they arrive back right outside the base. Reflect immediately heads inside, cuddling his sparklings gently. Remix whines quietly.

"I know little one its hot outside, I'm taking you inside. I promise. that garage was hot too, hmm?" Reflect murmurs softly, heading into the base. he almost runs right into Ironhide. "oh, hey." Reflect smiles, sheepishly. Ironhide frowns at him.

"and just where was it you took our sparklings?" Ironhide ask.

"I left you a note." Reflect says.

"I saw that." Ironhide frowns. Reflect watches him a moment.

"are you really mad?" Reflect asks. Ironhide snorts and shakes his head.

"no. I'm not, I'm just teasing. you looked like you just saw a Decepticon when you saw me." Ironhide snorts, reaching for the twins. Reflect huffs at him and lets him take the sparklings.

"you're so mean to me." Reflect mutters.

"not really." Ironhide chuckles. "how'd they do?" Ironhide ask as they head back into the base.

"pretty good, though Remix spit up again." Reflect frowns. Ironhide nods.

"might need to do with him like we did with you. mixing just a bit of medical energon with it. it should help him keep it down." Ironhide says.

"I'll take him down to the medbay and talk with Ratchet about it." Reflect says, reaching for their son. Ironhide passes him back over immediately.

"sounds good. I'm taking her to the rec room." Ironhide says. Reflect nods.

"she probably needs a cube. don't let her get overwhelmed!" Reflect calls. Ironhide nods a little.

"alright." he murmurs.

Reflect heads down to the medbay happily.

"you in the medbay?"

"yeah, whats up?"

"just gotta stop in with Remix, got a few questions I'm hoping you can help with."

"sure thing kid. be careful when you come in, I'm working on Jack again."

"alright."

Reflect hums to himself, walking into the medbay. Wheeljack and Ratchet both look up. the inventors arm is laying on the berth next to him, Ratchet working on reattaching it.

"hey kid-" Wheeljack starts shifting. Reflect shoots him a dirty glare immediately, making the inventor pause.

"I swear to Primus, if you wave your detached arm in my sparklings face the same why you did to me, I will beat you with it." Reflect warns. Wheeljack gives a sheepish chuckle.

"sorry..." he trails.Ratchet chuckles softly to himself.

"whats up kid?" Ratchet ask.

"Remix is turning into another me. he spit up and just about covered Noahs little brother in it." Reflect frowns. Ratchet frowns a little.

"just hang out here for a few minutes. let me get his arm back on and I'll take a look at him." Ratchet assures. Reflect nods and sits down, cuddling Remix. Remix chirps happily, cuddling Reflect. he plays happily with his carriers armor, giggling. other than the sounds of Ratchets tools and Remix's giggling its quiet for a few minutes. Reflect squirming in his nerves.

"is that, normal?" Reflect asks.

"the spitting up?" Ratchet asks.

"yeah." Reflect murmurs. Ratchet immediately nods.

"definitely, you used to do it. though come to think of it its probably because you'd been human at one point." Ratchet shrugs. Reflect nods slightly.

"oh yeah, just as common in sparkling as it is in human babies. there's nothing wrong, he just handles energon a little different." Wheeljack explains. Reflect nods a little. "don't worry Reflect, there's nothing you're doing wrong here." Wheeljack assures. Reflect nods a little.

"right. thanks." Reflect frowns. he smiles down at Remix gently. Remix chirps happily, reaching up and patting his face happily. Reflect smiles at him. "hey kiddo." Reflect murmurs.

"alright Jack, try not to blow it off again." Ratchet frowns, stepping back. he turns and heads over to Reflect and Remix. "alright buddy, come here. lets run a quick scan." Ratchet murmurs, swooping up the sparkling gently. Remix whimpers. "I know kid. seems like all we ever do on you two is tests." Ratchet sighs softly. "all three of you actually. you, your sister, and your creator." Ratchet murmurs. Reflect smiles a little.

"yeah but for me it was kinda my fault. running head first into everything, thinking I owned the base. I had no " Reflect snorts. Ratchet chuckles.

"didn't hurt that me, Wheeljack, and Ironhide all backed you on that stuff." Ratchet snorts. Reflect chuckles softly, watching Ratchet with his sparkling carefully. the medic feels his optics on him, no matter where he walks. Ratchet doesn't mind though. he knows Reflect trusts him, he's just worried about his sparkling. "don't panic so hard Reflect, its alright. I'm just checking for a virus okay? if he's good, then we just have to add a little medical grade to his cubes, like we used to do with you." Ratchet assures.

