At The Beginning Part 21

Upsurge was unwilling pressed against the wall, his lips connected with Echodrill. His spark froze in its chamber when he heard a familiar voice from the end of the alley. He ripped himself from the kiss and faced with who he hoped to Primus wouldn't witness his situation. Vimira. "Vimira...? Oh Primus, it’s not--" "Oh, look who's here." Echodrill said rather smugly. Upsurge tensed greatly, and filled with great despair and fear; he knew exactly what it looked like. But it wasn't like that!

Vimira just stared at the scene, the realization of what was happening finally sinking in, as she looked from Upsurge to Echodrill, who was smiling smugly at the white femme. Vimira snapped her attention back to Upsurge when he tried to cover it up, and her sadness and anger grew, "It's not what!? It looks exactly as it is!" She snapped, as she took another step back from the two. The smug smile the yellow-green femme was giving her told her all she needed to know. He cheated on her. Primus, she should've known; her brother was right all along! "Barricade was right... you weren't worth it..." Saying that hurt, but she didn't dwell on the feeling, because right after the words left her mouth she turned and ran out of the alleyway. To where she wasn't sure, It wasn't like she could hide from him, she had been stupid enough to give him her life and now he'd be able to find her anywhere.

Upsurge's spark swelled with an unbearable hurt when Vimira said those words and ran afterward. "Vimira, wait!" He called out, though he knew she wouldn't listen. He ran out of the alleyway, just leaving the green-yellow femme in there in all her glory. He had not meant it that way. He knew if he didn't comply with Echodrill, she would have done something drastic to Vimira and him. He ran through the empty streets to catch up with her. He just needed the opportunity to explain! Primus, he just wanted to get her a present. Vimira, please listen, it wasn't what you think!

Vimira wiped at her optics, trying to get rid of the tears, as she wandered the less populated streets of the city, she didn't want anyone seeing her like this... Maybe she was over reacting, but she didn't care, it hurt too much. She continued to on even as she heard him call out to her, and she came to a stop when he called to her through the bond, 'Not what you think'?! She whirled around when she heard his foot falls grow closer, "What am I suppose to think!? I put my trust in you! Primus I gave my spark to you!" She cried when he was close enough, "Didn't that mean anything to you...?"

“Of course it does. It means the universe to me." He replied as he ran up to her. He looked at her with an expression of guilt and sorrow. "I know what it looked like. But I swear it wasn't like that." He cautiously stepped up to her, hesitantly holding out his hand, "Please. Just give me a chance to explain." He pleaded. So this was another awful joke of Primus. Second day in the 'perfect city' and things were already going downhill.

"Wasn't like that? It looked exactly like it is!" Vimira stepped back when he came closer holding his hand out, it hurt to do so, but she felt she couldn't trust him anymore. She could feel the guilt and sorrow coming from him, and part of her thought he deserved it. She breathed heavily taking another step away from him, when he asked for a chance to explain, "Why?! So you could feed me some lie...?" She snapped back, she didn't want to hear it, she didn't want him to lie to her, even when she knew what happened, "Was that why you left? To see her?"

"No!" Uspurge answered back. "I didn't leave for her. I..." He paused, finding that he would need some proof. He took out the little boxed gift from his subspace. "I left to get you this. I...wanted it to be a surprise present." Inside, he had a gut feeling that she wouldn't believe him no matter what he said. "Echodrill was in the shopping district when I was. She said she wanted to talk, so I followed." He looked at Vimira with a worried look, "Please, Vimira. She kissed me, not the other way around!"

Vimira looked down at the box in his hand, as he explained, she wanted to believe him. She truly did, but she couldn't... Not with what she saw. And how did she know he didn't get the gift for Echodrill in the first place? "Upsurge I..." She began looking up at his face, seeing the worry there, and part of her didn't believe it. She took a heavy breath, trying to hold back her emotions, but was failing horribly at it. Oh Primus why did this have to hurt so much?! "Upsurge, give me one good reason why I shouldn't just walk away..."

Upsurge clutched the box in his hand, his expression now just filled with sadness. A good reason? Even from the beginning at base, he knew he didn't deserve someone as great as Vimira. He knew it, Barrciade knew it most definitely, but no matter what happened Vimira never thought that. "I...don't have good reason." He admitted softly, "Vimira, I know I don't deserve you. But I try to make it seem like I do...I just don't win with you." He stared with sorrowful optics at the box in his hands; an example of what he was talking about. He wanted to do such things to prove his worth. "What you saw back there...I didn't want to do it. But I knew if I didn't, Echodrill would have tried something more drastic towards you."

