Okay, so some news guys. Because I have so many ideas for this fic circulating around in my cranium I'm going to be putting everything else fanfic wise and focusing on this for the time being. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. We'll find out.

Also I hope everybody had a good Easter! And, in order or garner sympathy points, I've had stomach flu the past couple days, so reviews are much appreciated. They are my medicine!

Shadescribe—We'll be seeing some soon. Probably not next chapter, but almost definitely the chapter after that. Then there'll be quite a bit of action from here on out.

AllSpark Princess—Hope this is "asap" enough. XD

Alice Gone Madd-:D I am so proud of myself for that!

WolfAssassin369—You never know! We'll have to wait and see.

I do not own Transformers or anything in relation. I only own Hunter, the Hybrid race, and any other character that you may not recognize.

"Hello. It's me. I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet… to go over… everything. They say that time's supposed to heal ya, but I ain't done much healing…" Adele; Hello

13

Ω A Monitum a quod PraeteritumΩ

(A Warning from the Past)

"I still can't believe this is actually happening!" Hunter squealed excitedly as she jumped up and down on the bed. "I'm actually getting adopted and I'm officially moving into the base!" The teen spun in the air with a whoop. Though she had been living at the base since after her final battle with Bombardier over a year ago (though one could easily argue she'd been living there since she'd first been saved by Optimus) she yet to actually move in. Most of the things she herself own were there, but the entire extent was now. Of course, being a foster-child most of her life she didn't own much, but Will and Sarah had generously decided to let Hunter keep the majority of what they had bought her when they'd first become her foster parents and take it with her. This kindness only helped the girl to love them even more… but not enough to convince her to not move into the base. After all, since she was being adopted by Optimus it would make no sense for her to continue keeping up the façade that she was still living in their home. There wouldn't be any more checks from Child Services. Not here. And if Fowler had pulled all the strings right—and he had assured everyone he had—there wouldn't be anymore Child Services related ever again. It was the extremely happy end of an era—one that had been much too long in Hunter's opinion.

The very thought of it all only made Hunter howl even louder with joy. Finally! It was finally here! No more being shuffled around from house to house, family to family: no more uncertainly of where she was headed and who she'd end up with! No more false hopes, hollow promises, and broken dreams! Finally official stability; a home, a family, and even more importantly, and father who loved her more than anything. This was just all too good to be true! "I have to be dreaming," Hunter remarked. "Nobody pinch me! Whoo-hoo!" Tucking in her legs she did a backwards somersault in the air before landing on the bed again to continue bouncing.

Sighing, Optimus set down the boxes he'd carried into the room and stood there with his hands on his hips as he watched and shook his head at his daughter with a slight smile. They'd promised the Lennoxes they'd have Hunter moved out by supper-time, but how were they going to keep to that promise if Hunter spent the whole time celebrating? Time to get her to buckle down and do some work. "I might pinch you if you do not stop bouncing around like—what is the phrase you Earthlings use?—a jumping bean and help me pack," he threatened playfully, but with enough seriousness to tell her they needed to get busy.

"Aw, but I'm havin' fun!" Hunter pouted slightly. "Don't ruin my fun, Daddy."

Optimus crossed his arms and leaned back against the door case. Raising an eyebrow he gave a sly challenging look to his daughter and conceded, "All right, I won't. But I am willing to believe that Sarah will if she comes in here to find you jumping on her mattress. In your footwear." He emphasized the last statement.

With that the smile left Hunter's face and she quit jumping and fell to sit on the mattress, bouncing a bit. She directed a scowl at her spark-father, sticking out her tongue. "Meanie."

The Prime couldn't help but chuckle. "Put the glossa away," he murmured, coming towards her.

"It's not a glossa in this form," Hunter declared matter of factually. She stuck it out again to show him and explained, "Ith my thongue."

Optimus affectionately tousled the child's red hair. "Whatever it may be, put it away," he said with a gentle style. Leaning down he placed a kiss on her hairline before walkine away again to pick up the boxes and bring them back. He set them in Hunter's lap. "Pack now," he ordered. "We will celebrate later."

Hunter released a long-suffering sigh and took up the boxes as she stood. "Whatever you say, Sir-Dad-Sir."

"Don't be pert," Optimus shot back.

Hunter smirked.

"I still can't believe Will and Sarah are letting me keep most of the stuff they got me," Hunter marveled. "I mean even the electric piano?! What did I do to deserve this?" She finished packing the piano away and set it down at the center of the room with the small pile of boxes that had accumulated there. They'd almost finished the packing now. All there was left to do was start hauling stuff down to the Optimus' trailer that was sitting out in front of the house. They were so close!

"Is that not normal?" Optimus questioned, referring to his daughter's previous comment. He closed up his final box and brought it to sit with the pile as well.

"Not in my experience," Hunter replied. Sighing, she sat down on the bed and combed her fingers through her hair to get it out of her eyes before looking up to meet the Autobot commander's gaze. "I mean, it's not like most foster parents to do their homework on you and find out all the stuff you like to make you feel at home, much less let you keep any of it when you leave. Maybe some small stuff—a piece of jewelry, a stuffed animal, stuff like that, but not stuff like this: Not the whole shebang! Will and Sarah are like… super scary generous!" She threw her arms out as she said this and flopped back on the bed, folding her hands behind her head as she did. After a moment she cocked and eyebrow and stroked her chin. "Hmm…." A thoughtful hum rumbled up from her throat. "I wonder what the catch is."

Optimus snorted incredulously as he came over to lie down beside her, also folding his arms behind his head. "I am sure there's not catch, Hunter," he said.

The sixteen-year-old remained silent for a while until she suddenly sat up snapping her fingers. "I got it!" she exclaimed, she turned to look at her father. "They give me all this stuff in exchange for me becoming their permanent nanny!"

The Prime chuckled and shook his head as she sat up. "I'm sure they simply love you and want you to be happy, Sweet-spark," he declared, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Lovingly gazing at her, he hugged her to his side as he nuzzled his cheek against hers. "Just as I do."

Impishly smirking, Hunter pushed away and waggled a finger at the Prime. "That' just what they want us to think!" she exclaimed. Grabbing his shirt, the teen jerked him towards and gazed into his eyes with her wide ones. "Don't let them suck you into a false sense of comfort, Dad! Don't!" Her voice turned into an eerie, urgent whisper at the last.

Optimus returned her wide-eyed stare for a moment before bursting out into a loud, amused laugh. He shook his head and grinned. "Huntress Starstreaker James," he chuckled, "daughter, Hybrid, Fuser, conspiracy theorist." With that, the Autobot took Hunter's head under his arm and noogied her.

