Chapter 208 – The Long Tuesday: The Gloaming
(BPOV)
"I am not getting back into that thing!" the lead spokes-human bellowed.
Bumblebee rolled his optics, glancing at the penned murderers before looking at his sister. His brother in bonding had yet to release her as Prowl brought his holoform online, striding idly through the electrified field toward the men.
One promptly put two and two together, coming up with five as he bolted into the arc; bellowing in pain as it threw him back into Prowl's holoform. Bumblebee watched with a grin as the enforcer's holoform lightly caught the man, hand-cuffing then pushing him to his knees in a single, smooth motion.
One of the few times you ever got to see Prowl show off his hand to hand skills; Enforcer style.
"Spoilsport," Barricade muttered.
"Letting the human bounce twice against the field would kill him Barricade," Prowl stated in his usual, exasperated tone, quickly cuffing the other two.
"And the data-work would say he did it to himself," Barricade retorted flippantly, idly waving a servo before disengaging the posts; collecting and sub-spacing them the next second.
Bumblebee shook his helm, carefully edging his way toward his sister. Not that she would in any way purposely hurt him, but she had handed Anabelle off to the twins. Over their sibling bond, Bumblebee could feel the lightest edge of the rage and pain in her spark.
Ratchet had been eavesdropping from the med-bay, kindly updating Bumblebee. Conveniently cruising near the CIA headquarters he'd had Director Matteer in his cabin almost before his sister had even barked the order. But more importantly, Ratchet had assured him of Anabelle's safety. His sister had handed Anabelle over to the twins before her temper could potentially put the child in danger.
His sister had handed Anabelle to the twins, which he now needed to discuss with her.
Pronto.
"Oh for Primus sake no! Prowl! Don't put them in your cabin!" Barricade protested loudly. Bee looked back at the enforcers curiously.
"Humans do not belong in the boot of a vehicle, be we sentient or non," Prowl stated tiredly, the holoform shoving the last into the back seat. Bumblebee winced as Prowl's holoform grimaced. The humans were beating against the enforcer's windows and doors. "However if you do not cease that I will attend my brother enforcer's advice!" Prowl fairly shouted at the three men pounding on his door wings.
But the humans seemingly didn't hear him, yelling and hitting in a last-ditch attempt for freedom. The next moment Prowl snap-shattered his interior, shoving the three into his trunk.
"Not a word," Prowl grumbled in the silence, driving past Barricade with his holoform winking into place in his 'drivers' seat. Barricade innocently raised both servos in the air.
"Hitch another lift with you Bumblebee?" Director Matteer asked with a broad grin. Bee frowned.
"I kinda need to-" he began worriedly, gesturing vaguely toward his sister.
"Fair enough," Barry nodded to him before looking amiably around at the bots whom had begun filtering in to watch. "Anybot here mind escorting me to the same place Prowl's going?"
"I gotcha," Barricade stated cheerfully, reaching down and picking Barry up in one hand.
"Do not hurt him," Bumblebee cautioned the enforcer firmly.
"You mean I don't get to treat him like the last human we mutually had our servos on?" Barricade shot at him with an evil, serrated grin.
"Wait what-?" Barry began in a worried tone before Barricade transformed, lightly plopping the human in his passenger seat.
"You do and I'll beat the slag out of you. Again." Bumblebee stated flatly, leaning down slightly and tapping Barricade's roof with a single finger.
"You'd have to catch me first," Barricade laughed coarsely, speeding out of headquarters after Prowl.
"What?" Optimus rumbled flatly.
"Barricade was the first bot to actually engage with Sam in root," Bumblebee shrugged, turning to look at his Primes. "He chased Sam around for a while then threw him onto a car. Decepticon interrogation tactics, you have the report."
"I remember that," Kae murmured softly.
Optimus nodded and glanced around.
=I need to talk to you asap= Bumblebee chirped seriously to his sister and brother in bonding.
=Indeed= Kae responded immediately, nodding as she turned slightly in Optimus' arms.
