To Protect What Is Precious

by Meiza

Having a giant alien robot practically land in your backyard is bad enough, until it shows up on your doorstep asking for help. Then again, Nolan and Aine have been wanting to get away from home. What's the worse that could happen? Famous last words...

14. Ch 14 Endings

AN: Oh WOW! I was just blown away by the response from the last chapter! I don't think I had ever gotten so many reviews so fast! It warms my heart, it really does, even if quite a lot of you were distressed by the cliff hanger (as rosegrl234 put it: "NO! NOT ELITA! THEY WERE SO CLOSE TO FINALLY HAVING A MUSHY ROMANTIC SCENE! WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?") XD. Totally made my night.

This chapter got away from me. A lot. The story has taken on a life of its own! And the chapters keep. Getting. Bigger! Someone please, make it stop before it eats my soul! AAAAAHHH!!!

Speaking of which, we're getting close to the end kiddies. After this chapter, there'll only be one left. ;_; Ah well, all good things must come to an end, and when this story wasn't beating me up, I really enjoyed writing it. You guys made it all the sweeter. ^_^

Disclaimer: Transformers are not mine, but I do own the DVD. Original inspiration for the story came from Ray of Starlight's "Twin Times the Fun," an excellent read for Lambo Twin's fans.

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Ch. 14 – Endings…

~Ogden, Utah, 7:50 pm~

Einstein was really onto something when he started talking about the theory of relativity. The moment when the explosion first went off, that moment alone had lasted for an eternity as she fell flaming to the ground, without even enough time to cry out or realize what had happened. Everyone had moved so very, very slowly, as if they were walking in molasses, their words dulled as if their mouths were filled with cotton.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Nolan was in a hospital, his leg in a cast with Aine sitting in a chair besides him, her small, trembling hand gripping his for comfort.

Or is it my hand that's shaking, and she's the one comforting me? He wondered.

Not that he cared much which it was. He still felt dazed and not entirely there, even nearly two hours after the fact. If anyone asked, Nolan doubt he'd be able to give a clear account of what happened after the bomb first went off.

The explosion filling his ears, drowning out screaming – Aine's? Optimus'? His own? – the flaming, brightly burning form falling sideways like a sun – just like when she first arrived, fire falling from the sky, how funny – Bumblebee covering him, all of them, protecting them from the splattered energon and shrapnel shooting from the explosion, from her body, her arm had gone flying, pin-wheeling slowly through the air –

Ratchet leaning over her, the fire out, she wasn't burning, metal doesn't actually burn, it melts and warps, but doesn't burn, Ratchet is saying something, but his throat is filled with cotton – or was it just his ears? – he can't hear what he's saying, but it's loud and sharp and he's yelling something while wrist deep in Elita's body, Mikaela right with him and the Prime hovering over them until Ratchet barks at him to backup –

Pink liquid everywhere, splattered from the blast, dripping from the cracks and seems, so much of it, killing the grass, brown spots growing larger, the biggest ones smoking in the middle – flesh eating acid and all that, this might be a problem later for someone –

Ratchet's the best, the very very best, but he can't save her here, not out here with only the tools he has and the supplies he carries or can cannibalize from himself, he needs to get her somewhere else now right now now now, can't wait because he can't save her here, and where is Optimus going? He HAS to stay here with her, she came so far to see him, he has to stay and – wait, he's a truck? Oh, that makes sense. He's getting a trailer so they'd be able to transport her, but a trailer can't get all the way out here, it's too big, how are they going to move her? You're not supposed to move someone if they're hurt, that's what they say in Drivers Ed. after a car crash and you're not a paramedic, how are they going to move her?

He wants to get in closer, see what's happening, but Ratchet motions him away, his lips moving but words dull and muffled like they're coming from far away and he can't understand except she's hurt and she's not moving and her eyes are dark and he wants to know what's happening how bad is it can he help her please please please let me SEE her –

He's being carried, doesn't know who, but he's being lifted and carried somewhere, and he strains his neck to keep her in sight, pleading to see her but the words are getting trapped in his throat and come out dull and fuzzy and he can't even understand the words himself –

He's inside one of them, but he doesn't remember getting there. The others are there too – Sam, Mikaela, and Aine, and they all look scared and anxious and no one's talking – and they're all together inside of Ratchet – must be Ratchet, he's an ambulance type thing, and it's roomy back here. He moves up to look out the window, and he can see the big black truck with Elita in his bed, but she's too tall to fit easy, they had to scrunch her up to fit, that can't be good, what if it makes her worse? She was hurt so bad, so very bad bad bad, this can't be good, her hand is dangling over the edge and swinging a little as Ironhide rolls over the terrain and he's almost mesmerized by the back and forth motion of her dangling hand –

The road is narrow, but it'll lead to the highway, or so he hopes. Optimus is waiting with a trailer – how'd he get it? Doesn't matter, he has it, that's all that matters – and they're moving Elita oh so carefully inside, like she'll break and shatter into a thousand pieces at any moment, and she's all charred and black and her arm is completely gone and so is most of her shoulder Bumblebee is holding that and handing it to Ratchet now, Ratchet's getting in with Elita, keep her alive for a little while longer until they can fly her back to base where he can help her please oh please oh please help her –

What? No, no, no no no no NO NO! He has to go with them, he HAS to go with them! This is all his fault, he's the reason Elita's hurt so bad, he has to stay with her! His leg is fine, hurts a little sure, but it can wait! No, no, don't make Bumblebee take him to the hospital, the leg can wait until they're in Tranquility, it's not life threatening! Don't make him stay behind, don't leave him, don't take her away, don't take her away, DON'T TAKE HER AWAY!

In the end, that was exactly what had happened. And now here he was, in a hospital room in God-knows-where, in a stupid hospital gown, waiting for…he didn't know. Ironhide had been the one to drop them off, being the only one uninjured and able to be spared. Nolan could dimly remember him saying something about waiting, so he figured the Topkick was sitting in the parking lot somewhere.

Nolan couldn't even remember what kind of cockamamie story Sam had come up with – he caught something about a camping trip gone bad, but that was it – before he was rushed to the emergency room and the doctors slapped the cast on his leg. A small part of him was half expecting the police to show up at any minute, tearing their flimsy story to shreds and demanding the truth.

Or worse, the government and/or army. Wouldn't THAT be a perfect ending to today?

"I'm sure Elita's okay," Aine said, breaking through Nolan's darkening mood. She gave his hand a soft sqeeze. "Ratchets the very best medic out of all the Autobots – and probably the Decepticons too! He won't let her die."

"She was blown practically in half!" Nolan snapped. "You really think he's gonna have much choice in the matter?"

"She's also an x-million year old robot who's already survived through a war that older than the human race itself," she countered gently. "She's not going to clock out that easily. Have a little faith in her."

Nolan looked down at his lap, feeling his snappish anger drain away with just a few cool, calm words. She always knew just what to say, didn't she? No matter how stressed he was, she knew just the right thing to say, like cool balm on a burn. When did she become so mature? Since when was she so…grown up?

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"It's just the stress. I don't mind. You've had a really, REALLY bad day," the younger O'Connell said lightly. But Nolan didn't even smile at the joke.

"No, not that. I mean yes, that too, but not just that. I mean, I'm sorry for…everything, actually."

Aine made a questioning sound.

"When you're a hostage, you get a lot of time to think." Nolan explained. He still couldn't look at her, because if he didn't the dam would break and he'd never be able to get through this. Slowly, the words struggled past the boulder in his throat.

"I've been thinking about what you said, back then, about me and, and Dad and what I've been doing to you."

Aine gasped a little. "Nolan, I didn't mean – you're a wonderful big brother! You've always been a wonderful brother! I was just mad, and I wanted to hurt you. You're not nearly as bad as Dad is – "

She stopped, corrected herself.

"- can be, sometimes."

Nolan shook his head. "No, don't apologize for being right. Don't ever apologize for being right." He rubbed the bridge of his nose to hide his eyes. "I should've told you that years ago, a hundred times over." He added quietly.

Aine said nothing, just patiently waited until Nolan was ready to elaborate. After he quietly composed himself, he went on, slowly, haltingly, but determined to say what he had promised himself to say hours before, when he was praying for a chance to survive.

"I meant what I said before. I really do only want the best for you, even if it means giving up something for myself, just so long as you're safe and happy."

Like a high school diploma, or a chance to go to college.

"Everything I was doing, I was doing because I didn't know how else to do it. I just wanted to keep you save as best I could the only way I knew how. I guess that's how I got so…controlling. I was…you were right, I was coddling you, suffocating you, doing what I was doing. Maybe what I was doing was okay back when you were five and thought hunting for unicorns alone in the forest with a butterfly net was a great idea, but not so much when you started to grow up."

Nolan ran his free hand through his hair with a rueful smile. "You weren't supposed to grow up, you know. You were supposed to stay small and cute forever. I watched Mom with you, I knew how to handle a little kid. When you got older, I didn't know how to change with you."