Hunter pulled away in a fit of giggles. "So I think we're ready to go," she stated after a moment. She took a look around the room. "I think that's everything."

Grunting, Optimus pushed himself up to his feet. "Well then," he sighed, "if that is the case… hup!" Without warning the holoform swopped the redhead up off the bed and flung her over his shoulder so that she was hanging upside-down with her face in his back. Hunter squealed in surprise. Securing an arm around his daughter, Optimus headed for the door and threw it open before marching out of the room and down the hall.

"Daaaad!" Hunter half-growled, half-giggled as she playfully attempted to pull away. She was having too much fun at the moment to bring this all to an end—it wasn't often she really got to joke around with her father. "Dad, let me go!"

"Hmm," Optimus hummed with a smirk. "I must say this box is certainly restless."

Hunter gently smacked his back. "Ugh! Maybe 'cuz it ain't a box!" she snapped, still tugging to try and get loose.

Right at the same moment she tugged, Optimus stepped down on the first step of the stairs and playfully swayed as if her were going to slip and fall. "Whoa!" He grabbed the banister. "I certainly hope there is nothing fragile in this box. Whoa-oh!" He dramatically flailed again as he took another step, letting Hunter slip through his grip again.

The child shrieked and clutched onto the back of his holoform jacket as the floor became suddenly closer. "No-ho! No! Don't drop me!" she squealed. "Please don't drop me." Faceplanting into the stairs was not something she wanted to experience: Even as a Hybrid it would hurt. "Nooo no no!" She screamed and giggled again when Optimus swayed once more.

Grinning, Optimus kept this up the whole length of the stairs, letting Hunter slip through his grip to the point where her face was just a few inches above the steps before readjusting and securing her to a safe height once again. Then he was on the first floor of the house and heading for the door. He nodded to Sarah as she came out of the kitchen when he went past.

"Sarah!" Hunter gasped. "Please, Sarah! You have to help me! My dad's gone bonkers—he thinks I'm a box!"

The woman only laughed. "That certainly is a large box you're carrying there, Optimus," she said to the mech with a sly grin. "Is it heavy?"

"Sarah!" Hunter shrieked incredulously.

"A bit," Optimus admitted to Sarah's previous inquiry, "but not as heavy as you would think by looking at it."

"Are you calling me "fat"?!"

Sarah chuckled. "Well, happy packing, Optimus."

"Thank you, Sarah," Optimus replied and kept heading for the front door.

"Sarah! Noooo!" Hunter's voice was cut off as the door closed behind them.

Grinning and shaking her head as she chuckled, Sarah went back into the kitchen.

"Dad?" Hunter questioned, trying to position herself so that she could see where they were going. "Dad, where are you taking me exactly?" When he didn't answer, the teen decided it was time for a different tactic. Growling she braced her hands against her father's back and pushed herself up until she'd be able to look over his head. She craned her neck around. Eyes widening she gasped in sheer disbelief. "No," she murmured, shaking her head. "No way—uh-uh. You wouldn't do that to me—your own daughter!" But the Prime kept in that direction, carrying her towards his trailer. "Dad! Dad, no, don't do it! Don't you dare do it! Don't!"

Optimus was finally in front of his trailer. Still holding a squirming Hunter in place with one hand, he opened the door of the trailer with the other. Then he flipped Hunter down from his shoulder into his arms. "All right then," he grunted. "Here we go. One…." He began swinging Hunter back and forth.

"What?!"

"Two…."

"You're not throwing me! You're not!"

"Three!" Optimus heaved.'

"Daddy, no!" the teen exclaimed, as she was tossed inside the trailer. Getting back up on her knees she quickly tried to lunge for the door before it closed, but she wasn't fast enough. With a rattle and a bang Optimus closed the door again and locked it shut. "Dad!"

Chuckling in a self-pleased way to himself, Optimus stepped back and brushed his hands together.

"Ready to start loading up then, O.P.?"

Optimus turned at the sound of the voice to see a sweaty Will and Epps walking towards him. "As a matter of fact we are, gentlemen," he answered with a grin. "Did you finish mending the fence?"

"More like "fences"," Will replied, stripping off his leather work gloves. "Turns out the bull have started a regular fight club."

"Hey, man, I keep tellin' ya," Epps cut in, giving his bug a good-natured shove to the shoulder, "don't put 'em within sight of the cows. Only reason the suckers fight so much is 'cuz they're tryin' to impress the ladiers."

"Oh, yeah," Will snorted as he shoved his pal back. "That's the only reason they're fighting. It has absolutely nothing to do with establishing dominance and bein' plain ornery."

"Hey, you speak bull, pal?"

"No more than you do."

"I'll have you know I happen to be a bull psychologist, brother."

"Yeah, right. And I'm next in line to be ruler of England."

Epps laughed. "Will, if you became King of England we'd have to go to war with 'em all over again!" he jeered.

"Haha," Will replied sarcastically. "You're friggin' hilarious, Epps."

Suddenly a knock rang out from the trailer. All men froze and Epps and Will exchanged a look before turning to give the holoform a befuddled look. "Uh… Big 'Bot," Epps said, "sounds like you got something live in your trailer there."

Looking completely unconcerned, the Prime shrugged. "I don't know what you mean, Sergeant," he assured. "My trailer is empty—I've merely come out here to open it before we begin transferring Hunter's things." Another, more forceful, knock—actually it was more of a bang—came from withing the trailer, discrediting the Prime's words. "Excuse me a moment, gentlemen." Turning away, Optimus opened the door again to reveal a certain red-haired and blue-eyed Hybrid sitting there on the floor of the trailer, death-glaring at him. Her arms were crossed and she was drumming her fingers on her forearm. She rumbled off a growl. In return, Optimus smiled innocently and exclaimed, "Hunter! How in the name of Primus did you end up in there?"

Hunter couldn't stop her lips from curling into an amused smirk as she shook her head. And he had the nerve to call her an "imp"! He was at least ten times as scamp she ever was when he wanted to be! All at once she lunged. "Hrah!" Grabbing her spark-father's holoform she tackled it to the ground and the two of them went rolling and laughing across the gravel.

Releasing a snort Epps rested his elbow on Will's shoulder and leaned on him, watching on as the two Cybertronians wrestled. "Okay, so tell me something," he said to his buddy. "Since when does the Prime play?"

Will only smiled and shrugged. "You're not a father yet, brother," was his simple reply. "When you become one you'll understand."

"Oof! Oh-ho! All right!" Optimus grunted when Hunter slammed him back-down into the ground. "All right, you have me. Congratulations." He gazed up at her with a challenging look. "Now what do you intend to do with me?"