=Why the slag did you hand Anabelle to Sunstreaker?= Bumblebee demanded quickly.
"Would you quit it with the scout already?" Ironhide grumbled irritably.
=He was the closest,= Kae trilled calmly. =Thread or no thread it was my safest option.=
=Why not Optimus?= Bee demanded worriedly.
=Because I needed to be free to restrain my mate,= Optimus replied patiently.
"Oi!" Ironhide growled crossly.
=More to the point why is Anabelle's distance from Sunstreaker so important?= Kae chirped with a small frown, looking at him worriedly.
"Who the slag made it keep secrets from Ironhide day!?" Ironhide bellowed irately.
"Ironhide, Bumblebee is well within his right to speak in scout to his sister," Optimus rumbled in a gently chastising tone, turning toward communications. Bumblebee stayed dead still, watching the weapons master glare at him for a second before he turned to follow Optimus.
"What the slag is everyone keeping from me?" Ironhide grumbled. "First Anabelle and the twins wandering down the corridor thick as thieves and grinning at me. Now you lot with the scout..."
=I give it two days before he figures it out= Bee chirped musingly.
=That's generous,= Kae murmured in a lightly amused trill. Her tone turned serious as she looked at him fully. =Now spill.=
=It's a maturation thing,= Bumblebee chirped seriously. =Your thread and Optimus' entered my vision the moment you met in the alley. A single thread reached out from each of your sparks and began twining around each other, then filament by tiny filament it began growing all the while you were near him. You were wrong, big sister, when you ran off I could have found you in a spark-beat, or at least in as much time as it would have taken to convince Optimus that I needed his help to find you...=
=Your point?= his sister asked in an amused tone, lightly touching his shoulder and guiding him toward the central.
=When you showed up at school again your thread had barely grown, but anytime you spoke to Optimus it'd start to grow a little bit faster until you finally dropped out of college and came to stay with us, then it just went mad. The same went for Jolt and Lena, the more they interacted the stronger their thread grew.= Bumblebee stated worriedly, glancing back down the corridor toward the twins' quarters.
=And your concern about the twins?= his sister asked with her usual bluntness, settling gracefully into her place in the central.
=The more the thread grew, the more irrational Optimus got when you weren't around= Bumblebee trilled worriedly, flopping down beside his sister and cuddling against her chest-plates as her arm wound protectively around him. =Up until the point that he knew that you two were spark-mates nobot could understand why he was beginning to exhibit the behaviours of a guardian again. But that was Optimus.=
=Your point?= Kae asked patiently, looking down at him calmly.
=It was Optimus, your mate is renowned for keeping his temper in check. Right as soon as he knew you were the one on the other end of his thread he was right back to the old Optimus again.=
=So tell them= his sister shrugged above him.
=Easy for you to say, what the slag am I supposed to tell Will!?= Bumblebee demanded worriedly. =The Colonel and his mate are already upset that Anabelle's intellectual maturation has been accelerated by Ironhide's inability to leave a hatchling's question unanswered. Who gets to break it to him that both twins have been linked to his daughter since the day you killed Harrison?=
=That long?= Kae chirped curiously, looking down at him.
=That long, but even worse than telling Will...= Bee trailed off worriedly.
=What?= Kae demanded worriedly.
=Who's gonna tell Sunstreaker that he's pretty much betrothed to a squishy?= Bumblebee demanded, looking up at his sister with the puppy dog optics that always always worked on her. Sure enough:
"You're just making sure that I'm around to hide behind again, aren't you?" his sister asked him in the amused tone that said she already knew. Bumblebee simply shot the innocent look his sister always used right back at her. "You're a brat, little-brother, I'm shocked you haven't started a pool."
"Pool?" Ironhide demanded, helm instantly poking around the door. "Pool on what?"
(OPOV)
"Who the slag made it keep secrets from Ironhide day!?" Ironhide bellowed irately.
"Ironhide, Bumblebee is well within his right to speak in scout to his sister," Optimus rumbled in a gently chastising tone, turning toward communications. It took a moment, but as he always had, Ironhide had his flank the moment his back was open.