"Well good for you: I still am small and cute." Aine said with a little grin.

Nolan chuckled, but the amusement didn't quite reach his eyes. He still wasn't looking at her, instead looking back to how everything changed five years prior.

"You and Mom are exactly alike, did I ever tell you that?"

Nolan had no idea what possessed him to say that. The thought had flitted across his mind, and had jumped out of his mouth without bothering to get permission first.

"No, you haven't." Aine said, looking startled and confused. "You and Dad don't talk about her at all."

"Well, you are. You don't just look alike either; you think the same, you feel the same, everything."

Now that Nolan had started down that path, he couldn't bring himself to stop. The words kept coming, flooding out, spilling over the dam he worked so hard to build up.

"Mom was the most compassionate, generous, patient person I ever knew. You're like that too. That's why were you able to open your heart to an unknown alien creature when I was running for the baseball bat. Even though you were scared, you couldn't bring yourself to NOT help. Mom probably would have done the exact same thing, probably she would have invited her to the backyard for a luncheon or something.

"That's why I had to get you out of that house."

"Because of Dad?" she asked softly.

"The thing about Dad is, well, he feels…absolutely entitled to everything, even stuff he has no rights too. He's never grateful, and just takes everything for granted. You were too young to remember, and Mom tried to hide them, but I remember the fights. Well, they weren't really 'fights' actually. It was more like Dad being in a tiff about something again and Mom endlessly apologizing and promising to make it better, even when it wasn't even her fault in the first place. It was never her fault, but Dad made her feel responsible anyway, like she was personally responsible for every little thing that upset him, no matter how stupid or minor.

"She used to be so vibrant, Aine. She laughed and teased, and made up games, she'd take us to the lake or the movies on a whim, just because she felt like it that day. But, Dad started getting more and more irritable, and it was getting harder and harder to keep him happy and compliant. Mom did everything she could, and it was never enough. She went above and beyond so many times, but to Dad it was never 'above and beyond', it was all just stuff she was supposed to do because it was her duty as his wife. Like how you made breakfast for him that one time as a nice gesture, and he decided to make it another chore for you because it was your duty as his daughter.

"After awhile, I think she just kind of gave up. She didn't smile anymore, didn't laugh…she slept a lot, but she always seemed tired and listless and sad. Like, she used to be so bright and colorful, and she faded to a dull grey.

"But I was so stupid!" Nolan almost shouted. He slammed the heel of his hand to his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. "I didn't…I saw it happing, but I didn't do anything! I didn't even try!"

His voice was chocking, the boulder growing, trying to stop the flood, but the flood had been long in coming and would not be stopped now, not until it had run its full course.

"I just kept hoping that everything would get better if I just waited, that everything would go back to the way it used to be, all by itself. I didn't…do…anything.

"And one day, Mom…she broke. She couldn't do it anymore. She was so tired and sad, and she couldn't do it anymore."

"Was that when she…" Aine trailed off, not able to bring herself to say it just yet.

Nolan nodded anyway. He leaned his head back and kept his eyes shut, trying to force the tears back down into the well.

"She uh, left a note, that night." He said quietly. "She said she was sorry, and she loved us. She asked me to take care of you. It was kind of her last request. I'd've done it anyway, but I think…I think that's what really drove it home for me. I couldn't afford to be selfish and idle anymore. I wasn't going to fail again. I…wasn't going to let someone else I love get hurt."

So there it was, all out in the open. Nolan had lain himself bare to his sister, more vulnerable than he had ever been in his life. He leaned back against the raised back of his bed, eyes open again and staring sightlessly up at the white ceiling, waiting for her judgment, whatever it may be.

And waited.

The seconds ticked by, but Aine wasn't saying anything, her hand in his as still as a dolls. Nolan felt irrational anger welling up and pushed it back down. He had no right to be upset with her lack of reaction…but why wasn't she saying anything?? Get mad, yell at him, tell him she didn't care, just do SOMETHING!

After a small eternity, he finally dared to turn his head just the slightest to look at Aine at the corner of his eye. Almost immediately his head snapped up.

Aine was reacting after all: head down, shoulder shaking, crying but without sobs, sniffles, or any other sounds associated with tears. She wept instead in absolute silence. Aine almost never cried, since when had she been able to cry so quietly?

Or…had she always been crying, and learned silence so as to hide her tears?

"I'm sorry!" Nolan blurted out, sitting up and twisting his body around to reach her. Aw crud, dang it dang it dang it! He was so stupid! He wanted to…he didn't know what he was trying to do, but he hadn't meant to make her cry!

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I should've done it better." He babbled, squeezing her hand and patting her shoulder a little awkwardly. "I'm sorry I threw this all out at you all at once and everything. Aw c'mon, please don't cry anymore, I can't stand it…"

Oh that was SUCH the wrong thing to say!

"I mean, it's okay if you want to cry, I don't mind – no wait! I mean…oh forget it, come over here."

Nolan pulled Aine closer, scooting over and guiding her onto the bed to lie next to him, with him under the sheets and her on top. She curled up close against him, wrapping an arm around his stomach and softly sobbed into his shoulder. Nolan hugged her close, stroking her hair and whispering softly to her, just like he used to do when she was little and had a bad dream.

They stayed like that for a long time, until Aine's racking shoulders finally still and her breathing evened out as the choking sobs faded. Even then they lay together quietly, Nolan stroking her back now the way she liked it as she calmed down.

She sniffed a couple of times, and then rolled back so Nolan could see her face. Her eyes were red, her face splotchy, and Aine used her remaining sleeve to wipe her nose…then belatedly tried to wipe off some of the mucus she left behind on Nolan's maroon shirt, right under the large wet spot.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"Don't be."

"………..I'm exactly like Mom, huh?"

"Yep. It's kinda creepy sometimes. But you definitely got the best parts of her."

"But I'm not exactly like her, you know."

"Well, yeah, but you are a LOT alike."

"No, I mean…oh this is going to sound awful, but I think it's the truth: I think I'm stronger than Mom was."

Nolan lifted his head and gave her a confused look. "Eh?"

She tilted her head up to look at him, her chin on his chest. "I mean, I'm never going to give up like she did. After the last three days, I think I can say that now and mean it. I'm never going to give up, and I'm never going to leave you like Mom did."

Nolan couldn't breathe.

Aine put her head back down, listening to her brother's heartbeat. "I've had a little time to think too. About Mom, what she did…and I know this'll sound bad, but I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her for it."

"Aine?!"

"I mean it! Don't get me wrong, I still miss her, I still love her, and I still wish she'd stayed with us. But I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her for what she did to you."

"What she did to me?"

"Mom left you a note, right? She could have just left, let everyone believe it was an accident. Maybe write a letter to Dad, if she really wanted her last words. But you were only 13 years old. Bad enough you had to deal with losing your Mom. Why did she have to tell you she killed herself too? What child needs to know that?"

"Maybe she wanted to tell me it wasn't my fault?"

"Didn't stop you from blaming yourself anyway, did it? And you had to carry that burden all by yourself for years. You shouldn't have had to. Mom shouldn't have made you!"

Aine tightened her hold on him, expression angry over the perceived offense. Nolan stared at her in mild shock (Aine? Angry? Check outside for flying pigs, now!), but warmth and affection bloomed in his chest. For once, Aine was being the protective one, getting upset on his behalf, and it honestly startled him how good it felt to be on the receiving end for once. To have someone look at him and say 'it's not your fault.'

Nolan loved his baby sister so much right then.

But it also begged another question.

"So…what happens to us now?" he asked tentatively. Aine twisted her head up to look up at him with a "hm?"

"You and me. Um, that is…can we, you know, go back to before? How we were before we had that fight?"

Aine looked at him for a long time. Slowly, sadly, she shook her head. "Nolan, I love you more than anything, you know that. But what we had before, we'll never have again."

The boy felt his heart break.

"Why not?" he asked, almost pleading.

"Because it's not what I want anymore."

"…………What?"

Aine shifted, removing herself from Nolan to sit up, kneeling on the bed and looking at him straight on. She took a deep breath.

"You said it yourself, you knew how to take care of me and protect me when I was little, and you did great. But you said you didn't know what to do with me once I got older. So, here's a few suggestions:

"I want to be treated with respect, not like a child. Like an intelligent person, who gets asked for input, who gets a say in the big choices – like whether or not we should move.

"I want to be allowed to make my own decisions. I'll welcome advice, I'll listen to experience, but I want to be allowed to make my choices, even, no, especially when they're bad ones. I need to make my own mistakes, or I won't learn.

"I want to be listened to when I have something to say. Not just heard and brushed off, but really listened to. I want to know what I say, what my opinions are, matter.

"I want you to talk to me, and I want to be able to talk to you. I'm not saying we have to spill all our guts about everything – we don't have to throw out privacy – but I want us to stop cutting each other out of our lives in a warped attempt to protect each other.

