Hello again :) ProjectKITT here with a new TF fanfic, this time a bit further along in the live-action continuity. It may not seem like it at first, but it will be primarily told from Ratchet's point of view. Also, most chapters probably won't be as long as this one (I'm planning for about 3,000 words each). My apologies to everyone who is waiting for the next chapter of 'The Catalyst'; I am working on that, but the muse for this one struck me first and so I had to write it ;) Okay, on with the story!

The weather was always warm on Diego Garcia, a fact that Ironhide greatly enjoyed even if he never openly stated as much. There were a lot of things that the veteran Autobot never felt the need to say, and still more that he simply did not know how to say. Some things just could not be easily put into words.

Ironhide twirled his cannons, feeling the steadily increasing gusts from the Indian Ocean blow across his armor. He had been wandering this part of the atoll, combing the beach for seashells, coral, or any other curiosities he might find, for about two Earth hours now and the wind was just beginning to pick up. According to the forecasts, the incoming tropical storm was going to be a bad one.

By human standards, anyway. It was nothing compared to the ones on Cybertron.

Ironhide stood, looking out at the distinctly foreign ocean. It had been eons since he had even seen his own world.

But somehow, he did not miss it that much. A lot less than he ever thought he would have.

Perhaps it was because his comrades, his closest friends, and most everything else he cared about was here now. On this little round green-and-blue ball called Earth.

What a lamentably simplistic name. It was hardly even accurate—more of the Earth was covered in water than land.

But then again, a lot of things on this planet did not make sense. Particularly when it came to humans.

Some were so obnoxious and overbearing that Ironhide could hardly stand it, but others were nothing if not respectable and admirable. If he had known back on Cybertron that he could ever form such a close bond with members of such a primitive and organic species, he probably would not have believed it.

The black Autobot shifted his weight, letting out a long, tired sigh and distantly wondering how long it would be before this break in Decepticon activity came to an end. Or, on a longer time frame, when the war itself would be over.

It sometimes seemed as if the end was never any nearer.

Just then, a somewhat high-pitched voice drifted over to the weapons specialist, breaking him out of his melancholic thoughts. "Do you see anything out there, Ironhide?"

Ironhide turned to regard the small creature that had spoken, a human whom he had fought beside and learned to trust.

"I had been told you were given the day off, Lennox," Ironhide replied, twirling his cannons once more before gracefully stowing them away. "Why are you not with your family?"

NEST officer William Lennox walked up to him, looking out at the vast expanse of open ocean and the small but turbulent saltwater waves crashing into the shoreline. "Well, the Decepticons never take a day off," Lennox explained, "and neither do you, so I guess I get to join that party for a while."

Ironhide regarded him patiently, watching the ripple of wind against Lennox's black uniform. "I am not raising a youngling, Major."

"Believe me, I know." Lennox wiped his brow, the humidity already causing beads of sweat to appear on his tan forehead. "But Sarah and Anabelle will be coming here, so that will make things a little easier for the time being."

Ironhide nodded, replying with a casual, "I see."

The next few minutes passed without any words being exchanged, the two individuals looking out at the distant horizon and lost in their own respective thoughts, until Lennox broke the silence. "Ironhide, would you mind if I asked you a personal question?"

"You know that your human need for privacy is not as pronounced in my species, Lennox."

"Will," the soldier corrected him. "Please, call me Will."

"Very well. Will," Ironhide continued, "while we Cybertronians do also consider some things too private to be shared with acquaintances, the members of your team and mine are far beyond that. Feel free to ask what you wish, at least when you are speaking with me."

"All right." Lennox cleared his throat. "Have you ever raised a child—a youngling?" he asked, remembering the word Ironhide had used.

The black TopKick chuckled lightly at that, turning away and focusing his brilliant blue gaze on the relatively gray and gloomy sky. "No, Will, I have not."

"Have you ever... thought about it?" Lennox wondered. "I mean, is it something you've considered?"

While Lennox admittedly did not know much about Cybertronian parenthood, he did know that they had to—for lack of a better description—raise their young.

Oh, how that wording reminded the NEST soldier of lions raising their cubs in a nature documentary...

Ironhide paused, his blue optics settling on the human as he contemplated his answer. "It has been many millennia since conditions have been anywhere near favorable enough to even consider such an undertaking," Ironhide finally explained, "let alone to actually follow through with it. I would not wish to raise a youngling in the middle of a war. Of course, I am not suggesting that you are not capable of doing so."

"No, I understand," Lennox responded, his usual laid-back attitude as evident in his relaxed voice as his casual posture. "I was just wondering what your thoughts on the subject were."