"What the slag is everyone keeping from me?" Ironhide grumbled. "First Anabelle and the twins wandering down the corridor thick as thieves and grinning at me. Now you lot with the scout..."
"You regularly speak common in front of the humans," Optimus reminded his old friend gently.
"That's not the point, the humans are startin' to pick up common anyway," Ironhide grumbled irritably. "I want to know what the slag you lot are keepin' from me. If it was somethin' from the humans-"
"Then we would simply have spoken of it over the Primary," Optimus interrupted the weapons master patiently. "Surely you cannot judge a scout for taking advantage of a chance to converse in his primary language?"
Ironhide harrumphed behind him as they strode into the communications bay once more.
"Optimus? What did I miss?" Will asked over his shoulder, the man still turned toward several active screens.
"Recent information indicates that it was not, in fact, Barricade whom took Captain Calvin Banes offline whilst my mate was still human," Optimus announced patiently, looking calmly at the faces on the screens.
"Who was it then?" General Moreshower asked sternly, sitting forward in his seat at the pentagon.
"A group of rogue CIA agents, under the command of one Gregory James Harrison," Optimus rumbled, narrowing his optics slightly as a flash of anger crossed their connection.
~I should have killed Harrison more slowly~ his mate's spark whispered irritably.
"The same ones that kidnapped us!?" Sarah demanded. Optimus turned slightly and nodded to the mate of the Colonel.
~You felt enough guilt over killing him in the first place, my mate~ Optimus reminded his femme gently. "The same leader, however I did not recognize-" He began aloud.
"I did," Ironhide interrupted him irritably.
"What?" Optimus demanded, turning to look at his Weapons Master.
~Obviously an utter waste of guilt.~ his Kae responded irritably.
~The infliction of such pain and suffering is not in your nature my Kae, and we both know it.~
"One of the three was the same guy Kae knocked the wind out of in Garcia," Ironhide rumbled firmly.
"Why..." Optimus rumbled worriedly, working to access his logs of the occasion. His Kae was marginally annoyed with him now, but only because he'd had the audacity to remind her that she wasn't truly as bloodthirsty as she tended to allow others to believe.
"You were pretty slaggin' distracted by Kae at the time, I wouldn't worry about it," Ironhide rumbled gently, lightly patting his forearm.
"But they were a threat to Mikaela," Sarah frowned. "I would have thought he'd log them as enemies."
"Hah!" Ironhide barked. "He probably logged those faces as 'humans to be vaporized on sight' then deleted it so it wouldn't trigger."
Optimus frowned as he reviewed his logs again, then grimaced.
His weapons master knew him all too well.
"Deleted it?" Will asked him curiously. "Why not re-classify them?"
"In much the same manner that humans cling to their first impressions of fellow citizens, it is often extraordinarily difficult to reclassify an individual in one's processors," Optimus informed the man with a small grimace.
"Considering the import of individuals like that, and the ramifications of their circulation throughout the populace you'd simply forget what they look like before sharing that information!?" Director Mearing demanded incredulously, Optimus turned and nodded to the woman sitting comfortably in the lower racks near Lena.
Beside him, Ironhide shuddered.
"Sharing a classification like that!?" Ironhide rumbled with a deep frown. "Don't even think it!"
"May I ask the reason?" Mearing asked intently. Optimus took a moment and synced his processors.
"Because the meaning is literal," he rumbled patiently. "If I were to circulate a bio-identifier of an individual classifying them as a being to be vaporized on sight, then it would not be simply me who would draw arms against that individual but every Cybertronian whom received that information, whether they knew the reason or not."
"Kind of like the way Anabelle is classified as a Cybertronian hatchling?" Lena piped up curiously. Optimus jumped and looked down at the tech in consternation.
"What!?" Will demanded.
Optimus vented a sigh and looked mournfully at the Colonel.
"Has she manifested a spark?" Sarah asked flatly.
"Nope, not yet anyway," Ironhide rumbled with a shrug.