A devilish glint came to Hunter's sapphire eyes. Without saying a word she began pokat at her spark-father's underarms and trying to wriggle her fingers into them. Before long she was doing the type-writer.

Releasing a squawking sound, Optimus pulled his arm tight against his holoform body to try and protect himself. With each poke and prod he flinched, little squeaks of laughter that refused to be contained escaping him. He devious little imp of a daughter! "Hunter," he grunted trying to fight the smile that was threatening to break loose on his face. "Hunter… no—ah-ha!—no… tick… ling… ah-hahaha! As quickly as he could, the Prime grabbed the Hybrid's hands and pulled them away from his stomach where they'd made a sudden and unexpected dive. Then he lifted up his legs, crossed them across her chest beneath her chin, and quickly shoved her over backwards, pinning her down to the ground. He sat up. "Ha!"

Grunting, Hunter kicked her legs up and over and rolled out of the loose pin to get back up on her feet. Once standing, she quickly leapt over backwards, planted her hands on the ground, rested her weight there for a moment, then sprung up off her arms to land in the crouch a few feet away. The teen tossed her long hair out of her face and smiled cockily. On his feet again, Optimus took a step forward and smirked back at her. He made a "come with it" motion with his hand. With that, Hunter backed up a few more steps and bent forward, pawing at the ground like a Spanish Fighting Bull complete with snorting. Then she charged. "Ahhh!" Head-butting into her father's mid-section she wrapped her arms around him and drove him backwards.

"Oof!" Optimus caught her, wrapped his arms around her, and planted his feet in the ground, trying to push her back or at least keep her from doing it to him. It didn't work all that well, considering just how strong his daughter was in comparison to him. So he went another route. Changing his grip on her, the Prime quickly flipped Hnter topsy-turvy across his body until her legs were hooked over his shoulder. "Haha!" he cheered. "I have you now!"

Hunter looked up at him with wide-eyes. "Daddy, please don't be mean," she begged. "Don't be me—no! Ah-hahahahaha!" She screamed as Optimus bowed his head and blew a raspberry into her stomach. Looking over at Will and Epps she reached out for them. "Guys!" she gasped. "Help me! Please! No-hohoho!" She tried to curl up and shove her father's face away from her middle.

Epps and Will could only laugh and shake their heads. "Sorry, Red," Epps replied. "No can do. We don't get involved in businesses not our own."

"Guys!" Hunter shrieked.

"While you're at it, better make sure she's got all her ribs, Prime," called Will. "You wouldn't want to adopt her without knowing whether she was all there or not." He winked.

Immediately catching on to the idea, Optimus smirked and winked back. "Excellent idea, Major," he commented with a nod. "It would be a shame to have a daughter who was not fully equipped."

Suddenly realizing what both man and mech were implying, Hunter's eyes widened and she stared at Will in disbelief for a moment before looking up at her devious looking spark-father. "You wouldn't dare!" she exclaimed in horror. "Don't do it, Dad!"

But, of course, Optimus did. It was just too golden a chance to miss. "Let's see now, according to your biology you should possess twenty-four ribs and I count one… two… three…." As Optimus counted he walked his index and middle fingers up Hunter's side, screwing them into each rib, causing the girl to squeal in laughter at the sensation. After rib number four Optimus quite tickling her side and dove his hand right into her middle, successfully making the child laugh even harder. "Five, six, seven, eight…" he teased Hunter with a grin.

"Da-hahahaha-ad!" Hunter tried to reach up and pull his hand away from her but when that failed she decided to try a different tactic. Reaching down she grabbed her father around the knee and jerked his leg up and out from under him.

"Whoa-oh!" Unbalanced by the sudden move, Optimus fell to the ground on his back, Hunter sprawled out beside him. Both parties laughed and sat up. Still chuckling, the Autobot commander reached out and put his hand around the back of Hunter's neck before gently drawing her forward to kiss her forehead and nuzzle her.

The sixteen-year-old smiled and nuzzled back before throwing both arms around his neck and pulling herself closer. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so happy.

Will smiled at the scene. Finally, for once, something was actually going right in Hunter's life, and he couldn't be happier for her. For both of them. The man suddenly heard sniffling. Cocking an eyebrow he turned to see Epps trying to subtly wipe his eyes and nose—"trying to" being the key phrase. For a long moment, Will just stared at his old army pal in complete shock. Then he spoke. "You gettin' sentimental on me, man?" he questioned.

"No!" Epps quickly dismissed the accusation, though the crack in his voice voided his denial. "No I just… it's allergies, man, allergies."

"… The only thing you're allergic to is penicillin."

"Well, I can't help it, man! I mean… it's just so heartwarming…."

"Well, try to get some kinda grip on yourself, Epps. I don't know if I can be friends with you after this sickening display."

"Aw, shut up, Will!"

The team came pulling into the yard right as Hunter, Optimus, Will, and Epps came walking out of the house with the first few boxes. Letting the kids out, the turned on their holoforms and joined the party. "Ready to start loading then?" Arcee question.

"Yup," Hunter answered as she walked past towards the trailer.

"Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, there are three more boxes up in the room," Optimus informed them as he followed after his daughter. "If you three bring those out, we will be finished."

"You got it, Optimus," Bulkhead responded with a nod. All three headed towards the house and began to disappear inside.

It was then that Annabelle suddenly came streaking out, swerving around the oncoming 'bots as she came through the door.

"Annabelle!" Sarah's voice called out of the house. "You better have finished cleaning your room like I asked you to!"

"I did, Mommy!" Annabelle shouted back, stopping to turn around as she did. Then she turned back and kept running, carrying something in her hands. "Hunter!" she called. "Hunter!"

Turning around, Hunter smiled and jumped out of the trailer. "What's up, kiddo?" she questioned, going to the girl.

"I think you forgot to pack something," Annabelle replied. She held out what was in her hands, and what was in her hands was a shoe box, covered in sparkles, stickers, and bits of colored, taped on paper. Across the top in big, blue sparkle letters was the name 'Hunter'.

Hunter laughed, taking the box from the little girl. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe I forgot about this." She looked at Annabelle. "Where'd you find it?"

"Under the bed in your old room," Annabelle answered, folding her hands behind her back.

"Well, thank you," Hunter chuckled, ruffling the child's golden locks. "I'm glad you found it so that I didn't leave it behind."

"Didn't leave what behind?" Optimus questioned, coming over to the girls. He wrapped an arm around Hunter's shoulders and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

"My treasure box," Hunter answered, grinning up at him. "Annabelle found it."

