the door to Ironhide and Reflect room bursts open with Echo and Remix speeding out in their alt forms. little tires spinning, both squealing and giggling, with Reflect and Ironhide chasing behind them. Ratchet snorts after them.

"good luck you two." Ratchet laughs.

Reflect chases Remix into the rec room, watching him run face first into Cliffjumpers leg.

"Remix!" Reflect shouts, running over to his sparkling.

"oh shit, sorry little one." Cliffjumper frowns stepping back. Remix wails immediately.

"I know its alright." Reflect assures, scooping up the sparkling gently.

"a sparkling?" Cliffjumper asks. Reflect nods, holding his sparkling.

"yeah." Reflect mumbles.

"he's... yours?" Cliffjumper frowns.

"yup." Reflect says. Remix whimpers.

"you have a sparkling?" Cliffjumper asks.

"I have twins." Reflect says, shifting Remix. the sparkling sniffles, whimpering.

"Allsparked...?" Cliffjumper asks, almost hesitantly. Reflect shoots him an odd look.

"what? no. I carried them." Reflect frowns. "and what the hell is wrong with Allsparked sparklings? hmmm?" Reflect glares.

"what, wait, no nothings-" Cliffjumper tries.

"I'm an Allsparked sparkling." Reflect growls.

"I didn't mean-" Cliffjumper tries.

"you fucking, you're just as bad as Hot Rod and Crosshairs." Reflect snaps, storming off with his sparkling.

Cliffjumper stares after him jaw dropped. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe snorts standing beside him. SIdeswipe leans on Cliffjumpers shoulder while Sunstreaker shuts the mechs mouth for him.

"well well, guess you should've listened when we told you to leave him alone." Sideswipe smirks. he laughs and walks off with his twin.

"leave Reflect alone." Sunstreaker growls.

Reflect heads towards the medbay.

"whats wrong?"

"that stupid bastard! Cliffjumper! he's just as bad as Hot Rod! doesn't like Allsparked sparklings."

"I'll take care of it."

"no Hide, its fine."

Reflect heads into the medbay, clutching Remix.

"come on baby boy. its alright." Reflect murmurs. Remix whimpers. "I know, he got in your way its okay." Reflect soothes. he pauses slightly. he remembers Ratchet saying almost those same words to him several times when bots got in his way. Reflect smiles slightly and cuddles his sparkling.

"I'm glad you seem to treasure that, but you are projecting."

"shit. sorry Ironhide."

"I'm not worried about it. I just thought I'd warn you."

"did you find Echo?"

"yeah. I'm following her to the medbay."

"we're on the way."

"do you wanna walk?" Reflect asks. Remix whines, curling up with him. Reflect nods and cuddles him gently. "thats alright sweetspark. I carried you for months, a couple minutes down the hall way won't hurt." Reflect assures gently.

"carrier...?" Remix whines. his voice box crackles. Ratchet warned him the new voice box might go out, but he wonders if the poor little sparkling getting sick made it worse.

"yes?" Reflect ask.

"voice broke." Remix whimpers.

"I know. but Ratchets gonna fix it." Reflect assures.

"fix what?" Barricade asks, pausing in his walk past them. Reflect looks over.

"his voice box." Reflect frowns.

"its still not working right?" Barricade asks.

"I hope it just needs reset. it messed up when he was sick." Reflect says.

"it happens." Barricade nods. "where's Echo?" Barricade asks.

"making her way to the medbay. Ironhides following her." Reflect snorts. Barricade chuckles softly.

"I'm glad they're feeling better." Barricade says. "and I'm glad you are too." he adds. Reflect smiles at him.

"I feel better knowing they're better." Reflect murmurs. Barricade nods and walks off. Reflect continues on to the medbay humming to himself and the sparkling he holds.

he makes his way inside and pauses.

"Echo no!" Ironhide shouts, running after the sparkling. she dodges him easily with a quick drift around a berth, little tires spinning and leaving marks across the medbay floor, giggling the whole time. Reflect twitches slightly at the yelling.

"Echo, you're gonna get hurt." Wheeljack frowns. he grabs at the sparkling but misses.

