/N: Well here we have it, the latest chapter! to tell you the truth, I don't think the first part with Abby and the Decepticons was my best work, but I guess it'll do. This chapter is mainly about both Abby and Ironhide assuming their current roles and dealing with obstacles and or nuisances in their current situations. I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to review and give me feedback, I appreciate it!
UnForGettable323: you're not the first to ask about the relationship between Ironhide and Oneshot. I have decided on what I'm going to do, but I'm not going to reveal it right now (It'll be revealed in due time. no spoilers!) I'm glad you enjoyed Oneshot's mini Ironhide look :)
Ashes2Dust18: Well she'll be fine with it until she finds out about the cannon lol!
Autobot-Bre: haha, I'm glad you like Oneshot the mini Ironhide. A lot of people like him lol
MissShelz: Sideswipe's just lucky it was not too powerful lol. Yeah, I pictured a mini Ratchet and grew afraid lol. Two Ratchets in one base...what a nightmare! I'm pretty sure Barricade and Starscream are just as disturbed (and angry) about babysitting sparklings too lol
wolf-shadow666: Abby probably will lose her patience at one point and almost get herself killed, but she is pretty smart in this situation. And she is aware about how devastated Oneshot would be if she died. She;d never want that to happen!
Oh yeah, I decided it would be Oneshot to bring the two together (He's a little matchmaker haha) by bonding with Ironhide first. Abby would never do anything to upset Oneshot (Unless she had a good reason)
You probably did see mistakes lol. I know I should be proof-reading, but I just don't. I'm usually in a rush to get it in for you guys (I'm going to try to start proof reading from now on though)
Luna636: haha indeed you were! everyone really loves the mini Ironhide idea lol! Starscream and Barricade caring for Sparklings with Abby is probably going to have a few rough moments. I mean, if they're chasing sparklings around then Abby is probably running around too trying not to get squashed. I think Soundwave is smart enough not to put them with a ton of sparklings at once though lol
The little sparkling was completely different from what Oneshot had looked like, his optics red and menacing. His armor was silver like most of the Decepticons, though form what she knew it was not permanent. Its fingers had been replaced by claws and whenever it opened its mouth, a strange hissing noise came out. Despite all this, it still managed to appear cute to Abby.
"Despite your nasty little claws and scary eyes, you're actually kind of cute! Is it a he or a she?" Abby said, speaking first to the little sparkling she now cradled and then to Soundwave. The Decepticon, followed reluctantly by Starscream and Barricade, had appeared once more to check up on her. He had also come to make sure that the two Decepticons behind him knew their place.
"In human terms, the sparkling would be a male. His designation has been left up to you. These two have also been left up to you. You will instruct them in the care of a sparkling. They will study under you as apprentices, and as such are responsible for following your instruction. You will also be responsible for knowing your place as well as theirs. You may not interfere in anything that is not related to your current role. You may not leave this room unless under the watch of one of us. You may request certain items as long as they are completely necessary" Soundwave said, speaking without a break. Abby stared at him, finding it rather difficult to remember what he had said.
"All right then…Well If I may request anything then I need something. For the sparkling of course" Abby said slowly, watching for their reactions. Starscream and Barricade did not seem to react to what she had said; possibly ignoring every word she had spoken so far. Soundwave also did not appear to react, but he did tilt his head slightly. She took this as a gesture for her to continue with her request.
"When I was taking care of Oneshot, I gave him what we call gasoline. According to Ratchet it slows their growth considerably, but it'll keep them alive," Abby continued, pacing back and forth across the table. As soon as she said this, all three of the Decepticon's optics seemed to dim for a moment. They returned to normal after a few minutes.
"Barricade, go fetch what the human has requested. Starscream, you will stay here and allow her to teach you. I trust you will get this done without any problems?" Soundwave said, addressing the two Decepticons. Barricade let out a low growl, but complied and moved out of the room, transforming in to his alt form and speeding away. Starscream made a face and nothing else, showing his displeasure without disobeying. Soundwave said nothing, opting to leave the room at this point. He left Ravage behind, the Decepticat currently lounging comfortably on the table. He was watching Abby's every movement closely, prepared to spring in to action if she attempted something against that had been set.
"So, you ready to learn then?" Abby asked Starscream, watching him cautiously. She had no idea what his personality was like and how he treated humans, so she based it off of Barricade's action earlier. She had no desire to be played around with like that ever again. So, she had decided to keep her anger in check for while she was here. It would be pretty bad if she ended up dead before she could see Oneshot again.
"I suppose, though I doubt your tiny insect mind has much to teach. I am the second-in-command, I can handle taking care of a sparkling easily" Starscream sneered, approaching the table. Abby narrowed her eyes, recognizing the typical male ego she had faced several times from now. It was a pathetic way to make one-self seem better, when in reality they are nothing more than a nuisance. She guessed that this so called "Second-in-command" had previously failed at something.