Ironhide grunted noncommittally. "Does something worry you about it, or is it merely curiosity?"

Sometimes, it surprised Will at how perceptive the Autobots could be when it came to humans, especially since they were not even from the same solar system. "Well," he replied, "I guess it just... seems a little intimidating sometimes."

Ironhide cocked an optic ridge, one of the many subtle gestures his species used that was strikingly similar to that of humans. "How so?"

Lennox ran his fingers though his dark brown hair, trying to think of how to best put his feelings into words. "I don't know. It's just... odd. Like running head-first into a battle with Decepticons is not as scary as being a dad."

Ironhide only looked at him quizzically, so Lennox continued. "I remember when I took the parenting classes with Sarah, I spent the entire time thinking that I wasn't going to be able to do anything right. Even learning to change a diaper seemed like more than I was going to be able to accomplish."

The Autobot weapons specialist smirked at that, looking down at the ground and trying to suppress a chuckle lest he accidentally offend his close comrade. "I am certain that you possess the skills you need to master such a task," Ironhide stated, glancing at Lennox again, "as well as any others that will be required of you. Perhaps you feel intimidated simply because you are, as you would say, 'out of your element'?"

Lennox tilted his head. It made sense. "Yeah, that could be."

"Confidence comes with experience," Ironhide reassured him. "Of this I am certain."

"I suppose you're right," Lennox replied, sounding a bit relieved now. "Most things do seem to be that way."

Ironhide nodded once, shifting his weight just as a particularly strong gust of wind blew in from across the beach.

Lennox almost stumbled at the sudden force of it, Ironhide putting out his hand to help steady him but the smaller being managed to maintain his balance without any assistance.

"Well, big guy," Lennox said with a fatigued but sincere pat on Ironhide's leg, "I think I'll head inside before the weather gets any worse. Feel free to come with if you'd like. I know how much you hate water and you're already lucky that it hasn't started raining."

Ironhide laughed. "I don't hate it, I just... prefer not to be in contact with it under most circumstances."

"Here, that's basically the same thing as hating it," Lennox explained, winking at him as he turned to leave. "Then I'll see you back at the hangar."

Lennox made it several steps away before Ironhide called after him, "Lennox, wait."

The soldier stopped and turned around, tactfully ignoring the fact that Ironhide had reverted back to using his last name. "Yes, Ironhide?"

"I have something for you." Ironhide retrieved the shells he had stored in subspace, carefully depositing them in Lennox's hand.

Lennox furrowed his brow, a bit baffled by why Ironhide would give him a handful of seashells. "What are these for?"

"I thought perhaps they could serve as playthings for your daughter," Ironhide explained. "There is quite a variety of shapes."

"She's a bit too young to play with things like these, but I'll certainly show them to her." Lennox shifted his gaze from the shells to the black Autobot. "Thank you, Ironhide."

Ironhide nodded, his usual silent acknowledgment of appreciation. "See you back at the hangar, Will."

/* * */

The reprieve in Decepticon activity did turn out to be short-lived. Ratchet always knew it would be, but nothing drove that fact home more than the alarm bells now blaring throughout the base. He scrambled to his post, like the many NEST soldiers around him.

Sideswipe skated past the Autobot medic, also heading toward the main bays. "Ratch, where's Ironhide?"

"He's just coming in now," Ratchet answered, seeing the black mech's vehicle mode pulling into the hangar. Ironhide had arrived just in time—whenever there was a Decepticon incursion, the goal was to be ready for departure in less than ten minutes.

"Ironhide!" Lennox called from across the hanger. "Takeoff in two minutes!"

Ironhide transformed and armed his cannons, his robot mode dripping wet from the downpour outside. "I'm ready."

That was the truth, Ratchet knew. Ironhide could get antsy if he had not been in any fights for a while, and while he was good at hiding it around the humans, Ratchet and Optimus could always tell.

Speaking of Optimus, Ratchet saw the red and blue mech stride in from one of the side entrances. The Autobot leader was as cool and collected as ever, taking command of the Autobot forces without even hardly raising his voice.

"Autobots," Optimus spoke clearly, his calm demeanor tempering the excitement of the younger warriors like Sideswipe and Bumblebee, "follow Lennox's lead. We will brief you in the air."

The gathered team of Autobots, consisting of Ratchet, Sideswipe, Bumblebee, and Ironhide, as well as the small number of human NEST operatives that were present, turned to Lennox for instructions.

