Title: Patronus 6 – Glasnost
Fandom: Bayverse, DotM
Authors: femme4jack & Merfilly
Characters: Ironhide (Patronus), Optimus Prime, Bobby Epps, Mikaela Banes, Will Lennox
Chapter Rating: PG-13
WARNINGS: DotM Spoilers
Summary: Patronus gets some of his questions answered, but Mikaela Banes arrives on scene, leading to other mysteries.

Notes: For those of you younglings who weren't around in the Gorbachev era, Glasnost is Russian for "openness".

Skyhammer, who is mentioned in passing in this chapter, is a character who can be found on font of all knowledge, the tf wiki (tfwiki . net / wiki / Skyhammer_(DOTM)

Merfilly has written a one-shot related to Patronus about Bobby Epps, A Needed Conversation (archiveofourown . org / works / 238102)

If you want to pretend Mikaela from Patronus is the same one that appears in Merfilly's series, Walk a Different Road (archiveofourown . org / series / 8602) or from Femme's story Ozone, we will not discourage you. For ourselves, we enjoy pretending that she is the Mikeala from Zuzeca's brilliant story A Place Without Expectation (zuzeca . livejournal . com / 17936 . html) and that Mikki now has her own sweet ride in the form of a kick ass Scorponok who transforms into a motorcycle (though Scorponok, sadly, is likely beyond the scope of this tale). Of course, you are also free to imagine none of the above. Whoever Mikki is in this chapter, she is AU from any of the other stories mentioned above, and this story will remain platonic in terms of interspecies relations. Can't promise the same about authorial imaginations, but anything we write that is not gen will be posted separately as an AU.

Glasnost

Optimus Prime was not foolish enough to believe all of humankind had embraced the presence of the Autobots on Earth, but as ever more evidence made it clear that the IED, and another like it found in a separate debris site, had been the work of humans, he grew quite concerned.

"Lennox," he began. "They took the risk of killing other humans, just to injure one of my mechs," he said. "Collateral damage is something I have come to expect from Decepticons, having watched them tear through their own to reach an Autobot. I know that some human groups practice methods of destruction that inflict loss on innocents to get to those they truly wish to hurt. But I had not expected it in order to strike my kind."

Bobby spoke up from where he was cleaning the high-powered pulse pistols he had been given by the tech team. "Prime, it don't matter. If they even thought about any of us being in the way, they wrote us off as 'Bot Lovers."

"Too true," Will said. "We're traitors to humanity, in their eyes. There were even whispers of that after Egypt, and not all of it from fringe groups. There are politicians who use this kind of rage, deliberately get people riled up and then feign innocence."

Optimus Prime did not like those answers. "I admit that while I have noted many similarities in our species, I am saddened to know how deeply we share the more vile traits."

"Can't be helped, free will, conscience or no conscience, and different ways of looking at what's right or wrong," Bobby said, not even looking away from his weapon. "Not even having a single big bad enemy will ever be enough to make us get along."

"Your species if far too young for you to be this cynical about its fate, Robert," Optimus said in a gentle rebuke, glancing at Patronus, who was doing maintenance on his own latest weapons upgrade across the hanger that had been secured as their command center. The mechling, who had performed so admirably in the aftermath of the attack, was unobtrusively monitoring the conversation. "What we must do now is secure proper intelligence about the threat and then decide, along with Earth's leaders, how to respond. While I am certain Mearing is putting full effort into the investigation, I believe we will do a little investigating on our own."

"What we really need, right now, is someone to get into the local population, someone to mingle, blend in, and get us a pulse of the civilian side of things," Will said out loud, thinking along the same lines as Optimus. "They'll spot any of my soldiers, no matter what."

"Don't look at me; I'm the one who retired and still somehow wound up saving the damn day," Bobby told his former superior officer and best friend, voice sliding and teasing around the old joke of who actually did the most work in their unit.

Optimus started to speak, but his sensors were alerted to another presence entering the bay.

"I think, what you mean, is you need me."

Mikaela Banes looked even more tan than ever, her dark hair setting it off crisply. She was in a pair of raggedly distressed jeans and a shirt that tied off just under her ribs.

"Mikaela," Optimus said in a tone that was instantly warmer and conveyed his relief, "I am pleased you are back."

Optimus would debrief the youngest and smallest member of the SpecOps cadre later regarding her extended special mission. Thanks in part to Mearing's dictatorial handling of who could and could not work with the Autobots, she had been working for them overseas at the time of the Chicago attack, and at Prime's request, had remained where she was in order to keep her finger on the pulse of human opinions in an area far removed from the destruction. It also served to continue to keep her off Mearing's radar until Optimus could leverage a more adequate arrangement. Thanks to the technology they were sharing to rebuild Chicago, he now had that leverage, and had recalled her.