"Really? That's interesting. So you can tell me how much to feed a sparking in a single sitting? You can tell me how much gasoline should be consumed in one day? You can tell me what a sparkling should not eat?" Abby questioned, watching with an amused expression as Starscream processed this. For a split second, his face contorted in to one of confusion before he replaced it with a smirk. Abby hid a small smile of her own, realizing how much fun she could have with this.
"Of course human, what do you take me for?" Starscream lied, completely lost when it came to the matters of sparklings. However, he was not going to back down from a tiny human. He watched carefully as Abby thought for a moment, trying to decide how she would do this. It took her a few minutes of thinking, but she finally came up with a solution.
"All right, then if you can answer the questions I'm about to ask you correctly, then I'll let Soundwave know you don't need to learn anything from me. If you can't, however, then not only will you have to do what I ask when it comes to caring for a sparkling, but you'll also have to do whatever else I want. Deal? " Abby asked, causing Starscream to freeze up momentarily. This human was deliberately playing around with him, playing a game that he was not fond of at all. However, he knew if he dropped out of this then it would mean he was submitting to someone of an inferior race. His instincts told him to back off and admit defeat, but what was left of his pride told him to continue with it.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to refuse to make a deal with you insect. You're not worth my time" Starscream finally replied, causing her smile to falter a little. She had hoped he was up for the challenge, but obviously he was a coward. No wonder he had ended up in this situation. While it seemed like a failure, she had actually gained something from this. She knew that Starscream could be easily manipulated with his type of personality. He was a coward who was incredibly full of himself, so Abby knew that at some point he must have thought about being a leader instead of second-in-command.
"Fine. Now I need you to find a way to ask Barricade about how much longer we have to wait for the gasoline. I also need to know if you can ask him to pick up a few things for me…"
Barricade had plundered all of the gas stations in the town nearest to where they were, the inside of his alt form now filled with about three large barrels of gasoline. He was fairly certain they would need more, but he could not carry more than what he had. He was currently in the process of heading back when he received a message through his comm link from Starscream.
"Barricade, where the frag are you? The insect needs more items" Starscream growled, causing Barricade's irritation to spike. He was halfway back to the base and the human decided now that she needed something. He growled before responding, slamming on his brakes so that he could turn around.
"What does she want? I'm halfway to the fragging base already. Why couldn't she say something earlier?" Barricade snarled, ignoring the fact that he was talking to his superior. Starscream, however, did not overlook this disrespect.
"Watch your tone Barricade, remember who I am. She didn't tell me why she waited so long, so just get it done" Starscream hissed, proceeding to list out the items she needed. Barricade nearly skid off the road when he listened to what she needed, shocked at how much she wanted. He did not know if he could even carry that much.
"What the frag, does she really need all these? Are these all related to the sparkling?" Barricade asked as he corrected himself and continued back in to the city. He had to be careful now, especially since the human police were probably looking for him. He was, after all, a thief. He pulled in to the parking lot of the first store he could find, a large supermarket.
"No, but she says their important anyways. Just get them" Starscream said, obviously annoyed. Barricade just growled in response, cutting off the comm link. He really hoped this would be over soon, as being an errand boy for a human was not something he enjoyed.
Unknown to them all, a Decepticon was currently streaking across the city in a panic. The rear of his alt form was scorched and burning, appearing as if something had exploded. Little bits of metal were falling as he tore through the streets, searching for a source of water.
Sideswipe had actually been relaxing for once instead of driving around like a maniac. He was parked inside the hanger along with the most of the other Autobots. They were all, in fact, enjoying a quiet day. Even Ironhide had taken the day off from his cannons, though this was mostly because of the wrench he had received earlier. Oneshot was next to him in his little alt form as well, a little disappointed that Ratchet had taken his weapon away. They all nearly jumped out of their armor when the resident inventor Wheeljack came stomping in, half excited and half disappointed.
"It worked! It might have only been for a few seconds, but it worked!" he exclaimed loudly, startling just about every sentient life form in the hanger. Sideswipe was the first to transform, the only one who actually understood what Wheeljack was going on about.
"Only a few seconds? What happened?" Sideswipe asked, skating over to the inventor. Behind him the others transformed, completely lost. The only one who did not really care about what was going on was Oneshot, oblivious to the threat involving the Decepticons and Autobots. Sure he had witnessed it first hand, but he had not really registered it as a high threat. He was still in the stage where dangers did not appear as bad to him as they did others. He drove up behind Ironhide, sticking with his alt form.
"Primus, you almost gave me a spark attack. What the frag are you going on about?" Ironhide asked in an annoyed tone, unenthusiastic about the rude awakening. He had been drifting in to a quiet recharge when Wheeljack had burst in yelling about something. He cursed mentally when he realized he had cursed once again in front of Oneshot. He was not oblivious to the fact that he was a bad influence. He just hoped Oneshot would not ever use the words, especially in front of his mother. She would have his aft if she ever found out. That is, if they ever found her.
"Probably went and blew somethin' up again, ain't dat right Skids?" the Autobot known as Mudflap said, addressing his twin Skids. Oneshot had not officially me then, mostly because the Autobots had tried to keep them away from each other. The twins were known for busting out in to fights, something that nobody there wanted Oneshot to be a part of. To nobody's surprise, Skids bashed Mudflap on the head after he had spoken.
