What are these kids up to?

Illusion remembers very little from before her and her little family arrived on Earth.

Mostly, they remember being in pain.

She doesnt like to ask about the time before. She knew the reason they were on a ship was because something bad and scary had happened on their planet.

Once on Earth, she learned that her existence didn't have to be painful and uncomfortable.

Doctor Ratchet and Doctor Velocity were so nice and so gentle with her, they made her pain bearable. They even gave her a cane and a wheelchair! She mostly didn't like using the cane, it was hard to walk with, the wheelchair was easier. Her favourite humans had wheelchairs too! Andy and Chip!

The older kids sometimes forget about them. She'll be taking a nap, the older kids will leave to do something else where, and when she wakes up, she'll be all alone.

They've been getting better about not forgetting them. Springer and Bumblebee will let them nap on their backs, that way, when they leave, they take her with them!

There was once time, they had left her in the play room, even Hot Rod, her bestest friend in the whole entire world, and they woke up to a dark room.

Illusion had to drag themself to the TV, so that she'd have a little bit of light. The show that was playing was Bluey. Her and Hot Rod's favourite show!

A few episodes went by when they heard someone come in.

"Did someone leave the TV on?" that was Arcee's voice.

"I'm watching Bluey!" Illusion called out.

"Oh no! Illy, we forgot you here!" Arcee turned on the light and quickly made her way over to the toddler. "Sorry about that. We heard that Rung was making fresh treats, and we wanted to get there before anyone else. You're favourite are the donuts right?"

Illusion perked up. They made grabby hands at Arcee.

"Are you using words today or is today a limited?" she asked.

"Please!" Illusion laughed. Sometimes, she didn't have energy for words. Some days, they used very few words, other times, she'd use no words. The other kids were always patient when it was a no words day.

"Alright then. Here you go!" Arcee handed Illusion the bright purple donut, then sat next to her.

"Hey, Arcee, why'd you just leave?" Springer came in. "Oh, hey Illusion." then he panicked. "We left her alone!"

"We forgot Illusion?!" First Aid came rushing in. "Hey Illy! Sorry we left you here all alone. I see Arcee already gave you a snack. Do you forgive us?"

Illusion pondered for a few minutes. The older kids looked nervous, awaiting their answer. "I forgive you!"

"Great!" Springer sat down on the other side of Illusion. "Hey, Arcee. did we leave her in the dark?"

"We did, but when i came in, she was watching Bluey. Right Illy?" she asked.

Illusion nodded. "I have... question."

"What's up, Illy?" First Aid asked. He sat behind them on the couch.

"Why does everyone call me... she and girl? What is that?" they leaned back on First Aid's legs. "You get called she, Arcee. Hot Rod gets called he and boy. I don't get it."

"Has Magnus not gone over what that is in class with you and Roddy?" Arcee asked.

"Mag...nus?" Illusion looked confused.

"Oh, he gives you class as Minimus. I don't think you or Hot Rod have ever seen him in his armor." Springer said. "You two are so little, he thought it best to give you class without hiss armor on, he didn't want to scare you."

"I'm not scared!" Illusion frowned.

"I know, Illy, but when Minimus wears his armor, hes bigger than Optimus. And Optimus is really big, right?" First Aid asked.

Illusion quietly whispered "Oh."

"But back to she, he, boy, girl. You want to know what those words mean." Arcee stated. Illusion nodded. "Its... a little complicated, because we don't fully understand why humans do it either."

"On Cybertron, there was a few different ways to categorize people. Size class, altmode, land, water, air, if you were a vehicle or an object, social class... When you refered to someone, without using their name or if you didn't know it, you'd use what is called a pronoun." Arcee started explaining.

"What's social class?" Illusion asked.

"You know how all the adults have jobs? And how some give orders and others follow them?" Springer asked. Illusion simply nodded. "It's something like that. But it was more to do with what the government back on Cybertron deemed who was better and who was lesser."

"Oh."

"Do you really get it, or are you more confused?" Arcee asked her.

"More confused. Springy said a lot of words." Illusion admitted.

"What didn't you understand? I can try to explain it better for you." Springer said.

"Why are some people better than others? Did the others do something bad?" they asked.

The three older kids looked at each other. Unsure on how to proceed.

"Well, it's not like anyone was better or worse." First Aid started.

"Yeah, the government were bad people. They saw certain people as less worthy." Springer added. "Not because those people were less worthy, though."

"It's like if people treated you badly for the way you talked or walked, or played. It doesn't make sense to be treated badly for things you can't help but do."

"Ooooh. I get it!" Illusion closed their eyes. "What does this have to do with she and he and boy and girl?"

"Well, we told you how people were categorized on Cybertron." Arcee said.

Illusion nodded.

"While the categories have different meanings, its similar. He is used for boys, and she is used for girls."

"But what are boys and girls? I still don't get it!" Illusion frowned. "Are Sideswipe and Sunstreaker boys and girls?? They get called she and he!! What's the difference?!"

"Uhm..." Arcee started.

"It means. Uh..." First Aid didn't know how to explain.

"It's a way humans tell eachother apart." Springer said. "Girls need certain things, boys need other things, medically speaking. Some girls want to be boys, and some boys want to be girls. Some boys and girls want to be both at the same time, or none. He and She aren't the only words they use though. There's lots. You use them all the time. When you're talking about someone, and you don't want to keep saying their name over and over and over, or you are talking about a hypothetical person, you use that word. A pronoun.

