"you'll find out when its done. its not ugly. I know for a fact you like this color. just relax. I'm your bondmate, trust me that you'll like it." Ironhide says firmly. Reflect huffs.

"fine. but it better not be ugly." Reflect grumbles.

"whats ugly?" Ratchet asks, curiously from the other side of the medbay. Reflect seperates himself from Ironhide to poke around the wall and look at Ratchet.

"Ironhide won't tell me what color he picked for the sparkling room and I told him it better not be ugly." Reflect huffs. Ratchet snorts.

"so no blue then right?" Ratchet ask.

"I hate all of you." Reflect huffs. Ratchet laughs a little shaking his head.

"I'm sure Ironhide wouldn't pick a color you don't like. its fine, besides, if you don't like it, it can be repainted. don't get your gears in a bind over this." Ratchet snorts.

"I'm not!" Reflect huffs defensively. "but we all know Ironhide has no sense of color appropreation." Reflect grumbles.

"thats not true." Ironhide glares.

"look Reflect, I'm sure the color is fine. don't worry about it. he wouldn't purposefully pick one you don't like." Ratchet assures. Reflect huffs quietly.

"he better not have." Reflect mumbles.

"I didn't I promise." Ironhide assures. Reflect grumbles to himself, before hissing and stumbling back. Ironhides quick to catch him, armor shifting as Reflects pain echos over the bond. he scoops the mech up gently sitting him on a berth nearby. "sit down and wait it out." Ironhide says firmly.

"how the hell am I having this false shit so early?" Reflect growls.

"actually yours started kind of late. most bots start as soon as the sparkling drops." Ratchet shrugs.

"I hate you." Reflect grumbles, glaring at him.

"I know." Ratchet chuckles softly. Reflect winces and shakes his head.

"no I don't hate you. I'm just in pain and your smartass decided to answer." Reflect grumbles.

"I know that too. you're not going to hurt my feelings here kid." Reflect assures gently, patting his leg. Reflect jerks from his touch.

"don't fucking touch me." Reflect growls. Ratchet chuckles softly.

"sorry." Ratchet murmurs.

"don't be so rude." Ironhide mutters.

"I'm not. I'm in pain, touching hurts." Reflect grumbles.

"Reflection, we have an issue requiring your presence."

"Prowl? is it important?"

"very."

"I, uh, I'm having some issues and I can't walk. can the problem come to me? or can it wait for a few minutes?"

"issues? have I commed you during interfacing or something?"

"no Prowl! Primus! I'm cramping up because of the sparkling! can this problem come to me or not?"

"yes sir, I'll bring it right down."

"thank you, Prowl."

Reflect winces before growling.

"and don't call me sir."

"you okay?" Ratchet ask.

"Prowl called me sir again. you guys step back some. apparently he's bringing something down here to me. some kind of problem." Reflect frowns, leaning back some on his arm. he looks over when the doors open and jerks back. "Primus Prowl! you didn't tell me it was these fuckers!" Reflect yelps, jerking away from the three that entered. its Scorn and Grimlock.

"you told me to bring the problem to you." Prowl says.

"what did you two do?" Reflect ask. immediately there's barely legible words being thrown back and forth. Reflect growls, optic twitching. "BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Reflect snaps. he glares at the mechs that have quickly gone silent. "you're supposed to be brothers damn it! not find a way to get along before I beat the hell out of both of you!" Reflect growls. he waves them off. "throw them in the brig until they can get along, I'm not in the mood to deal with this." Reflect growls. Prowl nods.

"yes sir." Prowl says, leading the two back out.

"fucking Dinobots." Reflect growls. Ratchet looks at him and frowns.

"you know that Scorn was only fighting with Grimlock because he and Snarl are protective of you." Ratchet frowns. "and Grimlock scares you." Ratchet adds.

"I'm glad he would like to fight for me, but an all out brawl is not good for anyone. giant metal beats rolling around possibly hurting Autobots and humans. I can't have that." Reflect frowns.

"I agree." Ironhide murmurs. "he'll be fine Ratchet. Reflect can always go and talk to him later." Ironhide adds. he helps Reflect up off the berth gently. "go get you a cube alright?" Ironhide ask. Reflect grumbles and heads out of the medbay.

"you send him away for a reason?" Raatchet frowns.

"yeah I did. he's not going to talk sparklings with you. it makes him emotional and guilty. so I figured we should go over some things. important things. things he's not going to tell you." Ironhide frowns.

"like?" Ratchet ask.