"Treasure box?" Optimus asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Hunter replied, holding it out so he could see it. "Basically just a shoe box with everything that's actually mine in it."

"Can I see what's in it, Hunter?" Annabelle questioned, excitedly as she bounced up and down a bit.

Hunter chuckled. "Sure, 'Belle. Been a while since I've taken a peek inside anyway." With that she tucked the box under one arm, took Annabelle's hand, and led the little girl back into the yard and up onto the porch. Optimus and the other kids followed them. Sitting down on the step, Hunter put the box on her lap and gently pulled off the lid. The contents of the box consisted of mostly polaroid pictures but there were some pieces of jewelry—mostly the kind you got out of a gumball machine—a few miscellaneous toys—including a slinky—and a small, paper-back chapter book. The sixteen-year-old couldn't help but snort. "Wow," she marveled under her breath. "It really has been a while since I've opened this thing up. I forgot about most of the stuff in here."

Kneeling down in front of them, Miko reached into the box and pulled out a googly eyeball keychain. "Whose is it?" she questioned with a smirk, shaking the thing so the eyeball inside the globe wobbled.

Hunter gave her friend a look. "Hahaha," she laughed sardonically.

"Ooh!" Annabelle's hand suddenly dove into the box and she pulled out a purple plastic diamond ring. She slipped it on her finger and turned the diamond. It lit up with a pink light. "Pretty!" the child marveled, completely taken with the thing.

"I can't believe that still works," Hunter stated in some amazement as she stared at the ring.

Raf reached into the box and pulled out the book. "Junie B. Jones," he read the title, "is a Graduation Girl."

"At one of the schools I went to they had Third Grade graduation," Hunter explained as her young friend leafed through the book. "All the kids got that for their present. Ya know, I don't think I've ever actually read it."

"Mind if I borrow it?" Raf questioned. "My little sister loves this series."

Hunter shrugged. "Sure," she answered. "She can keep it if she wants—I'm never gonna read it."

"You really have a lot of photos in here," Jack commented, carefully picking up a handful out of the box. He looked through them.

"I got this old polaroid camera from these people fostering me," Hunter explained. "I decided I wanted to be a photographer and started "training" for it. I think I went a little overboard."

"What happened to the camera?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think I fried it with all the pictures I took," Hunter admitted. "Most of 'em aren't that good—just a lot of crap I saw and thought could be "artistic". Maybe the camera was telling me to stop by breaking."

Optimus, who was watching over Jack's shoulder as the young man flipped through the pictures, suddenly caught a glimpse of a photo with people in it. Reaching over Jack, he plucked it out of the array and examined it. After a moment her arched and eyebrow. "And, who may I ask, is this?" he questioned, holding out the picture for Hunter to see. The tone in his voice was not a very happy one and everyone soon found out why. There were two people in the picture: young kids—maybe thirteen or fourteen—sitting on the steps of a brick building. One of the kids was obviously Hunter—the hair was a dead giveaway. The other kid was a blonde-haired boy. But the most intriguing thing about the picture was the fact that the two of them appeared to be kissing.

Hunter couldn't help but laugh in amusement as she snagged the picture away. "Oh my—wow—I completely forgot about this picture," she declared, grinning. She laughed again.

"Really?" Optimus responded, with a humorless chuckle. "Who is it?"

"I'm guessing you didn't take this picture," Jack remarked with a sly smirk.

Hunter shook her head, not looking up from the picture. "Nope—my friend Bobbi did."

"Who is it?" Optimus repeated. It didn't matter how long ago it had happened, his daughter was being kissed by a boy in a picture and he wanted to know who it was!

"Wow, this seems like a long time ago," Hunter murmured more to herself than anyone else.

"Who. Is. It?" Optimus enunciated his burning question very, very slowly.

Smirking, Hunter looked up from the picture and gave her father a look. "Relax, Dad," she assured him. "His name was Mark—he was just a friend, nothing more."

"Then why is he kissing you?" Optimus demanded.

"Because I asked him to," came the simple answer.

"Whadya mean you asked him to?" Miko questioned.

"Well, it was my thirteenth birthday," Hunter explained, "and him, Bobbi, and I were hanging out and he felt bad that he hadn't gotten me a birthday present. I told him to not worry about it, but he wouldn't let it go. So he asks me what I would want if he could get me anything, right? So I say a family. Of course he can't give me that so he says, "What's the next thing you'd want?" So I tell him my first kiss and he asks me if I want him to kiss me and I say "sure". So he does and Bobbi snaps the pic."

"How was it?" Raf asked.

Hunter couldn't help but blush a bit as she reminisced about the moment. "It was… nice," she confessed. Hearing Optimus clear his throat, the teen peeked up at him out of the corner of her eye to see him standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring down at her. "Real nice, actually," she continued with a smirk, deciding to play this up a bit. What fun would this be if she didn't get to get her father's goat a little bit? "In fact it wasn't so much as kiss as it was more a full blown make out session.

"Hunter…" Optimus warned, raising an eyebrow. He knew she was joking… at least he was pretty sure she was joking—but still. Jokes were one thing. Jokes involving his daughter and a boy were a separate and unwelcome issue entirely.

Hunter giggled and looked up at him, leaning back on her hands as she did. "I'm teasing, Dad," she reassured him. "It's was just an innocent thing—barely a peck."

"That doesn't matter," Optimus insisted firmly, shaking his head. "A kiss is a kiss and I do not care how long ago it was—I don't want to hear about strange boys I do not know kissing you. You are my daughter and I do not want you kissing anybody until…"
"You've joined the AllSpark?" Hunter finished for him, raising an eyebrow as she smirked.

"Precisely."

"Wow," Miko snorted, tapping Jack in the ribs with her elbow, "talk about your "Overprotective Daddy Syndrome"." Hearing a slight growl, the Japanese girl looked up to see that Optimus' glare was now directed on her. Eyes widening, she cowered away a bit.

Hunter chuckled. "Relax, Big Guy," she sighed. "I'm the Fuser, I've got people chasing and wanting to hurt me, I'm battling Decepticons, I'm training—guys are definitely last on my list right now. Besides, no matter what, you are always gonna be the first guy in my life, Daddy."

Optimus couldn't help the small smile that curled up a corner of his mouth. "I realize," he murmured, "that you are trying to "butter me up" as you Earthlings say… but I do know that there is truth behind that statement." Hunter nodded and he sighed. "Well… I suppose I can take that as consolation for the time being."

Hunter smiled and turned back to her box, continuing to sort through the items. Once she'd dug through the polaroids she was met with a VHS tape. The girl sighed and brought it out of the box. "This thing…" she groaned, holding between her fingers as she just sat there staring at it.

