A/N: So two things to say when doing this fic: first of all, JOURNEY OF THE EXILED is officially on hiatus. I have such writers block for that story, I can't even begin to tell you. So frankly, I need a break to gather my thoughts better on that. Just in all honesty.

Secondly, this is set within the same universe as A WHOLE NEW WORLD! So this is kind of a sequel-ish I guess? But you really don't need to have read that to follow this whatsoever. Just know the following details:

1. It's not Robots in Diguise-compliant.
2. 100 years have passed since Transformers: Prime ended.
3. Humans and Cybertronians both co-exist on Earth and Cybertron. With Cybertron's atmosphere being altered to sustain human life with Cybertronian tech.
4. Yes, mixed-species family is a thing.
5. About three years previous, Ultra Magnus adopted a human boy named Josh who will probably appear at some time in the story since he was the lead of the previous one.

The rest will be covered when it needs to be. But that's all you need to know now.

Finally, I was inspired to make Cliffjumper Ironhide and Chromia's son from the AMAZING fic THE BITTERSWEET HOMECOMING by NITROSTATION really if you have not read that one-shot before, you really should!

Also, of course, I will be adding this to the KTA movement. Since why not? It may as well be one!

Anyways, moving on to the fic...

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Transformers, or any of the recognized characters. I only own my OCs.

PAIRINGS: IronhidexChromia (duh)

CHAPTER 1
The First Meeting

Ironhide hated how final this felt.

He didn't want to be there - but he knew this was what was best for both he and Chromia. But the more he thought on the subject of this whole "adoption" thing, the more final it made the death of their creation. A death so unfounded and undeserved that it had haunted both them, and the Autobots for more than a century now.

It had been Chromia's idea from the get-go. She missed being a carrier with a youngling to dote over, and had often mourned their chances for grandcreations. They'd had the room, she insisted. Another youngling, human or Cybertronian would make them happy, she insisted. But Ironhide wasn't so sure about that - not back when he'd finally agreed to it, nor now that he stood quietly in the youth sector.

Ironhide knew a lot of kids from the youth sectors, of course, as a coach at Iacon Academy. It was nothing against them, no. Heck, Ultra Magnus' son Joshua, one of the nicest kids he knew, had come there from the streets of Kaon. It was simply that none of them were Cliffjumper, his little Cliffy, his son.

Sure, he knew if he looked hard enough he may see one or two with a similar frame, a similar color. But he doubted any of them would have his spirit or drive. Sagging his red plates a bit and tried his best to look interested as he observed the children outside in the yard at playtime. Chromia, for her part, seemed quite focused on them, but really, he wasn't sure.

Could he even let any child that close to his spark anymore?

Chromia coughed quietly to get his attention, and carefully poked his arm. "Ironhide, you need to at least try," she insisted, her voice firm as her optics gave him a sharp glance. "Your new son or daughter could be among these kids."

Ironhide himself rumbled quietly. "I'm having second thoughts about this, Chromia. I can't just do this, replace Cliff like this," he explained, his voice shaky. "I told myself I was ready to move on, but I just ain't. I can't do this..."

His mates optics dropped a little at that. It was clear that she might have seen this coming, but the way that she moved... Well, it told him this wouldn't be that easy. "We're not replacing him, Ironhide. We both know that," she explained - making Ironhide sigh. "We're giving someone who doesn't have a home a second chance. These kids have lost something too you know: their parents."

"I'm well aware," Ironhide explained. "But what if this doesn't help, Chromia? What then? We're wasting some little kid's time! I don't even know if I'm ready for another kid..."

"I'm not giving up because you're scared," Chromia replied, her voice tense. "I am too. But this is going to be good for us."

Ironhide crossed his arms and huffed as Chromia started off towards a crowd of boys. Of course she would be stubborn about this - and claim he was scared! Ha! Scared! He wasn't scared... He just felt this could very easily be a waste of theirs, and some kids time. Who would even know if they'd find anyone in this Iacon Youth Sector that made any kind of connection.

