Atonement

Chapter 24—Against the consequences

Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers. They officially belong to Hasbro and Takara. I'm taking them for a short spin.

Hot Rod took a break from reading, glancing down at the sparkling curled against his chest. Firebolt was quiet so far, staring back at him, chirping in contentment, and so far so good. Optimus left the sparkling with him while he went to talk with Ratchet, and had fed Firebold before leaving. Now Hot Rod could only hope he didn't have any problems with the sparkling until Optimus came back. Besides, what did he know about sparklings and taking care of them? Next to nothing, and here he was, having volunteered to watch one. Now someone was at his door, and it opened, before he could even answer the chime. And it revealed Springer, who was giving him a strange look.

"Where did you get that?" Springer asked, pointing at the sparkling in Hot Rod's arms.

"Optimus brought him back from Cybertron," Hot Rod said.

"Aren't you two moving a little fast?" Springer said.

"Like you should talk," Hot Rod retorted. "Why aren't you with Echo?"

"Prowl's with her so I could come see you," Springer said. "The kid got a name?"

"His name is Firebolt," Hot Rod said.

"Gimme," Springer said, taking the sparkling as Hot Rod handed him over. "Hey 'Bolt. You're gonna love it here, and my little femme is going to be your playmate. I bet you'll like that. And Afthead Prime here is hopefully going to be your other guardian soon. He'll be the fun one."

Hot Rod glared, but Springer only grinned back.

"They'll have more than each other," Hot Rod said. "Ratchet, Wheeljack and First Aid got the twins, and Mirage and Hound got one, too. Don't forget Galvatron and Starscream's twins. Echo isn't the only femme. She was placed with Ironhide and Chromia."

"At least Echo won't lack for playmates then," Springer said, handing Firebolt back to Hot Rod. "I do just have one question—how in the Pit is Optimus going to take care of a sparkling? Just dump it on you because it's convenient?"

"I volunteered to watch him this morning," Hot Rod said. "Not like I've got anything better to do, and I can read reports while I watch Firebolt."

"I'll have to make sure Prowl drops by later," Springer said. "He's been throwing around ideas about the possibility of more sparklings and the need for daycare like the humans have, so you two can talk about it."

"Not a bad idea," Hot Rod said.

"No kidding, because what are the two of us supposed to do with Echo when we both go back on active duty?" Springer said.

"Come up with a duty roster that takes families into consideration," Hot Rod said.

"You can take that up with Prowl and Optimus," Springer said. "Enough about work. Put down that data pad, and let's take your kid to meet Echo."

"He's not my kid," Hot Rod said.

"Might as well be, considering the circumstances," Springer said. "C'mon."

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Ratchet's discussion with Optimus had gone well, despite his initial misgivings. And his Prime had been adamant about using the opportunity before him as a chance to work things out with First Aid and Wheeljack. The talk behind him, the medic was now enjoying a little family time. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were meeting the new sparkling twins for the first time, and already considered Turbo and Strider their brothers. Ratchet smiled at the soft glow of Wheeljack's optics as he watched their grown twins with the sparklings.

"We did good," Wheeljack said. "How could you not want to do this again? Have our own sparkling even?"

"Now isn't the time," Ratchet said.

"It is," Wheeljack said. "First Aid wants a sparkling—our sparkling. We can handle a set of twins, and our own, as there's three of us. We've done this before, except now we have an extra set of hands. And look at Sides and Sunny—they'd help if we asked."

"I'll think about it," Ratchet said.

"Ratch, we can never replace what we lost, but we can try again, y'know?" Wheeljack said. "We raised Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, created the Dinobots, and now we have these twins. We've done this before, and 'Aid wants a family, Ratchet."

"He has it now," Ratchet said.

"He wants a piece of us," Wheeljack said, placing a hand on Ratchet's shoulder. "I want it. Don't you?"

"It would further complicate things," Ratchet said.

"So what?" Wheeljack said. "When have things ever been simple or easy for us? You fight for everybody but yourself these days, Ratch. Maybe this is what we need."

"Another sparkling with the two we've just been given?"

"You don't have to carry it, Ratchet," Wheeljack said. "First Aid can, or I will."

"You won't be able to go to Cybertron to assist with the engineering study," Ratchet said.

"Then we can spark up 'Aid, and I can go," Wheeljack said. "Or I can consult. Perceptor and Skyfire already forwarded me the preliminary scans, and Starscream included the blueprints of Shockwave's base, so I have a place to start without leaving you two."

"Do you really want to go?"

"Not really," Wheeljack said. "The project is tempting, but I'd rather stay here with you. We've lost so much time already."

"You're not going to give up on this, are you?" Ratchet said.

"No," Wheeljack said. "I never wanted you to give up on something we both wanted so much. I just want you to think about it, all right? Can you promise me that?"

"Yes," Ratchet said.

"Thanks, Ratch," Wheeljack said, throwing an arm around the medic.