"I want us to be open with each other. I want us to trust each in the realest sense of the word. I don't want you bottling up everything anymore, and I…I want to be able to confide in you, too."

Nolan sat up. "Wait. You've been keeping me out of the loop too?"

Aine averted her eyes.

"Never mind, we'll talk about it later," Nolan amended. He wanted to know what burden Aine had been carrying for him, but first he wanted to finish this train of the conversation. It was too important to put off any longer.

He leaned back against the pillow with a sigh and rolled his head back, turning Aine's words over in his head. He had always thought he treated her with respect and dignity, and compared to Richard he certainly did. But…perhaps he wasn't as much as he thought.

A whole new dynamic between them, to replace what they had before. Their old relationship was familiar and comfortable…but, from what his sister was saying, it was no longer appropriate. She was growing, becoming more independent, and he hadn't seen it because he was used to thinking of her as a little girl who needed his protection and guidance.

What she wanted most, Nolan realized, was the chance to spread her fledgling wings.

"You want me to listen to you, treat you like an adult, and let you make your own decisions, right?"

"Mm-hm."

"Okay then. I can live with that. I think it'll take me awhile to change, but I'm going to try, okay? You uh, you deserve that much, at least."

The way Aine's expression positively lit up and glowed with her smile was enough to sap all the bad feelings right out of Nolans heart, at least for the moment.

Nolan made a beckoning motion with his hand, and Aine curled up next to him again.

It was a weird feeling, Nolan decided. He felt, not hollow, so much as…light. It was weird and different…but he liked it. It also made his next decision much easier.

"Hey Aine, what happened to our backpacks?"

"…….Are you freaking KIDDING me??!"

Nolan just had to laugh at the disbelieving look of outrage on her face. "It's not what you think. But seriously, where's our stuff?"

Aine rolled her eyes. "If you must know, they're still at the airport, in a locker, with a lock. No one's going to steal your money, Mr. Scrooge."

"I wasn't thinking about that. There's something I need to show you."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Something I should've shared with you a long time ago…"

---

To Nolan mild surprise, he and Aine managed to fall into a light doze, after talking for over an hour about, everything really – including her panic attacks (and Nolan was still kicking himself for never noticing there was something wrong). The day's activities had finally caught up to them, and they had succumbed to their body's demands for rest. What had awoken Nolan now was the swish and padding of someone opening the door and coming in, only to stop abruptly.

Nolan peeled his eyes opened to see one of the aides, a young woman, in green scrubs and looking a bit awkward standing at the foot of the bed, staring at himself and Aine curled up together.

He waited.

She kept staring.

"………..She's my little sister."

A raised brow.

"Can I help you?" Nolan asked tersely. Seriously, what was going through the aides head? Sicko.

"Um, sorry to bother you, but you've been checked out. The doctors would rather you stay overnight, but you're free to go home if you want."

"Excuse me?"

"A'wha now?" Aine mumbled as she slowly rejoined the world of the living.

"Your uncle Tommy checked you out." The aide explained. "You can come in now sir, they're awake!"

Uncle Tommy? They didn't have an Uncle Tommy!

"Kids! Thank god you're alright! We were so scared when we heard what happened!"

Nolan stared as a youngish man, early to mid thirties he'd guess, with brown hair and eyes came in with a wide smile and shining eyes. He looked similar enough to bare a passing resemblance, but Nolan was a hundred percent sure he'd never seen this man before – his heart was thudding in growing fear at the implications of what this could mean. Before the siblings could do more than sit up, 'Tommy' swooped right over and pulled them both into a bear hug. Any protests and accusations died when the stranger whispered something quick and urgent in both their ears.

"I'm with the Autobots. Play along."

Nolan felt his heart stop.

Aine, who had always been better at adapting to strange situation and going with the flow, smiled and hugged him back. "Uncle Tommy! It's been so long, I almost didn't recognize you! How'd you get here so fast?"

'Uncle Tommy' laughed and pulled away, still keeping a hand on each of their shoulders. "I was in the area already for business. I came right over as soon as I heard. Poor Nolan, I bet you weren't expecting to see me, right?"

The man ruffled Nolan's hair in an affectionate manner, and Nolan's cognitive senses finally caught up enough to play along.

"Uh, yeah, it's been a really long time, um, Uncle Tommy." Then, figuring he might as well do it right, he added "Sorry it took me a minute to recognize you. You've lost a lot of weight."

Tommy burst out laughing, and it sounded like genuine amusement. "What can I say, you're Aunt finally managed to bully me into going to the gym. I'm still waiting for the universe to implode."

"I'll leave you to catch up," the aide spoke up. "I'll get your things."

"'Kay then, thanks miss!" Tommy said quickly with a charming smile.

Everyone waited the few seconds it took for the aide to turn and leave. The moment the door clicked shut behind her, all pretenses dropped faster than a lead rock in a lake.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Nolan demanded coldly.

'Tommy' kept smiling, taking a step back and holding his hands up, face with a pitch-perfect "Love me, I'm innocent!" expression that Nolan was half-convinced he must have practiced in the mirror.

"Chillax Nolan, I'm one of the Good Guys. I'm here to bring you and Aine to Tranquility, where the Autobot base is. Elita's already there, by the way, in surgery. At first the powers that be wanted to send you straight home…"

He did not miss the way Nolan tensed and suck in his breath just a little, or how Aine's hand automatically rested on his.

"…but Prime put his foot down and insisted you be allowed to stay until she woke up at least. And, well, not many people are going to argue with a 28 foot robot."

"What about Sam and Mikaela?" Aine asked.

"Sam's 'cousin' is getting them now. They'll be coming with us too."

"And Ironhide?"

"Knows about the situation. We talked to him before coming in. He's going to be flown back in the plane Optimus managed to wrangle from the military for the time being. The rest of us get to go by helicopter. It's a really cool one too, you'll like it."

"So who are you?" Nolan insisted. "How do you know about the Autobots at all? I thought they were in hiding."

"Well, they are. We're just helping them stay hidden."

"A straight answer would be great, you know." Nolan practically growled. "Who. Are. You?"

The man grinned, and shrugged. He pulled what looked like a wallet from his back pocket, only to flip it open and hold it up cop-style to reveal a stylized badge of the likes Nolan had never seen before, with the letters 'RDA' clearly visible.

"Field Agent Thomas Crusoe of the Reconnaissance and Discretion Agency."

Looooong stares.

"Come again?"

"It's a government organization that was put together with the primary objective of keeping the nation's biggest secret a secret." Tommy – Thomas? – Mr. Crusoe? – explained, folding the badge up. "We scope out possible leaks and shut them down, and provide a network for the Autobots to use when one of their own lands, though we've hadn't had much practice with the last one. You kids really threw a wrench in the works when you left with Elita. We've been trying to catch up with you guys for the last three days. And don't get me started on those kids who saw the fight with Onslaught, the higher ups nearly had an aneurism when the video hit YouTube."

"WHAT?!"

"Funny story, actually, I'll tell you about it on the way."

---

~ Autobot Base, 10:30 pm ~

"This is the Autobot base?"

"It was all the military could afford to give them, apparently," Sam explained, sounding just a bit bitter about it. "But the Autobots have been working on fixing it up for themselves. You should have seen it a few months ago, Optimus couldn't even stand up straight in most of the buildings."

He still can't, Nolan thought, eyeing the low barracks.

"It's not exactly a five star hotel, but to be fair it was short notice," Tommy – as he insisted on being called – said from the driver's seat. "We were more concerned with finding shelter out in the desert where no one would be able to find them on accident. Nobody comes so far out here without a good reason. Besides, it's only temporary – I heard they're working on getting permission to bring their ship down for more permanent lodging, not to mention supplies and what not still on it. Don't know how that's going though, since it'd be insanely tricky to pull off without half the nation freaking out about an invasion."

"Maybe we can point the other way and yell "Look! A distraction!" when that happens," Sam joked, earning himself a few chuckles.

Currently, the four teenagers were in the back of a black SUV with tinted windows, with Tommy driving them and another agent, Sam's 'cousin', in the passenger seat, a blonde man named Casey Something-impossible-to-pronounce-because-he's-half-Polish and Tommy's partner.

The oversized van slowed to a stop in front of one of the hangers, which Casey informed them had been taken over by Ratchet within two minutes of his arrival and turned into their med bay – such as it what, what with their limited supplies. He and Tommy were going to wait outside while the rest of the kids went in.

"We're not forbidden from going inside, but it kind of makes the Autobots uncomfortable," he explained, spreading his hands in a 'what can you do?' gesture. "They don't really trust us very much, and I can't blame them really. Honestly, we're not entirely comfortable with close proximity either."

"Why? I thought you guys were helping them." Aine asked innocently. Behind her, Sam and Mikaela exchanged glances.

"Let's just say, first contact didn't go over very well." Tommy explained evasively. Sam muttered 'You think?' under his breath.

It was a little awkward, trying to walk with crutches for the first time, and it didn't help that Nolan was impatient, but they managed to get inside. When he did, Nolan stopped dead still.

