Disclaimer; Transformers, and anything to do with the movie does not belong to me. I have 2 OC's in this story.

Chapter 3

The Call

There was a melancholic feel in the air as Optimus Prime looked out over the edge of the lookout. The golden sunset showed such promise but for Optimus Prime it was so empty. In the short time they'd been on earth they'd managed to destroy a town but saved many lives from the wretched malevolent plans of the Decepticons. But that was a bitter sweet victory for Optimus and the three remaining Autobots on earth. They'd gained friends and made enemies but that didn't bring Optimus Prime much comfort.

Grief swept through him in waves and his spark felt so empty. Jazz was dead. He died to save a planet of whom many would never know of his sacrifice. The Autobot leader couldn't help but think of the unjustness of it all. They now had to make sure his body was not taken from them to some secret installation which experimented on "Extra terrestrials," Ratchet made sure Jazz was placed somewhere secret with the help of Will Lennox; the least he could do was give the saboteur some dignity. Ratchet wanted to put his body together and hoped he'd be able to get the mech back online, Optimus Prime admired the medic's determination and didn't want to dampen his spirits but the fact was Jazz is dead!

He was also aware of the attack on the Ark. When they'd landed he tried to make contact with the ship but he got no signal, only the lonely crackle of static. He told Jazz and between them both they decided it was better to not tell Ironhide because Optimus needed him to focus on the task at hand. Ratchet questioned the decision but Prime firmly rebuked him saying,

"It's my choice and that is how it will be,"

The Autobots who'd made it off the ship regrouped on one of Saturn's moons, Titan. The Autobots who didn't get away in shuttles were picked up by those who did or others who could fly, Chromia was picked up by Springer and Arcee. The Autobots who'd already landed on Titan set up an emergency beacon which only Autobots could hear on their private frequency. It was actually Wheeljack's idea; one of the few good inventions the engineer had made. Springer set his coordinates to home in on the beacon and landed softly on Titan. All through the journey Arcee had been trying to comfort Chromia and reassure her that Livie was safe. Jolt immediately started working on those who were injured and had set up an area in a landed shuttle where they could rest. Arcee and Chromia exited Springer and moved out of his way so that he could transform, he looked around the environment,

"I hope we aren't planning on staying here," he said,

"It doesn't look very hospitable at all," Arcee replied,

"No, but it might keep us out of the Decepticon's way for a while," he replied.

Chromia looked around, she couldn't see or hear Livie and to make things worse she hadn't heard from Ironhide. She wasn't looking forward to seeing him again, she didn't know how to tell the mech about Livie but she promised herself to give him a piece of her mind about the lack of communication. Chromia sat away from the group and buried her face in her hands, she felt she'd let Ironhide down and he was going to be so disappointed. Jolt saw her sitting quietly looking tired and beaten. He frowned, this wasn't normal for the blue warrior and walked up to her,

"Hey, you okay there?" he asked as he scanned her for any injuries.

She looked at him and the next thing Jolt saw was Cromia's fist meeting his faceplate. He reeled back with shock,

"Why couldn't I get Livie, I heard her crying when you ejected me from the Ark but I couldn't reach her. What am I supposed to tell Ironhide?" she growled,

"That you're all fine," Jolt retorted angrily,

"He is going to be…what?" she was so busy ranting she wasn't sure if she'd heard right,

"Chromia," Jolt replied, relieved she'd stopped her rant, "You will tell him you're both fine," he repeated slowly as he felt the dent in his face,

"What?" Chromia asked again,

"Elita took her from you to protect her against the Decepticon who was about to kill the both of you. We thought you'd both been injured and I needed to get you off the ship before it blew up,"

He continued to check her over and gave her a sedative to help her calm down. Chromia could feel the sedative taking effect, she looked at him,

"What have you given me?" she asked,

"Nothing that will harm you," Jolt smirked,

"Well I see Ratchet's grumpy disposition has rubbed off on you," she snarled as she tried to fight off the sedative's effects,

"Yep," Jolt replied, "Now get some rest," he said as he picked her up moved her into the shuttle.

