"you still want a story?" Ironhide ask. Reflect immediately shakes his head no.

"no. Ironhide still sad. story wait for when Ironhide feel better. we color now." Reflect assures. Ironhide smiles at the little sparkling. he was so much smarter than they ever gave him credit for. "but when Ironhide do feel better, have to tell two stories." Reflect grins at him. Ironhide snorts. he always ended up telling more than one or two, once he started he usually couldn't stop. the knowledge that the sparkling was Will, and that Will couldn't remember on his own, usually kept him talking about the dead man. 

"sounds like a deal squirt." Ironhide murmurs. "how about you tell me about why you're suddenly so scared everyones gonna die?" Ironhide ask. the sparkling tenses immediately and Ironhide vaugely recognizes the sound of the marker tube cracking in the sparklings servo.

"Reflect see things through mark." Reflect murmurs, reaching up to rub at his Prime mark. it leaves a streak of blue across his face. "Reflect see Will die, see Ironhide die, see Opmis die, see scary monster die... see Bari die." Reflect murmurs quietly. Ironhide looks confused.

"you see all that through your Prime mark? you saw Will die? he died before you were sparked." Ironhide frowns.

"see Will die." Reflect murmus.

"how did you see Barricade die?" Ironhide ask. Reflect clinches his servo, looking scared.

"see Bumblebee hurt Bari and Fren..." Reflect murmurs.

"yeah?" Ironhide ask. the sparkling nods. "well, what about Optimus?" Ironhide ask. Reflect whines a little.

"scaries." Reflect murmurs.

"scaries?" Ironhide asks, confused.

"from first time meet Bari.... big big scary hurt Opmis." Reflect murmurs, making a harsh jabbing motion, then rubbing his chest plate. like he could almost feel Optimus' pain. Ironhide straightens.

"Reflect, think carefully okay? can you remember where Optimus was? were there a lot of trees around?" Ironhide ask. Reflect looks confused.

"what tree?" Reflect ask. Ironhide frowns and uses his holoform to cast a tree between the two.

"this is a tree." he murmurs, his holoform returning to normal.

"yes. lots and lots." Reflect murmurs.

"and was Sam there?" Ironhide ask. Reflect nods quickly.

"Opmis protect Sam." Reflect murmurs. Reflect must've been stealing memories from Will, or maybe even Optimus himself.

"Reflect, I want you to listen to me, okay?" Ironhide ask. Reflect nods, looking up confused.

"Optimus isn't going to die, okay? what you saw, that happen years ago. thats how Optimus got the matrix of leadership. Sam saved his life with it. its okay." Ironhide assures gently. Reflect looks confused.

"already happen?" he ask. Ironhide nods. Reflect shakes his head. "no. no. Opmis live. he live! not dead!" Reflect whines, gripping the sides of his head.

"hey, hey its okay, take it easy. Optimus is alive sparkling it okay." Ironhide assures.

"not okay!" Reflect shouts.

"Reflect, hey calm down. come here." Ironhide murmurs, shutting his holoform off to reach for the sparkling. "come here." Ironhide murmurs, scooping him up gently.

"no! want Opmis! Opmis!" Reflect screams.

"okay, okay. hold on, I'll take you to Optimus." Ironhide murmurs, getting up off the floor. "its okay." Ironhide soothes gently.

the sparkling is still screaming when Ironhide gets to Optimus' office.

"what are you doing?" Jazz asks.

"he thinks Optimus is going to die." Ironhide murmurs. "he explained what he saw, I told him it already happened, he lost it. remember Egypt and the Matrix? he dreamed it." Ironhide murmurs. Optimus frowns and takes the sparkling, holding him gently. Reflect clings to him whimpering.

"where would he get that information from?" Jazz ask. Ironhide frowns a little.

"I think he's getting them from you Prime and whatever memories he can steal from Will in the well of Allsparks." Ironhide frowns.

"Ironhide, thats nuts." Jazz frowns.

