14 Chapter 14: Ambition

The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the night sky. Firespark looked up at the blanket of stars that stretched to infinity, wondering if she could see Cybertron. It seemed hopeless, but someday, their race would return for their home. Her orange optics drifted toward her servos entwined with Solarflare's as they walked toward the refugee camp. She smiled and looked at the dirt path. "How do you think Arcee and Thunderstrike are getting along?"

Solarflare hummed in thought, "I think they're getting along just fine; besides, I think she needed to be with sparkling again,"

Firespark nodded, "You're right. I haven't seen her so happy in a long time,"

The dim glow of the camp shone as they entered through the gates. As quietly as they could, they made it toward the barracks. After knocking on the metal doors, they saw Arcee sitting on the berth watching over a sleeping Thunderstrike in his berth.

Her blue optics looked up at them but narrowed as soon as she saw their servos laced together. "I take it that the date went well?"

Firespark nodded her helm, "It was. Thank you again for coming over to look after Thunder,"

The blue warrior stood up, "I'm glad I could be of service. Solarflare, may I talk to you, alone?"

The couple looked at each other, confused before the mech stepped outside with Arcee following.

Firespark sighed, knowing what was coming, and walked toward the sleeping mechling lying on his berth. Hopefully, Arcee would go easy on Solarflare, but knowing her sharp tongue and fiery temper, she would grill the poor mech into the ground. As if on cue, the muffled voices got louder but still incoherent, and, suddenly everything was silent.

The pink femme sat there stiffly as the conversation continued for a few more minutes until Solarflare entered the room. He looked exhausted as he took a seat on the other berth but smiled wearily at her. "She's one protective mama bear, let me tell you,"

Firespark smiled sympathetically, "I hope she didn't scare you too much,"

"No, not at all. I think Arcee liked my answers cause she seemed to cool down after the outburst," Solarflare remarked as he laid down, "It takes more than that to scare me off,"

"And I'm thankful for that after all, it takes a brave mech to take in a sparkling on a whim," Firespark replied. Her processor reminder her of Soundwave and the brief question of, 'Is he doing alright?' She shook her helm and laid on her side facing the walkway, and turned off the lights.

~~~~~~

Dust particles floated in the sunlight's rays as grunting sounded in the medical bay. "How did it get so dusty in here?" Firespark grumbled as she struggled to push a large container next to one of the medical berths. The doors opened, casting a large shadow onto Firespark's pink frame, causing her to turn toward the figure. A grin grew on her face when she saw Thunderstrike and Solarflare, "What are you two doing here? I thought you were going to explore,"

"Oh, we will, but I wanted to tell you something before you're too busy. Trailblazer just informed me he wants me to be one of the guards. I'll be working night shifts so that one of us will be with Thunderstrike," Solarflare's blue optics beamed with pride as he told her this.

"That's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" Firespark exclaimed, coming close to the mech.

"I'm glad you think so. I'll leave you to it now cause I think you have your first patient." Solarflare pointed behind him as a frame crept up into view.

Greystripe smiled sheepishly, giving a tiny wave in greeting, "Hey,"

The femme's orange optics gazed over the gray mech's frame in search of any injures, "Good morning Greystripe, what can I do for you?"

"Well, the construction mechs and I might've messed around too much, and I, uh, may have been whacked in the helm with a steel girder," Greystripe explained, rubbing his forearm nervously.

Firespark nodded before motioning toward the nearest berth, "Alright, I'll take a look and see what I can do," to Solarflare, she smiled at him, "I'll be fine here. You two go have fun,"

The red and orange mech nodded his helm, "We'll tell you all about it when you get off," he grabbed Thunderstrike's servo, waving it, "Say goodbye, Thunder." The mechling only watched in curiosity at the motion of his servo, babbling to himself.

Once the duo left, the femme returned her attention to the gray mech, "You said you got hit in the helm?"

"Yeah, but it's the back, not the front," he explained as the pink femme turned his head to the side. A small dent was visible on the black stripe that ran down the middle of his helm.

"You did get banged up from that. Are you feeling any other pains besides the back of your processor?"

"No, actually, the pain faded away a few minutes ago on the way here," Greystripe informed her.

"The good news is that you remember what happened, and you aren't feeling any pain. What I can do for you is to buff out that area. Would you like to do it yourself, or would you like me to do it?"

The gray mech tested the back of his helm tenderly as he thought, "If you could do it, that would be great. I can't exactly see the back of my head,"

Firespark hummed in agreement, "Yeah, it would be difficult to do it on your own," with a buffer in servo, the femme turned the mech's helm to the side. "You said that you're part of the construction team?"

"Yeah, we're building some more barracks in case other refugees come to us."

"I see,"

Greystripe was quiet for a moment before speaking again, "You have a nice family,"

"Thank you, do you have any family here?" Firespark questioned.

"Not here, but I do have other family members. They must still be among the stars, or maybe they're here on Earth. I have my sister as well as my parental units." Greystripe answered when the drill brush stopped.

The dent was gone and left the exterior area smooth. Greystripe felt around his helm and smile in satisfaction, "It feels great, thank you,"

Firespark smiled, "It's no problem. If you have any other pains, you let me know,"

Only twenty minutes after Greystripe left, another patient came in and was followed by two more. Five occupied berths took up the room as Firespark worked restlessly. Before she knew it, her shift had already ended after she discharged the last patient.

Tiredly, the femme trudged toward the barracks and sighed in exhaustion when she entered the compartment.

On her berth table sat an energon cube with a note next to it. 'Figured you'd want to refuel when you got back. See you tomorrow, love Solarflare,'

Firespark smiled on sat on her berth, savoring the refreshing energon. A coo caught her attention as Thunderstrike stood up in his makeshift crib, grasping the bars with his servos. "I didn't forget you," Firespark chided as she set her cube down. The mechling bounced up and down in excitement as his 'carrier' walked over to pick him up. He grinned once Firespark held him in her arms and sat back down on the berth.

"I missed you too," the femme whispered as she played with the sparkling's miniature servos. Orange optics gazed onto the clock on the wall, "I'd love to play with you, but it's bedtime, and I don't think you've had a nap today, mister,"

Cradling Thunderstrike near her chest, Firespark curled around him protectively once the lights flickered off.