its been three weeks since the sparklings were sparked, and the little sparklings were happier than any other sparkling they'd ever met.

Reflects sitting in the rec room, both sparklings laying on their backs on the floor, on a large blanket. Reflect had insisted his sparklings were not to lay directly on the floor. most of the Autobots hadn't understood, but Ironhide had clarified. he remembered seeing Annie lay on her stomach in the grass once. the little girl had picked up a bug and eaten it. he didn't want the sparklings to eat something off the ground and get hurt.

so the sparklings are happily laying on their bellies, Reflect keeping a careful optic on them while sipping his cube.

"don't pull on your brothers armor Echo." Reflect warns. Echo giggles to herself, babbling quietly.

where are you three?

rec room. sparks are in the floor. you getting off patrol?

yep. on my way in.

alright see you in a few.

Reflect smiles a little to himself, looking down at the sparklings.

"your creator is heading back in." Reflect smiles. Remix chirps happily. Reflect immediately sits up and scoops up Echo excitedly.

Hide!

Reflect?

she rolled over!

huh?

Echo, she rolled over!

like for the first time? she rolled over herself?

yes!

I'm proud of her.

"you're not allowed to grow up so fast." Reflect huffs, nuzzling the little sparkling. he cuddles Echo happily, kissing her head. "my sweet little sparkling sitting up and rolling over all on her own." Reflect pouts. Echo squeals and giggles happily. Ironhide appears in the doorway, walking over quickly.

"hey there's the squirt." Ironhide grins, swooping up his daughter happily. Reflect chuckles and looks down, grinning. he scoops up Remix.

"hi there, I saw you roll over too." Reflect assures, kissing the little mechlings head.

"can't let Echo win the race too long." Ironhide snorts, leaning over and kisses Remix's head gently. "we don't forget you." Ironhide assures gently.

"you in the rec room with the squeakers?"

"yeah, they rolled over. we're really proud."

"I'll be right there."

"Wheeljacks on his way." Reflect murmurs.

"whats he want?" Ironhide ask.

"didn't say." Reflect shrugs.

"hey!" Wheeljack calls, rushing over. Ironhide and Reflect look over, confused.

"uh... Jack...? wh-why are your optics green?" Reflect ask.

"oh, I made new optics for Echo and I wasn't gonna have Ratchet put them in her without me testing them first. see, I can't see perse, but when you speak, I can see the soundwaves, and because I know who is talking to me, it says a name above it. like when you spoke just now it told me you were Reflect, well, okay is says 'carrier' because they're built for Echo, but I knew who it was." Wheeljack says. "so like, I can hear Jazz and Bumblebee talking over there and if I turn to face them, I'll 'see' their soudnwaves with names above them. obviously since she can't read, I've worked them to be certain colors until she learns how to read. like you're a light gray and Ironhide is a dark gray, since the room is black. Ratchets is red and white, kinda candy cane striped. Bumblebee's is bright yellow, Jazz' is silver. mines green, white, and red also kinda candy cane striped. it'll help." Wheeljack assures.

"shouldn't you ask before you just upgrade our sparklings optics?" Ironhide growls.

"Reflect said it was alright." Wheeljack says, looking over at his adopted sparkling. Reflect nods.

"yeah I did." Reflect assures. Ironhide nods slightly.

"alright." Ironhide mutters, passing his daughter to the inventor. "I swear if you hit any part of her on any wall, I'll put your head through that wall." Ironhide promises.

"I won't hurt her." Wheeljack assures. he shifts the little sparkling in his arm and heads out of the room.

"I'm going to go get some rest." Ironhide murmurs. "replacing optics is easy enough." Ironhide adds. Reflect nods.

"go, get some rest." Reflect smiles. Ironhide kisses his head, before leaving the room. Reflect cuddles Remix gently, kissing the little mechlings head.

"hey, can I swipe him for a bit?" Sunstreaker asks, walking over. Reflect looks confused. "I was going to take both of them, but Wheeljack took her." Sunstreaker adds.

"why do you want my son?" Reflect ask.

"I'm working on painting them." Sunstreaker mutters, looking away. Reflect smiles at him, nodding.

