"if you're going to be angry at someone, why don't you pick on someone you're own size?" Ironhide snorts, smirking at him.

"you stupid motherfucker." Reflect glares, stomping over to Ironhide. the mech smirks at him.

"yeah but I'm your stupid motherfucker." Ironhide smirks. he knows the poor mech is just glitching and can't help his actions, so he's not going to take offense to his words. Ironhide is not prepared for the mech to pull back and punch him as hard as he can in the face. it sends the black mech to the floor in a daze.

"fucking idiot." Reflect snaps, storming back towards their room. Ironhide sits on the floor silently a moment.

"okay, maybe antagonizing him was the wrong thing to do." He mutters, shaking his head. he lets Optimus pull him up when the Prime offers a servo out towards him.

"whats wrong with him?" Bumblebee asks, hesitantly.

"he's glitching, just a little." Ironhide mumbles.

"a little?" Optimus mutters. Ironhide glares at him.

"glitching?" Sam asks, poking out from behind Bumblebee.

"its part of carrying. carrying is technically natural but its also like a virus to the system. attacks your body in ways that we call glitching. don't look at me like that Prime we spent all day reading his stupid medical datapads. anything that had to do with carrying." Ironhide mutters. he looks at Sam. "Reflect compared it to... human female hormonal irregularities while they're pregnant." Ironhide explains. Sam nods a little.

"so he'll be alright?" he ask.

"yes, he'll be fine. he just... can't control it." Ironhide shrugs. he wipes at his face, before following after his bonded.

Ironhide heads into their room and frowns.

"you need to go see Ratchet now. get your fraggin' panel fixed so I can fix your damn attitude." Ironhide glares at him.

"you pissed me off on purpose!" Reflect glares.

"I didn't want you to hurt Bumblebee and cause him to hurt Sam. I'd rather you hurt me not them." Ironhide frowns. "besides I probably deserved to have you punch the fuck out of me. its my fault all this is happening." Ironhide mutters. "now please go see Ratchet." Ironhide murmurs.

"I already did!" Reflect glares. "I went to curl up in his berth because curling up in here makes it worse because my panel was locked and Ratchet fixed it while I was in there because Wheeljack he was working on their room." Reflect glares.

"good then come here and let me love you." Ironhide murmurs, walking over to him. he's hoping that if they get a good round in, the smaller will take a nap and wake up in a better mood. "did you double check you can have access to your interfacing equipment?" Ironhide ask.

"no why the fuck would I double check?" Reflect ask. Ironhide snorts.

"fine I'll check myself." he murmurs, picking Reflect up and laying him on their berth.

he's grateful for his room being soundproofed as he lays silently beside his snoring bonded. Reflects curled against his side, head on his chest. he hopes Reflect will even out just a little here shortly, but he's not sure if it'll happen or not.

Reflects only asleep for a few hours, waking up groggy. he's got a sleepy look on his face. Ironhide looks over at him.

"you alright?" Ironhide ask.

"mmhmm. need a cube." he mutters getting up.

"you seem a little more mellow." Ironhide snorts. Reflect shoots him a tired, but dirty look.

"leave me alone. being that angry all the time is... exhausting." Reflect mumbles, heading out of the room. Ironhide gets up and follows him. "why are you following me Ironhide?" Reflect asks.

"because you're still waking up. if the base knows you'll be harassed. I'll take care of it." Ironhide assures.

"m'kay." Reflect mumbles. they head for the rec room, Reflects pretty awake by the time they get there, but Ironhide doesn't leave his side.

"you feeling any better?" Sam asks, walking over hesitantly. Reflect glares down at him, sipping his cube.

"leave him alone Sam." Ironhide warns.

"I just wanted to say, apparently the twins heard me ask Ratchet a question and since they were pissed at you, they told everyone. we didn't mean for that to happen Reflect. we really didn't." Sam says. Reflect heaves a sigh and crouches down.

