"you really do look good. not bad at all for a sparkling generated alt." Ratchet snorts, patting the little bots head.

"we're going to have to teach him how to drive now." Wheeljack frowns.

"in due time Wheeljack. he needs the chance to get used to the armor. its heavier than his protoform. once he gets used to it we'll teach him." Ratchet assures.

"if he doesn't teach himself." Jazz snorts a little.

"thats true, smart little shit." Wheeljack chuckles.

"he'll be driving in no time." Ratchet snorts. Reflect squirms until he's put back down onto the ground, transforming again. trying to get a feel for it. he turns his front wheels left then right, rolling his windows up and down, opening and closing his doors. he even pops his little hood open and closed. curious about everything he can now do. he never imagined what the others saw, everything changed, even his hud. things look so different now that he has armor.

"it'll feel weird the first couple times." Wheeljack chuckles. the sparkling rolls forward experimentally, then backwards.

"he's a smart little sparkling." Ratchet smiles a little. he chuckles watching the sparkling.

"of course he is!" Wheeljack grins. they watch the circles go in circles forward, then do circles backwards, before laughing. "he's too cute. I love this kid so much." Wheeljack sighs happily.

"me too Jack." Ratchet smiles. they watch the sparkling go back and forth with his circles, practicing.

aw man, this thing doesn't have a radio, I wanted to blast music like Jazz and Bumblebee!

he doesn't have a moment to think before the Primes, apparently watching this new development, immediately seem to take control. they don't change what he's doing. they keep the little sparkling going in circles. it takes a few minutes but once he has control of himself again, he sees they've converted his little fake radio into a real one. he rolls his little windows down, scrolling through radio stations, until he finds one he likes. he cranks the radio up as far as it'll go.

"got a criminal record, I can't cross state lines. first on the bad list, and you're last on mine!"

his little back tires start spinning, they would've been kicking up dust if there'd been any to kick up, then he speeds off as fast as he can, music blaring.

"Reflect! wait!" Ratchet shouts, running after him. Wheeljack isn't far behind, both guardians transforming to keep up with the little mechling. the sparkling speeds across the sand at his top speed, about 75 Miles per hour, happily. in the light of the sun, Ratchet and Wheeljack can see the word POLICE in a shade of gray thats just slightly lighter than the rest of his body. Reflect had put some serious thought into his alt mode.

"sparkling! hey! Reflect! little one! come on back here!" Wheeljack shouts. Ratchet speeds up, speeding around the sparkling. he transforms and skids to a stop in front of the sparkling, grabbing and scooping him up. the sparkling immediately transforms, laughing. he grins up at the medic.

"alright alright, yeah you're cute. you can't just speed off like that. there's Autobots and human soldiers driving around, you could get hit." Ratchet frowns. the sparkling shakes his head and flashing his red and blue lights. "yeah, those lights are not going to stop them, some humans may hit you because of those lights." Ratchet mutters, carrying him back towards the base. Wheeljack transforms and sighs, looking relieved.

"man he's fast." Wheeljack mutters.

"yeah." Ratchet huffs. "no more running off like that alright? I don't want anyone to run you over okay?" Ratchet asks, carrying the sparkling back into the main part of the base. he pouts and leans his cheek on Ratchets shoulder.

"okay Ratchet." he pouts. Ratchet chuckles a little.

"as long as you watch out for humans, you can drive around the base alright? just don't go outside, okay?" Ratchet ask. the sparkling sits up happily and squeals.

"okay!" he squeals. Ratchet chuckles a little.

"are you happy with your alt mode?" Wheeljack asks. he nods and looks his plating over.

"I'm glad he's finally got armored plating now, his protoform won't get damaged as easily now." Ratchet murmurs.

"Ironhide!" Reflect shouts, squirming to get out of Ratchets arms.

"yeah sure, go, show off to Ironhide." Ratchet chuckles, putting him down on the ground. immediately the sparkling runs off squealing.

he runs straight to the rec room.

"Ironhide!!" Reflect shouts, looking around. he pouts. "Ironhide?" he calls again looking around. Sideswipe refuses to look up form his game, but does acknowledge the little sparkling.

"he's out on the range little one." Sideswipe murmurs. the sparkling nods, turning around and running off to the range. Ratchet and Wheeljack watch him race past them, screaming Ironhides name as he goes. Ratchet snorts after him, smiling.

Ironhide doesn't hear it properly at first, its just a loud high pitch scream from a distance, but he'd received a com from Ratchet letting him know Reflect was coming his way. he powers his cannons off and turns around.

"IIIIIIIIOOOOOORRRRRRRRNNNNNNHHHHHIIIIIDDDDDEEEEE!!!!!!!" the sparkling screams, running towards him. the big black mech snorts and chuckles at him.