"no its not. Reflect has the mark of the Primes. I see things like that occasionally. its not unheard of Jazz. but a sparkling...?" Optimus frowns.

"you were a librarian Prime, how old was the youngest mech on Cybertron to get a mark of the Primes?" Ironhide ask. Optimus frowns.

"Reflect. Reflect is the youngest mechling to ever have a mark of the Primes." Optimus answers. Ironhide sighs a little. "he's the only sparkling in history to have one." Optimus adds.

"why the hell would they be trying to scare him?" Ironhide ask.

"not scare, warn. the Primes believe something is going to happen." Optimus frowns.

"well, you just keep him for the night and if you have problems, you know where to find me." Ironhide murmurs, nodding at him.

"of course, thanks Ironhide." Optimus says.

"yup, might be needing a cube right about now." Ironhide snorts, turning to leave.

"thank you." Optimus says, shifting the sparkling gently.

"I'll go get him one." Jazz smiles, getting up. he follows behind Ironhide down the hall, nearly slamming into the mech when he comes to a sudden halt.

"I want to apologize." Ratchet murmurs. Ironhide huffs steam out his nose.

"I don't want to hear you stupid apology." Ironhide snaps. "I fragging told you I didn't do it." he growls.

"Ironhide look-" Ratchet murmurs.

"fuck off. you crossed a line. don't expect me to ever forgive you." Ironhide snaps, shoving past him hard. Ratchet stumbles, wincing at the sound of his plating scraping against Ironhides and the wall. he turns behind him to look at the angry mech.

"Ironhide, you can't stay mad forever-" Ratchet starts. Ironhide comes to a stop, turns and storms back over to Ratchet, a rage in his optics. he gets in the medics face, shoving him back hard against the wall, growling.

"you dare say I can't stay mad forever?" Ironhide snaps.

"you know I wouldn't have-" Ratchet tries.

"you grabbed that photo album off my berth after threatening to shoot and destroy it. you squeezed it so hard you've permanently left indentations in it. YOU ALMOST DESTROYED WILL'S PHOTO ALBUM! I CAN AND WILL BE PISSED OFF FOREVER!" Ironhide snaps. "not only that but you threatened to take the fragging sparkling away from me because of a stupid video!" Ironhide snaps.

"I didn't mean to actually hurt that book-" Ratchet starts.

"that book? that book!? that fragging book has the last pictures of Will and Annabelle ever taken! I will be angry at you until your fragging finger indents are no longer dug into my book." Ironhide snaps, shoving Ratchet hard and storming off.

"Ironhide! look I'm sorry!" Ratchet shouts. the mech flips him off.

"uncool man." Jazz murmurs, following after Ironhide. it takes him a minute to catch up to the angry mech. "what was that about?" Jazz asks. Ironhide grunts at him, slamming the door to his room. it leaves Jazz out in the hall, confused as hell.

he doesn't waste anymore time, heading to grabt he sparkling a cube and coming back quickly.

"Prime, whats going on with Ratchet and Ironhide?" Jazz asks, setting the cube on the Primes desk. Reflect has already settled in for a nap, so no point in waking him for a cube. he'd wake when he needed it.

"don't worry about it Jazz." Optimus murmurs, looking up over the edge of his datapad. he frowns a little. "they will... eventually figure things out." Optimus frowns, going back to what he'd been reading. there's a loud, firm, knock on his door. "come on in Prowl." Optimus calls as the sparkling shifts and sits up in his arm. he chirps quietly.

"oh, sorry. I didn't realize you had the sparkling in here sleeping." Prowl frowns, walking in.

"no its fine, he'll go back to sleep." Optimus assures. he looks at the stack of papers and datapads in the mechs servos and frowns. "what do you have for me?" Optimus sighs. Prowl immediately jumps back into what he'd come into the room for.

"oh the requisitions the humans require to get a room built for Reflect. they've been filled out and are ready to turn into Epps as soon as they have your signature on them." Prowl says, laying the items on his desk. Optimus nods.

"Ratchet approved and everything?" Optimus asks.

"yes and he's signed for them." Prowl assures.