Unlike Sam, whose involvement had been impossible to cover up, Mikaela's involvement with them had been removed from, or never made it into any of the reports. This had allowed her to disappear into obscurity, as an Autobot operative, while the official attention remained on Sam. It had been hard on Sam when the Autobots had seemed to withdrawn from him midway through his university education, but unavoidable considering how closely he was watched. Sam had repeatedly expressed his desire for a normal life, but Optimus knew with grim certainty that when the young human had finally received his desire, it had been an emotional blow.

"Hey Mikaela. Have fun?" Will greeted her.

"Long time no see, sister! Look at you! You been working out?" Bobby teased her, noting those curves were definitely packed with muscle too.

"I missed everyone too," Mikaela said, favoring Optimus with a rueful smile over her 'back-to-work' entrance. "And yeah, Bobby. Been busy." She turned to look at Will. "You just remember that every one of these fun side trips you find for me is one more make-up tip I'm teaching Annabelle in a few years."

"I believe that is a serious threat, Will," Optimus said with mock gravity, noting that Patronus had taken an even keener interest at the mention of his youngest charge. "Patronus," he called the mechling over, who looked as though he were trying to determine the human female's threat capabilities. "I would like to introduce you to Mikaela Banes, civilian NEST consultant and Autobot Special Operative."

Mikaela took in the frame that looked too small to her. Skyhammer had given her holos on the new frames, and kept her as up to date as he could when she checked in, but it was still going to be a learning process. "Hi." She walked over to him and looked up his frame to his optics. "It's really nice to meet you."

She had been briefed by Skyhammer that, until otherwise indicated, treating him like a brand new arrival would be better for her own mental health than thinking of him as the great big metal teddy bear that had offered to hold Sam by the back of the neck and shake some sense into him. For her, the jury was still out on that approach.

Patronus cycled his optics in surprise as he regarded the new human ally, who was classified as an Autobot rather than strictly NEST. Even more surprising was how his spark reacted to the human. While she had been on assignment, his spark had never sensed the vague cohort bond with her, not like he had been able to sense with Bumblebee while the scout had been with Sam and Carly in Washington DC. But now that she was present, his spark made it very clear that this particular human was part of Prime's cohort. He could not sense her in the manner he could his Cybertronian cohort-mates, but he was certain that the protectiveness and loyalty he held for them also applied to her. He gave Optimus a surprised look before kneeling down, aware that he had been silent for longer than was socially appropriate to their allied species.

"It is an honor to meet you, Mikaela Banes," he said politely, extending his hand in a human gesture to gently grasp her far smaller one between his thumb and forefinger.

"I bet you say that to all the pretty ones," she said without even batting an eye, just to see how well he handled human interaction and idiom. She gave his finger a pat after he so carefully shook hers. She could feel the other three in the room watching, seeing how this meeting went. Between her break-up with Sam over his need to find a normal life, and her being pulled harder into Autobot society, she had made this her family, and Patronus was the first solid test of her commitment to them. The sheer alien idea of resurrection as a new body with the same soul, and potential for the same memories, had caused her to feel the heartbreak of the human side, for all those lives lost that would get no second chance. But, the Cybertronians were also far fewer in number, slower to reproduce, and the logical side of things said this was a miracle they needed. If she were honest, it was a miracle she needed as well.

Patronus shot another quick glance at Optimus, as though looking for some clue as to why this particular human teeked so differently both from his charges or the other human allies. He clearly was not her specific Guardian, though all of his general and cohort guardian protocols applied to her. His sense of kinship with her was as strong as it was with Bumblebee. He had to use his knowledge of her, limited to a tactical report of her efforts on behalf of the Autobots which was mostly classified from him, and his instincts to judge how to reply to her.

"I believe, outside of Sarah and Annabelle, you are the first woman to truly interact with me in a social manner, as Mearing ignores my presence," Patronus said mildly. "However, as you did not make a gender nuance on your query, I believe I still have to answer negatively, because I do not greet Bumblebee that way."

"He just call Bee 'pretty'?" Bobby asked Will.

"Yup." Will was grinning like a fiend, ducking his head to keep Mikaela from seeing it.

Mikaela tried to keep a straight face, then began to snicker, getting on her tiptoes to reach up and pat the kneeling mech's chest affectionately. "You and me are gonna get along just fine, Patronus. I've been calling him pretty since the first day we met, at least once he upgraded that piece-of-shit alt."

She stepped away from Patronus, who gave an amused grunt to her comment, and turned her attention back to the three who were watching. Confident that the command hanger was more than secure, she asked, "What do we know about the group responsible? Anything yet?"

