"I seriously wouldn't worry about that guy bothering Reflect against Ironhide." Sam says. Ironhide turns to look at him confused.

"and why is that?" Ironhide frowns.

"I don't think he'll bother Reflect anymore. I don't think he'll bother anyone anymore, because Reflect punched the guy in the throat and probably killed him. they took him out of here and rushed him to a hospital." Sam snorts. Ironhide stops to think a moment, before smirking.

"well... good for him." Ironhide mutters, scooping his bonded up. Reflect shifts immediately, but doesn't open his eyes. .

"if you're not my bondmate or Ratchet put me back right now or I'll kill you." Reflect growls lowly.

"its just me." Ironhide assures, snorting. he carries the holoform back to his and Reflects room.

"why are you bothering me?" Reflect mumbles.

"I didn't mean to. I was just trying to carry you to our room. shut your holoform off. you can activate it again later, I'll carry you down from the medbay." Ironhide murmurs, chuckling.

"m'sleepin' in there too." Reflect mumbles, holoform fizzling.

"I know thats why I said I'd carry you." Ironhide murmurs softly. his own holoform fading out.

Reflects curled up on a berth in the medbay when Ironhide finally gets there.

"hey, hear about his melt down?" Ratchet frowns, looking over at Ironhide.

"I heard someone touched the sparkling without asking and Reflect punched them in the throat." Ironhide snorts.

"oh yeah. sent that soldier to the hospital. Reflect punched him so hard he might actually die. swelling in the part of the body humans call the, pharynx, caused the soldier to stop breathing. human medics managed to get him breathing again and sent him off to the hospital." Ratchet frowns, watching Ironhide. the black mech stops and scoffs, turning to snicker at Ratchet.

"he said he'd kill anyone who touched him without asking Ratchet, and in his defense, he was wearing a shirt that warned he'd punch you in the throat if you touched the sparkling. so the soldier almost died, maybe next time he'll learn to read." Ironhide shrugs, smirking.

"Ironhide you can't just defend those actions." Ratchet warns. the mech huffs and scoops his bonded up gently and cuddles him, befor glaring at the medic.

"you leave him alone about it, got it? bringing it up is just going to piss him off." Ironhide warns. he turns and leaves the medbay with Reflect cuddled to him.

no one tries to stop him when he carries Reflect down to their room, so the walk back is pretty uneventful and quiet, meaning Reflect sleeps the entire time. he's sound asleep when Ironhide lays him on the berth. Reflect only moves to curl up on his side quietly, engine purring quietly. Ironhide chuckles softly, climbing up behind him, holding him gently.

"better be you." Reflect mumbles.

"of course you only wake up to demand answers." Ironhide snorts.

"mmhmm." Reflect hums, cuddling against him. "cuddle me." Reflect mumbles.

"I am, there's only so close I can hold you Will." Ironhide murmurs gently.

"I don't give a fuck. I want fucking cuddles." Reflect growls.

"well I can fuck you or I can cuddle you or I can fuck you then cuddle you." Ironhide offers.

"no m'too tired to fuck." Reflect mumbles.

"activate your holoform and I'll bring you that food I brought you." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect perks a little.

"I can't eat anything in here. remember the ants from last time?" Reflect ask.

"well then we'll go back to the rec room." Ironhide snorts. Reflect curls up grumbling.

"only if you carry me." Reflect mutters.

"wouldn't have it any other way." Ironhide snorts.

it takes him a few minutes to convince Reflect to activate his holoform, but Ironhide easily loads him up on his back and carries him back towards the rec room. Reflect holds onto him with one arm, his other hand is shoved between Ironhdies back and the sparkling bump so Ironhide doesn't have to feel it press into his back. Ironhide doesn't even seem to notice, just heading for the rec room, in hopes the food is untouched. he'd left Reflects food in a bag with REFLECTS FOOD! EAT THIS AND EITHER REFLECT OR IRONHIDE WILL KILL YOU! in big bold letters on the bag, so he's hopeful the bag of food is still there.