He stared around the group of kids again. They were all ages, shapes, and sizes. Some were tall Cybertronians nearing freedom and their adult frames. Some were humans that barely toddled their way around. He grimaced a bit, rubbing his lips with the back of an arm plate. How would he even know where to start? How would either of them even begin to know what to do?

Thunk!

He'd only faintly heard the ball bounce against his leg before it had fallen to the ground. The ball was a human one, he'd gathered, a small "baseball" that some of his human students often enjoyed. He contemplated crouching down to pick it up, but no sooner had it landed, the small owner came running up to retrieve it.

Of course it was a human.

The boy couldn't have been older than seven years old. He had gangly golden brown hair, and two big, beady green eyes that stared up at Ironhide curiously. He was of average height and weight, and from what Ironhide could tell, relatively healthy.

For a moment - the red mech wondered if the boy would say anything. But once a few moments had passed, he finally spoke with a small, fragile type of voice. "S-Sorry mister," he said loudly so that Ironhide might hear him. "Didn't mean to hit you."

"Eh, I can't even feel it," Ironhide murmured as the boy stared at him still. "What?"

"You're really big. Even bigger than Mr. Steelgage," the boy observed, to which Ironhide could only snort a little in response. "You here to recruit or somethin'?"

"Recruit?"

"For the army," the boy noted the twin canons that poked out of either one of Ironhide's burly arms. "You're in it, right?"

Ironhide chuckled a little at that, looking over his cannons slowly. Of course, that would probably be someone's first reaction. Even if in reality he simply loved weapons in general. "Once upon a time I was," he explained to the curious young human. "I retired after the war. Now I'm a gym teacher..."

"That's a pretty boring job change."

"You're telling me."

Ironhide smirked a bit, expecting the boy to tire of the talk. He'd learned most humans that were young had short attention spans for this sort of thing, after all. Instead, however, the boy simply offered: "I'm Shane."

Ironhide hesitated a reply, but eventually gave it. "Ironhide," he offered. "So, you lived here long?"

Shane shrugged his shoulders in response, then added. "Yup, since I was born. Mr. Steelgage says I was left right outside the door. Three days old," Shane explained, holding up three fingers for emphasis. "I've been here the longest of the humans, actually."

Ironhide tried to choke back his surprise. What? This boy had been here since infancy? Weren't the young ones the first orphans to get snatched up? He didn't understand. "Don't people typically want infants? How are you still here?" Ironhide asked, perhaps to bluntly.

"... You haven't looked too close, have you Mr. Ironhide?"

Indeed he hadn't as evidenced when the boy turned just a little to the right. Exposing his left arm, and the stump that was positioned where his left hand should have been. Ironhide frowned slightly, his optics softening. "They ain't got ye any prosthetics?" he asked. "They make things to help with that, y'know."

"Not in the budget," Shane murmured as he rubbed his stump slightly. "It's OK though! I'm as tough as anyone else, you know! I still play baseball, I just don't have a mitt - or people to play with. But whatever."

Ironhide smirked, liking the boy's spirit. Even if he could tell some of these things probably did bother him. With a small snort, he put his hands on his hips a little and looked down on him. "You've got spirit, I like that," he replied, surprised by how much the boy was seemingly making an impression on him. "How old are you, squirt?"

"Seven, I'll be eight in October," Shane replied as he bent down and picked up his ball. "How old are you?"

"Heh, older than you probably know how to count," Ironhide replied with a wider smirk as he stood there, thinking things through quietly in his head. "So, if ye ain't too busy. I got a mate who'd probably like to meet ye too. I ain't sure where she went off to, but she's somewhere around here."

Shane almost instantly seemed to know what he was implying. Even if he seemingly only now realized that Ironhide was one of the many prospective parents out in the yard. Ironhide had to admit, he may have been just as surprised at his response as he was. But this kid had spunk, and a spirit that reminded him of Cliff... Reminded him of that same spark, that same goofy grin.