"We are investigating several groups that have expressed their opposition to our presence in more violent terms, but, as yet, none seem organized or funded enough to have produced a weapon capable of doing the damage it did to Jolt," Optimus stated.

"An unknown sponsoring group or government, then," Mikaela said thoughtfully. "Seems like a good chance that whoever placed the devices is someone already working on the cleanup, since the area is still cordoned off. Maybe I should get involved with the civilian side of the cleanup and just keep my ears open. Someone from NEST might recognize me, though, blow my cover."

"Not many left alive who actually could," Will said grimly. "But a disguise still sounds like a good idea. You never know what information they might have linking you to Sam and the Autobots."

Mikaela turned back toward Optimus with a wicked grin. "Seems like now is as good a time as any to test out those nanites that Wheeljack has been itching to try, hmm, big guy? Think you can convince Ratchet to let me give them a try?"

"I'm still reluctant to experiment with pretender technology on a human, Mikaela," Optimus said cautiously. "But it would allow you a far better disguise than anything human science could provide."

"I'm a willing subject," she said, dismissing his concerns. "Besides, you know how much I love getting my hands in your systems. About time some of your tech gets inside me," she added with an outrageous wink.

"TMI!" Bobby yelled, covering his ears.

"Get a room," Will added.

Patronus gave Optimus another baffled look, looking back and forth between the humans.

"Mikaela apprenticed with Ratchet as a medic's assistant before Mearing's policies forced us to send her away," was the only explanation Optimus gave, which still did not explain the two male humans' seeming discomfort.

"I am certain that having such small, sensitive appendages is a benefit when working with complex internal systems," Patronus commented tactfully, uncertain how to read the emotions and reactions of those around him, and becoming even more confused when Lennox and Epps both began laughing so hard their bodies were shaking.

"Oh, Mikki, it is good to have you back, girl," Epps finally said when he could get out a word.

"On that, we are all in agreement," Optimus said with clear affection, extending his hand to lift her to his shoulder, reaffirming through touch and proximity his connection to the human who was no longer the "youngest" member of his cohort. "I will speak with Ratchet regarding the testing of the nanites, since I am certain that if I do not, you'll go to Que on your own. He, like his creator, is far too likely to conveniently forget our prohibitions with a willing subject in his hands," he added.

"You're finally learning," she said, patting him on his external communications antenna. "About damn time."

"Old 'bots learn new tricks?" he queried, twisting the human saying for himself.

"You ever get old, Optimus, we'll see," Mikaela promised him, smiling at being on one of her favorite perches.

"Let's go see Ratchet together, shall we?" Optimus suggested, making his way toward the hanger door which slid open at his signal. "I think you may need your processors checked when it comes to your numerical calculations, because I am, quite literally, older than dirt."

"You just don't want to have to ask Ratchet all by yourself. You are using me as a human shield, Optimus. I know your game," they heard her tease him as the two exited.

"Wow, I'm hurt," Lennox said dryly. "Didn't even say good bye. How about that?"

"Big guy always chills out when he's got the whole family together. Whole cohort in one place, including the kids? It'll make him relax, though not for long enough." Bobby said, looking at Patronus to gauge his reaction to what he'd just witnessed.

Patronus was curious, because the interactions were, even with Lennox and Epps, more familiar than the usual business mode they had been in since his onlining. He kept his thoughts and words to himself, though, suspecting this was something he needed to see through his new optics, with his spark bonds ghosting their own perceptions to him for a guide.

He knew, from the occasional comment, that the strong connections Prime's personal cohort had formed with the humans was considered odd by those who arrived later, though was accepted easily enough. It was more than obvious that Ironhide had made just as strong a connection as the rest, he thought, glancing at Will.

The historical modules made it quite clear that formal bonded Guardianships, such as that which he held with his charges, were not something shared beyond their own kind, yet Ironhide had initiated the protocols to create a Guardian Bond with an organic family, forever imprinting their bio-energic signatures and DNA code on his spark. He wondered what Ironhide's thoughts had been when he had made that decision? Had he spoken with them about it? Were they even aware of the nature of the bond Ironhide shared with them? He wanted to ask Will, to speak with him more freely and comfortably as he had just witnessed Mikaela and Optimus speaking, yet he sensed Will was uncomfortable conversing with him about Ironhide, and he did not wish to upset the human.

Annabelle spoke with him freely, refreshingly so. She chattered on and on about Ironhide, sharing memories with him, and was never reticent. She often forgot to use his current designation, which caused him no displeasure, though she was scolded by her originators for doing so. She referred to him as her uncle Hide, putting her own human cultural interpretation on the bond they shared. But she had most likely been pre-verbal with no conscious memories of the beginning of his relationship with her family. As far as she was concerned, he had always been a part of her life.