"A video tape?" Jack questioned.

"Wow!" Miko exclaimed. "Retro!"

"What's on it?" Raf asked.

"I have no idea," Hunter answered.

"You never watched it?" Optimus asked.

Hunter shook her head. "The ladies at the orphanage never let me," she explained. "They said that I wasn't supposed to see it till I was older for whatever reason—I couldn't tell you why. They kept it away from me until I turned ten then they gave it to me to do with whatever I wanted. I never got a chance to watch it so I just stuffed it in the bottom of my box and forgot about it, I guess. I don't even know who or where it came from." Sighing, she began to turn the object over and over between her fingers when suddenly the thing rattled, causing Hunter to freeze. She stared at the tape in confusion. "What in…" Hunter slid the cassette out of the box and turned it over to find two rings and what looked like a chainless locket in the empty takeup reel. "Whoa…."

"So it doubles as a jewelry box, huh?" Miko remarked.

"Except you can't get the stuff out," Hunter countered. "No wonder I was never supposed to see this—you wouldn't be able to play it anyway."

Raf reached out, took the tape out of Hunter's hands, and held for a minute as he studied it. "I can get it open if you want," he offered after a moment.

"Okay," Raf murmured as he carefully worked the screwdriver. "I got it." Setting the tool down, the thirteen-year-old gently took the top of the cassette off and then removed the empty reel to dump out the contents into his palm. He offered them to Hunter. "There ya go."

"Thanks, Raf." With the trinkets now in her grasp, Hunter set about examining them, trying to figure out where they'd come from and who they'd belonged to: She might be able to figure out where the cassette was from then. She looked over the rings first. They were fairly simple, both gold in color, though one did possess three small diamonds in it to make it appear a bit more feminine. Inscribed on the inside of both rings was a date: May 5th, '94. There also words: on the inside of the plain gold band was the word 'Hers' and on the inside of the ring with the diamonds was 'His'. "They look like wedding rings," the redhead finally announced.

"But whose?" Jack asked the big question.

"And what were they doing in your video?" Miko added on.

Setting the rings off to the side Hunter turned to the locket. It was a pretty little thing: golden, oval-shaped, a diamond set right in the center of the face—it looked fairly expensive. Then the teen flipped it over. She froze, her spark leaping into her throat and tears immediately pricking at her eyes, and for a long moment she didn't say anything and simply kept staring at the words engraved on the back.

Sensing the swell of mixed emotions through their bond, Optimus stepped closer to his spark-daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hunter?" he questioned softly.

"It has my name on it." Hunter's voice was hardly above a crackling whisper. "This locket has my name on it."

With that Optimus leaned down until his head was level with Hunters and gazed at the back of the locket, reading the phrase carefully engraved in small, elegant print:

To our

Precious

Huntress—

Our love for

You is eternal.

"It's from my parents," Hunter finally concluded, a few tears trickling down her cheeks as she reread the script over and over again. "It's all from my parents!" Finally managing to pull her eyes away from the locket, the girl's eyes went to the tape that Raf had yet to put back together. "That means the tape must be from them, too. Or at least of them." She looked back at the locket and carefully opened it to find a smiling image of Comet Thunder on one side and one of Quinn on the other. The pictures suddenly swam before her eyes. Pressing a hand tightly to her mouth, Hunter tried swallowing the suddenly large lump in her throat. "Oh my god…" she quivered, voice muffled through her hand. "Oh my g…." The teen's voice cut off with a soft, trembling sob and she screwed her eyes tightly shut and bowed her head.

"Uh… Hunt?" Jack came forward and put a hand on her arm. He looked at her in concern, having not seen the girl in this sort of state for a while.

Hunter shook her head. "No, I'm… I'm fine," she assured them all after a moment. "I just… I haven't really seen my father's face in a long time and… and this is…" she clamped her hand over her mouth again for a bit. "This is first time… I've ever seen my mother."

"You've never seen your mommy before?" Annabelle questioned in borderline horror.

Not looking up from the pictures Hunter shook her head. "I never had any pictures," she explained. "Well… I guess I've had at least one all along… I just never knew about it. And now…. I guess I just never figured… how much of a shock it'd be if… if…." She dropped off against, sniffling pathetically. She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling: amazement, happiness, sadness? Maybe all at once? All she knew is that she was having the hardest time gaining control of herself, which very well added embarrassment to the list of storm of emotion brewing inside her. "I'm sorry," she squeaked, covering her eyes with her hand.

"Shh," Optimus gently hushed her. He brushed her hair behind her ear and placed a kiss on her temple before pressing his forehead to her head. "Shh, I need not apologize. It's all right." He wrapped his arms around her as Hunter suddenly leaned into him, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. "It's all right." He comforted her for a few minutes before the sixteen-year-old finally found the strength to pull herself back together.

Sitting back up and sniffling, Hunter wiped her eyes and pushed back from the table to stand, locket still clutched tightly in hand. "Raf," she said, turning to her friend, "you mind putting the tape back together?"

"Yeah, sure," Raf said. "Why?"

"I think I'm old enough to watch it now," she answered. With that, the redhead turned away and left the room, going to find Sarah. They'd need that old VCR of the Lennoxes'.

Will connected the last few cords of the VCR and stepped back, brushing his hands together. "All right," he sighed. "Everything's hooked up and ready to go. I hope it still works."

Hunter nodded and slightly smiled as she came forward, holding the tape close. "Thanks, Will," she said. Kneeling down she got ready to slide the tape into the machine when she paused and turned to look back at everyone else. "You guys don't have to watch if you don't want to," she told them, not wanting them to feel obligated to sit and watch it with her. After all, it was probably just a home video with her parents—probably their wedding—if there was anything on it all. Hopefully it wasn't blank. If it was it had been pretty stupid to leave it for her in the first place, even if it's purpose had been to protect the rings and locket. Not to mention cruel.

"You kidding?" Miko asked, giving her a "seriously?" look. "Why would be wanna miss this?!"

"We're definitely curious, Hunter," Arcee replied with a smirk.

"Yeah," Bulk agreed with a nod. "We wanna know where you come from."

"And why you are the way you are," Epps added.

Hunter gave the man a glare. "Okay, you, Epps, out!" She jutted her thumb towards the door.

"Aww, come on, Red," the man laughed. "I'm just teasin' ya—you know that. You're a wonderful girl and we're lucky to have you."

Hunter rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile at the same time. She turned back to the VCR and slid the tape in.

"Of course your temper could use some improvement," Epps muttered.