Vimira wasn't really surprised when he said he didn't have a good reason. She was about to walk away at this, but stopped herself when he began speaking again. She listened quietly watching as he clutched the box in his hand every now and then, almost as if it would save him. She brought her optics back up to his to see him staring down at the box with sorrow filled optics, as he continued explaining why he did it. And she could help but let her anger flare a bit more, if what he said was true, then that femme nearly destroyed everything with just one gesture. Vimira stayed silent after he finished speaking, trying to judge him based on what was said, and if she was truly honest she could never see him lying to her. But still... It'll take time for her to trust him again, but she couldn't let him go on like this. She sighed and a bit hesitantly she reached forward and took his free hand, "Promise me... just promise you won't ever do it again..."

Upsurge looked up at Vimira when she took his free hand. He swallowed down his guilt and grief, nodded eagerly, "I promise, Vimira, I promise. I-- I didn't want tonight to end like this." He added lightly. He looked at Vimira right in the optics; mismatch to blue. He looked down again, eyeing the box. He lifted it up to show her. "Here. It...may not mean much now...but...this was why I left." That fact of worth belittled him more than he thought himself to be. It burned him to know that he had lost so much in one moment.

Vimira stared up at him as he nodded and made the promise; and she couldn't help but agree with him, she never wanted anything like this to happen. Vimira then looked down at the box he held out, and gently took it from him as he spoke. She stared at the box in her hand thoughtfully. Though Vimira didn't trust him much now, she was still modest enough to feel bashful about him buying things for her. She didn't say anything but instead she opened the box quietly, and stared unbelieving at the item inside. It was a bracelet woven together with cybertronian quartz, and Vimira began to wonder how much it cost. She smiled softly as she began to cry quietly again, "How much?" She asked quietly staring at the beautiful piece of jewelry in the box, "Whatever it is... I'm not worth it." She said quietly closing the box; She truly wasn't not after making him feel worthless.

Upsurge watched silently as Vimira took the box and opened it. He honestly didn't know what to feel when tears streamed down Vimira's cheeks. "The price of things doesn't matter to me." He relied softly. "I always thought you were worth it.” He felt a certain disappointment when she closed the box; though he knew under the new circumstances that he shouldn't. He hesitantly brought his hand up, wiping away a tear that watered her cheek. He wasn't so sure anymore, whether the action would bring up some negative reaction. He would have to be much more careful now.

Vimira sighed shakily after he wiped a tear away, his hesitation obvious in his movements. "Somehow I knew you'd say that..." She stared at the closed box for a moment, before clutching it tightly and holding it close to her spark chamber, and dared to let a small smile come to her face plates, "Thank you," She murmured looking up at him, and reached forward with more hesitance than she should have, but she eventually wrapped her free arm around him and rested her forehead against his chest, while still clutching the box to her chest, "It's beautiful."

Upsurge looked at Vimira, and couldn't help the small happiness that he felt when he saw her smile. He wrapped arm around her after he did him. He said nothing to her thanks at first, he didn't know what say really. "I'm sorry." He sighed eventually, wrapping his other arm around her and pulled her close to him. His apology was in many levels. The trust that they shared was basically shattered. The sparklings will no doubt notice something will be wrong eventually. The pain of knowing that swelled inside him.

Vimira tightened her grip on his back armor, closing her optics, when he wrapped both his arms around her before apologizing. She didn't reply, mostly because she kind of felt like a glitch. He hurt her yes, but she hurt him more by suggesting that she would just leave him even if they were bonded. She sighed quietly, "It's okay..." Did she mean it? Would it be okay? She didn't even know, everything had been destroyed in just moments and it was doubt that others would notice, especially the sparklings since they shared a partial bond with her. She opened her optics again when she felt a painful emotion sweep over the bond, and she sighed heavily sending some sort of comfort to him, things would get better, it always did.

Upsurge didn't respond. Would it truly be okay? This night had left a wound between them, and it would be a while before that wound healed completely. He tightened his grip around his mate, "I love you." He murmured, "No matter what, I'll always love you." Those words seemed be worth less now to him. Yes, he truly loved her, but he could’ve have denied Echodrill. Or at least come up with another solution. But he didn't; he practically allowed the femme to come that close to him and kiss him. The thoughts wrenched inside of him, only to be pushed away with Vimira's comfort through the bond.

