Chapter Text
Their species had been dry. Sterile. Unable to create new life since before the war had begun. A newspark hadn't been brought into this world for quite some time, well, aside from being forged that is.
As the war quickly progressed, there was a need for more mecha to take part. In order to keep up with this, cold construction quickly became a necessity and, just like that, there were more cold constructed mecha than those that had been forged.
However, just as quickly as it had started, it had stopped. The reason why was never made public and, if you were a smart mecha, you didn’t ask.
When the end of the war came, it took quite some time for everyone to settle in. No one knew what to do with themselves and it was a hard transition for all.
When everyone finally did settle in, some say it happened well. A little too well.
There was a boom and not in the way you would think. The war had just ended, remember? No, the nature of this boom was very different.
When the first mecha was found to be carrying, it was almost too hard to believe. Those who knew were split in their opinions. Some believed it to be good luck to come while others thought it to be a terrible omen and the more the news spread, the worse those negative reactions became.
The news that more mecha were carrying quickly began to spread and before anyone knew it, the idea of newsparks being created through two mecha coupling had become their new normal. It was no longer seen as a bad omen but a true blessing.
However, it wasn’t long before they had more sparklings than they knew what to do with.
The real problem came when the sparklings’ creators realized that they would need someone to care for their young while they continued the effort to rebuild their home. This would quickly cause a new issue to come forward.
Despite all of the professions that were out there, the job of caretaker for the young had been obsolete for so long. Not many mecha had the desire to try to care for these newsparks either, much less ones that belonged to others.
That’s where Warden would come in.
Warden had been recruited by the Decepticons in the early stages of the war. Empurata and shadowplay had been performed on her to make her more compliant with their wishes, and then she was thrown into a position of watching over the Decepticon’s prisoners of war. However, there was a strange desire to care for these mecha and make things as okay as possible for them that kept showing through. This got her in trouble quite, often but as the feeling continued to grow, she continued to do what she could for these poor mecha despite any repercussions that came her way.
When the war ended and Warden had laid optics on the first sparkling she’d ever seen, something sparked within her. The desire she’d had to care for the prisoners, the one she could never shake, exploded within her.
She wanted to care for these young sparks and each cycle that passed, this desire only grew more. There was only one issue, though.
She was an ex-Decepticon.
It didn’t matter that she had become an Autobot towards the end of the millennia long war. What had mattered was that she had been a Decepticon for the majority of the war. What mattered was her emotionless face and her sharp, clawed talons. How could anyone who looked like that, who felt so cold, be a good mecha to care for their young?
She wasn’t about to let this stop her though and when her chance finally came, she took it with an eagerness she had never before known except perhaps before her empurata; however, try as she might, that was a life she still could not remember.
“Are you sure you can do this?” The femme asked as she held her small sparkling close to chassis as it recharged. She was worried and quite reluctant to let this happen, and Warden already knew why. It was because it was her.
“You have not been able to find anyone else to care for the little one, have you?” Warden asked, her tone flat as she cocked her helm in order to accentuate her question.
“Well, no.” The femme frowned, looking down at the small creature in her arms.
“Then I would be more than happy to do so myself.” She watched as the newspark awoke, looking up at their creator and chirping softly.
“I….Very well.” The femme sighed. She brought the sparkling closer to her face, closed her optics, and gave the small being a kiss as they cooed at her. Then, she stretched her arms out and offered her newspark to Warden. “Their name is Dawn.”
For the first time during this whole event surrounding the sparklings, as Warden’s digits touched the small creature, she felt scared, but not even that could compare to the pure excitement that quickly began to course throughout her.
As the femme released her hold on Dawn, Warden’s servos eagerly took over. She wrapped her arms around the small creature and brought them closer to her chassis, just as their creator had.
Dawn looked up at her, optics wide and bright . A small servo reached up as tiny digits waved in the space between them. Small cooing noises hit Warden's audials and, as if it was second nature to her, Warden cradled the sparkling in one arm as the other moved towards Dawn’s face. A clawed digit extended, softly pressing against the sparkling’s nose as they watched her with interest. After a nano-second and, despite the feelings of worry that came from the little one's creator, Dawn cooed happily as they quickly wrapped their tiny servo around Warden’s digit and tightened their grip. The sound of pure joy in the sparkling’s giggling went straight to Warden's spark and it warmed, spinning happily within its casing.
If Warden could smile, she would have; instead, her biolights flickered brightly as her optic softened immeasurably.
“If anything happens, please do not hesitate to get a hold of me and I will come back as quickly as I can.”
A soft ping sounded as a request to share comm frequencies came through along with the designation Luna . Without looking away from the sparkling happily cooing in her arms and playing with her clawed digit, Warden accepted the request and sent her comm frequency in return.
“I will take the best care of them, Luna. I promise. You have nothing to fear.” Warden would take care of this sparkling like her life depended on it even though she could still tell that Luna was very uncertain about this. It was easy to see in the way the femme stood, her expression one of worry.
“Thank you.” Luna spoke softly, nodding as she slowly took a step back. “I will leave you to it then. I will return for them by nightfall.”
Warden watched as Luna bowed her helm slightly before turning and leaving. Now, it was just her and the sparkling that was currently staring curiously up at her.
