Author's Notes: Well, this is just a short chapter I had to get out of my system. There isn't really any romance in this chapter. This one is about a typical mission that Huffer has to go on for the Autobots. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope to read your reviews :)

Chapter 10

It was too early in the morning! The sun had barely showed its blazing face, and already Huffer was in a convoy with 4 other Autobots heading toward a disaster zone! If he were a human he might've yawned, but as it stood he just grumbled.

Grapple and Hoist were leading the team and Huffer lagged behind with Windcharger and Brawn. There had been an earthquake in Northern California and the human authorities had called the Autobots and begged for assistance in searching for survivors. Huffer was secretly grateful that it wasn't Decepticon activity for a change, but outwardly all he showed was his contempt at getting up at the crack of dawn.

If that wasn't bad enough, he got the wake-up call from Jazz! Now Jazz wasn't a bad mech, in fact he was even likable, but Huffer couldn't stand that fresh-as-a-daisy attitude when he was still trying to come out of recharge! He also wondered how Gears managed to get out of this assignment.

Of course if he really thought about it he knew why Gears wasn't with them. This was a rescue mission with tons of debris to be moved. Prime had sent Grapple and Hoist because they were a crane and a tow truck respectively (and Hoist had medical experience). He sent the three minibots because Windcharger had magnetic powers and Huffer and Brawn were among the strongest Autobots on the base. Huffer also guessed he'd get a trailer attached to his truck form and have to haul wreckage and injured humans. That blood humans had was nearly impossible to wash out of his interior, so he sure hoped there was a trailer!

It wasn't hard to tell when they'd made it to the sight of the quake. The road was broken in several places, and it didn't take long before the Autobots had to transform into robot mode so they could even move! Once they walked into the town, they could see valiant human volunteers and emergency workers combing through the rubble in search of survivors. Huffer kind of wished Gears was with them, because he had infrared sensors and could've helped them find some of these people! Still, he figured if he and Gears both complained they'd probably get buried by the other Autobots, so it was for the best that Gears stayed home.

"Alright, team," Grapple intoned, "We want a clean sweep. Windcharger, you take the downtown district first and move as many steel beams and cars out of the way as you can. After that Brawn and Huffer will dig through the debris. If any survivors are found get them to Hoist as quickly as possible. Don't worry about moving corpses. We don't have time for that. I'll begin removing debris from the edge of town. The quake wasn't as strong there, so I should be able to handle it myself. If there are aftershocks just ride it out and you'll be fine. Now move out, everyone!"

Windcharger went out into the fray immediately, and Huffer and Brawn kept busy by shoving rocks and mortar out of the way where they were standing in hopes of finding someone. The chief of police came up to Grapple, and Huffer could hear him saying that the earthquake happened three days before and that there was little hope of finding anyone else. Huffer silently agreed, but didn't say anything.

It was grim work, and the dust settled all over their frames. Brawn looked at Huffer several times like he wanted to say something, but he never did. Huffer wanted to say something too, but he knew he had no pleasant words for this job. He also knew he needed to keep his trap shut if they were going to get through this without going crazy or giving up.

The scene reminded him too much of outposts he'd served on over the years. It also made him think of the war still raging on Cybertron. How many friends had he seen shot down and scrapped for parts by Decepticons? He thought, and realized there was a time he actually had a lot of friends. That was weird to think about. He also realized he actually had a lot of friends now. It hadn't hit him until then, but he had friends. He had Brawn, Gears, Cosmos, Bumblebee, Seaspray, Ironhide, Grapple, Hoist, Warpath, Windcharger, Cliffjumper, and even that showboat Powerglide!

Huffer sighed when he thought about how attached he was getting to these 'Bots. He didn't want to become attached. He had become attached to 'Bots before only to lose them to the Decepticons. Still, he had been on earth for years now, and even before that he had worked with these mechs on Cybertron. He couldn't help it...These 'Bots were his family.

After an hour or so the order was given for Brawn and Huffer to make their way into the heart of town. Huffer, thankfully, was attached to the dump truck trailer. Figures! He hated that thing! Everyone thought it was a part of him like Optimus Prime's trailer was for him. Oh well, better than getting human fluids on his seats, he guessed.