"sure, go a head." Reflect murmurs, passing Remix over. Sunstreaker perks up and cuddles the sparkling. Reflect watches him with the sparkling, before the Allspark symbols on his body start flashing. Reflect gasps softly, watching Sunstreaker. he growls dangerously, getting in the twins face in warning. Sunstreaker looks confused, quickly stepping back and holding the sparkling back out to him.

"hey! if you want the sparkling keep him!" Sunstreaker says. Reflect shakes his head, blinking away the aggression with a confused look.

"n-no sorry... I... I don't know what that was." Reflect says, stepping away from the yellow twin quickly. Remix whines, confused, looking at his carrier. Reflect gets a strange look on his face and wraps his arms around himself, before running off quickly.

he runs into his and Ironhides room, the door slamming behind him, and leaning back onto it quickly. Ironhide sits up immediately, confused.

"Reflect?" Ironhide asks, getting up and walking over quickly. he takes in his bondmates confused and upset posture. "hey, what happened?" Ironhide asks. Reflect looks up at him shrugging.

"I... Sunstreaker ask to take Remix so I handed him over and suddenly my markings did that glowing thing and I got aggressive... Hide I almost ripped into him. I could've hurt Remix and... I don't know why." Reflect says look up at him nervously. Ironhide frowns.

"maybe you just need some rest, right? our sparklings are in good servos. no one dares come at Ratchet or Wheeljack when they have a patient and the twins would destroy anyone who touched our sparkling with your permission. you were up with them all night, I know you were. we talked all night. Remix' tank was upset. he was up all night purging. they were both up crying all night. maybe you're just tired. come on." Ironhide soothes gently. Reflect nods hesitantly and curls up with Ironhide on the berth. Ironhide curls around him immediately, concerned for his bonded. Reflect curls up and buries his face into Ironhides chestplates.

"sorry I woke you up." Reflect mumbles.

"do I ever care Reflect?" Ironhide ask. Reflect mumbles and cuddles up to him.

"I just... I got this feeling... that, I dunno, Sunstreaker was gonna hurt Remix." Reflect mumbles.

"he wouldn't do that. those twins adore our sparklings. they'd never hurt them." Ironhide murmurs softly. Reflect nods and cuddles up against him. Ironhide holds him until Reflect falls asleep, then lets himself fall into recharge.

Reflect shifts, waking up slowly. Ironhide is still snoring beside him. a quick check of his internal clock says he's been out two hours, almost three.

"do you have my sparkling still?"

"nah, he got fussy and needed a nap. Sideswipe can't keep the fuck quiet. he's with Ratchet, so is Echo."

"thanks Sunstreaker."

Reflect gets up carefully, managing to do so without Ironhide, and leaves the room. he heads down to the medbay.

"Ratchet, do you have the sparks?"

...

"Ratchet?"

...

"uh Wheeljack?"

"Reflect? are you alright?"

"are the sparklings in the medbay?"

"yeah."

"awesome, thanks."

Reflect heads down to the medbay pushing the doors open. he immediately pauses. Ratchet is laid out on a berth, a sparkling on each side carefully wrapped in his arms, snoring up at the ceiling. the sparklings are out cold as well. Reflect grins, walking over. he follows the steps Ironhide had given him to take the memory and put it aside to print out as a picture later.

"don't bother them, please." Wheeljacks soft voice comes from the washracks. Reflect perks up and looks over. he's watching Reflect hesitantly.

"I won't." he assures gently. "I won't even touch the twins, I don't wanna wake them up. they look happy." Reflect murmurs. "I'm afraid to touch them and wake them up." Reflect murmurs.

"what is... 'grandparents rights' and why does Ratchet keep using that as an excuse to cuddle the sparklings?" Wheeljack asks curiously.

"well, in human culture when someone grows up and has kids their parents, or adoptive parents, become the grandparents of their kids. basically, you guys adopted me and now you're stuck with my family. besides, being a grandparent is awesome, as long as you respect boundaries. it means you can take them whenever you want as long as Ironhide and I are alright with it." Reflect smiles. Wheeljack nods a little and smiles.