"I heard that," Hunter warned. With the tape loaded, the sixteen-year-old pressed play and retreated back across the room to sit next to Optimus at the center of the couch. "Here we go then," she sighed, her stomach twisting and untwisting as she nervously rubbed her palms together. "Movie time." Everyone became silent and watched on.

At first there was nothing but a blank screen, then for a moment there was static before finally a picture of a red-haired, obviously pregnant woman with a bowl her hand flashed up on the screen. The date in the corner read July 15th 1995. "Comet!" she screeched indignantly even as she smiled. "Stop it! Put that thing away—I'm a mess!"

"Whoa!" Will exclaimed. "Hot accent!"

Sarah, who was sitting on the arm of the lounger her was in, tossed her blonde locks and looked down at him with a glare. "Ahem…?"

The man blinked up at his wife and smiled sheepishly. "Is what I would say if I actually liked British accents," he added on. Unconvincingly, one might add.

"Mm-hm," Sarah replied with a roll of her eyes. She turned back to the TV.

"Well, that certainly explains Hunter being a Beatles fan," Raf remarked.

"Knowing this I can now forgive that sin," Miko added with a nod.

"Aww, come on, Brit," Comet's voice came from behind the camera, "you look beautiful."

Quinn snorted as she turned away and walked towards a couch. "Beautiful, right. I'm in my baggy sweats and sloppy shirt, I haven't done a thing with my hair, I have no makeup on, and I'm pregnant and fat. Yes. I am runway ready." With a sigh, the woman carefully lowered herself to sit on the couch before picking her legs up an slowly pivoting to lean up against a pile of cushions near one of the arms. Slouching a bit, she set her bowl on her round belly and began shoveling whatever was in it into her mouth.

The camera began moving as Comet started walking closer. "Mmm, what are we eating now?" the man questioned, coming to stand over his wife. He aimed the camera down at the bowl. "Let's see. Chocolate ice cream with caramel sauce, peanuts, strawberries, whipped cream and… ranch, mayo, and pickles?"

The room of viewers gave off a collective groan and grimaced.

"Yuck!" Annabelle voiced the extra opinion for everyone.

"How can you eat that?" Comet asked his wife, focusing in on her face.

"Mmm, it's delicious," Quinn moaned by way of answer.

"Blech!"

Quinn suddenly looked up at the camera and pointed a spoonful full of the fowl concoction at the camera. "No uterus, no opinion."

"Right on!" all females in the room—even Arcee—cheered.

"After all, it's your fault I'm in this situation anyway," Quinn accused good-naturedly as she turned back to her food… if you could call it that.

"Oh, so now it's my fault you're eating a bio-hazard?" Comet questioned.

Quinn looked up again as she cleaned off her spoon. "Of course it is," she stated with a smirk. "I didn't do this to myself. You're the one who…"

"Okay, let's keep this family friendly," Comet suddenly interrupted her with a chuckle. "We don't need to scar the baby when she finally gets to watch this someday."

"That's the smartest idea you've had since before you got me pregnant," Quinn chided in a charmingly snide way.

"If I wasn't convinced Hunter and this woman are related before, I definitely am now," Jack declared with a smirk.

Hunter was too entranced by the video to comment back. She couldn't believe it. This was her mother. She was watching a video of her mother; hearing her voice for the very first time! It was probably the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard. Feeling a pad of a thumb caressing her cheek, the teen slightly jumped and pulled her eyes away from the TV just long enough to see Optimus gazing at her sympathetically. She suddenly realized she was crying again. The girl quickly wiped her eyes and cheeks. "I'm all right," she assured her father. "I'm all right, it's just… overwhelming."

Smiling slightly, Optimus nodded and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close and kissed her head before they both turned their attention back to the TV.

"Speaking of the baby," Comet moved on the conversation, "how many months are we now?"

Quinn's smile suddenly beamed with both love and excitement. She looked down at her round belly and lovingly rubbed it. "A little over five months," she answered with a certain coo in her voice. The woman looked back up at the camera. "She's already started kicking."

"That's my girl!" Comet praised. "Already a fighter! A daddy couldn't be more proud of that." His large hand came into the frame and gently caressed his wife's belly. "Just think," the man marveled, "in about four more months we're gonna be parents."

"At least… until we have to give her up," Quinn murmured sadly. The look of utter elation on her face had quickly faded into one of despair and pain. Tears were already shining in her eyes. "Comet…" she whimpered after a moment, "… I… I don't… why?" The woman raised her head to look at her husband as tears began to run down her cheeks. "Why? Why our baby? I just don't understand why! Why?!" She covered her face in her hands and began crying.

Comet's hand picked up the bowl and moved it out of the shot before he set the camera down on a table and moved to comfort his wife. You could just see their legs on the screen now. "Shh, love, shh," Comet could be heard trying to console her. "It's okay—it's all gonna be okay."

"But it's not going to be okay, Comet," Quinn stated, "and you know it. Our baby is…. She isn't normal, Comet, and she's never going to be. And she's not ours—not really. We're going to have to give her away to someone we don't even know!"

"Shh, I know, Quinn, I know," Comet soothed. "But we don't even know when that'll be yet. It could be right after she's born, or it could be a while after that—we might end up having her for years before that time comes."

"It doesn't matter. That day will come and when it does… oh, Comet, why does it have to be this way?!"

"I dunno, Brit. I just don't know. All I know is that Primus chose us for a reason. Our baby is going to be important and powerful and she is going to be needed by so many out there—not just on Earth but throughout the universe. And I know how much it's going to hurt to let her go…. But who are we to selfishly keep her to ourselves when so many are going to need and depend on her?"

There was quiet for a moment before Quinn finally broke it. "I know you're right, love," she sniffled, voice a bit muffled. "But I still don't like it. I still don't want to give up our baby—our precious little baby…" the woman's voice broke off as she started crying again.

With that the video once again turned to static. The entire room was silent and all eyes were trained on Hunter, waiting for her reaction. What was she thinking? What was she going to say? Was she going to say anything?

Not totally aware she was being watched and yet not completely unaware of it either, Hunter sat with her head in her hands. Pushing her hair up out of her face she stared at the floor. For a long time she was quiet, comprehending what she had just seen and heard on the video. "I can't believe it," she finally whispered after a moment.

"Sweet-spark?" Optimus questioned, rubbing her shoulders.

"My entire life I've thought about how much giving me up affected me alone… I never thought about how my parents felt about it." Sighing the teen buried her face in her hands. She needed to be alone in the darkness for a minute.

"I'm still shocked your parents knew what you were before you were even born," Arcee declared.