"A lot of humans think in very binary ways. Because of the way that Hot Rod acts, they assume he's a boy. And they assume that you are a girl because of how you act. Doesn't make it right though. We technically dont fit those same categories humans have. If we are to go by their definitions of what she, he, boy and girl mean, none of us would really fit the definition of those words.

"Basically, you don't have to be called she, if you dont want to. The adults don't really care, most of them use he for their own reasons. Me, Aid, Bee, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, we kinda don't care what pronouns we're called. Arcee does care, she likes to be called she. Only because she thinks it sounds nicer.

"The way things were back on Cybertron, before the war, people couldn't choose what they could be called. That wasn't the whole reason for the war, but its one of them. You'll be able to understand better when you're older, but until then, you can choose what others call you. He, she, they, it, ze, ey, whatever you think feels right, we'll call you that. And it doesn't have to be just one, or permanent. Whatever you want to be called, we'll help you tell everyone, ok?"

Arcee and First Aid stared at their friend. They didn't know that he knew so much about this subject.

"What? Stop staring at me!"

"Where did you learn all that? Me and First Aid don't know half of that!"

"Andy, Chip and Miko know a lot about it. When you guys are busy, i hang out with them." Springer said simply.

"I like they." Illusion said softly.

All three turned to look at them.

"You like they?" Arcee asked.

"Yeah! It feels better than she. I don't like it when the humans call me a girl. Does it feel bad when they call you a girl, Arcee?"

Arcee thought for a moment. She really thought about it. Finally, she answered.

"No. It feels right." Arcee smiled at Illusion. "Since Miko, Andy and Chip know more about this, maybe you could ask them when they come back on monday. How about it?"

"Yeah!!" Illusion sat up, leaned on Arcee, and looked up at her. Their optics big and shiny, and they asked "Can i have another donut?"

All three of the older kids laughed. Arcee said yes, made Illusion promise not to tell their creators, and handed them the now cold, but still just as yummy, donut.

---

Illusion couldn't stop crying. Their sire held them close, trying to sooth them, but nothing worked.

"Get those two out of here!"

Their favourite person was gone.

"Hound, Bumblebee, stay."

Why was she gone?

"Optimus, you can't be serious!"

This had to be a cruel prank.

"Illusion and Hot Rod, as well as the other kids, deserve to know what happened."

They wouldn't stop screaming.

"The kid was a con! Who cares!?"

Why? Why are they being mean about her?

"Shut the hell up, Cliffjumper!"

They wanted it to stop.

"You shut up, aristocrat!"

Why won't it stop?

"I have fought in this war for as long as you have! You have no room to talk, you're shit talking a little kid!"

"Arcee did nothing wrong!"

"Oh, so the ex-Con has something to say? I'm so surprised!"

"She's a child! All she's ever known was war! You know what she told me? She said that she was terrified of telling anyone who she really was, because she thought the moment she revealed where she came from, she would be hated, or even hurt. And it's good she never told anyone, look how you're acting now!"

"She could be telling Megatron all our secrets!"

"What secrets? She had as much security clearence as First Aid or Springer. None!"

"Didn't you say she had escaped to the roof through the vents? She could have been spying on us!"

"You are insane!"

Illusion just wanted Arcee to come back.

Drift was walking back from therapy, approaching the kids play room to chat with First Aid. He hadn't seen him for a couple days, after being assigned his duties(once he was deemed "trustworthy" enough), his schedule had been pretty packed.

There was yelling.

Kids yell and scream when they're excited, he's used to it.

But this didn't sound like the kids having fun and getting carried away with their volume...

"I fucking hate it here!" more yelling, and then a loud crash.

OK, he needed to step in.

"What is going on, why are you yelling?" he stepped in, only to see chaos. "No one leaves until I'm told what happened."

"She's crazy!"

"He's a hypocrite!"

"Stop it! Please!"

All three younglings started shouting again. Drift pinched the bridge of his nose.

"All of you quiet!"

They all went quiet

"I need one of you, and only one of you, to explain to me exactly what happened, or you will all be grounded." Drift's face was flat, showing the kids that he was not playing around. "Springer, you seem to be the only one not insulting the others, what happened?"

"Well..." The green youngling looked over at First Aid, who glared at him and shook his head. "Nothing, sir. It was nothing."

"No, you're explaining the situation to me, not First Aid. What happened that he doesn't want me to know?" Drift asked.

"S-sorry... So uhm... a couple months ago... First Aid had the idea to start a... a blog. On the internet. Where we would answer questions from random people online-"

"You did what?!" Drift growled. "None of you are allowed to use the internet without adult supervision! What were you thinking?!"

"That's not all, sir..." Springer spoke up again. "We uhm... we got these... anonymous questions... from... from bots that said they were Decepticons..."

Drift took a deep breath. Alright. He could handle this. He knew most of the 'Cons that resided on earth, he couldn't think of any that would want to cause harm to children, even if they were Autobot children...

"Tell me the truth. Did any of you give away information that could put not just you, but the entire base in danger?" He asked.

All three looked guilty.

Drift let out an exasperated sigh. "You all should know better! Arcee where the hell are you going?"

"I'm leaving!" she yelled at him. "You aren't my carrier, fuck off!"

"Arcee!"

"Let her leave, she's a dirty 'Con, she doesn't care about us!" First Aid said loudly, making sure that Arcee heard him.

