Chapter Text
Bulkhead
Sari had only moved in with the Autobots a few days ago, which was why Bulkhead was surprised to hear sniffling and small, frightened noises from the previously empty room.
“Sari?” He whispered, peering into the room.
She had decorated it with what little she had brought, blankets and some toys and furniture. But her small size and the small size of her things only made the room appear emptier by comparison.
Sari was on her bed - a repurposed tire - and shivering under her blankets. Slowly lifting up a corner, she peered at him with terrified eyes.
“It's…it's really dark.” She muttered. “I used to have some nightlights at…at home…”
Could organics not see as well in the dark?
There was a sadness in her voice, and it compelled Bulkhead to come closer. “Is the dark a problem? Is it bad for Organics? I can put in more lamps and lights-”
“N-No, it's just…it's just…” she struggled to reply, wiggling under her blankets. “...what if there's something hiding in the dark? Like a monster!”
Oh, that made sense. This was a new area, this was a new space, she had never really spent the night before, it was only natural that she didn't feel completely safe.
“Well, do you want me to scan your room for monsters?” He asked.
“Can you please?” She sounded so small, so fragile.
Bulkhead smiled. “Anything for you. Let me take a quick look around.”
There was a hum as Bulk scanned every inch of the room, helm slowly spinning as he did so, form completely still. He took special note of the corners, where the darkness seemed strongest.
“No monsters!” he announced. “I checked!”
But Sari didn’t seem convinced. She continued to shiver in her bed, clutching one of her toys tight. She really was a paradox, wasn’t she? She had faced Decepticon threats, but the dark had left her a terrified little thing.
Humans were so strange.
“Th…thank you Bulkhead.” She stammered. “...goodnight.” Despite her words, they didn’t seem genuine.
“...You still scared, Sari?”
She hesitated, going to shake her head, but eventually, nodded. “...yeah.”
Bulkhead thought, processing dozens of options all at once until finally settling on one. His plating creaked as he sat down beside her bed.
He had always been aware of his size before, even with the others. But next to her, he felt like a mountain.
“Bulk? What are you doing?”
“I’m keeping watch!” he explained. “To make sure monsters don’t come!”
Her eyes lit up. “You mean it? Isn’t it a little…silly?” her voice dipped. “...it’s not very grown-up of me.”
Bulkhead tilted his head, thinking. “...I don’t think it’s silly. And I don’t mind keeping watch!” He leaned closer, oh-so-carefully picking up the corner of her blanket to fix it. “You’re in a new place. You’re not used to it. When we first came to Earth, it wasn’t easy on us either.”
Sari began to wiggle back into bed, head on the pillow but still looking up at him. “Really?”
“Well, yeah! We’re on a planet we don’t know, in a place we’ve never been, none of us recharged that first night, or the night after.” He shifted to get more comfortable, “I bet you feel the same. But don’t you worry. I’ll keep watch for you! Little humans need sleep.”
“You sound like Prowl.” she muttered, but smiled back at him. “Thank you, Bulk.”
Bulkhead took on a more serious pose, back straight and optics forward. But out of the corner of his vision, he could see Sari start to settle down. And soon enough, her fearful sniffles were replaced by quiet snores.
Of course, when Bulkhead and the rest landed on Earth, they had one another to lean on. Sari had…no one. No sparkplug, no tutorbot, no Professor Sumdac…
Well, she had them, didn’t they? He’d make sure of it.
Very, very aware of his large size, Bulkhead gently used a claw to tuck her in. And then, not about to go back on his word, resumed position to guard her.
Bumblebee
Bumblebee paused his game at the sound of shuffling footsteps. Far too quiet for any of the others, save for…
“Sari? Is that you?” He asked, peering over the couch.
She stood by the doorframe, surprised to have been caught. She was even wearing a blanket over her head, presumably for…stealth? “Oh, you heard me?” She answered, “I thought you were distracted.”
“I am never distracted, I am always focused. Ain't nothin’ getting past me!” He proclaimed. Then, aware of his volume, asked in a hush, “Sooo, what are you doing up?”