"you always have everything in line, thank you. I will sign them right now." Optimus assures, pulling the items to him.

"good. I can drop them off to Epps before I go back to my office." Prowl murmurs.

"I appreciate it Prowl. thank you." Optimus murmurs, handing him the stack of items. Prowl nods and turns to leave.

"I'll turn it in to Epps." Prowl nods, heading out of the office. Reflect cuddles into the Prime, yawning quietly.

"Prime." Ratchet murmurs, poking his head into the room.

"Ratchet?" Optimus asks.

"we found something." Ratchet says. Optimus looks confused.

"found something?" Optimus asks. Ratchet nods.

"yeah come on." Ratchet murmurs.

"found what Ratchet?" Optimus ask.

"just leave the sparkling with Jazz. come on." Ratchet frowns. Reflect whines a little.

"no, Opmis no leave." Reflect whimpers.

"its just for a little bit." Ratchet assures. Optimus pats the sparklings head gently.

"don't worry Reflect I'll be back." Optimus assures. Reflect whines but lets Jazz take him. it takes the SIC no time to get the sparkling into recharge.

Reflect shifts, someones moving him. he whines and lifts his head.

"Opmis?" Reflect mumbles.

"shhh little one. I promised I'd be back for you." Optimus grumbles, but something seems off. the Prime seems, angry. Reflect yawns and shifts again, hugging the Primes neck tightly.

"Opmis wake up." Reflect mumbles.

"I'm sorry." Optimus murmurs, rubbing his cheek gently. "I tried not to wake you." Optimus murmurs.

"no wake up." he whines.

"I'm sorry little one, I really am. I didn't mean to wake you." Optimus murmurs, carrying the sparkling down to his office. he's too angry to get any rest and with the sparkling firmly attached to his chest plates, he doesn't think laying down would get him any rest anyway. Reflects leg slips a little and Optimus immediately reaches down to hold his leg up gently. the sparklings already sound in recharge. for the sparklings sake, he hoped he stayed that way. Optimus didn't' want the sparkling to see him so angry.

there's a tension in the base as the sun rises, the Autobots all watching their leader. they're in the N.E.S.T. base hanger. Optimus is in his alt form, refusing to talk or transform and the sparkling hasn't been seen all morning. Ironhide and the others are standing around, idly chatting when Epps walks in with Charlotte Mearing.

"uh, Optimus, hey, you remember Charlotte Mearing right? the Director of National Intellegence?" Epps asks, walking over. "he's been quiet since he rolled into the base." Epps frowned.

"I hope you have answers for him. I don't think I've ever seen him this upset." Wheeljack frowns, leaning against Ratchet, arm around the medics waist. Charlotte frowns at them, watching Ratchet smack the inventor off him, before glaring at him.

"upset? he's angry." Ratchet scoffs. "and he still has my sparkling." Ratchet growls, turning to glare at the Prime. Wheeljack snorts, patting his arm gently as if to try and calm his bonded.

"easy Ratch." Wheeljack soothes. Charlotte scoffs.

"what is this? the silent treatment? aren't we all adults here?" Charlotte scoffs.

"not quite. we've seen the silent treatment, this is definitely not that." Ironhide grumbles, walking over to the Prime. "grow up, Prime! make something of yourself!" Ironhide snaps, pulling back and kicking the semi hard. Optimus immediately starts transforming, Ironhide stepping back quickly so the Prime doesn't hit him while doing so. "he's pissed." Ironhide mutters, snorting. Optimus is angry but is attempting to keep as quiet as possible. the Prime glares at Charlotte, Reflect still on his hip. the sparkling whines, but Optimus doesn't seem to notice.

"there's my fucking sparkling." Ratchet huffs. Reflect is snoring, head on the Primes shoulder. he's limp and sleeping, not even holding on to Optimus. he does have his Wheeljack plush dangling in his servo, though Optimus' arm is the only thing really holding it up, pinning it to the Prime and keeping it from falling.