"uh, whats going on?" Sam ask, watching them.

"I brought him food, he's too tired to walk. go grab the bag out of the fridge." Ironhide says.

"oh its not in there. Epps has it in his office. he was afraid someone would eat it and piss Reflect off. get him settled and I'll be back with it." Sam smiles. Ironhide nods.

"fuck, Epps. that paperwork is finished and in the medbay." Reflect groans quietly.

"I'll com Ratchet." Ironhide assures gently, carrying him towards the couch. Reflect mumbles and nods against his neck.

"Ratchet."

"Ironhide?"

"did Reflect leave his datapads in there?"

"the ones with paperwork? he did yes. they wer finished, I took them to Prowl, I wasn't sure where they belonged."

"thank you."

Ironhide sets him gently on the couch and crouches in front of him.

"Prowls got them so you know they've been turned in properly." Ironhide assures gently. Reflect nods, wincing and shifting. "you alright?" Ironhide ask, confused. Reflect huffs, shifting again,

"yeah, so kinda have a surprise for you. I intended to show you this at a more private time, but the rec rooms empty right now, so I'll show you now. apparently the sparkling has its own holoform inside this holoform." Reflect murmurs. he reaches for Ironhides hand gently. "gimmie." Reflect says.

"why?" Ironhide asks, holding his hand out to Reflect. Reflect takes it gently and presses it to the side of the bump, wincing.

"say something. doesn't matter what you say." Reflect mumbles. Ironhide looks confusde. "just say something, quickly, before Sam gets back." Reflect says.

"what do you want me to- oh..." Ironhide trails quietly. Reflect snorts at him.

"it has its very own holoform and it moves and it hurts." Reflect mumbles. "and, for some ungodly reason, it likes your voice." Reflect says.

"and this is what you feel all the time?" Ironhide ask, curiously.

"only in my holoform. it doesn't do this in my other form." Reflect mumbles.

"hmm." Ironhide hums, looking down at his hand. he pulls his hand away immediately when Sam comes in happily.

"here, its warmed up. apparently Jazz had it and was keeping it warm." Sam smiles, walking over. Reflect reaches for the bag.

"give." Reflect glares. Sam laughs and hands it over.

"I'm gonna go see Bee, you guys can have the tv." Sam smiles, walking back out. Reflect opens his bag happily, immediately grabbing the bowl of mashed potatos and gravy out.

"they mixed them together? they usually don't do that." Reflect says, looking confused.

"I mixed it together. I know you like it like that. you like it when the mashed potatos are smothered in gravy so I mixed it for you." Ironhide mutters. Reflect smiles at him, leaning over against him, before taking a bite happily. he melts back into the couch and smiles, before glancing over at Ironhide. he watches the other out of the corner of his eye for a moment, before chuckling softly and putting the bowl down.

"y'know," Reflect starts.

"hmmm?" Ironhide ask. Reflect smiles at him.

"y'know its your sparkling and you're literally the only one on base who doesn't have to ask to touch. you can touch if you want." Reflect assures.

"you don't want me to you. you hate it when someone touches you and the sparkling." Ironhide frowns.

"you're not just anyone Hide, this is your sparkling too. you get to touch whenever you want." Reflect assures gently, squeezing his thigh. Ironhide shakes his head a little.

"just because its my sparkling doesn't mean you want my hands all over you." Ironhide frowns at him.

"of course it does." Reflect chuckles. "here, move." Reflect murmurs, pushing him off the couch with his free hand. Ironhide gets up, confused. he watches Reflect kick one leg up onto the couch. "now come here." Reflect says, grabbing at his bondmates arm. Ironhide snorts a little.

"you don't want me laying on you two." Ironhide snorts.