Sari didn't answer immediately, keeping her eyes on the floor. “I…can't sleep. I was gonna try to sneak out and play video games…”
Bumblebee thought about this. When Sari first arrived, the Autobots did all sorts of research and readings about what human organics required, especially very small humans.
Sleep was one of them.
“I don't think that's a good idea, Sari.” He replied, slipping into his best serious voice. “You need your sleep, you know. Video games this late aren't healthy.”
“Hypocrite.”
“I am not a tiny organic creature.”
She crossed her arms, pouting. “I didn't think Optimus liked you playing video games when you're on patrol duty?”
At this, Bee faltered. “Well…I mean he doesn't… but I was on break!”
“So…can I play video games now?”
“Why can't you sleep?”
She didn't answer, instead choosing to wrap her blanket tighter around herself. “It's…” she started to say, unable to look at him. “It's…”
Bumblebee winced. Right, right, she's going through a rough patch, things are weird and rough now, and him asking directly probably wasn't smart. He could almost feel Prowl looming over him.
Suddenly, an idea pinged in his processor. A brilliant idea, even. “What’s that expression? Two birds with one rock?”
“Not phrased like that, exactly-”
“Come on patrols with me.”
Sari frowned, pulling her blanket a little tighter. “Uhm…why?”
Bee shifted to vehicle mode, eagerly opening his front door for her. “Well for one, if I leave, you’re just gonna play video games while I’m gone.”
“You don’t know that for certain.” She countered, but sounded a little guilty as she did so.
“And…it’s not exactly a secret that you fall asleep when one of us is driving at night.”
At that, Sari blushed. It was true; the streetlamps at night, the gentle rocking and vibration of the roads and engines, the knowledge that her bestest friends in the whole world were literally all around her, keeping her safe…
“I’m right, you know.” he teased, rolling a bit closer. “You’ve fallen asleep with everyone but Prowl, and I know he says he doesn’t feel comfortable with you riding with him but he’s super jealous. Don’t tell him I said that.”
That got her to crack a smile, at least.
She was absolutely telling Prowl later.
“Mhmm…OK, I’ll come with.” She finally agreed, starting to clamber onto the driver’s seat. “But what if I don’t fall asleep?”
“Don’t think it’ll be a problem.” he said, almost knowingly.
Sari clambered inside, pulling her blankets around her as Bee closed the door.
And he was off, speeding out of the base and onto the streets of Detroit. Once on the actual roads, Bee started to slow, to not draw attention to himself and to not break any of the speed limits. The last thing he needed was Fanzone yelling at him while trying to lull Sari to sleep.
Bumblebee started going towards the backroads; not too out of the city but not too deep into it. The roads were a bit worn, but not so rough it’d shake his passenger, and the streetlamps here were a soft, muted orange. It was a warm night in Detroit, so she wouldn’t be too hot or too cold.
His plan was starting to work, he could feel it. Sari was starting to sink into the seat, starting to curl up, blankets all around…
Oh yeah, he was the best at this. Prowl had every right to be jealous.
And as he pulled to the red light, Bee checked on Sari. She was curled up in a little ball on the driver’s seat, blankets pulled up to her chin, eyes closed and breathing softly.
He nearly cheered. But he managed to reign in his excitement to happy wiggles and shifting of wheels.
With Sari asleep (or the closest thing to it), Bee made a quick (and definitely illegal) u-turn to head back to home base. Patrols could continue later, but for now, he had a very sleepy organic to tuck back into her bed.
Prowl
In the dead of the night, the warehouse was silent. All the stranger then, when little alarms pulled Prowl out of recharging. Little warnings that something was off, something wasn’t quite right.
He remained perfectly still, sitting in the meditative pose he took before recharge.
There was a noise just outside his door, breaking the fragile silence of his home. His helm snapped to face it, plating creaking as he tensed for a fight-
When Sari creaked open the door with big, sad eyes, Prowl felt all tension leave his frame. He even felt a little silly, he should've been used to her presence by now…but what was she doing out this late?
