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One Human, One Spark 72

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August 2 dawned dark and chilly at approximately 1:02 a.m. in the morning. A baby’s healthy, SHRILL shriek made the doctor immediately comment on his powerful lungs before placing him in his mother’s arms.

Wheeljack had to resist the urge to barrel straight through the doctor when he was finally allowed into the room. That is, allowed in the room after Mrs. Darby, and Mr. and Mrs. Nakadai. It had been a little packed in the room, and when Mrs. Darby hurried off in a tizzy to prepare things at the house a little more, Mr. Nakadai briefly leaving for an important phone call, Jackson Anderson piled into the room with Raf, Mrs. Davis, and Arcee’s holoform.

Trying his hardest not to make things awkward with the lithe form of the black haired holoform behind him, Wheeljack had to grin when Mrs. Davis went swooping to the bed where a tired but positively glowing Miko was laying. “Ohh, let me see him, let me see—Ohh he’s simply precious Miko. And such a head full of hair!”

Miko laughed as Mrs. Davis fawned over the newborn, and she leaned up a little to look for Wheeljack. Her face seemed a little pale, a little drained, and her hair was clearly finger-combed back into place, but her cheeks glowed and her honey eyes sparkled. "Jackie! Come here, come here!"

His neon blue eyes flicked to Mrs. Nakadai sitting primly in the corner, smiling at the people that came flooding in to meet the new baby, and Wheeljack cleared his throat, approaching the bedside. Miko turned her arm out some, showing him a tiny bundle. "Jackie, meet Lucas Chen Darby. Affectionately named after both grandfathers on the mother's side."

Wheeljack leaned over, and his spark skipped a beat and gentled at the sight of a sleeping baby in her arms. He reached out a finger and stroked the babe's chubby cheeks, anxious to get his holoform fully wireless so he could know exactly how soft his skin was. Rumor had it, a newborn baby's skin was the softest ever. He breathed out slowly through his nose, entranced far beyond any words.

Miko poked his arm. "Wanna hold him?"

"Hold him?" Wheeljack repeated, reeling back with no small amount of alarm. His action made Miko laugh, and he watched her try to stifle it so she wouldn't wake the baby.

"It's easy, Jackie. See how my arm's hooked under him? Like that. Just remember to support his head. Easy. Even YOU can manage it."

Wheeljack muttered something under his breath when she got some chuckles out of the gathered people, and he reached for Lucas before pulling his hands back. His eyes flicked up to Miko. "Are you sure?" he asked again, just to be certain. "I mean, I've never held a baby before—"

"Jackie," Miko said dryly, "I assure you, that as long as you're not going to drop him, you can hold him. He won't bite. Actually, he might, but only when he's awake. Besides, he doesn't have teeth, so nothing to worry about."

Wheeljack swallowed. "What if I drop him?"

"Jackie, you're not going to drop him. Now hold him. Mom, can you get the camera rolling? I want to remember this."

Huffing one more time, muttering something under his breath about no pressure, Wheeljack ever so carefully used both hands to pick up the swaddled baby. His palms were big in comparison to the child, and he secured Lucas in the crook of his arm with some help from Miko.

Lucas barely stirred. He just curled up a little more, kicking slightly beneath the blanket and resting. As Wheeljack held him, he felt a lump forming in his throat. This . . . This was his grandbaby. He was a grandpa. Pit, maybe the name did make him feel old, he guessed Mrs. Darby had a point there, but . . . Primus, he was a grandfather.

He cleared his throat conspicuously, suddenly realizing that every eye was glued to him and all conversation had stopped. "Y-You kids made one good lookin' kid," he finally rasped, clearing his throat again. A tiny wisp of hair peeked out from under the baby's cap, so Wheeljack gently pushed it back under.

Jack was the one that grinned, chest puffed out proudly. "He gets his looks from his father."

Miko immediately hit at him, fist smacking his side without much real force. "Oh shut up, you know I did all the work and that baby has all of my looks, including the almond eyes."

Jack smirked and lightly socked her back. Suddenly feeling a bit choked up, Wheeljack blinked and looked around for anyone to save him. "Here, wanna hold him, Sadie?"

Arcee blinked in surprise that he had spoken to her directly, but nodded. "Of course," she said, immediately coming forward, eagerly taking Lucas from his arms. Wheeljack felt his shoulders deflate in relief. It was going to take some getting used to, this holding-the-baby business.

Lucas was passed around and held by everyone before he finally made it back to Miko. The women talked a whole lot more than the men. Wheeljack shouldered Jack, and Jack shouldered him back. Kid was going to make a good father. Miko was hungry. Wheeljack volunteered himself to find a vending machine and get her a snack.

Holding the bill in his hand, Wheeljack stared at the assortment of junk food before him. She really needed something more nutritious after having a baby, he thought. He hummed low in his chest, perturbed as he considered what to get her.

"Wheeljack?"

Wheeljack jumped in surprise, ready immediately to correct them that his name was "Jack Anderson" (he WAS still undercover as human after all) but that thought died on his lips when he saw Arcee's holoform walk up to him.

It really wasn't fair that her human form was just as beautiful as her real body. Her hair, so black it almost shined blue, was cut short in a bob cut. Her build was exactly the same, slender and curvy with a waist that fit perfectly in Wheeljack's palm. But the damning feature was her eyes, just as intense and passionate as ever.

He cleared his vocalizer awkwardly. "Uh, hey, Arcee."

Arcee grabbed her elbow and shrugged slightly. "Miko wants chocolate."

