"hmm? oh, sorry little one." Ironhide murmurs, pick him up as he stands up off the berth. "sorry." Ironhide murmurs, putting him down.

"Ironhide okay?" Reflect asks, hesitantly.

"uh... yeah. yeah, I'm fine." Ironhide assures, opening his door and heading out. Reflect follows him.

"Ironhide seem tired." Reflect frowns.

"yes sure." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect whines and turns, walking off quickly. Ironhide seems off, he needs Ratchet.

he runs to the medbay as fast as he can.

"creator?" he asks, running in. he look around. his optics settle on Wheeljack, sound asleep on Ratchets workbench. "daddy Jack?" Reflect asks, running over. he shakes the bots leg, but Wheeljack only grumbles. Reflect huffs and runs over to Ratchets office. the medic is sound asleep at his desk. "creator!" Reflect shouts. Ratchet jerks up immediately, looking around in a panicked state.

"Reflect?" Ratchet asks, jumping up from his desk. Reflect runs around his desk, the medic looking him over quickly. "whats wrong?" Ratchet asks.

"Ironhide act weird!" Reflect says.

"huh?" Ratchet asks, scooping him up.

"Ironhide acting funny. almost step on Reflect. not pay attention! woke up and forget Reflect there!" Reflect whines. Ratchet frowns.

"okay, okay. lets go see whats wrong with Ironhide." Ratchet murmurs, looking tired.

"Ratchet okay?" Reflect asks.

"yeah, kiddo, just tired. me and Jack were up working on Hot Rod most of the night." Ratchet murmurs.

"oh... that why Jack not wake up." Reflect frowns, looking over at the workbench. Ratchet follows his gaze and snorts.

"hold on, we'll check on Ironhide in a second. let me move Wheeljack before he falls into the floor." Ratchet murmurs. he stands the sparkling up on a berth and walks over, scooping Wheeljack up carefully. the inventor shifts, but doesn't wake. Ratchet rolls his optics and carries the mech over to an empty berth, laying the other mech down.

"Ratchet?" Hot Rod asks. Ratchet turns to look at him.

"lay back down. I'll be back to check on you when I get done with Ironhide." Ratchet frowns, picking Reflect back up.

"Ironhide." Reflect whines.

"yeah I know." Ratchet murmurs gently. "we're going. we're gonna see whats wrong with him." Ratchet assures gently. "can you tell me anything?" Ratchet ask.

"Ironhide brush Reflect off, answer questions but not really hear them..." Reflect says softly. Ratchet nods.

"he sounds like he's lost in thought, but I will check on him, promise." Ratchet assures gently. he carries the sparkling out of the medbay and to the rec room.

as expected Ironhides sitting in the rec room, looking a little lost. Ratchet walks over to him carefully.

"Ironhide." Ratchet says. the mech jumps slightly, looking up.

"Ratchet?" Ironhide asks, hesitantly.

"you alright?" Ratchet ask.

"m'fine why?" Ironhide ask.

"you scared the sparkling. he was worried something was wrong with you." Ratchet frowns. Reflect cuddles up to Ratchet, looking at Ironhide quietly.

"yeah. sorry Reflect. I'm fine." Ironhide assures. "just thinking." he frowns.

"Ironhide okay...?" Reflect asks, watching him. Ironhide nods a little.

"yeah I'm alright." Ironhide assures gently. "I'm find squirt. just not all here this morning." Ironhide frowns.

"Reflect, why don't you go see if Bumblebee will get you a cube, let me and Ironhide talk a minute." Ratchet murmurs, putting him down.

"okay." Reflect frowns. he seems hesitant but does eventually walk over to Bumblebee.

"hey little one." Bumblebee smiles.

"hi Reflect." Sam waves, perched on Bumblebee's shoulder.

"Bumblebee get Reflect cube?" Reflect asks.

"sure, here Sam stay here with Reflect I'll be right back," Bumblebee smiles, getting up. Sam watches him go, looking at Reflect.

"hey Reflect, you alright?" Sam smiles.