"don't worry about it Reflect." Wheeljack soothes, walking over to sit on the berth with him. Reflect looks over at him. Wheeljack shoots him a reassuring smile. "its okay." Wheeljack assures. Reflect nods a little.

"he's okay. just a sensitive tank. it happens. he'll grow out of it by the time he starts walking, hopefully, like you did." Ratchet assures, bringing him back over to Reflect. Reflect physically relaxes.

"good." Reflect smiles.

"we'll get you guys a special batch made up for Remix, but it won't hurt for Echo to drink it. it's just a little medical grade." Ratchet assures gently. Reflect nods a little.

"thanks." Reflect murmurs.

"of course, gotta make sure these squirts are taken care of." Ratchet smiles, patting Remix's head, before passing him back to Reflect. Remix giggles and curls up in Reflect arm, purring happily. Ratchet smiles at them. "three Earth weeks old, they'll be crawling here in the next three or four weeks." Ratchet murmurs. Reflect immediately glares at him.

"shut your damn mouth plates or I will weld them shut. do not talk about my tiny little sparklings growing up." Reflect glares. Ratchet chuckles and steps back.

"okay. okay I'm sorry kid." Ratchet apologizes quickly.

"you better be." Reflect mutters.

"go ahead and leave kiddo, we'll have to mix up some medical and sparkling grade for him. okay? I'll bring some to you in a bit." Wheeljack says.

"alright... thanks again guys. I appreciate it." Reflect murmurs as he gets up off the berth. "thanks... I'm gonna go back to Ironhide and Echo." Reflect says. Ratchet nods.

"be safe kid and be careful, alright?" Ratchet ask.

"thanks Ratchet." Reflect smiles, heading out of the medbay. Remix giggles and chirps happily, cuddling him. his little engine purrs happily as he nuzzles up under Reflects chin. "oh I know sweet baby boy. carrier doesn't often get to just spend time with you, right? I spend a lot of time worried about your twin, yeah? I spend so much time with Echo, worried about her, I don't spend a lot with you, I'm sorry." Reflect murmurs. Remix chirps and nuzzles into his armor, happily. Reflect smiles at him. he pulls the little sparkling away from his armor and lifts him up, holding him up above his head and tilting the little sparkling down so they're face to face. he nuzzles his nose against the sparklings, chucking when Remix squeals and giggles.

"you sure adjust to having sparklings quickly." Jazz says, watching him. he looks almost sad. Reflect tucks Remix against his chest gently, shooting Jazz a small smile. he tursts Jazz, but he isn't sure how the mech will react to his sparklings. he'd hidden himself for hours after Reflect sparked.

"yeah well... Annie wasn't far out of this age range when she died... I feel like I have to make it up to them for how I failed her." Reflect says softly. Jazz frowns, putting a servo on Reflects shoulder gently, shaking his head.

"you don't have to make it up to them. they're happy, you're doing a good job Reflect. don't worry about that, alright?" Jazz ask. Reflect half smiles.

"you wanna hold him?" Reflect ask. Jazz shakes his head a little.

"m'little busy but thanks for the offer. I won't take him away from you." Jazz smiles. Reflect smiles at him.

"thanks Jazz. it really means a lot." Reflect murmurs. Jazz nods and keeps on down the hallway. Reflect smiles and hugs his sparkling gently. "thats okay, right baby?" Reflect asks. he gently tosses the little sparkling up into the air gently. Remix squeals, giggling happily. he claps happily, babbling and squealing. "yeah? you like that? we can do it again." Reflect smiles, tossing him up gently. Remix bursts into giggles again. Reflects servos barely leave the sparkling and for no more than a split second. just enough the sparkling gets a brief bit of air, unlike what Sideswipe used to do with him.

"well now, if that ain't just one of the most gorgeous sights I've ever seen."

Reflect snaps his head up, faceplates lighting up immediately, lowering Remix. Ironhide leans against the door way of their room, smirking at him. Echo is cuddles into his arm, sucking down a cube.

"Hide don't fraggin' scare me like that, I could've dropped him!" Reflect huffs, hugging Remix to his chest. he's clearly embarrassed. Ironhide chuckles softly.

"sorry Reflect." Ironhide murmurs. he walks into their room, Reflect following him. "why are you looking at me like that?" Ironhide asks, looking confused.

"I'm really proud of you." Reflect says. Ironhide looks at him confused as the door shuts behind them.

"proud of me?" Ironhide ask. Reflect smiles at him a little.

"you... you haven't called me Will since the twins were sparked and well... you usually kinda seem to have to force my name out, but you just said it without stuttering or stumbling or even stalling just slightly. you said it like its been my name since we met." Reflect smiles at him. Ironhide smiles at him a little.

