Author's note: Hey everyone! Here is a brand new story StargazerPrime and I thought of, now in my other stories you know that Ironhide left the Decepticons a long time ago, but what if Ironhide hadn't quit the Decepticons? Would things be different?

This is completely stand alone and doesn't relate to any of my other stories.

This chapter was written by StargazerPrime =D

"Hello" Autobot talking.

"Hello" Thoughts/Sparkling talk.

Ironhide was a loyal mech to the Decepticon faction, those that saw him would say he was quiet, showed almost no emotion, honest, scary when angry but got the job done, but what no one knew was that under that gruff exterior was a kind-sparked and understanding mech who would do anything to protect those he cared about. His best friend Starscream defected to the Autobots a long time ago, however they still remained friends, sometimes he did miss him and his old friend Optimus. But his loyalties still lay with Megatron, so he remained by his side as his second-in-command.

One day Ironhide walked into the throne room to take up his usual spot beside his leader's throne, what he didn't expect to see was the fact that his leader was looking happy, it was next to never anyone saw him looking this happy. The last time 'Hide saw him looking this happy was when he had been chosen to compete in the Gladiator Pits and that didn't go down well for him, he had ended up badly beaten and drunk.

Megatron looked up when he heard someone approaching and saw his second-in-command, he smirked "Ah Ironhide" he said "I'm glad you're here"

Ironhide crossed his arms "Why do you look so happy? You didn't get chosen to compete at the Gladiator Pits again did you?" he asked.

The Warlord gave him a look, not wanting to be reminded of that embarrassing moment "No" he replied.

"Then why?" 'Hide asked.

"I'm glad you asked Ironhide, our allies have brought us back a 'pet'" the Warlord replied with a smirk.

Ironhide frowned a little, he had a feeling this wasn't just an ordinary 'pet' "Pet?" he asked.

"That's right, do you want to see 'it'?" Megatron asked with a smirk.

Ironhide narrowed his good optic in suspicion but nodded.

The Warlord smirked and stood up "Follow me" he replied and walked out with his second-in-command in tow.

When they arrived outside the experiment room, scared squeaks were heard from inside the dark room.

Ironhide frowned, it sounded like a Sparkling.

Megatron smirked and turned on the lights "There she is" he said proudly.

'Hide couldn't believe what he saw, he was right about it being a Sparkling, but this one was different. Her appearance was that of a human, she had mixed race skin and her eye colour was brown, she had no clothes on and looked just four days old.

"What do you think?" the Warlord asked with a smirk.

Ironhide glared at his leader "Have you lost your mind?! You kidnapped a Sparkling?!" he snarled quietly so as not to scare the poor Sparkling in the cage more.

"Not just any Sparkling Ironhide, this one is special and is just what we need to get an advantage over those Autoscums" Megatron replied with a smirk.

'Hide growled quietly "What're you gonna do to her?" he sneered.

"Only things to help us" the Warlord replied with a smirk, but it was one of those sick sadistic smirks.

Ironhide did not like that look and growled "You're gonna hurt her aren't you?" he sneered.

Megatron tried to look shocked "Who said anything about hurting her? I just want some energon samples from her, no big deal" he replied.

'Hide didn't believe that for one second and crossed his arms over his chest "I'll stay and observe then" he replied and gave him a look that didn't leave any room for arguments.

The Warlord huffed "Fine, Soundwave!" he called.

Soundwave walked in "Yes my lord" he replied.

"Take some energon samples from our pet" Megatron said with a smirk.

The silver mech nodded and walked over to the small cage, he opened it and pulled the Sparkling out by a tiny arm.

The Sparkling squeaked in fear as she was placed on the experiment table.

Soundwave got a needle out his subspace.

Ironhide had a bad feeling about this and was just about to voice that concern when a pained cry came from the small Sparkling, it was horrible to hear, Cybertronians were supposed to value and care for Sparklings, not harm them! He wanted kill Soundwave but one thing stopped him, the Sparkling, she was already petrified and seeing more violence will make things just as worse for her than they are now. He could feel her pain like he was the one being injected and it puzzled him a little as he had no bond with the Sparkling, he ignored the pain as he looked at the Sparkling crying, he saw her starting to pass out from the amount of pain she was in and she looked right at him, her eyes showing pain, fear, hurt, but love as well. He held back on his emotions as the she passed out.

"Good job Soundwave, let's get Shockwave to examine those samples" The Warlord said.

The silver mech nodded and he walked out with his leader.

'Hide stayed where he was as he looked at the Sparkling passed out on the experiment table, he walked slowly over to her as his soft and caring side started to show, it had been behind a gruff exterior for so long. He knelt down beside the table.