"I shouldn't have threatened you two." Reflect mutters. Sam shrugs a little.

"no worries. no harm done, right? we all walked away from it. just wanted to tell you I'm sorry we accidentally spilled your secret." Sam says. Reflect nods, standing up. he stumbles back a little, Ironhide immediately grabs hold of him carefully. "you okay?" Sam ask.

"just got dizzy." Reflect mumbles.

"sit down and drink your cube." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect frowns a little, looking around the room. for the first time in weeks, several bots glance over at him. he doesn't want to risk having to talk to any of them. he nearly jumps with joy when he spots Ratchet sitting off to the side with a datapad in one servo and a cube in the other.

"m'gonna go sit with Ratchet." Reflect mumbles.

"good. tell him you got dizzy or I will." Ironhide warns. Reflect nods a little and walks over to Ratchet, plopping in a chair across from Ratchet. Ratchet looks up from his datapad, over at him.

"hey kid, you okay?" Ratchet ask.

"I took a nap and my systems being super sluggish about starting up." Reflect mutters, dropping his head on the table. Ratchet nods.

"thats part of the glitching. don't worry about it, I can fix that, so can Ironhide." Ratchet assures getting up. he walks over behind Reflect and pops a cable into the back of his armor. Reflect turns behind him.

"whats that?" Reflect grumbles.

"medical port." Ratchet assures gently. Reflect yelps a little and jerks up.

"oww!" Reflect shouts.

"easy. its just a small jolt. its just enough to get your system started, but won't hurt the sparkling." Ratchet assures, walking back around to his seat. Reflect rubs his back a little.

"thanks I guess." Reflect mumbles, huffing.

"sure thing kid." Ratchet smiles.

"did he tell you he was dizzy?" Ironhide asks, walking over.

"no." Ratchet says, looking over at Reflect. the mech is quietly sipping his cube, but he meets the medics gaze. he still looks a little tired, but more awake than before.

"m'not dizzy anymore." Reflect shrugs.

"you're also sitting now." Ironhide frowns.

"I'm fine." Reflect assures gently.

"Ironhides right." Ratchet frowns, scanning him carefully. Reflect glares at the medic the moment he feels the scan hit him and grumbles. Ratchet balks pulling back. "what did you just do?" Ratchet ask.

"I glared at you. don't get your feelings hurt." Reflect snaps.

"you blocked my scan." Ratchet says. Reflect looks confused.

"no I didn't. I just glared." Reflect says.

"it may not have been intentional, but you did." Ratchet says.

"how do I stop?" Reflect ask.

"not sure. I don't know how you did it in the first place." Ratchet frowns. Reflect gets a look on his face, its a mix of confusion and pain, his Prime mark is flashing like it used to do when he was a sparkling.

"sorry, I'll be right back." he mutters, getting up. he holds his head walking out. Ratchet and Ironhide immediately turn to look at each other before following him out quickly.

Reflect heads outside silently. the Primes had promised these things would stop, but that something was really wrong. he heads around the base, looking around. he pauses a moment, optics coming across Wheeljack and Cade working on some new invention in the sand of the desert. he frowns immediately. Cade doesn't have an protective gear on, which is a dangerous thing when working with Wheeljack.

"what are you doing?" Ironhide murmurs, coming up beside him. Reflect frowns a motions to the two.

"its ticking." Reflect mutters. he's running over every possible solution he can, thank you Prowl for teaching a sparkling the logistics of battle planning.

"ticking? oh thats great." Ratchet groans. "hey! you two idiots get away from that thing!" Ratchet shouts. Reflect immediately teleports away, landing behind Cade as Wheeljack turns to shout back at Ratchet.

"everythings fine!" Wheeljack shouts. Reflect immediately grabs hold of Cade teleports them away, mere seconds before the device explodes. it blows Wheeljack back several feet, the ground shaking, and knocks both Ratchet and Ironhide over. Reflect lands, Cade carefully cradled in his arm against his chest. he sighs a little, looking over at Ratchet and Ironhide.