“Sari?” He half asked, half sighed in relief. “Is everything alright?”
She fiddled with the blanket she was holding, stopped halfway across the room. She was actually holding quite a few blankets and pillows, wearing a long sleeve top and pants she called ‘pajamas’. They were apparently only meant to be worn during recharging, which Prowl found strange, but he wasn't going to comment on it now, with her looking on the verge of tears.
“I...I had a bad dream.” She admitted, quietly.
“Oh.” Hm. How to proceed? “Do you wish to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “No, no, I was just…can I stay with you?”
Prowl didn't quite understand what she was asking. “Stay?”
“Just for a little while, until I feel better? Just to rest my eyes? I don't want to be alone…”
Oh, she was asking for his company? That he could provide. He wasn't sure where she would rest, though. His room wasn't designed with small organics in mind.
“O-Of course, come in. I…I don't have a place for you-” Prowl began to stammer, glancing around the room for a suitable replacement for her recharge station- bed. Right. She called it a bed .
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou-” Sari quickly made her way over, unceremoniously dumping her blankets and pillows into his lap.
“Sari?” He questioned, looking down at her arranging her things to her liking, then crawling onto his lap. He observed, more than a little confused, as she pulled some of her blankets over herself and got comfortable.
“Just for a few minutes.” she sleepily murmured, hugging one of her plush toys.
Prowl was stuck. Trapped, almost, with the tiny human recharging in his lap. He didn’t dare wake her, especially after admitting to having a bad dream.
And while externally, Prowl was still and silent, his processor was racing. This was novel behavior from Sari, and he tried to make sense of it. And as he stared down at the bundle in his lap, eventually, one of his many scrambled thoughts connected.
Sari almost resembled a baby bird like this, curled up in a nest.
With that thought, more branched off from it.
He thought of adult birds sitting on eggs and babies to keep them warm and hidden from threats. He thought of cats big and small carefully picking up their young to take them back to the safety of their dens, the little bundles of fur wiggling up to the adult for comfort. He thought of bears and their young clinging to their backs, elephant younglings running to their pack after falling, tiny, oh so tiny deer crying for their parent, little alligators squeaking to call for the terrifying adult-
Prowl managed to stop his whirring processor before he became overheated. Regardless, a clear pattern was forming; younger organics would seek out their parents for comfort and protection. It was only logical then, that Sari would do the same.
But Professor Sumdac wasn’t here, and she sought out Prowl instead…
The realization sent a fluttering feeling through his spark and chassis. Sari needed safety, needed comfort, and sought him out for this exact purpose.
And he would provide.
Taking care not to disturb Sari, Prowl curled over her, shielding her from any potential threats. He couldn’t stop the low rumble from his engine, pleased and proud with himself.
Sari may have said she’d stay for a few minutes (however long that was), but she could stay for as long as she wanted.
And Primus help them if anyone tried to disrupt her rest now.
Ratchet
Ratchet glanced at the little clock Sari had placed on his workstation, optics squinting as he tried to read it. “Your little clock says 8:34.” he announced. “I believe our agreement was bedtime at 8:30?”
“Don’t wanna.” she muttered, coloring with her little wax sticks and pressed, dead trees. Ratchet internally corrected himself; they were crayons and paper.
“Can’t go back on the agreement, kid. Clock says 8:30, you’re in bed.”
Sari paused, set aside the crayons and paper, and put on her best serious face. “Let’s negotiate.”
Allspark save him.
“No, I don’t negotiate. Nice try.”
“Ten more minutes.” she said, grinning ear to ear.
“No.”
“Five more minutes?”
“No.”
“Three-”
Ratchet shook his head. “I’m not arguing with you. You’ll stand there all night and argue, which, in this situation, is whatcha want!”
Sari crossed her arms and pouted. “I don’t wanna go to bed!”
He could feel himself growing irritated, but tried to curb it. Sari was going through a lot, he needed to be mindful of this.
