Days passed, and Downpour's coloring began to come in as a dark gray with hints of red on her head and tail, and bright green optics that studied everything.

Her personality also came out very quickly; she was infatuated with Heatwave. She followed him everywhere in the garage and bunker, she watched him practice his martial arts, snuggled up with him at night and would cry when he didn't stay with her, and would randomly headbutt him if she thought he was ignoring her.

Then again, she headbutted all of the bots; she hated being ignored, what baby didn't?

The only bot that hadn't yet been a victim of a good attention-seeking nudge was Snowblast, who after winding up in a roughhousing session with Downpour for a few seconds, wouldn't allow himself to be put down on the floor with her. Downpour complained, but the little pterosaur didn't seem to care.

One afternoon, Downpour had been acting particularly pushy to everyone, with more headbutts being dealt out than normal. Heatwave was considering locking her in his quarters just for some peace; the old Heatwave was back, and he was over his brief 'all of my attention is on my child' phase.

Then, out of nowhere, Blades came up with what could potentially be the worst idea known to bot.

"Let's take the sparklings up to Mr. Bufkin's farm! Kids love farm animals!"

Heatwave now found himself standing in the muddy driveway of the farm, a harness of sorts strapped around Downpour to keep her within reach of him if she suddenly decided to attempt to chase the chickens or ducks across the countryside. Snowblast was in Blades' arms, and Chief Burns was talking to Mr. Bufkin, assuring him that none of his livestock or crops would be harmed by this little 'learning experience.'

The first animals they encountered were the cows, who aside from the occasional glance at them, didn't seem too bothered by their presence. Heatwave was grateful for that because he had a feeling that if they bolted, so would his daughter.

Snowblast however, was completely mesmerized by the brown and white creatures that stood before him, and he cooed with wide optics as one came close to him. It mooed at him, and Heatwave watched his beak open and close as he tried to mimic the sound, but instead just emitted soft clicks.

Downpour placed her feet up against the stone wall separating them, and as another cow mooed at her, she also made an effort to copy, hers coming out sounding more like an owl's hoot than a cow.

"See?" Blades murmured, "I told you this would be a good idea."

"So far..." Heatwave muttered, and then Downpour tugged on the harness as she saw something else that caught her attention: A barn cat. "Oh, dear."

Unlike the cows, the feline was not interested in interacting with the giant metal visitors, and as Downpour bent her head down to get closer, it spat and hissed, it's fur sticking up and ears folded back.

Downpour didn't seem to get the message it was trying to convey, not even when it slashed its claws across her muzzle, barely leaving any scratches on the protometal. She pulled her head back just a tad in confusion, only to watch the cat dart off into the barn and disappear amongst the hay bales.

"Cats are just like that." Heatwave told her, "You might as well get used to it."

A loud shriek made him turn, and he found to his relief that it was one of delight. Snowblast had been introduced to the small flock of sheep and was touching their soft wool with his fingers with a look of pure joy. He had never seen the little sparkling so happy, except maybe when he first encountered snow. Blades even sat him down by the fence, and he gently petted the fluffy creatures' noses through it. He tried to copy their bleats as well, but was still only clicking and giggling.

"I think we found his favorite." Blades murmured with a grin, "That's right... Gentle..."

Downpour was still struggling to follow the cat, so Heatwave picked her up, turning her away from the barn and aimed at something else. She found interest in the donkey's braying, and Heatwave was not surprised when she mimicked them. However, the pair took on conversation, braying back and forth to each other, and Downpour was getting agitated from it. Whatever she thought the equine was saying, she didn't like it.

"Okay, that's enough." Heatwave decided, scooping his daughter back up into his arms and stroking her growling muzzle. "Obviously you two are having some disagreements."

"Sounds like you and Kade." Blades teased, and they turned as Chief and Mr. Bufkin came around to them. "Sorry about that, Mr. Bufkin."

"Nah..." Mr. Bufkin waved a hand in dismissal. "That ass has been bad-tempered from the start."

"Aaassssss..."

Heatwave stiffened, and then looked down at Downpour, his eyebrows furrowing. "Did...Did you just talk, Tiny?"

"Wonderful," Chief muttered with the slightest hint of a smile. "Her first word and it's that."

Downpour just looked up at her father with a proud expression, as if she knew exactly what she just did.

Heatwave held her up to his optic level, "Look, I'm proud of you, but that's not what we say to people, 'kay? No."

He hoped she understood, but even if she didn't, he would keep trying, because that was the last thing he wanted her going around yelling at random people...

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"She's talking already!?"

Blurr bent down to Downpour, "But isn't she only like...Two weeks old!? Why is she talking!?"

"In comparison to what we know of animals and their similarities to the dinosaur structures, larger herbivores like cattle, deer, horses, etc., develop incredibly fast so that not only can they keep up with their parents shortly after birth, but also they can more or less fend for themselves shortly after too."

Graham bent down to stroke her muzzle, "That being said, it would make sense for her mental capabilities to develop much faster than Snowy's, so she's talking before he is."

"It just means that we'll have to be careful what we say around her," Chief announced, "Nothing wrong with her learning to speak, and it may mean that she'll be assisting us on rescues one day."

"Two firebots wouldn't hurt..." Kade murmured, "Oh, by the way, I need you to drive me downtown, Heatwave."

"For what exactly?"

"I gotta go to the bakery. Haley wants me there when she's picking out a cake flavor."

"Right... Best man. Wedding."

Heatwave transformed into vehicle mode and Kade climbed into the cab. The two were off in a matter of moments, and Heatwave didn't speak the entire way there. He was busy working on something, something important. As they pulled up to the bakery, Heatwave gave a quick blow of his horn, alerting Haley to their arrival.

"I'll only be a few minutes," Kade promised, and then he hurried into the shop.

As soon as the fireman was inside and the door was closed, Heatwave's energy output lowered. His chassis relaxed on his axles, but he was not asleep, not really. After a few seconds, a human man flickered into being in the driver's seat of the cab. He lifted his head from its resting place on the window, eyes blinking a few times before brushing deep auburn hair out of his face.

"Wow... That feels weird," Heatwave murmured to himself as he overlooked his new holoform body, currently dressed in a white tank top, jeans and work boots. "But it still needs some work..."

He moved his hand over to the door and opened it slowly, peeking out of his own cab before stumbling out onto the ground. Primus he felt light, it was like he was floating. He leaned against the chassis before taking a few steps. There weren't any humans in the immediate vicinity, but still, he was cautious; he wasn't interested in having to explain the process of holoforms to anyone who questioned his presence there.

"Enjoying yourself, Heatwave?"

Heatwave jumped as he heard Quickshadow's voice, but saw her own holoform leaning against the light post. "Oh... Just testing it out. I don't want Kade to see it until I've gotten the hang of it and it's completely finished... So where are you really?"

"Still back at the Firehouse... But isn't it nice to just walk around like we would on Cybertron? No worrying about stepping on humans nearby."

Heatwave nodded in agreement. "It is... We should have done this a very long time ago."

He gasped as he heard a door open, and his holoform fizzled out of view as two children left the bakery with a box of donuts.

Quickshadow giggled as he flickered back into view. "Afraid of a few children?"

"Surprised is a better word." He grumbled, but managed a smile back at her. "...You think it works for me?"

Quickshadow walked over, tapping his nose with her finger. "Thin out your eyebrows a little bit, then we'll talk." She then fizzled away, leaving Heatwave standing alone beside his cab.