Aluminum walls had been erected, separating the hanger into two separate rooms, the first one being a waiting room. At least, that was what it looked like. Ironhide, Jazz, Bumblebee, even Optimus were all there, spread out either sitting, laying down (Jazz on his stomach), or obsessively cleaning weapons (Ironhide). They were all completely silent, but with the sound of the door all four of them looked up and pinned the humans with intense stares than made Nolan want to shrink back.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, pushing to the front with Mikaela.

Rather than answering, Jazz immediately got up and came over, Bumblebee right behind him.

"Jazz!" Mikaela exclaimed, walking forward to meet them and Sam following. "You shouldn't be moving, you're self repair systems need more time to-"

Not even paying attention to what she was saying, the silver Solstice scooped her up in his arms and held her close, silencing her. Bumblebee kneeled down and wrapped his hands around Sam, making small sounds. Sam patted his hands comfortingly, and Mikaela hugged Jazz back the best she could. Bumblebee kept one hand wrapped around Sam, and with the other reached up for Mikaeala in Jazz's arms. She reached out with a hand and touched his fingers.

"What happened t'ya Mikki?" Jazz asked, sounding both worried and horrified.

His shock could hardly be blamed. Mikaela was literally covered in purplish-black bruises on almost every piece of visible skin, her face, arms, legs, and the slice of stomach that could be seen when she raised her arms and raised the shirt. On top of that, her right upper arm was wrapped in white bandages. Nolan had been almost horrified when he saw the girl, and Aine had immediately glued herself to her in maternal worry and fuss. Sam himself had glued himself to her hip.

"What, this?" she asked, gesturing the bandage. "A little bit of energon spilled on me. It's nothing too serious, and it doesn't hurt anymore. It's okay, really. And the bruises, well, rolling around with a giant metal person isn't all that good on the skin, it turns out."

"Primus Mikki, I'm really sorry 'bout that. But do me a favor, and don't ever scare me like that again, okay? I just about had a spark-attack when I saw ya on th' field."

Bumblebee made a noise of agreement, and his grip on Sam tightened protectively just a little.

Nolan and Aine stood back, both feeling a little awkward watching such a personal moment. What had happened had clearly shaken them, and to see such alien creatures seeking comfort and the young humans doing their best to give it…it was strangely humbling.

Nolan remembered the one and only time he was held like that, completely encompassed by someone he knew would gladly protect him against anything and everything, and felt a sharp pain in his heart.

"So what about Elita?" he tried. Jazz and Bumblebee looked up as if noticing them for the first time.

"Ratchet squirreled her away in th' med bay few hours ago, and we haven't heard anythin' from him since," Jazz answered. He looked down at the girl still in his arms. "An' before you ask Mikki, he specifically said not to let you in neither. This kinda surgery is over your head, an' Ratchet ain't gonna throw you in the deep end like this."

Nolan felt his stomach twist, and Aine held his hand a little tighter.

Nolan walked/limped past everyone else, Aine trotting after him, and promptly claimed a spot right next to the wall. If he leaned against it, he could hear movement and faint beeping of monitoring machines, occasionally the clicking of tools and moving parts and the familiar clicking-shifting of transformation, which would be Ratchet turning his incredible hands into whatever tool he needed next.

If anything changed, Nolan would be the first to, literally, hear of it.

"Nolan. Aine."

That was quite possibly the deepest voice the boy had ever heard, and the metallic undercurrent gave it an added air of authority and age – or was it the effect of the speaker himself?

For all of a sudden Optimus Prime was right there, kneeling down in front of them (and holy crap was he big), a hand on the floor to balance and the other on his knee, speaking gently but with power. It reminded Aine of iron wrapped in velvet, of a cello being played with leather gloves, of smooth oil and oak wood.

It reminded Nolan of a mix between a badass anti-hero, that narrator guy, and God.

"I wanted to thank you both for everything you have done for Elita," Optimus went one when the kids opted to stare rather than speak. "You were ready to leave your home and risk your lives and well being to help her make it here safely, and you have my deepest gratitude."

Aine opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't stop thinking of everything Elita had told her of the Prime, of who he was and what he was, how respected and revered he was, how ancient he must be, and it left her overwhelmed and tongue tied.

And holy cow, he was big.

Nolan, on the other hand couldn't even bring himself to look him in the eye, feeling dirty and lower than ever. Gratitude? He was the reason Elita was hurt in the first place, he was more surprised Optimus didn't want to take him out back and step on him!

"Do not blame yourself for what has happened Nolan," Optimus said gently. The boy flinched, but said nothing, even as the Prime continued. "Elita didn't blame you before, and she won't blame you now. I know she would not want to you punish yourself even worse than you have already."

Tentatively, Nolan looked up briefly, questioningly.

"I don't blame you either," the Prime added, and he meant it. "I could never hold you accountable for that which was beyond you to control."

Nolan wished he could believe that.

---

~ 12:40 am ~

It had been a little over two hours since the humans had arrived, but the situation had yet to change. Ratchet didn't give any updates, the sounds didn't change, and everyone kept on waiting. Nolan hadn't left his vigil by the aluminum wall, and his sister was nearly asleep on his shoulder, occasionally raising her head and trying to wake up again. Mikaela was already gone, fast on Sam's shoulder, the both of them resting against Bumblebee's thigh. Sam was trying to stay awake, but he kept nodding off for a few seconds at a time. The Autobots, not needing nearly as much recharge as humans did, were as wide awake as ever.

So when Optimus comm. beeped with the quiet unobtrusiveness of a cannonball, everyone leapt halfway out of their respective skins and frames.

"Primus! Didn't'ja have that on silent or somethin'?!" Jazz exclaimed once he was back on solid ground.

Ignoring him, Optimus tapped the side of his head to answer the message. "Yes?"

"Yo. This is Prime, right?"

It took all of Optimus' iron will not to frown in exasperation. There were only a handful of humans who knew how to access his comm. line, for reasons of emergencies. Unfortunately, protocol demanded that one of those persons had to be the Head of RDA Field Operations, Reginald Simmons. Joy.

"This line does not connect to anyone else, and should only be used for emergencies if other means are not available."

"Hey, I tried calling the regular way, but no one was answering the phone."

Okay, Simmons had a valid point there. With everyone in the med bay, there wasn't anyone monitoring Telatraan-2 for incoming messages. Prime probably should have put someone there, but no one wanted to leave until they knew if their Femme Commander, and first new arrival, was going to be alright. And frankly, Optimus really couldn't care less about missed messages right now.

"What do you want Simmons?"

"Alright, I know things are kinda tense right now, so I'll be brief: the O'Connell kids, they're still with you, right?"

"Yes."

"Are they awake?"

"Yes."

"Are they coherent?"

"…Yes."

"Oh goody, they're in perfect condition to meet their dad! We'll be there in maybe fifteen minutes."

Optimus frowned slightly.

"Why are you contacting me directly? Your agents are still outside, they could have passed the message along just fine."

"Yeah, but then they'd have to come inside, and those two in particular used to be with Sector Seven. They still don't believe me when I tell them that none of you guys are going to sit on them because of the whole thing with Bumblebee. Hell, I don't believe myself when I'm telling them."

Good point. But in any case…

"This might not be the most appropriate time for such things."

"Maybe, maybe not, but we're talking about the father of two kids who, as far as he knows, just spent the last few days as hostages of a hostile giant alien robot. We couldn't exactly stuff him in a closet and ignore him (much as I'd like to)."

Optimus had the feeling he wasn't meant to hear that last part.

"Anyway, the higher ups are pretty insistent on this." Simmons went on. "And it's not like we can convince him NOW that the Autobots don't exist. This is mostly a courtesy call Prime, and like it or not, we're coming. You don't want to meet him yourself, that's cool, but at least have the kids waiting outside."

"Will you be taking them when you leave?"

"Depends on what Richard does, but my guess is: probably. I can't exactly stop him if he wants to take his kids home on the next flight out."

Simmons was right; if their father wanted to take Nolan and Aine away before Elita woke up from surgery there wasn't anything any of them could do to stop him. Perhaps if Optimus met him himself, he could convince him to at least wait until morning. He didn't want them to leave before Elita had a chance to see them again. They deserved a chance to say good bye properly, if nothing else.

But, that they had to say good bye at all didn't feel at all right either.

Optimus switched off the comm. and looked at the children in question, both wide awake and looking at him curiously, as was everyone else.

"I just received a message from Simmons," he said. Everyone else groaned.

"Who's he?" Aine asked.

"Well, nowadays he's the Head of RDA Field Operations." Sam explained. "He's also a total jackass."

"That bad?" Nolan grimaced.

"Dude, his jackass-ery is off the scale."

"What'd he want Prime?" Jazz asked. Optimus kept his attention on the siblings.

"Your father has been in RDA custody. Simmons is bringing him here now."