…but she really didn’t need to be arguing with him about this.
“Kid, humans need sleep to function. You need sleep to function! Remember when you did that ‘Movie Marathon’ with Bumblebee? You were half-offline for days!” He reached down, picking her up by the scruff and holding her up to his face. “Why don’t you want to go to bed?”
Sari usually didn’t mind when the others would pick her up. But here, she squirmed and wiggled, trying to reach over her head and to his fingers. “I don’t! Wanna! I’m not tired!”
“Oh, like I believe that! Give me a real reason, kid. Do you not like your bed? Your room? Did something happen?”
She stopped wiggling as much. “It’s…”
So it was something else. Ratchet lowered his voice. “Kid, you can tell me. What's wrong?”
“...I miss my old room. And I miss my old bed, and I miss my old toys, and, a-and…” she sniffled, tears welling in the corner of her eyes.
Human protoforms were much different than Cybertronian protoforms, Ratchet had learned. While a protoform was fully capable and self-sufficient within a few deca-cycles, Human protoforms were…not.
Human protoforms were often temperamental, selfish, and had zero survival instincts, this was true. But they were equally as caring, nervous, and sensitive little things.
Of course she'd be affected by the sudden change. Scrap, some bots would struggle with this.
There was a soft concern in his voice as he answered. “Miss your room, huh? Kid…if I could go up and pluck your old room for ya, I would.”
“But you can't.” She said, sounding bitter and angry, but thankfully not directed at Ratchet. No, it was the other human who kicked her out, and he wanted to throw him into the river so, so badly…
“... there's something else I might be able to do…” he set her down and began rummaging through his drawers and cabinets.
Pushing past tools and supplies, Ratchet carefully, oh so carefully, removed a large plush toy from a corner of a cabinet.
Sari's eyes lit up at the sight. “How did you-?? Where did you-?? What??”
“During a scuffle with Lugnut, he threw me through a building. I’m sure you remember that. Spark knows my back still does.”
“Uh huh.” she nodded, only half paying attention. Already the soft fur of the toy was distracting her, and she was happily running her hands through it.
“Well, the building he threw me into was something called an “Arcade”. There were lots of little machines that contained toys like this, and the owner was…was so grateful for my service that he let me have one.”
A total lie. A complete lie. Ratchet had never lied more in his life. He did get thrown at the arcade and there were lots of little machines that held toys, but he omitted the part in which he broke several, and in the scuffle, managed to tuck some of the toys away for a rainy day.
Such as today.
Ratchet couldn't help the little smirk as Sari held the toy tightly in her arms. “I think it'd be… happier in your room versus my med-bay, wouldn't you agree?”
She gasped, briefly glancing at him to see if he was being serious. He nodded, and she squealed in delight. “Yay! Thank you, thank you! Have I mentioned you're my favorite robot?”
He snorted. “Not nearly enough. Now go on. Get your little tailpipe to bed. And DON’T think you’re gonna get a little toy from me everytime you’re sad, got it?”
“Thank you Ratchet! Thank you!” she repeated, hopping down from the table. Ratchet tried not to appear interested, but made sure to listen to the pitter-pattering of her little feet as she went to her room and closed the door.
After enough time had passed, he casually, nonchalantly, definitely not intentionally walked by her door.
He was more than pleased to see her tucked into bed, clutching her new stuffed toy.
Optimus
Optimus paused his video when he heard the little shuffling of Organic feet. He turned, sighing upon seeing the little form of Sari in his doorway.
“Sari…it’s late. You should be in bed.”
She rubbed at her eyes and yawned. “I got up for some water…what are you watching?”
“Oh, this?” He gestured to the monitor, still paused on old footage. Optimus found himself hesitating. The others had their fair share of teasing, finding his liking of older history documentaries humorous.
But this was Sari, surely she'd understand.
“Well, sometimes I like watching old footage of the old Autobot-Decepticon Wars. Historical documentation of the wars as they happened millions of stellar-cycles ago. It’s my personal belief that one can learn a lot from the past-”
Sari interrupted his rambling explanation, pointing at him and muttering, “Nerd.”