He realized that both Will and Robert were watching him. "Something on your processor, Patronus?" Will asked.

"I have... questions. But they may not be appropriate."

"I know that voice. Out of here, Will." Bobby stood up and tipped a salute of sorts at Patronus, before heading on out to see about catching a flight to go see his own family. It had been a while, after all.

Will steeled himself, thinking back to several heated conversations he'd recently had with Sarah. She had pointed out how much he was holding himself back with Patronus, protecting himself from new grief, and in the process possibly hurting or confusing the very person he was grieving.

It was just still so raw. He had lost his partner, his brother, the other person he trusted to love his family as much as he did. He had watched so many friends die, but watching Hide die with his own eyes, something had broken inside him. He wished it were as easy for him as it was for Annabelle, who seemed to have no issues accepting that Patronus was Ironhide and Ironhide was Patronus and taking him into her life as though he had always been the way he now was.

The connection was there. He could feel it. Patronus never pushed it, and Will held himself back from it, interacting with Patronus professionally, enjoying watching him interact with Annabelle, but not connecting like he once had.

Patronus (and Ironhide) deserved better. Seeing Jolt hooked up to dozens of monitors and immersed in a repair tank in Medical reaffirmed just how much he could lose all over again. He knew he was protecting himself, and he knew it was unfair to Patronus.

He deliberately moved himself close to where the large, dark mech was sitting. Hesitating for just a moment, he climbed up on him easily, scaling his frame with practiced ease to perch on the Patronus's thigh, his legs dangling over so he could look up at the glowing blue optics. He never rode around on the mechs like a little parrot in public, not the way the kids did so easily. It would not do for his men to see that. But in private, or around the farm, he had enjoyed being close. He enjoyed, way more than he cared to admit, that feeling of being safe, protected, and cared for within a unique energy field that he somehow could feel. "Ask away, Patronus. I'm sure you've got lots of questions. Should've told you a long time ago that you could ask."

Patronus looked down at Will, and pursed his lips briefly before letting his curiosity be satisfied. "William, did you and Ironhide ever discuss the ramifications of what his being a Guardian entailed? Did you both choose to go this route? How did it come about? Were you satisfied with it? Does it bother you that I still feel those ties?" The words just tumbled out, as some of his spark's demand to quit sliding around the issue had to be met.

Will looked at him with his heart coming up into his throat, remembering that entire time period, and how much it had come to mean to his family. What Patronus was asking...it meant coming back to the very core of who Ironhide was in Will's life, meant talking about feelings he'd never been good at expressing in words. However, Patronus obviously needed to know, and so he settled where he was, to start talking about Ironhide.

Six months following Mission City

Sarah looked out at the rapidly expanding construction of the bunker in the deep hole now located on her family's historic land, and shook her head yet again with a wry smile. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate what Ironhide was doing, but the scope of the project seemed a bit excessive to protect one human family. But then again, everything about "Will's new truck" seemed rather on the excessive side, including the size of his weaponry, and, if she were honest, his heart...or his spark, she supposed she should say. Not that she was going to object to someone protecting their baby girl, especially when that someone had an arsenal capable of taking out an entire city, but also happened to be ridiculously smitten with her ten-month-old.

She and Will both suspected that after being at war longer than any human could imagine, being around a child had softened something in the fierce warrior. Not that either of them would ever be caught calling Ironhide soft, but both of them could see it. When their baby girl was crawling after him and using him as platform to pull up into a standing position, so trusting of someone who could so easily crush her, Ironhide's entire demeanor changed. He became a giant metal teddy bear. Any objections Sarah may have had to him had melted the first time she had seen that change.

Had her husband never become embroiled with an alien civil war, she and Annabelle might not be in the danger that they now were. But then again, Sarah had enough belief in fate to trust that had Will not gotten involved, things might have gone much worse than they had, so their danger could have been far worse. Sarah was not one to dwell on might-have-beens. She embraced what was. Ironhide, now a part of her family, was her reality, and considering just how much he was adding to their lives, she would never regret it. There were millions of ways to die, after all. An alien civil war was just one of the more interesting ones, and having Ironhide around gave her the hope that even when the Decepticons returned, humanity, and Annabelle, might just make it.

Will had finished unloading Ironhide's bed of the latest materials they would need for their work on the bunker's interior, but instead of getting to work as they normally would, she saw that both he and Will were heading toward the house. Ironhide's voice alone was enough to wake Annabelle (who had just gone down for a nap), and not just because it was as large as he was, but because Annabelle knew it so well, and was drawn to everything about the mech. Sarah hurried out the kitchen door to meet them half way, by one of the many ancient oaks that graced their farm, but which no longer looked nearly so large with Ironhide present.

"Keep your voices down," she scolded her 'boys' preemptively. "I finally got her to sleep. What's up?"