Optimus wasn't the human expert the way Jazz was, but he knew enough to recognize most expressions. He had expected surprise, happiness, maybe relief their father was alright, or nervousness at having to explain the rather…interesting new developments.

What he had NOT expected was for Nolan to grow pale in visible horror, or Aine to stiffen and move closer to Nolan as if in comfort. Optimus wasn't the only one to notice the odd reaction.

"Somethin' wrong kids?" Jazz asked.

The boy just shook his head, as if having temporarily lost his ability to speak…again.

"Um, the thing is, we don't want to go home b-before Elita wakes up, and um, we're afraid Dad m-might not want to wait," Aine explained haltingly.

Even without the elevated heartbeat, the dilated pupils, the stuttering words, even if none of the Autobots had their scanners activated, every single person in that room would have been able to see through the blatant lie. The children had faced down a vengeance crazed Decepticon, kidnapping, torture, got caught in the crossfire at least once, but one mention of their father, and they were scared.

The only question was, 'why?'

---

Simmons snapped the cell phone shut and dropped in into the cup holder for easy access. If Grit were here, she'd probably glare at him a little for talking on the cell phone while driving again. Good thing she was still on 'leave'. Though, she was taking a long while to call in…

"What was that about?" a deep voice asked from behind him.

And he speaks!

"Just letting everyone know we're on our way," Simmons told Richard, keeping his eyes on the pseudo path that only existed in the specially designed GPS built into the big black SUV. This one in particular had the added feature of no windows. Perfect for transporting a civilian to a top secret facility populated with classified NBE's that definitely didn't exist, nope, not at all.

"There's a military base out here. You're kids are there right now." Simmons told him instead.

"Top secret type thing, right? Like Area 51?"

Simmons grinned. "Something like that."

Richard leaned back and crossed his arms with a scowl. His mood had been swiftly heading south for the better part of the day, and with good reason. He'd been a prisoner for three, going on four, days now, no one was telling him anything, and don't get him started on all the work he missed!

"If I lose my job because you people couldn't have bothered to move a little bit faster, I'm going to sue!"

"You've already gotten a nice Incentive to keep your trap shut," Simmons said tersely. "Don't push your luck."

"Threatening me again? That gets old, you know. You guys had better pay for our flight tickets and reparations to my house."

"I'd love to see you try and make us from a federal prison cell," Simmons answered back with mock cheerfulness.

Richard scowled some more, but didn't press the matter. Instead, he decided to try again at a well worn track that never got very far. "What's going on with the robot? If my kids are at a military base, what happened to the robot?"

Well, the details would probably become known to Richard within the next half hour, but Simmons really didn't feel like indulging him even in this much.

"Classified." He said briskly. Almost as an afterthought, he added "But, the threat has been neutralized."

No, he did NOT lie to Richard. The threat that was Onslaught was neutralized. He just…omitted certain clarifying details.

A wide, not entirely pleasant, self-satisfied grin broke across the man's face, and he relaxed in his chair with the air of someone who had just pulled off a great feat. Like he thought he, personally, had been responsible for 'neutralizing the threat'.

Okay, I know I can be a little arrogant sometimes, but at least it's for stuff I actually did! Simmons thought in exasperation. Oh well, let Richard believe he had something to do with Elita's death, or whatever was going through his head. It'll be funny to see him make a fool of himself when he took that assumption and ran with it. Maybe he'd piss off one of the Autobots enough that they might use him for a game of hacky sack.

Wonder what the kids would think of that, he thought.

And that got him started down another well worn train of thought. What he said to Grit before was true: just because someone was a jackass didn't automatically make them an abuser, or even a bad parent. They had no evidence to support anything of the sort, or even to believe the Mom died in something other than an accident. All anyone had to go on was gut feelings, and that was hardly compelling evidence in a courtroom.

And yet, you didn't spend the better part of twenty years in this business without developing good instincts. Simmons sometimes likened it to what Firefighters had that helped them avoid dangerous situation; that honed, gut instinct that screams at you that, for reasons you can't see or place a finger wrong, something is just plain wrong.

The former Sector Seven agent didn't get that sense with a lot of people, but when he did they tended to be right on the money. He'd been getting those signals from Richard almost from the moment he met the man, and it had only gotten worse the more time he spent with him. But, just having a bad feeling wasn't going to be enough this time, and while his position gave him wide powers and almost limitless options, the personal lives of civilians were far, far out of his hands.

Simmons glanced down at the phone, half expecting it to ring any moment now that Grit was running out of time.

The phone remained silent.

---

For nearly twenty minutes, Nolan and Aine had been waiting outside the hanger, sitting on a pair of old oil drums, Tommy and Casey still chilling in their SUV about fifty feet away. They had offered to let the kids wait in their vehicle, with its more comfortable seats, but the siblings had declined. Privacy was going to be limited, but with the upcoming reunion from the likely highly peeved Richard, they wanted as much as they could get. In that sense, Nolan was grateful for the dim lighting. There were no electric lights out here, since the Autobots and their built in night vision didn't need them, and humans weren't a constant enough presence to make lights a priority. The only source of light came from the stars and the nearly full moon, which lit up the sands as bright as day, but softer.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad," Aine said suddenly. "After what happened, he'll be too happy that we're alright to be mad right now. He might not get mad at all. I bet this whole thing has given him a lot of perspective. You can't go through this and not come out a little bit different on the other side."

Nolan made a noncommittal noise. He didn't want to crush her hopes, but frankly he was a great deal less optimistic about this. At least there were witnesses, Richard wouldn't be able to blow up TOO much. Maybe he could use that to his advantage, leverage it to make Richard let them stay at least for the rest of the night. Ratchet had been working for nearly six hours straight, so it couldn't take too much longer, right?

Right?

The kids straightened as bright white headlights appeared, and they watched as they came closer and closer, to materialize as another SUV identical to the one that brought them here, only minus windows.

Nolan didn't bother taking up the crutches still leaning against the wall. He stood as steadily as he could with his cast, Aine at his side, mentally prepping himself for anything Richard was about to through at him when he stepped out of that SUV. Anger, condescension, verbal undercutting, whatever Richard was about to throw at him, Nolan was ready to take it and throw it right back if he had too, if that was what it took to keep Richard from bullying himself, or Aine, into leaving before they were well ready too!

However, Nolan was NOT ready for him to break down in tears and grab them both in a bear hug.

"Aine! Nolan! Thank god you're alright!" He sobbed into their shoulders, taking a moment to kiss both their heads before pulling them back into a hug. "Oh God, I'm so sorry I let that robot take you both like that! I was praying that I'd be able to get you both back again, even if you never forgave me for being a coward!"

Nolan limply let him hug him, his eyes wide in disbelief as he tried to wrap his mind around this freakishly unexpected development.

Richard…was hugging them…Richard…was crying for them….Richard….was apologizing…was…what the heck was GOING ON??

~ SNAP! ~

Oh darn it; there goes his grip on reality.

Aine wasn't any less shocked, but she was a great deal happier about it. She gave Nolan a look of pure joy, and maybe a hint of 'I-told-you-so' before she returned Richards hug with equal enthusiasm.

Everything she had said, everything she had been trying to tell Nolan, everything she had told Elita, everything she had been trying to reassure herself of, had been RIGHT! Richard DID love them, and he just didn't realize how he was supposed to show it with Mom gone. Almost losing his kids must have been the cathartic shock he needed to change his behavior to what he was like before!

Nolan was still recovering from the shock, so Aine had to speak for them both.

"It's okay Dad, we're fine, we're okay now!" She said, her voice choking up with tears of joy. "I'm sorry we scared you so bad, but it's okay now, see? Man, you won't believe what we've been through!"

"I'd love to hear about it," Richard said with a smile. He tugged gently on them both back towards the waiting SUV. "You can tell me all about it on the way home."

Aine's smile faded. Nolan woke up. Neither of them budged.

"What? Home? We can't go home yet!" Aine blurted out.

Richards smile wavered a little.

"Why not? I thought, after everything you've been through, you'd be happy to be home again, in your own beds, eating real food."

Food you'd make Aine cook, beds you'd make Aine make, Nolan thought bitterly. But Richard's words were confusing him again.

"Dad, how much did they tell you?" he asked slowly. Richard gave him a kind, understanding (condescending) smile.

"They told me enough. They told me the robot that took you two is destroyed."

The siblings couldn't stop themselves from recoiling in horror. Simmons told him WHAT?? Why?

Richard completely misunderstood their reactions.

"I know you thought that robot was your friend, and that's why you left with it. But I'm willing to forgive you, no hard feelings, if you come home now. These government goons are even paying for our plane tickets. We can be home again by morning. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

That sounded like the worst plan ever conceived to Nolan.

"We're not leaving." He said flatly.

Richard's pleasant smile never wavered, but his eyes hardened. "Excuse me?"

Nolan wanted to throw his indignation at Richard, rub his face into his own foolish ignorance, tell him exactly where he could get off, and opened his mouth to rip Richard a new one like he usually did when the older man was crossing the line…

…but he didn't.