"Yet!?" Sarah demanded loudly. "Just what do you mean by yet you rusted out scrap heap!?"
"Nothin'!" Ironhide protested loudly. "I just mean my little niece could, I mean... you know..."
"I think we've gotten off topic again, what can you tell me about Russia today?" Director Mearing asked calmly.
"Lena?" Colonel Lennox asked patiently.
"Since the last passover?" Lena replied patiently. "A section pushed south for a bit on the border but it's been holding since Sunday-"
Optimus patiently watched the colonel's mate lightly pat her husband's arm for a moment before climbing down to the lower catwalk.
"Ironhide?" Sarah Lennox asked quietly. In an instant Ironhide was looking at the woman.
"Sarah," Ironhide acknowledged her in the same deferential tone Optimus had frequently heard his Weapons Master use on Chromia after the firebrand of a femme had yelled at him.
Good move.
"Where's Anabelle?" Sarah asked him with a small smile. Optimus nodded to himself and turned his primary attention back to the conversation in front of his optics.
"The fliers' report says North Korea's airspace has been quiet this week as well," Lena was saying.
"On base," Ironhide shrugged behind him, the bot promptly began going into detail over the unit's gossip.
"Will you go find her for me?" Sarah asked him sweetly.
Optimus glanced down for a moment as Ironhide automatically looked up at him for permission and nodded slightly, the Weapons Master turned and strode out the next moment.
"That should take care of the daily news, I need to get on a plane," Director Mearing announced with a grimace, glancing at her watch.
"Are you certain you do not wish to simply use the ground-bridge?" Optimus rumbled curiously.
"As much as I'd love to, the various governments of the world still get rather irritated when I show up without having the courtesy of going through customs," Charlotte Mearing stated with an irritable eyeroll. "I can't believe I just said that, Barry is rubbing off on me. I don't suppose Archangel is available?"
"My mate will be preparing for her recharge shortly," Optimus informed the woman patiently. "However I will gladly contact the Aerial-bots to see if one of the fliers is willing."
"That could be interesting," General Moreshower piped up with a grin. "I'd take them up on that Director, just don't make any wagers with Skywarp about distances travelled. Moreshower out," he added, lightly punching the button on his desk.
Optimus nodded and turned to Director Mearing.
"Skywarp?" Director Mearing asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at Lena.
"He's a real character," Lena informed the woman with a grin. "Just try not to be offended if he refers to you as one of the 'adorable little smurf-monkeys,' he figures it's a compliment."
Mearing seemed to ponder that for a moment before she looked up at Optimus and nodded.
"Optimus Prime calling Aerial-bot base," Optimus called out patiently.
"Starscream receiving," the mech's voice drawled back idly.
"Starscream, are there any Aerial-bots currently willing to ferry-"
"Ooh ooh! Where's the little smurf-monkey going this time?" Skywarp's voice interrupted cheerfully.
Optimus looked down in amusement as Lena shrugged in response to Charlotte Mearing's rolling eyes.
"Different smurf-monkey, and we may be discussing that misnomer, but I could use a lift to Hong Kong," Director Mearing replied patiently. "My aide is already en-route to meet-"
"Skywarp en-route!" was called out cheerfully before the line cut out.
"The bots have an easier time landing in base here, did you want me to bridge you to your apartment so you can gather your go-gear?" Lena asked politely. "Skywarp typically covers the distance from Nevada to NEST in less than half an hour."
"Thank you, my driver has it already," Charlotte stated patiently. "I'll see myself to the Entrance bay, good evening," she added, patiently making her way down the catwalks.
"Now what do you mean Anabelle is classified as a Cybertronian?" Sarah asked him firmly.
Optimus looked mournfully at the femme standing on the catwalks before him.