Elita's shuttle arrived and landed next to the shuttle that had become the make shift med bay. The femme commander got off once the last Autobot had left the shuttle with Livie in her arms. Springer and Mirage carried off Prowl and other injured Autobots,

"Lay him down there," Jolt ordered them both, "Elita let me check the sparkling and then I'll give her to Chromia,"

"Do you think they'll find us here?" Skids asked Mudflap,

"Eventually," the green mech replied as he looked around

"Anybody contacted Prime," Sunstreaker asked,

"No," Elita replied, "It's probably best we maintain radio silence for a bit, the Decepticons might still be in our vicinity,"

"I agree," Sideswipe replied,

Jolt tried to scan Livie, she sat quietly in his hand until she saw Chromia then she started clicking and fidgeting,

"Sit still," he chuckled

The femme sparkling carried on clicking and chirupping excitedly and would crawl out of Jolt's hand but he caught her again. Finally the junior medic cycled air through his vents and walked across to Chromia. The closer he got to her the more excited became. Chromia heard the familiar clicking and chirupping of her sparkling and looked in the direction she heard the noise coming from. She saw Jolt walking toward her with Livie in his hand,

"Mummy," she called, "Mummy, mummy,"

"Yes, there's your mummy," Jolt said in an exasperated tone, "Here you are Chromia, you hold onto her while I check her over,"

He handed her to Chromia who took her and snuggled her into her chest,"Mummy," Livie yawned,

"Here I am, sweetspark," Chromia assured the sparkling.

Chromia looked down, smiled tenderly and stroked her back while Jolt continued scanning her. She was beginning to find her movement slower than normal and this was frustrating her, but she was so relieved to have her baby back in her arms and safe, and settled down while Jolt completed his scan of the sparkling. Chromia looked through the door of the shuttle, the environment looked barren and inhospitable and the rings cast a strange glow over the Autobots and their surrounding environment . Eventually the tiny sparkling fell asleep in Chromia's hand snuggled against her chest, it was warm there and offered her some protection from the freezing cold temperatures,

"She'll probably sleep for a while, she had quite a scare," he said as he put his scanner away, "And you should get some rest too, you've also had a scare,"

Jolt watched the mother and baby worried about how she was going to feed her when she wakes up. One of the things Chromia had learnt as a soldier was to be prepared for anything. She had at least two containers of energon in her sub space.

Ironhide sat on the edge of the Lennox property, since he'd arrived on earth he hadn't had a chance to think about Chromia and Livie. He wondered what had happened to them both. He knew about the attack on the ship, Optimus Prime had told him. It was dawn and the early morning light was beginning to brighten the sky. The dawn chorus begun disturbing the weapons specialist from his recharge, he listened to them for a while amazed at the different noises these tiny feathered creatures could make. Occasionally one would settle on him and then flap its wings as it flew off. The sensation of the tiny claws on his body felt very strange. He chuckled to himself as he thought of how Sunstreaker would cope with that.

He heard a tiny cry from the house and Will's sleepy footsteps move through to Annabelle's room,

"Hello Annabelle," he cooed as he stooped down to pick her up.

Annabelle stopped crying and snuffled as Will placed her over his shoulder and gently sang to her. Oh how Ironhide missed his sparkling's cries, and her clicks and chirrups of contentment when he picked her up. He sat there for a while longing to have her in his arms, longing to hold his spark mate's slender waist. He opened his bond and tried to communicate with Chromia, but she didn't respond. He didn't know she was in recharge and the lack of response from her did nothing except aggravate his fears that she had been killed in the attack. Later that morning Ironhide was disturbed once more by the noises from the family as they moved about the house. The phone rang and the weapons specialist heard Sarah answer it. He had the pleasure of meeting Sarah last night when Will introduced her to him. Her eyes grew as round as saucers as she watched Ironhide unfold and turn from a pick up to a giant alien robot. She screamed,

"Sshh, shhh, you'll wake up Annabelle," Will tried to soothe her.

He'd decided it was best to introduce Sarah to Ironhide while Annabelle was asleep so she could see them both happy with Ironhide being around,

"What is it?" Sarah gasped,

"He Sarah, he is a mech from another planet,"

"Why is he here?"

"It's a long story," Will replied, "Another one is coming today to explain it you"

"You mean there's more?" she asked,

"Yes there are," Will replied

"Hello Mrs. Sarah Lennox,"

"Will…he spoke to me," she hissed, "What do I say?"

"Well…try hello," Will said.

He was brought out of his thoughts when his radio pinged and the sound of Optimus Prime's voice sounded through his comm link,

"Is everything alright Ironhide?" the weapons specialist switched on his scanners, it was all clear,

"Yes sir," he replied. The Autobot leader noted the sadness in Ironhide's voice,

"Have you made contact with Chromia yet?" he asked,

"….No sir, not yet…have you heard anything from your transmission?"

