior pushed all three berths together. Now they all had enough space to lay down together and the pair wasted no time to do just that. It was after all the first time in eons they were together like that.

"And now you will recharge, all of you. And so help me, if any of you so much as thinks about doing something only half as stupid ever again I will ground you for the rest of your lives!"

"Home sweet home."

"That's the spirit, little bro, that's the spirit."


TBC