Arcee shot him a glare, and ran out.

"First Aid! You of all bots should be the most understanding!" Drift reprimanded his child.

"Springer-" he turned to the other youngling still in the room. "-get your carrier. Have him inform Chromia and Windblade that Arcee might have run away."

Springer only nodded, and ran out.

Drift turned back to his creation. "How could you say that to one of your best friends?"

"Her carrier took you from me! She's Megatron's kid!! I hate them both!" First Aid cried. "He took you from us, he took you from us and you finally came back, how are you not mad at him too?"

Drift side, and got down on his knees to look First Aid in the eyes. "Aidy, Megatron didn't take me from you. He never did." he hugged the crying youngling.

"Aid, my shining, brilliant spark, me leaving never had anything to do with him. I missed you the entire time I was gone, I thought about you and your carrier every single day." he took a shakey breath. "But, I need you to understand, no one has the blame for me leaving, but me. Not you, not Arcee, not even Megatron. Me."

"Why did you leave though?" First Aid said, through tears. "Neither of you have ever told me why. Carrier never talked about it, Pharma just said it was between you and carrier, and you've been here for months now, and still you haven't said anything! I'm 14! I'm almost 15! I can understand!"

"This... this is a conversation best had with your carrier present. So we can both tell you what happened, OK?" Drift asked.

First Aid nodded.

Drift smiled, and picked up his creation.

"S-sire! Put me down! This is embarrassing!"

"Come on, I missed out on so much, let me at least carry you like I did when you were still a bitlet." he smiled.

First Aid hid his face in his sire's neck. "Fine." he said, though it was muffled.

Arcee was still running. She knew that she wouldn't be able to leave the front entrance, it was always so heavily guarded. Damn it, stupid First Aid never showed her how he and Springer would sneak out for their stupid unchaperoned dates in the city!

Hiding out in the room she shared with Springer and First Aid was out of the question as well, if they start looking for her, they'd find her there right away.

She skidded to a stop when she heard voices coming from the direction she was heading. She made a quick U-turn, and turned left at the first corridor.

There had to be some part of the ship that had low foot traffic...

She kept running, avoiding any voices she heard, she didn't want to see any Autobots. They would all soon learn that she wasn't one of them, she was a 'dirty Con' like First Aid called her.

Every single Autobot hated her. Might even want her dead.

Stopping was not an option.

After running around, evading and sneaking around bots that were getting off their shifts, others patrolling, she found a quiet corridor.

It seemed to be a dead end. At least to anyone too big to fit in a vent. She recalled when Rumble and Frenzy would show her and her twin how to quietly sneak through the ventilation systems of The Nemesis.

She made sure to put back the grate, so that no one knew how she'd escaped.

They'll never see her again.

Prowl was nearly knocked to the ground by his only creation.

Springer cried into his carrier's chest. Prowl tried calming him down, but the child's words were indiscernible.

"Springer, I can't understand you. Please, take a deep breath." He whispered. "What happened?"

Springer took deep breaths, too quick, it only made his vents stutter.

"Slow and steady." Prowl said.

The older bot cradled his creation's face, and took a deep breath, the youngling followed suit.

A minute passed, Springer was able to calm down.

"A-Arcee ran away. We-we need to tell Chromia and Windblade." He said, still unable to get his voice steady. "Her and First Aid started fighting and she got so angry... and she ran away!"

"Springer, there's little chance that she left the Ark. There's guards at the only entrance. She has to still be somewhere here." Prowl said. "Come now, I'll call Chromia and Windblade to meet us at Prime's office. Let's go."

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop them from fighting, carrier... They didn't listen to me!"

"Springer, that's not your job. You're just a kid, like them. Come on," Prowl said. "We need to tell Chromia and Windblade what happened, and ask Optimus to make an announcement so we can start looking for her."

"Prowl, what happened?" Windblade rushed to the SIC. "Where's Arcee?"

"Sh-she ran away-"

"What!?" Chromia screamed. "When did this happen?!"

"T-ten minutes ago?" Springer said. "I tried to get them to stop-"

"Get who to stop?" Windblade asked. "Why did you wait to tell us? We need to start looking for her!"

"I had to run to find my carrier. I didn't know where you guys were." Springer explained. "And I don't have personal comms yet."

Windblade and Chromia shared a worried look.

"Sorry for blowing up on you, kid." Chromia sighed. "Prowl, I'm guessing you asked us to meet outside the Prime's office so he could make a ship wide announcement?"

"Exactly." Prowl said. He knocked on the office door. "Optimus, sir, sorry to interrupt, but this is a very urgent matter."

The door slid open.

Inside, they saw Drift and Optimus.

"Drift, sir!" Springer was surprised to see the ex-Decepticon. He looked around the office. "W-where's Aid?"

"With Ratchet. His carrier and I will be having a long talk with him. After we find Arcee." Drift looked between Chromia and Windblade. "He's the one that upset her in the first place, so I'm not going to take this lightly."

"Arcee did mention a couple weeks ago that First Aid and her got into a bit of a fight. But I thought they'd made up." Windblade sighed. "She refused to tell us what it was that upset her though."

"Uhm..." Springer piped up. "I uhm... i might know."

"Don't worry Springer, I'll explain." Drift said. Springer sighed in relief at not having to be the center of attention anymore. "Arcee, as it turns out, is the missing child of Megatron."

