TFA: Together We Stand (Season 1)

Chapter 19: Fitting In On Earth

Prowl woke up confused.

What happened?

He was in his room again, left lying on the floor with a blanket of sorts awkwardly draped over him and....someone else?

That was odd. He wasn't lying on his berth and he was recharging with someone pressed beside him, both of their servos wrapped around one another in an embrace. Who was that?

All it took was one quick glance and it all came rushing back like a flood.

Mantis, his sister.

His sister who was still online and was here with him, actually  here beside him.

He shakily brought one servo up and brushed some of the dreads away from her faceplate, his knuckles grazing the smooth plating that formed her features. He couldn't help it, he had to reach out and actually feel her to let it sink in that she was here and not some figment of his imagination.

There was a knock on his door, startling him from his stupor.

"Come in." he said, making sure to keep his voice low so he doesn't wake up Mantis. He glanced down and saw how peaceful she looked and couldn't find it in himself to wake her up....even though she was clinging onto him like a koala. 

The door opened and surprisingly, Ratchet came in.

"You better not make it a habit to go dozing off in my med-bay." The medic said with a huff. "Had to lug both of you back here and frankly my servos are getting too old for this."

'So he carried us back here?' Prowl thought in surprise. He was also rather touched by the gesture.

"That femme is definitely your sister." Ratchet said nodding towards Mantis. "Awful clingy too. Practically squeezed your chassis the moment we tried to separate you two and vice versa."

Prowl hummed in response while he subconsciously ran a servo through his sister's loose dreads- he always did that often when she snuck into his room or chose to recharge leaning against him, old habits really do die hard.

"Anyways, if you two have gotten pleasantries out of the way, Prime's calling for a meeting to discuss our new 'teammate'." Ratchet shook his head. "Barely been here for more than a couple days and already he wants to add her into the group."

"Well I think she'll be a good addition to the team." Prowl said, surprising Ratchet.

The medic narrowed his optics slightly at Prowl. Now this was all too familiar. "Kid, be careful. You can't let your emotions get in the way of good judgement." That was a mistake he's seen one too many bots commit.

"Sometimes your spark helps make the best decisions for you, if the spark is good enough that is." Prowl added, not wanting to sound too sentimental and vulnerable. "And besides, it's not like we can just ship her back to Cybertron now, can we?" he pointed out.

Ratchet tilted his helm in agreement. "I guess you've got a point....and we could use an extra servo around here." The place was a mess and he had a feeling the others- or more specifically *koff* Bumblebee and Bulkhead *koff* have been skipping out on their fair share of chores.

Maybe a femme's touch would do them some good.

"Meet us up in the main room when she wakes up, I think both of you should be there for this." He said before leaving.

Prowl waited until he heard the pede-steps recede then raised an optic ridge at his sister.

"You've been awake all this time haven't you." It was a statement, not a question.