His lips twitched before he could stop it. "Of course she does." There were several selections of chocolate. He stared at them for some time, not really seeing them before Arcee spoke again.

"Wheeljack . . . Are you really not changing your mind about this?"

He felt his shoulders slump as if it were a physical blow. The hallway was all but deserted in the early hours of the morning. Wheeljack swallowed, feeling like he was choking on acid for having to repeat it. "Yeah, Angel," he said softly. "I'm serious."

She crossed her arms and looked away. "But . . . You're spark's been doing better."

"Doesn't matter what it's doing right now," Wheeljack reminded her gruffly. The dollar bill crumpled in his tight grip. "It's what happens . . . when Miko . . . That's what counts."

His jaw ticked as he stared at his reflection in the thick plastic vending machine cover. He didn't dare look at her. He couldn't. He heard her give a tiny sigh.

"I see . . ." His pulse pounded in his ears. The silence was too loud. Ever word, every breath, it cut so loud. "Well . . . If it matters, I haven't given up on you. If you ever change your mind . . . I'll be there."

She stepped to him and leaned up on her toes, kissing his tense jaw. Hers lips were soft and sweet. Wheeljack's pulse slammed harder at the faithful devotion, and she quietly left, footsteps leading down the hall and out of sight. His eyes squeezed shut, and he slammed his fist against the vending machine.

"Damn it," he rasped to himself. He nearly shook with the emotion he denied himself. He pounded on the machine again, forehead plunking on the plastic. "Primus fragging damn it . . ."

***********

Life simply moved too fast.

It felt like Wheeljack had just witnessed Lucas speak his first words, toddle his first steps, give him his ride to his first day of kindergarten, and then all of the sudden Miko was pregnant again. When a five year old Lucas realized he was going to have a sibling, he was precious, patting Miko’s stomach and saying he’d be a good big brother and teach the baby everything he knew—especially that chocolate ice cream was better than vanilla ice cream and the best toppings weren’t sprinkles but M&Ms.

In those five years, Wheeljack and Arcee had been babysitters quite a bit for Lucas while Jack and Miko worked, functioning as liaisons between the humans and Cybertronians. Peace was beginning to flourish on Cybertron with new arrivals slowly pouring in and even some surrendering Decepticons that, while bitter they lost, were sincerely glad that the fighting was over. They were given a fair new start, albeit that they were watched a touch more closely than others.

Springer had actually fallen into the role of mining energon with surprising aplomb. Wheeljack would have never expected the Wrecker for it, but apparently Springer fell in love with the Vehicons. He called them spunky, and said they were so much fun. He was really tickled about their personalities, and names like Sam, Joe, Ashley, and Ron. He enjoyed the Vehicons so much he stayed in the position even when someone offered to relieve him of it, and besides, he liked Earth’s atmosphere—apparently, it was nicer to fly in.

That, and Wheeljack was on Earth, and they got to see each other a whole lot.

And, with Miko’s pregnancy, February 17 dawned extremely early as well with twin baby girls. Jia June Darby and Liana Li Darby—both named after their mothers on either side—came into the world. Lucas was mind-boggled that he had TWO little sisters. And with his holoform fully wireless, Wheeljack experienced a baby’s skin for the first time—he spent more time stroking their cheeks than was probably prudent. He held his granddaughters in both crooks of his arms, spark hammering about whether the girls would end up extremely feminine and make him unsure of how to play with them or if they would end up just as roughhousing as their mother and Lucas.

Turned out, they were a curious combination of both feminine and tomboyish. One minute, Wheeljack was having a tea party, the next, HE was apparently the damsel in distress as Jia and Liana and Lucas all whacked each other with Styrofoam swords.

Watching them grow up in the Darby household was a treat for sure. Jia loved school and Liana hated it, and Lucas boasted over straight A’s. Jia tripped and scraped her knee and cried; Liana broke her leg by falling out of a tree and complained the entire car ride to the hospital; Lucas said he was too awesome to hurt himself, and three days after the broken leg, promptly sliced his leg on something outside and had to get stitches in his knee.

Miko swore up and down Lucas got his cocky nature from his father while Jack defended himself that Lucas’ stubborn streak came from her.

Apparently, Elita and Orion were having similar issues with Megatronus who was as curious as a cat. The first time they lost him, he was finally found crawling around in the ventilation shafts. The second time they lost him, he was in a construction zone, playing with and chewing on a large screw. The third time they lost him, they found him in Perceptor’s lab about to find out how to turn on a welder while it was facing his eyes.

Elita huffed something about putting a tracker on him. Orion just sighed in relief and nuzzled his frazzled spark mate.

Despite having been against Megatronus’ name at first, Ultra Magnus quickly looked past that and became a doting uncle that loved to watch him play while he worked. Ratchet was a doting godfather that was ecstatic whenever they came to visit. In fact, Megatronus became quite the celebrity on Cybertron:  son of the last Prime, named after Megatron. For the most part, when others came upon Megatronus, one couldn’t help but be turned by how cute and innocent he was. Others carried their cold shoulder, saying, “Just you wait. He’ll turn out just like Megatron with that cursed name.” Elita and Orion protected him from the angry backlash as well as they could, knowing that he was still a baby and too young to fully understand.

Lucas turned ten, and two weeks later, Raf got married. Jack and Miko (now 36 and 35 respectively) had a whole lot of fun teasing the 32 year old that he had certainly taken his time, to which Raf pushed his glasses back up on his nose and said she was worth the wait. Gwen Ellis Esquivel was a 28 year old tech that had been transferred into Raf’s division with long blond hair, green eyes, and glasses even bigger than Raf’s. The pair was fit to be and too cute to be realistic.