"Not yet, no," Optimus Prime replied, "But we will," he continued hopefully, "Stay vigilant Ironhide, your presence at Will and Sarah Lennox could draw in Decepticons,"

"I will Optimus," he replied before closing his radio link.

Ironhide transformed and looked up at the clear blue sky, "Where are you all?" he asked quietly.

Sarah was hanging out the washing when she noticed Ironhide sitting alone, leaning against the fence and looking up at the sky. She wondered what he was doing and once the washing was on the line Sarah made her way over to the fence where Ironhide was and leaned on it, looking into the field. A slight breeze blew and Sarah appreciated the relief from the stifling heat. She noticed some cumulonimbus clouds on the horizon building up, beckoning a storm,

"It's going to rain soon, you'll need shelter,"

"I'll be alright," Ironhide replied, "I can look after myself,"

"We get hail here, big hail stones. They could easily knock a few dents into you,"

Sarah didn't bother looking at him, she found the whole idea of him being there quite hard to deal with. He turned around a bit disgruntled that he'd been drawn out of his thoughts yet again,

"I'll deal with that when it happens," he replied curtly.

He stared at her, she was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a light cotton shirt. On her feet were a pair of sandals and her blond hair was hanging around her shoulders. She looked down at him and then turned around so she was facing the house, her hands still holding the wooden fence on the middle beams. Annabelle who was having her morning nap cried out before settling back down. Ironhide looked at her and raised an optic ridge,

"Do you want something?" he asked courteously,

"Mind if I?"

She gestured with her hand to the empty space next to Ironhide. He looked at the ground, was she asking to sit next to him? Why would she do that?

"If you so wish," he replied as he turned away,

He hoped she'd get the message and leave but she didn't, instead she sat next to him and looked in the same direction he was looking. There was a fence setting the boundary of the field, beyond the fence stretched grassy plains which were looking dry and yellow from lack of rain, they were dotted every now and then with trees. One had no branches or leaves, it was just a burnt out trunk stretching into the blue sky. Sarah remembered Will telling her about the bolt of lightning during a particularly nasty storm which hit it. Beyond that were the mountains which were hazy and shimmering in the midday heat,

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she said, there was silence.

Ironhide didn't really want to entertain this woman, he wanted to sit alone for a while and think about things. Things being Chromia and Livie, Jazz and the Autobots they'd left to fend for themselves to come and defend this planet and the battle of Mission City

"What was your planet like?" she asked,

He looked at her, "Beautiful in its own way," he replied, "It didn't have the vegetation and animals,"

"Do you have a wife and family?" she asked,

Ironhide looked at her again. She couldn't help but notice sadness in his optics and felt for him. She looked down, and pushed a stone around with her finger,

"I have a spark mate…I mean a wife and a daughter," he replied sadly, he looked up at the sky, "I just wish I knew where they were and if they were okay," he muttered quietly,

"What happened?" she asked,

Ironhide blew air out of his vents, "Does she ever stop asking questions?" he asked himself and moved away from the her. He didn't want to divulge that sort of information, not yet anyway. It was too hard for him to think about Chromia and Livie dying at the hands of the Decepticons, he hadn't felt anything in his spark suggesting she was dead but that wasn't much comfort for him. No, this was personal to him and he wanted it to stay that way for the time being. Sarah watched him move across the yard transform into his vehicle mode and turn around so his back was turned on her.

On Titan the surviving Autobots were settled into their temporary home, they sat in groups silently talking only when they had to. Sunstreaker turned around to say something to Sideswipe when a transmission came through,

"….I am Optimus Prime and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars, we are here, we are ready,"

"Anybody else hear that?" Sunstreaker asked,

"I did," bots started to say.

A ripple of hope stirred among the Autobots spreading like wildfire. One of them stood up,

"We should set our co ordinates in the direction of that speech and head for it,"

"Yeah, I agree," said another,

"Shouldn't we verify it,?" Skids asked,

"I can," Elita replied,

"That's good enough for me," Sunstreaker answered,

"What about the injured, will they survive the journey?" Springer asked,

"We take them with us," Jolt replied, "Nobody gets left behind,"

"Let's do it, before the Decepticons find out where we are," Arcee said.

Chromia was recharging peacefully in the shuttle with Livie laying next to her. She stirred to the sound of somebody shaking her gently and calling her,

"Hmm, what is it Ironhide?"

"I'm not Ironhide, I'm Jolt. We havd received a transmission from Optimus, we are going to earth," Chromia sat up, her optics brightened at the news,

"What about Ironhide?"

