Sweet Child O' Mine

[Ratchet]

Characters: Ratchet, Nightshade, Jetfire
Location: Recreation Room
Content Warnings: N/A
Plot Summary: There's a new sparkling in town, and Ratchet's taking a well deserved break to care for his and Wheeljack's sparkling. When a former student and friend wonders in, how will they react to one another?

[Ratchet]

It'd been some time since Ratchet had had to deal with sparklings, but it was the first time he'd ever had to deal with one of his own.  Sure there had been Strongarm, but she already had some age to her by the time he had met her.  Nightshade was completely new to the world, and nothing could have prepared him for a sparkling of his own.

Sure, he had Wheeljack to rely on as well as Pharma, but they both needed breaks every so often too, which was why the medic had taken to watching his daughter.  She'd been behaving so well and had already taken a small nap while cradled in his arms.  Even with her being a part of Wheeljack, he was so grateful during this moment that she hadn't inherited his wild personality.

At least.. she wasn't displaying signs of it quite yet.

"Sleep well, my little one?  You've had quite the day already.. though I suppose you'll probably be wanting some Energon before much longer."  Ratchet couldn't help but smile as he spoke to the little one, rocking her gently.  While it was quiet in the rec room for the moment, there was no telling how long it would stay that way.  Sparklings weren't exactly common anymore these days, and certainly everyone would be trying to invade their space the moment they found out about Nightshade.

[Nightshade]

Nightshade had in fact had a wonderful nap, though she did wonder where her carrier was.  She had been so used to being with him that it was strange to just be with her sire.  That didn't mean that she didn't love him or anything.  She just had her favorites as he would've put it long ago.

At Ratchet's words, she cooed a bit, kicking her pedes in a happy but playful manner.  Energon was that yummy stuff that he and her carrier would feed her, and that always sounded like a good idea to the little femme.  There was still so much that she needed to learn, and there were so many faces around their home that it unsettled her a bit.  Maybe with time she would get to know these other mechs and femmes.

All she knew was that they weren't her carrier or her sire.. and they were all so strange to her.  In fact, she turned as she thought she heard the sound of footsteps heading their way.

[Jetfire]

Jetfire's size always betrayed his presence to others, especially while he was grounded. For a scientist, he wasn't very discreet or quiet; he blamed Perceptor for establishing such a stereotype. Instead of running through the newest Autobot rosters, reviewing recent combat footage or working on his latest batch of research, the Seeker was instead taking a brief break. He'd heard word that a very special bot was on-site currently, giving Jetfire a much needed out from his official duties. There was no way he'd live with himself if he used his rank to arrange an official meeting with Ratchet in order to cut out the time spent looking for him, so the Autobot had been performing several tasks around the base until he heard word, which he eventually received.

He hadn't seen Ratchet in eons, literally and figuratively. Jetfire felt like an undergraduate again, itching to share his theories and ideas with someone wiser. Except this was no purely academic visit, although he wouldn't be against discussing a few theorems. Hopefully he wouldn't get any guff about the new accent. As Jetfire entered the recreation room he fixed his bright blue eyes on Ratchet, but soon found himself unable to look away from the sparkling cradled in the medic's arms.

"Ratchet...! And..." he paused. Jetfire might have seen Ratchet as a father figure, but there was no way in space he'd ever cradle another bot like one, unless...

"... little Ratchet?"

[Ratchet]

Ratchet continued to rock his little sparkling, smiling brightly at her.  It was a smile that was reserved only for those closest to him, but little Nightshade would get to see it the most during the time she grew.  Well, her and Wheeljack of course.

"Someone certainly seems to be having a good time~."

His attention was pulled away as he heard someone come in, silently praying it wasn't one of the obnoxious kids.  The poor sparkling was already nervous around some of the bots around the base, but thankfully she wouldn't have to worry.  Ratchet's optics lit up as he saw the familiar figure of Jetfire step into the room.  "Jetfire!  Primus has it been a long time."  He certainly sounded different, but the medic wasn't about to worry about that.  He was just happy to see a familiar face.

