there's a million&one ways


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A/N: omg, thanks for the reviews, alerts, and favs! 8D never thought i would do that well! i really appreciate all the feed back; it's really encouraging. so special shout outs to all of you!

replies:

dixiegurl13,, xD && i'm glad i got the twins down. :] they're so much fun to write.

elita one,, oh yes he is! -covers mouth- dun wanna spoil it.

autobot alythia,, i do too! the two make such a classic pairing. 3

tlcoopi7,, i hope to continue since it's so much fun to write! it's just finding time to right it is the hard part, lol. i am hoping to get the next chapter out next week sometime, but only if my teacher's decided to go easy on the HW.


pairings: starscreamxannabelle vs. ironhidexannabelle; what a twisted little triangle of love.

disclaimer: i do not own transformers or any of them; they are rightfully copy-writed to their respectful owners.

"this is com-link, or whatever the heck it is called these days."


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"What the freak guys?!" screamed Annabelle.

"Where are you, Annabelle?" asked Ironhide.

"I'm in here!" she called back. The human slowly popped out of the cockpit, waving her right slowly. Her blue eyes were wide open from the shock blast. Pieces of the wall were resting on her shoulders.

"What the hell are you doing up there?!" asked Ironhide, furious that his Annabelle was so close to a Deception -- and a cowardly, backstabbing one with a lot of fire power to spare.

"Well the cockpit was open so I got in. Then you came rudely blasting your way in," she explained. Annabelle glared over at the twins as she put her hands on her hips. "And that goes for you two as well."

'God, she looks so much like Sarah when she does that,' was Ironhide's initial thought before the displeased and snappy edge of her voice set in. "Stop throwing a temper tantrum, and get down from that cockpit," demanded Ironhide. "Right now."

"No," she retorted, staying in place. "And what the hell is going on guys?"

"You're on top of - " answered Sideswipe.

"Starscream!" finished Sunstreaker.

"Who?" she asked, looking at them as if they were two nut cases.

"Starscream!" bellowed out Ironhide. Without a care, other than Annabelle's safety, the Autobot open fire on the airplane.

"What in Primus's name are you doing?" yelled Annabelle. She ducked inside the cockpit, and placed her hands on top of her head to protect herself. Not even spending sixteen years of her life growing up with Ironhide made her feel secure he began to become a little too trigger happy.

"I think he's dead, 'Hide," said a depressed Sideswipe, lowering his paintball gun.

Ironhide glared at them. The weapon specialist backed a few steps back as Sideswipe began to walk towards the other end of the plane, but he refused to lower his canons. The old 'bot knew just how deceptive Starscream was through Jetfire's (and others') stories.

Sunstreaker fired a paintball, hitting the F-22 on the tail fin. "Yup, dead," he agreed in an annoyed tone. "But just to make sure. . ." He confidently walked up to the airplane, and popped his knuckles. The Autobot rubbed his hands together before placing them on the left wing. "Ready?" he asked, looking over at his brother; whom was now at the right wing of the plane.

"I was born ready," Sideswipe sneered.

The red twin suddenly pressed down on the wing. At the same time, Sunstreaker jumped

up. As soon as Sideswipe came down, his brother jumped into the air. The ladder that Annabelle had climbed up on fell to the ground loudly. Using the plane as a teeter tooter, the twins began to build up momentum with each jump. Smug smiles spread from audio sensor to audio sensor as they laughed.

"Stop!" screamed Annabelle. She clutched onto the seat with for dear life with such a force, that her knuckles were beginning to turn white.

"No way!" the twins retorted.

"Do you even know - " said Sunstreaker.

"How long we've - " added Sideswipe.

"Wanted to do this?" his brother finished. "And to that bastard Starscream of all Decepticons!"

Ironhide, placed both his hands on the rear of the plane as he used his massive weight to balance out their weight. "Annabelle said to stop," he snarled. His blue optics looked both of them in the eye. Beneath the metal and circuits, his temper was beginning to boil. The twins from the beginning had rubbed the old soldier the wrong way, and having to spend time with them did not help to ease the tension among them. "And you've both have proven your point," he stated.

"You're more of a prick than Prowl," replied Sideswipe.

Annabelle slowly let go of the seat as she sat up. "You guys couldn't have waited five seconds for me to get off before you started using it as a teeter tooter?" she asked, sounding extremely aggitated. Her deep blue eyes glared the twins, but at the same time, she couldn't convince herself to be mad at them. The twins, they were just themselves.

"Don't get pissed at us," Sunstreaker said.

"We're only doing what we're programmed to do," the red mech added.

"That's no excuse for acting immature," gruffed Ironhide.

"And you have no excuse for being such an asshole" retorted Sunstreaker.

"Nice one!" commented Sideswipe.

"I thought so too," he replied smugly.