"like his sparking plan." Ironhide says.

"go on." Ratchet says, leaning back. Ironhide leans back as well, relaxing some to talk.

Reflect walks down the hallway, looking tired, but there's still a relaxed air around him.

"hey kid, you okay?" Jazz ask, smiling at him. Reflect shoots hims a tired look. "yeah Prowler said he had to bring a couple dinos down to you in the medbay." Jazz says.

"yeah. fucking dinobots." Reflect mumbles. "I sent Optimus out on a date with Cade Yeager because Cade was feeling a little neglected." Reflect frowns.

"dating a human isn't easy." Jazz says.

"being a human dating an Autobot isn't easy either. they just need some time out together. I set them up for dinner and gave Cade the idea that there was a fair in town a few miles away from the resturant they're going to. I'm hoping they'll stay out all night and just enjoy each others company." Reflect murmurs. Jazz nods.

"lets hope so, it'll do OP some good." Jazz says.

"agree." Reflect nods.

"headed to the rec room?" Jazz ask.

"yeah I need a cube." Reflect mutters. Jazz nods.

"I'm on my way there myself." Jazz smiles. they head down the hall together.

"I have, kind of a personal question." Reflect says.

"sure Reef, whats up?" Jazz ask.

"what happened between you and Prowl?" Reflect asks, curious. Jazz frowns, looking away.

"alot." Jazz mutters. "we were courting for a while. I ask if he wanted to sparkbond, he was down, until we went to get a medical check up. Prowl found out I didn't have the block, I didn't want it. didn't care if it was mandatory. we talked about it, then we argued about it, then... he left. he didn't want to risk having a sparkling in the middle of the war and I wasn't willing to get the block..." Jazz murmurs. "and why should I? you got your sparkling. maybe I wanted a sparkling, but Prowl wasn't willing..." Jazz grumbles.

"well, were sparklings off the table completely? the block can be removed Jazz, its not a forever thing, Prowl just didn't want you guys to end up like me and Ironhide. bonding and sparking. you could've gotten the block, bonded, stayed like that a while, then gotten it removed and had a sparkling with him. there's nothing wrong with you wanting a sparkling, but there's also nothing wrong with Prowl not being ready for a sparkling yet. I understand where he's coming from. if I had known I didn't have the block, I would've gotten it immediately before bonding with Hide. I just changed like this, I wasn't ready for a sparkling, I'm still not but its too late for that now." Reflect says softly. "he's not doing it to be mean to you Jazz, he's just not ready to have a sparkling in the middle of a war. I only survived as a sparkling because I had Ratchet and my teleporting powers. its dangerous to have a sparkling in a war." Reflect murmurs. Jazz gets a look on his face Reflects never seen before, before the mech huffs and shakes it all off him. he smirks at Reflect.

"yeah I guess it looks simple from the outside." Jazz shrugs. he grabs himself a cube and dissapears quickly. Reflect frowns a little and grabs himself a cube. he sits down and sips his cube quietly. he'd hit a sore spot with Jazz, but he knew he would. he'd just been curious about what happened between them since Ratchet told him not to be left alone with the two as a sparkling. he wants to knwo the rest of the story.

"what else happened between Jazz and Prowl? Prowls a private bot he won't tell me and all Jazz would say was that he wanted sparklings and refused to get the block so Prowl refused to bond to him."

"we really shouldn't talk about this Reflect."

"tell me Wheeljack. I'd ask Ratchet if he wasn't busy talking to Ironhide."

"well... what all did Jazz tell you?"

"just the Prowl refused to bond to him unless Jazz got the block because he wanted sparklings and Prowl didnt."

"thats what Jazz told you?"

"yeah."

"come to the lab. there's so much more to this than just that. I'll explian face to face."

"be right there. don't kill me."

Reflect heads down the hallway to the lab letting himself in easily

"have a seat kid." Wheeljack frowns. Reflect sits back and sips his cube, watching Wheeljack. "so... Jazz told you thats why they split?" Wheeljack ask.

"yeah, but there's more he wasn't telling me. I know there was." Reflect frowns. Wheeljack nods.

"yeah... so Prowl and Jazz tried courting and yes Jazz wanted sparklings but Prowl refused, however there was a little more to the story than that. see, just like humans, some bots can't carry. there's just not enough room in their spark chambers or their frames are too small. things happen. Jazz is on the list of bots that can't carry. trying would offline him... so he wanted Prowl to get his block removed so Prowl could carry the sparkling. only, for Prowl to carry the sparkling he'd have to step down in rank and duties until after the sparkling arrived, because he's just barely big enough to carry. he'd be in danger basically the whole cycle." Wheeljack explains.