"What?" Optimus spoke for the first time since everyone entered his office. "Megatron's Arcee... is our Arcee?"

"Did you know that Megatron had twins?" Drift looked surprised.

Everyone else in the room was stunned to hear that revelation.

"We were... close. Before the war." Optimus admitted. "I had no idea that the Arcee that Windblade and Chromia brought back... was his Arcee. Had i known... I would have reunited them. All these years... Megatron must have been so distraught."

"He was."

"How do you know? Were you even close with Megatron before you defected?" Chromia sounded skeptical. "I didn't even know Megatron had a child, let alone twins."

"It was an open secret among the Decepticons, high command were the only ones that knew the whole story though."

"You were Decepticon High Command, sir?" Springer was surprised. He looked at Drift with awe.

"I was Megatron's personal assassin. And I guarded Arcee and Galvatron whenever I was on base. I was with them when she went missing. I searched everywhere for her, the Wastelands were vast and hard to maneuver, easy to get lost in the massive dust cloud. I told Megatron that I would not rest until she was found. He was busy fighting a war, and he needed to lead his troops. I assured him that I would look for her in his stead.

"I didn't stop on my own. He was the one that ordered me to. Megatron didn't have any hope left. She'd been missing for over a century at this point. He didn't think that she would have been able to survive on her own. She was too young." he sighed. "But i never would've guessed that she'd been found by Autobots."

"Chromia and I found her wandering the wastes. She was crying and calling out for her carrier and someone named 'Galvy'. I'm guessing 'Galvy' was 'Galvatron'."

"Correct. And guessing from how everyone reacted, especially First Aid, no one knew who she really was." Drift pinched his nose bridge. "She's most likely scared, her secret was revealed, and she might think that the entire Autobot base will be hunting her down."

"What do we do then? Not look for her? If she leaves the Ark, she has no idea where the Nemesis is." Chromia was trying to think. "She'll be completely lost, and her full armor is still growing, she'll either overheat during the day or freeze during the night! We have to find her, and try to get her to understand that we're not going to hurt her."

"What do you suggest we do? We can't notify everyone of what happened, but we have to hurry and find her before she finds a way out of the ship." Prowl approaches Optimus. "I say we get a few more bots, anyone that doesn't have as hostile views of the Decepticons. Velocity is a good candidate. Ratchet would probably volunteer, but the medbay can't be left unattended, even if there are some human doctors there."

"Skyfire? He has a past relationship with Starscream. He still speaks of him positively." Windblade suggests.

"He does?!" Chromia was surprised. "Why didn't you tell me??"

"Because last time i tried to tell you flyer gossip, you told me you didn't care." Windblade crossed her arms.

"Because I was looking over my reports from a past mission-" Chromia stops herself. "Nevermind, we need to focus on trying to find Arcee before she leaves the Ark!"

"So, all of us, Velocity and Skyfire. That should be enough." Optimus said. "She'll most likely be very cautious, we have to make sure not to scare her."

"I can help!"

"Springer, it's best you just go back to your room for now." Prowl shoots down his kid. "You nearly had a panic attack earlier, it's best you just rest for now."

Springer frowned, but agreed.

"Ok, fine. Please, just make sure she's OK."

"Do not worry, Springer, we'll do everything we can to find her and bring her back safe." Optimus assured her. "Let's roll out."

Arcee wished she was still mostly protoform.

"Ugh, why do the vents have to be so small..."

Moving slowly to make sure that no one suspected she was hiding in the vents.

She had no idea where she was. Peaking into the rooms gave her little idea where she was in the ship, being unfamiliar with most of the Ark.

After an hour of crawling around the tiny vents(seriously, how did the cassettes do this all the time), she saw a bright light at the end of the vent.

She started to move faster, finally! She was getting out of here!

The vent opened easily, and she wondered how the cassettes still haven't invaded the Ark.

"I'm coming, carrier." she whispered to herself, before promptly losing her balance and falling down the side of the Ark.

She screamed and landed on the metal below.

Metal?

She looked down. Metal. This was the outside of the Ark.

Looking up, she saw that she had fallen out of a vent that lead into the upper most floor of the Ark. She groaned in frustration. She was hoping this vent would lead closer to the ground.

Why did that hurt so much! It wasn't a long fall!

"Great..." she whispered. She cautiously sat up, and leaned back on the wall behind her.

What was she supposed to do? The mountain was too fragile for her to climb down, and the Ark was too smooth to be able to climb either.

Plus, her entire body hurt from that fall. "How did that hurt? It wasn't even that far..."

She curled up. Trying her hardest not to cry and scream in frustration. Even if she was stuck here, she didn't want them to find her because she couldn't control herself.

It was the afternoon. The giant top floor towered over her and gave her some nice shade. She wasn't looking forward to when it got dark... At least now she has protection from the sun. Once the temperature cools at night, she won't be able to do anything.

The Ark, being a space worthy ship, didn't retain a lot of heat. The metal will cool down quickly, and she doesn't have a strong internal heating system yet.

This was all stupid First Aid's fault!

He caused this whole entire thing! His stupid blog idea, his stupid insistence that they all join him, his stupid opinions about Decepticons and even his stupid sire!

Her mind was racing, she couldn't stop the tears from falling. Arcee let her tears fall, but she tried to be as quiet as possible.

It hurt to keep everything in. Even after all these years, she couldn't express what she was really feeling, because then she'd be captured and kept prisoner!

