A/N: Gah! So happy, just got my First Edition Deluxe Arcee for a late Bday present! :D Oh and a new laptop? Gah! Best weekend ever! :D

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CHAPTER 25
Trying to Deal

Cliffjumper had put Kyle to bed by the time he approached Ratchet with what happened that morning. Ratchet was stunned to say the least, as he stood there in the living room with a look of pure horror. "Decepticon allies? Primus almighty, they're more deranged than we thought." Ratchet muttered as his friend had finished "Why are they so desperate to have him back?" He shook his head.

"Probably to keep him quiet. Kyle's the only witness to what they did to his brother." Cliffjumper shook his head "If they disappear with him... Well, it's pretty easy to get out of jail time with the only witness gone. Now isn't it?" Ratchet's optics fell at the very thought "I wish that weren't the case. But I can't think of ANY other reason that they'd hire Decepticons, allies of them or not." He admitted.

Ratchet could feel his gears grinding in rage. He knew that Cliffjumper was right, he'd have to be blind not to. But to think that they were actually determined to kill Kyle brought a rage in him that he hadn't felt in a long time. "Then you need to find them first." Ratchet grunted.

"You think I don't know that?" Cliffjumper fumed a little, shaking his head "He's my son now. He's legally my responsibility. I'm freaking out worse than I ever have right now." He shook his head a little bit "I have no clue who's after him, or how many of them." He settled his hands onto a counter, clenching slightly "If anything happens to him, I'll never be able to live with myself."

Ratchet nodded in agreement, it went without saying he felt the same way. Of course, legally, Kyle was his, but they had both been raising them these last few months. For the medic, Kyle was his son as well, it was as simple as that. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself either. He may as well be my son as well." Ratchet grunted a bit, he leaned forward "So the question is how do we protect him?" He questioned.

"Any way we can. In a situation like this we just have to be careful, it's all we can do." Cliffjumper admitted.

Ratchet frowned at that comment, as much as he hated it though, he knew he was right. If Kyle got taken by Decepticons back to his parents, it would be on their hands. After all of this, he realized, they were still no closer to giving Kyle a normal life than they were before. "So we just look after him then?" Ratchet questioned "Like we've been doing and getting nowhere with?" He questioned.

"Well what do you suggest we do, Ratch? Go out and hunt them down ourselves?"

"Sounds like a prime idea to me." Ratchet replied honestly.

For once, it was Cliffjumper who gave Ratchet a firm look, rather than the other way around. Even if in reality he was thinking the same thing in his head, the last thing he wanted to do was cause more trouble for all of them. "You scare me some day's Ratchet. Some days, you seem to make me look sane." Ratchet rolled his optics a bit "What, it's true! You don't have a nickname Ratchet the Hatchet for nothing." He added.

"Oh haha." Ratchet scoffed lightly "You and that son of yours spend too much time with the twins."

Cliffjumper chuckled, but looked Ratchet in the optics. He knew they were both concerned, but at this point, they had to keep themselves calm. If only to keep Kyle from suspecting anything was up. "They won't get him, Ratchet." He stated, placing a hand on his shoulder "He's got us protecting him and we've done a fragging good job so far." He noted.

"I just hate the thought of those two having their hands on him." Ratchet looked at Cliffjumper quietly "I can handle the Decepticons, but they are worse. And I never believed those words would leave my mouth." He added.

Cliffjumper couldn't bring himself to admit it out loud, but he had the same feelings. He'd handled plenty of Decepticons in his long life, but he'd never had to go toe-to-toe with a human being. And as these two had proven, they were a threat, a major one as far as humans went. "Well he isn't theirs anymore, he's mine. So if they take him, they won't know what hit them." He slammed his fist into his open palm a bit "That's all that matters as far as I'm concerned." He added bluntly.

"I know that. But would you get wherever they were in time?"