When Lucas turned thirteen, he brought his first girlfriend home. Liana and Jia sabotaged the relationship immediately by putting crickets in the girl’s backpack. Miko and Arcee were cross; Wheeljack and Jack just tried to keep their snickering to a minimum.

Miko and Jack had some fights, the most intense one Arcee and Wheeljack never knew the cause of. It had worried them for those two weeks where the couple had barely tolerated each other and only in the presence of their children. Wheeljack was used to having Miko or Jack coming to him for advice, Arcee the same, so when they kept the argument to themselves, it was just a touch more alarming. However, one morning Miko came out of the bedroom humming and Jack came out in high spirits, so the argument was clearly over.

Wheeljack had a hunch what had happened, but he definitely didn’t dwell on the thought.

It was when Miko was 40 (dear Primus, the years were going by too fast, she couldn’t be that old), Lucas 15, and the twins 10 that Ratchet’s bane met him.

The Lambo twins were back. And they wanted to check out Earth.

Ratchet was beside himself with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. They broke traffic laws, scanned the most expensive Lamborghini they could (that being the latest Veneno model), and openly harassed humans. Ratchet had to stress numerous times to deaf audios that while humanity was now aware of the alliance they had with Cybertronians, they were still robots in disguise. He couldn’t have them roughhousing around and making a bad name for Cybertronians.

Of course, that meant they had to go immediately to California’s Malibu beach and make their biggest appearance yet. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker turned their charms on high and swept the beach with their stunt driving, transforming, and creating good waves for the surfers that were having a low tide day. They flirted with the female humans and male alike, attracted more people with their sleek alt modes, and let bikini-clad women clean them up with a hand wash to get the salt of the sea off of them. The day ended with an angry Ratchet storming in on the scene, snagging both Lambo twins by their audios, and dragging them through the ground bridge.

In the hullabaloo that Agent Fowler had to deal with after they made themselves celebrities at Malibu, the Lambo twins were sent to the Darby’s place for a timeout in the desert.

Which, was somehow not a timeout at all.

Out of everything to happen, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker fell in LOVE with Jia and Liana. Sideswipe immediately teamed up with the younger tomboy Liana while Sunstreaker ended up growing a soft spot for the minutes older Jia. Liana’s daring and recklessness appealed to Sideswipe; Jia’s more mature and becoming decidedly more feminine personality appealed to Sunstreaker as she pampered his looks.

No matter how you twisted it, the human twins became glued to the Lambo twins’ sides. Collectively, they all loved drag racing out back and pulling pranks on Wheeljack and Arcee. One prank went too far—of course, Sideswipe’s idea—and Wheeljack had to throttle him for it, to which Ratchet throttled him for causing damage to Sideswipe and more work for him. Only then did the disgruntled medic finally fix them both.

Jia and Liana were both conspiring how to keep the Lambo twins on Earth forever they were already planning to have them as their flashy rides when they got old enough to drive. Lucas, on the other hand, scoffed at them and continued working hard each summer, determined to earn enough money on his own to get his first car. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t LIKE practicing his driving with the Lambo twins. Every time they got out of sight of the house, they may or may not have let him speed.

That being said, when Lucas turned 17 and was heading into his senior year of high school, his parents rewarded his hard work and savings and helped him get his first car which was a slightly used Mustang. Lucas prided himself on the blue car with the custom faded white racing stripes and took wonderful care of it. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker picked on the little car, commonly calling it a jalopy, but Lucas ignored them.

Lucas went to the prestigious private university California Institute of Technology with a full ride, intending on getting a degree in Astronomy; a major in astronomy and a minor in Geological and Planetary Systems. He said with the way technology was advancing and the government already was in an alliance with Cybertron that the days of space travel were soon to be upon them, and he wanted to be a part of that. In the meantime, Jia went through a gothic phase while Liana went through a punk rock phase. Wheeljack had so many nostalgic flashbacks about Miko at their age that he actually made his spark sick because Miko was well into her 40s at this point and about to knock on 50’s door.

Getting Liana through high school was like pulling teeth while Jia passed with even better grades than Lucas as well as becoming Valedictorian. Both girls DID end up charming the Lambo twins enough that they stuck around—besides, until Cybertron’s underground racing was back in full swing, all they had back at home was work. Why go back to Cybertron when they could goof off on Earth? (Besides, Ultra Magnus and Prowl would much rather the Lambo twins stay on Earth as LONG as they liked. Forever, in fact.) As such, when the twins graduated, they went in vastly different directions:  Liana became a professional stunt driver with Sideswipe while Jia, half-Chinese with a bad-ass bob cut, was well on her way to becoming a part of the CIA with a sick ride; a.k.a. Sunstreaker.

Lucas was fixing up and customizing his Mustang. He didn’t need a Cybertronian to have a hot car, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to have a hot car. Good tastes in cars came in the family. Good taste in women came in the family. He had a girlfriend, Anastasia Perez—Anna, please don’t call her Anastasia ever—who was a brunette with thunder thighs that was apparently sassing Lucas so much about the things she knew that he didn’t that he blushed. She may have been a year older than him, leading to her seniority of knowledge. They probably one too many study dates to actually be prudent—more like studying each other.

Liana nearly immediately got a boyfriend after she graduated high school. At eighteen she brought in Andrew King, a twenty-three year old with a strong jaw covered in stubble and built like a hunk. The stunt driver had been put through a serious drilling by Wheeljack and was given quite a scare by the territorial grandfather who was a Cybertronian. Needless to say, he promised to keep his hands to himself and be an upstanding gentleman. Sideswipe also promised that he could keep a good eye on them for Jack, making the father feel better that she was going to have supervision while she was dating a man five years older than her.