"hey squirt." Ironhide chuckles, crouching down. Reflect stops in front of him squealing. "whats going on Reflect?" Ironhide asks. the little sparkling is so excited, Ironhides never actually seen him like this.

"look!" he shouts, pointing at his armor, before transforming. "truck!!" he squeals.

"wow look at that. you got an alt form now." Ironhide chuckles softly. the sparkling flashes his red and white lights at the mech, before transforming back. "you're looking great Reflect." Ironhide chuckles. he shakes his head. "you're gonna be a younglin' before we know it." he smiles. he scoops the sparkling up gently. the sparkling squirms and giggles, before cuddling up to him.

"Ironhide okay?" the sparkling asks.

"huh? why wouldn't I be?" Ironhide ask.

"earlier you chest sparking." Reflect says, pulling back to look up at him.

"oh yeah, I'm good. Ratchet fixed me all up." Ironhide assures. he nods a little and cuddles up to him. "have you taken any humans for a ride yet?" Ironhide ask. "I bet Sam would love one." Ironhide smiles.

"ride? I small." the sparkling frowns.

"well, yeah, your alt mode is made for little human children, but you can carry bigger things in the bed of your alt." Ironhide assures.

"can?" he asks. Ironhide nods.

"yeah." he chuckles. "go give it a shot." Ironhide snorts, putting the little mechling down.

"okay!" he grins, running off.

he runs straight for the rec room, he'd seen Sam hanging out with Bumblebee earlier. he runs up to the teen, babbling on and on. Sam and Bumblebee both watch him, he transforms in front of them.

"wow, hey thats cool Reflect." Sam smiles.

"on!" the sparkling shouts.

"huh?" Sam asks.

"on!" Reflect repeats.

"I don't understand Reflect, what are you talking about?" Sam asks, confused. the sparkling huffs and speeds off. Sam looks over at Bumblebee before watching after the sparkling.

I need a fully working holoform, or someone to tell me how to use mine, bet Wheeljack could do that. Ratchet would probably protest.

the sparkling comes back a few minutes later, a holoform appearing beside his alt form. his little holoform is smaller than Sam, looking like an actual child. he drops the tailgate on his alt form, before running over to Sam and reaching for his hand.

"uh, okay." Sam says, confused, taking his hand gently. he lets the sparkling stand him up and walk him away from the couch. his alt form pulls up behind the teen and he uses his holoform to shove him over. "wha-hey!" Sam shouts, landing in the bed of the sparklings alt. his holoform laughs and vanishes.

"he wanted you to sit in his alt form, thats so cute!" Bumblebee laughs. Sam smiles nervously.

"I don't want to hurt him..." Sam says.

"hurt him? Sam he may be a sparkling but he's still stronger than a human. you won't hurt him like that and given his size, he could probably hold you and Epps and still be okay. he's strong enough to do so, but probably not big enough to do so." Bumblebee snorts. the sparkling rolls forward a little, making Sam sit back quickly. he doesn't want to go flying out of the sparklings alt mode. "just make him happy, go for a ride with him." Bumblebee chuckles softly.

"well alright, sure lets go for a ride then Reflect." Sam shrugs hesitantly. the sparkling laughs a little and rolls forward again. he's a little careful, he doesn't want Sam to fall out.

"hold." Reflect mumbles.

"hold?" Sam asks, looking around.

"he wants you to hold onto him." Bumblebee chuckles.

"uh okay." Sam says. he carefully grips each side of the bed. the sparkling squeals and immediately takes off.

"Reflect be careful with him!" Bumblebee shouts, watching them go. "everyone please watch out! the sparkling has an alt mode and just took off with Sam! please don't hurt either!"

Reflect speeds through the hall, probably not the safest thing the sparkling could do, but hitting his top speed with Sam sitting in his bed is incredible. he wonders if this is how Ironhide always felt on their drives. he's attempting to keep an eye on Sam at the same time, the boy is holding on for dear life, but he's laughing.

"Reflect please don't speed through the base little one!" Optimus calls, quickly getting out of the sparklings way.

"hi Optimus!" Sam calls, looking up at the mech. he's afraid to let go and wave, he might fly out.

"be careful Reflect! don't hurt Sam!" Optimus frowns.

the sparkling laughs, speeding around a corner.

"Reflect! hey! maybe we should slow down now!" Sam shouts.

"no!" he laughs.

"we're gonna wreck!" Sam says, holding tighter.

"Reflect you stop right now! speeding on the base, especially with a human is not allowed! not stop right now!" Prowl orders, stepping in front of the sparkling. Reflect slams on his breaks, attempting to swerve out of the way to avoid Prowl. it ends with the little sparkling slamming head on into a wall.

"Reflect!" Sam shouts jumping up quickly. the sparkling transforms looking dizzy and a little beat up. he immediately lets out the loudest wail he can, screaming. "nice job asshole." Sam glares.