"Ironhide wants to talk to me and you about something he's been thinking," Will said, looking mildly bemused that it was the mech, rather than his wife, asking "to talk" for once. Ironhide was a firm believer in doing rather than asking.

"Annabelle would be involved, but as her lineage founders, I will entrust you to make decisions for her," Ironhide said, watching Sarah. "The matter is deeply personal, and...unique." He looked vaguely uncomfortable as he said that.

One thing Sarah could say for sure: Ironhide never ceased to surprise her. "Sure thing...um...let me just grab the baby monitor and we can talk out here."

"Babe, I think Ironhide would hear if she wakes, even if we were on the far side of the property," Will reminded his wife with a hint of amusement.

Sarah blushed. "True...sorry," she looked up awkwardly at the mech, his scarred, ancient face never ceasing to awe her. She wondered if they should all sit down...not that it would help with the size difference.

Ironhide answered that question for her, folding his knees up in front of him to prop one arm on, the other hand coming rest next to the oak. It did not make him smaller in perspective, but it did make him look less intimidating and ready to shoot everything in sight. She and Will both sat to his side, Will leaning up against the tree, Sarah curled against Will's side.

"What's on your mind, big guy?" Will asked after they were settled. Ironhide looked...almost...fidgety as he turned his head to look down at them, his optics focusing directly on their small forms.

"Sarah, Will...I have been the liaison from Optimus Prime to your family for some months now. In case any of those Decepticreeps come hunting after the humans involved at Mission City. And it's allowed me to get to know you both, as well as the little sparkling."

Sarah and Will gave one another a look. Neither of them had heard Ironhide sound quite so casual before, at least around the house, though Will was accustomed to far fouler language when Hide was on base.

Something in the mech had shifted.

"We've really appreciated having you here," Sarah said hesitantly, suddenly worried that he was about to inform them that his time with them was up.

Ironhide looked from her to Will, then up to the skies as if imploring someone for patience or skill. "I have always been a military build, though there was a time when such function was far more ceremonial," he began. "However, under that classification, I am also a Guardian. My spark is pulled to the protection of specific individuals."

"A Guardian," Will said. "Like Bumblebee is to the kid?"

"You do seem like the protective sort," Sarah added wryly, pointing toward the massive amounts of dirt that had been moved on their property for the construction of the bunker.

Ironhide fidgeted and looked distinctly put out. He would have preferred being considered 'terrifying' or at least 'threatening' rather than 'protective'. Still, Optimus had told him this was alright, that he could answer the pull he felt, so long as the humans agreed. "Very much like Bumblebee is, though Samuel is his first." Ironhide was not going to mourn Bumblebee's Guardian protocols being sidelined for so long. It was just the way the universe had been. "Will, I have come to know you very well. And Sarah, through both my time on your property, and through Will's bond with you, I feel we are close as well."

Sarah bit back the teasing comment she wanted to make about whether he was about to propose to them. "We feel close to you, too, Ironhide. I mean...you are practically all Will ever talks about, aside from Belle. Almost enough to make me jealous," she gave him a wink, trying to relax him.

"You trying to ask us something, big guy?" Will encouraged him, well aware of just how completely unusual his behavior was. Ironhide wasn't exactly a mech of many words.

"I want to be your Guardian," Ironhide blurted, and now the words rang with being embarrassed and so certain of rejection. "It's not a light thing. It means... means giving of myself to you, and asking the same in turn."

This time Will and Sarah shared a more significant look, and Ironhide wondered briefly if the two had some form of bond they could communicate across that Ratchet hadn't been able to detect.

Will spoke for both of them. "I sort of thought you already were...but I take it that you mean something more than just guarding us."

"I've always told you that you stay at our house, you are family, Ironhide," Sarah added with utter conviction. "Doesn't matter what planet you come from. I know Will, and probably most of the rest of us humans, wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you. You know we'd give you anything you'd ask." Sarah deliberately reached out and placed her hand on one of his fingers which rested on the ground right beside them .

"It is far more I am offering now," Ironhide admitted. "I wish to open my very spark to you, writing the code for each of you there, so that I know your needs, and can try to always keep you each safe and well." He reached out, one finger for each, and touched them on their heads. "Annabelle is included in this...but you both knew that," he added gruffly. His absolute gentle care for the tiny human was remarkable to even his cohort.

Will and Sarah each unconsciously reached out and took the others hand, both struck by just how vulnerable the ancient, gruff warrior was suddenly behaving toward them. Neither knew quite what to say in response. It was overwhelming. And whatever 'it' was, they were both certain they wanted it. She and Will were both the types to trust their instincts, and they had yet to be led astray. But that didn't mean Sarah was without questions. She bucked up her courage.

