Ignition

Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. They belong to Hasbro and Takara. I am merely taking them for a short spin.

A little over three weeks to go for Optimus Prime until the emergence of his twins. The Autobot leader was currently laying in his berth, trying to recharge after a long day. A good day, but a long one. The human half of the NEST command structure had thrown a surprise "baby shower" for him that afternoon. They'd explained it was a tradition for expectant Earth mothers where others bestowed gifts for the offspring. Graham, Lennox and Epps had gifted him with an assortment of books for human children, but they would also be appropriate for his sparklings. His fellow Autobots had bestowed a few gifts as well, such as a sparkling berth from the engineering and scientific departments and offers of sparkling-sitting from others.

He felt restless and out of sorts, and he'd felt the occasional twinge in his spark. Ratchet had told him to keep him informed of anything unusual, but Optimus chalked it up to normal pre-emergence jitters. Had to be. Except now, it was more than a twinge. It was sudden blinding pain, and it was all he could do to will his chest armor to stay closed.

Drift, who was resting beside him, woke when the bigger mech shook him awake.

"What is it?" he asked.

"The sparklings," Optimus said.

Moments later, Drift watched as Ironhide and Ultra Magnus half-dragged their Prime between them, heading toward the med bay. Then Ratchet was shoving him out of the way as Optimus was deposited on a medical berth, and Red Alert touched his shoulder as she moved past him to Optimus. And then Hot Rod was running into the med bay, Springer hot on his heels.

"Will everyone kindly wait outside?" Ratchet asked. "Now. It's not a request. It's an order."

"Us, too?" Hot Rod asked.

"Especially you two," Ratchet said, taking Hot Rod by one arm and Drift by another, dragging them to the door. "Springer, keep an eye on these two, will you? One of us will come get you when we can."

Two hours later, almost dawn, and Springer was sitting on the floor in the corridor outside the med bay. He was between Hot Rod and Drift, with an arm around his brother and a hand on Drift's shoulder. Ironhide and Ultra Magnus were sitting across from them, keeping their optics on the trio of younger mechs. Springer tensed when he heard the med bay door slide open, and Hot Rod and Drift shot to their feet before he could get a leg up.

Red Alert was standing in the door way. "Come meet your sparklings," she said.

"They're fine, and Optimus?" Drift asked.

"For coming early, they're doing as well as can be expected," she said. "So is Optimus."

The two followed the medic into the med bay, to Optimus' berth, where he was sitting up, holding a sparkling cradled in each arm. The twins were curled against his chest, in recharge. Optimus offered the femme to Drift and the mech to Hot Rod.

"I hope you each have a name picked out," Optimus said. "I had some in mind, but as we never had a chance to discuss them, I find myself at a loss."

"Emyria," Drift said. "It means 'ember' in one of the old Earth languages."

"Atreus," Hot Rod said. "Another ancient Earth name."

"I take it you two discussed names together?" Optimus said.

"More than once," Drift said. "We wanted it to be a surprise."

"A welcome one," Optimus said.

"Indeed," Ratchet said. "I don't want to interrupt, but Optimus, you need to get some rest, and these two need to return to their incubation pod until it's time to feed them again. You two can stay if you want, but don't keep him from resting. Understand?"

The two young mechs nodded in affirmation, each loathe to relinquish their children, but they knew Ratchet was right.

"I'll show you how to feed them later. I'll probably have to manually activate your feeding protocols if they don't come online naturally, but for now, Optimus has it covered. By the way, congratulations."