Optimus isn't whats happening when Prowl suddenly puts the sparkling on his desk. the sparkling looks just as confused at Optimus, looking up at Prowl.

"here, he's your problem now. I don't want him. I'm certainly not getting blamed for this. I just got here, I don't need to deal with Ratchet and Wheeljacks rage." Prowl mutters, walking out. Optimus looks confused.

"blamed for what?" Optimus asks. "Prowl? blamed for what?" Optimus calls after him. Prowl doesn't answer and Optimus frowns, looking down at the sparkling. he doesn't see any injuries on the little mech or any obvious signs of mischief, so he isn't sure whats wrong. "okay sparkling, guess you get to stay with me." Optimus says, patting the sparklings head.

I don't want to stay with you. I want to go back to Ratchet."

*Huff* chirp chirp click!

the sparkling glares, crossing his arms over his chestplates with a pout.

"what? whats wrong sparkling?" Optimus asks.

"I don't want to be here! I haven't been fed! I was still napping so now I'm cranky! I want to go back to the medbay! or aleast to Ironhide! I'm tired and hungry!"

chirp twitter chirp click click twitter!

Optimus sits back a little, shocked, before watching the sparkling yawn.

"oh come on sparkling. surely I am not that bad." Optimus frowns. he huffs. "am I really that boring?" Optimus asks.

"yes."

twitter.

the sparkling stares him down and Optimus sighs, shaking his head.

"okay, maybe I am. well what would you like to do?" Optimus asks.

the sparklings squeals angrily at the Prime, staring him down, before whining when his tanks rumble. Ironhide got him up too early and didn't even feed him!

"hold on sparkling, lets get you a cube, then we can find something to do." Optimus murmurs, scooping him up gently. he takes the sparkling and gets him a cube. for once the sparkling doesn't seem to mind being with Optimus, sucking the cube down happily. at least the Prime was feeding him.

"hey Prime, you got my sparkling, Jazz told me. hand him over." Ratchet frowns, walking up behind the Prime. Optimus turns around to face him.

"oh, hello Ratchet, care to tell me whats going on?" Optimus frowns, handing the sparkling over.

"the little one said his first word today." Ratchet mutters, cuddling the sparkling.

"oh, his first word?" Optimus ask. "you don't seem to happy about it." Optimus frowns.

"his first word was slagger." Ratchet frowns. Optimus looks shocked.

"because Sunstreaker was a stupid slagger!"

chirp chirp slagger!

"oh.... I see." Optimus frowns. "you're upset about this, why? as I recall when we were all sparklings, your first word was fragging and I believe Ironhides was fragger" Optimus snorts.

"yeah! and yours was no! but Wheeljacks been trying to get him to say slagger for weeks! I didn't want him to badger the sparkling. I didn't want him to force anything on my sparkling, its bad for a sparkling." Ratchet growls. the sparkling grabs at the cube, trying to pull it closer to him so he can continue drinking it. Ratchet frowns and shifts a little so the sparkling can have his cube. "sorry sparkling." Ratchet apologizes. the sparkling chirps around his cube quietly, but appreciateively. "don't choke on it little one." Ratchet murmurs.

"well... good luck with him. I should really get back to my paperwork." Optimus smiles, patting the sparkling on the head. the sparkling growls quietly around him.

"alright Prime. thanks." Ratchet nods, carrying the sparkling back towards the medbay. the sparkling looks up at Ratchet around the cube. the medic sighs a little. "I am not angry at you sparkling. I'm proud of you, I'm just angry Wheeljack managed to get you to say that." Ratchet huffs. the sparkling huffs, pulling away from the cube. "is that all you want?" Ratchet asks, pushing the cube gently towards the sparkling. the sparkling turns his head away.

"don't force him Ratch." Wheeljack snorts. Ratchet shoots him a dirty look. "oh stop it. you should just be happy about his first words. " Wheeljack frowns.

"I would be if you hadn't spent weeks trying to get him to say slagger!" Ratchet snaps. the sparkling cuddles into Ratchet frowning. "you thought it'd be funny but you know what can happen when you badger a sparkling into their first words! its bad for them! it can cause-" Ratchet starts.

"stop it." Wheeljack snaps. "he said his first word, just shut the hell up and enjoy it Ratchet. I get it, I convinced him to say the word, just be glad he's learning to talk." Wheeljack glares. the sparkling the medics arms, immediately screams at Wheeljack, glaring.

"shhh. sparkling its okay." Ratchet soothes gently, cuddling him. he glares at Wheeljack. "you know what can happen to a sparkling when you force their first word on them Jack. you know how it can effect their speech and vocal cords. you know it puts strain on them and can cause them to take longer to learn how to speak!" Ratchet snaps. he turns away from the inventor and cuddles the sparkling.