"something wrong with Ironhide. creator not let me know." Reflect pouts.

"you know Ratchet'll get Ironhide all straightened out. its okay." Sam assures.

"whats wrong with Ironhide?" Bumblebee ask.

"not sure, but Ratchtes talking to him. Reflects just a little upset." Sam frowns. Bumblebee sits down, scooping both his charge and the sparkling up. he puts Sam on his knee gently, pulling the sparkling into his lap.

"just relax Reflect. Ratchets the best. he'll get Ironhide fixed up." Bumblebee assures gently. Reflect frowns, taking his cube and drinking it quietly. he leans against Bumblebee with a quiet whine. "I know Reflect." Bumblebee murmurs softly. he pats the little sparklings head gently.

"whats wrong with Ironhide?" Sam ask.

"Ironhide act funny..." Reflect whines softly.

"Ratchet will get him all fixed up." Bumblebee murmurs.

"oh hey! Cade!" Sam shouts, waving at the man. Cade looks up from the tablet in his hand.

"Sam. hello. whats up kid?" Cade frowns, walking over.

"how are you adjusting to the base?" Sam smiles.

"its... horrifying. its terrifying. almost getting stepped on is..." Cade trails.

"a kick in the head?" Sam snorts. "yeah. you get used to it. it took me, Will, and Epps a little while to get used to it, but the bots are pretty careful most the time. I remember this one time, about two months after we got settled in the base, the twins weren't paying attention and almost stepped on Will." Sam snorts. Bumblebee chuckles.

"Ironhide came fragging flying in, raging. I didn't know he could throw the twins that far." Bumblebee grins. Cade looks confused.

"who is Will and when do I get to meet him?" Cade ask. Sam and Bumblebee go quiet a moment. "what..?" Cade ask.

"no one told you?" Bumblebee ask.

"Will dead. go squish squish." Reflect says, setting his empty cube down.

"Will was in an accident, he's been gone for about a year and a half now. we try not talk about him, though when we do we takl about him like he's still alive. keeps Ironhide from killing people.... he and Will were bondmates." Sam frowns.

"not familiar with that term." Cade frowns.

"like... being married, sort of, but on an actual spiritual level. Will and I had contact with the Allspark, which I know you've heard about. Will absorbed a little more than I did. he formed a bond with Ironhide, he was connect to Ironhides spark. it hurt Ironhide a lot when Will died. if you want a more indepth explination you can ask Ratchet later." Sam says.

"Sam and I have a bond, not like Ironhides and Wills, but we do have one. Sam didn't get enough exposure for ours to be the same." Bumblebee says.

"ironically." Sam grumbles.

"when Will died, it ripped Ironhides spark apart. if Sam were to die, it would hurt more than anything in the world, but it wouldn't physically rip my spark like it did to Ironhide." Bumblebee explains. Cade nods slightly.

"okay... uh, whose this?" Cade ask.

"I Reflect." Reflect says.

"he's Ratchet and Wheeljacks sparkling, Ratchet can explain that too." Bumblebee assures. Reflect wiggles free from Bumblebee's lap and walks over to Cade. the man steps back when Reflect gets too close. the sparkling bends down and looks at him, optic to eye. Reflect smiles at him a little.

"get out of my face." Cade says. Reflect frowns, getting that famous Ratchet glare on his face.

"you look funny. you can also ask creator about that." Reflect says, before walking off. Sam snorts and grins.

"he's cute." Sam snorts. Reflect runs after Ratchet, who heads quietly back to the medbay.

"creator!" Reflect shouts. Ratchet jumps a little, turning around.

"Reflect why aren't you with Ironhide?" Ratchet ask.

"was with Bumblebee. that Cave man dummy." Reflect huffs.

"Cave...? C... Cade? do you mean Cade?" Ratchet snorts. Reflect looks confused.

"I said Cade." Reflect frowns.

"no little one, you said cave." Ratchet snorts, scooping him up.

"well, mean Cade. duh." Reflect huffs.

"I gathered that." Ratchet chuckles.

"he stupid." Reflect huffs.

"stupid? what did he do?" Ratchet ask.