"told you it was ticking." Reflect mutters.

"holy shit." Cade mutters. he's confused by a lot of things. Reflects sudden appearance, the explosion, suddenly teleporting. "it... it exploded." Cade mutters. Reflect shifts him gently.

"are you guys okay?" Reflect asks, looking over at Ratchet and Ironhide.

"yeah." Ironhide mutters, getting up.

"JACK!" Ratchet shouts, scrambling up and running over towards his fallen bonded. despite being angry at his bonded, he still loves him.

"what is going on out here?" Optimus frowns, running over to them. Reflect shifts Cade into his palm and holds him out to the Prime.

"it blew up." Cade mutters as Optimus grabs him. he puts his human charge on his shoulder, frowning. Reflect immediately heads over to Wheeljack and Ratchet.

"is he okay?" Reflect asks.

"despite the size of that explosion, he seems mostly unharmed, just, unconscious." Ratchet frowns. "a couple of dents, but nothing life threatening. "Ironhide! hey! help me get him into the medbay!" Ratchet shouts. Ironhide nods running over.

"back up." Ironhide murmurs, moving around Reflect. Reflect steps back quickly.

"I can move him into the medbay faster than you can." Reflect says.

"don't, we don't know what kind of damage he has under his armor." Ratchet says, as he and Ironhide heft the mech up off the ground.

"okay." Reflect murmurs, watching them carry him off. "I should've gotten him too..." Reflect mumbles to himself.

"hey!" Cade shouts, startling Reflect and Optimus both. Reflect looks over and, seeing Cade wave him over, he heads back over to the two. "you... you saved my fucking life. how did you know it was going to do that? it looked stable from our end." Cade frowns.

"three things. 1. I could hear it ticking, 2. its Wheeljack, 3. the Primes told me." Reflect mutters. he frowns and heads for the base.

"uh, thanks." Cade says. Reflect nods to show acknowledgement, but doesn't stop.

he heads straight for the medbay and sits on one of the berths. Ironhides standing off to the side, arms crossed over his chest, he glances at his bonded before turning his attention back to Wheeljack. Reflect frowns, his first instinct is to tell Ratchet, he told him that he didn't block the scan, but he keeps it to himself. now is not the time for childish behavior.

"is he okay?" Reflect ask. Ratchet nods.

"yeah, couple of energon leaks and some dents, but he'll be alright. good thing you got to Cade though. it would've killed him." Ratchet murmurs.

"I should've grabbed Jack too." Reflect says.

"Cade was more important. I can rebuilt Wheeljack, you know from first hand experience, I wouldn't have been able to rebuild Cade." Ratchet says, shooting him a pointed look.

"he'll be alright. don't worry over it." Ironhide says, shifting from his spot.

he already hated me to begin with. this will just make it worse.

don't worry on it Will, you did the right thing. the blast from the explosion alone would've killed Cade anyway and it would've thrown him further than Wheeljack. don't worry. go finish your cube, I'll join you in a few minutes.

whatever.

Reflect gets up silently and heads out of the medbay.

"he's going to worry on this for a while. you should probably go with him." Ratchet murmurs.

"I'll take care of him, you focus on Jack." Ironhide says, turning and following his bonded.

Reflect plops back down in his previous seat, looking at his cube. he sips it for the simple fact his system is still screaming for it, even more so now.

"hey! Reflect!" Cade shouts, jogging over to him. Reflect blinks and looks down.

"Cade?" Reflect ask. he frowns and reaches down, picking the man up. he puts him on the table carefully. "look if you're angry about me randomly grabbing you, I'm sorry." Reflect says.

"angry? what? no. you saved my life." Cade says, waving his words away. "I just wanted to know if Wheeljack was going to be okay, and how you knew that thing was gonna explode again..." Cade frowns.