"hmm, Wheeljack crushed the sparkling, you gently laying on it, won't hurt either of us now I wasn't asking, get over here and lay your ass down, before I get up and smack the fuck out of you." Reflect glares. Ironhide snorts, laying on the couch carefully, Reflect kicking his other leg up to bracket his body gently. Ironhide snorts a little and carefully tucks his head between Reflect and the couch, refusing to lay his head on the sparkling bump. Reflect scoffs.

"what?" Ironhide ask.

"would you knock your shift off?" Reflect glares, grabbing hold of the other holoforms hair in a firm grip to move the mans head over.

"ow!" Ironhide huffs. Reflect rolls his optics.

"I didn't hurt you, we both know you like it." Reflect mutters, letting him go. he shoves a bite of his food into his mouth happily. "you just lay there and keep the sparkling company while I eat." Reflect mutters. Ironhide leaves his head on the center of the sparkling bump, right where Reflect left it. there's a little bit of tension in his body, but it fades quickly after a moment.

"you feel this all the time?" Ironhide ask.

"only in the holoform." Reflect chuckles. "feels different in my form, I told you that." he adds.

"its just odd to me." Ironhide says.

"hurts from my end." Reflect mutters.

"I'll admit it's a little painful, but you take the majority of it. its interesting to me." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect watches him a moment, before taking the chicken out of the bag and pausing. its in the mashed potato bowl, pulled off the bone, the way he likes it.

"you're so fucking sweet and cute when you want to be." Reflect says, moving the bowl to lean down and kiss Ironhides head.

"hmm?" Ironhide ask.

"you pulled the fucking chicken off the bone and you mixed my food the way I like it. you're gonne make me cry Hide." Reflect mumbles.

"I just know how you like your food." Ironhide murmurs, nuzzling against the bump under his head. "and don't you dare ever call me cute." Ironhide growls lowly. Reflect runs his fingers gently through Ironhides hair, laughing softly, before dumping the chicken into his mashed potatos and gravy. he hisses softly, the holoform of the sparkling is unforgiving, even if its just Ironhides weight. it squirms and kicks against Ironhide. "just let me know when you want me to get off. I know it hurts you, so if it gets too bad, you let me know, I'll get up." Ironhide murmurs.

"no just lay there." Reflect frowns. Ironhide grumbles, sitting up some. "no I said lay there. lay your ass bad down, I like you laying there." Reflect glares. Ironhide shakes his head.

"easy, easy baby. I'm just going to roll over. I promise you, I'm just rolling over and getting comfortable." Ironhide murmurs, rolling over so he can hug Reflects waist, laying his head back down in its previous position. laying on his stomach like this will hurt his holoforms back after a while, but he'd deal with that later. he cuddles his bonded, who smiles down at him.

"I really just can't help it. you look cute curled up and cuddled up to our sparkling." Reflect murmurs softly. Ironhide growls at him in warning. Reflect chuckles softly. "y'know, humans talk to their sparklings while carrying." Reflect says. Ironhide lifts his head, giving Reflect a confused look.

"you want me to talk to a holoform fetus of our sparkling?" Ironhide ask. Reflect smacks him, glaring.

"don't say it like that, you sounded so disgusted." Reflect glares. Ironhide lays his head back down.

"I'm sorry I didn't meant to." Ironhide assures. "what is it you want me to say?" Ironihde ask.

"I dunno. you don't have to say anything, I just wanted to tell you that its okay if you do, its not stupid or anything." Reflect assures gently, rubbing the side of his belly not covered by Ironhides head. "but don't let it kick the fuck out of you." Reflect snorts.

"I don't mind actually." Ironhide shrugs a little. Reflect smiles at him. "too bad I can't feel this with the actual sparkling." Ironhide says.

"just carry the next one, you'll be begging not to feel it." Reflect mumbles. Ironhide chuckles softly, lifting his hand to gently rub the side of the sparkling bump, when Reflect pulls his hand back to keep eating.