"he shouldn't have been driving through the base like that! I wonder who on this base taught him that. Primus they're getting an audio full as soon as I find out." Prowl growls. Sam leans around Prowl. Ratchet is standing behind the TIC, absolutely fuming.

"y'know, I like life." Sam mutters. he turns around quickly running off. "bye Prowl! have fun with Ratchet!" Sam shouts. the third in command turns to face the medic, who growls at him.

"what the hell did you do to my sparkling!?" Ratchet snaps. there's a fire in his optics as he bends to pick up the wailing sparkling.

"he was speeding through the base-" Prowl starts.

"I didn't want him driving off base!" Ratchet snaps.

"you told him it was okay? Ratchet the base-" Prowl frowns.

"I TOLD HIM IT WAS FINE!" Ratchet snaps. "better than him running off base!" Ratchet growls. "if you ever put my sparkling in danger again, I swear Prowl, I'll beat your ass! you're lucky he didn't get hurt with you standing in front of him! you're the only one of this base who does this shit on purpose." Ratchet growls at him. "come on little one." Ratchet murmurs softly, rubbing the sparklings cheek.

"he was in more danger speeding around the base." Prowl frowns.

"oh really? speeding around a base full of Autobots, a confined space, is more dangerous than him leaving the base and getting lost, which would result in him probably dying from the heat. more dangerous than being found by Decepticons? huh?" Ratchet ask sarcastically, storming off with the sparkling. he looks the sparkling over as he walks. that stupid third in comman needed to stay out of his way. Prowl was the only one on base who seemed to have a problem getting the hell out of the way of the sparkling. the sparkling whimpers in his arm and immediately turns his attention back to him. "hey sparkling are you alright? let me look you over." Ratchet murmurs.

"stupid Powl." Reflect mumbles.

"yeah stupid Prowl. its okay. I'll get those dents banged out pretty easily. it'll be okay. they're not too bad. it'll be alright." Ratchet assures gently. "and you're fine to speed around the base, just watch out for humans alright? I don't think that'll be a problem, you don't even like humans." Ratchet snorts, cuddling the little sparkling.

he carries the sparkling into the medbay, where Wheeljack is sitting over a datapad, reading silently.

"hey you two- Reflect! what happened?" Wheeljack asks, getting up quickly.

"Prowl made him run into a wall." Ratchet mutters, plopping the little sparkling onto the berth gently. "alright Reflect. its gonna be alright, okay? I'll get you all fixed up." Ratchet murmurs softly, rubbing his cheek. Reflect leans against his servo, whining quietly.

"oh its okay." Wheeljack says, walking over. Reflect pouts at the two of them.

"Ironhide." Reflect mumbles.

"I don't know which one you're talking about." Wheeljack admits. the sparkling holds out his little servo with a whine. "okay, I'll go find it, it's probably in Ironhides room anyway." Wheeljack says, quickly walking off. Reflect whines.

"its alright, I won't start until Wheeljack gets back squirt, I promise." Ratchet assures gently. he scoops the sparkling up gently to hold him until Wheeljack gets back.

Wheeljack doesn't waste any time. he comes back with the Ironhide toy as fast as he can, holding both it and the sparkling while Ratchet patches him up.

"he's gonna be an Earth year old soon." Wheeljack murmurs softly, hugging the sparkling once Ratchets done.

"I know..." Ratchet sighs, looking at the sparkling. he smiles and takes the sparkling. "alright kiddo, go a head, go speed off. see if someone would like to take you out for a race and stay away from Prowl alright?" Ratchet ask.

"okay!" Reflect grins, taking off once he's on the ground. he knows his caregivers will miss him like this, but he's excited to finally be himself again!

he speeds off to the rec room, transforming with a squeal.

"Reflect! hey! I'm glad you're okay." Sam says, walking over to him quickly.

"stupid Powl! in way!" Reflect growls angrily. he smiles at Sam after a minute. "Sam okay?" he asks.

"yeah, I'll probably have a couple of bruises, but I'm okay. glad Ratchet could fix you up." Sam smiles at the mechling.

"hi Reflect." Bumblebee grins, walking over and scooping him up happily. the sparkling squeals and cuddles to him, giggling. Bumblebee picks up Sam with his free servo, putting the teen on his shoulder, smiling.

"he looks so cool with that armor now." Sam says, looking the sparkling over from his perch on Bumblebee's shoulder.

"I'm glad he's finally got an alt mode. its cute too." Bumblebee smiles, cuddling the sparkling.

"it doesn't surprise me he chose a mode like Ironhide. if Will was still here, he'd be so jealous." Sam snorts. Bumblebee smiles a little.

"yeah...." Bumblebee murmurs. Sam looks over confused.

"whats wrong?" Sam ask.