The boy shrunk back a bit, surprising him. "I-I don't know," Shane managed. "Are you sure that's OK?"

"More than OK, I know she'll want to meet you."

Ironhide wasn't about to let the boy back out of this. If Ironhide really was going to jump head-first into this, he knew this boy had his vote. If what little he saw was anything to go by - he had a deep feeling in his spark that Shane was probably one of many good choices.

And so he lead Shane along through the crowd. Eventually finding Chromia standing off to the side, watching a few young girls. "Ahem, Chromia. I have someone I'd like you to meet," she stared at him with a look of surprise. "Shane, this is my mate, Chromia."

Chromia smiled a little, glancing at Ironhide, who simply shrugged. After a moment she took a few steps forward, making a point to crouch low enough that she was at Shane's level. "Hello, Shane. I'm Chromia," she reiterated. "I can see you got my big brute out of his shell. So let me thank you for that already."

Ironhide grunted, hating that Chromia was already pointing out how wrong he'd been. He crossed his arms a little, as Shane gave a small giggle. "It was an accident, I guess. My ball hit his leg," Shane pointed out, then looked up at the big female Cybertronian. "... You two lookin' for a kid?"

It was a rather blunt question that lead the two of them to glance at each other quietly. Rumbling, Ironhide spoke up first, trying to keep it calm. "Considering it. We uh... Well, Chromia really thinks it'd be good for us," he explained. "You see, we lost our son a full century back..."

Chromia interrupted him. "What Ironhide's saying is yes, we're looking to take a child in. But we aren't sure what we're looking for. We've only been licensed about a month now and this was a relatively recent decision," Ironhide snorted, noting how blunt she herself was being. "But we don't have to talk about that, Shane. Not if you don't want to..."

"We don't?" Shane asked curiously.

"Not at all," Ironhide replied. "What do you want to talk about?"

Shane looked over at Ironhide curiously, then admitted. "Where did you get those cannons?"

The question made the two chuckle deeply.

"Shane is a wonderful kid."

Chromia leaned in slowly as the social worker spoke. It was two weeks after their initial meeting at the youth sector, and after initial inquiry, they'd finally been able to set up a meeting. She and Ironhide had agreed to meet Shane, who having been in the system so long, had his own social worker outside the youth sector. She was a posh young woman with long golden hair and dark brown eyes. And while Chromia liked her enough she also made her nervous.

They'd currently sent Shane off to the small arcade area of the diner they were in so they could talk. Both robot forms accompanying Shane as their holoforms sat in front of the social worker. Chromia imagined they didn't look like the typical adopting couple. Ironhide's holform was a tall, tan skinned, and muscular man with a rough beard. He looked almost like a cross between a body builder and a military officer.

On the other hand, Chromia's was of a shorter, slender woman. She had a sharp look to her, with soft blue eyes, and a bit softer features than her mate. Surely, a little of an "odd couple" at first sight but Chromia never cared. "So you both have been parents before?" Cora, the social worker asked. "Where is your son now?"

Chromia was silent, Ironhide tense as he gripped her holoform's shoulder. "Cliffjumper died in the war. He was stationed on Earth with Optimus' team and was offlined after being taken prisoner," she could already see the sympathy in the social workers features. "That's why we think adopting Shane would be a good thing for us. The medics aren't sure we can get sparked again at our age. And there are so many children without good homes."

Ironhide nodded his head in agreement. "Our friend, Ultra Magnus was the one to suggest it to us. Three years ago, as you know, he adopted a young street child himself," he explained, trying to be honest. "Said it was the best decision he ever made."

"Well, this situation is a bit different," Cora replied. "... I hope you understand this, but you're the fifth family in the last seven years to express interest. Shane has been fostered out multiple times, and almost adopted twice. But he's still here."