"are you making that up so Ratchet and I can spend time with the sparklings and not feel guilty about taking time from you?" Wheeljack asks. Reflect raises an optic ridge, looking genuinely confused.

"huh? no. you can ask Ironhide. we used to drop Annie off with Sarahs parents like once a week." Reflect says, shaking his head. "when I was a kid, my grandparents were a safe haven. my dads parents would do their best to keep me safe so my parents couldn't hurt me. its a good kind of relationship. its more than just your sparklings sparkling. its a grandkid. I mean, yeah, I do want you guys to spend time with them to make up for the sparklings you guys lost out on, but, its also good for the twins. hell if something happened to me and Ironhide, I'd want you guys to care for them. you guys were the greatest parents I ever had. I know you'd take care of them." Reflect shrugs. Wheeljack stares at him a moment, before throwing his arms around the mech and hugging him tightly. Reflect grunts, face shoved into Wheeljacks chest, but doesn't fight him.

"thanks..." Wheeljack murmurs. Reflect wraps his arms around the inventor the best he can.

"yeah... uh, did you guys get the new optics in Echo?" Reflect asks, pulling back some. Wheeljack lets him go and nods.

"yep. it'll be a few days, but she'll adjust to them." Wheeljack assures. Reflect nods glancing at his sparklings again, before smiling a little.

"alright, well, you guys enjoy them, okay? just give them back before tonight and don't let them sleep too long." Reflect smiles. Wheeljack nods.

"of course." Wheeljack nods. Reflect smiles and heads out of the medbay, but glances back at his sparklings with a smile.

he heads into the rec room for a cube, throwing one in his subspace for Ironhide to have later. he turns around and nearly bumps into Bumblebee. the scout quickly reaches up to grab Sam, who is sitting on his shoulder.

"oh, sorry Bee." Reflect says.

"no worries. I wasn't paying attention, sorry." Bumblebee says.

"you guys good?" Reflect ask.

"yeah, we're good." Bumblebee assures.

"no worries, we're okay." Sam smiles. Reflect nods, smiling at them. "so, where are the twins?" Sam ask.

"ah, they're getting in some very important grandparent time with Ratchet and Wheeljack." Reflect snorts softly.

"Jazz said they rolled over today." Bumblebee grins. Reflect nods, excitedly.

"oh yeah, nothing beats your kid doing something for the first time." Reflect smiles at them. Bumblebee nods. "well, I'll see you guys later... I still have to check in with Optimus again." Reflect frowns. Bumblebee winces.

"he's still on your case about that video of you beating Hot Rod getting around?" Bumblebee asks. Reflect nods.

"don't know who leaked it, but I took blame. told him I jacked it from Reds computer by using my mimic ability so Red wouldn't get in trouble either." Reflect frowns.

"you know he knows you didn't do this right?" Sam asks.

"yeah I know." Reflect shrugs. he heads down the hall and drops a cube off for Ironhide, before heading to Optimus' office.

he walks right in without knocking, two weeks of these stupid meetings had reduced him to simply walking in, after a quick scan that no one in the room. Optimus looks up immediately.

"no twins?" he asks, confused. it wasn't unusual for him to bring the twins as Ironhide was back on night patrol.

"nah, Ratchet adnd Wheeljack have them. they worked on Echos optics today and she fell asleep so did Ratchet and Remix. I just left them in the medbay." Reflect shrugs, plopping down in a chair. he sips his cube. "so what are we chatting about today? the video again?" Reflect asks, raising an optic ridge.

"no actually. I got some news that the twins rolled over today." Optimus murmurs. Reflect smiles a little.

"yeah Ratchet and Wheeljack were super upset I skipped that step." Reflect snorts.

"I remember when Bumblebee was recovering after the... care center incident I know you've heard about," Optimus starts.

"after the whole... Nitro dying thing?" Reflect ask. Optimus nods.

"Bumblebee escaped uninjured with Ironhide, but they were attacked and, despite Ironhides best efforts, he wasn't in the condition to protect anyone was an ambush. Bumblebee ended up in an almost similar condition to you when Sunstreaker ran you over. when he rolled over again for the first time after the accident, it was incredible." Optimus says. "sitting up and rolling over." he adds.

