Reflect was miserable. the sparkling had dropped three days ago and the entire base was feeling Reflects rage. he was grumpy, moody, and snippy. he was not having a very good time. the sparkling dropping made his back ache, which gave him a headache, which overall just pissed him off. he was not having a good time and neither was anyone else on the base.

Reflect moans quietly, laying on his and Ironhides berth. the bigger mech glances over at him, watching the mech rub at his distended abdominal plating. he rolls over and groans, curling up.

"you alright baby?" Ironhide ask, walking over.

"do I fucking sound alright?" Reflect snaps, growling, rubbing stomach. Ironhide frowns a little, walking over to the mech.

"shhhhh. its alright. I know you're grumpy. you're in pain, come on, you have an appointment with Ratchet." Ironhide murmurs. he pulls the mech up, but Reflect doesn't make it easy. "come on please. don't make this harder than it has to be Reflect." Ironhide murmurs. "get you a cube and go to Ratchet." Ironhide murmurs, kissing his head gently. Reflect smacks him, grumbling.

"get your fraggin' servos off me. this is all your fault!" Reflect growls, shoving him away.

"yeah I know it is." Ironhide murmurs, sighing. Reflect storms out of their room and into the Rec Room.

"Reflect!" Sam shouts, running over to him. Bumblebee follows after smiling.

"what do you want?" Reflect growls.

"just to check on you. you okay? I haven't been able to get here in a few days. I'm just checking on you and the sparkling, you guys good?" Sam smiles.

"fuck off." Reflect growls, turning away from him. the moment he turns a servo lands on the bump in his plating.

"y'know I never really understood sparklings dropping." Hot Rod smirks. Reflect immediately grabs hold of his wrist, crushing it, before yanking the mech to his face.

"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!? DID I TELL YOU YOU COULD TOUCH ME! DID I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO TOUCH MY SPARKLING!? DID YOU HELP CREATE THIS SPARKLING!? NO! YOU DIDN'T!! NOT YOUR SPARKLING, THEN DON'T TOUCH!" Reflect growls, head butting him hard. "you fucking dare touch me again I'll kill you!" Reflect growls, shoving him to the floor.

"hey! hey! hey!" Ironhide shouts, running over quickly. "you okay?" he asks, looking Reflect over.

"fucking fit as a god damn fiddle! this motherfucker grabbed me!" Reflect snaps, glaring at Hot Rod. the bigger mech watches him a moment, looking between Hot Rod and his bonded. Reflect shifts a little, rubbing a servo over the sparkling gently. Ironhide nods.

"I see that, come on, get you a cube and get away from him before he tries to do it again and you end up hurt." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect huffs and grabs a cube before storming out.

"bye Reflect! hope your day gets better!" Sam chuckles, waving after him.

"suck a cable." Reflect grumbles. he storms down towards the medbay.

"watch out Ratchet, he's on his way to you and he's beyond pissed, Hot Rod grabbed him."

"we'll manage just fine, thanks for the warning."

Reflect shoves open the medbay doors, glancing around.

"hey kid." Ratchet smiles, walking out of his office. Reflect shoots him a dirty look.

"what the fuck do you want?" Reflect glares. Ratchet watches him a moment, surprised. he'd been expecting anger, not rage.

"you weren't kidding."

"nope. let me know if you need help Ratchet."

"come on over here, gotta reupload that line of code I gave you for the glitches. now that the sparklings dropped if we don't get it uploaded, you'll be back to purging." Ratchet frowns.

"then just fucking do it." Reflect scolds, climbing up onto a berth. Ratchet watches him.

Wheeljack you better come deal with your sparkling before I knock him out so I don't have to listen to him bitch at me.

on my way Ratchet!

"you're sure in a cheerful mood." Ratchet grumbles,

"yeah well, Hot Rod decided to fucking touch me. turned around and he was behind me." Reflect grumbles.

