Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ratchet had locked onto the signal from the crash. Time was of the essence if the Autobots wanted to beat the Decepticons to the location. Because of the high threat level, all the bots except for Ratchet went through the ground bridge to the crash coordinates. It was late afternoon on the other side. The golden sunlight was beginning to shift to oranges and reds. Long shadows spread from the trees, mostly pines, along the steep hill. This area wasn’t quite mountainous, but the hills provided an additional challenge in reaching the crash site.

 “Stay alert.” Optimus rumbled quietly as the group moved in the direction of the signal. Once they spotted the trail of destruction from the crash it was easy to get to the ship.

“Ratchet, we’ve found the crash site. The ship looks to be mostly intact.” Optimus Prime commed back to the medic.

“Be careful, Optimus. I’m standing by with the ground bridge.” Ratchet’s voice was concerned, but steady.

“Looks like it’s in pretty good shape.” Arcee murmured as she moved ahead of the others, beginning to circle the ship. It was about twice as large as the ship that Airachnid had used to get to Earth. This fact became more of a concern when Arcee spotted the decal along the left side of the ship. “Optimus, look at this.”

Optimus came around to join Arcee while Bulkhead and Bumblebee circled around the other side. “A Decepticon emblem. Be on guard.” He paused to place a hand on Arcee’s shoulder for a brief moment before continuing toward the front of the ship.

“There’s some damage on this side. Doesn’t look like it’s from the crash.” Bulkhead called out.

-Large weaponry blast. Maybe that’s why the ship crashed?- Bumblebee’s sounds were auto-translated by the rest of the team.

“I dunno, Bee. Looks like old damage.” Bulkhead and Bumblebee joined Optimus and Arcee at the front of the ship.

“We’re not going to get answers out here.” Arcee kept both of her hands in blaster mode while Bulkhead got to work on forcing the hatch open.

Optimus requested Bulkhead to remain outside on guard in case Decepticons arrived. All it took was Bumblebee mentioning the possibility of scraplets to get Bulkhead to stop complaining about missing out. Inside the ship was dark. It looked like everything was powered down, or perhaps had been powered down by lack of energy. Collapsed across the floor in front of a set of control panels was the dull grey body of a Cybertronian. Bumblebee was the one to crouch down and examine the body while Optimus looked on with a sorrowful expression. It wasn’t anyone he was familiar with, but looked like a Vosian seeker. The wings were branded with the Decepticon emblem.

Arcee moved deeper into the ship while Optimus and Bumblebee looked at the body. She was more concerned with what else might be on board. Something fell with a dull clang. Arcee lifted her blaster, scanning the area. This section of the ship looked like living quarters. There were four berths, all empty.

“Optimus, Bumblebee, I've got motion over here.” She kept her back toward the doorway as Optimus and Bumblebee left the body and came to join her.

There was a scraping sound, metal on metal, followed by an angry hiss. Arcee turned quickly, Bumblebee stepping to the side to give them more room. They were left facing a pair of faintly glowly, red optics half hidden under one of the berths. Bumblebee kept moving, circling around to the other side so Optimus could actually come into the room. He had to kneel down to try and see the small figure under the berth.

-What is it?- Bumblebee kept one optic on the berth while also trying to keep an eye on the other, unexplored doorway leading away from the living quarters.

“Some kind of Decepticon experiment?” Arcee asked dryly, optics narrowed. If that thing attacked she was going to blast it to pieces.

Optimus tilted his head a little further before speaking in quiet wonder. “I believe it is a sparkling.”

-A sparkling, really?!- Bumblebee dropped all attempts to look like he was watching for danger in favor of kneeling to peer under the berth as well.

Arcee slowly lowered her blasters, but didn’t change them back to hands. “Optimus, are you sure? How could there be a sparkling here?” She asked suspiciously.

“I do not know, but they look close to starving.” The faintness of the red glow from the sparkling’s optics meant the sparkling was either badly injured or close to offlining for some other reason.

“Go away!” The voice was high pitched, scratchy. The sparkling had crawled further back under the berth once Bumblebee joined Optimus in kneeling on the floor to try and get a look at them.

Optimus pulled an energon cube from his subspace and set it on the ground near the berth. He paused and then used one finger to push it closer. “You look hungry, little one. This is for you.” He kept his voice as soft and gentle as possible to avoid scaring the sparkling anymore than they had already.

The pale red optics and small frame didn’t budge.

Optimus looked back and sighed softly. “Arcee.” That one word carried heavy disapproval. Arcee still had her hands in blaster mode, even if they weren’t currently aimed at the berth anymore.

“It’s a ‘Con, Optimus.”

“A sparkling. An innocent.” He replied patiently.

“Slag.” Arcee muttered under her breath. She let her blasters reform to hands and took several steps back, watching warily still.

Hunger seemed to get the better of the sparkling after that. She crawled out from under the berth, every inch of her small frame tense and ready to bolt away if needed. At least it gave the three of them a clear view of what they were dealing with for the first time. The sparkling was a small femme, still quite young. Her plating, and the blue and purple coloring on it, was almost translucent in places. It was likely that her body had started cannibalizing itself to keep her alive for as long as possible. The sparkling held her wings high and wide, probably in an attempt to make herself look bigger. It was laughable for two reasons. One, she was roughly the size of their human friend Jack; and two, her left wing was bent sharply back about half way down its length.