At the large mech's surprise, Ratchet nodded with a smile.  "She is, and Wheeljack's as well.  She only received her protoform not all that long ago, so she's still adjusting.  Her name's Nightshade."  Ratchet shifted so that Jetfire could get a better look at the little sparkling, watching her cheerfully.

"How have you been, Jetfire?  I can't even remember the last time we met."

[Nightshade]

Nightshade continued her cooing until the large one came closer.  It seemed that her papa was friends with this guy, but it was a little hard to tell.  She'd never seen a mech so tall before, and it only made her feel that much smaller.

It didn't take long for the large one (Jetfire?) to notice her and for her sire to move so that the other could see her better.  The sparkling stared up at him for a moment before she began to feel nervous.  "Eep!"  Without a moment's hesitation, she completely buried herself against Ratchet.  If she couldn't see the large one, the large one couldn't see her, right?

She tried, but some further reassurance might prompt her into trying again.

[Jetfire]

Jetfire knelt down to examine the little sparkline in greater deal, his eyes full of wondrous intrigue. He knew full well that Ratchet was gifted in mentoring other bots, but his former student never dreamed he'd take on a sparkling of his own. The Wheeljack factor came as a surprise, however. Last he remembered, those two could hardly stand one another; then again, Jetfire'd been out of the loop for a lot longer than he was comfortable with. Some things were bound to have changed in his absence, he admitted.

As Ratchet asked his question, so did Jetfire. It had been too long since they'd met, so the seeker had to search his memory as well. He remembered, although the circumstances surrounding their meeting weren't pleasant.

"We were leaving Cybertron in the Ark.... Silverbolt took a hit, and I dragged him back to you for treatment. After that, I left to back up Jazz..."

While it may not have been the actual last time they'd met, it was the most significant memory that came to mind. He should have tried to find a way off of Nebulos sooner, rather than using the time to focus on his research. Just look how much had changed...

"...and I'm better now, since I've rejoined such pleasant company," he added, cautiously reaching his hand out to feel Nightshade, before retracting it. He could remember his last conversation with Ratchet, but not the last time he'd seen a live sparkling.

[Ratchet]

Ratchet watched as Nightshade immediately buried herself against him, giving her a sad smile.  He patted her gently, looking down to her before returning his gaze to Jetfire.  "I'm sorry about that.  She's a little shy.  I think she's still adjusting to having so many around her now and not just her carrier and I.  It's alright, my little sweetspark.  This is Jetfire~.  He's an old friend and former student of mine."

He listened as Jetfire recalled one of the last memories that they had had together.  Right when they left Cybertron and were boarding the Ark.  It really had been a long time, hadn't it?  There had been so many of them back then, and then most scattered to the winds.  Now everyone was beginning to come back together again, and it was nice to see old faces again.

However, at the mention of Jazz, Ratchet's expression shifted from happy to a slight grimace.  Even now, he still couldn't believe what had happened; that Jazz had betrayed them.  It was because of the saboteur he had been captured and held prisoner on the Nemesis for as long as he had.  It was because of him that Pharma was forced into sacrificing himself in order to see the other medic go free..

He shook it off, not wanting to bring Jetfire's mood down any.  "I'm glad that you were able to make it to Earth.  We really did miss you.  We really should find time to catch up on everything that's happened."

[Nightshade]

Nightshade made a small peeping sound as she stayed close to her sire.  The larger one was even trying to hold out a servo for her, and it was just so much bigger than she was!

Ratchet reassured her that Jetfire, the name of the mech, was a friend of his and that alone made her feel better about it all.  It started out slow, but she gradually started to pull back away from her papa, willing her cerulean optics to look towards the larger mech.  Maybe he wasn't as scary as she first made him out to be.

She was still nervous, but finally found herself looking up to Jetfire with curiosity.  She waved one of her servos around in a flailing version of a wave, but she was definitely more interested in him now.  After all, her papa wouldn't introduce her to someone mean, right?