"what is this about?" Charlotte glares, watching the Prime slam an object down on the desk.

"you lied to us." Optimus snaps.

"huh?" Charlotte ask.

"easy with the sparkling." Ratchet warns.

"we were told everything humans knew of our planet had been shared with us." Optimus growls. Charlotte steps back quickly when the Prime gets in her face. Reflect whines at him, slipping, attempting to tug his toy up and cuddle it. Optimus stands back up shifting the sparkling gently. Reflect pulls back to look at him, mumbling.

"no drop. no drop." Reflect whimpers.

"I will not drop you little one, please stay quiet." Optimus murmurs. Reflect clings to him., looking around sleepily. he looks ready to fall back into stasis any minute. h

"pass him here." Wheeljack murmurs, walking over to the Prime. Reflect yawns and turns away, dropping his head back down onto the Primes shoulder.

"no! Opmis!" Reflect mumbles sleepily.

"he's going to get too hot, get him out of here." Ratchet says.

"come on, we're getting you out of here." Wheeljack murmurs. "its gonna get really hot little one." Wheeljack adds.

"Ironhide." Reflect mumbles, turning his head back to Wheeljack.

"Ironhide take him out of here." Wheeljack says. Ironhides still refusing to talk to Ratchet so he knows if the medic says it, he won't listen. Optimus passes the sparkling over to the weapons specialist, who carries him off to get him a cube.

"you're making me miss important things Reflect." Ironhide mutters. Reflect whines.

"I sorry.... go with Ratchet...." Reflect whimpers. Ironhide sighs and shifts the sparkling.

"no I'll take you. its okay." Ironhide murmurs.

"want cube." Reflect murmurs. Ironhide pauses and frowns, popping open his subspace, he pulls out a sparkling cube, offering it to Reflect.

"stay quiet, I don't want to miss this." Ironhide murmurs, walking back into the hanger. he and Reflect stay off to the side silently watching. the sparkling is content to stay silent, even if it is a little hot, with a cube in his mouth, watching the olders talk at least for a few minutes. Ironhide could cool him off if he needed too.

"huh?" Reflect asks, looking up at Ironhide.

"the Ark...." Ironhide murmurs, gently pushing the cube back towards the sparkling. Reflect grabs it gently, sucking it down. Ironhide growls rolling his optics. "well did you check the crash vault?" Ironhide snaps. everyone turns to look at him.

"the what?" Buzz asks, looking over. "oh wow...." Buzz murmurs, looking at him. he's staring at Reflect. they'd warned the retired astronaut of the sparkling of course, and meeting Optimus was incredible, but seeing the sparkling was different.

"Ironhide I told you to get him out of here! he's going to get hot!" Ratchet snaps storming over and snatching the sparkling from the weapons specialists servos. the cube spills everywhere and Reflect screams.

"hey easy! you could've drown him!" Ironhide snaps back. "what happened to your problems shouldn't be the sparklings?!" Ironhide growls. Ratchets lucky he's holding Reflect, or Ironhide would slug him again.

"enough you two." Optimus orders, glaring at them. "I expect my team to act like the mechs they are, not sparklings." Optimus warns. Reflect growls at the Prime, trying to shove away from Ratchet.

"Reflect act better than that. want Wheeljack. Jack!" Reflect squeals.

"okay okay. come on." Wheeljack murmurs, taking the sparkling quickly and leaving to go back to the Autobot base, shaking his head.

he walks into the base with a sigh.

"hey, how'd it go?" Sam asks. Wheeljack shakes his head looking tired.

"I don't know what Ratchet did to Ironhide, but they've got to get over it." Wheeljack grumbles.

"Ironhide say be angry long long long time." Reflect says.

"hmm?" Wheeljack asks.

"Ironhide angry Ratchet, long long long time. tell Reflect very angry." Reflect explains.

"Reflect do you know why Ironhides so angry?" Sam asks, confused. the sparkling nods a little.

"yeah, can you tell us?" Wheeljack ask. Reflect frowns a little.