Two years after the girls graduated high school , Miko turned fifty. Just like they had done with Jack, there was a party with excessively old stereotypes and black roses to accompany them hitting half a century. It made Wheeljack's spark sicker, and he made sure to visit Ratchet and make sure he was doing fine still, which he was.

Somewhere in the mix of Miko's fiftieth year, Arcee took the time to comfort Wheeljack when he had driven for hundreds of miles away. It seemed, getting away had been a mistake. He still wasn't sure when he had kissed her or how they were suddenly in their protoform, but he knew explicitly the night that had ensued and waking up with Arcee sprawled on his chassis.

Liana married first. After dating Andrew for four years she was engaged and married by 23. Wheeljack actually ended up liking the car buff a whole lot, probably even more than Jack did, which was saying something. They headed off on a honeymoon to Spain to sight see, be lovey-dovey, and also see the running of the bulls. Miko was freaking out about if Liana was going to come back pregnant. Fifty-three was far too early to be a grandmother! Luckily for her, Liana didn’t want to get pregnant anytime soon because it would interfere with her racing and stunt driving career.

Lucas was 32 when he finally became engaged to his girlfriend of eight years. Anna had graduated with her Ph.D and he had immediately put a ring on her finger. The following year, after he graduated, he married her. They were settled in their house and comfortable in their careers for a full year before Anna became pregnant.

Not even a week later, 29 year old Liana found out she was pregnant.

The babies were due only a month apart from each other. Wheeljack nearly had an aneurysm that he was going to be GREAT-grandfather while Arcee was taking it perfectly in stride while teasing Jack about being a grandpa and plucking at his grey hairs. Jack asked his mother what she felt about being a great-grandmother, and June promptly replied that as long as she was still kicking to bring on all the babies they wanted.

Three and fourth months into the pregnancies, June passed away.

She was found in her rocking chair with a book on her lap, having quietly passed when no one was watching. The doctors found no explanation for it since she had been a healthy woman even in her old age. Of the original crew on Earth, they all came back, Orion and Elita and Bumblebee—all of them. They all paid their respects at the funeral, Orion himself saying words that cut to the core, regal and reverent as always.

As these kind of things were, when everyone brought food to the Darby household, it was a sort of bittersweet reunion. Bumblebee and Raf caught up again, chattering away and Gwen being enraptured by the new warrior. Mrs. Davis was astounded at how little Megatronus had grown as he was just reaching a toddler's age, to which Elita was able to smile and tell her more about a sparkling's growth. Jazz had come even without knowing June simply because Prowl had come, and he did a swell job at cheering the household up some. When prodded by Arcee, Prowl did admit that he asked Jazz to come for that reason alone.

Ultra Magnus played with Megatronus who was the center of attention for many of the humans present. Smokescreen was having a friendly argument with the Lambo twins that he could beat them in a race, to which Knockout was eyeing up Sunstreaker—Sunstreaker glared right back. Miko gazed across the yard where Orion and Jack sat beneath a tree, deep in conversation with one another.

As it was, life continued on. Liana and Anna grew more pregnant until Anna had a fine baby boy. Shortly after, Liana had a girl. When Wheeljack's holoform cuddled Eric to sleep and Arcee cuddled Kimberly to sleep, he could only heave a heavy sigh. Great-grandfather. Primus. He kissed the babe's soft cheeks, gently laid him down in his crib, and evacuated the room.

Years passed. Babies grew into toddlers and Jia finally admitted that there was a male at the CIA that she was trying her best not to get involved with. It went without saying that she was failing. Miko soon developed arthritis, compliments of her still playing her guitar to the day. Jack inherited the heart problems his family had; he didn't like giving up salty potato chips. Raf had to have eye surgery, but afterwards, he didn't have to wear any glasses but reading glasses. You could still catch him trying to push up non-existent glasses.

Raf—who had had the most kids, totaling with five—became a grandpa next and he nearly had a stroke when he had triplet granddaughters. Gwen just laughed and cooed over the three girls while Raf tried to help out as best as he could. The Darby household, since it was so secluded and had such a large yard, became the common gathering place for play dates for all the kids running around.

Time passed with much more laughing than crying. Mrs. Davis soon passed with breast cancer and Miko’s parents were lost in a car crash. Jia got married at a late age to Donald Brown, a thin computer tech with black-rimmed glasses and allergies to almost every food on the planet. A swing set and a pool were added to the Darby house. More than once on hot days they found Sideswipe had dunked himself in it like a giant tub, just for him. A whole lot more birthday parties and anniversaries; a criminal amount of toys and Barbies and action figures and plastic cars. Bicycles replaced when they were left out and a Cybertronian stepped on them. Spark failure at watching Miko getting older and older. Riotous laughter at Thanksgiving when Miko forgot to put the pie in the oven to cook it and used salt instead of sugar in the cake. Driving lessons from the vehicles themselves. All their covers blown when paparazzi followed stunt driving star Liana back to the Darby house and that every vehicle there was a Cybertronian—

That is, except for a blue and white striped Mustang. Lucas prided himself on the old wreck more than was prudent and with a replacement engine and god knew how many other fixes to transmission and breaks and paint, he kept the thing running.

Liana had to protect her legitimacy as a stunt driving race star by using a car that wasn’t a Cybertronian—as she had “cheated” because the alien drove for her. Needless to say, Sideswipe had let her do the driving all along, and she managed to win the gold like usual with a regular race car. She retired on her high note in her career, but still continued to free race her twin sister and Sunstreaker with Sideswipe.