"Jack'll be fine, Ratchet said so." Reflect says. he shrugs. "I didn't really. the Primes just said you were in danger and you were outside. when I got out there and heard the ticking and saw you with Wheeljack, I realized it was going to explode." Reflect frowns.

"so they still talk to you then." Cade says. Reflect nods once. "I noticed that symbol on your head flashing again." Cade adds.

"yeah, thats how they talk with me while I'm awake." Reflect shrugs a little. "disorienting at first, but not so bad now." he adds. Cade nods a little.

"well, thanks, again. I was kinda an asshole to you when you were-" Cade starts.

"don't worry about it. I didn't have the words then to say something was wrong. no one was listening, but grabbing you and kidnapping you wasn't the way to go around that." Reflect snorts. Cade chuckles slightly nodding.

"yeah, that took some time to get used to but honestly it helped with the anxiety I had about being picked up." Cade snorts.

"I was not allowed to have that anxiety." Reflect chuckles softly.

"how did you..." Cade trails.

"end up like this?" Reflect asks motioning to his body.

"end up in this mess? with Ironhide as a guardian." Cade ask, motioning around the base. Reflect nods a little.

"well, remember the Mission City battle? I'm sure you've heard the bots talk about it." Reflect frowns. Cade nods.

"yeah the cube and all that shit." Cade says.

"well, I was a part of the military. when the Decepticons were getting ready to attack, I met Sam and his girlfriend Mikaela. she's moved on now, great mechanic in California though. the Sector 7 guys, which I know you've heard of, had taken Bumblebee. they were torturing him. Sam was begging for him to be set free and when one of the guys wouldn't comply with his pleas that it would safe humanity, I pointed a gun at him. told him I was gonna count to three and if he didn't listen I'd kill him." Reflect explains.

"holy shit." Cade mutters.

"yeah well, it worked and suddenly the battle of Mission City raged. when it was finally over, Bumblebee requested to stay with Sam. took him home that day. my team was made into the N.E.S.T. team. we stayed to help them clean up and build the base... my wife called about two days after. she'd found out I was alive... I forgot all about it. lost in the haze of the battle. I requested leave. it was granted but when I went to get my jeep, it was..." Reflect trails.

"gone?" Cade ask.

"crushed." Reflect snorts. "so I was trying to get a ride and Ironhide over heard. he'd mentioned previously that he'd been impressed with my shooting skills and interested in seeing more of the planet, even if he despised it." Reflect says. "he offered to take me home, it was a huge relief. we made it home that day, but he didn't leave. when I ask him what was up, he said Optimus had assigned him to me. he was my guardian, should I accept. he would keep me, my wife, and my little girl safe from unexpected attacks...." Reflect murmurs.

"but, forgive me, I thought they died?" Cade ask. Reflect nods.

"yeah. I caught my wife with another man and we divorced. took my baby girl with her. tore me up. Ironhide stayed with me since he was assigned to me, but I believe he'd have gone with Annie if Prime had let him. I kinda wish he had. probably could've saved her." Reflect frowns.

"how did they...?" Cade ask.

"offical cause, car wreck. unoffical cause, car wreck caused by a random Decepticon attack. they were dead when I noticed her Honda in the wreckage." Reflect explains. Cade nods.

"well, sorry you had to find them like that." Cade frowns.

"what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Reflect says.

"yeah and what does kill you turns you into a 40 foot tall alien robot." Cade snorts. Reflect laughs.

"that is true also." Reflect snorts.

"so it was pure luck and chance you ended up out here." Cade says.

"I'm grateful everyday for ending up out here. made a lot of friends." Reflect nods. "and as much as I miss them, I don't regret anything." Reflect assures. "I don't regret a damn thing. I mean, c'mon, I ended up here on base with a family I never had as a human, I mean. think I've done pretty good for myself." Reflect snorts. Cade nods.

"yeah but its gotta be... wild." Cade snorts.