Because throwing is emotions at people never worked. All it ever did was make everything worse, when what he needed to was stop, think, and then act.

Richard thought Elita was dead, because Simmons told him so. Wait, DID Simmons tell him that, or is this something Richards assuming/guessing? Whatever the case is, Simmons definitely didn't tell him the whole story. Why, Nolan couldn't imagine. But, it'd probably be better if he didn't screw up what the agent was trying to do. Who knows, it might be something important to Elita's well being and the Autobot's continued hidden existence. Which meant he'd have to proceed carefully for the rest of this conversation, and hope that Aine caught on.

"We're not ready to go home yet," Nolan explained calmly. "We…our friend, Eliza…she saved our lives. But she got hurt really bad. They're treating her here because of how…what's the word? How 'classified' this all is. She's been in surgery for a few hours now actually. Aine and I…"

Nolan wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders.

"We don't want to leave until we have a chance to at least say thank you, and good bye."

Richard nodded sagely in understanding.

"I see. Well, I'll talk to some people, and maybe they'll let you call her later. Or she can call you when she wakes up."

"Dad," Aine said quietly, pleadingly, "please, listen to Nolan. We want to stay here for her. We owe her that much, at least, right?"

Richards smile was fading. He crossed his arms, looking contemplatively from his son to his daughter. Nolan kept his face blank, suspicious of what was going through his father's mind, but Aine was growing a hopeful smile.

After a few seconds, Richard tilted his head to the side. "Aine, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Why?" Nolan demanded defensively.

"It's okay Nolan," Aine soothed, pulling away. She followed obediently as Richard led her a little ways away from her brother. Not so far as to be out of sight, but far enough that no one else (including the agents still milling around and Richards driver, who had yet to exit the vehicle) would be able to over hear them.

Richard took a deep breath, put both hands on Aine's shoulder, and even bent down to look her in the eye at her level. The gestures both warmed her for the almost alien but much wished for gentleness, but also made her feel small, like a little child. She couldn't decide if she liked it or not.

"Aine, I listened to Nolan, I hear what he's saying. But I need you to listen to me now, okay? Try to see this from my point of view: I've just spent the last three, going on four, days in one room with nothing but half a dozen books from the seventies to keep me occupied. No one was telling me anything, no one was talking to me, I didn't know anything about what was happening to you two. And this is after I saw my own children leave me stranded on a roof."

The small brunette averted her gaze as guilt unexpectedly blossomed in her chest. Yes, Richard had overreacted maybe when Nolan told him 'we're leaving', but maybe Elita had been a little…over the top, maybe, with what she did?

"What I did was wrong, I know that," Richard said, dropping his face in shame. "I shouldn't have been so quick to give you kids up like that. But I panicked, I wasn't thinking. Besides, what was I supposed to do? There wasn't anything I could have done to change anything. I was helpless.

"But, what I don't understand, is why you went with it, and left me behind."

Aine felt a stab in her heart.

"My own children abandoned me for a creature that wanted me dead," Richard went on quietly in a broken voice. "That hurt me more than anything, sweetie. It hurt almost as bad as it did when your mother died. That was the first time I was ever glad she wasn't around, so she wouldn't see her children abandon their own flesh and blood to the mercies of the elements. You have always been such a loving, obedient, dutiful daughter, Aine. I'm not a perfect man, but did I really deserve that sort of abandonment?"

Stab and twist.

"I…I…" she tried.

Richard raised his head, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I want this nightmare to end, Aine. I want us to go home tonight, leave all this behind us, go back to our lives again. Why can't you do this one thing for me, Button?"

Button. That old pet name that's been following her since she was three years old, something her mother had come up with because "she was just too cute," and her brother adopted. Richard hadn't used that affectionate nickname for years…

It was hard, it was so hard, to see her father like this. He was rarely a kind man, but he had always been a strong one. To see him like this, so…weak, and at her mercy, hanging onto her every word, it was almost enough to make Aine dizzy.

He was right, everything he was saying was right. How could she refuse him like this, when he'd been through so much? She couldn't imagine was sort of emotional and mental anguish he must have been going through. Yes, Aine had been in the greater danger while Richard waited in physical comfort, but at least she had walked into her escapade with both eyes open. Richard hadn't even had that much.

Richard patted her head with a large, calloused hand that nearly covered her whole head, making her feel even smaller and younger. "Come on, Aine. If you say yes, we both know Nolan will come home too. I need you to be on my side again sweetie."

Aine looked left, right, her feet, anywhere but at her father, trying to keep her thoughts together. He gently grabbed her chin with his thumb and forefinger and forced her to look at him in the eye.

"Aine. You know what the right thing to do is."

Aine bit her bottom lip, her eyes welling up. This was hard, so much harder than she thought it was going to be. She loved her father, and he was being so nice, so gentle…how could she bare to hurt him more than she has already?

But on the other hand, how could she live with herself if she left Elita now?

"Dad…"

She stopped, sniffed, swallowed, breathed, and started again.

"Dad, I know the last few days must have been hard for you. I can't imagine what it must have been like. But El-iza means a lot to us too now. We can't – no, we won't abandon her now. We've come so far together, and I'm…I'm sorry Dad, but we're not finished yet. We won't BE finished until Eliza is alright. She, she's done so much for us, and all she wanted was to be with her loved ones again. Nolan and I promised that we would help her, and I won't leave her until she wakes up to see that she's made it home. Even when it got hard and scary, I never wanted to back down on my promise.

"I'm sorry Dad, but that's how it is."

Richard stared at her in naked shock, almost identical to the one Nolan had worn when Aine had questioned Nolan's decision to try and save their bags in the middle of Elita and Onslaughts first fight. But the shock morphed into something darker, and Aine felt her stomach flip flop.

"Aine…" he said slowly, his grip on her shoulder and chin tightening slightly in warning. "I don't think you understand your position. You are my daughter, and if I say it is in your best interest to come home now, then you damn well are going to come home now."

Aine tried not to gulp, her heart thudding in her ribcage. "But Eliza-"

"Oh for god's sakes, would you DROP that already?" Richard snapped, grabbing her entire chin in his hand in a hard grip.

Aine cried out softly, Nolan almost jumped to his feet but remembered at the last minute that his leg was still broken, and Richard froze, dropping his hands and backing off as if the girl was made of acid. All three O'Connell's glanced at the SUV that had dropped Richard off, the driver being the only other human within hearing distance. The aforementioned driver, a tall man with short curly hair and dark complexion (Italian?), had stepped out of the van and was milling around, to all appearances just stretching his legs and paying absolutely no attention to the family drama.

Richard ran a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry sweetie, it's the stress getting to me. I didn't mean to yell like that."

Aine didn't say anything, her stomach still flopping, feeling rattled.

Richard reached over, and Aine couldn't help but cringe back. But her father only put his hands on her forearms, rubbing up and down in what was meant to be a soothing gesture. "Please listen to be sweetie. I need you to come home now. I need you to help me with Nolan. I can't control him by myself, I can't get him to let me help him.

"Nolan has always been his own person. You're mom knew how to talk to him, but I never had her touch. I feel like he's been shutting me out ever since she died. Not just me, everyone. You're the only one he's ever let in, and you're the only one who can help me, help him. We have to be a team again, Aine. Just you and me, like it's always been."

Aine stared at her father in black disbelief.

"No it hasn't."

Richard seemed surprised by her flat response. "aine, didn't you ever notice how it was always you and me keeping Nolan in line? It was practically Good Cop Bad Cop: I gave him discipline and tough love, you gave him nurturing. It's been us and him, always."

"Dad, you don't know what you're talking about." She said bluntly. "Yes, Nolan has always tried to act like an adult, and he tends charge ahead without thinking it through first, but it's never been 'us and him'. It's never even been 'you and me.'"

What am I saying?

"Nolan's made mistakes, he's done stupid, hurtful things, but he's never done it with malice. Everything he's done, he's done it to protect me. Which is more than what I can say for you."

Where are these words coming from?

Richard rocked back as if struck, but Aine wasn't done yet.

"Don't misunderstand me Dad. I'm not against you, and I'm not against Nolan. I mean, me saying it's not 'you and me against him' is not the same as 'him and me against you.' It's not just 'us'…"

She indicated herself and Nolan.

"…and it's not just 'us.'"

Herself and Richard.

"Neither of you have any right to decide whether I'm for or against anyone, let alone who's side I'm on. I'm not that petty, and I'm not a chess piece!"

Since when…since when have these words been my truth?

"I love you Dad. And I love Nolan. No matter how hurtful or stupid the BOTH of you can be sometimes, I still love the BOTH of you more than anything. And I hate you guys acting like it's a sin for me to love both my imperfect father AND my imperfect brother.

"But that's not what's important now, is it?" She asked rhetorically with a half grin and raised brow. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm not going to be the prize in this tug of war anymore. I want to stay, Dad, and I'm not going to let you use me to leverage Nolan into leaving too."