She wanted to think that Windblade and Chromia wouldn't let that happen, but she also thought highly of First Aid before he went and said all that awful shit to her.

Maybe... maybe Arcee will never be able to see any of the bots she still liked ever again.

That was fine! She still has her family! Her real family. Because the Autobots were never her family. They... they were just the ones that looked after her after she got lost.

Took care of her when she was sick. Comforted her when she was scared. Made her laugh, cheered her up, fed her, gave her a place to sleep.

No! They were still the enemy!

First Aid, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were the worst! They were awful and she hated them!

Springer was the only one that understood her. Maybe Prowl.

Drift was a traitor.

When he cared for her and her twin, it was probably all just lies!

She slumped over to the side. The pleasant cool of the metal felt nice.

Looking out into the horizon, she wished she could turn her thoughts off. She didn't want to think about anything! She was just tired.

Arcee closed her eyes.

The next time she opened them, it was dark. Oddly, though, she wasn't cold-

"Huh?" she sat up and rubbed her optics. There was a blanket on her...

She looked looked around her, no one but-

"Ahhhhh!!!"

"It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

"You! What are you doing here, how did you find me!?" Arcee stood up, throwing the thermal blanket at him. "Get away from me!" she yelled, though he hadn't made an attempt to get closer.

"I won't take you back down if you don't want that. I'm just here to talk." he said simply.

"Sure you aren't, Deadlock. Or should i say Drift?" Arcee said sarcastically. "Just like you said you would always be loyal to my carrier and keep me and Galvy from harm. If that was true, why are you here? Why are you following Optimus now, huh?"

"I have my reasons. One of them being First Aid. Another being Ratchet."

Arcee glared at him, but said nothing. She dropped down to the metal floor, hugging her knees.

"Talk then."

"I know you're upset. What First Aid said to you was unacceptable. Ratchet and I are going to have a talk with him later." Drift started. "But I'm also here to ask you what you are planning to do."

"You obviously know what i want to do." Arcee said angrily. "I wanna see my carrier, my twin, my real friends."

"I get you being upset with First Aid, but what about Springer? Is he not your friend too?" he asked.

"No-... Well... Springer is my friend. But he's an Autobot, just like First Aid." she turned her gaze down, and started picking at the reinforced roof of the Ark.

"They aren't Autobots." Drift said. "Technically, you, Springer, First Aid, Roddy, Illy, even Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are classified as neutrals in the Autobot database."

"What do you mean?"

"You're all too young to officially be considered Autobots. Even Megatron didn't classify you and Galvatron as Decepticons." Drift took a deep breath. "None of you have insignias or badges. You are all too young. Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are only allowed to go on missions because they used to sneak out, at least that's what Ratchet told me happened."

Arcee let out a laugh accidentally, but quickly covered her mouth. "When they were caught, they were put in the brig. Ratchet and Ironhide would yell at them, and Optimus would give them disappointed looks."

Drift smiled, but then he looked at Arcee with sadness.

"Cee, why did you never say anything? About Megatron, about the Decepticons?"

"Cause i was scared." she said quietly. "I was so small and had no armor yet, I didn't want them to hurt me."

"Do you think, now that you've known them for many many years, that they would hurt you?" Drift asked. "Do you think Windblade, Chromia, any of the Autobots, would hurt you?"

"Windblade and Chromia... probably not." she whispered. "After today... I don't know if i can trust anyone else."

"Do you trust me?" Drift asked, he didn't move.

"I..." Arcee hesitated. What was she supposed to say? That she loved him, that he reminds her of the time before she lost her family, that she wishes he had come to take her back home? "I don't know."

"Arcee, I want to help you."

"I'm not going back down. Not unless it's to go directly to the Nemesis." she tried to scoot herself back, she was already up against the wall. "I don't want to see anyone unless it's Galvy and my carrier."

"That's what i want to do. I want to take you to them. First you have to trust me." he reached out a hand. "So, Arcee, do you trust me?"

She hesitated. Could she trust him? He took care of her and her twin.

Her carrier trusted him too, and now he's an Autobot.

He's not forcing her though. Drift hasn't made a move to grab her at all. He could have picked her up and taken her back down while she was sleep, but instead he put a blanket on her, and waited for her to wake up.

Maybe... Maybe she should trust him. She can always bite him if he does something she doesn't want him to.

"O...OK. I'll go." she took his hand.

Drift smiled warmly. She missed his smile.

"Let's go then.

"First Aid, sit back down." Ratchet said, not turning away from the medicine he was organizing. "You aren't leaving until your sire comes back."

"But its been hours!" First Aid whines. "I just wanted answers, I didn't expect him to make me wait for so fucking long!"

Ratchet turned and glared at his creation.

First Aid shrunk under his carrier's disapproving glare.

"Sorry..."

"You know better than to use those words." Ratchet put down the bottles, and walked over to the bed opposite the one First Aid was sitting on.

They both sat in relative silence.

All the humans that worked in the medbay had gone home for the day, Velocity had also left hours ago to help look for Arcee.

"Kid, why did you react like that towards Arcee?" he asked.

"Cause she's stupid! And she was probably sent here to spy on us!" First Aid yelled. "She was just upset that we uncovered her evil plan before she was able to do anything!"

Ratchet looked at First Aid, looking him up and down.

The kid was angry, that was certain. He was still crying, out of anger, guilt or genuine sadness, Ratchet wasn't sure. It might be all three.

