New Life, Old Memories

Chapter 8

It was half an hour before Andy had calmed down enough to talk. An occasional tear still slid down her cheek and she was still sniffling though she no longer looked like she would fall apart at the slightest movement, so that was good.
Sarah had pressed a hot mug of tea into her hands, into which Andy proceed to try and dump two helpings of her energon powder, but her hands were too shaky for the task. Will took them from her and ripped the tops off, dumping them into the mug. Andy nodded gratefully, unable to bring herself to smile.
"Is sis gonna be awighw?" Annabelle had asked, still cuddled into Andy's side.
"I'm going to be fine Anna, don't you worry," Andy forced a small smile as she lifted the mug to her lips and took a shaky sip.
Annabelle frowned but accepted the answer. She knew something was wrong but she didn't want to push Andy, seeing how much of a fragile emotional state she was in.
Soon Sarah had tried to herd the toddler out of the room and back into her own, despite the child's loud protests. She had insisted that she sleep with Andy, to keep away the nightmares. All of the adults in the room seemed to melt at the gesture and silver once again lined Andy's eyes. Annabelle began profusely apologizing when she noticed but she was silent when the older girl had given her mug to Will and kneeled in front of her little sister. A genuine smile shined in her eyes as she wrapped the sparkling in a tight embrace.
Annabelle grinned, throwing her arms around the older girl's neck and nuzzling her face into the crock of her neck. Andy smiled, shifting ever so slightly. She wrapped an arm around the back of the toddler's legs and supported her head in the palm of her other hand.
Smooth and delicate whistles and clicks passed her lips as she stood with Annabelle in her arms. The toddlers smaller body was pressed against the teen's, her head resting on her shoulder. Andy continued her whistles, rocking back and forth as she did so, her eyes closed in contentment. Soon Annabelle was dozing off in her arms.
Ron's optics narrowed. He couldn't help but feel like he had heard that lullaby somewhere before, he just couldn't place a digit on where. So he took to recording it, making a mental note to himself to research it later. Something about her whistling and clicks and how it seemed that it had a deeper meaning to her unsettled him, his tanks churning.
Andy handed Annabelle to Sarah, who took her with a smile. The blond woman leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the brunette's forehead, muttering a silent thank you. Soon she left to put the sparkling to bed and it was just the three of them.
Andy sat down on the edge of her bed, her hands fisting around the grey fabric of her bedding. She was squeezing her fist so tight that her knuckles turned white. Silent tears slipped down her cheeks, the puffy redness around her eyes seemed to make the blue of her eyes even brighter.
"What's wrong?" Will wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her to him.
"Just a nightmare." Andy hiccuped, the first words she had said since she had stormed upstairs earlier that night.
Looking out the window, Ironhide realized that the sun was already rising. The young femme got two hours of sleep at most and with her fragile emotional state, he knew it wouldn't be wise to send her off to school. He reminded himself to say as much as soon as they had helped Andy.
"What happened?" Will asked softly, rubbing her arm as she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I was stuck, starving and delusional. It was so cold. And...I couldn't..." her lower lip trembled, and her tears started flowing faster. "I couldn't find him... couldn't help him, no matter how hard I tried or how much I wanted to... I'm useless..."

"No, you are not..." Their whispering voices faded as Ironhide's holofrom left the room.
An idea had suddenly presented itself in his processor and if he was right - Primus let him be wrong - the consciences would not be ... idle.