"All right," Lennox addressed the mixed group of soldiers, "we need to move fast to avoid the storm. The C-17 is outside and ready to go, so I want those of you that are here to board now. Jolt," he continued, seeing the blue junior medic enter the hangar, "I want you to stay here in case our return is delayed."

Jolt nodded. "Understood, Major."

Lennox gestured to move out. "Okay. Let's go!"

Ratchet had already made it onto the plane, and was waiting patiently as the humans made some final preparations before takeoff, when a pair of brightly-colored Chevrolet hatchbacks suddenly skidded out onto the tarmac.

If Ratchet had not been in vehicle mode, he probably would have slapped a hand over his face. The two hellions, better known as the Twins, had a terrible penchant for getting into or causing trouble. They also followed directions about as well as a primitive Dinobot.

"Wait! You forgot about us!"

Next to Ratchet, Sergeant Robert Epps dutifully grabbed a walkie-talkie.

"Yo Twins, sorry to disappoint but you're gonna have to sit this one out. Lennox's orders."

"What? Why?" Skids transformed, the color of his bright green armor resembling that of green apple Skittles even in the low light. "We're already here!"

"Yeah!" his burnt-orange brother Mudflap chimed in, also transforming to stand near the bottom of the open cargo bay door. "He can't leave us out now!"

"Actually, I can," Lennox cut in over the radio frequency from somewhere else on the plane. "We need some Autobots to stay on Diego Garcia."

"Jolt is staying! We should get to go!"

"I think what Lennox means," Epps interjected, "is that we need some warriors to stay on Diego Garcia. You know, to guard the place."

"Jolt can fight! He's done it before," Skids protested.

Mudflap crossed his arms over his chest, nodding vigorously in agreement. "Yeah. There ain't no reason why we can't go."

"Jolt can fight but he isn't a trained fighter," Lennox pointed out, letting just enough authority slip into his voice to hopefully get through to the two mechs. "That's why we need you two to stay on base."

It must have worked, because the two Autobots conceded. "All right, fine. But we're going on the next one."

"You got it," Lennox transmitted. "Now, fall back so we can take off. Unless you don't mind a little wind."

Epps had to chuckle at that last bit. Lennox always knew what words to use to get the Twins out of the way.

"We're going, we're going." Mudflap waved his hand dismissively as he and his brother turned to leave. "Party poopers! Can't never let us in on the fun..."

The Twins' conversation was cut off as the large cargo bay door finally closed. Epps turned to Ratchet, placing a hand on the Hummer's yellow hood. "So, you think they'll ever quiet down enough to be like the rest of you?"

Ratchet snorted, obviously finding the idea to be laughable. "No, Epps, I can't say I do. They've been that way for millennia, ever since they were sparked, and I can think of no reason why they would change now."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Epps gave Ratchet a few pats on the hood. "Anyway, I better get seat-belted in before we take off. See ya when we get there."

Ratchet 'watched' Epps walk away, using his scanners to track the location and movement of everyone in this section of the plane—human and Autobot alike—even through the netting that had been placed over his vehicle mode. He was surprised that Ironhide was not fidgeting more, and that Bumblebee and Sideswipe were keeping the decibel level of their conversation down to a minimum. Optimus was merely waiting silently like he usually did.

Perhaps Ratchet was not the only one who was anxious about what was coming.

/* * */

He knew it. He fragging knew it.

Ratchet knew that the minute Ironhide decided to break away from the main team, something like this was bound to happen.

"Ironhide, fall back!"

The Autobots and NEST soldiers had been investigating a Decepticon intrusion at a coal-fired power plant, one that also just happened to have the remnants of a decommissioned nuclear reactor on-site, and Ironhide had been the first to spot a Decepticon. A white and purple car parked inconspicuously in one of the far parking lots.

But rather than notify Optimus, or anyone else on his team for that matter, Ironhide had quietly turned off the main road to confront the Decepticon himself.

Ratchet had hardly even noticed, just catching the retreating form of the black TopKick in his side mirror.

And by that time, the other Autobots had their hands full with the nearly a half dozen other Decepticons on the other side of the complex. Ratchet had been the only one not engaged in a fight.

Besides Ironhide, that is, but the medic knew that that was coming as sure as the sky above him was blue. The Hummer had spun around and gunned it back the way he came, apologizing to his human occupants and then letting them out when he got as close as he dared to where Ironhide was, which happened to be a grassy embankment about forty yards away from the electrical substation where Ironhide and the Decepticon had crashed through a chain link fence and into the field of step-up transformers and live transmission lines and gotten into a fight. The high-voltage warning signs had apparently not deterred the weapons specialist at all.