"That surprised me too," Hunter admitted behind her hands. "But I guess it makes sense. Primus probably gave them dreams or something or Greasy might've figured it out and told them who knows."

"Hey, baby girl."

Hunter's face immediately lifted out of her hands and all eyes turned towards the television again to see that the static was gone and Comet Thunder and replaced it. He was sitting in a chair and looked very tired and drained, both physically and emotionally. The date on the screen this time read August 20th 1998. All eyes quickly turned to Hunter again to see her staring intently at the TV, more tears welling up in her eyes.

Suddenly feeling like it was just her and the video, Hunter released a quivering breath. "Daddy?" she just barely squeaked.

On the video Comet released a slightly awkward chuckle and looked away from the camera as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I…" he started, shrugging, "… I don't even know how to begin this to tell you the truth. There's so many things I want to say and so many things that need to be said at the same time." The man rubbed his hands over his face for a moment as he groaned, then he looked into the camera again. To Hunter it felt like he was looking into her eyes. "Tomorrow… everything changes, baby," Comet began to explain. "The life we both know is never going to be the same again. I know that you're going to have a lot of questions—questions that you won't know how to find the answers to. Even now as you're hopefully watching this however many years later, you're probably still asking those questions. I'm… gonna try my best to answer them for you right now.

"First of all, I want you to know that I will always love you, Hunter. That is the one thing that will never change. From the first moment I found out you mom was pregnant with you I've loved you." An endearing smile crossed Comet's face as a few tears shone in his eyes. "And when you were born and I held you in my arms for the very first time and looked at your precious, innocent little face… your fingers wrapped around mine so tight, like you never wanted to let go… I knew I could never love anything as much as I loved you in that moment and the many other moments to follow. Never forget that, sweet-spark, never forget that."

Hunter shook her head, tears starting to trickle down her cheeks. "Never," she whispered. "Never, I promise."

"You're probably wondering if what's happening to you is your fault," Comet went on. "It does have everything to do with you, baby, but it's not your fault. None of this is your fault, Hunter. By the time you're watching this you've probably already discovered what and who you are, so you know just how powerful you are. Because of this there are people in the world—bad people—who will want to hurt you and use you for their own personal gain and agendas. And I won't be able to protect you from that. I've tried, Hunter. Believe me, I've tried with everything I have to keep you safe from these people but the truth is… I'm not strong enough, sweet-spark. More than anything I wish I was but I'm not. That's why I have to send you away, baby girl. You're too important and valuable for me to risk your protection, and I just don't have the money to keep moving us around in order to keep you hidden. I don't wanna see you turned into a puppet, Hunter. I don't want that life for you—that's not who you are. You are the Fuser, my child. You are strong, you are powerful, you are important, you are needed and wanted. For your sake I hope you never have to meet the people who want you for the wrong reasons.

Hunter couldn't help the rueful chuckle that escaped her. "Too late for that, Dad."

The video message went on. "I have to give you your best chance, Hunter," Comet was saying. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but what I'm doing is giving that to you. As much as it hurts me, you're best chance is not with me; it's with someone else who will love you just as much as I do." The tears were streaming down his face now. "The truth is…" he sniffled after a moment of silence, "… Primus, help me—the truth is, you're not mine, Hunter. You never were mine, nor your mother's, rest her soul. I know that might sound confusing depending on when you're watching this, so let me try to explain. You are my baby, sweet-spark. You have always been my baby and always will be my baby, nothing will ever change that. But… you're not mine to raise, Hunter. That privilege goes to someone else: a Prime. I don't know his name yet, but I do know that you belong with him and not me—as much as that hurts me. Your spark… is his, and… that's something I couldn't claim even if I had to."

Optimus drew into himself upon hearing this, thinking it all over. He'd only ever thought about how blessed and lucky he had been to have Hunter as his spark-daughter, but not once had he ever thought about how hard it had been on Comet Thunder to give the girl to him. Or how spark-breaking. The Prime didn't think he'd have enough strength to do the same. He looked over at the young Hybrid whose eyes were still glued to the television, watching intently even as she cried. He thought about how much he loved—what a huge part of his life she was. He couldn't imagine life without her.

"Don't feel bad for me, sweet-spark," Comet was going on to say. "That's the last thing I want you to feel. It hurts and breaks me to have to give you up in more ways than I can say, but I don't want you to feel sorry. I want you to feel happy. I want you to feel as happy and content and loved and wanted as you possibly can, because that's exactly what you deserve, Hunter. You deserve the very best life has to offer you… even if it's not with me. And there is no doubt in my mind that you'll find it." He smiled lovingly into the camera as he said this.

Hunter couldn't help but smile back as she nodded. "I have, Dad," she murmured with a sniffle. "Trust me, I have." She looked up at Optimus who in turn smiled down at her and wrapped her arms around him as she snuggled into his side. Optimus chuckled and returned her embrace, placing a kiss on her head as he nuzzled into her hair.

"Now, Prime," the video grabbed Optimus' attention again, as well as Hunter's and everyone else's, "if you're watching this, I've got a message for you too." Comet was looking seriously into the camera now. "Watch over our baby girl, all right? I know it's probably a redundant thing to say, but I mean it. I realize that you love her as much as I do and would do whatever it takes to protect her, but remember that no matter where in the world I am she's the love of my life too. I've held on to her for three years only to have to send her away from me, and that's not something a father does if he doesn't truly believe that who he's sending is child to will love and care for them as much as he does. Consider this a gesture of good faith. Also remember that you're a Purebred and I'm a Hybrid, and even though I'm not quite as powerful compared to some other members of my species—my own daughter included—I am still more powerful than you. So if you do anything to hurt her and I find out about it I will hunt you down and make your life miserable." There was a teasing tone in the man's voice, but you could tell that he meant every word he said.

The viewers all laughed at the threat, Optimus included. However, the Prime had no doubts that, even if Comet Thunder was one with the AllSpark now, if something ever did befall Hunter that was his fault the mech would probably come back to make him pay. And he didn't blame him. He would do the same thing too.

"And brushing on the subject of boys, because I know that you're most likely going to go through that phase with her," Comet went on, "well, I think you know what my advice is…."

"Show them the guns," Optimus quoted along with the man, only to raise another fit of even harder laughter out of everyone else.

Hunter rolled her eyes and groaned. "Even though you guys've never even met you've conspired a plan against me!" she complained good-naturedly. "How am I supposed to have a life? I'm screwed."