[Jetfire]

By Primus, she was adorably tiny. Jetfire could end up squishing her if the taller bot wasn't too careful, which would never happen on his watch. The Autobot smiled back at Nightshade, relieved that she wasn't absolutely terrified of him anymore. He gently waved back his response to the Sparkling's greeting.

Although the thought nearly escaped him, Jetfire was reminded of one important reason why he wanted to see Ratchet again. The Seeker tilted his head up back to his former teacher, his face betraying his intentions, "Not just that... but the solitude on Nebulos was very conducive to my combiner research. We can catch up, and I can fill you in on what I've learned."

[Ratchet]

Ratchet couldn't help but smile as Nightshade waved to Jetfire, and the larger mech waved back in return.  Now they were finally interacting, and it made him happy.

He looked to Jetfire with interest as the mech said that there was a reason that he had sought him out, almost forgetting that reason in the first place.  Just what was it that he wanted to discuss?  Something about furthering his research on Combiners based on what he said, which.. to be honest could be a huge revelation to them.  Combining was something only select bots and cons could do, and if they could crack the secret behind that?

They'd have to make sure the Decepticons never got their servos on such knowledge.

"Sure.  We can talk about your research now if you want.  Not like I'm going anywhere at the moment anyway."  The medic chuckled a bit, bouncing Nightshade in his arms.  "Would you like to hold her?  I don't mind if you do."

[Nightshade]

Nightshade giggled as Jetfire waved back to her, a few nonsensical sparkling words coming out of her in the process.  It was just her way of talking, but really there was no meaning to what she said.

She just wanted to have her own two cents in whatever conversation her papa and Jetfire were having.  It was all too much for her to understand, so she'd just enjoy the company.  She found herself squealing a bit as she was bounced, incredibly happy at the moment.

For now she just relaxed in Ratchet's arms, looking around and occasionally staring up at the large mech.  Now that he didn't seem so scary, he seemed super interesting to her.

[Jetfire]

Jetfire held out his hands to receive Nightshade without hesitation; he wanted to know if sparklings still felt as soft as he remembered. He gently cradled her close to his chest after accepting her, marveling at the new life in his arms. The normally focused and stern Jetfire actually found himself a bit dumbstruck at the whole situation; not only was he holding a miracle of Cybertronian life, he was also holding his teacher's daughter, a two for one if he'd ever seen one.

Research. Back to your research, Jetfire.

"There was a distinct lack of Cybertronians to test out my theories on, so I went for the next best option," he said, pausing to motion towards himself with Nightshade in his arms.

[Ratchet]

Ratchet watched as Jetfire took Nightshade into his arms, and the sight of the two of them brought him such joy.  He knew that the seeker would be gentle with her, and Nightshade was seeming more and more interested now that she wasn't so shy.

It could potentially be the start of a beautiful friendship.

He didn't immediately ask for his daughter back, but would let the other mech hold the sparkling for as long as he wanted so long as he didn't wander out of the room with her.  There wouldn't be any worry of that, especially when Jetfire had things he wanted to talk to Ratchet about anyway.

"What do you mean?"  Ratchet was incredibly curious as to what his statement had meant.  It was true that there weren't many Autobot combiners that he was aware of, and there was no chance of capturing one of the Decepticon combiners and checking them out.  He thought to himself for a moment, then optics widened a bit.  "You're not telling me that you tested on yourself, are you?"

[Nightshade]

Nightshade wasn't sure what to think when Jetfire pulled her into his arms, but relaxed when she realized her papa wasn't going anywhere.  If he trusted Jetfire to hold her, then he was good, right?  Plus he waved back to her!

She stared up at the larger mech as he held her, making the occasional glance back over to Ratchet.  Soft coos emitted from her as Nightshade shifted a little bit to get comfortable.  She raised a single servo before patting on Jetfire's chest with a gentle smile.  She was kind of starting to get comfortable like this.

While she didn't know what in the world they were talking about, she just knew that she was in a safe place, continuing to stare up at Jetfire just so she could get a good look at him.