Then, the tragedy of old age began to plague the Darby family.

It hit hard and swift when Jack, at age 77, died of a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital, but to no avail. Orion spoke at his funeral too, a regal voice laced with sorrow and words of hope. That night, Wheeljack sat under the large tree in the backyard, holding Miko in his hand. She cried and cried, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

She curled up, the corners of her eyes beset by crow’s feet and wrinkles settling in for the stay in her once smooth skin. Wheeljack’s pulse slammed in his neck, terrified at the encounter with death. Miko could be next. Jack—it seemed only yesterday he had been telling the boy not to screw it up with Miko. He hadn’t. He had done so fragging right by Miko. Wheeljack, however . . . He looked off down the driveway towards the road. Arcee had left on a drive hours ago. She still wasn’t back.

He heard Miko sniffle, a box of tissues in her lap and a litter of crumpled ones in her lap. “We were planning on going to see the Great Wall,” she finally said. She leaned tiredly on his chassis. “We’d meant to go for forever, but with all the kids never really got a chance.”

Wheeljack suppressed a tremble and gently stroked her cheeks. “You gonna be all right, Miko?” he finally asked gruffly.

She blew her nose again and nodded. “Yeah . . . If I’ve got you, I can truck through anything, I just . . . Daddy, I’m going to miss him so much . . .”

Wheeljack closed his optics, spark squeezing in pain. “I know, Babe.”

She shook her head, beginning to cry again. “I—I can’t bear the thought of going to bed without him there. He’s always been there, Dad, and now . . . and now . . .”

He vented softly, scooping her closer. “I know, Babe. I know . . .”

Miko sniffled again, wiping her nose with a tissue before honey eyes looked up at him. “Wheeljack . . . My kids . . . They’re the best things that’ve happened to me. And—I want you to have some kids too.”

His spark leapt into his throat at the sudden change of conversation. “I—Wh-What—?”

Miko shook her head at him. “Don’t act like that. You’re great with the kids. And I just . . . You deserve your own family, Wheeljack.” She shrugged, holding out her hands that were wrought with arthritis. “This made me think. And Wheeljack, after living my life—”

He winced, vocalizer cracking as he interrupted, “Please—Miko please, don’t talk like that.”

“It’s going to happen one day,” she reminded him softly, touching his chassis. “And I can say, after living for so long, it’s worth it, Jackie. The kids are worth it, the marriage—it was worth it, all the risks were worth it. And just because my life is gonna end soon doesn’t mean yours has to. So I want you to promise me that you’ll kick Death’s can and keep on living for me.”

Wheeljack squeezed his optics shut. His free hand clenched into a fist against his trembling, and he rasped, “Babe . . . I—I can’t promise that.”

“Then at least promise me that you’ll try, Jackie. Have a slew of mini-Wheeljack’s that fritz Ratchet’s circuits, he needs that kind of love.”

His vocalizer tightened with the threat of tears. Pressing his lips together and turning his face away from the cool night breeze, Wheeljack whispered, “I promise.”

“Good.” They fell silent for some time, comforted by one another’s presence. Miko soon began to sniffle again. She shook her head, wiping at the tears on her cheeks. “Jackie? We—I was going to take him to see the Great Wall. He’d never seen it before, and we had it all planned out . . .”

“I know, Babe,” he said softly, gently stroking the taunt muscles in her back. “You just told me.”

A small blush graced her cheeks with a little bit of color. “I knew that,” she defended herself. “Forgot. Sorry.”

“It’s all right, Miko. Don’t worry about it. It’ll all be okay . . .”

He comforted her until it was late and she finally left to go to bed. Wheeljack sighed to himself and hitched up his legs, leaned his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his palms. He sat that way until he had almost lulled himself to recharge, but the small rev of a familiar engine made his helm lift. Arcee rolled towards him until she came to a rest directly in front of him. She transformed and stood, fists and jaw clenched. When she failed to say anything, Wheeljack felt his spark break.

He reached out, tugging her to his lap. “Come here,” he murmured to her.

She broke at the knees and collapsed into his chassis, shaking with silent tears. Wheeljack collected her close to him, dropping tender kisses on top of her helm. Her chest heaved with strained gasps as she wept silently, beating on his chassis.

“I know,” he whispered softly, stroking her back. He pressed his face to the top of her helm. “I’m sorry.”

***********

Age crept in on Miko far more stealthily than it had Jack. For years, no one suspected, though something seemed off. At age 79, Miko was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.

At first, Wheeljack hadn’t known what the disease was. He’d never heard of it, so he had to have someone explain it to him. When he finally understood, he felt sick. When he heard there was no cure, he was terrified. No matter how you spun it, it was going to be a long and painful fading for Miko. It was the last thing he had wanted for her.

Miko proclaimed almost immediately that she might as well get her wrinkly butt into a elderly home. She left the house to whichever child needed it the most, packed up some clothes, a stack of photo albums, her favorite chair, her guitar and mini amp, and some fluffy blankets for warmth and moved into an elderly home. Amongst her things as he helped her pack, Wheeljack did notice her take one of Jack’s button ups and a harmonica she couldn’t play.

The place she moved into was nice and roomy and comfortable. She could go outside as long as someone was with her (Alzheimer patients tended to want to wander off) and she was full of enough life that it infected the other patients. She gained new friends quickly and they even had a game consol for the patients to play to keep them in motion, and she got to show off her video game skills. She quickly found a rival in one of the males there. She had to add pictures and curtains to her room because it was so white and reminded her of a hospital, but her room became, well . . . quite roomy. She slipped into the next stage of her life with grace and her typical lust for life.