"he's okay Ratchet. I didn't force the word on him, I was just attempting to encourage him to say it." Wheeljack says. "it doesn't hurt to encourage." Wheeljack adds. Ratchet huffs at him, clearly annoyed.

"just stop it Jack." Ratchet mutters. "you've already pissed me off. you have potentially ruined our sparklings chance at learning to talk and no other bot on base seems to understand that." Ratchet adds.

"I didn't hurt him. he's fine Ratch." Wheeljack says. "look, I know you're worried because of,,, 'cause of Nitro...." he says softly. Ratchet tenses a little, clutching the sparkling in his arms. "we're both terrified here, but you can't hover over him like this. you've got to relax and enjoy time with the sparkling or you're just going to burn yourself out. I know you're a medic, Ratch, but please...." Wheeljack murmurs.

"don't say his name." Ratchet snaps softly.

"who...?"

chirp...?

neither say anything to the sparkling.

"he was my sparkling too-" Wheeljack starts.

"you didn't even know, you were busy out with your stupid wrecker buddies. you didn't answer when I tried to contact you that the town had been attacked. you didn't answer when I tried to tell you Nitros care center was attacked, you didn't answer when I screamed for you to answer that I wanted you to be able to tell him you loved him before he offlined, and you certainly didn't answer when our sparkling offlined in my arms and Ironhide had to drag me out of there! you didn't even know Nitro was gone for two days Jack!" Ratchet snaps. Wheeljack stares at him a moment.

"you... you've never said any of that..." Wheeljack murmurs.

"I shouldn't have to! you should've been there! I was in medic classes and I didn't even know he was in the fucking care center! I thought he was with you and then I stumble upon our dying sparkling in the middle of a pile of rubble when he shouldn't have even been there! he's gone because you were a fucking idiot and wanted to hang out with your wreckers!" Ratchet snaps.

"so you're blaming me for that after all these years?" Wheeljack asks. Ratchet scoffs at him.

"you're an idiot Wheeljack, you really fragging are." Ratchet says. "I never stopped blaming you." Ratchet growls. Wheeljack looks shocked and hurt. he's quiet a moment, as if trying to process Ratchets words.

"but Ratch... I... I didn't know that would happen..." Wheeljack says. Ratchet turns with a huff, cuddling the sparkling. "I-I didn't mean for that to happen.... I never.... I wouldn't have... if I had just known.... I didn't want that to happen." Wheeljack murmurs.

"it wouldn't have if you had been with him like you promised me you would be." Ratchet says, walking off. he locks himself in his office with the sparkling, whose confused. the worn medic sits down at his desk, sitting the sparkling down gently. he crosses his legs on the desk and watches the medic.

"are you okay?"

click?

Ratchet sighs quietly, shaking his head, before looking up at the sparkling. he leans forward a little and pats the sparklings head.

"I'm sorry sparkling, you never should've heard any of that." Ratchet sighs. the sparkling reaches forward and pats his cheek. "we should stop arguing with you around kiddo." Ratchet murmurs.

"you don't seem okay at all.... was Nitro the sparkling Ironhide told me about?"

chirp... chirp twitter?

Ratchet sighs a little, folding his arms onto the desk and dropping his head onto them.

"you weren't supposed to hear any of that. I'm sorry we faught like that in front of you... we never used to fight like this back in the day, but these past few years thats all we really do." Ratchet admits. "thats why I never feel safe leaving you with Wheeljack.... part of me is afraid he'd make the same mistake twice and.... I'd rather not lose you sparkling." Ratchet says softly, lifting his head up a little to pat the sparklings head again.

"well locking yourself in here isn't going to help come on."

chirp twitter.

the sparkling gets up and walks over to the edge of the desk, before trying to get down. Ratchet watches him before sighing and putting the sparkling down on the floor. the medic watches him carefully, but the sparkling immediately reaches up for his servo, making a grabbing motion.

"what is it sparkling?" Ratchet ask. the sparkling reaches up attempting to grab his servo, so Ratchet gives it to him. the sparkling immediately makes an attempt to pull the bigger bot from his chair, pulling as hard as he can, grunting. "what?" Ratchet asks. the sparkling grunts again. "you want me to get up?" Ratchet sighs.

"come on! get up!"

click!

Ratchet sighs a little, but gets up. he lets the little bot pull him over to the door, watching the sparkling kick the door angrily. he turns and looks up at Ratchet, so the medic sighs and opens the door, letting the little sparkling drag him out of his office. Wheeljacks not in there anymore, probably having retreated to his lab.