Richard sputtered. "What? But you…he…where are your…what??"

Aine didn't blame him for his speechless shock. After all, since when did the baby have the backbone to speak up for herself?

Since the baby had to pull up her bootstraps to be the one protecting the Protector, for a change.

"I've been through too much, Dad, to just turn back into a wibbly little girl who needed a big strong guardian all the time." She finished quietly, with the soft firmness of the ocean tide.

A little ways away, the once bemused Nolan was sporting the biggest smile of his entire life. Some of the things she said hurt for their blunt truthfulness, but seeing her speak up for herself, stand up to Richard for the first time, was worth almost everything that happened the last few days.

Almost.

Richard, on the other hand, looked remarkably like something in his brain broke.

Aine started to turn away. "You're welcome to wait with us Dad," she said courteously. "That is, If the RDA is willing to let you. Otherwise, I'll see you in the morning."

That would prove to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

"What is WRONG with you?!" Richard demanded, and he grabbed Aine's upper arm in a vice-grip, stopping her.

Aine gasped in surprise, and Nolan was hobbling over as fast as he could.

"Stop it Dad!" he demanded. "You heard her. She's not leaving!"

"You know what, forget this," Richard near growled. "I don't know what kind of head trip you two have been on, but a 14 year old girl can't be expected to make her own choices. I'm trying to be patient, but you're both pushing it!"

"Dad, seriously, what're you going to do to make us do anything?" Nolan dryly asked. "Your usual 'tactics' won't work so well with an audience."

Actually, they're single audience member was talking on the cell phone and still wasn't paying any attention, but that wasn't important.

Richard glowered like a dark beast.

"You think you're big enough to make your own choices? Fine, here's one more: either get your ass in the van and come home now, or don't ever come near my house ever again."

Nolan's grin dropped.

Aine stared at Richard in disbelief. "You're honestly threatening to kick him out??" she asked in an almost shrill voice.

Richard gave her a sideways grin. "He's made his own bed a long time ago. I'm just making him sleep on it. He wants to leave, that's his choice. I'm sick of his disrespect and him challenging me in my own home. But I'm not going to let him poison you against me any longer, and if I have to remove the taint completely, so be it."

Aine's horrified shock morphed into an emotion she rarely ever felt: righteous anger.

"I don't think Nolan's the poisonous influence I need to get away from," she hissed, tugging on her arm to get away from Richards grip. "Let me go dad. You kick him out, you kick me out."

"You ARE against me! I knew you were ganging up on me! Just what did I do to deserve this? I fed you, I sheltered you, I sent you to the best schools, I gave you everything you need, and this is how you repay me? What the hell is WRONG with you kids?!"

"Dad, you're hurting me," Aine said, cringing as Richards grip tightened with his mounting anger.

"Oh just shut up already!" he snapped. He pulled and twisted Aine's arm, forcing her close again.

Aine cried out in pain.

Nolan raised a fist.

Simmons jumped to his feet.

The hanger doors flew wide open behind them.

Richard head snapped around, then up…and up. And his jaw went down…and down

"Take your hands off of her. Now." A deep voice boomed.

"OHMYGOD!" Richard shrieked, dropping Aine's arm and scrambling back. He tripped and fell backwards hard, but kept scrambling backwards for several more feet, wide eyes staring unblinkingly in naked terror at the newest arrival.

Nolan and Aine turned to see the impressive figure of Optimus Prime framed in the hanger doorway, arms spread from opening the doors. He lowered his arms and took a thundering step out, revealing Ironhide, Bumblebee, and a gingerly moving Jazz, right along with the confused looking Sam and Mikaela by the Primes feet. Moving as if it was second nature, the siblings hurried over to their friends, away from Richard gaping in the dirt, and into the shelter of their very tall friends.

"What're you guys doing out here?" Nolan asked Jazz.

"We heard what was goin' on. Pardon th' intrusion, but none of us were 'bout to let that slime ball that calls himself yer father throw you out and hurt Aine."

"You were listening in on us?"

"Yep."

"...Do you guys even HAVE a concept for 'private conversation', or is that just a human thing?"

"Not our faults you guys don't have com links for when you guys really wanna talk private-like."

"What the hell! What the hell what the hell what the FREAKING HELL!!"

Richards wide eyes frantically darted from one Autobot to the next, looking like a frightened animal. "You have got to be shitting me! There are MORE of you things?! What the hell is GOING ON!"

"There are things in action that are far beyond your understanding," Optimus said cryptically. He knelt down in front of Richard. When he had done it for the siblings, it was so they'd be closer to the same level and ease their conversation. Doing it practically on top of Richard, however, gave the impression of imminent crushing. Richard tried scrambling away even further, and curled up protectively, breathing erratically, heart thumping so hard, so fast, it threatened to jump right out of his chest.

"Look! I can see his heart beating in his neck!" Bumblebee observed, pointing, delighted.

Optimus was far less amused.

"Richard O'Connell, from what I have seen from the way you treat your own offspring, I have no qualms in stepping in and settling the matters myself. I will not abide such abuse to the ones who had done so much to help Elita get this far. Either leave, or stand aside and be silent."

Richard gaped, paralyzed. His eyes darted to Simmons, still on the phone, and to Tommy and Casey, who were a little further away and looking more curious than scared. Now, Richard was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. The distinctive lack of reaction from the government agents, and that he was still alive and in one piece no matter out mad the (holy crap!) giant robot was, set the wheels turning in his head. His head slowly turned back to the (freaking huge) robot crouched on top of him, and even with his heart thudding in his chest and every single self-preservation instinct he had screaming at him to get up and run, he forced himself to meet the creatures eyes.

"I don't…I don't know what you are, or what you want, but if I wanted to take my kids back, I don't, I don't think there's anything you'd be able to do to stop me."

Nolan slapped a hand over his eyes in frustration. "Dad, would you shut up before someone steps on you." Pause. "Actually, keep talking, please."

"Nolan!"

"If anyone was going to be stepping on me, you'd've done it already," Richard pointed out in dawning realization. Richard glanced at the agents, and a smile grew on his face. They might have been bigger, but they didn't hold the power they thought they did.

"I don't know what's going on, but you're in cahoots with the government. I bet you can't lay a finger on me. And, legally, I have every right to take my kids back. You can't stop me, not without screwing yourselves over even worse. You can threaten me all you want, but I've got the law and the government on my side."

All of the Autobots expressions darkened. Nolan felt his stomach sinking, and Aine partially covered her mouth in horror. Richard was right; there wasn't anything anyone could do. There was never anything anyone could not, not now, not ever.

Richard got back on his feet, dusted himself off, and turned toward his driver. "Back me up here, Simmons. Get these giant science experiments to give my kids back. I'm done here."

Simmons held up a finger as the person on the phone finished talking. He finally lowered his cell phone, covering it with his hand, and looked at the siblings.

"How about you two go inside for a few minutes while we straighten this all out?"

Nolan gave him a flat look. "No."

"At least send your sister away. I don't think she's gonna want to hear all this."

Aine crossed her arms. "I feel like I've spent most of my life in the dark, mostly because I didn't bother to ask the right questions. Besides, this has to do with me, I'm going to find out all about it sooner or later. I can handle it."

Simmons looked at both their resolved faces, and shrugged. He turned up the volume to his cell phone as loud and it would go, set it to speaker, and put it back to his ear.

"Hey, could you do me a favor and repeat the last bit again, word for word, don't change a thing? And raise your voice a little too, make sure you say it loud and clear."

That said, he calmly held up his cell phone and turned it out for everyone to hear.

"Um, sure, alright." a feminine voice said, sounding a little uncertain and confused.

The Autobots started at the familiar voice. Richards calm, confidant front wavered.

"I said, I checked out almost all the hospitals within fifty miles of the O'Connell home. Turns out, almost all of them have at least one record for a patient named Caoimhe O'Connell. Most of them only have her maybe two or three times, with each separated by several years though. Her very first trip was in June 1996, and go clear into December 2002, the year she died. You put all the records together though, and we've got a woman visiting the hospital as much as twice a month, especially in the half year preceding her death."

Nolan sucked in his breath. Aine covered her mouth in horror. Richard looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Simmons expression never changed, he just held the phone steady as Alicia Grit went on, her small voice from the cell phone booming across the still and silent desert.

"At first, she was only coming in once every few months, for falling down the stairs or hitting her head against the car door or whatever. But the visits get more and more frequent, and frankly the excuses keep getting flimsier. If she hadn't spread out her visits between a dozen hospitals, she'd have been eligible for the 'Most Accident Prone Woman Alive' award. She's run the gambit from concussions to fractures and even a broken nose once or twice."

Now Aine sucked in her breath, and Nolan pulled her close.