"damn it, you take after your carrier!" Ratchet frowns. Reflects servo twitches against his sparkling gently. "come on kid you're gonna get hurt in here!" Ratchet huffs, ducking under one of the berths in an attempt to grab her. she simply swerves around him. Ratchet curses and stands back up.

"for a blind sparkling you sure are fast." Ironhide grumbles. "get back here Echo." Ironhide huffs.

"I got her!" Wheeljack shouts, vaulting over a berth. he slams face first into Ratchets chestlpates and knocks them both onto the ground.

"Wheeljack you idiot!" Ratchet snaps.

"Echo!' Ironhide shouts, grabbing at the sparkling. he barely misses her bumper, Ratchet shoves his bondmate off, rolling quickly and grabbing hold of the sparkling.

"gotcha!" Ratchet shouts. Echo squeals, transforming. her little legs slip right out of Ratchets servos and the sparkling is off again. "damn it!" Ratchet growls. Echo squeals, transforming again and speeding past her creator.

"Echo, get back here." Ironhide huffs.

"Echo!" Ratchet snaps. Reflect plating audibly shifts and all three look up. Ratchet winces.

"Reflect-" Wheeljack tries.

"Echo." Reflect says. theres an edge to his voice. the sparkling stops, turning towards the door.

"carrier!" Echo squeals, transforming and running over to her carrier. Reflect scoops her up.

"fix his voice box." Reflect snaps, putting Remix on a berth.

"Reflect, hang on." Ratchet frowns, following him out of the medbay quickly. Reflect doesn't stop. Ratchet grabs his arm carefully. "we shouldn't have been yelling at her." Ratchet says.

"fix his voice box." Reflect snaps, storming off. Echo chirps.

"carrier mad?" Echo asks.

"not at you sweetie." Reflect assures gently. "and its not so much mad, I promise. I know its confusing." Reflect sighs.

"Eco love carrier." Echo says softly. Reflect pauses and smiles, shifting her gently before hugging her tightly.

"I know baby, I love you too kiddo." Reflect assures.

"carrier better now?" Echo asks. Reflect gives her a small smile he hopes her optics can pick up.

"yeah kiddo. you made it better." Reflect assures. Echo squeals and cuddles him happily.

"Eco fix like Chett!" Echo giggles. Reflect nods.

"yup. just like Ratchet." Reflect assures. Echo lays her head on Reflect shoulder, chirping quietly. she's chewing on his armor and Reflect can't even care. he ate so much paint at her age and it never hurt him.

"you okay?" Bumblebee asks. Reflect nods.

"yeah we're good Bee." Reflect assures.

"you sure?" Bumblebee asks. Reflect nods.

"have you seen Prowl?" Reflect asks. Bumblebee nods, smiling slightly.

"yeah, Prowl. Smokescreen, and Bluestreak are moving stuff around in Prowls room to fit two more berths so they can stay in there until we get rooms made for them." Bumblebee smiles. Reflect smiles slightly, nodding.

"thanks. I'll get to work on getting paper work in but I won't ptu a rush on it. they've been separated a while." Reflect murmurs. Bumblebee nods.

"you sure you're okay?" Bumblebee asks.

"oh yeah I'm fine, I'm gonna take Echo to run around in the rec room." Reflect murmurs. Bumblebee nods watching him go.

Reflect sets Echo down as soon as he enters the rec room.

"go. run around baby, its safe in here." Reflect assures. Echo squeals running off.

"so... you really do have twins then?" Cliffjumper asks. Reflect looks over.

"yeah I do." Reflect says.

"she look so much like her creator did at that age, its not even funny." Trailbreaker chuckles.

"does she?" Reflect asks. Trailbreak nods.

"yeah I never saw him myself at that age, but I've seen pictures of Ironhide, she looks just like him." Trailbreaker chuckles.

"yeah? I've never-" Reflect starts.

"you had sparklings with Ironhide?" Cliffjumper asks.

"well, yeah." Reflect says, looking confused.

"Ironhide?" Cliffjumper asks. Reflect nods.

"yeah, he's my bondmate." Reflect says.

"you're telling me, you had sparklings with the most hot headed, trigger happy, bastard of a bot to ever walk on Cybertron?" Cliffjumper asks. Reflect glares.