"where are we going sparkling?" Ratchet asks. the sparkling clicks at him, before continuing to pull him towards the doors of the medbay. the medic sighs and follows him, looking tired.

the sparkling pulls Ratchet to the rec room, before trying to shove him down on the couch. the medic sits silently, sighing again. the sparkling nods once at him before running off. he comes back a minute later dragging Jazz, whose holding a cube. the sparkling points towards Ratchet.

"give it to him! I can't carry it!"

twitter! chirp!

Jazz looks confused, so does Ratchet.

"uh here Ratch." Jazz says, handing him a cube. the medic nods a little, looking confused as he takes it.

"thanks I guess Jazz." Ratchet mutters. the mech nods a little and walks off. the sparkling watches him go, before climbing himself up into Ratchets lap. he settles himself down, sitting and looking up at the medic. Ratchet gives him a small smile. "alright alright, I get it." Ratchet chuckles, patting his head. he cups the little bots cheek and gently rubbing his thumb over it gently. "thank you sparkling." he murmurs.

"you need to take better care of yourself."

Ratchet laughs a little at the chastising chirp he receives.

"I know. I can't take care of you if I don't take care of myself. sorry squirt." Ratchet murmurs softly. the sparkling watches the medic sip his cube.

"you've gotta take better care of yourself Ratchet, even without me."

chirp twitter click Ratchet twitter.

the energon in Ratchets mouth goes flying out and he stares down at the sparkling. the sparkling screams immediately, wiping at the energon on his face, before glaring at Ratchet.

"what?" he asks, jaw dropped. the sparkling looks confused at him.

"Ratchet are you okay?" Ironhide asks, looking over.

"did you hear that?" Ratchet ask. Ironhide shakes his head.

"I just got to see you spit energon at the sparkling." Ironhide says.

"Ironhide!"

squeal!

the sparkling keeps wiping at the energon on his face. he pouts at the weapons specialist. the black mech scoops him up and cleans his face gently.

"what the hell happened Ratch?" Ironhide ask. Ratchet looks up, shaking his hand off.

"he said my name." Ratchet said. Ironhide looks confused at him.

"so you spit on him?" Ironhide ask.

"I was shocked." Ratchet snaps, glaring at the mech. he reaches to take the sparkling back and Ironhide immediately passes him back.

"slagger." the sparkling mutters, glaring at Ratchet.

"it was an accident you little slaghead." Ratchet huffs. the sparkling sticks his tongue out at the medic. "and don't you dare use that word against me." Ratchet glares. Ironhide snorts, grabbing himself a cube, before leaving the room. Ratchet drops his head back a moment, before looking at the sparkling. "I didn't mean to spit that at you." Ratchet says.

"you jerk."

click.

he snorts at the angry sparkling chatter and dirty glares.

"I can't believe you." Ratchet murmurs. he's not angry though and he's not upset. he's in shock and all he can think about is Nitro. how his and Wheeljacks first sparkling had said Wheeljacks name as his first word and never had the chance to say Ratchets.

"I can't believe you spit on me."

twitter click.

"I don't think we've ever told you, but we do love you sparkling. a lot." Ratchet murmurs. the sparkling chirps at him, smiling. "alright. alright. go be cute somewhere else, I have to go talk to Wheeljack." Ratchet murmurs, putting the sparkling on the floor. the sparkling immediately runs off. "don't run into anything! you don't have your helmet on!" Ratchet shouts. he'd taken it off when the sparkling had taken his nap and never put it back on.

Ratchet heads off to talk to Wheeljack, only once he makes sure the sparkling is safe.

the sparkling runs off happily, heading outside. the moment he steps out of the base he's immediately scooped up by Sunstreaker.

"hey there sparkling. you don't need to be out here alone. okay? Drift and Crosshairs are doing battle training." Sunstreaker murmurs, passing the sparkling over to his twin.

"hey! you stupid slagger! put me down! I was going to Ironhide! he's on the range! leave me alone!"

chirp! slagger! chirp chirp click chirp twitter!

Sunstreaker growls at the sparkling, before crossing his arms over his chestplates. Sideswipe hugs the sparkling tightly.

"oh hey there cutie!" Sideswipe smiles, cuddling the sparkling. the sparkling shoots him a dirtier look. "do you want to go to the range? Ratchet said you need your helmet out there." Sideswipe frowns. the sparkling pouts at him. "well, alright. but be careful okay? its not just Ironhide and Hound, its a bunch of human soldiers out there as well." Sideswipe says, heading for the range. he takes the sparkling over and drops him off with Ironhide before leaving.

"what the- hey! you need warning! I could've stomped on him!" Ironhide growls. he looks down at the sparkling then, nudges him between his feet gently. "sit sparkling." Ironhide says. the sparkling sits as told and looks up at Ironhide grinning. Ironhide smiles at him a little. "be good alright? don't wonder. I'll pick you up in a few minutes." Ironhide promises.

