10 years Post-War

Sideswipe rolled up to his home and transformed. He stumbled a bit as he did so; he was still getting used to his upgraded frame. It felt weird to suddenly be so much taller; it messed with his balance. Taking each step carefully, he went to the back door—the one that led to their living quarters rather than the medical clinic.

"Knockout! I'm home!" he called as he went inside. He stopped abruptly, however, as several pairs of optics turned on him. There were strange mechs sitting in the living room—three of them, all marked with the emblem of the Council. Authority figures of some kind. Knockout sat across from them. He didn't look happy.

One of the strange mechs smiled at Sideswipe, but it didn't quite seem sincere. "So this is the sparkling?"

"His name is Sideswipe," Knockout said testily. Sideswipe could hear the barely-concealed anger in his voice. Whoever these mechs were, Knockout didn't like them.

"What's going on? Who are you?" Sideswipe demanded, perturbed by his guardian's demeanor.

"We're with the Council's Department of Sparkling Care," said a stone-faced mech. "We're here to ask your guardian some questions."

"Here, come with me," said the mech with the not-real smile. He got up and held out his hand to Sideswipe. "We'll go talk somewhere away from all the boring adults."

Sideswipe shied away from the hand. He looked at his guardian for direction.

"Go with him, Sides. It'll be all right." But Knockout looked grim as he said it. Sideswipe reluctantly took the mech's hand and let himself be led into the next room.

"So your name is Sideswipe, huh? Nice name," the mech said cheerfully.

"I guess," Sideswipe muttered. "Why do you need to talk to Knockout?"

"Oh, it's just protocol," The mech waved his hand dismissively, but his fake smile wasn't fooling Sideswipe. "Tell me about Knockout. What's he like?"

Sideswipe shrugged. "He's cool, I guess. He takes me driving and sings to me when I can't sleep and—" Sideswipe clamped his mouth shut; he'd nearly mentioned the sparring lessons. "—and he teaches me lots of cool stuff," he said instead.

"I see." The mech pulled out a datapad.

"What's that for?"

"Just so I can write things down," The mech said, smiling again. "So does Knockout take care of you? Make sure you get all the fuel and maintenance you need?"

"Duh; he's my guardian. That's what they do."

"Of course, of course," The mech said hastily. "And how does he treat you? Does he ever get mad?"

"Everybot gets mad sometimes," Sideswipe replied with a shrug. Why was the mech asking about this?

"But does he get mad at you a lot?

Sideswipe thought about that. "Not really," he decided. "Usually only if I do something stupid, like get myself damaged. He says it's a good thing he's a medic, because no one else would be able to afford my medical bills."

"Uh-huh," the mech nodded. He scribbled something on the datapad. "And…does he ever hurt you when gets angry?"

"No. He'd never hurt me." Sideswipe's brow furrowed. "Why are you asking? Did someone say he did?"

"No, but…" The mech fidgeted, as if he didn't want to go on. Sideswipe wasn't giving up easily, though. He widened his optics in what Knockout called his "kicked turbopuppy" look. Knockout found it hard to resist; this mech should succumb to it easily.

"Well…" The mech faltered at the sight of the wide, innocent optics. "I'm…afraid your guardian doesn't have the best history. The Council members think it's be best if we found you another guardian more suited to care for a sparkling."

"But Knockout takes care of me just fine! Why—" Suddenly, it hit him. Sideswipe narrowed his optics at the mech. "It's because he was a Decepticon, isn't it?"

The mech looked awkward. "His record—"

"He's not a Decepticon anymore! He's an Autobot, and he's a good mech! There's no reason for me to leave!"

"We just think someone more suitable—"

"NO!" With that, Sideswipe turned and ran. The mech yelled for him to stop, but Sideswipe ignored it. He burst into the living room, optics blazing. Before any of the mechs could stop him, Sideswipe raced across the room and threw himself into Knockout's arms. His guardian stiffened at the touch—he wasn't a huggy kind of bot. But Sideswipe clung to him as if his life depended on it.

"Listen, you!" He shouted at the startled officials. "Knockout is the best guardian in the world and I'm not leaving him! You can't make me!" He buried his head in his guardian's chestplate. It took a second for Knockout to overcome his surprise, but when he did, he immediately returned the embrace. Sideswip held to his as tight as he could in case the other mechs tried to drag him away. He wasn't leaving. He wasn't.

There was silence for several long moments as Knockout held him. One of the official mechs finally cleared his throat awkwardly. "I, uh, believe we have enough information for now," he mumbled. "Thank you for your time."

"I believe you know where the door is." Knockout replied coldly. He didn't let go of Sideswipe as the strange mechs left. The door shut behind them, and the house was once again silent, empty but for the two of them.

"I don't want to leave," Sideswipe repeated, huddling close to his guardian's spark.

Knockout rubbed his back comfortingly. "I don't want you to leave either, mein leben."

Thanks to journal129 for beta-reading.
Also, I decided to do a new thing and put the date-in years since the war-at the beginning of the chapter. To help the timeline be clearer. What do you guys think?