Brawn began with the buildings on Main Street, while Huffer went over to a downed overpass that had buried several cars. Brawn was in his element here. He was the type that loved to brag about his superior strength and show it off every chance he got. Huffer didn't understand that impulse. Strength wasn't that special. They were minibots. It was normal for minibots to be strong. Heck, Huffer was actually as strong as Brawn was; he just didn't flaunt that fact.

Huffer lifted concrete slab after concrete slab in the hot sun. Morning turned to noon and then to afternoon. It got hotter and hotter as the day went along, and Huffer had not found a single human alive. He had seen many dead, but no living ones. It was starting to get depressing, but Huffer was used to depression. Resigned to the pointlessness, he carried on.

He began to think the human police chief was right. It was hopeless. There was no one there.

He saw a crosshatch of support beams overtop a road, and heaved an intake of air. That beam was heavy, so he knew either he or Brawn would have to lift it off the road. He turned to ask Brawn to do it, but of course the dull green and bronze minibot was already working on digging through another office building. Huffer squared his shoulders and resigned himself to the task.

He got a firm hold on the cross-section of what used to be a bridge and heaved with all his might to remove it from the road! He lifted it over his head and then pulled until it snapped apart! Huffer then threw it away and looked down to see his handiwork. He saw that while most everything in the road was crushed, there was a large sinkhole in the road where the support beam had fallen! He looked down into the hole and turned on his headlights to get a better view.

There was a car down there! It was a dark green Toyota, broken but not completely crushed. Huffer was sure there was nothing alive down there, but he also felt the compulsion to go down there and check. Cursing himself and his curiosity, he jumped down the sinkhole and headed toward the car.

Huffer bent down and looked into the car, and saw two humans inside; a female holding her injured sparkling. At first he was sure they were both dead, but then the woman tilted her head ever so slightly and groaned softly. She didn't even seem to notice him.

/Huffer to Hoist! Where are you?/ Huffer asked over the comm system.

/I'm scanning the suburbs right now. What do you need?/ Hoist inquired.

/Well, haul your skid plates over to my location!/ Huffer demanded, /We got humans here! Two of 'em from the looks of it, and they're both badly hurt. You gotta get over here now!/

/I'm on my way,/ Hoist replied immediately, /Stay with them until I arrive. Hoist out./

Huffer sighed. He figured it would take a few minutes for Hoist to arrive, so he sat down in the dirt of the sinkhole and watched the humans in case they did anything. It took a minute, but finally the woman seemed to come to enough of her senses to notice Huffer was there.

"Uh...You…" The woman grunted in a hoarse voice, "...Are you...Autobot?"

"Yeah, I am," Huffer replied, "Don't worry, we've got a medic comin'. He'll get you to a hospital. Everythin's gonna be alright. Just stay awake, and don't move. Your car crashed in a sinkhole, but oddly enough that might've saved your life."

"My son…?" The woman asked wearily.

"He's in your lap," Huffer said idiotically, unable to think of a better answer. In truth, the kid looked pretty bad off, and Huffer didn't know if he was alive or not.

"My…" The woman tried to say something more, but she was fading in and out of consciousness.

"Hey, don't do that!" Huffer exclaimed; trying not to panic, "So, um...What's your name?"

"No...Norma," the woman mumbled.

"Yeah? I'm Huffer," Huffer introduced himself, "Hey, what's your kid's name?"

"N...Nathan."

"That's a decent name," Huffer replied, not even knowing if that was true, "How old is Nathan?"

"Four…" The woman breathed drowsily.

Huffer nodded, but didn't have to answer. Hoist came down after that and ordered Huffer to transform. Huffer complied, and Hoist gently placed the entire car in Huffer's trailer. Hoist then lifted the trailer out of the sinkhole and onto the road. Together they traveled to the EMTs and helped the woman and her son out of the car and into the awaiting ambulance.

That was the only survivors Huffer found that day, but he was grateful to learn 3 days later that both Norma and Nathan survived. Despite how crummy working in the hot sun felt, he actually felt good about saving the lives of those humans. Sometimes the job title of Autobot wasn't so bad.