"Arcee arrived here when she was barely 7 or 8. You really think a child, who was the same age as you, and didn't trust anyone, would really come here to spy on us?" Ratchet wiped some of First Aid's tears away. "Megatron never would have sent his own kid to do that. She's been with us for thousands of years, her carrier probably doesn't even know what she looks like now."

"But-"

"No. First Aid, Drift came back specifically for you. I would have done the same. Drift knew Megatron well before the war. Everything Drift told me about him... He would do anything for his kids."

"Kids?" First Aid asked. "He had more?"

"He had twins. Arcee and... another kid. I never got their name." Ratchet said. "The Autobots and Decepticons really aren't all that different. We were fighting for the same goal, we just went about it differently." Ratchet sighed. "This war has gone on so long, it feels like everyone, even Optimus, has forgotten why we're even fighting."

"Why stay here then?"

"Where would we go? There aren't any space worthy ships that function here on earth. Ones that can navigate and aren't just rockets."

"I-... I dont know..." First Aid hadnt stopped crying. "If this whole thing is pointless, why are we still here? Why are they still fighting!?"

"Because Megatron and Optimus are idiots and would rather try to kill eachother than admit that they were wrong."

Ratchet hugged his creation tightly, letting him cry as much as he needed to.

He wished he could do something, but even if he could boss around Optimus when it came to matters of medicine, the Autobot leader would just dismiss him in the way he does his officers when they have an idea he doesn't particularly like.

"Come on, they're all probably still looking for Arcee. Let's get back to our hab." Ratchet said as he picked up his creation.

First Aid didn't protest.

"No one knows, right?" Arcee asked. "They aren't going to hurt me or look at me all angry?"

"No one knows. Just the ones that were looking for you." Drift reassures her. "I commed everyone, they'll meet us at Optimus' office, and we'll go from there, OK?"

Arcee only nodded. She was holding onto Drift like he was her lifeline. At that particular moment, it felt to her like he was.

The older bot navigated quietly and cautiously through the halls of the Ark. Even if no one knew about what had happened hours earlier, he could tell that Arcee was too scared to see any other bots at that moment.

Finally arriving to the door that led to Optimus' office, Drift stopped and looked down at the young bot.

"Ready?" he asked simply.

Again, she only nodded.

Drift smiled at her, and opened the door.

All Arcee could do before she was bombarded with hugs was squeal in surprise.

"Arcee, we're so glad you're safe!" Chromia exclaimed.

"We were so worried. When Drift called us saying he found you, we were so relieved!" Windblade whispered to her. "It doesn't matter to us who your carrier is, all we care about is that you're safe and happy and healthy."

"We would have liked to know who your carrier was so we could have reunited you sooner. We never would have hurt you." Chromia kisses the top of Arcee's head.

The tears were falling down her cheeks before she could try to hold them back. She hugged them back, and cried. She cried and cried, even when she had no more tears, she sobbed.

All the weight Arcee felt on her small form lifted. They knew who she really was, and they still loved her.

The rest of the bots in Optimus' office waited patiently for Arcee to calm down.

It took a while, the poor kid had been terrified the only caretakers she's known since before she had armor would hate her for "not being an Autobot."

Once Arcee was sat on Windblade's lap, snuggled into her chest and holding Chromia's hand for reassurance, asleep, they started to plan.

"Megatron will never believe that Arcee is alive. He lost hope since before we all arrived on earth. He didn't think that she could have survived in the Wastelands." Drfit started, Optimus looked at him as if he had read his mind. "Prime, it would have been a good idea a few thousand years ago when Megatron still thought she was alive. Now? He'd just think that you had some cruel plan to use his dead kid as bait."

"I would never do that."

"I know that, but Megatron wouldn't." Drift explained. "I'm sure if Prowl had stayed, he would have told you the same. Megatron doesn't take the mention of Arcee lightly. Starscream mentioned her once, reminiscing about the times he would fly her, Galvatron and his own twins around when they were all smaller. Megatron punched him."

Skyfire's engine growled angrily.

"I'm not saying that Megatron was in the right for doing this. He just doesn't take anyone talking about Arcee lightly. He lost her after an attack on the base they were in. He thinks that even if the Wastelands didn't kill her, an Autobot would have." Drift explains.

"What do you suggest we do then?" Windblade asked quietly. "Megatron would just think it's a trap if we tell him we have Arcee. He wouldn't believe Optimus if he said he wanted to meet for a ceasaefire, because Optimus would never do that-"

"You think so little of me?"

"When was the last time you tried to ask for a ceasefire?" Windblade asked earnestly.

Optimus said nothing.

"Exactly. You suddenly asking now? He wouldn't believe it."

"I have an idea." Skyfire spoke up, having calmed down from his small outburst earlier. "I... I could contact Starscream. He was fond of Arcee and her twin, correct?" he asked.

"Would Starscream believe you if you said that Arcee was alive?" Chromia asked. "From what i know, that bastard doesn't trust anyone."

"He's always been like that. Back in our academy days... The administration wasn't happy that 2 flyers got into their academy. A seeker and a shuttle at that! The other students tried to sabotage us. We still prevailed. But then... my accident..." Skyfire closed his optics, the pain clear on his face. "I can only imagine what happened after he returned to Cybertron. When i was rescued from the ice, he said nothing about what happened. He was just happy to see me again."