"Jazz didn't tell me any of that." Reflect frowns.

"he's stubborn. he's convinced Prowl said no because he's putting his job above a family, but Prowl is thinking about his own safety and, not to mention, the fact he hates sparklings. he doesn't want any of his own, Jazz does but.... its not meant to be sometimes..." Wheeljack sighs. Reflect nods. "and of course Jazz still loves Prowl with all his spark, but Prowl refuses to try again because, well..." Wheeljack trails. Reflect frowns.

"Jazz still doesn't have the block." Reflect murmurs. Wheeljack nods.

"if they bond and Jazz doesn't have the block. getting sparked would offline him within days and Prowl refuses to put him at risk like. refuses." Wheeljack sighs.

"I don't blame him. they're both very important members of the team. we need them to win the war... without them, especially Prowl, we'd be in a dangerous position." Reflect murmurs. Wheeljack nods.

"but Jazz still doesn't see it that way." Wheeljack sighs.

"you think he'd either move on or get over it. either he loves Prowl and is willing to concede for both their safety or he's too stubborn to put his want for a sparkling aside and Prowl leaves him behind." Reflect frowns. "it was no different with Hide and I when I was human. there were things had to compromise on, things we had to concede to. things that couldn't happen and we still made it work. I think eventually Jazz will come around... at least I hope so." Reflect frowns.

"me too kid." Wheeljack sighs, sitting at his work bench.

"what are you working on?" Reflect asks, getting up and walking over.

"well, I figured, you might like to have some human-esk sparkling items for the sparkling." Wheeljack murmurs.

"oh yeah? like what?" Reflect ask.

"well.... I'm not sure what to make actually. what do human children like while sparklings?" Wheeljack ask.

"Sarah and I had a... a mobile for Annie. I figured I'd see if I could build one for the sparkling." Reflect says.

"I can do it!" Wheeljack grins. "draw up the plans and I'll build it. please let me do this." Wheeljack begs, pouting. Reflect shakes his head chuckling softly.

"Jack relax. I'll let you build it." Reflect chuckles softly. "I'm just looking for a basic mobile you can look them up on the internet." Reflect murmus. "they spin little stuffed toys around in a circle and play a soft lullaby. thats all it is." Reflect adds. Wheeljack nods grinning at him. he gets up and hugs the mech gently.

"thank you... I was... I was afraid you'd say no. afraid you'd think I'd kill your sparkling." Wheeljack mumbles. Reflect shakes his head.

"I know you'll take precautions to keep the sparkling safe." Reflect murmurs softly, hugging Wheeljack carefully. "I know you won't let the sparkling get hurt." Reflect adds. Wheeljack holds him tightly.

"I would never let one of my inventions hurt your sparkling." Wheeljack assures. Reflect smiles at him.

"I know you won't." Reflect smiles, stepping back from him. "well, I should get back to the medbay." Reflect mumurs.

"alright. be safe. avoid Jazz. he'll be a little moody." Wheeljack murmurs softly. Reflect nods and heads out of the lab and towards the medbay, subspacing his cube to sip it.

he walks in, looking around.

"he's not in here." Ratchet says, looking over.

"huh?" Reflect ask.

"Ironhide. he's not in here. he's in your room, helping set up the sparkling room." Ratchet says. Reflect nods a little.

"let him. won't hurt anything." Reflect mumbles, sitting on a berth.

"Jack tells me you're digging around for information on Prowl and Jazz." Ratchet says, looking over. "why?" he ask.

"kinda. I had a couple of questions. hey did your medical restock come back in? we got everything else but I never heard anything from you." Reflect frowns.

"yeah I got it all and its all organized. stop deflecting. why did you want to know?" Ratchet ask. Reflect frowns.

"well, I remember you telling me not to be caught in a room alone with them because Prowl would attempt to be civil but a fight could break out." Reflect frowns a little. Ratchet nods.

"what all did you manage to gather?" Ratchet ask.

"Jazz wants sparklings, Prowl doesn't. Jazz can't carry and Prowl refuses because it would make him step down from his job as it would put his safety at risk." Reflect explains. Ratchet nods, leaning back.

"well, let me give you a slightly more medically professional explination." Ratchet says. Reflect looks over at him.

"okay." he nods.

