This story is an early birthday gift for Windblazer Prime, written by guestsurprise. Here you go, Amiga! Happy Birthday!

Danielle and Shadow Striker/Shadow Steel belong to Windblazer Prime, Transformers belongs to Hasbro, and Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man Of Action.

An Unbreakable Bond

Danielle sat with Ratchet in the cool of the evening just thinking about the wonderful things that had taken place over the years. Things have changed now that Kuphulu and her two wonderful children were in their lives. But as much as she loved them, she needed this time to reconnect with Ratchet. He meant so much to her.

"I know we haven't been able to talk much lately, so much has been happening," Danielle said as she laid a gentle hand on his large arm.

"It's my fault; I needed to do more to keep in contact with you," Ratchet responded, sounding slightly irritated. Danielle then climbed on his arm.

"Hey! We will have no more of that! Father, it's not your fault."

But Ratchet wouldn't look at her. So she transformed into her Anodite form and flew up near his face.

"Ratchet, look at me! Please, don't blame yourself for anything! I'm just happy we have now to catch up and be together. I don't blame you and you shouldn't blame yourself. You know that Shadow Striker wouldn't want that," Danielle said softly. Ratchet's eyes widened a bit as he felt Danielle gently touch his face.

"He was a good Autobot. The best there was; I know he would have taken good care of you if he was here," Ratchet said softly.

"And he knows you would take good care of me too. He loved you and he knows that there was no other Autobot that was capable of taking such good care of me."

"Thank you, young one; he truly was an amazing Autobot; he was the best!" Ratchet smiled.

"Well, besides you too and Optimus Prime! Remember the time I first met Optimus," She giggled.

"How could I forget! You ran away from him and then hid under my berth for about 10 minutes!" He laughed.

"Hey! I wasn't that bad!"

"Yes you were! I've never seen Optimus wait for 10 minutes for someone to come out from under the berth." Ratchet chuckled.

"Well, he was very kind to me." Danielle smiled.

"That's because he wanted to earn your trust. He laid there on his stomach and continued to call to you til you were calm and until you agreed to let him hold you. Optimus is a very busy Autobot, but he always has time for those he cares about," Ratchet smiled. At that very moment, Optimus Prime passed by and gave Ratchet a greeting and Danielle a wink.

"Yes, he truly is the greatest. I also remember the first time I met Bumblebee." Danielle chirped.

"Good heavens! You both were like playful children when you both were together! You both almost wrecked Perceptor's lab!"

"That wasn't my fault!"

"Or the time you put shaving cream on my face while I was asleep," Ratchet growled playfully.

"I was really young! And in plus that was Bumblebee's idea!"

"I see…well, I will give you some grace only because you have matured," Ratchet chuckled.

"Well you were in the one prank when I sprayed Optimus Prime one time with that water gun!"

"And I hope you were satisfied because he then ordered the entire Autobot base to come after us with water guns!" Ratchet laughed. Both of them had a great laugh and thought that happy moment would never end. That is, until they both saw a familiar purple glow race across the sky. It meant an Anodite was flying towards a mission.

"I still miss him; Shadow Steel," Danielle said softly. At that moment, she let a small tear fall. Ratchet gently picked her up and held her to his chest.

"Shhh…I'm here."

"It hurts me to think about him sometimes. He was so brave, so giving. Why did he have to…?"

"Don't keep thinking about it, Danielle; it will only make it worse. What we need to do is remember that he will always be with us."

"I know, but the pain…"

"The pain will go away young one, but it will take time. But Shadow Striker will forever be in our sparks. He will always be there when we need him. Not even deactivation or death can separate you from those you love," Ratchet said confidently as he then placed a small kiss on Danielle's head. She let a small tear fall and then saw that Ratchet was trying to hold back small tears of his own. Shadow Striker meant a lot to him too.

"Oh, Ratchet," Danielle cooed as she flew up near his face in her Anodite form and began to wipe his tears with her shirt.

"Now now, there's no need for that…," Ratchet huffed, trying to sound tough.

"Whether you like it or not, I'm your daughter and I need to look after you too tough guy! Now c'mere!" She giggled as she began to plant fun and playful kisses on her adoptive father's face.

"D-Danielle! N-now you stop that!" He chuckled.

"Nope! I want to prove how much I love you," She responded as she then began to plant more on his cheeks. Ratchet then gently encased her in his hands. He heard her startled cry and then her pushing on his hands.

"Hey! What gives! Daddy let me out!"

"Not until the kissing stops!" He chuckled.

"No! Now let me out of here! You can't trap your daughter in here!" She giggled. At that moment, she burst out in her Anodite form and used some of her powers to restrain Ratchet. She then proceeded to kiss him again on his cheeks and hug him to cheer him up after they discussed that sad earlier topic. After a few moments, she released him. She landed on his spark and hugged him.

"I love you, Ratchet and I always will," she said as she snuggled in his embrace.

"I love you too, Danielle…I love you too," he cooed back as he hugged her to his spark and let a small tear of joy escape from his optics. As they hugged, Shadow Striker was watching from the Heavens and let out a small chuckle and grin of his own, happy that his brother and daughter were safe and enjoying each other.

guestsurprise's words: Windblazer Prime, I hope you enjoyed it and Happy Birthday!

Please leave a review, but no flames!

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