"I've been working on it. you're not Will anymore... Will died. you're still my bondmate and you have all Wills memories, but... Will is dead. its time to move on. Will is dead, but I still have Reflect. why do you think my entire shrine dedicated to Will, just vanished. I put it all up in storage, well except for a couple of old pictures of Will and Annie or us three together and your flag from the shadow box. Epps is working on getting a new box for that by the way." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect walks up to him, pulls him down gently into a kiss. he smiles at Ironhide.

"you... you really just separated me and Will. I'm so proud of you. it took me a while to get used to it, so I knew it would take everyone else a while, but like the whole base seems to finally be coming around. it feels pretty great." Reflect smiles. Ironhide chuckles softly, kissing his head. "you and Ratchet have officially separated Reflect from Will." Reflect murmurs. Ironhide smiles.

"I think Wheeljack has, or is at least trying and I know Sam has." Ironhide murmurs.

"yeah?" Reflect asks. Ironhide nods.

"he mentioned that he does like Reflect, but he misses Will sometimes." Ironhide says. Reflect nods a little.

"there is a big difference between us... I mean Will was a human soldier with an exwife and a kid. Reflect is a carrier and is not a soldier." Reflect snorts.

"I wouldn't want you out there, but you do make a great back up if we need you and you aren't afraid to fight if a fight finds you." Ironhide says. Reflect nods, smiling. Echo chirps pushing her empty cube away. Ironhide looks back down, pulling the cube away. "sorry little one." Ironhide murmurs, putting the empty cube down. "has Reflect had a cube yet?" Ironhide ask.

"they're working on a batch with medical grade in it for him. it'll be done in a bit." Reflect assures. Remix chirps happily. "I see she's got her optics on again. hey cutie." Reflect smiles, rubbing her cheek. Echo watches the soundwaves go over her head before looking towards Reflect. "hi." Reflect smiles. Echo chirps happily, reaching towards him. Reflect chuckles and takes her gently. "sorry Hide, guess you lost." Reflect teases.

"to you? I'd lose any day." Ironhide smiles. "unless its a battle, then I'd have to kick your ass." Ironhide shrugs.

"well, that was cute all of two seconds." Reflect snorts, cuddling the sparklings gently. Ironhide laughs.

"you know I don't do cute." Ironhide snorts.

"really? because I remember that time with Annie. where you killed the spider for her? you were super cute with the tiara." Reflect smirks. Ironhide's smirk drops and he glares at Reflect.

"bastard." Ironhide mutters. Reflect chuckles softly, cuddling up to his chest. Ironhide wraps his arms around him gently.

"I had to. I will forever remember 'king papa Hide'." Reflect murmurs. Ironhide's smile turns somber and he hugs Reflect tighter.

"I wore that shirt Annie drew for days." Ironhide murmurs. he'd made a dark blue shirt with King papa Hide in white letters for his holoform and wore it almost two weeks, it had taken forever to make the shirt on his holoprojector, but his holoform wore it proudly, because Annie had drawn a picture of the holoform wearing the shirt. "think I still have her drawing somewhere. probably packed away in all of Wills stuff." Ironhide murmurs.

"you didn't have to pack all that stuff up, Hide. it means a lot to you. you don't have to hide it away." Reflect murmurs.

"I know." Ironhide smiles slightly. "I mostly put it away because I knew we'd have sparklings, well we thought it was one sparkling but that doesn't matter. I knew there would be at least one sparkling running around. I didn't want that stuff broken." Ironhide assures. "I'll put it back up when the sparklings get a little older." Ironhide adds.

"alright." Reflect smiles. Ironhide takes Remix gently, cuddling the little mechling. Remix purrs quietly, nuzzling his creator gently. Ironhide rubs his cheek gently.

"she seems to be adjusting slightly." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect looks down at the little femme teething on his armor.

"she does, we should've started out small to begin with." Reflect murmurs. Ironhide nods a little.

"you never told me how this morning went." Ironhide says. Reflect shrugs a little.

"I met Noahs little brother and he adored the twins. so did Mirage, he hasn't really gotten to meet them before so it was enjoyable. Echo kept her optics off the whole time." Reflect shrugs. Ironhide smiles.

"hey kid, the batch of energon for Remix. I suppose he's probably hungry."

"oh, thanks! hang on I'll be right there."

"sounds good."

"hey here, take her. Wheeljack said the energon for Remix is done." Reflect says. Ironhide nods and takes the sparklings.

"most bots are out today, its a hot day. most of them are at the beach with humans, so we'll be in the rec room." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect nods, heading out of the room.

