EmeraldMoonGreen, who owns Kristin and Ethan, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)

Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing.

True Repentance

Bumblebee pulled up to Kristin's school, scanning around for her before texting her that he was there to pick her up. He then saw her but then saw something else that made him stop in his tracks.

There was a boy beside Kristin and Bumblebee recognized him as the boy that had been around the group of bullies that bothered Kristin. He saw the young girl wasn't afraid, but she seemed relaxed and was talking to the boy and they both shared a laugh as the boy placed his arm around her in a friendly manner. This put Bumblebee on alert and he quickly scanned Kristin for any signs of fear, but she was relaxed and seemed to be enjoying herself.

The yellow Autobot then sent a text to her phone and saw the young girl open the message on her phone and grab her back. "My ride's here," she said to the boy. "See you tomorrow, Ethan."

"See you tomorrow, Kristin," Ethan called back to her before heading off in the other direction to walk home.

Kristin got inside Bumblebee's alt mode and buckled up as he headed for the base. "Hey, Bee! Guess what?" She said.

"What?" He asked, a smile in his voice.

"Remember I was having some trouble in one of my classes?"

"Yes," he said. "You were studying at the base all weekend with Soundwave quizzing you."

Kristin grinned and showed him the test that she had done the day before and had received it back today. Bumblebee glanced at the top of the page where a big red 'B' was circled, along with an 89% beside it. "I passed it!" She said with a grin. "And I brought my grade up from the last test!"

"Great job!" Bumblebee said. "I bet you'll get an 'A' on the next one."

"That's what I want to do," she said. "I'm going to ask Soundwave about it later. Bulkhead promised he'd take Miko and I for a thrill ride in the desert if we got good grades on our tests."

"And she got a 'B' too," the yellow Autobot said with a smile. "Bulkhead just informed me now."

Kristin was super excited. "We better get to base then!" She said with a squeal.

Bumblebee chuckled. "But let's keep the speed limit in mind, kiddo," he said. "We are still in city limits."

She nodded in agreement.

Arriving at base, Miko grabbed Kristin's hand. "Come on! Let's go!" The Japanese girl said excitedly as Bulkhead transformed into his alt-mode and the girls both got in, buckling up.

"Be careful, you three," Ratchet cautioned.

"We will, Ratchet," Bulkhead said in a respectful voice as he headed out with the girls.

Bumblebee smiled. "Kristin's really stoked about the 'B' she got on that test," he said.

"She studied hard for it," said Soundwave with pride in his voice.

The scout then looked around. "Where's Megatron?" He asked.

"Right behind you," said a familiar voice as playful fingers wiggled into his doorwings, making him jump and laugh a little. "Did you need to speak with me?"

"Actually, with all three of you," Bumblebee said seriously. "I noticed something today that worried me."

"What?" Ratchet asked.

"There was a boy hanging about Kristin as she was waiting for me to come get her," he said. "I recognized him to be one of the bullies that bothered her."

The other three were on alert. "What. Happened?" Soundwave asked, his voice becoming stern.

"Nothing, which surprised me," Bumblebee answered. "Kristin wasn't scared. In fact, they were talking and laughing together. He even placed his arm around her in a friendly gesture."

"He…was talking to her? Where were the other bullies?" Megatron asked.

"They weren't around. It was just him and Kristin."

Ratchet looked grim. "Why was he hanging around her?" He asked. "Why didn't she call one of us?"

"From the sounds of it, she didn't feel threatened," Bumblebee said.

"Did you happen to catch the boy's name?" Soundwave asked.

"His name's Ethan."

Megatron looked at Ratchet and Soundwave. "He might be trying to trick her," he said.

"So that he can hurt her later," Ratchet said with a growl.

"Not on our watch," Soundwave said, also growling. Bumblebee backed up in worry, seeing all three of Kristin's guardians go into protective mode, quickly heading out to stay out of their way, knowing when the three got like that, nothing could stop them.

Megatron called Knockout into the room and the red medic came in immediately. "Yes, sir?" He asked, shuddering a bit when he saw the three Cybertronians were looking ready for battle.

"We have a mission for you," said Megatron. "There's a boy we believe might be trouble for Kristin. One of her bullies was seen hanging around her, acting like a friend."

Knockout grew a bit worried as he was fond of Kristin and didn't want her getting hurt. "What do you need me to do?" He asked.

"The boy's name is Ethan," said Ratchet. "Find him and bring him here, unharmed, but make sure he's knocked out so he doesn't learn where we are."

Nodding solemnly, Knockout transformed and began his mission.

Scanning the town, the red medic soon found the boy coming out of a local diner. "See you tomorrow, Ma'am," he said to the lady who handed him a check.

"Alright, Ethan. See you tomorrow," she said.

Knockout waited a moment as he observed the boy before following and waiting patiently for the right moment. Seeing the boy turn to walk down a dirt road and seeing no one else around, Knockout swiftly transformed and released a non-lethal sleeping gas towards the boy, who swayed on his feet before feeling something grab him. "You're coming with me, boy," Knockout said, seeing the boy fully lose consciousness before transforming and carefully putting the boy in his back seat and heading for the base. "Mission accomplished," he sent to the three waiting for him at base. "I'm heading towards base now with the boy unconscious in my back seat."