"don't talk shit about my bonded." Reflect warns.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Sideswipe mutter from where he's gotten on the floor to play with Echo.

"what?" Cliffjumper huffs, rolling his optics at Sideswipe. he shakes his head, turning back to Reflect. "you're Ratchet and Wheeljacks sparkling so it shouldn't surprise me. Ratchets worse than Ironhide I mean-" Cliffjumper starts. he suddenly can't speak as there's a servo wrapped around his throat, squeezing his pipes.

"STOP TALKING ABOUT MY FAMILY LIKE THAT!" Reflect shouts.

"Primus here we go." Sunstreaker mutters. "ge tdown!" Sunstreaker growls. he grabs hold of Sideswipe and Echo, and though he's careful with Echo, he shoves their faces into the ground, putting himself over the sparkling gently as Cliffjumper goes flying over them. Reflect would never forgive himself for accidentally hurting his sparkling and Sunstreaker would never forvie himself for letting her get hurt.

"Optimus-"

"I heard him shouting. Ironhide and I are on the way. whose injured Sideswipe?"

"Cliffjumper."

"just Cliffjumper?

"yeah, for now."

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY FAMILY!" Reflect shouts, grabbing hold of Cliffjumper again.

"Reflect, put him down." Ironhide calls.

"no!" Reflect growls.

"put him down." Ironhide says again, walking closer to him.

"absolutely not! he was talking shit about my family and I'm showing him why you don't do that!" Reflect growls.

"you've showed him. its okay." Ironhide soothes.

"he had no right to talk about Ratchet like that! Like Ratchet isn't the fucking reason he's still alive!" Reflect shouts. Ironhide grabs him gently.

"Reflect." Ironhide says softly. Reflect turns and looks at him, glaring. "you showed him." Ironhide assures. "its okay." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect lets Cliffjumper go. the smaller bot hits his aft and scrambles away, staring up at Reflect. he holds his throat, systems panting as he stares up at the larger bot. Reflect steps away, glaring Cliffjumper down.

"shit." Sunstreaker mutters, sitting up. Sideswipe sits up and scoops up Echo.

"are you okay?" SIdeswipe asks. Echo looks up at him, confused.

"Eco kay." Echo chirps. Reflects head snaps over and he walks over to them.

"thank you for protecting her." Reflect says, scooping his sparkling up. he glances at Sunstreaker. "I appreciate it." he adds.

"yeah. no problem." Sunstreaker mutters, getting up. Echo hugs Reflect tightly, whimpering.

"is she okay?" Ironhide asks.

"she's fine. where's Remix?" Reflect asks.

"Ratchets still working on him in the medbay." Ironhide mutters. "go. he's probably done by now." Ironhide adds. Reflect nods and carries Echo out of the room. Ironhide watches him go before his cannon starts spinning.

"Ironhide." Optimus warns. Ironhide clenches both of his fists, glaring at Cliffjumper.

"leave my bondmate alone, or I'll end you." Ironhide warns, storming after Reflect.

Reflect storms down to the medbay, growling lowly. he shoves the doors open. neither Ratchet nor Wheeljack look up at him. both concentrating on getting Remix to sit up.

"come on little one." Ratchet murmurs.

"what happened in the rec room?" Wheeljack asks, glancing slightly at him before looking back at Remix.

"nothing." Reflect snaps. Remix turns around and reaches for Reflect.

"carrier!" Remix shouts. Reflect smiles slightly at his sparkling and walks over, scooping him up. Ratchet stands up, looking at Reflect.

"so, you threw Cliffjumper around for no reason?" Ratchet asks. Reflect glares.

"yeah." Reflect snaps, turning and walking out with the twins.

"Ironhide what the hell happened? Reflect won't even talk to us."

"not sure. Cliffjumper said something about you and Wheeljack. don't know what it was, but Reflect was pissed."

"something about Jack and I?"

"thats all I gathered. not sure what exactly he said."

"right, well, how bad is Cliffjumper?"

"he's headed your way now. he's not too bad. Prime and I got there before he could do much more than throw him around."

"good, thanks."

Ironhide follows his bondmates signal outside the base. he steps out to the front of the base just in time for Remix to go speeding past him. his little wheels spinning as fast as they can. Ironhide smiles slightly. Echos not far behind her brother. Reflect is watching them carefully not far away. Ironhide walks over to him, optics on the sparklings as well.