The sparkling grabbed the edge of the cube and tried to tip it so she could drink, but she lacked the strength in her small, clawed servos. Bumblebee reached out to grab the cube. The sparkling hissed and swiped at his servo, leaving shallow claw marks when he quickly pulled away.

“Mine!”

-I was just trying to help you drink.- He ducked his head slightly, shoulders hunching.

“We are not going to take it away. Allow me to help you.” Optimus slowly moved his servo closer to the sparkling, watching as she shivered. Her wings drooped and then snapped back up as she fought not to cower or run. He gripped the sides of the cube and tipped it up for the sparkling to drink.

She wasted no time in grabbing the top edge of the cube in her clawed servos and quickly guzzling down the rich energon. The sparkling tugged at the edges when she needed it tipped further and Optimus silently obeyed the requests until the cube was emptied. She had consumed close to her own weight in energon, small midsection chubby as her body worked to process the nutrients.

The sparkling stepped back from the empty cube before sitting down with her wings in a limp, relaxed position. Her optics were brighter now. Those optics blinked slowly before she tipped her head back in a yawn.

“Optimus, what are we going to do now?” Arcee asked and returned the sparkling’s glare with one of her own while she spoke.

“We cannot leave her to fend for herself.”

“But-”

“Arcee, she is a helpless sparkling. We cannot leave her here.” Optimus stated firmly, briefly glancing over at Arcee before looking back at the drowsy sparkling. “What is your name, little one?”

The sparkling rubbed at her face and yawned again before answering him. “Starfall.”

“Starfall. We’re going to take you with us and keep you safe.” Optimus carefully scooped the sparkling into one servo, wincing when she started to dig narrow claws into the joints. He held her carefully, trying not to jostle her bent wing.

“I want my carrier.” Starfall muttered, curling up in Optimus’s servo and keeping herself in place with those claws.

The trio shared a quick, uncomfortable look. They couldn’t know for sure that the body was Starfall’s carrier, but considering that they were both seekers it seemed likely.

“I am sorry, Starfall. Your carrier is gone.” Optimus murmured in a gentle rumble.

“Carrier.” Curled up, Starfall could just fit all of her frame in Optimus’s servo. Her optics shuttered and she slipped into an exhausted recharge.

Optimus sighed and looked from the small form cradled in his servo to the other two bots. “Continue searching the ship. We need to gather any information we can. I will have Bulkhead take Starfall back to base.”

They nodded and moved to continue deeper into the ship. Optimus retreated the way they had come. He paused to look down at the body of the dead seeker. How had they died? How had they left a sparkling behind? He shook his head and went back out the hatch.

~

“He WHAT?!” Ratchet put a hand over his optics with a grimace. Of all the insane… no, honestly, this wasn’t the craziest thing Optimus had ever done. He started muttering under his breath while moving to reopen the ground bridge for Bulkhead to bring the sparkling back.

“What happened? Was it the ‘Cons? Who’d they send? What was at the crash? I knew we should have gone!” Miko leaned over the railing to eagerly interrogate Ratchet.

“Is everyone okay?” Raf asked softly, looking concerned.

Ratchet glanced over at the children and sighed again. “We’re about to have a new guest.” He growled out as he turned to watch the ground bridge fire up.

Bulkhead came walking through, body posture stiff and his pace very careful. He had both of his servos cradled up close to his chest and was staring intently down at them with a half terrified, half awed expression. He blinked and looked up when Ratchet turned off the ground bridge.

“What’da ya have, Bulk?!” Miko asked, bouncing slightly in place.

“Shhhh.” Bulkhead hissed out and looked back down at his cupped servos for a moment before sighing in relief. “She’s still out.” He tipped his servos out a bit, enough for all of them to get a look at what he held. The sparkling was curled up on her side, optics still offlined as she continued to recharge.

“Whoa. It’s so small.” Jack murmured while all three of the humans stared at the small being.

“You’re not trying to replace me, are ya, Bulk?” Miko teased with a grin.

“Nah. They found her on the crash. Optimus said her name is Starfall. They’re staying behind to gather information about what happened before the ‘Cons show up.” Bulk said softly.

Ratchet had walked away when Bulkhead showed the humans the sparkling. He came back now with a scanner, holding it over Starfall. “Huh. Looks like she was close to starvation, some of her systems are close to shut down. And that wing needs repaired. Haven’t worked too much with wings, or seeker sparklings.” He rubbed at his optics again, feeling the coming processor ache. “Lets get her onto the medical berth so I can get to work.”

“Seeker?” Jack asked, watching at Bulkhead followed after Ratchet.

“She does look like a mini Starscream.” Raf said slowly.

Miko gasped and turned on Raf. “What?! No way, she’s adorable!”