"Very good, thank you, Knockout," said Megatron. "We're ready to receive him."

A couple hours later…

Ethan opened his eyes and blinked a bit as he woke up and found himself in a darkened room. Getting up, he let his eyes adjust before seeing the door and walking over to it, but something suddenly grabbed him firmly and a light came on to show him he wasn't alone.

Ethan looked up to see three giant robots glaring down at him and one of them had tentacles coming from his back, one which was currently wrapped around the boy.

Ratchet, Megatron, and Soundwave glared down at the boy and just barely managed to hide their surprise when Ethan didn't freak out, although he did begin squirming to try and get free of the tentacle holding him. "Not so fast, boy," Megatron growled at him.

"We want answers from you," Ratchet said.

"Yes," said Soundwave. "Why were you hanging around Kristin?"

"And you better tell us the truth," Megatron said. "We are not to be trifled with when it comes to Kristin, as she is our charge."

"Are you just trying to get close to Kristin just to torment her later on?" Ratchet asked sternly.

Ethan let his head hang, refusing to look at them and hiding his face from view.

The three Cybertronians immediately judged that the boy was being disrespectful to them and Soundwave placed another tentacle under the boy's chin, making Ethan look up at them, but before they could say a word, they noticed the boy's face.

Surprise filled them as they saw the shame, guilt, and resignation on Ethan's face as he looked up at them, making any harsh words that the three had been planning to say to him leave their minds.

Ethan let out a small sigh. "Are you going to hurt me?" He asked calmly, his shame, guilt, and resignation growing on his facial features. "I won't fight back if you're going to hurt me."

Megatron looked at Soundwave and Ratchet and they looked back at him, surprised that the boy wasn't afraid, but was willing to accept if they were going to hurt him. Ratchet cleared his throat. "Can you answer a question for us, boy?" He asked, his voice still stern, but not as much as before.

"Yes, sir?" Ethan asked in a meek voice.

Megatron cleared his throat. "Why were you hanging around Kristin?" He asked. "Why were you acting so friendly around her when you've bullied her before?"

Ethan took a deep breath and looked up at them. "I wanted to make amends with her," he said honestly. "And to apologize for being so awful to her. She didn't deserve to be bullied."

"What made you decide to change your ways?" Soundwave asked in a stern, but curious voice.

"I saw one of my former friends tear up her homework she had done for math class," Ethan said. "I knew she was having some trouble with some parts of it as I was too and I thought about how I'd feel if someone did that to me."

The boy then sighed. "The teacher let Kristin redo the homework over recess and I helped her out," he said. "We helped each other better understand the parts of it that were giving us trouble and we were able to turn in our homework without losing points on our grades.

"I apologized to Kristin about what my friends did and for what I did, and she forgave me. I even dumped my former friends after telling them off for destroying Kristin's homework."

The three Cybertronians knew without a doubt the boy was telling the truth and looked at each other and nodded, turning back to the boy. "We can tell you've told us the truth," Megatron said. "As a result, you have redeemed yourself from our wrath."

Ethan looked up at them in surprise and felt the tentacle surrounding him lift him up and place him in Soundwave's hand. "We can tell you truly want to be friends with Kristin," the former silent 'Con said. "But…before we allow you to head out…,"

"You need some…punishment," Ratchet said, a smirk on his face.

From the way Ratchet said that, Ethan could tell they didn't mean a hurtful punishment, but he was curious as to what they meant, only to find out a moment later when he was brought into another room and placed down on a large table. Soundwave gently pinned the boy's arms down while Ratchet gently pinned his legs down. "Gentleman, shall we begin?" Megatron asked, an amused smile on his face.

Ethan saw fingers moving towards him and jumped a moment later when Soundwave gently poked his side and they saw the smile form on Ethan's face. The boy began laughing as three pointer fingers began tickling him, starting with his sides, ribs, and underarms.

"Hmm, from that laugh, he's quite ticklish," said Soundwave with amusement.

Megatron and Ratchet began gently tickling Ethan's sides and noticed the boy was cackling like a hyena when they got close to his hips. Smiling mischievously, they began tickling his hips.

The laughter that came out of the boy when they did that made them laugh in amusement as they began enjoying hearing Ethan laugh and were more amused when they heard the boy shriek when Soundwave began gently poking his stomach. "I believe we just found his tickle spots," said Ratchet.

"And I'm enjoying hearing his laughter," said Megatron as they gave the boy a breather. "Let's really make him laugh."

Catching on the former Decepticon leader's train of thought, Soundwave and Ratchet instantly nodded and Soundwave placed his finger gently on Ethan's stomach while Megatron and Ratchet placed their fingers on Ethan's hips before making their fingers vibrate.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ethan shrieked in laughter before the three Cybertronians let him up, seeing he had had enough. Soundwave picked him up in his hand.

"Well, boy. You have earned our trust," he said. "And you've earned Kristin's trust and friendship."

"And we know we can trust you to not ever hurt Kristin again," said Ratchet.

"I won't, sirs," Ethan said honestly and respectfully.

The three Cybertronians were pleased to hear that, glad that Kristin now had another friend who would be there for her too.

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GoldGuardian2418