"Ratchet try break Ironhide stuff. picture book. Will picture book Reflect found at Will house." Reflect murmurs.

"picture book?" Wheeljack ask.

"photo album? do you mean a photo album Reflect? like the one Will used to put pictures in after missions?" Sam ask. Reflect nods.

"think so. Ironhide say Ratchet take, hold too hard, leave fingers in book. break book. make Ironhide sad, very sad, very angry." Reflect whines, dropping his head onto Wheeljacks shoulder. "Ironhide very much sad. can't fix book, no new book. Will gone." Reflect adds quietly.

"Primus." Wheeljack murmurs, hugging the sparkling gently. "its okay little one. don't worry about it. its okay." Wheeljack soothes. Reflect sniffles.

"hey, don't get upset." Sam murmurs, following after Wheeljack as he heads to sit down.

"what are you crying for sparkling?" Wheeljack asks.

"not okay! Ratchet mean to Ironhide! ruin Ironhide book! Ironhide lose Will and Ratchet take book! now Ironhide sad not want to see Reflect!" Reflect cries. Wheeljack squeezes the sparkling tightly to his chest.

"hey hey hey. no its okay. its alright." Wheeljack murmurs softly.

"you better fragging find a way to fix what ever the frag you did to Ironhide. our sparkling is crying because he thinks Ironhide is so mad at you that he hates him!"

"what are you talking about? the sparklings crying is he okay?"

"you know exactly what I mean. you better find a way to get Ironhide to forgive you. I can't believe you would go after something Will left behind that Ironhide could physically hold if he was missing Will. I would never expect you of all bots to do something like that! especially since you still have Nitros first datapad stored somewhere that no one can touch or see it! Reflect says you damaged Wills photo album the other day, is that what you did when you thought Ironhide sent me that video? destroyed one of the few things he has of Will?"

"we'll talk about this later."

"either get Ironhide to forgive you and fix what you've done, or we have nothing to talk about. me and the sparkling will stay in a separate room until you can fix this."

"Wheeljack?" Sam ask.

"yeah?" Wheeljack murmurs.

"you alright? you look pretty angry." Sam murmurs.

"I can't believe Ratchet would... I'm so angry at him. he should know not to touch something like that." Wheeljack frowns.

"now Jack mad too...?" Reflect sniffles.

"not at you little one. I'm mad for Ironhide. I'm mad with him. I'm mad at Ratchet for hurting him. Ratchet is in the wrong here, not you and not Ironhide. Ratchet never should've done what he did. he hurt Ironhide because he got embarrassed and was being stupid about it. it never should've happened." Wheeljack frowns. Reflect looks a little confused, sniffling.

"I angry for too!" Reflect says, smacking Wheeljacks chest plate hard.

"easy there Reflect, you're supposed to be angry at Ratchet, not Wheeljack." Sam chuckles softly. Reflect leans back against Wheeljack.

"I sorry." Reflect mumbles.

"thats alright." Wheeljack snorts, hugging him gently. Reflect lays against the mechs chest sleepily.

"still sleep. need cube. no get finish." Reflect whines.

"oh right." Wheeljack murmurs, getting up to grab a cube.

"Ironhide took one with him in case Reflect needed it." Sam says, looking confused.

"Ratchet shattered the cube when he ripped the sparkling away from Ironhide, because Ironhide didn't take the sparkling back here like Ratchet wanted." Wheeljack mutters.

"oh." Sam frowns. Wheeljack settles back down, giving Reflect the cube quietly. the sparklings engine purrs quietly, snuggling up under Wheeljacks chin quietly.

its quiet for a little bit before they hear the other Autobots coming back.

"want Ironhide." Reflect yawns, once his cube is finished.

"okay, come on, we'll go find him." Wheeljack murmurs. he nearly bumps into Ratchet heading down the hall.

"Jack-" Ratchet starts.

"move, he wants Ironhide." Wheeljack glares, moving around him.

"thats fine, I just figued you'd want to know I'm leave with Prime." Ratchet says. Wheeljack pauses, turning around to look at him.