“Well, I mean, she does have wings.” Jack muttered and shrugged. He walked down the stairs to follow after Ratchet and Bulkhead. Raf was quick to follow him and Miko, still nagging Raf, brought up the rear.

“Bulk, if she’s a baby, where’s her mom?” Miko asked, jumping to try and get a better look when the sparkling was set on the medical berth.

“Optimus said her carrier was dead. Do you think he could have been a spark splitter like Soundwave?” Bulkhead addressed the second part to Ratchet.

“He? Is a carrier a mom or a dad?” Raf asked, looking back and forth between the two bots.

Ratchet sighed. “No, Bulkhead, I don’t think she came from a spark splitter.” He rubbed his face and glanced down at the three human faces looking up at him. “It’s not as simple as with you humans.”

“Whoa, are you gonna give us the birds and bees talk for robots?!” Miko demanded gleefully.

“It’s- We’re not-” Ratchet groaned.

Bulkhead was trying to back away from them. “Well, I brought her to ya, Ratchet. I think I’ll just-”

“Oh no you don’t.” The medic lashed out, grabbing Bulkhead’s arm. “This is your fault too. If I have to suffer, you can suffer with me.”

Bulkhead shuffled his pedes anxiously and stared at the ceiling.

“Most Cybertronians have a carrier and and sire. Sometimes that is a femme and a mech. Sometimes it’s two mechs or two femmes. It used to be that a pair would request a new spark from the All Spark. The carrier would keep the new spark in their own spark chamber, nurturing it while the body for the sparkling was formed within themself. The sparkling body would have… material… from both the carrier and sire.” Ratchet paused there and tried to refocus back on the recharging sparkling instead of the inquisitive humans watching him. “When the sparkling body was fully formed the new spark would separate from the carrier’s spark and settle in its new spark chamber. Then they would emerge.”

“Wait, then what is a spark splitter?” Jack asked.

Raf frowned. “I thought you said the All Spark was lost early in the war.”

“Can’t you just let me work?” Ratchet grumbled, poking at Starfall’s bent wing. “A spark splitter can split pieces of their own spark and nurture it. Then they are basically carrier and sire to the sparkling. Soundwave is a spark splitter. And yes, Raf, it was.”

“Laserbeak is one of Soundwave’s sparklings. Well, mostly grown up now.” Bulkhead shrugged.

Miko crossed her arms, glaring up at Bulkhead since Ratchet had turned his back to them. “Then how is she still a little sparkling, huh?”

“Uh…” Bulkhead rubbed his helm.

“There’s evidence of long term, enforced stasis.” Ratchet said quietly, setting aside a tool. “This sparkling may very well be from the start of the war, locked away in stasis on that ship for millenia.”

“Geez, that’s got to be rough. Waking up to find everything has changed so much.” Jack murmured, sharing a look with the other two humans.

“You have no idea.” Ratchet muttered with a sigh.

Chapter Text

Starfall came out of recharge and onlined her optics, blinking as she tried to remember where she was. This was not the ship. The sparkling pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked down at herself. For the first time in cycles she didn’t hurt. Her systems weren’t sending frantic warnings about energon levels and starvation. And there were no errors. Starfall twisted around to look at her wing, which was no longer bent.

“Carrier?” Starfall called out as she looked around the somewhat messy medical area.

“Ah, you’re awake.” A large, ground based bot came into the doorway. He had a white and orange paint job, and his optics were a piercing blue that sent a wave of terror through Starfall.

She hissed and scrambled back along the medical berth until her wings bumped against a wall. Starfall raised her clawed servos and glared at the Autobot. She remembered now, Autobots had gotten onto the ship! Well, they hadn’t killed her yet. The big one had even given her energon.

The Autobot did not look nearly as scared of her display as she wished. He lifted a hand to his helm instead.

“Optimus, the sparkling is up.”

He regarded her again and held up a cube of energon. “If I set this on the berth, will you refuel without making a mess? Or do you need help?”

Starfall felt her face flush with energon at the implication that she was some helpless new spark. Okay, the big Autobot had had to help her before. But that was just because she was so weakened from not having fuel for a couple cycles.

“I can do it myself! Stay away, Autobot.” She snapped, lifting her wings higher in a vain attempt to make herself look more imposing.

The Autobot snorted and stepped closer, setting the cube on the end of the berth furthest from where she half crouched. Starfall ignored the gurgle from her tanks and turned her nose up at the offering, refusing to budge from her spot. As if she’d trust what an Autobot gave her! Her carrier had taught her better than that.

“Suit yourself. And my name is Ratchet, by the way.” The Autobot shrugged.

A second Autobot came into the medbay. It was the big one, Optimus, that had given her energon on the ship. His blue optics looked at her with gentle compassion. It made Starfall nervous to have his gaze so focused on her. He hadn’t acted like she expected an Autobot to act. Maybe it was all a ploy? They might be after her carrier’s work.

“I am glad to see you are doing better, Starfall. You are safe here.” Optimus stopped short of the berth when the other Autobot held out a servo. Starfall was distantly grateful for that.

“I want my carrier!” She snapped, still glaring at the pair of them.