"ask stupid questions." Reflect frowns.

"you sound like me." Ratchet chuckles softly. Reflect huffs.

"well, Ratchet right. lots ask stupid questions." Reflect grumbles. Ratchet snorts.

"okay little one, come on." Ratchet murmurs, cuddling him. he heads for the office.

"where go?" Reflect ask.

"to my office little one, its warmer than the medbay." Ratchet murmurs, sitting in his chair. Reflect cuddles up to him. "and you're being extra grumpy, I know you're getting cold. its dropped another ten degrees." Ratchet says, hugging the sparkling gently.

"Reflect cold and angry." Reflect mumbles.

"yeah I know. its okay." Ratchet murmurs, kissing his head. "I'll keep you warm little one." Ratchet assures.

"Ratchet?" Wheeljack mumbles, getting up. Ratchet looks over at the doorway of his office.

"in here Jack." Ratchet calls. he can hear Wheeljack head over to them. "hey, whats up?" Ratchet ask.

"hows Hot Rod?" Wheeljack asks, stretching.

"he's ready to be released." Ratchet assures.

"I assumed so, since he's gone." Wheeljack frowns, looking behind him. he turns back and smiles at Reflect. "hey little one." Wheeljack smiles.

"go away! Reflect cold!" Reflect glares, cuddling closer to Ratchets chest plates.

"oh I see, its 60 degrees out today. must be pretty cold to you. I'm warmer than Ratchet." Wheeljack murmurs, walking over to them. Reflect screams at him, clinging to Ratchet.

"leave him alone Jack." Ratchet frowns. "Earth gets colder faster than Cybertron did... we may need to work on something for him, to keep him warm. human radars say the temperature will keep dropping." Ratchet frowns.

"we'll it is December. you know it gets cold in this month." Wheeljack says.

"I know, but it didn't get this cold this fast last year." Ratchet frowns. "it didn't get this cold until January. we're expecting snow this year." Ratchet adds. there's a knock and all three bots look over. "enter." Ratchet calls. Cade walks in hesitantly.

"uh, hi. Sam said I could come ask you a couple questions." Cade says, awkwardly. Ratchet shrugs and shifts Reflect a little.

"sure come on in." Ratchet says. Wheeljack walks over and carefully picks the man up, putting him on Ratchets desk.

"okay little one, wanna come with me?" Wheeljack asks. Reflect hisses at him, making the inventor pull back quickly. "alright fine then." he mumbles. he huffs out of the office with a pout.

"ask away." Ratchet says.

"first question is... what the hell is he?" Cade asks, pointing to Reflect.

"no idea we found him on a battlefield." Ratchet smirks, squishing the sparkling gently. Reflect squeals, giggling. the medic chuckles and shakes his head. "Reflect is a sparkling, our version of what humans call babies. he's Allsparked. the last shard of the Allspark created him when it was destroyed. Jack found him on the battle field while cleaning up, and brought him home. he connected to me and Jack, well he connected to me and automatically connected to Jack because he's my bonded." Ratchet says.

"connected? bondmate?" Cade asks.

"oh yeah, connected. Allsparked sparklings create a bond with the first bot they see. since he was unconscious when Wheeljack found him, he connected with me." Ratchet says. "basically he adopted us and formed a bond with our sparks so he's physically our sparkling." Ratchet explains. Cade nods, looking lost. "alright, Reflect go find Ironhide or Wheeljack, creators gonna be busy for a bit." Ratchet says, putting him on the ground. Reflect shoots Cade the nastiest look, stomping off.

"REFLECT COLD!" Reflect screams, storming out of the medbay. Drift, heading out of his room, jumps and whips around to look at him.

"are you okay?" Drift ask.

"NO!" Reflect screams, stomping past him. Drift watches him go, optic ridge raised in confusion.

Ironhide watches the sparkling storm into the rec room. his enraged optics search the room silently, before they land on Ironhide. the weapons specialist internally sighs, he doesn't feel like dealing with the sparklings tantrum. he wonders if he'd be able to sneak around him, but the anger immediately drops from Reflects face and he runs over to Ironhide, looking pathetic. he throws his arms up and whines.