"oh hey there squirt." Hound grins, walking over. the sparkling waves at him happily.

"hey Hide I- oh... its the Cyberbaby." Epps says walking over.

"sparkling." Ironhide corrects. "what do you need Epps?" Ironhide asks, putting his cannon away. he hates having them active around Epps and Sam unless on a battlefield, he stopped having them active around humans after Wills death. the sparkling at Ironhides feet is staring at Epps before looking up at Ironhide with a whine. Ironhide looks down and scoops the sparkling up gently. "its alright sparkling. don't worry. Epps did you need something?" Ironhide asks.

"I was just going to see if you wanted to go for a ride or something... but I see you've got the... uh... sparkling thing." Epps says. the sparkling whines quietly at Ironhide.

"whats wrong with the sparkling?" Ironhide asks.

"I dunno he always acts so weird towards humans..." Epps says, frowning.

"he doesn't spend time with humans Epps. we're afraid he might accidently hurt one of you guys. he doesn't understand how fragile you guys are and how strong he is." Ironhide says, shifting the sparkling gently. the sparklings cuddles to Ironhide quietly, looking down at Epps. "if you want to go for a ride and talk about Will I don't mind Epps, but I'll have to find someone to sit with the sparkling, Ratchet got pissed the last time I took the squirt off base." Ironhide said. Epps nods.

"it'd be great..." Epps murmurs.

"alright give me a few minutes to find a sitter." Ironhide says. Epps nods, watching Ironhide carry the sparkling off.

"thats not fair Hide! why don't you just leave me with Ratchet?\

*huff* twitter chirp! chip Ratchet?

Ironhide looks down and nods a little.

"fine. I'll take you to Ratchet then." Ironhide says, heading for the medbay. the sparkling huffs at him, clearly upset. "look sparkling, I'd love to take you with me alright? but Ratchet doesn't want you off base." Ironhide murmurs, rubbing the sparklings cheek. he walks into the medbay, Wheeljack and Ratchet have an awkward atmosphere in the medbay, but Ironhide ignores it.

"Ironhide?" Wheeljack asks confused.

"hey, I brought the sparkling. I'm going for a drive with Epps. you guys want him or should I try to find Bumblebee?" Ironhide asks.

"we're still discussing things, can you leave him with Bumblebee for a bit?" Ratchet asks. he pats the sparklings head. "go on little one, go be with Bumblebee." Ratchet murmurs. the sparkling squeals and squirms, trying to wiggle free from Ironhide. "put him down Hide, he can walk." Ratchet says. Ironhide nods and puts the sparkling on his feet.

"stay inside little one." Ironhide murmurs. the sparkling chirps happily before walking out of the room happily.

"thanks for bringing him back Hide, little runt gets into all kinds of trouble." Ratchet snorts.

"oh yeah, I know. the little punk thinkshe runs the base." Ironhide chuckles.

"he always thinks he runs everything." Wheeljack laughs.

"little runt-" Ratchets cut off when there's a loud shout.

"Ratchet! come outside immediately!" Jazz shouts. the medic flinches and frowns, pushing Ironhide out of his way.

"move you big lug!" Ratchet snaps. somethings wrong. he's not sure how he knows it, but he knows. something in his spark is saying something is wrong with his sparkling. Ironhides confused but follows after Wheeljack and Ratchet both when they race out. he knows somethings happened to the sparkling.

Ironhide wasn't keeping pace, he wasn't sure it was bad. he just assumed the sparkling was injured, but he wasn't assuming it was bad. not until he heard both Wheeljack and Ratchet scream. he wastes no time running out the door of the base.

the sparkling is laying face up in the dirt, covered in dents, and clearly unconscious. Ironhide's never seen the sparkling in such rough shape.

"holy slag." Ironhide says, staring at him.

"i-it was an accident! I didn't see him there!" Sunstreaker shouts, knelt over the sparkling.

"what happened!?" Ratchet snaps, kneeling beside the beat up sparkling.

"Sunny backed into him trying to get away from Hound! he hit him pretty hard too..." Sideswipe frowns. the sparkling is leaking energon everywhere, but the large dent in the front of his head is what has Ratchet worried.

"YOU RAN OVER MY SPARKLING!?" Ratchet shouts.

"I... I... Ratchet I swear to Primus, I didn't see him. I never would've.... i-it was an accident! I swear! I... Primus, I ran over the sparkling." Sunstreaker says, looking horrified. "I... Ratchet... I-" Sunstreaker tries.

"don't touch me or my sparkling!" Ratchet snaps, carefully scooping him up gently. "c'mon Jack we have to get him some help now." Ratchet frowns.