The two Autobots traded a significant glance. Starfall felt her spark tighten. How much of what she’d seen on the ship had been starvation driven delusion? She wouldn’t, couldn’t, believe that dull, grey form…

“I want my carrier!” Starfall repeated, half shrieking with her servos balled into fists now. She could feel her wings quivering, coolant gathering in her optics. This wasn’t the time to cry. Starfall knew she had to be brave and find her carrier. Then they could both escape, together.

Optimus sighed and stepped closer to the berth. “You were the only living thing on the ship, Starfall. Your carrier was already offlined.”

“No!” She shook her head quickly, not wanting to believe him. “No, he wouldn’t leave me! He wouldn’t!”

“I’m sorry. Your carrier did all he could to make sure you lived.” Optimus rumbled gently.

Starfall slumped down on her aft and hugged her knees close to her chest. Her wings hung low and quivered as she began to keen. She hadn’t wanted to believe he was gone, that she was all alone now.

“We could see if we have any records of your sire. Maybe he is still around?” Ratchet muttered awkwardly.

Coolant streaking down her cheeks, Starfall glanced up and shook her head as she worked to swallow the keening clawing up from her vocalizer. “S-sire… offlined in the fighting… before I emerged. It was just… just me and… c-carrier.” She lost control again, sobs shaking her small frame.

It seemed that was the last straw for Optimus. He reached out across the berth and lifted her up in his servos, cradling her close to his chassis. Starfall started thrashing against him, small claws leaving scratches on his metal plating and glass.

“Shush. It is alright to cry, to mourn for your loss.” Optimus attempted to rumble comfortingly.

“Why?” Starfall gasped out, vocalizer hitching. “Why are you being kind to me? You’re Autobots!”

Ratchet and Optimus shared a glance before the large Autobot looked back down at her again.

“You seem to have been misinformed; the Autobots are the good guys. We wouldn’t hurt a little sparkling. Even a Decepticon one. Well, unless you were trying to offline us I guess.” Ratchet shrugged and reached over to pick up the cube he’d set on the berth.

“We will look after you, Starfall. You are not alone.” Optimus said gently.

Ratchet held the cube of energon close to the whimpering sparkling. “You need to refuel, your frame is still vulnerable from almost starving.”  

She wanted to refuse, but her tanks chose to gurgle at that moment. Starfall wriggled slightly in Optimus’s grasp until she could take the cube from Ratchet. It didn’t take her long to finish it off, the taste bitter from added minerals. She knew they were good for her, but it didn’t mean she liked them. Her frame felt heavy and sore still. Cradled against Optimus’s chassis she was warm and the thrum of his spark was soothing.

Starfall felt her head falling limp against Optimus’s chassis. Her optics kept flickering. She turned over so her wings didn’t feel cramped and let herself drift back into recharge.

~

Optimus was gentle as he settled the sparkling back onto the medical berth. She didn’t even twitch, small frame limp. He smiled faintly and carefully moved her so she wasn’t lying on her right wing. Starfall looked adorable in sleep, her rounded cheek smushed against the berth.

“I was able to do some scans before she came around.” Ratchet muttered, looking down at a piece of tech in his servos.

“What can you tell me?” Optimus rumbled softly to avoid disturbing Starfall’s rest.

Ratchet sighed and rubbed his helm for a moment. “Plenty of evidence for long term stasis. We can assume that’s how a sparkling ended up here. She’s probably been in stasis since the beginning of the war. Judging by her frame and her spark, she’s between ten and twenty vorn old.”

“You can’t get anything more accurate?” Optimus asked with a small frown.

“I tried, but either this thing is struggling with a spark so young, or maybe it isn’t well calibrated for seekers. I don’t know. Her spark reads as a bit younger than her frame.” He sounded annoyed, optics narrowed at the offending technology. “Either way, she’s not a new spark, but she’s not much past that.”

“About the same age as when we found Bumblebee.” Optimus murmured, his gaze drawn back to the quietly resting sparkling. He could almost see the yellow sparkling curled up after crying himself to exhaustion when they’d found him wandering the streets, his creators offlined by the Decepticons.

“Yes, well, I’m putting together a feeding plan for her. She is still growing and her frame is suffering from almost starving before you found her.” Ratchet muttered. “Which means we need more energon. We have to make it more of a priority if everyone is going to stay fueled.”

Optimus’s expression became more grim. “You are right. I want someone on guard here at all times. I don’t want Starfall to wake up alone.”

“Worried she might do something?"

“I am worried both for her safety and ours. I do not expect her to trust us immediately. It may take a while for her to warm up to us.

Ratchet huffed out a breath. “Especially with whatever drivel she was told about Autobots. She acted like she thought we’d torture her or something.

“Typical scare tactics. Ratchet, I also want you to start going through the data we were able to extract from the ship’s computers. Whatever her carrier was working on may prove useful to us.

The medic considered his ever growing list of responsibilities and sighed. “I’ll get to it as soon as I can, Optimus.”

Chapter Text

“You’re not recovering as well as expected. Are you drinking all of the energon I give you?” Ratchet raised an eyebrow, looking down at Starfall.