"It sounds like a pretty heavy-duty commitment on your part, Ironhide. I mean...somehow having more of you...in our lives? And Annabelle's? It sounds wonderful, but are you sure that is something you really want with a family of short-lived humans?"

Ironhide cycled air through all his vents, remembering how Prime had phrased this. "We only have today, Ironhide. They may yet outlive us all. Love them while you may, old friend." Those words, weighted so strongly by the grief of losing so many, were possibly the most courageous words Prime had ever uttered.

"I do. Maybe on down through your tiny generations, but assuredly for you, Will, and Annabelle."

"You can't exactly be my Guardian in the field, Hide," Will cautioned, suddenly all soldier. "When we have a job to do, keeping me safe can't be the priority."

Ironhide looked at him with a scowl. "Learned that lesson eons ago, Will. Even if it did give my spark a beating to let Optimus take his own dings."

Sarah whispered a soft "wow," when she realized what exactly Ironhide was saying.

"You...Optimus...you were his Guardian? Or are? Wait, isn't he older than you?" Will asked, feeling like something in his world had just picked him up by the foot and strung him upside down. He had assumed Optimus Prime was...well...about the oldest thing in God's wide universe, and could not imagine him needing any sort of Guardian.

Ironhide let a chuckle escape on that one. "No, he's not. He's even younger than Ratchet, and I knew him when he was just a mechling, too." Granted, that was pushing it, as Ratchet and he weren't that far apart in vorns. "The stories I could tell..." His smile was actually soft and illuminated by memories that were gentle, caring, and humorous. "I took on Optimus before he was Prime, since he had a knack for getting in trouble without Megatron's strong cannons to back him up." Ironhide scowled. "Seemed that one was never close enough to his Prime. Probably for the best for our race..."

Sarah and Will continued to look at him with a mixture of awe and disbelief. It would be easy to get distracted by those tantalizing details, but that was not why Ironhide had asked to talk with them. Which brought up just what it was, exactly, that he was offering and asking of them.

"So...let me see if I have this," Sarah said, her face suddenly blushing. "You were...or are Guardian to Optimus Prime, and you want to be Guardian to our family as well, and somehow...have us be part of your spark...which is like your soul, right?"

"Correct." Ironhide tipped his head at her, a little sideways. "Your circulation system is very active in your facial structure. Temperature of that surface is increased. Is there anything wrong?"

Sarah's blush deepened. "Well...it's just that Will explained to me, and then Ratchet explained in way more detail, how you and the others...um...are intimate...and I'm just not sure I know what you mean by opening your spark to us. Not that I...I mean..." she let her words trail off, now completely embarrassed and certain that whatever it was Ironhide wanted to become to them, she had just convinced him what a horrible idea it was.

Those large optics brightened after a long moment of filtering through her words, using the translators to be certain he was not misinterpreting. "Sarah Lennox, I was given to understand that unilaterally binding bonds existed between you and Will, ones that prohibited recreational intimacy with others. While it is not needed for me to form a Guardian bond, as these are often created with the young of our kind, it can be a pleasurable way to initiate one."

Will found himself choking and coughing slightly, as too many innuendo-driven conversations on the long haul between missions and base came back to him. Had Ironhide really been hitting on him, or was this, like those occasions, one more example of his friend's twisted sense of humor about all things sexual?

"I just had to ask," Sarah said, elbowing Will and laughing nervously in a way that made her feel way too much like a young girl. She almost wished she hadn't asked, because, though it was clear Ironhide was not doing the Cybertronian version of propositioning herself and Will, she wasn't quite sure just how much he was teasing and how serious he was. And while he might not be propositioning, he was very much proposing, in his own way. "So...how do you...and we...go about initiating this bond?" she asked, wishing that everything she said didn't suddenly sound like a bad come on.

"Ratchet feels that simple touch from each of you along my spark's corona will let allow my spark to imprint along your DNA, which is your code, and your bio-energetic signatures." Ironhide looked all around. "Normally, I wouldn't expose myself away from the safety of others, but I do want this, if you will allow it."

"'Hide...you're already part of our family," Will told him with rough affection after he and Sarah once again shared some sort of silent, visual communication.

"We're honored," Sarah added, catching her breath at the thought that Ironhide wanted them to touch his life force, his very soul. "There is no way we would say no to something like this. Just...forgive us if we don't always totally understand. I know what you are offering is...well...sacred, and I'm also sure I don't understand even a fraction of what it means. But to know that you are connected to Annabelle...if something ever happened to Will and I..." she stopped, unable to continue, and quickly wiped her eyes before tears could form.

Ironhide hefted his form up and then onto his knees before leaning down enough to get his torso more on the human level. "Sarah, I cannot bear to think of such a day, even knowing what dangers could still lay ahead." He made his posture open, inviting them both into his hold, as Will moved to embrace Sarah close, protectively, for her words.