"I love you," Vimira said as he tightened his grip around her. It was the truth, he may lose her trust, but no matter what he did she would always love him. She could feel the pain and sadness still coursing through him, and somehow she couldn't believe he purposely did it, that it was truly Echodrill. After all, the femme seemed rather proud of herself, while Upsurge seemed to be in great distress when Vimira found them. Thoughts of revenge crossed her mind. The femme deserved it, for nearly destroying everything the mates had worked for. But was it worth it...? No, the yellow-green femme wanted Vimira to react as such, Echodrill wasn't worth the trouble. Vimira sighed heavily, letting her fingers stroke his back armor a bit, "We should get back to the Citadel..."

Upsurge nodded at Vimira words of going back to the Citadel. It was rather worrisome to know the sparklings were alone in the house. He let go off Vimira and held out his hand to her. He now felt the need to ask permission to do such things, just like when they courting on Earth. The trust had a crack in it, he would have to start from the beginning to repair it. And he hoped to Primus that they wouldn't run into Echodrill on the way back; they most certainly didn't need that now.

Vimira took a step back when he let her go, she then looked down at the offered hand, a little confused about why he didn't just take hers. Until she realized he was asking permission, just like he had back on Earth. He was trying, Primus, he was trying. She couldn't help but smile, taking his hand in hers as they turned and began walking down the empty streets, heading back to the more populated parts of the city.

Upsurge was glad that Vimira had taking the hand; and deep inside he was overjoyed that she had accepted the gift, even if she said she wasn't worth it. She was worth it to him, she'd always be worth it to him. "Let's...try not to speak of this. Ever." He said a bit tense, "for everyone else's sake. Especially the sparklings." The mates had passed the populated streets of the city and made it to the steps of the Citadel. He meant it firmly. Nivia and Stepup were just sparklings afterall, they didn't need this kind of drama.

Vimira followed him quietly through the streets, holding the gift box tightly in her free hand. She glanced up at her mate when he began speaking, feeling him tense a bit and nodded in agreement, "Okay, for everyone's sake, and our own." She replied tightening her grip on his hand as they made their way into the Citadel and up to their quarters. The first thing she did when she got into their home was check in on the sparklings, sighing in relief when she saw them still recharging soundlessly in their bassinet.

Upsurge watched from the doorway as Vimira checked in on the sparklings. When she came back, he looked around the apartment, not really sure what to make of the situation now. "Are you going to head to recharge?" It sounded like a bit out of place question to him, but he himself was ready to curled into the berth and let the night just end, allow a new day to begin.

Vimira walked back out of their room closing the door quietly, before looking back up at Upsurge when he asked if she was going to recharge. It seemed like an odd question, but she supposed it was just because of the recent situation. "Yes, I am." She replied quietly, reaching over and taking his hand before turning to head for their berthroom. When they entered she let go of his hand, walking over to the small berth side table meaning to put the box there, but stopped short. She sat on the berth, opened the box and took out the bracelet smiling softly at it as she set the empty box back on the table before sliding it on around her wrist.

Upsurge followed Vimira to the berthroom as she held his hand. He was about to enter the berth itself when he noticed Vimira being just short of the table. He watched as she placed the box on the table and took the bracelet out, placing it around her wrist. The sight of it filled Upsurge with a mass contentment; he purposely sent the emotion through the bond to let her know that he was truly happy she had accepted the gift. Upsurge then got into the berth alongside with his mate.

Vimira felt sense of contented happiness wash over her in mass amounts through the bond. She looked over at Upsurge giving a soft smile, sending her love and thankfulness to him as she crawled into the berth and laid beside him. She didn't know if he would hold her, and probably wouldn't even try to recharge considering the recent events. So she reached forward and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close, "Good night..." She murmured quietly before slipping into recharge.

Upsurge waited until Vimira had finished wrapping her arms around him, taking it as a sign for permission for him to do the same. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close likewise. It'll get better, he thought to himself, it always gets better after the worst. Before closing his optics for recharge, he gave a somewhat hesitant kiss on her forehead. Only then did he fall into recharge.

Vimira slowly opened her optics, greeted with the sight of Upsurge holding onto her while he still recharged, making her smile somewhat. She let out a soft quiet sigh, as she remembered what happened the night before, it was obvious things were going to be like this for a while, with her having trust issues and him being hesitant with even touching her unless she gave permission to. She sighed again, perking up when she heard quiet chatter from the twin’s room. Vimira looked back at her recharging mate, leaning forward and planting a small kiss on his helm, before gently climbing out of his arms and off the berth. She then made her way quietly out of the room to get the sparklings out of their bassinet.

Stepup was more than resistant to Nivia's little idea of crawling over the bars. He crossed his arms, shaking his head. He already took a peek and it seemed pretty obvious that it was too far a drop to make. But he then perked up at the sound of the door opening and stood up against the bars to greet his femme creator when he saw her in his language of babble and half-words.