"I get that but you have to calm down. ht emore angry and hostile you are, the grumpier your sparkling will be." Ratchet snorts. Reflect glares at him.

"where is my poor grumpy sparkling?" Wheeljack grins walking in.

"right here about to slag you with whatever tool I can get my servo on first!" Reflect growls. Wheeljack steps back a moment.

"alright, little more hostile than I anticipated, but thats okay." Wheeljack smiles. he walks closer to the mech. "so tell me whats go you angry." Wheeljack says softly.

"everything." Reflect growls.

"lets get a little more specific Reflect." Wheeljack snorts.

"fucking Hot Rod! I was talking to Sam and I turned around and the bastard was just standing there waiting! tried to feel the damn sparkling!" Reflect growls. Ratchet gently pats his thigh when the mech jumps up.

"okay, sit back down." Ratchet murmurs gently. Reflect plops back down, looking pissed. Wheeljack nods.

"that stupid slagger. if its not your sparkling don't touch." Wheeljack huffs.

"oh yeah I remember those days." Ratchet snorts. he meets Wheeljacks gaze, chuckling. the mechs head fins flash quickly with embarrassment. "I was the only one allowed to even look in Wheeljacks direction, well, 'cept Ironhide and Orion. hell when I was stuck in class or the medbay, one of them would carry Wheeljack to me so he wouldn't have to walk anywhere." Ratchet snorts.

"if its not your fucking sparkling don't fucking touch me." Reflect growls.

"don't you have a meeting with Mearing, Prime, Epps, and Galloway?" Wheeljack frowns.

"and Keller. they've all been made aware of my condition, though as far as they're concerned its a virus, not a sparkling. Optimus is hesitant to tell them and I don't blame him." Reflect grumbles. "but Ironhide wants me to tell Optimus to put it off for a few days since I'm pissed off today." Reflect growls.

"I would agree with Ironhide, not because you're pissed off, but because you're stressed. I know its stressful to have Hot Rod and Crosshairs running around again, plus you're showing some now. the sparklings spark has moved into its shell. I know thats stressful, I think it'd be better if you just waited a few days. the sparkling just dropped. its a hard and stressful time." Ratchet murmurs gently.

"I'd be less angry if it wasn't so hard to get around." Reflect snaps.

"use your holoform." Wheeljack says.

"hmm?" Reflect ask.

"your holoform. use it instead. you can set it to low settings where you can still touch and be touched, but low settings will draw less energy, but be more comfortable. easier to get around." Wheeljack assures.

"I might try it." Reflect huffs. Ratchet stands.

"alright you're all good. the code is uploaded. give it a little while to kick in." Ratchet murmurs.

"why? its not gonna do anything this time." Reflect grumbles.

"it won't help with the pain or anything, but it'll help you regulate yourself. it'll be alright." Wheeljack assures gently. Reflect grumbles, getting up and storming out annoyed.

Reflect winces, slipping a servo under his bump, grumbling.

"hey, you alright?" Sideswipe ask.

"I'm in pain." Reflect glares. Sideswipe nods at him.

"I know." he murmurs. "Sunny took care of Hot Rod, he won't grab you two again for a while." Sideswipe assures. Reflect looks confused.

"he... he didn't have to do that." Reflect murmurs.

"we know, but he could've hurt you guys." Sideswipe murmurs, motioning to Reflects servo, still holding up the bump the best he can with his armor.

"if you have to you can touch." Reflect grumbles.

"nah, no thanks. I don't wanna piss you off, but I appreciate the offer." Sideswipe murmurs gently. Reflect smiles at him a little.

"if I offer, its not going to piss me off. just ask first. I'm not an object to be touched like the Allspark." Reflect murmurs. Sideswipe smiles and gently pokes at the bump.

"y'know, you are an active Prime, Reflect, you could just order him to stand down." Sideswipe murmurs.

"I never thought of that before, I forget I'm a Prime." Reflect murmurs.