"its weird that sparklings sit up, before they roll over." Reflect says.

"humans do it the other way?" Optimus ask. Reflect nods.

"Annie learned to hold her head up, roll over, sit up, crawl, walk, run, jump. I mean humans just learn in certain ways so its a little different to me." Reflect shrugs. Optimus nods a little.

"well, I guess there are till differences we have to learn." Optimus assures. Reflect nods a little. "so are you finally ready to tell me who actually shared that video?" Optimus asks after a moment. Reflect stands immediately.

"I shared it. it was important for others to see-" Reflect starts.

"yes yes, what would happen if they messed with your sparklings." Optimus sighs. the excuse Reflect gave every time. "you know, you not telling me doesn't help anyone." Optimus adds. Reflect huffs.

"look Optimus, even if I actually knew who did it, I wouldn't tell you. they shared it as a means to show I will protect my twins. I was the only one with access and thats because I used my mimic ability Optimus. the fault is mine and I won't let you blame anyone else." Reflect snaps, storming out of the office. he sips his cube and heads back to his and Ironhides room. he shoots a nasty look at Hot Rod, who just happens to be walking by. the mech scrambles away from Reflect, still not fully healed from the fight between him and Ironhide, as Ratchet had refused to repair the mech. Reflect huffs steam out his nose, walking into the room.

Ironhide is sitting up on the berth, sipping his cube. he turns to look at him.

"oh hey... where's the sparklings?" Ironhide ask.

"oh right! um, how do I print out a memory again as a picture?" Reflect ask. Ironhide snorts a little and easily talks him through the process.

"but seriously, where are they?" Ironhide ask.

"with Ratchet and Wheeljack." Reflect says. he puts the picture on the wall, next to the collage of pictures that have been taken since he was carrying. Ironhide gets up curiously. he walks over to the picture and chuckles.

"oh yeah he's watching them real good." Ironhide chuckles.

"leave him alone." Reflect snorts. "he's getting in some good sparkling time." Reflect adds.

"I know he is. something he didn't get with you. I see where Annie earned her nickname of 'wiggle worm'." Ironhide chuckles.

"I need you to come get the sparklings. Hot Rods coming in for repairs."

"I thought Ratchet was asleep with them?"

"I don't trust Hot Rod in here with them. even with me and Ratchet in here."

"we'll be right down."

"Wheeljack needs us to come get the twins." Reflect says, setting his cube down. he heads quickly for the door.

"whats wrong?" Ironhide asks.

"Hot Rods getting some repairs. they don't want the twins in the area with him." Reflect says, heading out. Ironhide follows after him quickly.

"they think he'll attack them?" Ironhide ask.

"Wheeljacks just afraid." Reflect murmurs. Ironhide nods and the two head quickly towards the medbay.

the two walk into the medbay, Hot Rods already sitting on a berth.

"Ratchets office." Wheeljack says. Reflect nods, heading towards the office. Ironhide puts his back to the office door. his arms cross over his chest immediately, glaring down Hot Rod.

"alright Hide, I got them, lets roll." Reflect murmurs, heading out of the medbay. Ironhide grunts, at his words, watching Reflect leave. he watches Hot Rod carefully and growls, before following after his bondmate. Echo and Remix are both up and looking around. Echo is quiet, but Remix is chirping away.

say something to her. Ratchet activated her optics right when I got her, they should be booted up now. I wanna see how she handles it.

alright.

Ironhide walks up beside his bondmates.

"give me her." Ironhide says. Reflect snorts, but his attention is immediately drawn to Echo. the little sparkling chirps, confused, reaching up towards something no one else can see. "what are you doing squirt?" Ironhide snorts, taking her gently. again the little sparkling looks up. she reaches up again.

"she's looking at the soundwaves." Reflect says. Echos head snaps his way, reaching towards the air above her again. she turns back to Ironhide and stares up at him. she chirps. "she wants you to do again Ironhide." Reflect murmurs, smiling.