"Shut up glitch head, it's not da time to be speakin' like that" Skids responded, almost immediately disagreeing with his twin. Almost as soon as he hit Mudflap, the two began to argue to the point of brawling. They swung at each other, bashing the other's head violently until they were separated by Bumblebee. He took the two of them and smashed their heads together, proceeding to toss them to the opposite sides of the hanger.
"Well now that that's over, yes my invention blew up. But not before it gave valuable information!" Wheeljack said, looking pretty proud of his self. Sideswipe seemed to be the only one beside Wheeljack who looked pleased, the rest confused.
"Wheeljack, what did you do? Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid" Ratchet said, looking suspiciously at sideswipe and Wheeljack. Wheeljack was known for blowing things up while Sideswipe was known for pulling pranks. The two of them working together was a nightmare, especially if they were involved in a prank.
"Actually no, it was not stupid. It was all Sideswipe's plan actually" Wheeljack said, surprising every single one of them. Sideswipe and Wheeljack working together with Sideswipe without a prank involved was incredible.
"What would this plan be then? What valuable information did you collect?" Optimus asked, still a little wary. While he did not completely doubt his fellow Autobots, he was still aware of both of their records. He just hoped that for once they were telling the truth.
"Well it's not much, but we managed to attack one of my tracking devices on to a fleeing Decepticon earlier. I activated just a few minutes ago, but it exploded almost immediately after activation. However, it provided a general direction as to where they could have gone! One step closer to rescuing the human!" Wheeljack said, causing Oneshot to transform excitedly.
"Really? You found my mom?" he asked excitedly, literally hopping up and down. He was so excited that he almost ran in to Ironhide's leg, only saved when the black mech scooped him up. Ironhide set him on his shoulder so he could be at optic level with all of the other Autobots. Ironhide noticed that he was bigger than he was the first time Ironhide had carried him. He was growing pretty fast now.
"Well sort of, not the exact location. But we're getting closer" Wheeljack said, choosing his words carefully. Normally he would have blurted out the truth, telling the sparkling that the information was not much at all. However, he knew how much trouble that would get him in to, especially with Ratchet. The old medic had a soft spot for sparklings, so anybody upsetting one would end up with wrench to the head.
Oneshot, however, was smarter then they knew. He knew that they had barely made any progress whatsoever, causing him to look incredibly disappointed. Ironhide noticed his reaction and took his turn to speak up.
"Don't worry sparkling, we're going to get your mom back. Primus, we'll plow through every one of those Decepticreeps until we get her." Ironhide said, nudging Oneshot gently with one of his fingers. Oneshot smiled a little, feeling relieved, and hugged the finger. Ironhide lifted him up gently before placing his in his own sparkling chamber.
"Wow Ironhide, didn't know you had a soft side" Sideswipe said, snickering a little. He had wanted to save it for blackmail for later, but Ratchet had been one step ahead of him. Ratchet had threatened sideswipe with many things, each one involving a wrench, until Sideswipe promised not to.
"Frag off sideswipe, somebody's gotta keep the sparkling relaxed and calm "Ironhide countered, giving Sideswipe a dirty look. Sideswipe recoiled before turning his attention back to Optimus and Wheeljack. Optimus had been observing the situation, now deciding to intervene.
"I think you're just earned yourself a new job Ironhide. You are going to be main caretaker of Oneshot until we can rescue his mother" Optimus said, surprising nobody except for Ironhide. The black mech stared at him in shock.
"What..? Prime you know I can't do that" Ironhide said, staring at Optimus hard. Optimus understood Ironhide's reasoning for wanting to reject the responsibility, but knew what the best decision was.
"Ironhide, Oneshot admires you. Are you going to reject him?" Optimus questioned, watching as Ironhide's face hardened. Ironhide was irritated, knowing that Optimus was accusing him. It was not like he wanted to reject Oneshot, but he had no other option.
"Primus, you make me sound like the bad guy! I can't take care of him because I'm not the right mech. I can't handle a sparkling" Ironhide said, his voice rising slightly. He was not necessarily mad at Optimus, only irritated about how Optimus portrayed his actions. He was not trying to be the bad guy.
"Ironhide, you owe it to her. You know it"" Optimus said, stinging Ironhide with his words. Ironhide for once had nothing to say, knowing exactly what Optimus was referring to. If it had not been for his carelessness, there would probably be one more Autobot with them today. Ironhide remained silent, watching as Optimus left him along with the others to speak with Wheeljack and Sideswipe. He knew Optimus was right, he did owe it to her. He placed his hand on his sparkling chamber, finally accepting Optimus's order. He had made a mistake a long time ago, ending with the loss of life. He would never ignore a sparkling again.
/N:wow, would you look at that? I deciding to dig a little in to Ironhide's past, but not too far. You'll learn a bit more about the "incident" later, but for now I'll end it at this! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to review and give me feedback! I appreciate it!