Wheeljack practically moved into the elderly home with her since he visited her every day and sometimes even recharged in the parking lot, but no one seemed to mind.

She had many visitors, both Cybertronian holoforms and humans alike. Ratchet came in and checked on her regularly, periodically running a scan on her that would make her immediately whine like she was a child again. She even got Elita and Orion to visit her, to which she could only get caught up in stitches and compliment Orion that he was much too handsome as a human.

Life . . . persisted. Years slowly passed, and the disease slowly became more apparent in Miko. It aggravated her aggression, causing her to hit several patients and get her sent to the hospital to have her mental stability questioned. She repeated herself in conversations, talking about the same events over and over. Her arthritis was making it difficult for her to hold the video game controller and nearly impossible to play her guitar anymore. Every night, she looked through her photo albums to say everyone’s names and not forget anyone. She struggled with the many, many grandchildren, and it made Wheeljack’s spark sink. Eventually, she began to struggle with more people than just the grandchildren.

By the time she was 83, Wheeljack found out that Ratchet was trying to desperately make a cure. After that, if Wheeljack wasn’t visiting Miko, he was found with Ratchet. They poured over medical lab sheets, studied human anatomy and biology, and brainstormed so intently that you could hear their internal mechanisms whir in the silence.

At 85, a full six years of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Wheeljack despondently left the elder’s home. Instead of calling Ratchet for a bridge, he broke his routine and drove. He drove far, and he drove fast. Arcee was at Liana’s today because the grandkids were over—with one expecting a GREAT-grandchild. Wheeljack’s spark pained even as it softened at the prospect of another child. He’d be a great-great-grandfather. His spark squeezed. He didn’t know if he could take that, watching all of them grow up only to watch them die . . .

When he made it to the house, he found Arcee on her knees, watching a row of children and teenagers alike playing red rover. She looked up when Wheeljack transformed and walked towards her.

Immediately, Wheeljack was assaulted with high-pitched squeals and hellos of excitement since it had been too long since his last visit. Trying to placate them quickly, he was aware he was coming off a touch too uncaring, but he couldn’t help it. He grabbed Arcee’s hand, tugging her along with him, and she followed without any prompting.

He brought them out of sight of the family for privacy. He sat down, and Arcee knelt across from him. She squeezed his servo.

“Wheeljack, what’s wrong?”

Fighting the tears, Wheeljack grabbed her hands and pressed them to his face, trying to keep them from falling. “Arcee,” he rasped gruffly, “she . . .” He sucked in a tight vent, winglets perking straight and armor beginning to shake. “Arcee, she . . . Primus, sh-she looked right at me and she didn’t know who I was!”

He was openly weeping now. He hadn’t know how much that was going to . . . HURT. He thought he had prepared himself for that inevitable outcome, but no amount of preparation could have braced him for it. Arcee’s servos reached around him to lace behind his neck, and Wheeljack buried his face into her chassis, fighting his tears. She held him as he quaked, and Wheeljack wrapped his arms around her, overwhelmed by the recent tragedy in his life.

His spark was . . . slowly coming undone again. He was fairly sure he had just cracked open the fractures that had once healed over. Agony poured through him, and he sobbed into Arcee, breaking under the weight of his sorrows. He was tired of watching her waste away. He was tired of watching her lose basic functions like using a fork or the buttons on a remote. He was tired of her looking at her family and not knowing who they were.

Fingers digging into Arcee’s back for support, Wheeljack groaned, “Why . . . Why, Angel, why . . .”

She shushed him, wetness stinging her own optics for his pain. “I don’t know,” she murmured. Her fingers spread and tightened with comfort over his neck, and after her throat bobbed, tenderly kissed the top of his helm. “I don’t know, love . . .”

A gritted sob escaped his vocalizer. Wheeljack clenched his jaw tightly, struggling to hold it back as Arcee whispered sweet nothings to him. He trembled, tears dripping into her armor.

“I can’t cure it . . . I can’t fix it . . . I shouldn’t have to watch my baby girl waste away . . .”

It took him far too long to die down to system hiccups. Arcee’s touch gently caressed him, soothing him slowly as he wrestled with his emotions. His white-knuckled grip on her finally relaxed, and he scooped her close, slumping over.

“Thanks, Angel,” he whispered gruffly. But he didn’t let go of her. He relished in her closeness, his aching spark missing her something fierce.

Her lips kissed the top of his helm again, unintentionally rubbing salt in a raw wound. Wheeljack’s optics shuttered as he buried his face into her chest. He released a jagged vent, thumb stroking along one of her winglets. “Are you all right?” she breathed.

He vented roughly against her. “No,” he rasped. He squeezed his optics shut tighter, vocalizer shaking as he remembered all of the lives he had lost, ever since the beginning. For some reason, Bulkhead seemed even farther away than he ever had before. “And I don’t know if I ever will be.”

***********

Despite it all, Wheeljack returned the very next day to Miko. To his shock, she knew exactly who he was that day.

He didn’t have the spark to tell her she had forgotten him.

Left knowing that Miko may or may not even remember who he was, it made Wheeljack feel sick with apprehension every time he came to visit her from that day on. However, he doggedly kept coming, believing that the only reason she could still remember him was because of his visits. Her children and grandchildren came less often. She didn’t know them anymore, and it was hard for them. Wheeljack had to spend time assuring them that it was all right that they didn’t come often anymore. He knew their struggle, and he promised them that he was looking after her.