Now that she was alone with the small being, she wasn’t too sure what to do next. “You wouldn’t know either, would you, little one?” She asked, cocking her helm in unison with Dawn. The little sparkling only gurgled, laughing as they reached up towards her face with both servos, digits curling and uncurling in a grabbing motion. Warden let out a gentle laugh in return as she brought Dawn closer to her face, her field warming as small digits reached out and curled around her cheek guards before Dawn pressed their face against her own and nuzzled softly against her.
Her field blazed, warmth and adoration and something else eagerly filling the spaces within.
This was going to be a good cycle.
Or so Warden thought. Everything had been going well from what she could tell until about a joor after she had set Dawn down - in a small and soft nest she had made just for the sparkling, she might add.
Out of nowhere, Dawn had started whimpering and it only took another klick or two for it to turn into a full blown wail.
“Come now little Dawn, everything is alright.” Warden spoke, her biolights flickering as pain coursed through her audials and straight to her processor due to the loud noise. Despite that, she neared the nest, bent down, and scooped the sparkling up and into her arms once more.
She had hoped the crying would cease when she did so, but instead, Dawn's wailing became louder, if that were even possible.
Panic flared within her as she ran through a list of what it might be and, settling on the first and likely best choice, Warden grabbed a small bottle filled with energon that Luna had left and offered it to the sparkling. However, as soon as the bottle made it close to Dawn’s mouth, they smacked it away, took a deep in-vent and began wailing once again.
If they weren’t hungry, then what else might it be?
Once again, Warden began to look over the list on her HUD as she checked the sparklings frame for any damages. She could see absolutely nothing wrong as far as that went so it must be something else.
By now, the poor sparkling had been fussing so much that Warden was becoming worried that they might damage their delicate intake. However, once she felt the wavering pulse in the tiny mecha’s field, she knew exactly what was wrong. Dawn was tired and despite figuring out what was bothering the tiny sparkling, she wasn’t too sure how she was going to fix it. Especially since the gentle rocking motion she had decided to try, swaying from side to side, didn’t seem to be helping anything very much.
Deciding to open up a search, Warden opened up what she could find on what humans - and many other species - did when their young were fussing like Dawn was. It was her best source of information since there was no longer much on their own species’ young; they would have to work on fixing that soon with how sparklings were becoming a normal amongst Cybertronians again. Eventually she found her answer: they sang their young a lullaby when they were tired and fussing. Something soft and gentle with a soothing melody to help them calm down, relax, and eventually it would help them fall into a recharge cycle.
Once she had started singing, Dawn had slowly begun to calm down. The tiny sparkling looked up at her, optics still watery as their face shone a bright red from when the coolant had flowed freely down their little face only moments before. Their tiny servos were still balled into fists, held close to an equally tiny chassis as their wide optics filled with curiosity.
The more Warden sang, the more Dawn seemed to calm down and eventually, tiny optics became heavy and slowly, they closed. Not without a bit of a fight though, which made Warden give a gentle, inwards laugh.
Finally Dawn was calm, venting as they curled against Warden’s chassis.
Warden instantly fell in love all over again.
Allowing her arms to shift, Warden cradled Dawn’s tiny frame against her chassis. Her optic softened immensely as she continued to sing the lullaby, still swaying gently from side to side.
In that moment, her spark was happy again and she knew what her purpose in life was. It was why she had gravitated so heavily towards helping the prisoners of war in the Decepticon’s cells.
Warden’s function in life was, as it always had been, to be a caretaker for the young.
She’d do what she could to care for all those who needed it, of course, but there was just something that seemed to pull her even more so towards the younger generations and she knew she would thrive with them in her care.
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A soft knocking startled Warden and her optic shot open. Instinctually, her arms tightened around the small chassis in her grip until she heard a small whimper which elicited her to look down.
Dawn was still cuddled close to her chassis, making a small, soft noise as they cuddled ever closer to her. Warden’s optic flickered happily just as she heard the knock again.
Carefully, she stood and made her way towards the door and opened it. “Welcome back, Luna. I trust your cycle went well?”
“It did. Though, I must admit I’ve been quite worried about Dawn. Were they good?” The femme reached out, silently asking for their sparkling and Warden was reluctant to comply. However, she knew she had to do so. Once she had, she felt almost empty.
“They were. We spent the last little while recharging together. It was nice.”
“I’m glad.” Luna vented a sigh of relief, smiling down at her sparkling.
A few moments passed in silence between them before Luna looked up at Warden and spoke.
“Would you like to watch them again sometime? I noticed how well they took to you when we first arrived and while I must admit that I was uneasy about this entire arrangement, I cannot deny what I saw, nor what I felt in their field when I returned.”
“You would give me the chance to care for them again?” Warden asked, almost in disbelief. She didn’t know what she was expecting but another chance to care for the sparkling that had stolen her spark was not it.
“I would, so long as you would be interested.”
“Yes, I would!” Warden returned hurriedly with far more emotion than she had heard from herself in a very long time. “I would love to care for Dawn as often as you would allow me to.”
“Then it’s settled. We will see you again tomorrow, Warden. Thank you once again.” Luna bowed her helm ever so slightly before turning to leave and, even as Warden watched the femme walk away and slowly disappear, the ex-Decepticon felt nothing but joy and excitement.