"oh yeah. its... weird. wild is the mild way to put it. its a friggin' trip, but its fine." Reflect shrugs. "if there's one thing I've learned living with these guys, its to just roll with it. I mean, never in a million years did I ever think I'd end up like this. like I said, I ended up here on a base with a bondmate and a friggin' kid on the way. family I never really had as a human and a pretty happy life. I'm gonna be content." Reflect smiles.

"so you are having a kid then?" Cade ask. Reflect nods. "how exactly does that work?" Cade frowns.

"that, is a question for Ratchet." Reflect snorts. "because I have no idea." he adds, shrugging. "just gonna roll with it." Reflect chuckles.

"the best thing you could do." Ironhide says, walking up behind him. Reflect half turns in his seat so he can see Ironhide.

"hey stalker, how long you been hanging out behind me?" Reflect snorts.

"not long. whats going on here?" Ironhide ask.

"just answering some questions. I got a little tired of Cade asking Optimus questions and then Optimus asking me those questions. told him to just speak up." Reflect snorts. Ironhide nods.

"I see." Ironhide says, watching Cade carefully. the man looks up at him hesitantly. Ironhide is intimidating.

"don't be afraid. Ironhides all bark and no bite." Reflect snorts, reaching back to smack his bonded. "stop it. you don't have to scare anyone." Reflect chuckles.

"I didn't do anything." Ironhide huffs.

"you were thinking about doing something." Reflect snorts.

"glad to see you're in a better mood." Ironhide mutters, walking off. Reflect snorts.

"anymore questions you want to ask?" Reflect asks, looking at Cade.

"no, I guess thats all for now, but I'll probably have more later." Cade says.

"of course." Reflect smiles, putting a servo on the table. Cade steps into his servo, before pausing.

"wait, you said, you didn't get a chance to get used to being picked up, whats that mean?" Cade ask.

"oh, after he was assigned to be my guardian, Ironhide would just randomly pick me up anytime he wanted and scare the living hell out of me, for the simple fact he could." Reflect snorts, putting him on the ground. "he's an asshole." he adds.

"seems like it... well, thanks." Cade waves, walking off.

"anytime." Reflect smiles. he picks up his cube, sipping it as Ironhide sits down with him.

"you don't have to answer his questions." Ironhide says.

"I know, but what else am I gonna do? its confusing for everyone. I'll answer any questions I can. besides, he just wanted to know how I ended up knowing you guys." Reflect shrugs a little. "he's got questions that I can answer and I'm going to answer them." Reflect assures.

"I'm just saying, don't feel obligated to answer him." Ironhide says.

"I don't." Reflect assures. he shifts in his seat, rubbing his chest a little. he's got an odd almsot uncomfortable look on his face.

"you okay?" Ironhide ask.

"yeah I'm good." Reflect assures. he gets up. I'm gonna go have a nap though." Reflect mutters. Ironhide nods

"okay. I've gotta leave the base." Ironhide says.

"patrol?" Reflect ask, looking confused.

"no. I got volunteered to go pick a couple soldier sup from the airport." Ironhide says. Reflect nods.

"okay." Reflect says, heading for their shared room. he hums to himself quietly as he walks. he pauses coming across a bot he never really had interaction with as a sparkling.

Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Ironhide had all kept him away from Hot Rod, stating be careful sparkling, Hot Rod is not always the safest bot. he has an explosive temper. Hot Rod was incredible hot headed and rude, much more so than Sunstreaker, which Reflect had never been sure was possible as a human, but had encountered as a sparkling. the mech had stomped on one of the toys Wheeljack had made him, destroying it and making a nasty comment about him being Allsparked. nasty comments were all he'd ever relieved from the other bot and he's not sure why.

but here he is, standing in front of his room looking annoyed at his existence. Hot Rod is deliberately blocking his path to the room. Reflect gathers its intentionally, just by looking at the bots face.

"uh, hi, you're kinda blocking my room." Reflect says.