"one is enough." Ironhide murmurs. "just because we can have more doesn't mean we have to repopulate. one sparkling is enough for me." Ironhide assures. Reflect smiles at him.

"m'kay." he murmurs. "you're so cute laying there like that." Reflect smiles.

"shut up." Ironhide mumbles. Reflect giggles, making Ironhides head bounce up and down.

"okay, okay, I'll take it easy with those comments, but you don't get to just piss me off and annoy met and expect me not to get you back at some point." Reflect grins. Ironhide rolls his eyes, shifting his head a little. his mian consciousness may be in the holoform at the moment, but he can practivally feel Ironhides engine purring. he decides to keep quiet about it.

"we've never discussed names." Ironhide murmurs.

"did you have any ideas?" Reflect ask.

"I want to suggest Remix." Ironhide says. Reflect nods a little.

"okay Remix, I was thinking... Echo." Reflect murmurs.

"I like that." Ironhide says. "we're not doing this the human way correct? they'll get a name with their ability?" Ironhide ask. Reflect nods.

"yes. thats how we're gonna do it... I just, thought it wouldn't hurt to discuss a few names." Reflect says. "have a basis to know what we're both looking for in a name so when the sparkling gets their abilities, we'll have a better idea on what we can agree on." Reflect adds.

"what about Lunar?" Ironhide ask.

"nah, I don't like that one, but I could go with Eclipse or like Stellar or.. Zodiac." Reflect says.

"Sonar." Ironhide murmurs. "i had a friend named Sonar when I was a youngling, they died early in the war." Ironhide adds. Reflect smiles at his suggestion.

they discuss for a little while longer before both getting quiet.

after an hour or so, Reflect drops his trash off to the side of the couch, gently resting one hand on Ironhides head and the other on his belly. Ironhide's snoring softly, holoform drooling just slightly onto his belly. Reflect chuckles softly.

"I know you don't like it Hide, but I love you baby and you're so freaking cute, even if you don't like to hear that.

they lay there for a bit, Reflect yawns half asleep. he's ready to catch a nap with his bonded, he's almost asleep, when Sam comes bounding back in. he pauses, watching them quietly for a few moments.

"don't stare Sam." Reflect mumbles.

"sorry I just, didn't realize you guys were still in here, then I was afraid to wake you up, sorry." Sam murmurs.

"do me a favor kid." Reflect says. Sam walks over quickly.

"yeah, whats up Reflect?" Sam ask.

"take a picture of this idiot. he's got a stupid picture of me, I want a cute one of him." Reflect mumbles. Sam smiles a little and nods, pulling his phone out.

"sure no problem." Sam smiles. he crouches down and carefully focuses his phone camera on Ironhide. he snaps a picture and moves to get up, but he notices Ironhide giving a confused and tired look. one of the holoforms deep blue eyes is cracked open, now watching Sam. the flash of the first picture must've woken him. "hey Hide." Sam snorts, taking another picture of him. the holoforms eyes flutter shut again, the man mumbling. Reflect gently runs his fingers through Ironhides hair.

"shhhh, don't wake him up." Reflect frowns. Sam chuckles, nodding a little.

"I'll get these back to you." Sam smiles, grabbing Reflects trash and carrying it into the kitchen. he hadn't come into the room to bother them, he just wanted something to eat.

"what did he do?" Ironhide mumbles.

"nothing, just go back to sleep. don't move too much." Reflect murmurs, sleepily. he's sank into the couch just a little, so he could sleep comfortably, even in his holoform. Ironhide mumbles. "just cuddle your sparkling and shhh." Reflect mumbles. Ironhide nuzzles him gently, squeezing his bondmates waist gently.

"s'my sparkling. m'beautiful bondmate and our sparkling." Ironhide mumbles, half asleep. Reflect chuckles softly running his fingers gently through the holoforms hair. Ironhide cuddle shis bondmate, both of them content to take a nap.