"Reflect cold." Reflect whines quietly. Ironhide sighs a little, scooping him up gently.

"okay okay. come here." Ironhide mumbles. Reflect cuddles against him. the little sparklings frame is trembling, he's not used to temperatures like this. its gotten too cold to fast. "why aren't you cuddled up to Ratchet? or better yet, Wheeljack? he's very warm from what I remember. though, I suppose he could've grown out of that." Ironhide frowns. he has a few memories of himself, Que, Ratchet, and Orion curling up together at the care center on days none of them had to fight. he also remembers Orion cuddled up to Que when his own temperature regulator refused to work and the future Prime had been freezing.

"not want Jack. want Ratchet." Reflect whines.

"then why aren't you cuddled up to him?" Ironhide ask.

"talking to that stupid Cade human." Reflect grumbles. Ironhide snorts a little.

"and why don't you want Wheeljack?" Ironhide murmurs.

"too hot. make sleepy." Reflect grumbles.

"and Primus forbid you take a nap." Ironhide snorts.

"just got up! no want nap!" Reflect pouts. Ironhide chuckles softly.

"okay no nap." Ironhide murmurs.

"why cold?" Reflect pouts.

"because as the Earth turns-" Ironhide starts. Reflect groans. Ironhide rolls his optics. "because the temperature dropped." Ironhide frowns.

"why drop?" Reflect pouts.

"do you want an actual explanation?" Ironhide ask.

"no." Reflect huffs.

"okay, because the Earth wants to be cold. thats why." Ironhide frowns.

"stupid Earth." Reflect huffs. Ironhide snorts, getting up from his seat.

"okay little one, you're cold and I'm bored. what should we do?" Ironhide ask.

"cuddle!" Reflect squeals, hugging his neck tightly. Ironhide raises an optic ridge.

"what else do you want to do?" Ironhide ask. Reflect whines quietly cuddling to him.

"no want do anything. too cold... feel tired..." Reflect whines.

"fine we'll go to my room and turn the heat up." Ironhide grumbles.

"and color?" Reflect ask.

"as long as you promise to color on paper and not my floor." Ironhide frowns.

"promise." Reflect purrs happily, face in his neck. Ironhide rubs the sparklings back gently, carrying him to his room.

Ironhide carries him to his room, carefully turning the heat up, before putting the sparkling down on his berth.

"Reflect cold." Reflect whines.

"I know, it'll warm up shortly. I promise. stay here, let me go get your drawing stuff." Ironhide murmurs. he walks back out of the room, leaving the sparkling on his berth.

Reflect waits quietly, curling up on the berth, until Ironhide comes back. he pauses seeing the sparkling. he's curled up in a ball trembling on the berth hard enough the berth is almost shaking.

"you really are freezing aren't you little on?" Ironhide ask. Reflect nods, whimpering. Ironhide sets the drawing stuff down and scoops Reflect up.

"where go?" he asks.

"we're going to the medbay." Ironhide frowns. "you're cold and you're gonna go see Ratchet," Ironhide murmurs.

"not Jack?" Reflect asks.

"no. because I don't want to carry you into the lab." Ironhide frowns.

"lab scary." Reflect pouts.

"yeah I know." Ironhide murmurs. he cuddles the sparkling carefully, then pushes the door open. "hey Ratchet!" Ironhide calls. theres the distinct sound of a chair scraping the floor.

"stay here Cade." Ratchet grumbles. he pokes his head out of the office. "what?" Ratchet snaps.

"call your bonded in here. this sparklings gonna freeze to death. his core temp is nearly 20 degrees lower than it normally is. he's freezing and trembling so bad he vibrates across the berths." Ironhide frowns. Reflect whines and cuddles to Ironhide.

"fine, I'll call Jack in here." Ratchet mutters.

"hey you're Ironhide right?" Cade asks, poking out of Ratchet office. he walks over, looking up at Ironhide. Ironhide glares back down at him, armor shifting in annoyance.