"well good, that just means she likes the upgrade, I hope." Ironhide murmurs. Echo giggles, grabbing at the soundwaves only she can see. "keep reaching sweetspark, one day you'll get them." Ironhide chuckles softly. Echo squeals excitedly, grabbing hold of her creators face excitedly. Reflect smiles at his bondmate. "what are you smiling about?" Ironhide huffs. Reflect shakes his head.

"nothing." Reflect murmurs happily. Ironhide glances over at him, optic ridge raised in amusement.

"you're extra happy about something." Ironhide snorts. Reflect shakes his head.

"lets grab them some cubes and go hang out in the rec room for a little bit. give Echo a chance to use her new optics." Reflect murmurs.

"sounds good." Ironhide shrugs. Ironhide heads into their room to get the cubes, leaving Reflect and Remix in the hallway.

"Barricade, hey!" Reflect calls, walking over to the Ex-Con as he heads down the hallway.

"Reflect. Remix." Barricade greets.

"how are you and Frenzy adjusting?" Reflect asks. Barricade shrugs a little.

"not bad. humans are afraid of me and Autobot scum are afraid of you, so we get left alone." Barricade shrugs. "after you beat Hot Rod, no one seems to want to mess with anyone you care about." Barricade huffs. Reflect snorts and smiles.

"yeah well, no one else wants to end up like he did." Reflect chuckles. "where's Frenzy?" he asks curiously.

"hiding out in our room. he's still having issues adjusting to the lab grade energon quality. its definitely better than what was on the Con base, but its hard on him." Barricade mutters. Reflect nods.

"well, if he needs help, let Ratchet know. they'll get him back on medical grade until he gets used to it." Reflect assures. Barricade nods.

"sure." he shrugs, walking off. Reflect shakes his head and turns back to his and Ironhides room when the mech opens the door and comes out, Echo still cradled in his arm.

"ready?" Reflect ask.

"yeah." Ironhide smiles at him. they head happily to the rec room.

the two walk in, find themselves a seat, and settle with the sparklings. Ironhide pops the cubes out and holds one out to Reflect. the smaller smiles and takes it, giving the cube to Remix. Echo is drinking her cube slowly. staring around the room confused.

"whats wrong?" Reflect asks, looking over.

"she's getting fussy, she's alright." Ironhide assures.

"she might be getting a little overstimulated. here swap sparklings." Reflect says. Ironhide does as his bonded asks. Reflect pulls Echo to his chest, holding her tightly.

he remembers getting overwhelmed and overstimulated once or twice as a sparkling. Ratchet would pull him up to his chest, press his audio gently to his chestplates, cover the other gently and just hold him, letting him listen to his spark. but since the problem is her optics, Reflect figures he can make some adjustments.

Echo is wailing at this point, kicking and struggling with her carrier, it makes Remix start wailing as well. Ironhides attempting to calm their mechling gently, offering him his cube, but Remix doesn't listen, screaming at the top of his limited voice box.

Reflect pulls the little femmes head down to his chestplate, gently covering her other audio and her optics gently. he gently caresses the audio being covered with his servo, with his thumb.

"I know, you don't understand why you can suddenly see, its okay." Reflect assures gently. Echo whimpers, slowly getting quiet. Reflect offers her, her cube again gently.

"are they alright?" Jazz asks, walking over.

"Wheeljack upgraded her optics, she's a little overstimulated. she can see soundwaves and the direction that voices are coming from, so its overwhelming to her." Reflect explains gently. "I'm gonna take her back to the room, you just stay out here with her. having us all in there probably won't help." Reflect murmurs.

"alright. com me if you need me." Ironhide says, watching Reflect walk past him with their daughter.

"I will." Reflect assures gently. Remix sniffles quietly, watching them go, before looking up at Ironhide. the sparkling whimpers up at Ironhide, pouting at him.

"don't pout little one, Echo just needs a little time to get used to her optics." Ironhide soothes gently. Remix whimpers quietly.

"hey is he okay?" Sideswipe ask, walking over. "I passed Reflect in the way in here and Echo seemed pretty upset." he frowns.