"it'd be easier to remember if you'd go by Reflection Prime, instead of just Reflect." Sideswipe murmurs gently. Reflect had been given his name the very night he'd accepted Optimus' offer.

"I will, if Optimus offlines." Reflect assures.

"Reflection doesn't have much thought put into it." Sideswipe frowns, thinking.

"well, it was that or Midguardian Prime, Ironhide didn't really like it." Reflect shrugs.

"Wall, don't go by what Ironhide likes, pick what you like." Sideswipe says gently. he smiles at the mech and continues on his way. "oh, thanks for letting me touch." he grins, walking off. Reflect smiles a little at him, walking off.

you feel happy.

Sideswipe and I talked. he ask before touching. I don't mind that.

as long as you're happy.

where are you?

our room, why?

I want cuddles.

Reflect hums to himself, bouncing down the hallway.

"you're in a better mood."Jazz murmurs.

"I am. Ratchets program must've kicked in." Reflect murmurs, walking past him towards his and Ironhides room.

Ironhides laying on their berth when he comes in.

"hey baby." Ironhide murmurs. he moves over and pats the berth. Reflect climbs up, cuddling up to him. Reflect squirms, then leans over to kiss him, letting Ironhide lay his servo over the bump.

"touch if you have to." Reflect mumbles.

"I'll touch if I want. thats my sparkling." Ironhide murmurs.

"this is stupid. I'm fat. I don't like this." Reflect grumbles. Ironhide smiles and kisses his head.

"you're not fat, you're carrying." Ironhide murmurs. "thats our sparkling. you'll go back to normal once its sparked." Ironhide assures gently, gently caressing the bump. Reflect groans quietly. "I know you're hurting, I'm sorry." Ironhide sighs softly.

"everything fucking hurts all the time and I'm always angry and annoyed." Reflect mumbles. "can't even recharge properly anymore and I'm so tired. Hide, I'm so tired." Reflect whines softly.

"I know you are Will." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect groaned, shifting.

"oh, fuck." Reflect yelps.

"Will?" Ironhide ask, sitting up.

"uh, somethings, not right." he manages after a moment. his pain floods Ironhides side of the bond.

"Ratchet somethings wrong with Reflect and the sparkling!"

"where are you?"

"our room, come quickly."

"Jack and I are on our way. tell him not to move."

"don't move. Ratchet asys don't move." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect whines lowly. "I know just lay on your back and don't move. just don't move." Ironhide says softly.

"easier said than done!" Reflect snaps.

"I know. I know." he murmurs. Ratchet and Wheeljack run in and immediately over Reflect.

"what happened?" Ratchet frowns.

"I-I just tried to move a little." Reflect winces.

"he moves and pain shoots up his side." Ironhide frowns.

"hang tight kid, just sit still." Ratchet assures gently. "how long has he been leaking energon up like this?" Ratchet frowns.

"I wasn't a few minutes ago." Reflect winces.

"alright come on, get him up, lets get him to the medbay, quickly, he's leaking pretty good." Ratchet mutters. Ironhide scoops the slightly smaller up and carries him off quickly.

the moment he lays Reflect down, Wheeljack shoves him out of the medbay onto his aft. Ironhide waits silently, he doesn't argue. he doesn't want to get in the way.

they work on Reflect for two hours before letting Ironhide back in.

"what happened?" he demands immediately.

"his armor pinched the sensitive part of his protoform. he'd probably had that leave for days, but when it pinched, it tore the area. caused it to leak out onto your berth, probably saved both their lives." Ratchet frowns.

"so they're both okay then?" Ironhide ask. Ratchet nods.

"yes they're both fine. Jack and I fixed the internal leaking, drained the fluid, and patched his protoform, they'll be fine." Ratchet assures gently. Ironhide nods looking at Reflect. the mech winces, rubbing his head, grumbling.

"my head hurts." Reflect mumbles.

"well, we pumped you full of medical grade, it'll go away." Ratchet assures.

