Hey everyone!

Sorry for not really having an update schedule lately but this story isn't really one I planned on updating regularly. So yeah, I probably will leave this story here for awhile and come back whenever I need to write something really fluffy to improve my mood. Oh and, short chapter. Sorry.
I will be devoting most of my writing efforts to m new story, Always, so please check that out if you want! Its Starscream centric and not so fluffy at all, but I am still hopeful people will be interested in it.

Oh and if there is anything anyone really wants to see happen in this story, or wants a specific 'bot to make an appearance; do let me know! You might just give me the inspiration I need!

Thank you everyone for all of your reviews, they are amazing and you have no idea how good it feels that people actually like what I write. Best feeling ever. So thank guys and keep it up! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Transformers or any of the characters seen in this story except for my lion cub.

/Autobot Base – Blaster's Quarters/

For the first day after Steeljaw had come out of hiding he had primarily stayed in the seclusion of Blaster's quarters. He enjoyed the familiarity of the small, but homey, room he lived in with the rest of his family unit. It had been really nice to curl up in his nest of blankets and just enjoy the small sounds of his siblings as they bickered playfully until late into the evening.

He had been sour at first because their shared quarters were permeated with the organic cub's scent. It was a sickeningly sweet musk of a smell, one that Steeljaw had come to recognize far too easily. The only thing that had stayed his complaints was that his own private nest area had been untouched.

That didn't stop him from complaining anyways.

His siblings had spent several hours questioning him and harassing him over being such 'sourpuss' as they now insisted on calling him every time he made the faintest expression of his annoyance. Eventually though they eased up on their light-sparked hazing and were content to spend their time quietly, enjoying their elder brother's company.

There was just one thing that they didn't fully understand yet.

"Hey Steel'?" Rewind piped up suddenly from where he sat on Blaster's berth playing a card game with the others.

Steeljaw was suddenly wary, feeling the subtle scheming through his brother's bond with the rest of his siblings. "Yes Rewind, what is it?"

"Why did you run away?"

Steeljaw didn't answer at first responding with an indignant, "I did not run away."

The golden quadruped shifted around his red fuzzy blanket, feeling all too clearly the four pairs of optics looking at him with varying degrees of disbelief.

"What!?" Steeljaw asked sharply, feeling his faceplates heat slightly.

There was a collective 'Uh huh' that echoed through the bond and Steeljaw wished that he could just crawl the rest of the way under his blanket and hide forever.

"Are you gonna tell us what really happened between you and sire?" Eject asked plaintively,

"Or are we gonna have to blackmail it out of you?" Rosanna added afterwards, threatening him lightly even though they all knew that the pink cassette couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it –much less long enough to use it as blackmail.

Ramhorn was quiet in the background, observing his siblings stoically. His end of the bond was filled with just as much curiosity, although he was more patient towards the matter.

Steeljaw listened to their silent pleas, before he decided that there was no point in dragging this farce on any longer than he had too. It was pointless and absurd. He was the eldest sibling, so it stood to reason that he should be the responsible figure his siblings looked up to and as of late he had been anything but.

He owed it to them.

"I…" Steeljaw vented heavily, "I thought…" He couldn't get the words out.

He wasn't angry anymore –at least not at them, and certainly not at Blaster. He was angry at himself for letting himself get so caught up in his emotions. For actually letting himself believe that he was being replaced by an organic cub.

It was absurd.

Absolutely. Completely and totally ridiculous.

But if it was so absurd of an idea, why did he still feel the way he did?

Ramhorn sent gentle waves of reassurance through the bond, being the first to really catch onto the true meaning of his brother's feelings. He might not have been as smart as the others might be, but he could read them all better then even Blaster.

~We would never replace you Steeljaw.~ The second eldest cassette stated plainly through the bond, not leaving any room for doubt.

The others all echoed the sentiment, instantly picking up on what could not be verbalized even through the bonds they shared.

~We couldn't even if we tried,~ Rosanna put forward thoughtfully. ~Nothing could replace you –you're our brother, Steeljaw.~ The pink femme summed up softly, conveying all the cassettes feelings towards the golden cassette.

"Yeah! We're stuck with you no matter what!" Rewind piped up loudly.

Somehow, during the duration of the inner conversation over their bond, all of the cassettes had climber down from Blaster's berth to cuddle up beside Steeljaw. Both Eject and Rewind were draped around him from behind, while Ramhorn curled up beside him and Rosanna huddled close to his helm.

Steeljaw didn't know how he hadn't noticed them before, but it was… nice.

"Hmmm…" Steeljaw hummed darkly, "I suppose that means I am stuck with you lot as well, doesn't it?"

Eject thumped lightly on his brother's back with his servo, "You better believe it!"

Steeljaw smiled slightly at that, shifted slightly to get more comfortable with the additional frames pressing into him before placing his helm on his forepedes.