"thats my name. don't fraggin' wear it out." Ironhide snaps.

"I have questions for you about Wi-" Cade starts. Ironhides cannon starts spinning, firing up slowly as he shifts.

"I have a fragging answer. if you want to live you'll keep his name out of your mouth, otherwise, I'll blow you across this medbay and leave a nasty mess for Ratchet to clean." Ironhide growls. Cade snaps his mouth shut, staring wide-eyed at the weapons specialist.

"Cade go back in my office please, we will continue to discuss things once I get done talking to Wheeljack." Ratchet assures gently. Cade nods, running off quickly. Wheeljack walks in, though he tenses immediately when he sees Ironhides cannon spinning.

"woah, whats... whats going on here?" Wheeljack ask.

"nothing important." Ratchet frowns. he takes the sparkling and shoves him at Wheeljack. "either keep him warm or build something that will and if you built something that explodes on my sparkling so help me Primus you will never walk again Wheeljack." Ratchet orders. he heads back to his office. Wheeljack looks confused.

"okay Reflect, whats wrong?" Wheeljack asks. Reflect whimpers and clings to him, trembling.

"cold!" Reflect whines.

"he's freezing Jack. he keeps getting colder he needs help regulating his temperature now." Ironhide frowns. "before it gets any colder outside." Ironhide adds.

"okay I'll, I'll work on something." Wheeljack frowns. Reflect screams immediately when the inventor tries to put him down.

"don't think so Jack. you picked him up and you're warm." Ironhide snorts, walking past him.

"wh- Ironhide I can't work while holding him!" Wheeljack calls. "Ratchet would kill me!" he adds. Ironhide shrugs.

"sounds like a you problem." Ironhide snorts. Wheeljack frowns down at Reflect. the sparklings cuddled against him, optics off, engine purring quietly, clinging to his armor. the sparkling snores quietly.

"well now I'm really not getting anything done." Wheeljack mutters. Reflects engine purrs just a little louder when Wheeljack rubs his cheek gently. he caresses the little sparklings hip gently, walking down the hall towards the rec room for a cube.

"is Reflect alright?" Optimus chuckles as Wheeljack walks past.

"his self temperature regulation hasn't kicked in. its dropped nearly 40 degrees in the past three or four days and its getting colder. its dropped three just degrees today. my poor little sparkling is freezing and my asshole bonded is refusing to help right now. so I've got him. you know how hot my temperature runs. he curled right up and fell into stasis." Wheeljack snorts. Optimus chuckles, smiling at the sparkling.

"well, on the brightside, you won't have to fight him to get a nap." Optimus snorts, heading for his office.

"yeah, thanks Prime." Wheeljack mutters, heading for the rec room once more.

he grabs himself a cube and settles down. Reflect curls up, happy to spend the rest of the cuddled up to Wheeljack and his warmth, and sleep. Wheeljack sighs and sips his cube, frowning.

"you alright Jack?" Jazz ask.

"Reflect is freezing. since I'm the warmest, I have to hold him, which means I cannot go make anything. he won't let go." Wheeljack frowns.

"where's Ratchet?" Jazz ask.

"talking to that new human on base." Wheeljack says.

"that Cade Yeager man?" Jazz ask.

"yeah he's got questions, y'know the same ones all humans have, and Ratchets answering them. I think he likes to do that." Wheeljack snorts.

"I can take him." Jazz offers.

"thanks, but I don't think he'd be happy." Wheeljack frowns. "he's cold." he adds

"I can keep him warm." Jazz assures. Wheeljack frowns a little and gets up, he passes the sparkling over carefully. Reflect whines and shifts immediately. "c'mon squirt, we're going to my room t' warm up." Jazz smiles, heading for his room.

Reflect doesn't like this, he doesn't like it one bit, and he's makes sure to make everyone know of his displeasure.

Jazz sighs a little. the sparkling had been screaming for the past hour and a half. despite the fact they were still in his room and the door was shut, the entire base could hear the sparkling. it must've finally caught Ratchets attention, because just before the two hour mark. the medic comes barging in.