"you guys will be fine." Wheeljack assures, helping him up. Reflect winces and holds the side they just repaired.

"easy on that. it'll be sensitive for a while." Ratchet murmurs softly.

"thanks." Reflect sighs. he looks at Ironhide.

"you alright?" he ask.

"you heard'em, we'll be fine." Reflect mutters. Ironhide nods once.

"come on, Sam has something for you apparently, Bumblebee just commed me." Ironhide says.

"okay." Reflect says, leaning against him. Ironhide easily supports his weight, helping him out of the medbay. "any idea what it is?" Reflect ask.

"not a clue." Ironhide shrugs. he helps Reflect out to the rec room and sits him down as Sam comes running over.

"hey! Reflect! I got something for you! I ordered it a few days ago, didn't take as long to get it as I thought it would." Sam says, holding up a large box. Reflect looks down at him.

"huh?" Reflect ask. Sam holds the box up to him.

"here!" Sam grins. "I made Bee try it first to make sure I got it right, so the box is already opened." Sam snorts.

"wow things are a long smaller now." Reflect mutters, carefully taking the box from Sam. Ironhide snorts.

"well, you gained 34 foot." Ironhide snorts. Reflect opens the box. there's a large piece of black fabric in the box. Reflect raises an optic ridge at Sam, who grins at him. Reflect carefully pulls it out of the box.

"its a shirt." Reflect says, sounding confused.

"its inside out, put it on." Sam grins. Reflect gives a hesitant look to Ironhide, who shrugs.

"just a shirt." he murmurs. Reflect nods and pulls it on so it'll turn right side out. there in bright rainbow letters on the front declaring :

IF ITS NOT YOUR FRAGGING SPARKLING, DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!

Reflect immediately bursts into laughter, getting up from his seat.

"oh shit, Sam this is hilarious." Reflect snorts.

"you've been saying it a lot lately. I was worried it wouldn't fit, but when it was baggy on Bee, I figured it'd be a little baggy on you too." Sam chuckles. Ironhide snorts, reading the shirt.

"its cute kid." Ironhide snorts.

"thanks figured it might give you a laugh." Sam grins. he pauses looking down when his phone goes off. "excuse me, sorry." he says, walking away. Reflect watches him carefully.

"somethings not right." Reflect murmurs. Ironhide watches him.

"what do you mean?" Ironhide ask.

"his heart rate jumped along with his blood pressure." Reflect frowns. Ironhide looks confused, before looking over at Sam, he scans the man. Sam turns and glares at them both. "its Mikaela." Reflect frowns.

"what does that bitch want?" Ironhide growls, looking over.

"don't know but I can hear her whiny voice." Reflect grumbles.

"you can't just come to the base 'Kaela." Sam frowns. "look I don't care if you are friends with her, you have to have permission to come to the base." Sam says. "don't hang- ugh!" Sam growls.

"she's coming to the base?" Reflect frowns.

"apparently she goes to college with Tessa and things she has the right to just show up anytime!" Sam growls.

"Tessa? Tessa Yeager? Cades daughter?" Reflect ask.

"yes they're about to head this way." Sam hisses.

"don't worry Sam, Mikaela won't make it on base without Primes permission." Ironhide said. "both Primes permissions." Ironhide add, looking over at Reflect.

"you know I'd never say yes to allow her on base. not after she did what she did." Reflect assures. "I'll go talk to Optimus and I'll let the front gates know Tessa is permitted but Mikaela is not." Reflect assures, heading quickly for Optimus' office.

he knocks and enters the office, quickly.

"Optimus." Reflect says. Optimus looks up from his datapad.

"Reflect? please lower your voice, Cade is in here sleeping." Optimus frowns, motining to the man sleeping on a small human couch off to the side. there's an ice pack and bandages on his knee.

"what happened?" Reflect frowns.