"your room? look here, its Ironhides room. what did fit in with the humans so you decided to try it as an Autobot? you're not going to fit in here either. moving in, pretending to be a sparkling, winning everyone over, becoming Ironhides bonded, and now you're having some kind of freak sparkling? I think not." Hot Rod frowns. Reflect nods sure what it is coming over him. its a large wave of emotion. "you're not an Autobot you're a freaking human, you don't belong here and you best believe, if we see fit, that sparkling will be an Autobot, if not well toss you both to the Decepticons. you won't be allowed to stay here when we're done with you. we'll keep that fragging hybrid sparkling and throw you out, so don't get comfortable." Hot Rod snaps. Reflect backs away from him quickly, before turning and heading for the medbay.

he can't get into his room and there's no way he can hav this impending breakdown in front of the bot that was making him have it. he doesn't even stop coming into the medbay, rushing past Ratchet, where the medic is having a quiet chat with the inventor, and straight into their room.

Ratchet pauses and watches after Reflect.

"hang on Jack." Ratchet mutters, turning away to go after the mech. he walks into the room and looks around, the lights didn't auto turn on, so Reflect must've shut them off. he frowns, leaning over to flitch the switch to turn the movement sensor back on, but its already up. he'd have to talk to Wheeljack about getting that fixed. "Reflect?" Ratchet asks, headlights coming on so he can see. his optics wash over the room, he firsts notices that the lights in the room are shattered, no doubt having been broken by Reflect. he searches a moment, before his optics land on Reflect. he's curled up under the berth again, more tightly than the last time Ratchet had found him like that. he frowns. he can tell immediately the mech is distraught.

"any idea whats got Reflect so upset?"

"upset? he was happy and laughing when I last saw him. said he was heading to our room for a nap."

"my guess is he never made it. he's curled up in the medbay, just about sobbing."

"I'll come get him."

"no I'll figure it out, keep on, I know you're going to the airport."

Ratchet shuts his lights off, Reflect had obviously wanted to be in the dark. he creeps forward carefully, afraid to upset or startle the mech, like he had previously.

"Reflect?" Ratchet ask, kneeling infront of the mech.

"whats going on?" Wheeljack ask, walking into the doorway. "where's the light?" he ask.

"he didn't want it on." Ratchet mutters.

"is he saying anything to you?"

"just a mess of gibberish I can't figure out while driving, he's blocked his side of the bond. something about Hot Rod and the sparkling or something."

"if Hot Rod is involved, it can't be good. he's still a firm believer that Allsparked sparklings aren't as good as sparked sparklings."

"probably hasn't gotten any better since finding out Reflect is Will and Will was human at one point."

Ratchet frowns a little.

"what did Hot Rod say?" Ratchet ask quietly. Reflect lets out some jumbled hysterical mess that Ratchet can't understand, so he frowns. "I can't understand you. I need you to take a minute and calm yourself, then tell me what he said." Ratchet murmurs softly. its silent and Ratchets about to ask again, but he finally gets an answer.

"he threatened to take the sparkling and throw it to Decepticons.

the quiet com from the mech in front of him has his energon broiling immediately. Ratchet stands immediately, fury in his optics, turning and shoving Wheeljack out of his way.

"Ratch?" Wheeljack ask.

"that fraggers gonna lose his head!" Ratchet snaps, storming past him. Wheeljack looks confused. "stay with Reflect." Ratchet growls. Wheeljack looks confused, but hesitantly steps into the room. he's not sure what to do. Ratchet had given him a good reaming, lecturing him on what an ass he'd been and that he better make it up to Reflect if he wanted a chance at ever making their relationship better. basically threatening to cut Wheeljack off and block his side of the bond if he couldn't fix things with Reflect.

"Reflect, are you alright?" Wheeljack ask. Reflect curls up more, but doesn't answer him. "is there something I can do?" Wheeljack asks.

"no, leave me alone." Reflect mutters. Wheeljack walks over and crouches down infront of the mech.