"wanna tell me what happened?" Ironhide asks. Reflect huffs.

"he came after my family. I showed him why you don't do that." Reflect snaps. Ironhide frowns.

"what happened?"

"not really sure. Cliffjumper said some stuff about you, the sparklings, Ratchet, and Wheeljack. Reflect lost his mind. he never even threatened to hurt anyone he was just saying a bunch of shit like you know, the usual. he was Ratchet and Wheeljacks sparkling so its not surprising he bonded to a mech like you or something like that. Reflect was pissed."

"thanks."

Ironhide frowns a little, looking over at Reflect.

"what did he say Reflect?" Ironhide asks.

"it doesn't matter." Reflect huffs.

"clearly is does. it bothered you." Ironhide says. Reflect shakes his head.

"no." Reflect says. "Echo! do not start headbutting things!" Reflect shouts, watching her ram into the back of her brother.

"she's okay. twins play and they fight. twins are awful rough with each other." Ironhide snorts. Reflect nods slightly.

"no Acho touch Mix!" Remix squeals transforming. he turns to face his sister tackling her with an angry squeal. Echo transforms immediately, grabbing hold of her brother and slamming him to the ground.

"no Mix touch Eco!" Echo screams. Reflect stares at his sparklings a moment.

"she just..." Reflect tries.

"fucking destroyed him." Ironhide laughs. Echo laughs happily, holding tightly to Remix. Remix screams, trying to throw her off.

"get off! get off!" Remix screams.

"Mix stupid! no take Eco! Eco take Mix!" Echo screams, throwing her brother aside.

"should we stop them?" Reflect asks, hesitantly. Ironhide shakes his head.

"twins build strength in not only themselves but their twin bond by doing stuff like this." Ironhide assures. "not everyone knew that . thats one of the reasons Sideswipe and Sunstreaker fight like they do now.... when we found them... it was recommended we separate them. we separated them for three weeks. it wasn't good. we will never allow that to happen to these two. ever." Ironhide says. Reflect looks over at him and nods.

"our sparklings will never be separated like that." Reflect assures. "Echo! Remix! no!" Reflect shouts, heading over to them quickly. Ironhide looks over again.

"Echo! don't run your brother over! Remix stop biting her tire!" Ironhide shouts, rushing over after Reflect.

"I'll grab her you grab him." Reflect frowns. he reaches for Echo only for her to shoot off.

"no!" Echo squeals.

"no Mix either!" Remix shouts, transforming and speeding off under Ironhide. Ironhide huffs, looking over at him. Reflect watches Echo go and shrugs.

"fuck it. they'll wear themselves out eventually." Reflect mutters.

"if any of you stupid bastards get in the way of my sparklings or hit them while not paying attention, I'll kill you. slowly. painfully. they're outside playing in front of the base. they're driving around. hurt them. I'll kill you."

Ironhide chuckles softly. he'd been waiting for the mass com.

"Mix stupid! off Eco! off Eco!" Echo screams when her brother jumps onto her. she transforms and kicks him off glaring. "Mix bigger not smarter!" Echo screams, grabbing hold of Remix's leg.

"for a blind sparkling she seems to see him just fine." Ironhide snorts.

"actually, Wheeljack, Ratchet, and I have been doing some research into what little stuff we can get a hold of from Cybertron. its their twin bond. its not really that she can see him. shes scanning for his spark signature. I talked to Sunny and Sides about it and from what they remember they used to do the same when they weren't in the same room. whenever they couldn't see each other as sparklings and younglings, they did the same thing." Reflect explains. Ironhide nods slightly.

"she can't see him, but she can feel him. pinpoint his location and use it against him. he probably hasn't learned to do that yet and even though he can see her, she's got being blind on her side. she can sense him, predict his moves." Ironhide says.

"echo-location." Reflect says.

"huh?" Ironhide asks.

"she discovered her first ability and you just discovered where she got her name from." Reflect murmurs, turning to smile at him. Ironhide pauses, turning to meet his gaze.

"Echo. echo-location." Ironhide says. Reflect nods at him. he chuckles softly, turning back to the sparklings. they watch Echo throw Remix across the sand.