Starfall scrunched her face and glared up at the medic. As if she wanted to starve herself or something?! She’d been stuck in the medical bay for a solid week now and was starting to get a bit stir crazy. Ratchet had promised, promised , that if her check up was good he would let her exercise. With supervision. As if Starfall couldn’t outmaneuver any of these old bots.

“Of course I have! Where would I hide it?” She snapped back, arms crossed and wings raised high.

Ratchet huffed, obviously not fully believing her. “Maybe you think you need to hoard fuel. We aren’t gonna starve you. I’m going to increase the amount of minerals in your daily energon. Your plating isn’t thickening well.” He was trailing off into grumbled as he poked at a screen in his hand.

“Does that mean I can go for a walk?” She had tried to keep the wistful tone from her voice, but she was pretty sure that hadn’t been successful.

“I want to get a better scan on your wings.” Ratchet said after a moment.

Starfall groaned dramatically. That would mean sitting still for ages and Ratchet poking at her wings. They were starting to feel sensitive, twitchy. She knew her wings had lots and lots of sensors. They were supposed to help with flying. Her carrier had stroked her wings when they started getting twitchy, resetting the sensors and easing the feeling. Whenever Ratchet touched her wings she just wanted to flinch.

“I’m not like your sparklings. I have proper wings. How could you help my wings?” Starfall made sure to shift herself back across more of the berth. Getting a little distance from Ratchet would make it easier to run if he grabbed at her. Not that he had yet, but it could happen.

The medic chuckled, watching her little display. “Oh, like you would know about our sparklings?”

“I know they look weird! I’m not letting you change me to be like your weird sparklings!” Starfall hissed out.

Ratchet rolled his eyes. “Autobot sparklings wouldn’t look any different from Decepticon ones. And we haven’t even had any sparklings around in millenia.”

“But…” Starfall frowned. “...What about the one that keeps spying on us?”

“Spying on-” Ratchet broke off and spun around to look at the doorway. “Miko!” He snapped.

There was a thump and a yelp from around the corner before the strange sparkling stuck her head around the edge of the doorway. “Ratchet! Hey, how’s it going? How’s the Decipti-baby?”

“Miko…” Ratchet nearly growled out before sighing. He frowned a little to himself and looked from the weird sparkling, Miko, back to Starfall. “Huh.” He said slowly. “Miko, we’ll discuss your disobedience later. What do you think about giving Starfall a tour of the base?”

Miko bounced up and down eagerly. “Really?! Hell yeah! I know every inch of this place like the back of my hand. I can handle the tour!”

Starfall watched the interaction curiously, head slightly tilted. She flinched when Ratchet turned back to her and held out a servo. After a moment she placed one of her smaller servos in his, not sure what else he wanted. The medic looked thoughtful, perhaps even a little sad. He brushed his thumb over her clawed digits.

“I do not condone battle modifications for sparklings.” He murmured.

She yanked her servo back from his reach and bared her dentae at him. “You can’t take them! Carrier gave them to me!”

He raised his eyebrows and straightened up. “And why did he do that?”

“A defenseless seeker is a dead seeker. Carrier wanted me able to defend myself!” Starfall snapped quickly.

“Fine. But Miko is a human, an organic lifeform. Your claws could hurt her if you aren’t careful. If you want to take a walk with her, you need to promise you won’t hurt her.” Ratchet said sternly.

Starfall considered his words and looked down at her claws for a moment. She glanced at the eager… human. Miko. “Okay. I won’t hurt Miko if she doesn’t hurt me.” She gave a firm nod, it wasn’t that hard to behave. Especially if it meant getting to move around.

Ratchet nodded and stepped back. “When Miko brings you back we will have a different place for you to recharge.”

“I don’t have to stay in here anymore?” She couldn’t help sounding eager. Starfall was tired of staring at this room.

A gruff chuckle left Ratchet. “No, I’d like to have my medbay back. It’s not a hotel. Go on now, before I change my mind.”

Starfall didn’t need to be told twice. She scrambled to the edge of the berth and jumped down to the floor. The human Miko was waiting eagerly for her by the door and Starfall was pleased to note that she was taller than the little organic. Afterall, she’d promised not to hurt the human Miko, not that she wouldn’t run away from her.

“Come on, I can show you all the best places on base. Ratchet is a big grump, but I think he means well.” Miko shrugged as she led the way. “Can you fly yet?”

“Not really.” Starfall admitted after a moment, looking around at the hallway instead of watching the human Miko. “I was just starting to learn before… I was here.” A familiar pang went through her spark as she remembered her carrier. He had told her as much as he could about flying and helped her practice using her thrusters. Nothing but practice left to get the hang of it, or so he’d said. Flying was supposed to come naturally to a seeker.

“Bummer, it would be totally cool if you could fly. You could carry me!” Miko beamed up at Starfall, but there was a mischievous edge to her smile.

Starfall eyed her more warily now. “Why would I want to carry you while flying?”

“Oh, can you imagine what we could get up to?” That was an entirely mischievous smile now. And Starfall returned it in full force. Maybe she could make a friend here.