"Since I'm such an asshole," said Ironhide. "You two can take Annabelle home."

"What?!" complained the trio.

"That's unfair!" snapped Anna. "I did nothing wrong!"

"I didn't ask for your input, Annabelle," stated Ironhide firmly. "I gave you three an order, and you will comply."

"But - "

"No buts, Anna," he snapped. "Unless you would like to be banned from the base for the next two weekends!"

Annabelle narrowed her gaze on him as she folded her arms across her chest. She turned her lips into a vicious frown. The teenager bit on her tongue, trying to keep herself from back talking.

Sunstreaker gave Ironhide a dirty look as he walked over to the human. "C'mon, Anna," he said. The autobot offered his hand to the girl. "We don't need to be hanging around this old junk place anyway." He watched as she reluctantly stepped onto his hand. The yellow turned his head away from Ironhide, and walked out of the compound with Anna.

"What about you?" asked Ironhide irritatingly.

Sideswipe looked back at his superior. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms like some tough, cool guy. "You can't handle Starscream on your own," he replied.

"I can too han-"

"No you can't," the red bot answered. "Last time you tried to take on Screamer, Beeman lost his legs, and you and Rach were shot down."

"He got a lucky shot," justified the old bot.

"Whatever," Sideswipe said sarcastically.

"Why don't you get lost," suggested Ironhide.

"Suit yourself, 'Hide," answered the Autobot with a sly smirk. Sideswipe walked towards the new opening in the compound, but stopped short. He turned around, looking at Ironhide with a devilish face. "What do you want me to tell Annabelle when we find your dead body?" he asked. "Want me to tell her how good ol' Hide once again took on more than he could handle? Or perhaps you would like me to tell her how you -"

The old bot's hands folded into two fists as his temper rose. "Shut up, kid," retorted Ironhide.

"You'll thank me later," Sideswipe said smugly.

"Why don't you go make yourself useful for once, and go scout the area," commanded the weapon specialist.

"Yes, Sir!" stated Sideswipe. He mocked a salute towards his superior. "Permission to be trigger happy?"

"Yes," he replied, sounding exhausted. His blue eyes watched as the red bot strutted off happily. He pressed his hand to his temples, tired of the twin's hyperactive, jerky behavior. 'How do you stand it, Anna?' he thought. Ironhide walked around Starscream, surprised that the Seeker was out of bombs; while he wasn't a doctor, he could tell that many of these old wounds came from hand-to-hand combat. "This Ironhide," he called over the Autobot frequency. "And someone better freakin' pick up."

"What is it?" asked Jetfire.

"Is Optimus there?" he replied, sounding annoyed that Jetfire had answered.

"He's busy," answered the scientist. "He's talking with Prowl about the current situation on Cybertron."

"Of course," Ironhide said.

He ignored the pissed tone of Ironhide's voice. "What do you need?" asked Jetfire.

"Just get me Ratchet," he commanded.

"What did Annabelle break this time?" Jetfire asked, slightly chuckling.

"She didn't break anything, Egghead," replied Ironhide.

"Then what do -"

"We found Starscream," he stated bluntly. There was a long, awkward pause. "Jetfire?"

"That's impossible," murmured Jetfire. The scientist paused again before speaking. "Where are you?"

"An old military base, about hundred miles south from our base," Ironhide said.

"I'll be there soon with Ratchet," he replied.

The line went silent as Jetfire hung up. "Impossible?" he asked himself. "Why the hell would it be impossible?" His optics looked over at Starscream again. "Nothing is impossible with you."


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The yellow Ferrari sped down the dirt road. Rocks and dust were spit into the air, leaving behind a trail. "Are you gonna talk to me?" asked Sunstreaker. His hologram looked over at the pissed-off Annabelle. The bright blue eyes watched as she turned farther away from him. "Baby, c'mon." He outstretched his head towards her.

"Get you're holograph off of me," she said angrily. "And don't you ever call me your baby again." She crossed her arms across her chest, and pulled her legs towards her torso.

His put both of his hands back on the steering wheel. "No need to be all pissed at me. It isn't my fault."

"Oh yeah, then who's is it?" snapped Anna.

"I can't believe you're being this ungrateful," Sunstreaker remarked. "We just saved your ass from that bastard, and here you are treating us like shit."

"Save me!?" she shouted. Annabelle turned towards the hologram with a shocked face. "You didn't save me! You and your stupid, slag of a twin just got me at least two weeks of being grounded. And - and now my mom is going to bring up going to that freakin' boarding school again!" Her grey-blue eyes glowered at the hologram. Small tears formed on the rims of her eyes. "She'll tell dad, and then dad will be all pissed. Then they'll start yelling at each other over what's best for me." Anna turned her head away, and placed it on her right arm. The wind helped to dry the tears that threatened to fall.