Reflect snores softly, Ironhides content with his face in the sparkling bump. Reflect content to stay there the rest of the day and sleep, but giant rumbling footsteps coming closer to them, jerk him away.

"Hiiiiddddeeee..." Reflect whines, pouting.

"s'not me." Ironhide murmurs.

"Reflect, Ironhide." a deep voice calls. Reflect growls, shutting his holoform off. Ironhide's holoforms face slams into the couch and he groans to himself. he lifts his face out of the couch and glares over at Optimus when his holoform walks over.

"you better have a damn good reason for disturbing my peace." Ironhide snaps.

"I needed to talk to Reflect." Optimus frowns. Ironhide scoffs, holoform shoving off the couch.

"we're in our room, but you just woke him up, you better be prepared for him to scream at you, pout, whine, an dover all act more like a sparkling than the sparkling he's carrying." Ironhide mutters, shutting his holoform off.

Reflect growl, shifting on the berth. Ironhide kisses the back of his neck.

"shhhh. shhh." Ironhide murmurs softly, nuzzling him gently. Reflect rolls over, clinging to Ironhide.

"make him fuck off. my naps important." Reflect mumbles.

"I know. take your nap baby." Ironide murmurs softly. "take your nap, if Prime comes for us. I'll talk to him." Ironhide assures. Reflect nods a little and curls up happily. he buries his face in his bondmates chest, engine purring happily. Ironhide holds him gently, kissing his head. Reflect settles down, ready to go back to his nap, until there's a knock.

"go away!" Reflect growls. Ironhide chuckles softly.

"shhhh. shhhh." Ironhide soothes gently.

"fuck off! you ruined my fucking nap!" Reflect growls. Optimus chuckles, swinging the door open.

"as much as I hate to ruin a very important nap, I need you to sign a few things." Optimus says. Reflect rolls over and glares at him.

"you woke me up, for PAPERWORK?!" Reflect snaps, sitting up some.

"yes it has to be signed by both me and you." Optimus says.

"it better be damn important." Reflect glares.

"if it wasn't I wouldn't have woken you up." Optimus assures, gently. Reflect sits up and glares him down, signing the paperwork as asked.

"now go away." Reflect mutters, laying down. Optimus snorts and walks out. Reflect frowns a little, sitting back up a little. "what in the..." Reflect trails, reaching down.

"are you okay?" Ironhide ask. Reflect scoops something off his abdomen, bringing it to his face to sniff.

"I'm... I'm leaking." Reflect says. he sniffs the liquid again. "oil...?" Reflect ask, looking at Ironhide confused. Ironhide looks as confused as he does.

"only time I've ever leaked oil was that time we got in that really bad wreck and there wasn't a fluid I wasn't leaking." Ironhide frowns.

"uh, Ratchet...?"

"whats up kiddo?"

"I'm, um... I'm leaking oil and I haven't read about that in any of the carrying datapads or medical datapads."

"excuse me?"

"I'm leaking oil from... it appears my hip joint."

"are you obviously injured in any way?"

"no."

"don't move, I'll be right there."

"oh, fun, Ratchets panicking." Reflect mutters, laying back.

"Ratchet doesn't panic." Ironhide frowns.

"he panicked when I got run over." Reflect mumbles.

"I don't panic." Ratchet snaps, as the door flings open. he walks over. "you get up." Ratchet orders, motioning to Ironhide. the mech gets up immediately.

"it smells." Reflect mutters.

"its not oil. that it hydrolic fluid." Ratchet says, looking slightly relaxed. "oil means internal systems are damaged in one way or another and you could offline. hydrolic fluid, thankfully is not that bad. however, it does mean you have a hydrolic leak." Ratchet mutters, getting to work on the mechs hip joint.

"I don't remember hydrolic fluid smelling like this..." Reflect frowns.