"just don't let her get too overstimulated." Reflect warns.

"alright." Ironhide assures. he shakes his head. how many times a day would Reflect remind him? he knows his bondmate his worried, but he knows hot to take care of their sparklings.

Ironhide carries the sparklings gently to the rec room, sitting down with them. he gently puts the sparklings on the floor, knowing Reflect would beat him later for letting them lay on the dirty floor, but not caring. Echo immediately rolls over chirping happily, playing with her feet happily. Remix chirps happily patting at the floor.

"don't you dare start crawling. your carrier would have my head." Ironhide warns. he hears a snort from beside him and looks over. Optimus is watching him amused, before sitting down beside him. "what are you laughing about?" Ironhide frowns.

"the image of Reflect kicking your after because Remix started crawling." Optimus chuckles. Echo looks over at the Prime, squealing. "well, hello to you too Echo." Optimus chuckles. Echo chirps, watching the soundwaves. "what is she doing?" Optimus ask.

"Wheeljack upgraded her optics. she's watching your vocal soundwaves. Wheeljack highlighted and colored the soundwaves for each individual bot on the base." Ironhide explains. Optimus nods and smiles a little.

"its meant for her to help figure out where voices are from, right?" Optimus ask.

"yes and who they belong to." Ironhide says. "he colored them so she could tell the difference." Ironhide says. Optimus nods watching the sparklings with a smile. "every voice has its own color." Ironhide adds. Echo squeals happily watching her creators soundwaves. Ironhide chuckles.

"she seems to like it." Optimus murmurs.

"she's getting used to it." Ironhide assures. Remix screams rolling over off his stomach. "you just have to wait kid, your carrier will be back soon." Ironhide assures gently, watching the little sparkling.

"whats wrong with Remix?" Optimus ask, watching Ironhide scoop up his sparkling.

"he needs a cube. he's having the same issues Reflect did. Ratchet and Wheeljack made a sparkling medical grade. Reflect went to get it from the medbay." Ironhide explains. Echo rolls back over happily. "hey don't you dare little lady." Ironhide warns, nudging the sparklings with his foot gently. "you can't start trying to crawl yet." Ironhide frowns.

"why?" Optimus frowns.

"because Reflect would absolutely lose it, you know he would." Ironhide frowns. Optimus snorts and leans down scooping up the little femme. Echo chrips in surprise, before letting out a wail. Ironhide glares at him down. "you need to warn her next time!" Ironhide snaps, growling at his Prime.

"I'm sorry Echo. I did not intend to startle you." Optimus murmurs softly. Echo whines softly, curling up with a whimper.

"be nice to my sparkling." Ironhide warns. Remix screams as loud as he can.

"hang on Remix I promise you I'm getting it." Reflect assures walking over. he hands Ironhide a cube, before smacking Optimus hard in the back of his head. "don't scare my sparkling." Reflect growls.

"apologies. I promise I did not mean to." Optimus assures. Reflect glares.

"come here." Reflect murmurs, taking the sparkling gently. Echo whimpers, cuddling up to her carrier. "I know he grabbed you." Reflect soothes, carrying his daughter off.

"I told you to be gentle with her." Ironhide growls softly.

"I meant her no harm. I didn't mean to startle her." Optimus assures. Ironhide huffs feeding his son gently. Remix purrs quietly, sucking his cube down, and holding tightly to his creators fingers. Ironhide shifts leaning back some. he casually glances around the room, more out of habit than interest. he glances down at Remix when the sparkling jerks, squeaking, and turning his head away.

"take it easy squirt. I won't let you drown." Ironhide snorts, sitting the sparkling up gently. the little mechling jerks again, squeaking slightly louder now that the cube has been moved.

"hiccups are always fun with sparklings." Optimus chuckles softly.

"only when they're not your sparkling. I remember Bumblebee getting the hiccups for the first time. he got so angry and frustrated that he purged all over your desk, datapads, lap, and office. it was funny then because he wasn't my sparkling and I didn't have to clean it up. if Remix starts purging, I'll have to answer to Reflect as to why I let his sparkling choke." Ironhide frowns. Optimus snorts.

"I believe, Ironhide, what you have become is what the humans refer to as, whipped." Optimus chuckles softly. Ironhide scoffs and rolls his optics.

"alright tough guy, do you want to take on Reflect? I'll gladly take the title of being whipped if it means he's not literally beating my ass." Ironhide huffs. "after all, Hot Rods never going to recover." he adds.

"that is true. you two didn't have to go so hard on him." Optimus frowns.

"be happy it just him and not Crosshairs too." Ironhide huffs.