Sunstreaker remained quiet, unsure of what to say. He couldn't joke his way out of this situation like usual, but he didn't know if doing nothing would help. "They won't get a divorce," he reassured, trying to sound strong. "You're parents love each other."

"But you've never heard them yell at each other," stated Anna. "You've never seen how close my dad has come to leaving the house and just driving off the map. And you've never felt was it's like to be caught in the middle of the argument. You don't know what it feels like to feel so helpless and shameful."

"Anna -"

"Don't Anna me!" she yelled. "I don't need to be lectured . . . especially by some immature sociopath, homophobe who thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread."

"Well I am the best thing since -" he responded.

"No you aren't," Annabelle interrupted. "You are the farthest from it. You think you're all great and perfect, but you're really just a lowlife who thinks life's just a big party." She huffed. "You're so far from perfect that you wouldn't know what it would look like."

Sunstreaker paused, unsure of what to say next. The autobot felt weak and wounded for once, and it felt plain weird to not feel cocky -- or not to have some witty comback. "Do you want to go to the base or go home?" he inquired.

"The base," Annabelle said weakly. "I wanna enjoy my last few hours of freedom before I have to go home and get yelled at."

He sighed, and concentrated on driving. The autobot turned up the retro-pop music to fill the silence.


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Ironhide watched as the obnoxiously colored yellow hummer drove towards the compound. "'Bout time," grumbled the old bot to himself. He walked towards his old friend, but not before giving a quick glare at the 'sleeping' Screamer. "Where's Jetfire?" he asked, sounding annoyed that the scientist didn't show.

"He's coming," replied the medic. "Optimus and Prowl wanted his opinion about starting the process of building a space bridge that could link Earth to Cybertron." The hummer came to a stop not far from his old friend. Ratchet quickly transformed, eager to see Anna's find up close. "You weren't kidding when you said it was Starscream," he stated. "Surprised you haven't blown him into a million pieces."

"No, I was thinking of letting the twins do that," he answered friendly. "That way I can get them out of my circuits for a bit."

"Smart thinking," Ratchet said with a grin. He let out a deep breath before walking over to the decepticon. "Let's see what we've got here."

"He's got some lacerations on the underside of his wings, probably caused by a sword of some sort. Then there are some dents that have been caused from some hand-to-hand combat," informed Ironhide.

The medic looked over at the weapon specialist, surprised by Ironhide's report. "I didn't know you wanted to become a medic," he said jokingly. Ratchet looked at the underside of the plane. He slowly made his way to the front of the decepticon. The medic began to make a list of the injuries and their severity.

"I think I've experienced enough of them first hand that I should know by now," the black autobot said.

"I won't disagree with you there, 'Hide," Ratchet said. He placed a hand on the nose of the plane. The air became still as Ratchet's gaze seem to drift away -- a typical trademark that meant he was concentrating hard. Ironhide knew this first hand from the many times Ratchet had put him back together. "Well," he stated. "He's not dead."

"How's he's not dead?" asked Ironhide in a demanding voice.

The medic turned towards the weapon specialist. "He's got a faint spark signature," informed Ratchet. "Very faint. I can barely pick it up."

"So he's asleep?" asked Ironhide.

He shook his head. "Yes and no," Ratchet said. "I think our old friend here is merely in an emergency system shutdown."

Ironhide sighed. "In regular terms please," he pleaded.

"He's in the same state I was when Starscream found me," answered Jetfire formally. The SR-71 transformed into a robot as he landed. "It's a coma-like state where all systems shut down; except the ones needed to keep the spark alive." The scientist moved towards the old duo. "It's kind of like when Ana lets her laptop run out of juice, and it shuts down automatically to preserve its memory."

Ironhide turned to see the scientist finally arrive. "Nice of you to show up," he commented.

"Glad you were finally able to come," welcomed Ratchet. "What is the verdict on the space bridge?"

"It's a go ahead; so long as the US government approves of it," Jetfire said happily. His light blue optics landed on the F-22. He sighed as he shook his head slowly in disbelief. "Can't believe it's actually him."

"I'm surprised you aren't all over him," said Ironhide sourly.

Ratchet glared at Ironhide before walking towards Jetfire. "Ignore 'Hide, he's just being grumpy because he's had to put up with the twins," explained the medic.

"How bad of a shape is he in?" asked Jetfire, almost sounding concerned.

The yellow hummer shrugged. "It's hard to tell with him in this state," he said frankly. "I would need him to be in his other form to be able to get a better idea, but so far it's not looking good." Ratchet looked back at the decepticon. "He's severed a main circuit to his left wing. I suspect that most of his injuries are internal. Those I can only inspect when he is in his other form."

Jetfire nodded solemnly. He walked towards the left wing, and placed a hand on it. "Never thought I would see him in this condition," he said. "It's ironic actually." He chuckled lightly before his face returned to the typical solemn expression.