-/-/-

Blaster vented heavily as he trudged down the orange plated halls of the ark after his shift ended. Survivor was cupped ever so carefully in one servo –curled up and purring quietly.

It had been a long cycle and the red tape deck was completely worn out.

There had been a minor scuffle on a routine patrol with Tracks and Jazz earlier in the day and while they had managed to escape without any noticeable injuries -a few scorch marks and a dent in his side- Blaster's frame ached and felt like lead.

It had been a long day for the tiny lion cub in his servo as well from what he had heard.

Blaster had left Survivor with Bluestreak for the duration of his shift and he apparently had let Sideswipe get ahold of the cub with the ill-conceived notion of giving the poor thing a bath.

Needless to say, they were missing a bit of paint on their servos.

However, Blaster did have to give them credit where credit was due –the cub smelled distinctly better after their attempts.

Blaster hoped that it might ease Steeljaw just a little bit from the tension he was still feeling towards the lion cub. His eldest cassette did his best to hide it, tolerating the cub whenever he had too, but for the most part Steeljaw still avoided the Survivor most of the time.

But Blaster was too tired to think about all that right now.

All he wanted was to be in his quarters with his cassettes and get some much needed recharge.

The doors slide open with a soft whoosh of air and Blaster carefully snuck inside, suddenly aware of how late at night it was.

Then he saw the ungraceful pile of his creations on the floor.

His ungraceful pile of cassettes.

He hadn't seen them recharge together like that since the beginning of the war. They had grown apart somewhat as they matured, and while it pained him, Blaster understood that war was an ugly thing.

Every battle held the possiblity that one of them might not come out of it alive.

They fought to protect, because they didn't know what else to do. They'd been fighting for so long that they didn't know how to stop, and didn't know what to do if they did.

It was reassuring to see them coming back together and staying closer to each other. If Blaster had learned anything throughout the vorns he'd been fighting, family was the most important thing. Because if you had no one to fight for, who would fight for you?

Earth, it seemed, and its inhabitants had reminded him of that. Reminded all of the Autobots really.

They had been fighting for so many millennia that for many, family is all they had left to fight for. And you have to know what your fighting for if you want to win.

Speaking of reminders, Blaster answered a comm that he hadn't noticed up until now. He had several messages blinking on his HUD, but he forgoed looking at them in favor of answering the comm coming through.

-Heya Blaster! What took ya so long? Ah was 'bout ready ta come bust you'r door down if ya didn' answer my call again!- Jazz's smooth voice filtered through his helm.

Blaster smirked slightly and shook his helm at his friend's concern even though he knew Jazz couldn't see him.

-Sorry 'bout that mech, I was ah bit distracted.- He responded calmly, stooping down to gently nudge Survivor off of his servo and into the cubs makeshift bed.

Jazz snorted, an abrupt sound accompanied by an amused/disbelieving glyph,

-Distracted? Distracted mah aft! Unless you somehow spirited a secret femmefriend down from Cybertron, there ain't nothin' to be distracted by at this time o' night!-

Blaster chuckled interally at that, -Nah, nothin' like that Jazz. You know me, I jus' got caught up thinkin' 'bout some things."

-Oh really?-

Blaster smiled and sent the mech a quick snapshot of his cassettes all recharging in their respective mountain of mechlings and one femmeling bodies.

-Aha, Ah got it.- There was a slight pause. -Ya should be proud of 'em Blaster.- Jazz stated solemnly, with an additonal glyph signifying the strong familal bonds between a sire and his creations.

-Yeah,- Blaster said, -I'm really proud o' them. All of them.-

There was a short lull between the two longtime friends and comrades, the static of the open comm line crackling occasionally. It was a comfortable silence.

-Ya wanna come over ta my place and have that chit-chat Ah mentioned?- Jazz offered after a while, his tone sincere.

-I just might take you up on that Jazz.- Blaster answered, -I don' want ta disturb them if I can avoid it.-

The sabeteur laughed, -You're nothin' but a big softie, mech!-

Blaster flashed the other mech with a glyph of mock annoyance, but in reality he was grinning at his friendly light-sparked teasing.

-Ah already got teh highgrade warmed up, so don't take your time.- Jazz stated, cutting the comline on his end with a glyph of relaxation/cameraderie.

Blaster spared one last glance at his creations before he left his quarters, taking a second glance when he saw that Survivor had crawled over the others and positioned herself practically underneath Steeljaw's helm between the folds of his favorite red blanket. The tape deck considered for a moment picking the lion cub up and putting her back in her own pile of blankets, but decided in the end it probably wouldn't do much good if she moved right back over.

In the end, he just shook his helm and left them as they were.

Hopefully Steeljaw wouldn't mind smelling like rose scented cleanser.