Authors Note

There are some things in this one shot that are mentioned and may be confusing without context as its part of my own Transformers universe I've created in my wild imagination . Like certain relationships and backstories and such so here's all you need to know to make sense of it:

- Bumblebee is Ironhide's adopted son, 'Hide (his nickname) found a very young Bumblebee (2 vorns is like a 2 year old human) after the youth centre Bee was at was bombed. He had received a large scar across his hip going about halfway down his leg which left him in a critical condition at the time.

- There is mention of a glitch mouse, the whole idea around that was not mine as it was from a funny fanfic I liked by the user called DaemonicKitten on (link is here) https//s/5275176/30/Autobot-Pranks

- Also there is a slight language warning, nothing bad but I put this warning here just in case. (One use of the word goddam and ass)

Anyways! That's it so enjoy the one shot! :)

On top of a quiet hill, about 1.6 kliks away from the main NEST base in Qatar, sat the Autobot's weapon specialist. The full moon shone brightly in the dark sky atop a blanket of dark blue, surrounded by millions of stars. Against the pale white of the moons rays Ironhide was illuminated like a silhouette, his pitch black armour gleamed under its intense celestial gaze.

His mind was heavy and burdened. Earlier that day, Bumblebee had returned from a mission seriously injured after a simple recon turned sour. The team got separated and Bee was ambushed by several rogue Decepticons. Thankfully the rest of the team reached him on time and saved him from what could have been an early trip to the Well of Allsparks. Despite his narrow escape the wounds he received would take time to heal and it left Ironhide full of anger. Anger at the Decepticons for hurting Bee, anger at Primus for giving Bee a hard life, but mostly anger towards himself for being unable to protect his charge. He was Bumblebee's sire and he failed to prevent harm from coming to him.

Ironhide's musings were disturbed when he felt a presence sit down beside him.

"You shouldn't be out here Major Lennox, after today's mission you should be resting."

"Something tells me that's what's on your mind right now," he asked his metal companion as he looked up at him. Ironhide merely gave him a side glance in response. "Your silence leads me to believe I'm right. But you shouldn't beat yourself up over what happened to Bee," he turned his head to the sky, "there was nothing you or anyone could have done to change what happened. We got to him as fast as we could and..."

"But it wasn't fast enough!" 'Hide exclaimed, "He was still hurt because...because I wasn't there to protect him." Lennox saw his face fall as he balled his large hand into fist beside him. "I'm sick of seeing him get injured because of this goddam war. What kinda father am I if I can't even keep him safe?"

There was a moment of quiet as the Major let his companion calm down; the only sounds were the gentle wind as it blew across the landscape below. "He had a hard enough life before being thrust into the midst of all the fighting, what with his home being bombed, receiving life threatening injuries at the age of 2 vorns and then being left for dead in a pile of rubble." A deep sigh rumbled through his chassis, "I'd give my own life to give him one worth living."

At this, Lennox gave a small smile that went unnoticed by the Autobot, "You criticize yourself for being a bad father, but here you are saying you're willing to sacrifice your own life for him. By my definition, that makes you a pretty good Dad 'Hide."

"Saying is one thing, doing is another."

"But who says you haven't put your life in the firing line for him? I've seen it countless times on and off the battlefield, from not-so-secretly forcing Optimus to assign him to base duty to physically using your fat ass to shield him in battle."

His joke was granted with a small chuckle from the black mech.

"Seriously though, from one father to another, I've never seen someone give up so much for their kid. Especially one they didn't exactly plan on having."

Following Lennox's little speech, a comfortable silence fell once again as Ironhide took his time thinking about what his good friend had said. It was true that despite being suddenly given the responsibility of parenthood, Bumblebee had grown strong and happy with a family of mix-matched misfits. Never once had he complained about having Ironhide as his adopted sire, sure he may have been annoyed by the overprotectiveness from time to time, but deep down he always knew it was Ironhide's way of showing he cared. But this was also why every time Bee suffered in any way; the battle hardened soldier found it difficult to believe in what time had already proven to be true. Doubts clouded his mind and a little voice in his head kept telling him that he failed as a father, failed his one and only son. The same son whom he found desperately gripping to whatever tendrils of life were left in his young and crippled body, as he found small comfort from 'Hide in a world that had constantly thrown obstacle after obstacle at him.

"Tell me Lennox. Do you ever... doubt your capabilities as a father whenever you're with Annabelle?"

Blue optics met dark brown eyes as the pair glanced at each other.

"Of course, sometimes I start thinking about how I'm away from her so much and I worry that she'll forget me. Or that I'm missing out on some of the most crucial parts of her life, things that only happen once in a lifetime. Watching her first steps or listening to her first laugh through a video recording isn't quite the same as being there in person."

Similarly to his metal companion, he allowed a profound sigh to escape his lips.

"But then, that's what being a father's about right? All we want to do is give our children the best possible life and with expectations that high it's no wonder anything less than that causes us to be hesitant of our capabilities." The Major smiled up at Ironhide and was gifted one back from the weapons guru.

"I think you might be right. And if it's any consolation, from my perspective Annabelle adores you, as proven whenever she sees you and starts squealing that annoying high pitched noise."

"You think that's high pitched? I recall hearing you scream louder when Mikaela pranked you with that fake glitch mouse," laughed Lennox. Hearing those two dreaded words was enough to cause a shudder to run up his spinal strut, which in turn only fuelled the human's hearty laughter.

"Yeah laugh it up you...," before he could retort back he received a comm from Ratchet that Bee was awake and wanted to see him, "Pardon me Lennox but I have someone to go see."

The soldier's chuckles died down as he stood up too, "I think I'll go call my family, they should still be awake back home, thank you for the talk 'Hide."

Ironhide dipped his massive metal helm in response, "No, it should be me thanking you, you've really opened my optics. I know I can't keep him hidden away from all the chaos, he wouldn't want that. But at least I can take comfort in the fact that as long as I'm alive and functioning, it'll take a whole fragging army to fight their way through me to even stand a chance of laying a hand on him."

At that, Lennox climbed into the hand offered to him and sat on his friends shoulder as the two fathers made their way back to a very lucky son and daughter.

That's it! Hope you liked it and follow if you did, i'd appreciate the support