"Nothing else has been mentioned. We have to leave,"

Chromia sat up and woke up Livie, she heard other mechs helping Prowl prepare himself for the journey. Skids sent a transmission back to earth,

"This is Autobot Skids, we have heard your message and we are getting ready to come to earth. We are leaving in groups of four to five at 2 joor intervals. The first group will be Chromia, Livie, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Elita One. We will also be bringing in injured,"

His radio link crackled and he heard Prime's voice over his commlink,

"Nice to hear from you Skids. Here are the landing coordinates for your journey, I will patch you into Ratchet who will want a run down of the injured and he will instruct you on how to enter into the atmosphere,"

Chromia bent down in front of Livie who yawned sleepily.

"Are you ready darling? We're going to see Daddy,"

The femme sparkling clicked with excitement, "Daddy, daddy,"

Chromia picked her up and pressed the back of Livie's body into her own. She then gently folded herself around the femme sparkling, paying special attention to the areas of most importance which could be easily damaged at touch down. Livie was still chirupping and clicking excitedly, Chromia was beginning to wonder if she was wise telling Livie the were going to see Ironhide because she was too noisy. Jolt and the others on Titan wathced as the first group of Autobots prepared for their journey and folded into their pods. They lifted off the moon and hovered for a while so that they could adjust their navigations systems to the coordinates of the landing site Prime had given to Skids. The four pods powered up their engines and then flew off into the mass expanse of space at great speed. The rest who were due to go in the next two joors watched them go before transforming into their pods. Jolt stayed close to Prowl who was beginning to become weaker through his injuries, the junior medic was concerned about the tactician and hoped he'd make the journey. As Chromia flew through space she gently rocked the pod from side to side to soothe Livie. Finally they could see planet earth; it looked beautiful but Chromia wasn't taking much notice of it. She adjusted herself once more so that she would hit the atmosphere at the right trajectory and speed. She bumped around a bit as she hit the atmosphere which woke up Livie; as the femme made her way through the atmosphere she started to glow brightly and the heat was intense. Chromia could see the signatures of the others who had left with her and they too had entered the atmosphere. Livie started to whine,

"Mummy, I scared," she whined, "Mummy, make it stop, I too hot,"

"Sshhh," Chromia tried to soothe the sparkling, "We're nearly there," but the sparkling wouldn't be soothed.

Finally Chromia made it through the atmosphere, the noise stopped and she could feel cool air rushing past her pod, offering her and her sparkling relief but inside they were still hot and Livie was still moaning quietly to herself, her face wet with tears.

On earth Optimus Prime received the message that Chromia, Livie, Elita, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were the first ones in. They made their way to the landing spot and met up with Ironhide, Lennox and his team on the way. The area was barren and uninhabited so they wouldn't be spotted by curious onlookers. Sam and Mikaela wanted to come but the Autobots said "No," because they didn't know if they would be attacked by Decepticons. They transformed and sat on the desert sand, waiting for the first group to arrive. The soldiers set up a perimeter around the waiting Autobots and the landing site and Bumblebee scanned the area regularly for unwanted Decepticon attention.

Barricade hadn't been seen since the battle and he wasn't accounted for among the dead Decepticons. The hunter had heard about the incoming Autobots and stood nearby watching. This was his chance to make a move on his sparkling and rescue her from the hands of the Autobots. He looked up to see the first light moving rapidly throug the sky. He couldn't scan them yet but the difference in size suggested a femme and sparkling. Bumblebee looked around the site and caught sight of Barricade's signature coming from the west and opened his commlink,

"Barricade is here," he warned theAutobots,

"Thanks Bumblebee, alright Autobots, you heard Bumblebee. Barricade is here possibly to grab the sparkling. Be on your guard,"

Ironhide looked up into the sky, the lights were bigger and closer. He would have scanned each one to see if it was Chromia with Livie but that was considered bad mannered. An Autobot in his or her pod was a personal and private thing, especially if it was a mech looking at a femme. As the four Autobots approached a warm message of love crossed from Chromia's spark to Ironhide's; it was so strong and powerful the mech stumbled and almost fell backwards. He noticed how quickly she was flying and was worried she'd overshoot the landing site. The blue femme was now close enough to see the glyphs on her pod. Barricade revved his engine and headed toward the femme, he stopped when he saw the other new arrivals near the femme but started again when it became evident the extra weight Chromia was carrying was going to push her along further and she'd miss her landing site.

Whoosh!

Boom!