"It wasn't just physical injuries either. She had also been visiting treatment centers for depression, even had a prescription for anti-depressants. Still, her visits were sporadic at best, and never lasted very long. She was always very quick, in and out, and she couldn't stick to a schedule to save her life. I get the impression that she was always in a hurry. Probably didn't want someone to know she was talking to someone – if lying and making excuses counts as 'talking.'"

"Gee, I wonder who'd be pissed about that," Simmons couldn't help but mutter quietly.

"The weirdest part is, she almost always paid in cash," Grit went on, oblivious of her captive, if increasingly horrified and disgusted, audience. "She never used a credit card, or her medical insurance card. I honestly believe she was trying to avoid leaving any evidence she had been there. Or rather, she didn't want someone looking at her credit card bills and notice she'd been getting around the hospitals. I think she was trying to hide it as best she could. Sir, there is no way she could have been this accident prone on her own, and even if she honestly was, she wouldn't have gone through so much effort to hide it. This is even without talking to her friends, what few of them I could find.

"Turns out, she used to be very friendly and outgoing, but within the last two or three years she was alive, she had been withdrawing from everyone, almost never seen outside the home without her husband, and even then, their outings were few and far between. Everyone who knew them kept painting the same picture of Caoimhe being isolated in her own home, and not of her own will. They also say that whenever they tried to talk about her husband, she'd always get agitated and nervous and tried to change the subject. If he was in the room (and apparently he almost always was), she'd clam up entirely.

"Sir, put the eye witness accounts in context with the hospital records, and I think we have a fairly solid case to cite Richard O'Connell with domestic abuse. If we can get him for that, it's not too big a leap to believe his kids are in danger too. There's no way we can just let them go back to him, not with everything we know now."

Nolan could feel Aine tremble in his arms, and not because of the desert air still warm from the summer day's heat.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Grit asked, after a long pause when no one said anything. Simmons lowered the phone back to his ear.

"That'll be all Grit. See you back at HQ by eight."

Simmons snapped the phone shut with a click and dropped it into his pocket. Nobody said anything.

"That's…that's not…it's not what it sounds like…" Richard tried to stay. "Caoimhe was a bit of a klutz, and she was embarrassed by it. Of course she'd tried to hide it. I would never, I NEVER did anything to deliberately hurt her! I would never hurt my own wife! You can't prove I did anything!"

Silence.

"This is my family we're talking about! Maybe we're a little unorthodox, but I took care of them! What, just because I didn't wear kids gloves all the time and treat them all like they were made of crystal, suddenly I must be a horrible person? Don't act like you're so superior, I'm no different from any other husband or father! I've never done anything wrong! You can't honestly expect me to just leave my kids with these…these things!" he wildly waved a hand at the assembled Autobots.

Simmons expression never changed, blank as ever. Wordlessly, he stepped aside and pulled the van door open.

"I understand perfectly, Mr. O'Connell. Now get in the van, and don't say another word."

Richard gape, shaking his head a little in disbelief. "You can't…you can't seriously tell me…you're supposed to be on MY side!"

"I think you're a bit misinformed about my job, Mr. O'Connell," Simmons said flatly. "My job isn't about being on your side, or their side. My job is about doing what I can to protect the interests and well being of as many people as possible, and to do whatever it takes to manage it. Now, I may not like the Autobots personally, and I still don't trust the big black one not to step on me someday and call it an accident, but you being the human here isn't going to entitle you to an automatic win. If I had to choose between the giant alien robots from space and a man who spent more time complaining about lost time at work that demanding to know what was going on with his own kids, I'm going to go with the robots.

"Now get over here, sit your ass down, and shut your damn mouth."

Everyone who had ever experienced Simmons delightful company before tonight stared at the man, some with jaws shamelessly hanging (Bumblebee's would have been scrapping the dirt, had he possessed such an appendage). Nolan leaned over a little to speak quietly to Sam.

"I thought you said he was a total jackass." He whispered.

"He usually is." Sam said back, looking among the most bewildered.

Richard stared, frozen. After several seconds, all the energy seemed to just drain out of him. Without looking back, he trudged to the van, and obediently sat in the seat. Simmons slide the door shut with a resolute click.

"Well that was fun," he said brightly. "Let's never do it again, shall we?"

"Okay, what was all that?" Nolan asked. He had to ask, keep thinking, otherwise he felt like he was going to throw up. Aine was still trembling, and didn't look up to speaking again just yet.

Simmons shrugged. "One of my agents had a bad feeling about Richard, so she decided to do some checking on her off time. Sorry you had to hear all that, but you said you wanted to and you wouldn't leave."

"Why did you tell him Elita was dead?" Optimus demanded. Simmons spread his hands.

"I never actually said that. The guy wouldn't shut up, so I just told him 'the threat has been neutralized.' With Onslaught being a pile of scrap in the middle of the mountains (and thanks again for the cleanup job, you guys are swell), that was pretty much the truth. Not my fault he thought it was the OTHER rogue giant alien robot."

"Did he know there were even two?" The Prime asked with a frown.

"Hmmm…nope, I think I forgot to mention that."

"So what does this mean for us?" Nolan asked. Simmons almost cheerful expression fell a little.

"I'm not going to lie: I honestly don't know. We're not Social Services. We're limited in what we can do with something like this. Look, be honest with me; did Richard ever hit you guys?"

"Um…he'd uh, occasionally hit me, but he almost never raised a hand against Aine. He mostly yelled at her."

"Damn. That'll make things harder then. You'll be eighteen in, what, a month or two? You'll probably be fine, but after everything is said and done Aine will probably have to go back home to Richard."

"Oh hell no!" Nolan exclaimed, pulling Aine closer protectively. She hugged him back and nodded.

"I don't want to go back to that house anymore," she said quietly, but with resolution. "I'd rather move in with Nolan."

"And why the slag would your system allow her to go back to such a pit-poor home in the first place?!" Ironhide hotly demanded.

"Because the system doesn't like to take kids out of their homes unless they're in imminent physical danger, which Aine is not," Simmons explained bluntly. "And frankly, the system's already flooded with hundreds of kids coming out of far worse situations than an occasional slap in the face with no place to go. Right now, we're looking at a probable choice between Richard's house, or getting lost in the system. And no, the RDA has a lot of strings to pull, but Social Services isn't one of them. She goes into the system, and she'll be out of our hands. I can't even promise we'll be able to keep her somewhere in Nevada."

"Then she can stay with me!" Nolan declared. Aine nodded vigorously. But Simmons was shaking his head again.

"Hate to break it to you kid, but nobody's going to let an eighteen year old kid raise his own sister. There's no way you're going to qualify for custody, you're just plain too young."

Nolan rocked back. Not once, in all his planning, had it ever occurred to him that being a legal adult would not allow him to keep his sister close and safe.

"Well frag it all to the Pit and back again." Ironhide said, speaking for everyone present. "This isn't right."

"Well, perfect endings don't usually happen in real life." Simmons said.

He slapped a hand on the van roof twice as if coming to a decision. "Right then, we'll just save it for the morning. I'm getting Big Daddy out of here. But hey, worse comes to worse, maybe you kids can stick around here as the Autobots pets or something."

Nolan looked at him angrily, visibly offended. "I take it back. You're a total jackass."

Simmons grinned shamelessly before getting into the driver's seat. He started up the engine, and drove off, taking their father, and their uncertain future, with him. Nolan released a sigh and let his head fall back bonelessly.

"Let's see, since this morning I've had two arguments, one kidnapping, a broken leg, a hospital trip, three secret government agents, and getting kicked out of my house. On the upside, I've had a rescue, some enlightening conversations and now everyone knows was a piss-poor parent my Dad is. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Most Bipolar Day of My Life. I should mark it."

"Wow Nolan. When ya put it like that, you've had a really, really long day."

"Tell me about it Jazz. Stick a fork in me, I'm done. Wake me up in a week. But first, gimme my crutches."

And so the assembled mechs and teens meandered back into the hanger, to go back to what they had spent the last few hours: waiting for Ratchet.

The door slid aside to reveal the chanteuse hummer.

Everyone froze. Ratchet focused on Optimus, front and center of the group.

"Prime. Would you come in here please?" he said, face and voice neutral.

Everyone whipped their heads around to their leader. Optimus paid them no attention, quickly covering the distance in a few steps. A few quiet words were exchange, and Optimus squeezed past the medic and into the infirmary. Ratchet slid the door closed behind him, and once it clicked shut, he leaned forward until his forehead was leaning against the cool metal plating, both hands flat against the wall.

"….Doc?" Jazz ventured. Ratchet didn't say anything, didn't even look at the rest of them.

Nolan felt his world freeze and tunnel.

Hobbling forward as fast as he could on his crutches, Nolan almost ran across the room until he was right next to the wall. Not caring who was watching, not caring that he was being invasive, he shamelessly pressed his ear against the metal because he had to know.

Nothing.

No beeping machines.

No clicking of metal touching metal.

No voices, no murmurs, no whispers, nothing.

He heard nothing…

…except the sound of someone softly sobbing.

888888888

End ch. 14