"Wills death date came and passed without a hitch from Ironhide, at least on the outside. I've noticed Ratchets been more tiredly lately too, like he's staying up all night waiting for Ironhide's spark to call out to Will." Bumblebee frowns.

"huh? how can it call for Will if he's dead?" Sam asks, confused. Bumblebee frowns.

"when two bots bond, their two seperate sparks become one. when one of the bots dies, it literally rips the living spark in half. that spark calls out for its other half for the rest of the bots life...." Bumblebee explains carefully.

"oh... so like... does it hurt?" Sam ask. Bumblebee nods.

"from what I've heard yes.... Ironhides was so bad after Will died that Ratchet made it so he was the only one that could feel it or hear it... thats why you see Ironhide rubbing his chest every now and then. its because his spark is hurting and flaring up searching for Will, and it will do that for the rest of Ironhide's life unfortunately... he'll be in pain forever. bondmates are forever Sam, humans say til death do us part, but unfortunately it does not end there for us. it just drags on for thousands of years until we offline." Bumblebee murmurs.

"oh... nothing stops it?" Sam asks.

"well, he can rebond if he wants and it'll take away the majority of the pain but it will always hurt, it just lessens the pain." Bumblebee explains.

"wow that sucks." Sam mumbles. Bumblebee shifts the little sparkling in his arm carefully.

"I'm just worried about Ironhide... Wills date passed and I never heard a word from Ironhide. no one did. he just pretended it was another day, but he was super tired for a few days...." Bumblebee murmurs. he frowns at Reflect a little, rubbing his cheek gently. "he even ignored Reflect for a few days, but then he just kept going and no one has heard a thing since. I'm just... worried." Bumblebee sighs.

"I understand Bee, but I'm sure Ironhides okay. if he wasn't, we'd all know. those first few weeks after Will died, Ironhide lost his fucking mind. I thought he was going to kill everyone on base... maybe he's found a better way to grieve?" Sam asks.

"I don't know. maybe I'm over thinking everything." Bumblebee sighs. he shakes his head, before smiling at Reflect when the sparkling squirms. "where are you trying to go?" Bumblebee snorts.

"away." Reflect grumbles, squirming in the bots arm. Bumblebee chuckles, reaching up with one servo to hold Sam in place before crouching to put the sparkling down. Reflect gets down and runs off.

he has no idea where he wants to go next, but he wants to speed somewhere. he wants to drive full speed somehwere. Ratchet told him to stay in the base because someone could run him over, but maybe he could drive around outside the base, just between the base and the gun range. he wonders if Ironhide is still out there. he decides its better to just walk, so thats what he does. he heads outside happily.

"where are you going?" SIdeswipe grins, scooping the sparkling up and tossing him into the air. immediately Reflect squeals, before laughing. Sideswipe catches the sparkling and grins happily. "if you're looking for Ironhide, he's not out here little one, and I think you need to leave him alone for a little bit okay? Ironhide needs a little time to himself, alright?" Sideswipe ask. the sparkling pouts a little.

"okay Side." Reflect mumbles. Sideswipe smiles at him a little, cuddling him before putting him down gently.

"just for a little bit okay." Sideswipe assures, gently patting his head. the sparkling nods and heads back inside pouting. he heads for the medbay. if he can't spend time with Ironhide, he'd rather spend time with Ratchet and Wheeljack.

he heads into the medbay, chirping loudly as he looks around. he can't see either of them.

"Ratchet? Jack?" Reflect calls, looking around. the medbay is empty. he whines and pouts. he pouts a little and climbs up onto the berth he can see his Ironhide toy on. he grabs the toy and looks around, hoping maybe someone can be seen from his new view point. he can't see anyone. he whines a little and hugs his toy. maybe he should go find someone else.

he climbs down and heads out of the medbay. where could his caregivers had gone? maybe they were helping Ironhide? he wants to go and find out but he'd been told to stay away. Ironhide would never hurt him on purpose, but if he had some kind of episode he could be hurt. he sighs a little.

"hello little one." Optimus murmurs. Reflect looks up at him. "are you alright?" he asks. the sparkling just stares at him. "I see well, how about we get you a cube and go to my office for a bit? I'll let Ratchet and Wheeljack know where you are when they get done." Optimus assures.

"okay." Reflect murmurs. the Prime smiles at him and scoops him up, carrying him to the rec room to grab him a cube.

"Ironhide?" the sparkling asks, hesitantly. Optimus frowns a little.

"Ironhide will be alright little one. Ratchet and Wheeljack will make sure of it alright?" Optimus asks. the sparkling frowns up at him a moment, leaning back against the Primes chest plates with a sigh. "I know little one, but Ironhide will be alright, he just needs a little help right now." Optimus sighs softly.

"Hide okay?" Reflect asks.

"yeah he'll be alright. he just needs some help right now." Optimus assures.