"I would rather have one soldier out than two. speaking of, have you talked to Reflect about active duty other than Primely duties?" Optimus ask, curious.

"he says he's retired, basically. Will was a soldier, Reflect is a carrier with two sparklings and a bondmate. he'll fight if and when he has to, but he won't volunteer for patrol or anything like that. leave him alone Prime. you can't expect him to go on like he is Will. Will is dead. Reflect just wants to do the one thing that Will never got to do." Ironhide frowns.

"and whats that?" Optimus ask, curiously.

"he just wants to see his sparklings grow up." Ironhide murmurs, squeezing Remix gently. Optimus frowns a little, thinking.

"I see." Optimus murmurs. "very well then. I will not bring up the subject to him." Optimus assures.

"thank you." Ironhide mutters. "he would chew you out if you did anyway, so just save everyone the processor ache and accept my answer." Ironhide says. Optimus nods in agreement. Ironhide gets up off the couch, cuddling his son. "come on kid. lets go back to your carrier." Ironhide murmurs. Remix giggles, cuddling against Ironhide, little engine purring. "you're always so happy." Ironhide chuckles softly. Remix squeals patting at his faceplates, and babbling.

he walks into his and Reflects room, smiling. Reflects laying on their berth, Echo laying on his chest. the little sparkling in laying on her stomach on Reflects chest, little engine purring happily. Echo is in recharge, but Reflect simply has his optics off. his arms are behind his head. he's relaxed, but he does tilt his head slightly in Ironhides direction to show he's heard the mech come in.

"hey baby. what are you doing?" Reflect ask.

"just coming to give him back to you. it's getting a little late." Ironhide murmurs softly.

"you have patrol." Reflect sighs. Ironhide nods a little.

"yeah. I'm sorry." Ironhide sighs.

"don't worry about it Hide. I know you have a job to do and I know the life of a soldier. go do your patrol I'll keep the sparklings good." Reflect murmurs.

"I feel bad leaving you with them." Ironhide frowns. Reflect scoots Echo over and reaches for Remix.

"don't feel bad. I feel bad you don't get as much time with them as I do." Reflect murmurs, looking up at his bonded. Ironhide frowns, laying Remix down on Reflects chest gently. Reflect shifts the sparklings together gently.

"I don't get to spend enough time with any of you." Ironhide sighs. Reflect shoots him a somber smile.

"guess I really kind of wasted all the time we got while I was carrying, sorry." Reflect says, softly.

"wasted?" Ironhide ask, confused. "it wasn't wasted. you were miserable, carrying our sparklings. I still wish I could've done more to help you. I have to go... can't be late. there's a storm coming tonight. be careful." Ironhide murmurs.

"I will, you two Hide." Reflect sighs. "oh hey Mirage is bringing Noah by tomorrow. so if I'm not here when you get off, don't panic. the twins will either be with me or locked in here. you'll know if they're here, I'll leave their door open." Reflect murmurs. Ironhide nods a little, heading out of the room.

Reflect sighs and lays on their berth with the twin.

"I wonder if this is how Sarah always felt. alone on the far with our newborn while I was out 'playing soldier', as she always called it." Reflect frowns, hugging the twins gently. "now, here I am. laying on a berth with my newly sparked twins, while Ironhide has to go out and be a soldier." Reflect murmurs softly. he sighs and stares up at the ceiling.

"Reflection, sir."

"ugh, Jazz. please don't call me sir. do you need something?"

"Optimus is helping Yeager deal with the Dino's, I need you in OPs office."

"why?"

"no one told Tessa that Mirage got reassigned."

"I'll be right there."

Reflect gets up slowly, carefully shifting the sparklings into one arm. he heads down towards Optimus' office. Remix whines quietly and Reflect shifts him gently, shushing the little sparkling.

"shhh little one, I know. I know. you're sleepy and you can't sleep if we're moving around." Reflect murmurs softly. Remix screams, making Echo cry. "I know guys I know." Reflect sighs. he shifts Echo into the crook of his arm cuddling her gently. he shifts Remix into his other arm, shifting the plating on his chest so the sparkling can chew on it. Remix goes quiet, teething happily, little engine purring quietly. "see? its alright you two." Reflect murmurs, gently rubbing Echos cheek with his other servo.

"open the door Jazz. I can't."

"sure thing."

Jazz opens the door, as asked, and lets Reflect in.

"yo Reef, y'gotcha servos full there." Jazz snorts. Reflect glares at him.

"I'd love to pass them off to the only other person on the base that can fucking calm them down, but Ironhide is on patrol!" Reflect snaps. Echo whimpers, clinging to her carrier. Remix immediately starts screaming again.