Patronus settled back from where he had eagerly leaned forward, listening to Will tell the story, bit by bit. Will, who could give a briefing in record time, had paused a few times throughout, to be certain Patronus was following everything.

The mechling was digesting all that had been revealed. It explained more than just why Patronus felt so strongly toward the Lennox family. It also added facets to his bonds with Optimus Prime, beyond the shine of being part of his cohort.

"Sarah and I...well...Ironhide already was family to us, as unbelievable as it was that he'd let someone like us so close after just a few months. He...you...became something more, something humans don't have a way of talking about. You asked if we were satisfied with it? And how we feel about the bond still being there? Damn straight, we were satisfied. That isn't nearly a strong enough word." Will gathered up his courage. He'd fought Decepticons. He could handle talking about his feelings. "To say that Sarah, Belle and I loved him...that might not even be a good enough word. We may be...confused...messed up in the head, but when I realized that your spark wasn't gone? I felt like something that had died in me was alive again. I just don't want to mess up the second chance God gave me by trying to make you be him, even though...you are."

"I am," Patronus murmured, softly and reassuringly. "I may not have all the memories, but the more I learn, the more I am certain that none of you truly have lost Ironhide. My spark is his, and there is much of me that feels as if I am walking paths he chose because they are the right paths to walk."

Will nodded, a bit briskly, but there was no hiding the emotion behind it. Then his face broke into a wide grin. "He would tease the slag out of you for trying to pick up Circuit-Su, though."

"Humph. A good soldier doesn't ignore any useful tools," Patronus informed Will. He smiled though, and felt an easing in his bonds. This had been needed, and had done them both good.

"And I'm sure Hide would agree. He just wouldn't let anyone else know that. I must admit...I've gotta wonder if you are like he was when he was young."

"I am told we do not want to meet the one Autobot older than Ironhide known to still exist. Seems he's something of a mix between 'doddering old fool' which was Sideswipe's opinion, and 'harmless old mech' in Jolt's opinion." Patronus managed a fairly human shrug. "I think that many memories might be cumbersome."

"Well, harmless and doddering are the last words I'd ever use to describe Ironhide," Will said, moving up the mech's thigh to lean against his torso, relaxing against the warmth and vibrations of Patronus's systems in a way he had not yet done. Now all he needed was a beer and it would be like old times...

A thought occurred to him, and since this new policy of openness and not being so damn careful was going so well, he decided to ask. "You think that having too many of Ironhide's memories might feel cumbersome?"

Patronus was slow to respond to that, and when he did it was a heavier tone. "I don't know. An overlay, such as Epps suggested, might well be. An integration would feel just like me, but... I think under it, I would still feel as young as I do now, and then they would be cumbersome. Or maybe I am over thinking it all, and my processor would just adapt."

Will nodded, not having any wisdom to add, just the promise of an ear that would listen. "You know...Patronus, if you need to talk about anything, remember that you've got a family. We may not understand it all, but we also don't carry around nearly the baggage, and sometimes that's a good thing. Sarah and I...we'd do anything for you. So would Annabelle, for that matter. You might get some of your best advice listening to that girl."

"Definitely." Patronus smiled broadly. "Annabelle is unencumbered by 'common knowledge' and maybe that is why I find myself reluctant to take on all the memories at my disposal. She does fine with limited knowledge of the past."

"That is the best definition of the 'wisdom of babes' that I've heard, big guy," Will smiled and shifted, making himself even more comfortable against his Guardian.

Mikaela stretched languidly on a very warm spot on a very large chest sheltered by a very large hand. She did not even have to wonder where the thick, down blanket she was nested in had come from. She had ceased being surprised by the number of human comfort items that could be found in a given mech's subspace pocket.

Being well stocked in everything from snacks, to extra clothes, to first aid supplies, to (in Bumblebee's case) a supply of condoms had become an unspoken competition between Prime's original cohort members. The fact that Prime's cohort was made up of two base-code Guardians, a Medic, and Prime himself meant the competition was stiff.

She was also not the least bit surprised that, having dozed off at some point while "debriefing" (aka catching up) with Optimus the night before, she had not made it back to her temporary room.

Back in the beginning, if someone had suggested that Optimus Prime was not only extremely tactile, but also rather cuddly (to the point of being clingy if he was worried about a cohort member), she would have politely suggested that she had a '71 Pinto to sell that would make for a really reliable vehicle and one hell of a sweet ride.

And she would have eaten her words. Optimus Prime, once he made someone a part of his proverbial family, was cuddly as hell, and had absolutely no issues with adopting her as his human teddy bear for the night.