"Wheeljack upgraded her optics." Ironhide frowns.

"she's overwhelmed." Jazz adds. Sideswipe nods a little.

"okay... well, you want me to take him so you can go help him with her?" Sideswipe asks. Ironhide nods.

"yeah sure, he loves you guys more anyway." Ironhide snorts, passing Remix to Sideswipe. Remix pouts a little up at the red twin, before catching sight of Sunstreaker. he screams, reaching for the other twin.

"well, he loves Sunny more anyway." Sideswipe shrugs. he passes the sparkling over to his twin and watches Ironhide head out of the room.

he immediately heads for his and Reflects room, walking in. Echo has calmed down slightly, curling up in Reflects arm, whimpering and sniffling. her optics are off and she's clinging to Reflects armor.

"she okay?" Ironhide ask.

"where's Remix?" Reflect ask.

"with the twins." Ironhide says. "is she okay?" Ironhide ask. Reflect nods a little.

"she'll be okay. we shouldn't have done that just yet. she's not ready for it. we overwhelmed her." Reflect mumbles. Ironhide nods a little.

"she's alright. we learned from our mistake and, though she's upset, no one got hurt. its okay." Ironhide assures, sitting on the berth with Reflect. he pulls the two to his side.

"we have to stop just leaving Remix with the twins. he's gonna think we're favoring Echo because she's blind." Reflect mumbles.

"trust me, if we don't give him to Sunstreaker, whenever he wants, he'll turn into you." Ironhide snorts. "he'll probably start screaming and having a fit." Ironhide says. Reflect nods slightly in agreement.

"I know I just feel guilty." Reflect mumbles.

"it'll be alright. when she's ready, she'll pick a bot and cling to them." Ironhide snorts. Reflect nods and cuddles against him, rubbing Echos cheek. the sparkling clicks quietly, reaching up and patting Reflect face. Reflect smiles and holds her gently.

"we'll give those optics another chance later, but we won't just take her out into the base. we'll start off slow. just you and me and maybe Remix too." Reflect murmurs softly. Ironhide nods a little, resting his head on Reflects.

"sounds good." Ironhide murmurs, before kissing his head. they sit quietly for a few minutes before Reflect shifts, glancing up at him.

"go get my son." Reflect glares. Ironhide laughs and nods, separating himself from Reflect.

"okay, okay I'm going." Ironhide assures, getting up. Reflect sits back against the wall, holding Echo tightly.

"Reflect."

"Mirage? hows life with Noah?"

"not so good. Kris is in the hospital again... the human medics are refusing to treat him because the debt isn't paid off..."

"you're joking right?"

"no. we're sitting in the hospital parking lot. Kris is curled up and in a lot of pain. Noahs on the phone with someone but... its not looking promising..."

"the hell it isn't. hang on."

Reflect gets up, storms out of the room, and shoves Echo at Bumblebee.

"give her to Ironhide. I have to deal with humans." Reflect growls, storming to Optimus' office. he throws the door open, steaming with anger. Jazz, Prowl, and Optimus are in there.

"Primus here we go." Prowl mutters under his breath.

"Reflect?" Optimus ask.

"Epps and I are leaving. we'll be back by tomorrow morning." Reflect snaps. all three look confused.

"why?" Jazz ask.

"Noahs brother is being denied medical attention at the hospital because the government is refusing to help. I will put an end to it. we'll be back." Reflect snaps. he turns and storms out.

you okay? Bumblebee said you were pissed.

Epps and I have to deal with the government. they're refusing Noahs brother treatment.

alright, be careful and call for me or Ratchet if you get into trouble. I'll see you later. don't worry about the twins I've got them.

thanks. love you.

Reflect storms down to Epps office. the man is waiting for him.

"Jazz warned me." Epps says. Reflect nods and scoops him up carefully.

"I've teleported with humans before. Cade never had a problem with it and neither did Sam, but Noah got sick, so just be prepared. I have to grab a cube from the rec room, we'll stop and get you some food. we're not driving. this kid needs help now." Reflect says. Epps nods. Reflect grabs himself a cube and teleports out with Epps.