"he was playing with a new invention, Mudflaps accidentally hit him, bruised his knee pretty good, its a little bloody too. he's sleeping off the pain killers Ratchet gave him. lucky I was out there watching. I didn't think his 'hover skateboard' was safe, but Tessa has been getting to classes late do to the length of the walk between each class." Optimus frowns. Reflect nods.

"right well, I'm glad he's not dead." Reflect murmurs.

"me too... um, nice... shirt...?" Optimus says, looking confused. Reflect looks down.

"right, forgot I had this one, Sam gave it to me. its not important." Reflect says, walking into the office fully.

"what seems to be the matter?" Optimus ask.

"Tessa is coming to the base, Mikaela is trying to come with her. just want to make sure I have you're okay to block her from the base. she called Sam to gloat, he's extremely distressed right now." Reflect frowns. Optimus watches him, then looks down at his paperwork a moment. he looks back up amused, smiling at Reflect.

"you know, you do not need my permission to stop her, you are a Prime too. you can make choices for this base." Optimus assures gently.

"still your base. I won't make choices without you." Reflect says. "and don't friggin' laugh at me. I've already been in a bad mood today, I don't want to take it out on you, even accidentally, especially not when Cade is in here." Reflect murmurs.

"I am not laughing at you. it just amuses me that you seem to forget your status of active Prime." Optimus soothes gently. "if you do not wish for MIkaela to enter the base, as I don't think anyone would, alert the security at the entrance of the base that she is not allowed on the base." Optimus assures.

"thank you." Reflect says, turning to leave.

"and Reflect?" Optimus ask. Reflect turns back,

"yeah Prime?" Reflect ask. the mech chuckles softly.

"it would make things easier for me if you would assume position as a Prime. this is not my base alone. it is all our base and you have more knowledge having been on both sides. please, just trust your spark. I know you won't make a bad choice here if it comes down to something important, I won't mind conferring. if its important I will come to you, just as I ask you come to me." Optimus assures. Reflect pauses a moment.

"I get it, but until these guys get used to the fact I'm active, having your input as well just backs me up." Reflect murmurs. Optimus nods.

"do not worry. if they do not respect you, I will absolutely deal with it." Optimus assures. Reflect nods once at him, before reaching out and snatching a stack of unfinished paperwork.

"good well, since I'm active Prime, won't mind if I take some of the load off you like I've been trying to do since I activated my status, you can't even argue because you basically just ask me to step, thanks Optimus, I'll let security know." Reflect grins, shutting the door behind him quickly. he misses Optimus chuckling behind him.

Reflect carries the datapads in one arm, holding his stomach with his free servo.

"and just what are you doing?" Ironhide frowns, looking at him.

"I'm going to tell base security Mikaela isn't allowed." Reflect says.

"I meant with those datapads." Ironhide frowns.

"stepping up as a Prime and helping Optimus. I only took half of them." Reflect assures. Ironhide reaches out for them.

"give." he says firmly.

"no." Reflect huffs, pulling them away from him. "not happening. you'll give them back and he needs my help." Reflect frowns.

"I won't give them back, I promise, I'll just hold them so you don't have to." Ironhide assures gently, holding his servo out. Reflect frowns.

"fine but if you give them back to him, I'll change the door code." Reflect warns.

"I promise I won't." Ironhide snorts. he heads for their room, Reflect would be okay.

Reflect comes into their room 20 minutes later.

"have a seat, okay? when you're done with them, I'll take them back to Optimus' office." Ironhide assures gently.

"sounds good. ugh, I might take Jacks suggestion into consideration." Reflect mumbles.

"what suggestion?" Ironhide ask.

"that I start going around in my holoform. getting around will be easier and I can put it on low settings to save energy." Reflect mumbles. he leans against him, looking up at Ironhide. Ironhide looks down at him.

"well if you think its the better option." Ironhide murmurs gently. Reflect nods, watching him. "what?" Ironhide grumbles.

"geez I'm your bonded, you could at least kiss me." Reflect mumbles. Ironhide leans down and kisses him.