"stupid!" Echo huffs, blowing a raspberry.

"no you stupid!" Remix growls, getting up and running at her. Echo jumps out of the way, making Remix tumble face first into the sand.

"not as stupid as Mix!" Echo laughs.

"Primus have mercy." Ironhide snorts.

"hey! shape up there!" Reflect calls, snorting. Echo screams running at Remix. "well Ratchet and I are gonna spend the rest of the night banging dents out of these two." Reflect chuckles.

"thats okay." Ironhide chuckles. Remix screams. "now we should step in." Ironhide frowns. Reflect frowns and walks over to them, scooping Remix up. Ironhide scoops up Echo.

"Eco tell Mix, Mix stupid." Echo huffs.

"Echo be nice. your brother is hurt." Ironhide frowns. Reflect shakes his head.

"come on. lets go inside." Reflect sighs, carrying his sobbing sparkling. there's a large dent across the mechlings forehead, not that the femling looks much better. she's almost as beat up as he is, but she looks utterly smug. Reflect can hear his bondmate chuckling and praising their daughter for her fighting skills. he is proud of her, thats how sparklings really learn, but Remix had ended up hurt. Remix whimpers, sniffling. "I know its alright." Reflect assures.

"we're on our way to the medbay."

"is everything alright Reflect?"

"sort of. are you and Jack in there?"

"yeah, what happened?"

"uh... well... Echo and Remix got into a Sunny and Sides style fight and both of them are in need of repairs."

"are you serious?"

"yep. Echo kicked his ass and he's... pretty beat up."

"we... we'll get ready."

"thanks Ratchet."

Echo giggles cuddling against Ironhide. she gives off a high pitch chirp, her call to her brother, but Remix doesn't answer it. Echo looks confused, chirping again. Remix whimpers.

"Mix?" Echo asks.

"he's alright Echo. I promise." Reflect assures gently. Echo whines.

"Mix?" Echo asks.

"she can't see how bad she got him." Ironhide says.

"I know." Reflect murmurs. Remix screams when Reflect shifts him, wailing. "I know it hurts all over. its an ass kicking buddy. its going to hurt." Reflect murmurs. he pushes the doors open to the medbay and walks in, Ironhide following after.

"Remix! what happened?" Wheeljack asks, walking over quickly.

"Echo and Remix got into a twin scuffle." Ironhide says. "but Echo can't see how bad she kicked his ass and didn't know when to stop." Ironhide adds. Wheeljack scoops the little mechling up gently.

"and you guys let it happen? Ironhide what the hell?" Wheeljack huffs. he's teasing, twins do this it was just part of having twins. he turns and walks over to a berth missing Reflect tense up. his servo twitches.

"knock it off." Ironhide snaps, glaring at Wheeljack. "you know this is what twins do. don't fucking play like that." Ironhide growls. Wheeljack turns around confused, until his optics land on Reflect. he can physically see the mech doubting himself, his ability to raise the sparklings. he can see the fear of failure in his optics. Reflect doesn't even seem to notice him, optics firmly on Remix.

"I'm just joking-" Wheeljack starts. Ratchet knocks Wheeljack in the back of the head.

"stop it Jack. they're sparklings. they fight. hell Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are entering mech hood and still act like that!" Ratchet growls, taking Remix to look him over. "what happened?" Ratchet asks.

"she couldn't see how bad she was hurting him... we should've stepped in sooner, but we thought they were fine." Reflect says.

"they are. its alright. Remix hasn't learned to defend himself properly yet. its alright. she hasn't learned when to stop yet and, unfortunately, neither have the Chevy twins." Ratchet mutters. he lays the little mechling out gently. "get to work on Echo, she's not too bad Jack." Ratchet says. Ironhide passes his daughter off to the inventor. Ironhide glances at Reflect. the mech is tense staring at their son.

"Reflect?"

"I'm fine."

"no your not."

"yes I am."

"you're projecting again."

"..."

"I'm not judging you Reflect. you're not a bad carrier. Wheeljack was just making a joke."

"I know! damn it! I fucking know!"

"than whats wrong?"

"I just... I feel like I'm failing them... and it sucks."

"what do you mean?"