Cliffjumper didn't know how to answer that question, it was simply very hard. He couldn't guarantee he would as much as he'd like to, but he could pray to Primus that he would get there in time. Or at the very least, that they would never have to find out if he could. "I think... I'm going to go to berth." Cliffjumper finally spoke "I'm tired, you look beat... I think it's best that all of us get some shut-optic." He noted

As he started to head towards his berth room, he could hear Ratchet call out. "You don't have an answer, do you?"

For once, Cliffjumper didn't want to admit, even for a second, that Ratchet was right. All he wanted to do was go into recharge, and frankly pretend that this whole nightmare of a day had never happened. Even if, deep in his spark, he knew that neither recharge or forgetting would be possible that night.

...

Kyle knew that something was wrong when he woke up and neither of his guardians were up yet. The main room was rarely silent, nor was it typical that they would both have work on the same day. Tension front he night before seemed to linger in the air, only further stimulating his fear that something was very wrong, and that something was the last thing he wanted. Despite it all, he made his way to the kitchen and made himself breakfast before he decided to make his way towards Cliffjumper's room.

The room was always open a crack so that Kyle could get inside. So he was surprised to find that it was closed that morning. The size of the door making it impossible for him to open it by the handle. "You'd best let him recharge a little longer youngling." Kyle turned to Ratchet, who stood in his own doorway "He's gone through a lot." He added.

"What happened?" Kyle questioned.

Ratchet knew it was not his place to say anything to Kyle. With his blunt nature it would only serve to scare the boy and that was the last thing he honestly wanted to do. As such, he shook his head a little, rubbing the back of his helm. "He got called in late last night, after you'd gone to sleep." He then added onto the lie with "He's probably exhausted."

"Should have figured." Kyle replied, buying into the lie "Just was a little worried is all."

Ratchet shook his head a little, scooping the young human up. "No reason to be, youngling. The most you have to worry about is perhaps a few dents when he wakes up, maybe." He shrugged his shoulders a little "You'd better have eaten." He got a small nod "Good. Now, do you want to go to work with me while he's in recharge?" He questioned.

"With you? To the hospital?" Kyle questioned, stunned "Would that even be allowed?"

Ratchet nodded his head a little. He knew they wouldn't mind, and even if they did, he wanted to keep Kyle close by with all the chaos taking place. "Of course. As long as you don't pull any stunts." Ratchet explained, his voice flat "In other words, don't do anything your friends the twins would do." Kyle chuckled a little bit at that "I'm serious, if you pull any big stunt-" He began.

"Yeah, Ratchet. Because I'm such a rebel." Kyle replied with heavy sarcasm.

"You glued my wrenches to my bench last week." Ratchet told him with a sigh.

Kyle chuckled, remembering that he had indeed done that one night while bored. It had been a dare by Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, but he had still managed to annoy Ratchet. "Alright, alright. I swear Ratchet, no act of teenage rebellion." Kyle replied, his voice filled with gentle mockery "Just take it easy, okay? That was a one time thing." He explained.

"Better have been." Ratchet grunted.

Kyle rolled his eyes a little bit at him, he had never been a rebel. But then again, Ratchet was always a worry-wart, so he didn't take it as anything too odd. He only hoped quietly that he wouldn't have to listen to him scolding him all day. "So when do we get going?" Kyle questioned "Should I get dressed differently, or what?" He added.

"Nah, you're fine. Just let me get my morning energon."

As Kyle watched the mech quietly, he noticed the tension almost immediately. As odd as it was, he could tell that something, no matter how small was off. Perhaps it was from all the time he'd spent with them. Perhaps he was just really observant. But he really had that odd feeling that there was something he wasn't being told. Whatever it was though, Kyle decided he would be told when he needed to be, rather than right away. That was normally how he acted when he didn't want to tell Kyle something, just like Cliffjumper.

He could only hope that, however in vain in might have been, it wasn't anything too terrible. Because for some reason, deep in the pit of his gut, he knew that whatever was wrong, he'd have to face it soon, one way or the other.