A/N: This will be a collection of nothing but fluff one-shots that generally will involve Annabelle-at various ages and at various times throughout the movie verse-as she interacts with the Autobots. Enjoy!

Please R&R!

~~~Epsilon Pax & Bumbee

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Ducking into the cool hanger, Epps bounced a beautiful blonde baby girl on his hip. It had taken more convincing than he had expected to get Lennox to allow him to watch little ten-month-old Annabelle. Normally Epps and little kids mingled as well as oil and water, but seeing as Lennox was in sore need of some rest and relaxation, not to mention alone time with his wife, watching Annabelle for a couple of hours seemed like the least Epps could do for his friend; that and the fact Epps was a sucker for a kid as cute as Annabelle. Bouncing her again, Epps grinned, maybe he was turning out to be a softie after all.

With a giggle, Annabelle clumsily grabbed at Epps's sunglasses. Removing them with the one hand that wasn't full of small child, Epps was quick to fold them up, since there was no sense in Annabelle inadvertently poking an eye out, either hers or his.

"I don't have any of your toys with me kiddo, but if you're careful you can play with these." Epps held out the sunglasses to Annabelle, who took them with both of her pudgy fists…and then promptly stuck one end of them in her mouth and looked innocently up at him with wide, round, blue eyes.

"Well, that works too."

Chuckling at her antics, Epps stepped further away from the bay doors, realizing as he did so which hanger he had stumbled into: the Autobot hanger. Lucky for him, the Autobot Twins were probably off capering around the atoll, since they weren't there. In fact, as he glanced around, Epps realized most of the hanger was devoid of the bots, except for Ratchet and Bumblebee. Judging the way that Ratchet was grumbling to himself as he poked and prodded at the smaller Autobot, Epps figured the medical officer was tinkering with Bumblebee's damaged vocal processor again.

Since neither Cybertronian had hailed Epps, the Sergeant deduced his entrance had escaped their notice. Epps studied Annabelle for a long moment; thus far she had remained calm and quiet in the proximity of the Autobots. Maybe it was time to try a formal introduction. Switching her to the other side of his hip, Epps was about to step over to Bumblebee and Ratchet when a side rollaway door clanged open and Ironhide stepped in. A knowing smirk crept across Epps's features as he changed directions and whistled at the weapons specialist to get his attention.

With a handful of his long, sweeping strides, Ironhide easily closed the gap between them, his optic lenses immediately noticing the awkward load Epps carried, "What—" he pointed at Annabelle, "—is that?"

"Ironhide, my man, I want you to meet Lennox's daughter, Annabelle." Taking one of her tiny hands in his, Epps made her wave a fist at Ironhide, "Say hi to Uncle Ironhide, Annabelle!"

Annabelle gurgled and looked in the opposite direction, clearly not interested in the least.

"Hmm, a female offspring…I would have expected Lennox to have chosen to construct a male."

Epps swallowed a laugh, "Naw man, that's not the way it works, you don't really get to choose…"

"That is not logical."

"Kids rarely are."

"How so?"

Wasn't this turning out to be a fun conversation? Epps glanced down at Annabelle again, and was surprised to see that for the most part she was content to ignore Ironhide, all of her attention still on the sunglasses. Not about to go into the specifics of child rearing, Epps flashed the Autobot a wide smile as an idea bloomed.

"You wanna hold her?"

"Do I want to what?"

"Ya know, hold her? That's what people like to do."

"What does holding offspring achieve?"

"Aw, c'mon, it'll make her happy! She likes being held!" Epps slowly disentangled himself from Annabelle and held her out to the Autobot. Ironhide looked as though Epps was offering to place a charged explosive in his hand, but nonetheless, knelt down and cautiously extended one hand, palm up.

Half expecting Annabelle to scream or cry at being held out to something that many other people would have regarded as a metal monster, Epps was stunned when she didn't make any sound of protest. Instead, at least for the moment, Annabelle didn't seem to mind in the least, and sat quietly in Ironhide's palm, sucking on Epps's sunglasses. He couldn't believe it; she was as cool as a cucumber! Oh this was just too easy.

"Now remember, you have to be really careful, she's only a baby, so she's very, um, breakable."

Ironhide looked down at him, nonplussed, " Why would Lennox desire offspring that isn't durable?"

"Hey, don't worry, she'll get stronger as she grows."

"How long until she is fully functional?" Ironhide returned his attention to Annabelle, who had begun to crawl across his palm, Epps's glasses, along with a good amount of drool, lay forgotten beside her, "Hmm…I think she may be defective, she is leaking lubricants."

Epps couldn't help but laugh at that, "Naw, that's normal, remember she's only a baby."