"I've answered all these questions for you, baby girl," Comet continued on. "Hopefully I've given you some peace of mind through this, but I have one last thing to give you: a warning. I'm sure you're wondering "Why now?" We've been together for three years, so what's changed—what's pushed me over the edge now?" He sighed. "It's not the easiest thing in the world to explain, Hunter, and I can't really give you an explanation of why it is the way it is, because in all honesty I can't figure it out myself, but the reason…"

"Daddy?" a small, tired voice suddenly interrupted Comet.

The man looked up off screen towards the sound. "Hunter?" he questioned. "Baby, what are you doin' up at this hour? You should be in bed."

A small little girl with shoulder-length, fiery, disheveled locks suddenly came into the frame. She was wearing a Toy Story onesie and carrying a stuffed wolf: Blue. Everyone watching awed, causing Hunter to blush. Yawning and rubbing her eyes, Hunter toddled up to her father and stated in the most adorable, groggy little voice, "I was t'irsty, so I gotted up to get a dwink. What are you doing, Daddy?" She started to clamber up into her father's lap.

Chuckling, Comet helped her up and cradled her there, wrapping his arms around her as he began to rock. "I'm just making a movie, baby girl," he answered, looking first to the camera then down the little girl.

Little Hunter was quiet for a minute as she stroked Blue's fur. "Wike an Amewica's Funny Vid'o?" she finally spoke

Comet laughed softly. "Somethin' like that," he nodded, stroking her hair back out of her face.

"Can I watch?"

A heavy sigh. "Someday, baby, someday." There was a long period of silence as Comet sat there with his daughter, rocking her and holding her close. He was biting his lip and you could see the tears coming back into his sapphire-blue eyes as he gazed down at her. It was plain to see how much he loved her—how much this was killing him. It was has heart-wrenching as it was sweet. "Hey, uh," the man finally said, clearing his throat and sniffing, "why don't we get you back to bed, huh? We got a big day tomorrow."

"What's…" little Hunter began to ask, before breaking off in an adorable yawn. Her eyes had already started to drift shut again as her head nodded into her father's chest. "What's… tomowwow…." Right then and there she fell asleep for the very last time in her father's arms.

Comet released a quivering chuckle before picking his child up and standing. For a minute he continued to stand there and simply gaze at her before kissing her forehead and nuzzling his cheek against her hair. "I love you, Huntress Starstreaker James," you could just barely hear him whisper. With that the man moved towards the camera and shut it off. The screen went blurry with static for a minute before it finally went black and the tape snapped to a stop in the VCR.

Everyone remained still and silent. Tears had found their ways into more than one pair of eyes. That had been brutal. Slowly all eyes turned to Hunter. The sixteen-year-old was still sitting there staring at the TV in what looked to be either horror or shock, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. She couldn't believe it. His last words. Those were the very last words her father had ever said to her. "That was the last time I ever saw him," Hunter finally spoke, voice hardly above a whisper. "I woke up in the orphanage the next day—he never even woke me to say goodbye."

"He didn't want to make it any more difficult than it already was, Sweet-spark," Optimus assured her, somehow knowing exactly what Comet Thunder's mindset had been. "It was already hard enough for him, and he did not want to hurt you as well."

"But it did hurt me," Hunter admitted, looking down at the floor. "It hurt me so much—I thought he didn't love me anymore."

"But he did," Optimus insisted, putting an arm around her shoulders. "He did love you—you knew that before watching this tape. He never stopped loving you—he still loves you."

"Then why didn't he say goodbye?" There wasn't much conviction in Hunter's demand. "Or at least, why didn't he say goodbye when it happened?"

"Perhaps he thought it would be easier," her spark-father answered.

Hunter shook her head. "It wasn't."

"No, it wasn't," Optimus agreed. "And he made a mistake in thinking it would be, but that does not mean that he didn't love you or that he meant to hurt you."

Hunter was silent, thinking this over, before she finally made a wordless nod. Optimus was right. Comet's actions may have been misguided, but he had never at any point not had her best interests at spark.

Another uncomfortably heavy silence fell over the room before Sarah finally cleared her throat and stood up. "Well," she sighed with a grin, "seeing's as how we're all finished with the packing a loading how about some cookies and milk?"

"Yeah!" Annabelle, Raf, Jack, Miko, Epps, and Will all exclaimed at the same time.

Chuckling, Sarah left the room.

Wiping her eyes and sniffled, Hunter stood with a sigh and grabbed the box for the tape before going across the room to take it out. She was just slipping it into the box when there was a knock at the door.

"I got it," Bulkhead offered, since he was the one closest to the door. He disappeared into the hall.

Hunter came back over and sat the tape down on the coffee table before meeting her spark-father's sky-blue holoform eyes. She smiled meekly. "Is it weird to say I think I'm even more ready to begin this new life now than I was before?" she questioned sheepishly.

Optimus chuckled, and stood to put his hands on her shoulders. "If it is, then I am "weird" as well," he confessed. "Because I feel the same way." He returned his child's smile and tried to brush her cowlick out of her face, only have it stubbornly swing back into place.

"Um… guys," Bulkhead's voice drew everyone's attention. He was standing the hall with another man who was well dressed and carrying a briefcase looking quite bewildered. "This is Trent Jacobs. He says he's with Child and Family Services."

At that a deathly chill slammed into Hunter, causing goosebumps to rise on her arms and the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end. Her stomach knotted. No! No, no, no, please no! This couldn't be happening again! She was going to be taken away again!

Sensing her terror through their bond, Optimus smiled reassuringly at his daughter and tried to send a comforting feeling to her. He came forward with an amicable smile. "Hello, Mr. Jacobs," he greeted the man, shaking his hand. "What brings you this way? I assume it has to do with Hunter?"

"It does," Mr. Jacobs answered in a clipped, but not unfriendly tone. "I've come to discuss her adoption."

Optimus was taken aback. "Adoption?" he questioned, looking utterly confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand. I was under the impression that everything was taken care of for the adoption and we only had to come in and sign the papers."

"We?" Jacobs questioned, raising an eyebrow. His brown eyes were just as confused as the Primes.

"Yes," Optimus answered. "Hunter and I. You are here to discuss my adoption of her, aren't you?"

Jacobs was quiet for a moment looking completely bewildered by the statement. He couldn't have looked more confused if Prime had slipped up and started speaking to him in Cybertronian rather than English. "Um… I'm sorry, but no. I'm not here to discuss you're adoption."

Hunter only grew colder.

"Then… what adoption are you here to discuss?" Optimus all but demanded.

"I am here to discuss the adoption of Hunter James by Mr. Cyrus and Eve Prescott of Denver Colorado."

Confession #37:

This is the point at which I start to hate myself….

REMEMBER TO SUBMIT YOUR HYBRID QUESTIONS!