~

“Ratchet, where is Starfall?” Optimus had come to the open doorway of the medical bay, likely to offer his own services as a tour guide for the sparkling.

The medic set down one of his tools and turned to face his leader with a small shrug. “I finished up her medical exam early. She’s with Miko, being shown around the base.”

Optimus stepped up next to Ratchet, frowning down at him. “Are you sure that is wise, Ratchet?”

Ratchet chuckled and shrugged, shifting the medical berth away from the wall where it had been shoved for Starfall’s comfort. “Actually, I think it is a genius idea.” He grinned and turned back to Optimus with his hands on his hip plates. “Did you realize that Starfall has no reason to hate humans? No reason to hate organics, even? She didn’t know what Miko was. I figured it was a safe bet that the girl could get Starfall to open up.”

“I am more concerned for Miko’s safety. We know to be careful with humans, but Starfall may not.”

“Starfall promised not to hurt Miko. Besides, Miko has faced far more dangerous cybertronians without becoming seriously injured. I doubt she’ll have any trouble with a seeker sparkling.” Ratchet snorted and shook his head. “Do you have the room finished for her?”

Optimus paused at the sudden change in topic. He would have to take Ratchet’s word for Miko’s safety. The medic had spent more time with the sparkling than the rest of them. “Yes. Bumblebee and Bulkhead are finishing the last changes.”

~

“Aaaand that’s about it. Ratchet said I can’t take you outside.” Miko stopped and turned to smile at Starfall.

She flicked her wings up and then back down into a more relaxed position, trying not to show how unsettled she was by that. Starfall had hoped that the tour would end with going outside. She wanted to see the sky. Lately she’d been feeling almost claustrophobic with nothing but walls to stare at. Even on the ship, she could sit at the windows and stare at the vastness of space.

“I don’t want to go back yet. If I’m going to be stuck here, I’d like to know more about this world.” More information couldn’t be bad. Carrier had always wanted more information.

“Well, I know tons about Earth. So I can tell you all about it.” Miko started walking back down the hallway.

Starfall sighed and followed after the human as she considered what to ask. “Miko… why are the Autobots here anyway?” Why weren’t they on Cybertron?

“Because of the Decepticons, duh? I guess they came here and started trouble, so the Autobots followed to stop them.”

Starfall almost stumbled, spark clenching in sudden shock. She tried to keep her voice calm and hide her growing excitement. “The… Decepticons? Who all is here?”

Chapter Text

It was becoming more difficult to remind herself that the Autobots were the enemy. They’d saved her, fixed her wing, and she actually liked their organic allies. None of them were fliers and they had no reason to offer her comfortable quarters… so why had one of them, someone, painted the ceiling of her new room to look like the sky? It wasn’t a great paint job, but they’d made an effort.

Starfall huffed and sat up on her new berth, turning over to lie on her cockpit so she couldn’t see the painted ceiling. She didn’t want to like these Autobots. What would her carrier say if he could see her now?

A choked noise escaped the sparkling before she pressed her face down into the berth. During the day it was easier to keep her processor occupied. But now, alone and trying to recharge? The spark crushing sorrow tried to swamp her; her processor dragging up the image of the greyed frame at the control panel. She couldn’t think of it as her carrier. Her carrier had been vibrant and full of energy. That thing had just been a… husk.

After a few minutes trying, and failing, to push back the grief, Starfall sat up. She knew slipping into recharge when her processor was all tangled in these memories would lead to a bad flux. The last thing she needed was another of those. So she decided to test what Ratchet had told her when she’d been shown to her new quarters. He’d claimed that she wasn’t a prisoner, and so the door would not be locked. Of course, he’d also explained that could be changed if she used their trust to start trouble. Honestly, she wasn’t looking to start trouble. Starfall just wanted to walk around until she was too exhausted to think and could recharge in peace.

The door to her quarters opened soundlessly. Starfall stuck her head out of the narrow opening and quickly looked up and down the hallway. All was quiet and the lights were dimmed. She automatically turned up the sensitivity in her own optics to compensate. The sparkling carefully slid the rest of her frame out of the doorway and closed it softly behind herself. She was tense, expecting some sort of alarm to go off. But this was just… quiet.

Starfall hesitated before starting to walk. She had no real destination, just a desire to move until she could fall back into recharge. Something in the back of her processor obviously had different plans, because she soon found herself standing in the entryway to the main part of the base. Where the elevator was located. Miko had told her about the elevator and Starfall felt a familiar pang of need to see the sky. She had been stuck in here for cycles now! Normally a cycle didn’t go by without her seeing the sky or outer space. It made part of her processor feel like it was… itchy.

She could walk over and use that elevator device to go outside, see the sky and feel the wind. But unlike the rest of the base she’d been wandering through, this room was not empty. Ratchet was sitting in front of the computer, obviously working on something. Starfall knew she was skilled; her carrier had often praised her and obviously she was a match for any Autobot that might dare to stand in her path. But where would she go? Even if she did defeat Ratchet and escape, she had no idea where the Decepticons on this planet were located. The thought of slowly starving until she deactivated, alone, was something that sent chills through her frame. She’d been too close to that once already.