"When Ironhide escorted Will home and he encountered Anabelle for the first time, his translation circuits were the first to begin translating Anabelle's youngling speech; her initial speech patterns were close enough to our own youngling's patterns that it translated to being that of a different frequency. As a result he automatically classified her as an unfamiliarly framed, and extraordinarily small Cybertronian hatchling," Optimus began quietly. "It is customary among our unit to share information automatically, particularly when in unfamiliar and potentially hostile environments. Thus when Ironhide reported Anabelle's existence and bio-signatures back to us we all assimilated the data assuming he would have correctly classified her as human."
"And you didn't change it then and there because?" Sarah asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I personally did not notice until the data clashed with my mate's, a few orn past our bonding," Optimus rumbled quietly. "By that point it was far too late to correct the data among us. More interesting is the fact that entirely outside of Ironhide's sphere of influence regarding Anabelle, Sentinel also classified her as a Cybertronian being."
"That's why he didn't recognize Anabelle!" Lena stated in a surprised tone.
"Due to her classification in our processors as a Cybertronian hatchling, Sentinel calculated her growth rate to coincide with that of one of our own children." Optimus nodded to the femme. "Thus presented with a child grown so rapidly as a human does..." Optimus trailed off sadly. He looked at Will and Sarah sympathetically, reaching up and lightly curling his fingers over the catwalk railing near the femme. "Please understand, Sarah, it is as painful to us to see how rapidly Anabelle is advancing, and possibly more so; for the short time which we have been here she has advanced as much as any Cybertronian hatchling would have in a few vorn. Even if it is not her spark's desire to be housed in a stronger frame – which we will respect – she will always be counted as one among us, and we will grieve her eventual loss as we would one of our own."
Optimus turned slightly as the doors opened behind him, and nodded to the weapons master carrying the tiny femme creation of his comrade in arms.
(IPOV)
"Ironhide?" Sarah Lennox asked quietly. In an instant Ironhide was looking at the mate of his human brother.
"Sarah," he murmured in the same deferential tone he used on Chromia after she'd yelled at him.
That was the safe bet.
"Where's Anabelle?" Sarah asked him with a small smile. Ironhide cycled his processors in relief, Sarah wasn't gonna cuss him out again.
"On base," Ironhide shrugged. "The twins had her the last time I saw her, and I imagine Bumblebee'll want in on the femmeling action, and Bluestreak, Wingnut, and Longbolt are all dyin' to meet her..."
"Will you go find her for me?" Sarah asked him sweetly.
Ironhide glanced at Optimus's minute nod, grinned and turned, striding out of the communications bay the next second and heading down the corridor.
First stop, central. That was the most likely place to gather intel on his favourite hatchling's movements.
"You're a brat, little-brother, I'm shocked you haven't started a pool," Kae's voice sounded in the Central.
"Pool?" Ironhide demanded, double-timing the final couple of steps to get his helm around the doorframe a bit more quickly. "Pool on what?"
"Nothing!" Bumblebee stated innocently. Ironhide narrowed his optics at his nephew, holding the young bot's optics for a few nano-clicks. But whatever the scout was hiding, it wasn't enough for him to feel guilty about.
"If you're makin' bets on me again-" Ironhide began darkly.
"We're not, uncle," Kae stated with a smile. Ironhide surveyed his niece for a long moment before snorting slightly.
"Where's Anabelle got to now?" he grumbled in a marginally less grumpy tone.
"She's with the twins," Kae answered patiently.
"Still!?" Ironhide demanded incredulously. "Oh they're up to something, I just know it!" he finished menacingly, idly spinning his cannons as he glowered down the corridor toward the twins' quarters. "I can feel it in my knees."
"No, what you're feeling is the sheer amount of stress you've been putting on your joints going over rough terrain in your alt-mode. Again." Kae replied in precisely the same 'dryer'n a popcorn fart' tone Ratchet did.
The sort of tone that implied an imminent temporary loss of limbs and the resultant slag-ton of boring.
Ironhide glowered at his niece for a moment before he harrumphed and stomped back into the corridor, the two starting right back up with their chirpy scout gossip. Ironhide shook his helm irritably and made his way toward the twins' quarters, standing in front of their door for a moment.
It was quiet.
Too quiet...