Barricade couldn't believe it when he saw the pod land just metres from him. Ironhide saw the Decepticon charge toward her but he was to far away to reach them in time,

"Chromia, DO NOT TRANSFORM!" he yelled at her through his commlink as he ran toward her,

"Prime!" Bumblebee yelled as he took off toward Barricade. Optimus Prime followed Bumblebee toward the femme and her sparkling who was waiting patiently to transform. The others landed transformed and formed a circle around the pod, armed in case Barricade should try anything. Bumblebee transformed, flew through the air and kicked Barricade as he landed forcing the Decepticon to transform. He landed on Barricade and pushed him to the ground, the scout then kneeled on Barricade and pinned his claws into the sand. Barricade tried to get up but a shadow covered him and a cannon was shoved against his face,

"She's my sparkling," Barricade snarled,

"No she isn't," Bee snarled back,

"And you'll stay away," Optmus interjected.

Barricade could do nothing, he was now heavily outnumbered and reluctantly watched helplessly as Chromia transformed revealing Livie. Ironhide stared at her in wonder, the femme sparkling was now standing up and toddling around. The crest that was just a bump when he left had now become a small sharp rise on her forehead and her body was now completely crystal blue. Her bright red optics sparkled happily when she looked at Ironhide and lifted her arms to be picked up,

"Daddy, daddy," she happily clicked as she wrapped her tiny arms around his neck.

Ironhide walked up to Chromia who was standing just a way back to give Ironhide an opportunity to hold his daughter. Ironhide walked toward his spark mate and wrapped his arm around her waist. She allowed herself to be pulled into his side and the small family relished a moment they hadn't had for a long time. Will looked on and smiled at the happy reunited family, this was a side of Ironhide he hadn't seen and he felt privileged to be able to watch the reunion. Behind him were sparks from the others landing and figures transforming behind him.

If Barricade had of been with another mech, they may have put an arm around him, led him away and said, "Leave them be," but he wasn't. He had no choice except to watch as Ironhide hugged the femme sparkling…his sparkling and Chromia.

While Livie was hugging Ironhide Ratchet checked her over, giving her a light scan, she wriggled and giggled,

"It tickles,"

"She's fine," Ratchet smiled as he put his scanners away, "She's a little bit dehydrated from the heat during your entry into the atmosphere," he pulled out a cannister of energon for the youngster, "Give her some of this," Livie took the cannister from the medic and wasted no time in drinking it,

"What do you say?" Chromia said,

"Thank you," Livie clicked,

The next group which had arrived on earth had the injured Prowl with them. Jolt immediately transformed and raced over to Prowl to see how he fared during the entrance into the earth's atmosphere. Slowly and with many grunts and groans Prowl transformed. Jolt walked up to him and scanned his body,

"Hmmm," he grunted with satisfaction, "You seem to have taken no further damage from the entry into the atmosphere. Can you stand up?"

The tactican slowly got up with Jolt's help and leaned on the blue medic. Jolt called for Mirage to help, the spy made his way over to the medic and supported Prowl on the other side. Ratchet turned around to check the others when he saw Prowl. He walked toward the tactician,

"What happened?" he asked,

"He was injured during the attack on the ship," Jolt replied,

"Okay," he checked his wounds, "How long has he been like this,"

"A while, I did all I could do. We didn't have much in the way of supplies except what I had in my sub space,"

"How do you feel? We have a short journey back to the base," Ratchet asked Prowl,

"I think I can make it," the tactician replied,

Ratchet smiled, "You did well," he congratulated the junior medic. He saw the dent on Jolt's face, "What happened to you?" he asked,

Jolt looked at him slightly embarrassed, "A femme's fist," Ratchet smirked, "Prime, we're ready to head back to the base,"

"Okay Ratchet," Prime replied, "Bumblebee you go while I keep an eye on Barricade,"

Bumblebee quicky transformed and drove off toward the rest of the group. He spun his wheels as he left covering the Decepticon in sand. Mirage, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe looked at all the mechs but they couldn't see Jazz anwhere,

"Where's Jazz?" Sideswipe asked his brother,

"I don't know," Sunstreaker replied, "Ironhide, Ratchet and Optimus Prime are here but Jazz isn't. It's a bit strange, he wouldn't miss meeting us,"

"Yeah, I hope he's alright," Sideswipe said.

Opimus Prime looked at Barricade with narrowed optics, "Stay away from Chromia, Ironhide and their sparkling," he growled before leaving Barricade lying in the sand

Ironhide is now reunited with his family, at last but is this the end of Barricade's attempts to get his sparkling back?