"Doesn't he hate you now?" Drift asked.

"No!" Skyfire blushed angrily.

"He was pretty angry when we returned from that mission in the arctic..." Drift said.

"He said that he hoped i realized my mistake so that I could meet our kids! He doesn't hate me!" Skyfire yelled. "I still have his frequency."

"Are you telling him the truth, or are you making an excuse?" Optimus asked. "I met Starscream a couple times before the war, I don't think he would be very happy if you lied to him."

"Why would i lie to him? I'll tell him the truth. Plus, i was thinking that i could fly Arcee along with Chromia, Windblade and Drift close to the Nemesis, call him and he can see her himself and he can tell Megatron about Arcee."

"Did you forget the bit where i said that he punched Starscream through a wall the last time that he talked about Arcee around him?"

"He got punched through a fucking wall??" Skyfire yelled.

The entire room shushed him.

"He can just take Arcee with him to meet Megatron." Skyfire regained his composure. "Really, you're making it harder than it should be. We can literally just take her there, if Star doesn't come out to meet us, we can just sneak in, Arcee is small so it'd be easier for her to go unnoticed and make her way to Megatron."

Everyone went silent.

"You have been at war for too long. Did you really forget you can just go to a place you know the location of and just... talk?"

Optimus glared at the shuttle, but then sighed and said defeatedly. "You aren't wrong. I think this would be the best course of action."

"We should wait till morning, when Arcee is rested and feeling better. Though i do want to do this early so no one else questions why Arcee is leaving with us, specifically in Skyfire." Drift smiles softly at the sleeping youngling. "We can tell everyone that asks what happened after reuniting Arcee with her carrier and twin."

So it was settled.

First Aid watched his carrier go through his nightly routine.

"Why do you polish before going to sleep?" he asked quietly.

"Working in the medbay all day, i get covered in some not so pleasant substances. Some times they stain my armor." Ratchet explained. "I don't polish my armor every night, i try to do it once or twice a week. If a stain is bad enough, i do polish that same day."

First Aid only nodded.

"If you choose to be a medic when you're older, you'll have to do this as well."

First Aid scoffs. "Of course I'm gonna be a medic when I'm older."

"You don't have to be." Ratchet says, putting his cloth down. "I know we named you First Aid, but even that isn't permanent. You can change your name, and change what you want to do when you grow up at any time. I don't want you to choose something just because of us."

"Isn't that why you named me First Aid though? So that i could be a medic when i grew up? It's why im white and red." he said. He scooted over so his carrier and him had space between them as he sat down.

"You told me you wanted your first paint job to be like mine." Ratchet made no move to get First Aid close again. "First Aid, i don't want you to think that you have to be something you dont want to be."

"Rie, I-"

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in, Drift." Ratchet said.

First Aid got up quickly to greet his sire.

"Hey kid!" Drift said. He looked tired, but didn't let First Aid see. "Velocity told me you retired to your habsuite."

"it was getting late." Ratchet deadpanned.

"Ratty..."

Ratchet sighed, and waved Drift over.

"Let's get this over with." Ratchet said.

First Aid went to sit next to his carrier, his sire sitting on his other side.

"Am I finally gonna learn why you two refuse to look at each other or even talk?" First Aid asked. He crossed his arms and refused to look at either of his creators.

Both older bots sighed.

"It started-"

"The whole thing is-"

They both started and stopped at the same time.

"You first, Drift." Ratchet motioned to him.

The former assassin took in a deep breath.

"It started after a... a good friend of mine was killed by an autobot enforcer. Neither of us had officially joined either side, Ratchet still ran his free clinic in Rodion. Anyone was allowed in as long as they didn't start trouble..."

Drift looked over to Ratchet. Ratchet did not look back at him.

"I was so angry. I wanted to join the decepticons. I wanted to get revenge for my friend... Ratchet didn't agree. He said that enforcer was just one bot, not all of them were like that." Drift shook his head. "We had fight after fight until i... I couldn't take it. I left. I said nothing, i just left. I wanted to take you with me but... I didn't think Ratchet would have taken that too well and gone after me. I'm sorry, Aidy."

Drift tried to hug his child.

First Aid got down from the berth.

"I heard your side. Carrier, i want your side now." First Aid didn't turn to look at either of them.

Ratchet glared at Drift.

"I never told you anything because I was destroyed when he left. The time you were with Pharma after Drift left... I had gone to look for him. I wanted him to come back, to yell at him, to ask him to stay, to hit him for leaving us... I'm sorry, First Aid. I wasn't thinking-"

"Neither of you were thinking! You both left me! You came back carrier, but it always felt like something was wrong! For so long, you looked so sad when you looked at me! And you didn't like talking about Sire!!! I got little tidbits every now and then, but it wasn't enough! You are both so selfish!! Now i get that Megatron didn't take you, you left me and carrier and then you both became idiots!"

First Aid screamed, and ran out of the room.

Drift stood to chase after him, but was stopped.

"He needs to cool off. We... we both failed him." Ratchet said.

"Maybe we should talk as well..." Drift said.

"We should."

Hours after having left the Autobot base, Arcee stood on a platform that stood barely above the crashing waves of the ocean below.

She was holding Windblade and Chromia's hands, Starscream was in front of them, trying to sneak them inside.

He cursed under his breath, for some reason, he couldn't get the door to open.