"So what's going through those processors of yours?" she asked lazily as she stirred.

He took the tray of breakfast items off of the shelf and placed it on the berth, setting her down beside it and shifting himself to lie on his side before answering. A series of quick, directed EM pulses warming the items on it to the appropriate temperatures. He watched with distracted fascination as she took a sip of her coffee and closed her eyes in pleasure at the taste.

"I am thinking about Jazz, and am considering just how pleased he will be that I opted not only to recruit a native into his cadre, but also into our cohort. He was in love with human culture before we even had passed the Kuiper Belt."

She smiled at him, sprawled next to her, completely relaxed on the berth, his face even with her body which enabled her to look him in the optics. He felt her touch a few of the thousands of tiny, moving components that made up his the dermal plating of his facial components . "I'm looking forward to him finally being recovered enough to quit keeping Wheeljack company on Mars," she agreed quietly. "It's about time for you to have your anchor back. But what about the other loved one you nearly lost?"

Optimus knew better than to give her the factual report of Patronus's progress. His spark had welcomed Mikaela in as cohort as surely as it had Samuel, and the human younglings' break up could not change that. He trusted her, and the very fact she was not one of his mechs allowed him to be just that, in these all too-rare private moments.

"If I offline my optics and other sensors, if I only teek him, or simply sense him along the bond, he is Ironhide. I want him back so much that it physically pains my spark, Mikaela. And I fear that I have been deliberately cold and distant out of my own concerns of influencing him to be what I desire rather than who he opts to become."

He paused, weighing his words. "But I also know just how much power my spark has over him. He was my Guardian and a mentor through many of my mechling vorns, and continued to be so even after I became Prime, when it was obvious my Lord High Protector never would complete the bond we were intended to share. If Jazz were not returning as soon as the damaged sections of his core reintegrate, I fear that I might not have given Patronus the freedom of choice that I have. I would not have had the strength."

He regarded her as she carefully considered her words. Prime did not want her pity. Just like she did not ever wish for his. He wanted her to trust her own wisdom, to be an adviser and share her point of view. She always did so, with refreshing honestly, and he valued that deeply.

"I've got to wonder if you've got it all backwards, on all this choice stuff, Optimus," she said, touching the edge of his retracted mask as though asking him to keep it open to her. "Maybe, by not showing him who Ironhide was to you, by not letting him get close to you so he can know Hide in your spark and memories, you're denying him the chance to make an informed choice. I mean...I get the memory core thing. One that ancient would have taken years to integrate. Hell, it's taken Jazz this long, and that was only the damaged part of an intact core. But there are other ways to give him memories, to help him to start to learn."

Optimus vented, considering her words, wishing both she and Jazz had been present when he and Ratchet had made those decisions. "Knowing what you do of our cohort bonds, of the power of my particular spark, do you really think he would have the freedom to make new choices once I let him become close to me? Would he be truly free, with the depth of loyalty inherent in his spark, the Guardian protocols in his core code, and our bond already present?"

"Do you really think any of us have much of a choice once you let us get close? Or that any of us would choose differently, even if we could?" she answered in turn.

"Megatron did," he said, sounding slightly petulant.

"And has Ironhide ever given you reason to believe he is anything like Megatron? That his spark is damaged that way?"

"Never. Ironhide's spark is...whole and undamaged and..."

"And above all loyal to you," she finished for him.

"And a new mechling has no choice about those loyalties!" he growled, his voice becoming dangerous. "Ironhide made those choices, and it cost him much! I can already see it in Patronus. Every decision he makes is made in light of the bonds he already has. He has no true freedom!"

She waited for him to settle from his outburst, never flinching despite how close she was. Instead, she felt honored he would actually show it to her. When she intuitively felt his spark settle from its anger, she spoke. "I don't know how else to say this. I think it's a mistake to think of him as a different mech, Optimus. Yeah, if he were really a brand new person, a blank slate, it'd be wrong to put all of this on him. But he isn't. That's Ironhide's spark in that mech, and it's Ironhide who survived Sentinel's attack. Let him become who he already is and stop worrying so damn much about freedom. Ironhide made those choices and would make them again. You need to quit tying yourself up in knots of this. It isn't really that complicated."

Optimus vented, his hand cupping around her to shield her from some force visible only to himself, perhaps the force that was himself. "I will consider your words, Mikaela, and I thank you for them."

Kil0bit3: The damage was insufficient.

Fr33d0mHacker: They've tightened up security. We need better supplies to get the explosives in place.

Kilobit3: Supplies sufficient. More intelligence required.

Fr33d0mHacker: Got plenty of that. Going after the next one that heads away from base and not into the city.

Kil0bit3: Superb planning necessary.

Fr33d0mHacker: We've got it all in place.