Ironhide quickly signalled the door to open and took a rapid step in.
"What are you doing!?" he bellowed into the room at large; then froze as a pair of cannons, and two pair of reddened optics glared him down. Sideswipe had taken Sunny's usual spot amidst the canvases, and Sunstreaker was sitting up in their berth, one hand covering his spark, the other aiming a steady cannon at him.
But that steadiness was just a warning sign. Ironhide stayed frozen, waiting for the twins to register his presence properly, but something weird was happening: his chronometer plainly stated that a full minute had passed but those charged cannons were still aiming for him.
Anabelle was nowhere in sight, and that worried him. Kae'd said she was here, and as her mate was once more hosting the Primary for them there was little room for the potential that she'd be incorrect. Then again an ex-Decepticon had just finished dragging the raw and stinkin' past right into their entrance bay. Scrap like that'd cross anybot's wires for a bit.
Maybe the Chevvy twins had her.
"Where's Anabelle?" Ironhide rumbled in his absolute best calming tone, the one he typically saved for a fussy, upset, or injured hatchling.
Sunstreaker loosed a feral snarl, Sideswipe minutely corrected his aim and Ironhide stayed frozen.
::. Ratchet.:: Ironhide sent worriedly over their private frequency, viciously biting down the fear beginning to creep up into his spark. He'd been frozen for damn near a half breem now, and the twins' recognition time was definitely, seriously lagging. He was armed, certainly, his primary cannons almost never left his arms. It screwed with his balances when they were gone. But his primary cannons, fully offline and aiming precisely for the floor were about as useful to him now as a cyberkitten.
Actually, come to think of it, at this point the cyberkitten would probably prove more useful as a distractionary target.
Where were the slaggin' humans when you actually needed them!? Ironhide glanced at his chronometer again and inwardly groaned.
The nightshift turnover wasn't due for another twenty point six breem, and the chance of a pyjama clad lieutenant wandering to the mess was almost nil.
Slag.
::. What?.:: Ratchet sent back grouchily.
"Steeker?" Anabelle's voice rang out drowsily, "whas'sa matter?"
In an instant, the reddened optics locked onto him flashed blue; the cold expressions of poised, murderous intent instantly replaced by shock and astonishment.
Ironhide stayed frozen. Stunned.
"Sorry," Sunstreaker murmured, all cannons present simultaneously receding as Sideswipe dazedly shook his helm for a moment.
"What's goin' on Unka Ionhide?" Anabelle's voice asked sweetly as she made her safe appearance out from beneath Sunstreaker's protective hand.
::. What do you want Ironhide?.:: Ratchet demanded.
"Your mama's lookin' for you," Ironhide rumbled patiently, still carefully eyeing the twins. ::. Uh... nothin'... I guess...:: he added over the comm, responding to Ratchet.
"M'kay," Anabelle sang sweetly. Ironhide quickly cycled his optics, but second observation proved they weren't acting up as Anabelle quickly clambered up Sunstreaker's chest plating. The tiny fingers obviously gave the little femmeling an edge as she scooted up the side of Sunstreaker's helm. Her voice whispered something, so low that only the twins could hear before Sunstreaker lightly offered the femmeling his hand, the mech rising and striding the two paces between them.
"Is Annie Kae done bein' mad?" Belle asked curiously as Ironhide reached forward to lightly collect her.
"It's gonna take a while 'fore she's all-the-way not mad, the men that were in the entrance bay killed her daddy. But they're gone now, and she ain't gonna hurt nobody anymore," Ironhide rumbled gently, then he forcibly held down a start as Belle effortlessly leapt the two feet between his hand and Sunstreaker's. "How'd you do that?" he demanded flatly, glowering at the little femmeling.
::. What do you mean nothing you guess?.:: Ratchet demanded, curiosity evidently outweighing grumpiness.