"I... I failed in my marriage with Sarah. I-I failed at raising Annie, I failed Annie!"

"no you didn't."

"she's dead isn't she?"

"Reflect-"

"Annies dead because I couldn't save her. I failed her."

"does that mean I failed Will?"

Reflect looks confused, looking over at his bonded. Ironhide frowns at him.

"huh?"

"if you failed Annie because she's dead, doesn't that mean I failed Will? he's dead because I couldn't save him."

"thats different."

"how?"

"Will was a fully grown man. an adult in his 50s... Annie... she was just a baby. a child. she wasn't... she was just a baby, a sparkling. she needed me to protect her and I couldn't do it."

Ironhide frowns.

"we'll be right back." Ironhide says, grabbing Reflects servo and leading him away. he pull Reflect out of the medbay and into the hall, grabbing his shoulders gently.

"Ironhide-" Reflect tries.

"listen to me." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect looks up at him. "you never failed her. you did the best you could. everything Will did, everything you did, it was for her. not to hurt her." Ironhide murmurs.

"she's dead though and I'm not. I got a second chance." Reflect says.

"Wills dead." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect looks a little confused. "Will is dead. Annie's father is dead, and I miss him. I miss them both dearly. you know I do, but you can't live this life, waste this life, fearing the past. what happened was a tragedy, learn from it, but you cannot let yourself feel like a failure when we have two very healthy sparklings." Ironhide murmurs.

"but I-" Reflect tries.

"no. its okay. don't you remember how many times it was you on that berth in those three yeas? do you ever wonder if Ratchet and Wheeljack feel like they failed you? you offlined when Sunstreaker ran you over. Ratchet saved you, but I know he and Wheeljack still feel guilty. still feel like they failed you." Ironhide murmurs.

"but they didn't! they couldn't have stopped it! I.." Reflect tries. "it was my fault." Reflect says.

"no it wasn't you were a sparkling, a kid. wasn't your fault. listen to me, do you feel like they failed you?" Ironhide asks.

"no! Primus no!" Reflect cires.

"exactly. you and them were learning to do things for the first time. you're still learning and so they. so am I. we are not failing our sparklings." Ironhide soothes.

"are you sure?" Reflect asks. Ironhide nods.

"I'm positive. you've seen it. you saw it in the future. we're not failing them. its alright." Ironhide soothes. Reflect nods slightly.

"okay. thanks Ironhide." Reflect nods a little. Ironhide pulls him to his chest, hugging him tightly.

"its alright just relax a little okay?" Ironhide murmurs. Reflect hugs him hard, clinging to his bonded as though he's a lifeline.

"I'm sorry." Reflect mumbles.

"don't be. everyone has moments like this. you, me, Ratchet, Wheeljack. he'll Prime ask me a couple of times if he was failing Bumblebee when he was a sparkling." Ironhide murmurs. "I'm sure you had the same doubts when you were a soldier and Sarah was still carrying Annie. I'm pretty sure its a normal thing." Ironhide murmurs softly. Reflect nods against him.

"yeah, sometimes." Reflect mumbles. Ironhide nods.

"see? it'll be fine. everything will be fine." Ironhide assures. Reflect nods slightly.

"right. okay." Reflect murmurs, stepping back. "lets go back to them." Reflect says. Ironhide smiles at him and walks back into the medbay with Reflect.

"hows it lookin?" Ironhide asks.

"Echo's good. Remix is almost done." Ratchet assures. Reflect nods slightly.

"and we know you already know this, but just for a little reassurance, sparkling twins do this. its okay. they fight, build their strength, their bond. its okay Reflect." Wheeljack assures.

"I mean... we always get onto the Chevy twins for doing this shit and now we're letting my twins get away with it." Reflect frowns.

"well... there's a difference. your twins weren't separated like Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were. we didn't know enough about twins back then. we get onto them because they don't fight outside. they fight inside and everyone else gets hurt." Ratchet explains. Reflect nods.

"Ratchet."

comes Optimus' voice across the medics speakers.

"Anonymous!" Echo squeals. Reflect chuckles softly.

"go a head Prime." Ratchet snorts.

"your favorite patients are on the way down."

"speak of devils." Ironhide mutters.