Vimira walked into the twins berth room surprised to see both of them awake, and even more shocked to see Nivia trying to climb over the bars, "Nivia," She warned, as the little femme glanced up, giving an innocent smile. Vimira shook her head, walking over to the bassinet, smiling as Stepup babbled between nonsense and half-words to her. She gently picked up Nivia and set the white and red femme on the floor and she immediately set off to play with something or most likely get into trouble. Then Vimira reached in and picked up Stepup, setting him on the floor before walking over and taking the flower pot down from the windowsill and setting it on a sparkling size tablet so the little mechling could get a closer look. "There you are," She said with a smile, stroking the little mechs helm before walking out of the room to get the twins their morning energon.

As Vimira left the room, Stepup rambled to Nivia to take a look at the pretty flower with him, to which the little femme refused to and instead played with the toys. Upsurge had woken up moments after to find he was alone in the berth. He turned his head to the door when he heard sounds from the other side. He got out of the berth and opened to the door, to see Vimira getting the morning Energon, "Good morning." He said.

Vimira smiled listening to the twins chatter back and forth about something before they became silent, except for Nivia's quiet babbles. She filled the twin’s cups with energon, humming quietly, and jumped a bit nearly spilling the energon when Upsurge suddenly spoke, she didn't think he'd be awake yet. Vimira turned a bit to look at the white knight as he walked out of their berth room and smiled a bit, "Morning. How was recharge?" She asked, as she turned making her way back into the twin’s room, giving each their cup before walking back out.

Upsurge gave an apologetic expression when he saw he almost made Vimira spill the Energon. "Sorry." He listened to her question, "It was—well." That seemed like the right word. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. He turned his head hearing the babble of Nivia and Stepup, "The sparklings are up already?"

Vimira leaned against the doorway to the sparkling room, frowning slightly at his answer. Though she could understand, in the time since the unfortunate event happened, he seemed incredibly paranoid with touching her or even saying something wrong. Vimira looked back into the twin’s room, at his question and nodded, "Yeah. They were even up before me." She said watching the sparklings play for a moment before looking back at the white knight. She was silent for some time before speaking again, "I'm, uh, sorry if you didn't get enough recharge." She was pretty sure she was the reason why, simply because of the events yesterday.

"Oh." Upsurge said plainly as he peered inside the sparkling's room. He looked at Vimira when she apologized, shaking his head, "Don't be...it wasn't your fault." Stepup quietly listened to his creators talk while he gazed as his flower. He tilted his head and frowned at it, though. They weren't talking like they usually did. He stood up from his table and walked over to Vimira, who was closest to the door. He looked up at his femme and mech creator, babbling worriedly and softly.

"I feel like it is..." She murmured quietly, more to herself then Upsurge, as she played with the bracelet the white knight had given her. He was being short with his answers; that wasn't a good sign. She looked down when soft worried babbles drug her from her thoughts, to see Stepup looking up at them with worried filled optics. Vimira frowned and glanced at Nivia, who had stopped playing with her toys and was now watching the scene with interest. The white femme sighed before smiling down at Stepup, "It's alright, Sweetspark. Just grownup talk."

Stepup looked at Vimira a bit confused before looking at his mech creator and walking up to him, babbling the same syllables as he repeated his incoherent question. Upsurge smiled down softly at the mechling and patted his helm, "Don’t worry. It's okay." What else could he say? He didn't want to lie to his own creation. Stepup looked at him a bit longer before nodding and going back inside the room to play with his flower. Upsurge looked back up to see Vimira playing with her bracelet. "I'm glad you like it." He said lightly.

Vimira continued to play with the bracelet as she watched Stepup repeat himself to Upsurge, only for the white knight to tell the mechling the same thing. Stepup seemed to understand and went back to play with his flower. Vimira looked back up at her mate again when he spoke lightly about the bracelet; she stayed silent looking down at the bracelet, tilting her hand every so often so the light would catch the quartz. Vimira sighed, glancing at the twins before grabbing Upsurge's hand and leading him away from their berthroom door so they wouldn't hear. "Upsurge, I can't do this," She began when they were away from the twins. Not wanting her words to be taken the wrong way she quickly added, "I hate having to watch you treat me like glass; I want to see you smile and laugh, like you did before."

Upsurge followed Vimira has she led her away from the sparkling's room by his hand. A quick fear grew inside of him when she pronounced she couldn't do it, but relaxed somewhat when she added what she meant. He tilted his head away and scuffed his foot against the ground. He couldn't help himself; he didn't know what do to anymore. "Vimira, I can't. I hurt you. I lost your trust." He paused, and for everybody's sake, he kept his emotions in check, "I...don't really know what do."