"Jazz is a very small Autobot. I remember when he was a sparkling, I was there when they forcibly expanded his spark chamber the day after he was sparked. he almost died because his chamber wasn't even big enough for his own spark. Jazz cannot have sparklings. he's physically incapable of becoming sparked and both him and the sparkling surviving. if he did become sparked, they would both offline almost immediately, but its not something he's willing to accept." Ratchet explains.

"wow... thats... horrifying." Reflect frowns. Ratchet nods.

"now I have better medical experience now, should a sparkling be sparked with a small chamber now, I've done plenty of repairs, rebuilds, and expansions on spark chambers. I could probably fix them up so they could have sparklings if they wanted to some day, but its too late to fix Jazz'." Ratchet sighs. Reflect nods.

"and... and Prowl?" Reflect ask, curiously.

"Prowl doesn't like sparklings to begin with. we all kinda figured that out when the Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee were found." Ratchet frowns.

"Sunny and Sides were sparklings?" Reflect ask.

"no they were younglings. Prowl still didn't like them, but can't really blame him on those two." Ratchet snorts. "anyway, Prowl is capable of carrying the spark itself, but it would not be easy for him. he's be taken off anything duty related. he'd be laid up on a berth until the sparkling got here, and he'd still have to spark early, because his frame isn't built for carrying a sparkling after it drops." Ratchet frowns. "he'd basically spark a spark and right before it drops, Jack and I would have to go in remove the spark and protoform and put them in something similar to a human incubation chamber, from that point it would be a waiting game to see if the sparkling even made it." Ratchet adds.

"because the protoform wouldn't have fully developed yet." Reflect frowns, nodding.

"yes." Ratchet sighs.

"well... would it not have been possible for Prowl to spark and then once he was far enough into it that the spark chamber was structered, simply, move the protoform to Jazz? I mean, put him on something like a, like a hormonal balancer or something like that and basically have them both carry the sparkling?" Reflect ask. Ratchet stares at him a moment before laughing.

"you're so much like Wheeljack its not even funny." Ratchet snorts. "we proposed that idea, but Prowl wasn't up for it. it would risk not only him, but the possible sparkling, and still put a big risk on Jazz as well. in the end, Jazz refused to drop the subject and Prowl felt pressured, he left before bonding to Jazz and utterly refused to try again. bringing it up makes him hostile. he and Jazz have a lot of arguments over it, because Jazz still wants a relationship with Prowl and Prowl refuses unless Jazz gets the block because he doesn't want to lose him." Ratchet frowns.

"thats... shitty. I mean, I see both sides of it. Jazz desperately wants a sparkling no matter the cost, but Prowl doesn't see losing his possible bondmate an acceptable cost. I understand. dying or causing your bonded to die because you're being selfish, isn't worth it." Reflect mutters. he shakes his head a little. "I shouldn't be digging into their business, I was just.. curious. they always seem so cordial, but I did hear them arguing the other day... Prowl was helping get things for the sparkling room and Jazz blew up on him." Reflect frowns. Ratchet nods a little.

"yeah, Prowl lost his temper and broke Jazz' visor." Ratchet frowns a little.

"Prowl hurt him? thats shocking." Reflect says. "I've never seen him really hurt anyone, unless it was the twins or a Decpeticon." Reflect adds.

"he usually doesn't but thats why I didn't want you alone with Prowl and Jazz, they're unpredictable." Ratchet frowns. "they had a full on brawl the same night you drank the high grade cube at the poker game." Ratchet says. Reflect looks confused, before frowning.

"I... don't even remember that night." Reflect frowns.

"I'm not surprised. you were, what the humans say, black out drunk. well you got sick and went to Ironhides room for the night. Prowl and Jazz, both drunk as well, broke out in an all out brawl. beating the hell out of each other, yelling and screaming. both ended up in here for a few hours while I repaired them." Ratchet frowns. Reflect nods a little.

"wow, bet that was a sight to see." Reflect says.

"Ironhide is still pissed he missed it." Ratchet snorts. Reflect chuckles a little.

"I bet he is. he lives for chaos." Reflect mutters.

"he'll get enough chaos when his sparkling gets here." Ratchet mutters.

"how bad was he as a sparkling?" Reflect ask.

"he caused alot of chaos." Ratchet chuckles. "he got into the security room on Cybertron when he was about 4 Earth months old and chewed on a wire. he took out half the power on Iacon and all the power on Cybertron." Ratchet laughs. Reflect frowns.

"so thats why." Reflect grumbles.

"thats why what?" Ratchet ask.