"smells different now, you have a stronger since of smell, though how you confused hydrolic fluid for oil, I'll never know, we'll just consider this a learning moment." Ratchet assures. "so when you're carrying, your body will produce fluids it doesn't normally, human bodies don't really do that. your body is either over producing hydrolic fluid or you have a leak, in which case your body is acting like a human heart. its pumping it out of your body as your body creates more. if you're actually leaking and not overproducing, I can fix it, if you're just over producing, I'd suggest a run through the wash racks and less human food with your holoform." Ratchet warns. Reflect nods silently, looking ready to fall back into recharge.

"m'kay." he mumbles.

"just rest squirt. I'll figure it out. I promise I'll get you taken care of." Ratchet assures.

"you said eating with my holoform was safe Ironhide." Reflect mumbles.

"it is, or at leat, I thought it was." Ironhide frowns.

"oh its safe, its just you're carrying. so your body is handling the human food weirdly." Ratchet assures gently. "it certainly won't hurt you to eat it, especially if you're feeling the urge to eat it, mostly because you're carrying, I'm just saying eat less of it at a time. I assume you ate some earlier, try halving that amount, until your body gets used to the forign substance of human food." Ratchet explains. Reflect nods a little, but doesn't appear to actually be paying any attention.

"I'll tell him everything when he wakes back up." Ironhide assures gently. Ratchet nods at him.

"good. well, clean him up and let him sleep then." Ratchet says. Ironhide nods.

"will do." he assures. "any helpful hints from one creator to another?" Ironhide frowns, looking over at Ratchet. Ratchet watches Reflect a moment before turning to Ironhide.

"when the sparkling gets here. do everything you can to let him catch up on all the sleep he's missed. if the sparkling wakes up in the night, you get up with it. the sparkling is being unusually resistant and just crying a lot, you take care of it. I know it seems like he sleeps a lot, but trust me, Wheeljack slept for three days straight after having Nitro. he's completely dealt with the sparkling on his own the entire gestational period, you take care of it for a little while and let him rest. once he catches up, trust me, you'll miss the time you have with the sparkling, because he's not going to want to put it down." Ratchet murmurs, before walking out of the room.

Ironhide watches him go then looks back to Reflect. he stares at his bondmate for a few moments, before heading to grab a rag and some solvent to clean him up with. he makes quick work of cleaning his bonded, before laying with him gently once more. he curls up behind the mech, laying a servo gently, but firmly over Reflects on the sparkling bump.

he thinks silently over Ratchets words, absentmindedly running his thumb over the bump, before deciding he needs Wheeljacks opinion.

"what was the best thing Ratchet did for you after you had Nitro and what is something you wished he'd done?"

"excuse me?"

"its important Jack. I'm trying to figure out the most helpful things for me to do after Reflect has the sparkling."

"the most helpful thing would be to get you both out of that room so we can finish construction of the sparkling room."

"why did no one say anything?"

"we haven't figured out where you two can sleep yet."

"I'll stay outside he can stay in the medbay. I'll carry him down now and you guys can get started. we don't have long before the sparkling gets here."

Ironhide gets up, carefully scooping his bonded up.

"Hide?" Reflect mumbles.

"they're gonna start construction on the sparkling room. you don't need to be in here for that." Ironhide murmurs gently. Reflect nods a little, cuddling up to him.

"we're we gonna stay?" Reflect ask.

"you'll stay in the medbay." Ironhide assures.

"an you?" Reflect ask, pulling his head back to look up at the mech sleepily.

"I'll probably be outside." Ironhide shrugs.

"no, you're gonna stay with me." Reflect growls.

"Reflect, we can't just live in the medbay." Ironhide snorts.

"m'not staying in there if you're not." Reflect growls lowly.

"Reflect, Will, baby please don't do this. you can't transform and stay outside with me. you just lay inside on a berth." Ironhide murmurs softly.

"I'll cry." Reflect says, clinging to him.