Optimus frowned. So much for not being teased. “That’s not very nice, young lady.” he scolded.
“Sorry, Bossbot.”
She had picked up the nickname from Bee, and he couldn't deny it was a little endearing.
Sari looked at the screen, tilting her head before starting to come closer. “Can I…watch? With you?”
“You just called me a nerd for watching them?”
She was already pawing at his legs, arms lifted in a clear display of ‘pick me up’. Which he did.
“I never said being a nerd was a bad thing.” she clarified, settling into the crook of his elbow. “You guys never talk about Cybertron. Pleaaaase? I’m not sleepy, I promise.”
Sari was right; Optimus tried not to talk much about Cybertron or the Decepticon threat around her. She was only a protoform, completely innocent in all of this. She didn’t need to know the grisly details of war.
Perhaps…there was something lighter to show.
Optimus shifted his hold on her, using one servo to close the current video and start a new one.
“Heyyy, I wanted to watch.” she whined.
“If you want to watch these, maybe you should start at the beginning.” he offered, pulling up a video about the planet Cybertron itself.
This seemed to placate her, and he felt Sari nuzzle into his arm. The video, of course, began with a shot of Cybertron, and Optimus had to admit…it made him a little homesick.
Sari frowned when the narration began, going over potential theories of how Cybertron came to be. “Who’s that?” she asked, glancing up at him.
“That would be Perceptor. He’s the head for the Ministry of Science on Cybertron.”
“And…why does he sound like that?”
“I’m not entirely sure. If the rumors around the barracks were true, he had parts of his personality and emotion files erased to make more space on his hard drive.”
He felt her shudder in his arms.
Sari continued to ask questions throughout the video, or would point out distinguishing features of the autobots interviewed. Optimus would answer to the best of his abilities, eager to relay his knowledge to such an interested participant.
But soon, her questions became few and far between, until she stopped asking at all.
“Should I put the next one on?” he asked, already looking for the episode on Velocitron. When she didn’t answer, he looked down.
Sari had fallen asleep in his arms. He wasn’t sure when exactly, but it was sometime during the second half.
Initially, he was a little offended. She had asked to watch with him, and she had fallen asleep. But, after a nanoklik, calm rationality flowed through his systems. Sari was just an organic protoform, it was very late at night, and she had been very engaged up until she fell asleep.
Optimus sighed, turning to take Sari back to her room and to her bed.
Human bedchambers were much different than recharging stations, for certain. Sari preferred to swaddle herself with soft blankets, sheets, and plush toys. Optimus didn’t quite understand - Prowl and Ratchet theorized that organics weren’t very good at regulating temperature - but it made Sari happy and comfortable, so he wasn’t about to stop her.
He placed her in the bed, covered her with her things, and went to leave.
But a little voice made him pause.
“Can we watch more of your nerd show tomorrow?” Sari mumbled, voice muffled by exhaustion.
She…wanted to watch more?
“O-Of course! I’d love to!” he stammered a reply.
“And…and do you think I can meet Perceptor? I wanna…I wanna ask him things.” She was starting to trail off, starting to dip back into slumber.
Optimus smiled. “I’m sure you will one day. But you should get some sleep.”
“G’night bossbot…”
“Goodnight, Sari.”
Sentinel and Jazz
“Ooh, oh oh, Sari fell asleep.” Bulkhead said in a hush as the group pulled to a red light. “Let's switch to comms until we have the chance to take her home.”
The repair crew all gave various replies, but were all in agreement and switched to their comm links to not disturb her.
Sentinel, however, did not.
“That Organic is what? That sounds disgusting! I knew you shouldn't have let that Organic ride alongside us, now it's, it's sleeping?” He practically spat, shifting away from Bulkhead and the human inside.
“No, Sentinel, it's not like that.” Optimus started to explain, slowly, quietly. “Instead of recharging, humans can recharge anywhere they feel comfortable and safe. It's called ‘sleeping’. Perfectly normal, perfectly safe.”