Somehow, someway, she grew older. Wheeljack watched in the wake of his pain at how many more wrinkles she accumulated, the gnarling of her fingers, and the shake of her hands . . . Her honey eyes grew dull and lethargic, and along with that, her spirit. She lost more and more basic functions. The nurses had to feed her by hand, bathe her, and help her go to the bathroom. Wheeljack couldn’t even have a full conversation with her anymore. Her mind was elsewhere, and her words were halting because she couldn’t remember the words and had troubles remembering how to speak. She slept more and more and more. She forgot him more and more until days where she remembered him were blessings.

On a day where he was watching her sleep, he despaired. He bowed his head over and wept by her side. She stirred at some point and began to stroke his hair. He didn’t lift his head. He didn’t want to know whether or not she remembered who he was this time. It was enough to know that her compassion was still instinct, and he took comfort in her ministrations.

The years crawled by, bagged down with woe. As Miko slowly wasted away, Wheeljack’s spark became weaker and weaker. Ratchet could do little to bolster the strength of Wheeljack’s spark as the Wrecker was beginning to give up all hope. Though he knew it was folly at this point, Ratchet continued to try and find a cure for the disease.

Regardless, Wheeljack continued to speak with her. He told her all about her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He told her all about Springer, Twin Twist, and Topspin, and all about his Wrecking crew. He still told her war stories and stories about her life. He told her all about Bulkhead. He liked to think that his voice still connected with an innate part of her, and that it soothed her; some days it seemed like it did, some days she was just unresponsive.

At age 93, Wheeljack continued to tell Miko he loved her.

And, sometimes, Miko would try to tell him stories. Wheeljack listened attentively as she did so, holding her hand. She was cold.

“And . . . he took the—you know . . . and—” She gave a weak laugh, giving a frail nod of her head. “And he—Funny! And he—with the . . . you know . . .”

Wheeljack forced a haggard smile to his face at the same ordeal. “Yeah, I bet it was real funny,” he said to her. He wondered what part of her childhood she was reliving. Was it one of Twist and Spin’s pranks? Or further back? A memory he hadn’t even participated in?

Her lips pulled in the effort to try and smile. She gave him another halting nod, clearly forgetting the word “yes”. “And he . . . w-with the . . . And hit him!” Wheeljack leaned in a little closer when her words became a little more garbled, and he stroked a stray white hair from her face. “With the . . . you know . . . he took it . . .”

“I know,” Wheeljack repeated, smile straining. He could feel his face collapsing again, but Miko was too far gone to notice. As it was, he could only take heart that she seemed to be having a better day than the past week or two. “It was really funny, wasn’t it?”

Her face seemed to alight that he had guessed right. She tried to smile again and nod. “Funny!”

Wheeljack waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. Instead, she laid back on her pillows, staring around her colorful room with a sort of curious wonder. Wheeljack cleared his throat to catch her attention again. “Miko?”

She looked back over to him and seemed to realize she was holding his hand. She frowned, and she took her hand away. Wheeljack tried not to wince. He was a stranger again. “Hello. My name’s Jackie.”

Miko’s brows cinched. “Who?”

“Jackie,” he repeated. “I’m a friend.”

There was that hollow look again. She didn’t know him. Wheeljack raked a hand through his hair. Back to simple conversation. “Are you warm?”

“Yes,” she said, and Wheeljack’s jaw ticked, knowing how cold her fingers were.

“Are you comfortable?”

Her eyes drifted again before she gave a soft sigh and seemed to sink down around the pillows. His hands clenched. She was slipping again.

“I’ve done all I can to keep you warm and comfortable,” he said softly. He reached out to take her hand again. She looked, but did nothing to resist him. Thumb stroking tenderly over the back of her hand, Wheeljack squeezed his eyes shut against the tears. “Sometimes, I don’t think it’s enough, that there should be something more I can do, but I can’t. There’s nothing I can do, and that frustrates me so bad, Babe. I wish I could help you, but . . . I can’t. I’m powerless.”

Her eyes were drifting again. She was staring at the colors in her room. He lifted her limp hand and kissed her fingertips. He held her hand to his face, throat working hard. “You’ve got a lot of people who love you, Miko. Primus you’ve got so many people that love you . . . and care for you . . . and your life was full of love. And you loved so much. You were spirited, full of energy and life, as volatile as a bomb. You were a handful, but, I think that’s why people loved you so much.” The tears were slipping out against his will again. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

“I love you so much, Miko. With all my spark. I miss hearing you play your guitar. I miss your laughter, your smiles, and your teasing . . .” He sucked in a harsh breath. “But I won’t ever give up on you,” he whispered. “You’re my sweet spark, my strength, and my baby girl. And I love you, Miko, from the depths of my spark. I always will . . .”

He stayed quiet for a moment, holding her hand that she had no strength to move. Heaving a ragged breath, he shook his head, trying to shake off his mood. “I have a good story,” he said, vowing to retell one of her favorites. He lifted his head, looking at her. “It’s one of your—”

His throat closed off. She stared unseeing at him, a look that almost equaled affectionate curiosity frozen on her face. Wheeljack dropped her cold hand like it was on fire, and he jolted backwards on his feet, knocking over his chair.

Strangled breaths crowed his throat.

“M-Miko?”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t blink. Her honey eyes were glazed over, and her chest was unmoving. A part of him realized what happened. He felt his spark begin to burn hot with raw agony even as his processor stalled against reality.