The Sparkling twitched a little and slowly opened her eyes, she looked around before looking at the mech she had seen before she passed out.

Ironhide smiled a little "Hey, it's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you" he said softly.

The Sparkling blinked and tilted her head a little.

'Hide gently stroked her cheek.

The Sparkling let out a weak purr and moved her head towards his hand.

Ironhide knew human Sparklings couldn't purr, but Cybertronian Magics could.

Cybertronian Magics, like full Cybertronians, were born on Cybertron and had the appearance of a human but had Sparks. All the magics could fly, heal, breathe in space and transform. The first magic was named Osiris who was created by Primus and thanks to her the race of the magics was created, however when the war began the magics all started to become evil and Osiris was killed in a battle for the AllSpark, since that time there were no more good magics, until now it seemed.

'Hide could tell just by looking at the Sparkling that she was a good magic and smiled a little more "There we go" he said softly "see? I won't hurt you"

The Sparkling smiled a little "Wh-What's...your name?" she chirped weakly, she was still weak from the injections.

"Ironhide" Ironhide replied softly "but call me 'Hide if you want to"

The Sparkling smiled a little and nodded.

"What's your name?" 'Hide asked softly.

"M-My name...is Jade" Jade tweeted weakly.

Ironhide nodded "How old are you Jade?" he asked softly.

"Four days...old" the Sparkling twittered weakly "h-how old..are you?"

'Hide chuckled a little "Very old" he replied softly.

Jade giggled a little.

Ironhide smiled fully this time, he had almost forgotten how it felt to smile as it had been so long since he had smiled "Let's get you cleaned up and find something warm for you, you must be freezing" he said softly and got to his feet, he looked in a drawer and found a clean cloth, a clean rag and a pair of scissors. He got them out and closed the drawer, he knelt down beside the table again and put the rag and the scissors on the floor that was surprisingly clean, he held the cloth in his hand and started to gently clean the blood and energon off the Sparkling's body, none of the other Decepticons knew this but he knew medics as he had researched it in his spare time.

Jade purred softly, she was quite surprised that a strong mech like 'Hide had such a soft and gentle touch.

When Ironhide was done, he put the cloth in the disposal and picked up the rag "This was all I could find I'm afraid" he said softly as he started to cut it so it looked more like a long shirt "but as long as it keeps you warm it'll do"

The Sparkling smiled and nodded.

When 'Hide finished he gently put the rag on the Sparkling "There we go" he said softly "what happened to your old clothes?"

"The..bad people..ripped them..off me" Jade beeped weakly and sniffed.

Ironhide nodded a little and got to his feet, he gently picked her up in his arms and held her close, even though he had never held a Sparkling before it came naturally to Carriers.

Mechs could be born a Sire or a Carrier, a Sire is not able to have Sparklings but they have Sire Protocols that make them very protective of the Carrier whilst they're Sparked, only family, medics and trusted friends would be allowed near the Carrier during that time. A Carrier can have Sparklings and have something called Protective Instincts, no protocols are involved, just a Carrier's instinct to protect their offspring. If said offspring was in any danger of getting harmed, the Carrier would turn aggressive and even violent towards the threat.

Ironhide was the only Carrier in the Decepticons, this was because when he had first joined Megatron had not wanted any Carriers in his faction, the reason was a mystery. Anyone who was a Carrier would have had to have been changed to a Sire or not join, so 'Hide had lied about being a Carrier and luckily his leader believed him because of his appearance "I'll take care of you Jade, I promise" he whispered softly and held the Sparkling closer to him.

Jade smiled and chirped.

Then Megatron walked in and growled at what he saw "What do you think you're doing?" he sneered.

"Taking care of her, got a problem with that?" 'Hide sneered, his Protective Instincts were making him aggressive, it was like a flip of a coin as he had gone from soft and caring to sharp and aggressive.

"Yes I do, I am your leader and I order you to put Hybrid down!" the Warlord snarled.

"I will not!" Ironhide snarled.

"You will because I am your leader!" Megatron snarled.

"I don't care, I'm not letting her go!" 'Hide snarled.

Jade admired the mech's bravery.

"And I thought you were loyal Ironhide" the Warlord sneered "we'll 'talk' more tomorrow"

Ironhide growled.

Megatron snarled a little and stormed out.

'Hide growled a little before he looked at the Sparkling, now that the threat was gone he had reverted back to soft and caring, his look softened and he stroked her head.

Jade purred and snuggled up to him, she yawned and fell into a content sleep feeling warm and safe.

Ironhide smiled and cradled her "I'll get you through this Jadey" he whispered softly.

End of Chapter 1