"what have you done to my sparkling?" Ratchet frowns.

"nothing he's just cold." Jazz frowns.

"where's Wheeljack?" Ratchet ask.

"he went to work on something. so I told him I'd hold the sparkling, but he's been screaming since I got him." Jazz sighs.

"he's fragging cold!" Ratchet snaps, taking Reflect quickly. Reflect screams, cuddling against him. "come on. its alright. we'll go wrap you in a med blanket." Ratchet frowns, carrying him to the medbay.

he's almost to the medbay when Wheeljack stops him.

"got it!" Jack smiles, walking over quickly.

"got what?" Ratchet ask.

"remember how on Iacon when sparklings were sparked they were wrapped immediately in these blankets, that didn't always work to keep them warm? well, using some human fibers, I made a heading blanket like those." Wheeljack smiles, holding out a bight blue blanket. "its soft, its warm, and its cuddly, since our little one likes to cuddle. its big enough to wrap around him and durable enough to be dragged around the base. I've been working on it for a few days, don't worry, I've been testing it. its safe, doesn't catch fire, and it doesn't rip unless you put the force of Megatron behind it." Wheeljack grins, holding the blanket out to the sparkling.

"and its safe?" Ratchet frowns.

"absolutely." Wheeljack assures. "here little one. wrap up in this." Wheeljack smiles. Reflect looks at the over sized blanket. Wheeljack wraps the sparkling in it carefully, before giving him back to Ratchet. Reflect squirms, firmly wrapped in the blanket but cuddles into it after a minute. "well?" Wheeljack asks. Reflect wiggles a little, before looking up at Wheeljack.

"ugly." Reflect frowns.

"what?" Wheeljack huffs. Ratchet snorts.

"you know he doesn't like the color blue." Ratchet chuckles.

"well, its just a prototype. don't worry I'm working on another, what color do you want it?" Wheeljack frowns. Reflect goes quiet, thinking a moment.

"black. no gets dirty." Reflect says.

"you don't want it to get dirty?" Wheeljack ask.

"like Wheeljack and Ratchet toys. get dirty." Reflect frowns.

"so thats why you don't like brighter colors." Wheeljack mutters.

"speaking of, you're Ironhide came back in all nice and clean." Ratchet says.

"I'll get to work on ordering another color fabric." Wheeljack snorts, walking off. Ratchet carries the sparkling towards the medbay.

"stuck." Reflect whines.

"yeah, Wheeljack tucked you in a little tight. I'll fix it when we get to the medbay." Ratchet assures. Reflect nods.

"soft." Reflect says. rubbing his face against it. "but ugly." Reflect pouts.

"be appreciative. Wheeljack worked hard on that for you." Ratchet frowns.

"I do be, but get ruined be ugly." Reflect frowns.

"I know." Ratchet murmurs. he sets the sparkling down gently and untangles him from the blanket. Reflect grabs it immediately and wraps it around himself as he gets up.

"mine!" Reflect glares, cuddling into his blanket happily. Ratchet smiles, watching him. he saves the memory to print out later. he wants the picture in his office later. he brings the toy over to his sparkling, after a moment. he'd almost forgotten what they'd come to the medbay for. "Ironhide! you came back!" Reflect shouts, dropping the blanket to hug his toy. "I missed you." Reflect murmurs quietly.

"I told you he'd come back Reflect." Ratchet murmurs, rubbing the sparklings cheek gently. Reflect nods a little, looking up at the medic.

"but I missed him. he gone long long time." Reflect mumbles, hugging the toy tighter.

"yeah I know. but he's back now." Ratchet murmurs gently. Ratchet picks up the blanket and wraps it around the sparklings shoulders. Reflect grabs it with one servo, cuddling his toy with his other arm. "ready to go play?" Ratchet ask.

"yes! warm and have Ironhide!" Reflect squeals. Ratchet chuckles, picking him up and putting him on the ground.

"okay, go on, go be good." Ratchet murmurs.

"bye bye creator!" Reflect squeals, running off quickly. Ratchet smiles and watches him go.