Vimira watched him a moment before sighing heavily, as he tilted his head away, " 'Be yourself'," She murmured, repeating his words from yesterday as she glanced down at the bracelet around her wrist, "I want to see the Upsurge I fell in love with. Not a mech afraid I'd break with one touch." She continued, looking back up at him, "I want to be held, and I want to be loved..." She sighed as she wrapped her arms around herself, "You hurt me and lost my trust, yes. But you once said you would fight for me," Vimira looked down trying to stay quiet for the twin’s sake, but made sure he could hear her, "But the way you’re acting now... makes me think you’re not trying anymore.”

Upsurge was taken aback by her words, especially her last phrase. He was filled with an emotion he couldn't quite name. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to love her. He wanted to do everything he's always have in the past. "Vimira..." He murmured. He suddenly wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, squeezing her as tightly against him as possible, "Oh Vimira, I'm so sorry." He said, holding his volume from the sparklings. "It all my fault. I want to do those things to the day we offline. But I should've...I should've done something else. I've could've prevented what happened, but I didn't. I'm sorry, Vimira, I'm sorry."

Vimira was a little more than surprised when he suddenly embraced her, continuing to apologize while explaining he should have done something different. Vimira bit her lip as she wrapped her arms around him, trying to keep her emotions in check, "It's okay Upsurge..." If she was completely honest, Vimira knew there was a reason for his actions; He would never betray her like this, not after all they've been through. "I...I forgive you." She murmured, tightening her grip on him, while resting her head on his shoulder.

Upsurge nuzzled his head against Vimira’s shoulder as she rested hers against his. Stepup, being the curious mech he was, snuck back to the doorway of his sister and his room and laid on his belly, resting his helm on the floor as it poke through the doorway. He turned to get his sister's attention, whispering a "Wuve?" to her. He turned back to his hugging creators and said the word louder to get their attention, "Wuve!"

Nivia looked up at her brother when he said 'wuve', and she stood walking over to the doorway and lying beside her brother, looking out at their hugging creators quietly. Stepup repeated 'wuve' louder, and Nivia did the same, happily repeating the word over and over. Vimira jumped a bit at the sudden voice and lifted her head, glancing over at the twin’s room to see both of them lying in the doorway, as Nivia continued to repeat the word. Vimira laughed, loosening her grip on Upsurge, but still kept her arms loosely around him, "Yes, Sweetsparks. 'Love'."

Stepup picked himself off the floor and ran to his creators. He wrapped his arms around one of Vimira and Upsurge's legs, repeating the word, "Wuve! Wuve!" He then let go, pointed to himself then at both creators as he said the word again. Upsurge smiled at the little mechling. He was trying to say that he loved them, and that warmed the white knight's spark. He carefully uncurled his embrace from Vimira and picked the mechling up. "And we love you too, Stepup. You and your sister. Mommy and daddy love you both very much."

Nivia watched her brother run over to them, repeating the word, and watched as their mech creator picked him up. She pouted a bit and stood as well, running over to the three shouting 'wuve' as well and holding her arms out when she reached them. Vimira smiled warmly at the scene before her, as Upsurge told the mechling how much they loved him and Nivia. She looked down with the twin sister ran over, holding out her hands while shouting 'wuve'. Vimira laughed lightly and bent down picking up the little red and white femme, "Yes Nivia, you too. We love you both." She said repeating Upsurge's words, as she stood back up with the femme, holding her close.

Stepup snuggled his helm happily into his mech creator’s shoulder and hugged his back. He pulled back and looked at Upsurge in the optic, poking at his chest and then pointing at Vimira. "Wuve?" Upsurge looked at Stepup a bit surprised before looking at Vimira. He smiled softly and nodded, "Yes. I love Mommy very much." Stepup smiled and laughed, indicating himself and Nivia, "Wuve!" Upsurge's smile grew, "I bet you love your sister too, yeah?" The mechling clapped his hands in agreement.

Vimira smiled brightly at Upsurge's words, a certain part of her hurt spark healing a bit with just a few words. She sent all her love and affection to the mech, before turning her attention to Nivia. Who at the moment seemed greatly excited that the word, 'love' was being said a lot; and was currently declaring her 'wuve' for everyone in the room by pointing repeatedly at them while saying the word. Vimira laughed and grabbed the femme’s hand, "Alright! Alright, we love you too, sweetspark." She smiled, nuzzling the little femme's helm, before pulling back and looking down at Nivia and Stepup, "So what would you two like to do today?"