“M-Miko? Miko, Primus please, don’t do this . . .” His shaking hand reached out to her, and he stroked her thin white hair back, hot tears stinging his eyes. “Miko please . . . Please . . .” The tears began to drip when she was unresponsive. His holoform began to crackle and fizzle with the effort it took to keep it materialized as he rapidly felt himself growing weaker and weaker. A sob wrenched from his throat.

“Miko! Miko, Miko please—!” He bent over her, hands taking either side of her head and bowing over to rest his forehead against hers. “Primus please no . . . No, Miko . . .”

His arms constricted around her, holding her to his chest desperately as his holoform glitched, beginning to dissipate. Her head fell back, and he buried his face into her collarbone, unwilling to believe she was gone after all this time.

“Miko . . .” he groaned. “Oh Primus, Miko . . . PLEASE . . .”

His cries attracted the attention of a nurse. He felt hands on his shoulders and a voice, but he didn’t register what she was saying. There was no use to pry him off her to check her vitals. Her body had ceased to function.

Accepting it broke him. A harsh sob wrenched from Wheeljack as the holoform finally dissolved fully, and his real body in the parking lot transformed, lurching unsteadily to his peds. A cry broke from his vocalizer, and he stumbled away from the building, servos beginning to shake violently as his spark began to rapidly shut down without the one who had band-aided his fractures in the first place.

“Ratchet—Ratch—” Somehow, he had the logic to contact the medic. He didn’t know why. Maybe he just didn’t want to die alone in this parking lot. Something in his voice must have tipped him off, because the ground bridge blasted open and Ratchet came rushing out.

His knees gave out. He fell to the ground thunderously, a despairing moan tearing from his throat. Ratchet’s servos gripped beneath his pits and hauled him to his peds. “Wheeljack! Wheeljack, stay with me. You hear me? You’re going to be okay.”

Another sob spilled from him. Amongst his broken weeping, Ratchet could make out Miko’s name and pleading. Wheeljack felt himself laid on his back on a medical berth, and his servos gripped his helm, system keening weakly as vital functions began to shut down.

Then, he felt his spark seize in cardiac arrest. Ratchet was back in a flash with a shout, and Wheeljack felt his spark chamber doors popped open.

And honestly? He didn’t care. His mind began to drift as he teetered at death’s door. This pain was only temporary, wasn’t it? He was going to see Miko again soon, so it was all going to be okay . . . And not just Miko, he’d get to see Twin Twist and Topspin again. Primus knew he was excited to see those two pranksters again. He’d get to tell them about Cybertron’s restoration. And Pyro—he could finally apologize properly to Pyro for his mistakes. Bulkhead. Primus, he was going to see his best friend again.

And suddenly, he wasn’t so afraid of death. He welcomed it.

As if through a tunnel, he heard his name cried out. Above him, he saw the hazy form of Arcee hovering above him, the blue glow of sparks shedding light around her. His throat filled with a lump. Surely she could understand . . . He had so many to see, to talk to, to make it up to . . .

I’m sorry, Arcee . . . You deserve so much better . . .

Servo’s grabbed him. Someone pushed against his countenance and Wheeljack felt himself yanked away from oblivion.

There was a violent, shocking surge, and then, the darkness overwhelmed him.
*giant wall of text*

So.... I've known from the beginning how this story was going to end. No fears! There's still another chapter, and I did promise you a happy ending. (Maybe bittersweet, but hopeful. It's a good ending.) And, I've had this planned out for a long time. The very end with Miko, I mean, not all the beauty that happened with her family. I honestly made all that up and was darned pleased with the children (I effing love her children) and if the mood suits me, I might try to throw some one-shots about all the stuff that I sorta breezed over in this giant time skip.

And... I was surprised at how HARD it was to write this chapter. Like.... I suppose it hit a little close to home for me since my both my grandparents had Alzheimer's.... but this was the first time I legitimately CRIED while writing a story. Sure, I've teared up before, maybe had a couple tears slip out, but nothing like this. I literally had to put down my computer and CRY when I wrote the moment that Wheeljack realized he lost Miko. I had to blow my nose, my eyes were red, I was lucky it was night and my mom didn't come in and ask me why I was crying.

I... This chapter was just HARD to write. I almost couldn't write it, it was that hard. I kept having to put it down (which is why, after almost a week of parroting that this chapter was almost done, you finally get it.) I've been emotionally drained, so I've been sleeping like crazy. In short, I didn't realize how much it was going to effect me, but in the end, I knew this was how OHOS had to end.

I thought about changing it, but it would honestly be a cop out. I'd been talking about Miko's mortality in this story for a long time now, becoming more and more prevalent with each passing chapter. And this is Wheeljack's final test. If he can accept her death. Wheeljack's never been able to accept death around him even though it's a natural part of life, so this is where the core of his character growth is centered. And yeah, shit happens in life and you can't keep people from dying. But he knows that Miko felt fulfilled and happy with her life and didn't regret and instant of it.

Well..... :aww: I DID promise a happy ending. You might call it semi-happy, or bittersweet, but there's a strong root of hope in it, which is what I think Wheeljack needs the most. So bear with me, hang with me, this next chapter is going to be worth it in the end. Even though I'm a little emotionally drained, I hope to get it up soon so you won't have to be left with this chapter. :thanks: I've got tissues and milk and cookies for all my wounded readers, so take as you please. There are also a couple axes too, but I hope you won't use those on me. Place your hearts in the jars for my collection.

(Oh yes. And I LOST COUNT of how many kids I had running around, so I stopped naming them and got a bit generalized about them. I stopped counting at 13 babies. :XD: )


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alisha541's avatar
This made me sob into my blanket at night. I loved this, I cried, I laughed, and, I loved. I could barely suffer through this...