A red paintball splattered on the airplane. "It's not ironic, but good fate that Primus has given us," corrected Sideswipe. The red autobot moved forward towards the growing group. "And I say we use it to destroy the little son of a bitch."

"Agreed," commented Ironhide.

"It's not our job to decide if he should live or die," stated Jetfire. "Only Optimus has that authority."

"Wha?!" blurted out Sideswipe. "You're a freakin' decepticon sympathizer!"

"No, I'm just following the code," he corrected. Jetfire looked towards the medic with a confused, sad look about him. "Right?"

"Ratchet, you can't actually agree with him?" asked an angry Ironhide.

"He's a freakin' traitor after all!" added Sideswipe.

The medic looked towards Ironhide. "You already know where I stand in this argument," he answered sternly.

"So what, you're gonna take him back to the base?" the weapon specialist said annoyingly.

"If that's what it takes, then yes," the medic said firmly. "The only way this war will end is through peace and kindness -- not bloodshed."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this from you!" exclaimed the red twin.

"I can," muttered Ironhide irritatingly.

"Besides, he hasn't hurt anyone yet," justified Ratchet. "So we have no reason to fire at him."

"He could've hurt Annabelle," Ironhide said strongly.

Jetfire turned towards Ironhide. He looked eerily calm. "Starscream is helpless right now. He couldn't defend himself if he tried."

"Which is why we should kill him right now," Sideswipe suggested.

"If we kill him now, then we are no better than the decepticons," reminded Jetfire.

"Oh who gives a shit what you think," the jock snapped. "You'd let your old feelings for him for him blind you."

"That's enough," Ratchet stated firmly. "You two will go back to the base, and tell Optimus that Jetfire and I will be arriving with Starscream." The medic stared at both of them with a glare that would make most cower.

"C'mon, junior," huffed Ironhide sarcastically. "Let's go tell Optimus the happy news." He turned around and transformed into his truck. "Duke!" he yelled. The dog came trotting on command. His tail happily wagged from side to side. He held his head high as he carried a metal stick in his mouth. The eager dog jumped into the bed of the truck.

"Seniors first," said a cocky Sideswipe.

"How thoughtful of you," he grumbled. The black Autobot spun out of the compound. A fully transformed red ferrari followed behind the GMC truck.

Jetfire watched as the pair drove off. He turned slowly back to Ratchet. "You don't think I'm a decepticon sympathizer, do you?" he asked.

"No," Ratchet said truthfully. "I think you're caught in between a rock and a hard place." The medic looked at the F-22, and cracked a smile. "Only Anna would be able to find something like this, eh?"

Jetfire shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," he said unenthusiastically.

"I'm surprised you aren't glad to see your friend," the medic stated. "You two used to have such a strong relationsip." His cheerful voice took a more serious tone. "Especially since you're sympathetic towards him."

"He's not my friend," Jetfire assured solemnly. His eyes rested on the F-22. "And I'm not sympathetic towards him either. I merely pity him for what he's become." The Autobot shifted towards Ratchet. "Can we just get him back to the base, please?"

Ratchet nodded. He took out a long, but thick coil of tightly knitted wires. "Here," he explained. The medic handed Jetfire the coil. "Take this, and see if there's still a working power line near here. With any luck, we can hook him up to it -"

"And power up his systems manually," finished Jetfire.

"Precisely," he said. "With enough power, I should be able to forcibly trigger the transformation into his robotic form without reawakening him. That way you can transport him back to the base."

The scientist took the coil and headed outside without saying a word.


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Annabelle sat on her cot in the darkness of the Ratchet's medical bay. It was one of the few places where the twins did not dare to enter. She flipped over onto her stomach, and closed her eyes. Sometimes the silence felt just as painful as the arguments at home. The teenager sighed heavily. She was tired of the morbid thoughts of what would happen when she would go home. Annabelle turned up the music to the point where she could not hear her own thoughts. "Sometimes, I want to disappear some place," she sang softly. "Sometimes, I'm feeling so alone." There was a brief pause between songs, and Anna looked down at the floor. She pressed her left hand down on the ground. A soft smile spread across her face as she remembered how Jetfire would use his hologram to turn the floor into a virtual map of all the known galaxies. The stories of all the worlds he had visited filled Anna with envy, 'At least you could runaway and never be found, and no one would care,' she thought to herself. 'Unlike me, who can't even go the bathroom without someone wondering where I've gone off too.' Her thoughts were cut short as the next song began to play.


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A/N: sorry for the boring, non-actiony chapter. Dx i didn't want to overload you guys. plus i didn't want to rush the story. any critiques are welcomed since i know i've prolly made a billion mistakes with grammar and spelling.

oh, lyrics by the veronicas -- hook me up.