Jazz, on the other servo, scooted closer. “That's crazy…being able to recharge whenever? Wherever?” Unlike Sentinel, he did switch to comms.
“It's actually kinda cute. ” Bumblebee chirped. “She’ll usually curl up into a little ball, and sometimes she makes little noises.”
The light changed to green, and they started along the patrol route once more. Sentinel swerved wildly and bumped onto the sidewalk for a moment to take the lead.
The others tried not to notice.
Prowl came to Jazz’s side to continue. “She tends to fall asleep when one of us is driving. I believe the sounds of our engines, coupled with the soft light of the streetlamps, it lulls her to sleep.”
“And it's the trust.” Ratchet added. “Human recharging is different, they're completely helpless. And when they wake up, or are interrupted, they're slow and can't think very well. Sari trusts us to watch over her and to make sure nothing bad happens.”
“Yeah, that does sound really cute.” Agreed Jazz, driving closer to Bulkhead, as if trying to see her. “And she does that with all of you? Can I look?”
One could hear the smug grin as Bee snickered, “Almost all of us. Prowl is super jealous.”
He huffed. “It is not optimal nor safe to allow a small organic to ride with me.”
“Jealouuuuus.”
Prowl continued to huff.
“I'm sure if you offered, she'd ride with you, Jazz.” said Bulkhead. “Show you around the city! If it's late, she'll curl up on your seat and sleep.”
“You really think?”
Sentinel skidded to a stop, turning to face the others. Thank Primus it was the dead of night and there weren't any humans driving, otherwise some of them could have seriously gotten hurt.
“What has gotten into you?! You will not let that disgusting Organic join you! I don't think she should be here-”
“Sentinel. Lower your voice, please.” Optimus asked, sounding like he was talking through gritted teeth. “I don't want to wake her.”
“She's been going through a lot, Sentinel Prime. Organics need their rest for their health.” added Ratchet, maneuvering himself in front of Bulkhead. “She hasn't been sleeping well.”
“She's been staying with us.” Prowl started to explain both to Sentinel and Jazz, “Her primary guardian is missing, and it's taking a toll on her-”
None of this affected Sentinel. “And why should I care? Last I checked, we were the Autobots? Not ‘ Autobots plus their disgusting Organic’-”
“She's our friend , Sentinel!” Bumblebee snapped, revving his engine to emphasize his irritation. “Ever had one??”
Bulkhead approached Sentinel, almost looming over him. “Do. Not. Call her that.” he ominously rumbled. “You don’t know her. You don’t know what she’s been through! You haven’t had to keep watch because she’s scared, to make sure there’s no monsters!”
Once Bulkhead spoke, the rest of them practically descended upon Sentinel like wolves.
“You haven’t had to keep her company and help her sleep when she couldn’t!”
“You haven’t had to comfort her after a nightmare!”
“You haven’t had to help her deal with the fact her father’s gone, and that she misses her old life!”
Sentinel sputtered and stammered, looking between the imposing figure of Bulkhead and Optimus. “A-Are you just going to let them say that?? To me??”
Optimus processed this. “...I mean, they’re right. You haven’t. You can’t really demand anything.” He paused, mulling something over. “You know, Sentinel Prime, as the one in charge, Sari should really be with you -”
“I don’t want the Organic with me!! What if she…what if she spits acid or something?!”
“She doesn’t do that.” Prowl deadpanned.
“You can keep the little Organic! Do whatever you want with her! Let her recharge, whatever! Just…Just keep it to yourself!”
“Switch to comms.” Bulkhead demanded.
Sentinel grumbled something under his breath. “...fine. Happy? Now I won’t disturb your precious little Organic.”
Bulkhead reversed to join the others. “Happy.”
“Sounds like she’s a handful.” said Jazz, waiting until Sentinel Prime drove off. “How do you do it?”
Bumblebee was all too happy to answer. “I already said why. She’s our friend! It’s what friends do!”