With a noncommittal grunt, Ironhide brought Annabelle closer to his face, as he proceeded to inspect her. How strange, the smaller creature was covered in pink, with the oddest-looking extension, whose purpose he could not fathom, stuck on the top of her head at a jaunty angle. Epps, who had the most peculiar expression on his face, told him it was called a 'bow' and that people 'decorated' their children with them sometimes.

Having yet to actually look at Ironhide thus far, the movement of being lifted so high in the air, finally seemed to bother Annabelle, and she solemnly grabbed at one of his metal digits, making worried cooing sounds. Not wanting to drop her, Ironhide carefully curled the top of his fingers inward. It was this action that startled Annabelle into the little moans that preceded crying bouts.

Realizing tears were imminent, Epps called up to Ironhide, "I think you might have scared her a little, try talking to her, so she can learn your voice. "

The Autobot's answering expression clearly told him that Ironhide would rather converse with a Decepticon. But willing to try, because it was Lennox's daughter, Ironhide put his face at eye level with Annabelle, who looked up at him with wide staring eyes…and then burst into tears. Ironhide jerked backward, utterly at a loss at this new development.

Knowing that Annabelle was in no danger, Epps couldn't resist, and he schooled his expression into one of mock horror, "You broke her!"

"I what?" Ironhide was simply stunned, he knew human offspring were fragile, but not this fragile, "I—I'm sorry, I did not mean to…would building another be a displeasing endeavor for Lennox?"

Epps decided not to answer that.

As the volume of Annabelle's wails increased, Ironhide's gaze cast about the hanger searching for a solution, and his call to Ratchet reached the Autobot medic at the same time Annabelle's cries did.

Ok, he had had his fun, now Epps was alert as Ratchet and Bumblebee joined them. He trusted the Autobots implicitly, but he just didn't think it was a particularly good idea if the three bots passed Annabelle around. He stretched out his arms toward her, "Lemmie take her…

"What sort of creature is this?" Ratchet couldn't resist peering closer at Annabelle who continued to wail, recognizing her as what humans referred to as a 'baby', he looked back at Ironhide, "Where did you find it?"

"C'mon Ironhide, let me take her…" Epps raised his voice to carry over Ratchet's. His would be stern look at the Autobot was almost undermined when Bumblebee leaned in and waggled his fingertips at Annabelle—who wailed all the louder in response. Clearly she didn't like that. Not. One. Bit.

Ratchet looked down at Epps, "Is this yours?" He sounded a little too excited at the prospect for Epps's comfort.

"No, she isn't mine! Annabelle is Lennox's daughter."

Bumblebee clapped his hands together and motioned to Ironhide in a clear, 'can I hold her' gesture. Seeing as he had already supposedly 'broke' her, Ironhide wasn't about to risk Bumblebee accidently 'damaging' the baby further. When Ironhide refused, Bumblebee stomped his foot and gestured again, this time more insistently. Ironhide responded by pulling Annabelle, whose cries were beginning to subside, closer to his chest. Bumblebee stomped his foot again, chattering at the larger Autobot angrily. It was like watching the three stooges.

"Stop!"

Three pairs of brilliant blue optics looked down at Epps.

Epps held out his arms again, "Look, you're scaring her. Let me take her and calm her down and then we'll see about you guys holding her again."

Keeping his movements slow, Ironhide lowered his hand, allowing Epps to scoop Annabelle out of the Autobot's palm and tuck her against his shoulder. Bouncing her and patting her back the way he had seen Lennox do, Epps eventually got Annabelle to stop crying, and only when her tears had subsided into feeble hiccups did he dare try to pull her away from his now sodden shoulder.

"See?" He told her, "All better!"

As Annabelle began to look blearily around her, Epps suddenly felt the weight of the Autobot's gazes as they studied him and the baby intently.

"You repaired her?" Ironhide asked.

Ratchet appeared doubtful, "It seems like too simple of a method…"

Epps kept half of his attention on the Autobots, and the other half on Annabelle, who had once again spotted the bots. Epps hesitated this time, wondering if she already had enough excitement for one day.

Still eager for a closer look, Bumblebee crept forward, making soft whistling sounds that Epps supposed were intended to soothe Annabelle. If anything, they certainly served to capture her attention. When she didn't burst into tears again, Bumblebee cautiously held out his hand.

"What do you think kiddo? You wanna let Uncle Bumblebee try holding you this time?" Epps studied Annabelle for any hint of tears to come, when he didn't find any, he gingerly placed her in the smaller Autobot's palm. Being careful not to place his face too close to Annabelle's, Bumblebee continued to make soothing chirps and whistles as he waggled his bright yellow fingertips at her again. This time Annabelle giggled.