"well, remember when I chewed on that wire and took out power to the base?" Reflect frowns.

"yeah?" Ratchet ask confused.

"the Primes told me they chose that for a specific reason. that it had something to do with someone close to me. I assumed, they were making fun of you running in to the power lines, as did everyone else, but they did it because of Ironhide." Reflect groans. Ratchet laughs. "and I bet the bastard knew all this time." Reflect huffs.

"he was just as troublesome as a sparkling as he is now, only he didn't have guns as a sparkling. he didn't like guns, but that didn't stop him from using other things as weapons." Ratchet snorts.

"he told me about the sparkling fights... is that why he didn't like guns?" Reflect ask.

"no, but thats how he got his first real weapon." Ratchet murmurs. "no Ironhide was an incredibly small sparkling. I remember hearing a lot of older bots talk about his size because he had double the strength of any other sparkling. Ironhide could and would take down any caretakers att he sparkling center. he spent a lot of time in a cage because the caretakers were afriad of him. I think ended up with the worst of it. he's never actually talked about it, but, care centers were open all day every day expect for holidays. Ironhides creators were very neglectful anyway and often just left him there, so he spent a lot of time locked up in a cage." Ratchet frowns. Reflect frowns.

"so he was either fighting, neglected, or locked up? and you fuckers wonder why he's always wanting to fight." Reflect huffs. "Ironhide could've been a whole different mech if he hadn't gone through that stuff." Reflect adds.

"you could've been a whole different man if you hadn't gone through your sparkling hood either, but you both did and fates drew you together. don't focus on the past Reflect don't focus on the bad. you're both happy and together now. sure you're a little miserable right now, but you're happy with Ironhide. if you two hadn't grown up the way you did, you may never have ever even met, let alone bonded. hell without Ironhides fighting skills and his guns he wouldn't be alive today. he probably never would've made it to Earth." Ratchet frowns. "hell, the only reason I made it is because I was working on Wheeljack in the battle field one day and got him stable just about the time Brawn come running over, screaming Ironhide had a live bomb in his spark chamber. medic or not, I started shooting anyone who got in my way, I was not going to let Ironhide die. I fought after Nitro died, of course, but that was the day I realized that I was doing more harm than good by refusing to fight and just being a medic." Ratchet adds. Reflect nods listening quietly.

"a lot of things could've been different I guess. no use in wanting over the past." Reflect murmurs.

"so he told you about the sparkling fights?" Ratchet ask. Reflect nods.

"he mentioned it once or twice when I was human but never elaborated until I was a sparkling. he says he told me in his dreams, but I think he's crazy." Reflect frowns. Ratchet opens his mouth to say something, but gets cut off.

"Ratchet.... are you busy?" Wheeljack asks, poking his head in the door. they can't see his body, but something smells burnt.

"what did you do?" Ratchet frowns.

"uh... I need to borrow our wielder.... mine isn't working." Wheeljack says hesitantly.

"mine is medical equipment not lab equipment!" Ratchet glares. Reflect flinches slightly and Ratchet silently shoots him an apologetic look.

"well, mine had a short and caught fire and is useless until I can get the parts to fix it." Wheeljack frowns.

"you can't use mine. its medical equipment, not for lab use." Ratchet says firmly, careful to keep his voice even for Reflects sake. Reflect shoots him a grateful look.

"please?" Wheeljack pouts.

"the answer is no. you're not borrowing my wielder. it belong in the medbay, it stays in the medbay, its medical equipment and its not being used for anything other than medical reasons." Ratchet says.

"I'm gonna go see the sparkling room." Reflect murmurs, getting up off the berth and heading for the door.

"NO!" Wheeljack shouts, blocking the door. Reflect jerks back staring at him. he's tense watching Wheeljack. there's a slight, almost unnoticeable tremor in the carrying mechs left servo, hanging by his side. Ratchet narrows his optics, growling at Wheeljack.

"don't fucking yell at him." Ratchet growls.

I'm begging, please come get me.

Ratchet already commed, I'm on my way, promise.

"I didn't mean to yell, you just can't go see the sparkling room." Wheeljack says.

"move out of the way right now and don't you fraggin' dare touch him." Ratchet growls lowly. he gently grabs hold of Reflects arm, leading him towards the door. Ratchet immediately puts himself between Wheeljack and Reflect, keeping the incompetent inventor from touching the other mech.

"I-I didn't mean to-" Wheeljack starts.

"you never mean to." Ironhide growls, glaring the inventor down.