There was the option of just turning around and continuing her rambles elsewhere since Ratchet hadn’t noticed her presence yet. But now that she’d seen him, she didn’t feel like wandering alone through the hallways anymore.

Starfall walked toward Ratchet, only hesitating for a moment when he looked up at her approach. It wasn’t like she was trying to sneak up on him. Or cause trouble.

“What are you doing up? You should be recharging.” He didn’t even have the decency to turn off the computer and give her his undivided attention. Starfall had to push back the desire to do something mean spirited just to get a real reaction out of the old grounder.

“Can’t recharge.” She muttered, crossing her arms and standing far enough away that she wouldn’t have to crane her neck far to look at him. Even with Ratchet sitting on some silly, improvised chair he was still much taller than her.

“Can’t? Or won’t?” At least now he had turned slightly to acknowledge her. Ratchet’s expression looked like a strange combination of knowing and concerned.

Starfall took a moment to consider the difference in the words before shaking her head slightly. “Can’t.”

“Huh.” Ratchet rubbed at his eyes for a moment. “Well, I can see if I have som-”

“What are you doing up?” She interrupted, curious and only a little disappointed that she didn’t have free run of the base.

Ratchet huffed, looking at her with narrowed optics. “I don’t need as much recharge as a sparkling. And someone has to keep watch on the monitors.”

“Sounds boring.”

“It is.” He made those two words sound so tired.

Starfall quickly walked over and clambered up into the medic’s lap before he could protest. She didn’t like the old grounder, but seeing him sitting alone just like she was alone felt… wrong. It didn’t mean anything. “Maybe you can tell me about it and bore me into recharge.”

Ratchet stared down at her, face contorting through several emotions before he sighed. “I can’t decide if I should be insulted. Fine.”

The sparkling grinned and settled more comfortably, looking at the screens as the medic began to explain. At least this would keep her processor occupied.

~

Optimus stepped into the main room of the base and stopped, silently taking in the scene before him. Ratchet was seated at the computer monitors, his head tilted back and optics offlined. Optimus had been telling him for days that he needed more recharge, but the medic was stubborn. Finding Ratchet recharging at his station would have been amusing enough, but that wasn’t everything.

Starfall was curled up on Ratchet’s lap, shifted over enough that her wings could hang off the side of his left leg. The top of her head was almost pressed against his knee guard. The sparkling was obviously deep in recharge as well, small frame limp.

While he was pleased to see some progress being made with getting to know the sparkling, he also wanted to send Ratchet to his quarters for rest. Optimus had come to relieve the medic from his monitoring duty. He also didn’t want to startle the sparkling awake. After a moment of thought he stepped closer to the pair. Neither stirred. Optimus reached down and carefully lifted up Starfall’s small form. As he’d hoped, she didn’t react to the gentle motion. Once a sparkling was in recharge they tended to stay that way unless truly disturbed.

Ratchet, on the other servo, woke with a start. He had survived millenia of war by being aware of the slightest disturbance. The medic relaxed when he noticed it was just Optimus, smiling gently down at him as the large Autobot cradled the little sparkling.

“Optimus, don’t startle me like that.” He tried to sound gruff, but Ratchet’s face flushed slightly with energon. Embarrassed because he’d been caught recharging on duty? Or because he’d been caught in a cute moment with their orphaned sparkling?

“My apologies. I wanted to move Starfall to ensure she was not woken.” Optimus kept his tone warm, approving.

Ratchet stood, wincing as he stretched a bit. “Yes. Well. I can take her back to her quarters before finding my own berth.” He grumbled after a moment.

Optimus carefully transferred Starfall into Ratchet’s servos. He paused and stroked a digit along her back. The plating was smooth and warm. “Why was she up?”

“Having trouble recharging, apparently. I think she was probably testing out her new freedom and having a look around.”

“At least she felt safe enough to recharge with you.” Optimus said, straightening up to his full height. “I had worried she would be more trouble.”

Ratchet snorted and gave the recharging form in his servos a stern look. “Less to do with trust than exhaustion, Optimus. She’s not refueling properly, though I can’t figure out how or why!”

Optimus set a servo on Ratchet’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “I have faith that you’ll be able to get through to her, old friend. Starfall has been through a lot in a very short amount of time. She needs your support and patience.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” The medic grumbled to himself as he turned to leave.

~

The best part of the day, without a doubt, was when Miko, Raf, and Jack came from school. Starfall spent most of the days in her quarters, where she could be left alone. Bumblebee and Bulkhead weren’t so bad, but they looked at her with concern and pity. It made her plating crawl. And Ratchet was always just… watching. Like he knew when she was planning to get into some little mischief. Starfall could barely be in a room with Arcee without trading glares or barbed comments. They hadn’t warmed up to each other since their first meeting. And Optimus… made her uncomfortable. Not because being around him was bad, but because something in her spark told her she could trust him. And she didn’t trust that feeling.