Chromia leaned forward curiously, eyes focusing on the woman carefully. What did that mean? Was the boy some sort of trouble they didn't know? "Why would anyone put a little boy through that?" she asked as smoothly as he could. "Does he get himself into trouble?"

"... I hate to say this. But no and yes," Cora explained. "A few have cited his special needs as a reason. But the prospective adoptive families cited everything from stealing to fighting at school... Really, it's a load of horseshit if you ask me. Shane's the most mild-mannered kid I know. I think most of them return him because of his special needs."

"Needs, as in plural?"

Chromia hated to ask the question. Of course they knew about the lack of a left hand, but what else did the boy have? "Well, one, the lack of a right hand. But I say that can be fixed with a prosthetic," she looked over to make sure Shane wasn't listening in. "Most families can't afford the prostehtic, however. And many of them return him when they realize just how much help he does need without it. It doesn't seem like much, but you'd be surprised."

Chromia knew that, and they were prepared for that. They weren't exactly wealthy, but they had friends in high places. They knew that they could get Shane a prosthetic, Ratchet wouldn't even charge for it either. "Then why take someone with one?" Ironhide asked with a low growl. "That's just cruel to do to a child. You need to consider their feelings too! Do people not understand that?"

"Ironhide..." Chromia tried to calm him.

"Don't "Ironhide" me. I've seen that boy throw a baseball like it's nothing," Ironhide replied as he crossed his arms. "He may need help. But if you care about someone you help - you don't complain or return them. What the pit is wrong with them?"

Cora looked between the couple. "So you're prepared to help him?"

Chromia decided to answer that, to keep her mate from losing his patience. "We are friends with one of the greatest medics around. We have no doubt we can procure a prosthetic. And even if not, we are prepared to do what we can," she explained. "Does he have other special needs we need to know about?"

The social worker looked down, and then between the two of them quietly. She clasped her hands for a moment, and then added. "Not a whole lot. But he obviously has social anxiety. He's very rarely been outside of the youth sector. He'll need time to adjust to a family environment that you'll nee to give him," that was understandable - at the very least. "Of course, like a number of children - he's also been abused along the line. So expect at least some apprehension from him."

"Understandable," Chromia replied. "Well, Shane would have a loving and understanding home with us. We may not be the most conventional couple. But we have already raised one son to maturity, no matter how that ended. And I believe he would be a good fit."

Cora looked thoughtfully at the two of them, smiling as genuinely as she could. "Well I like you both, I just need to do some preliminary things before I can schedule any kind of home visits. But I think it shouldn't take long," she noted as Shane started to return with the real forms of the couple. "Hey kiddo, ready to order some food?"

"Yeah, I'm starving," Shane replied. "Can I get a shake?"

Of course, Ironhide was the one to reply with a big grin. "Order whatever you'd like, Shane. Food's on me today," he explained, making Shane's eyes light up, but as Cora began to interject. "Don't. I insist, yer food too."

"Don't argue with him," Chromia replied. "He'll only keep insisting."

To both of their surprise, Shane was quick to take a seat on their side, next to Ironhide. Perhaps too enthusiastic to really think it through. It didn't matter though, Ironhide didn't fully mind it one bit. Even if a part of him was still unsure about the whole thing, he did like this kid. "I'll get a shake, and fries! Oh, can I get a double cheeseburger!?" he asked excitedly. "I don't usually get to order whatever I want."

"Heh, slow down, you little piston," Ironhide joked as he tossled the boy's hair gently. "Let's focus your attention on what ye can actually eat."

Chromia smiled a little as she watched Ironhide carefully going over the menu with Shane. Noting a gentle nature that she hadn't seen in a long time... A nature she had so sorely missed. And hoped, despite his misgivings on the situation, she'd continue to see more of.

A/N: Whew, that plot bunny ended up longer than I expected! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the start of it. Like my others at the moment, this will be a bit on the shorter side of my fics as it is a way of taking a break from my longer fics. But hopefully it will still be good!