Ratchet could not risk getting any closer—the area was already too confined, and the addition of another mech would only make the situation more hazardous than it already was. The humans just stood beside him, also unsure of what to do but readying their weapons in case they were needed.

"Ironhide, I said fall back!" Ratchet tried again, still to no avail.

He was getting upset now. What Ironhide was doing was about as safe as playing hopscotch on a live minefield, and the weapons specialist was usually not so careless.

"Slag it, 'Hide! I know you can hear me!" Ratchet bellowed. "Disengage now!"

But it did not look like Ironhide was going to stop. The black TopKick and purple and white Decepticon were locked in a fierce melee in which neither mech was really gaining the upper hand. The Decepticon threw Ironhide against one of the step-up transformers, the Autobot's armor sparking from the impact as he hit the metal surface.

Ratchet cursed, hastily opening up a comm link to his leader and also taking aim at the rogue Decepticon. "Optimus, I need you here now before Ironhide gets himself electrocuted!"

Ratchet was unable to get a clear shot, Ironhide and the Decepticon too close together and both mechs moving with dizzying speed as each fought ruthlessly to gain control over the other.

"Ratchet, I'm on my way," the Prime responded. "Try to maintain control over the situation until I get there."

"I'm trying," Ratchet huffed, more to himself than to Optimus. He made another attempt to reach out to Ironhide, but the black mech continued to ignore him. "Fraggin' slagger won't listen to me."

"I'll be there in two minutes."

"Make it one..." the medic intoned, his attention drawn back to the fight. Ironhide was behaving even more rashly now, striking blindly without making any obvious attempt to plan his attacks, and he was definitely not paying attention to his surroundings anymore.

Otherwise, he would have noticed that the Decepticon had unsubspaced some kind of staff.

Ratchet had seen that kind of weapon before, it was basically just a barbed rod, but before he could even warn the weapons specialist, the Decepticon drove it into Ironhide's side.

The cry of pain was unmistakable and Ironhide quickly collapsed onto his hands and knees. Ratchet was already running toward him, barking a sharp order of 'stay back' to any humans that might be foolish enough to consider following him, the medic throwing his own personal safety to the wind as he crossed the threshold of the broken fence and downed high-voltage sign that marked the beginning of the danger zone. Ratchet primed his weapon, aiming at the Decepticon.

But before he could even fire, the Decepticon staggered back from the hot plasma of another shot. Ratchet glanced quickly at Ironhide, realizing that the weapons specialist had managed to deploy one of his cannons and get a shot off.

Ratchet also fired at the Decepticon, who must have then realized that it was about time to make a hasty retreat. The mech transformed back into his purple and white vehicle mode and took off, soon disappearing behind one of the larger buildings. Ratchet did not bother tracking him, instead sprinting over to the panting and injured mech that seemed barely able to hold himself up off the ground.

Ratchet knelt down beside his fallen comrade, carefully moving Ironhide's hand out of the way so he could assess the wound.

It was deep, and the barbed spikes had clearly done a lot of damage to Ironhide's internals. Entire bundles of wiring were ripped and shredded, having been torn out of place and mangled. Ratchet could not even imagine how much pain Ironhide had to be in, and indeed he felt the black mech trembling under his touch.

"Easy, Ironhide," Ratchet tried to soothe him, discreetly preparing an anesthetic so the weapons specialist would tolerate a field patch. "Just relax..."

Hardly had Ratchet finished uttering those words that he heard a noise above him, the unmistakable sound of a jet engine. He glanced up to see another Decepticon open fire on the spider web of high-voltage transmission lines that crisscrossed above the medic and Ironhide.

"Ironhide, brace yourself!" Ratchet yelled, wrapping his arms around the larger mech and attempting to haul him to safety. Ironhide tried to help, hearing the explosions, but then he suddenly pushed Ratchet away.

Ratchet stumbled back, the weapons specialist having used more force than Ratchet would have thought he had in him. The medic regained his footing and looked at Ironhide in confusion.

The black mech was lying on the ground looking back at him but he did not respond verbally, instead transmitting a single glyph that was the digital equivalent of look above you.

Even though the glyph conveyed that meaning faster than words ever could have, it was still not fast enough. Ratchet looked up just in time to see a live transmission line falling toward them, about halfway between him and Ironhide. He scrambled back just as the weapons specialist did so, but it was still too close. The treacherous line struck the ground only about twenty feet from where he stood.

Ratchet was thrown back in a sudden burst of light, but he barely felt any pain as everything went black.