It was clear that the organics-humans- were sparklings-children- like she was, so there was no need to feel looked down on. Literally and figuratively. Only Jack was close to her height, and Starfall had the strangest feeling she was actually a little taller than him now. Hadn’t they been the same height when she first met them? No matter, it was nice not to be the shortest person around.

They took delight in teaching her about earth things. It made communicating with them easier. She did have to check with Jack and Raf about some things. On occasion, Miko would tell her things that were lies just to mess with her. Starfall didn’t mind, she told lies about Cybertronians to the girl so she’d have to check with Bulkhead too.

It was Miko that Starfall spent the most time with. The girl was fun to hang out with and had some wonderful ideas for pranks. Their guardians didn’t approve, but neither seemed bothered by that.

“So explain to me again what the point of this is?” Starfall looked from the bucket in Miko’s hands to the metal beam high up by the ceiling.

“The point is that it will be hilarious. You don’t understand, you can never get rid of glitter. It will haunt you like the ghosts of your regrets.” Despite the slightly dark wording, Miko was grinning brightly up at Starfall.

Starfall huffed and glared up at the metal beam. “Fine, but how are we going to get it up there?”

Miko reached up and tugged on one of Starfall’s wings suddenly. The sparkling hissed and quickly pulled the appendage away, taking several steps back from the human. “Hey! Those are sensitive!!” In fact, they’d been getting more and more sensitive over the cycles- days. Over the days.

“Sorry.” Miko shrugged a bit. “But you have wings, why don’t you use them and fly the bucket up there? I’ve attached fishing wire to it so we can pull it down without anyone noticing until it’s too late.”

Starfall lightly touched the edge of her wing, feeling the itchy twitches starting up again. She sighed and looked away from Miko. “I still can’t really fly. I mean, you’ve seen me try. Ratchet said I’m not allowed to keep practicing inside.” She huffed out again and crossed her arms. “Not that they’ve let me outside since I got here.”

Miko reached out to place a hand lightly on Starfall’s arm. “I’m sorry, Starfall. Hey, what if you held onto the wall? You know, for stability! Then you wouldn’t fly in circles and crash.”

“I didn’t crash.” Starfall snapped out between clenched denta.

“Riiiight. Well, wanna give this a try?” She held up the bucket, wiggling it back and forth. “Or are you scared…?”

Starfall snatched the bucket from the girl, still careful not to hurt Miko with her claws. “I can do it!” She stomped over to the closest wall and shot a glare back at her friend. “And I didn’t crash.”

Perhaps it had been rash to claim she could get up there. But Starfall couldn’t stand the thought of being seen as weak or scared. It didn’t matter if it was true, people could use those things against you. She had to be strong, like her carrier had been. That thought helped steady her.

Starfall dangled the bucket off one arm by the handle and carefully dug her claws into the wall. It wasn’t too difficult to force them into the concrete. She kept the power from her thrusters just high enough to give her a little lift. No need to try and show off for Miko. It was going alright, keeping one servo full of claws in the wall and reaching up with the next, until Miko decided to tease her.

“You know, maybe the problem is that you don’t fly right.” The human girl was sitting cross legged on the floor, obviously having gotten bored with watching Starfall’s slow progress.

“Like you would know?!” Starfall spat the words over her shoulder, wings trembling.

“I’m just saying, I’ve seen another seeker fly. And he doesn’t fly like that. Actually, I’ve only ever seen him fly as, like, a proper plane. Never when he had feet.” Miko was grinning brightly up at her.

“Pedes.” She growled out. If Starfall had to learn the human words for things, she figured her friends should return the favor. “They’re called pedes, not feet. You have feet. Useless feet.”

She had let go of the wall with one servo so she could turn to properly glare down at Miko. Starfall felt herself unbalance, wobbling as she tried to stabilize her thrusters beneath herself again. Instinct made her flare her wings, trying to use them to keep herself upright, but the sensors were glitching. They weren’t processing data correctly.

Instead of straightening and moving back against the wall, Starfall found herself spinning away. Her other servo was ripped free from the concrete as she lost control. Everything twisted in a blur of colors, limbs flailing before she slammed into something solid. Starfall yelped when her cockpit hit the wall. Her thrusters cut out and she fell hard to the ground, just missing landing on one of her wings.

“Starfall!” Miko had rushed to her side.

The sparkling pushed herself up, tossing the now empty bucket away. “Ugh.” Starfall wasn’t sure what was worse, the injury to her pride or the fact that she was now coated in purple and pink glitter.

“You’re not hurt?” It sounded like Miko had swallowed something that was trying to get back out. Her face was turning red as she slapped a hand over her mouth.

Starfall narrowed her optics and stood, shaking herself as best she could. Nothing but a few minor dents. “Don’t you dare tell Ratchet!” She snapped, feeling angry. Angry was easier than hurt or scared.

“Whoa, whoa.” Miko raised her hands, chuckling slightly. “I won’t say a thing.”

“Good.” Starfall turned on her heel and stomped out of the room, trailing glitter as she headed to try and wash off the worst of this gunk. She needed a minute alone to gather her thoughts and emotions. What if… what if there was something wrong? What was a seeker that couldn’t fly?