"you're my bonded, you're carrying my sparkling, and you're suffering to do so. I will do whatever you ask of me, within reason. I won't kill Prime for you or anything, but I'd totally kill Hot Rod if you ask me to." Ironhide smirks. Reflect laughs, shifting against him and looking at the datapad.

"well, how about you let me do this paperwork for Optimus." Reflect chuckles.

"you start on that, I'll go get you a cube, then when you're done, we can get you a nap." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect nods, but nods.

"alright, I might take you up on that nap, but only after I make sure Mikaela doesn't get in." Reflect says. Ironhide nods and heads out of the room, smiling.

"Bumblebee."

"Reflect, did you like the shirt?"

"I love the shirt, thank you. I'm wearing it now, but I need a favor from you."

"anything! what do you need?"

"relax scout, I just need you to let me know when Tessa Yeager gets here. Mikaela is gonna try to get in with her and I want to make sure she doesn't."

"oh yeah, Sam warned me of that. I'll tell security to let me know when Tessa gets here."

"thank you."

"of course!"

Reflect chuckles softly, rubbing his side a little.

"you little sparkling, will only have one danger, the danger of being hugged to death by Bumblebee." Reflect snorts.

"knock knock." Wheeljack grins, opening the door. Reflect looks up.

"Jack? whats up?" Reflect ask.

"I just, I just thought I'd let you know," Wheeljack grins stepping in. he holds up the three old toys.

"oh Primus no." Reflect groans, snorting.

"we sent them in and they came back quicker this time." Wheeljack grins, setting them on the berth.

"of course they did, well, I'm sure the sparkling will absolutely enjoy those." Reflect murmurs, reaching over to adjust the Ratchet one when it slumps over.

"awww look at that shirt. where'd you get that?" Wheeljack grins.

"Sam gave it to me." Reflect murmurs, rubbing the little sparkling bump. Wheeljack grins at him and Reflect rolls his optics. "you can touch if you want." Reflect grumbles.

"hell no. I hated when bots touched me. not happening. I have more respect than that." Wheeljack huffs. "besides, fixing you up earlier, is all the touching I needed. it was pretty bad." he frowns. Reflect nods.

"understood." Reflect nods.

"Jack? what are you doing?" Ironhide frowns, walking in.

"he brought friends." Reflect snorts, motioning to the old toys. Ironhide looks over at them and rolls his optics.

"those things are fucking creepy as hell." Ironhide grumbles.

"they're cute!" Reflect argues. "the woman who made these put a lot of time into them." Reflect huffs.

"okay okay. if you still like them, then you still like them." Ironhide assures. Reflect glares, opening his mouth to talk, before pausing. he drops the datapad in his servo, reaching out towards Ironhide.

"pull me up!" Reflect growls. Ironhide puts his servo out, carefully pulling him up.

"Reflect, whats wrong?" Ironhide ask, confused.

"get out of my way." he growls. Ironhide moves, watching his bonded storm out.

he storms to the front of the base. there's a loud argument happening. Mikaela is screaming at the top of her lungs, security is trying to hold her back, Sam is yelling back.

"HEY!" Reflect shouts, angrily. it goes quiet. Reflect storms over, looking pissed, Ironhide following up behind him. "look kid, you can't be here on base." Reflect says firmly, glaring at Mikaela. "I know you still have a badge from way back when, but that badge is no longer active and you're no long allowed on base." Reflect growls.

"who the fuck do you think you are?!" Mikaela growls, glaring at him.

"my name is Reflection Prime, neutral Prime of the Autobot base, Autobot liaison, and current acting Prime. I am ordering you to leave this base, to leave this premises, now or you will be placed under arrest." Reflect orders, growling.

"hey Reflect!" Tessa waves. Reflect nods at her.

"your father is in the rec room, he doesn't know of your arrival." Reflect winks at her. he turns back to Mikael. "now, you leave." Reflect orders.

"you don't even know who I am." Mikaela growls.