"I swear to fucking Unicron, if Frenzy or Rumble messed with the door again, they are getting grounded until the war ends." Starscream said just loud enough for Arcee to hear.

She giggled. Chromia and Windblade only gave Starscream concerned looks.

The door finally slid open.

"Quickly now, can't have anyone seeing the enemy leisurely enter the ship like they own the place." he said, sounding just a tad bit annoyed.

Arcee squeezed both her guardians' hands, let go and followed quickly after the seeker.

The Nemesis had winding corridors that seemed to never end. Arcee recognized none of it. Fearing getting lost, she stuck as close as she could to Starscream, periodically looking behind her to make sure that Chromia and Windblade were still there.

They were.

"Chromia, if you and Windblade have a kid after I leave, will they still be my sibling?" Arcee asked out of nowhere.

That caught all three adults off guard, Starscream nearly fell to the floor.

"If you want that, of course." Windblade was the first to recover. "But sweety, we're not trying to have a kid right now." she laughed nervously.

"Sure, but i asked if." Arcee said. "Galvatron and I are twins, I've never had younger siblings." She grabbed Starscream's hand, the adult tried not flinch, but Arcee sees how he twitches just the lightest bit. She frowns at that.

"Didn't you used to call my twins your bitlets when you were a kid?" Starscream asked after he recovered. "I recall that you snuck into my quarters and woke them up, thinking you were helping."

"I'd never seen a bitlet before!"

"They weren't bitlets anymore. You're only a couple thou years older than them. All four of you were bitlets around the same time." Starscream rolled his eyes, but still smiled warmly down at Arcee.

Arcee glares back at him. He only laughs.

Behind them, Chromia and Windblade see a side of their enemy they never thought they'd see. They've only ever met on the battlefield.

Windblade opened her mouth to tease Starscream, Chromia stopped her.

"Best not to antagonize him in his territorry, Win." Chromia said quietly.

Windblade sighed deeply.

They finally arrive before a large door.

The seeker turns to Arcee and tells her "Stay behind me, alright?" then turns to the two Autobots. "You stay out here."

All three nod.

The door slides open, and Starscream walks in confidently, Arcee follows, trying to keep her excitement contained.

Chromia and Windblade stayed behind.

Before the door could close fully, Arcee waved goodbye.

-

Arcee looked around the room. There were lots of monitors, several bots working, but relatively little noise.

"Star! Nice of you to join us during your shift, did you check on the twins?" she recognized that voice.

"They've been quiet all day, so either they're planning something, or they decided to take a break from breaking things today." Starscream sounded exaspterated. "That wasn't why I left, where's Megatron, he was here when i left."

"Well... Maybe you should check on them. Little Megan Jr and the twins got into, lets just call it a disagreement. All three are in the medbay right now, KO called Megs down to yell at him."

Megan Jr? Isn't that a human name?

"Who's Megan Jr?" She asked.

"Megatron's ankle biter-"

"Stop using earth slang!" Starscream screeched, though no real animosity was in his voice.

"It's funny! And Megs doesnt do anything about it, he just glares at me!"

"Skywarp, he just glares because he know's Galvatron likes you. If he disciplined you in any way, the kid would start crying."

Arcee perked up at the mention of her twin.

"So Galvy's in the medbay?"

"What's it to you, kid?" Skywarp finally looked at her. Xe looked her up and down, then settled on her face. Recognition was plastered on his face. "Arcee?"

The mention of her name got several other bots' attention.

"Do NOT swarm her." Starscream said firmly at all the bots that were now staring at the pink youngling.

She didn't know what to do. All this attention felt like too much and tugged on Starscream's arm. "I wanna see my carrier and Galvy."

Glaring at the bots in the command room, a silent order to stay put, he started leading her back out, and to the medbay.

Windblade and Chromia were no longer outside. They must have left...

Arcee didn't blame them. It'd be dangerous if they'd hung around, and she didn't want either side to get hurt.

Doesn't mean she wasn't disappointed to not see them again, at least for one last time.

Starscream was fast. Of course he was, he was mostly legs.

The halls were so empty, was everyone working right now? She didn't even see anyone slacking off in the halls.

Maybe Starscream chose the path that was least likely to have traffic.

Smart move.

Back at the Ark, the only younglings were her, Springer, First Aid, Hot Rod and Illusion. She didnt count Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker since they didn't look that much like younglings anymore.

If there were few kids here as well, it'd be suspicious for a new one to just appear suddenly. People would ask questions. And she didn't want to have much attention on her, all she wanted right now was to see her carrier and twin again.

"We should get there soon. There's a more private entrance to the medbay that Knockout uses when he doesn't want anyone to see him leave. With all the trouble that your twin and those 2 brats caused with their fight, theres no doubt theres several bots crowding around the entrence of the medbay." he explained.

That made sense.

They stopped at a nondescript door, the older bot put in a code she couldnt quite see, and it opened.

"Keep quiet." Starscream whispers.

Looking around, there isn't much besides a simple recharge slab, not even a proper berth, and medical supplies.

This is probably where the medics rest when there's patients in the main area.

They approach yet another door. She can hear a lot of noise through it.

Once on the other side, its chaos. A red bot is yelling at the twins, theres 2 kids that seem a lot younger than her, a small kid that seems to be the same age as her, a big bot with blue armor that's tending to-

Galvatron.

That's Galvatron!

And! And her carrier is on his other side!!

Arcee pushes past Starscream and runs to them

Finally! After so long!