"Annie Kae gave me a suit!" Anabelle stated with a bright smile
"That dress don't look like a flight suit," Ironhide growled softly, scanning the femmeling and admittedly finding himself surprised that she was wearing a little suit, the adult humans usually took a slag-ton longer to figure out how to change it's form. ::. The twins were actin' weird.::
"The suit looks like whatever you want it to but it still works the same! Isn't that cool!?" Belle sang excitedly, looking down and giggling as the dress morphed into a tiny air cadet uniform with a single pin on the breast. "Annie Kae said I getta wear this one 'cause I did so good in the air!"
Ironhide harrumphed slightly, looking the twins over suspiciously for another moment before he nodded to them and turned, carrying his youngest niece back toward her mother.
"Unka Ionhide?" Anabelle asked sweetly.
"Hmn?" Ironhide grunted.
::. The twins were acting weird?.:: Ratchet asked peevishly. ::. Has one of their slagging pranks gone wrong again?.::
"What would happen if I heated helium to a million degrees?" Anabelle asked curiously.
"You'd have one million degree helium that'd vaporize you the second you got anywhere close to it," Ironhide grunted to his niece. ::. No Ratchet, weird, not squirrelly.:: He added over the comm. "It's not gonna do much of anythin' else really 'till it reaches about a billion Kelvin, then it'll start stickin' together a bit."
::. Weird how?.:: Ratchet asked warily.
"Then what happens?" Anabelle asked curiously.
"Why are you so interested anyway?" Ironhide asked with a broad grin, glancing toward the medic sitting in his usual spot behind his workbench.
::. Because you started the slagging conversation.:: Ratchet snapped back grouchily at him. ::. And if the twins are starting to glitch over something then I need to see to their processors-.::
::. I was talkin' to 'Belle Ratch.:: Ironhide rumbled innocently. Then his tone turned serious ::. Better make it a general note to not bust in on 'em though...::
"'Cause when I asked teach on Friday she didn't know," Anabelle informed him with grave innocence.
::. What did you do now?.:: Ratchet asked in an exasperated tone.
"Hrmph," Ironhide grunted. He'd just known that academy wasn't good enough for his niece! ::. I yelled 'what are you doing?' Didn't you hear me Ratch?.:: Ironhide sent curiously.
::. Why do you think I asked after the prank induced injury probabilities first?.:: Ratchet grumbled.
"Unka Ionhide?" Anabelle called his attention sweetly.
"Hmn?" he grunted quietly. ::. All I did was open the door and yell.:: Ironhide rumbled defensively.
"What happens if you heat helium to a hundred million degrees?" Anabelle asked curiously.
"Only place you're gonna manage it is in the middle of a big ol' sun Belle," Ironhide rumbled.
::. Six hundred and eighty-two vorn and you still haven't figured out to not sneak up on predators?.:: Ratchet sent back testily.
::. The ol' cannons weren't even online, let alone aimed!.:: Ironhide snapped back irritably. ::. They usually figger out it's me in a couple spark-beats.::
"Uh huh, and?" Anabelle asked with wide eyed curiosity.
"Well, at those temperatures the helium atoms start stickin' together and turn into beryllium-8, which'd usually rip itself right apart again 'cause it needs another neutron 'fore it's actually stable," Ironhide began, striding into the communications bay. "But 'cause it's stuck in the middle of that big ol' sun at such a high heat 'n pressure another helium atom could darn well get itself stuck to that beryllium-8 and turn into carbon-12..."
He trailed off as Sarah shot an exasperated look at him.
"What?" Ironhide asked curiously.
"Are you about finished corrupting my daughter for this evening?" Sarah asked him flatly.
"But momma, it's the smart people that get ahead in the world, isn't it?" Anabelle asked innocently.
Sarah glared at the femmeling in his hand.
"You don't get points for using my own arguments against me Belle," the young matriarch informed her daughter sternly. "And it's long past your bedtime."
"I was a'ready as'eep until you had Unka Ionhide come get me," Belle protested with a little pout, standing in his hands as he neared the catwalks.
Ironhide smiled somewhat to see a little bit of the tension erase itself from the femme's stance. At least, until he offered the little femmeling to Optimus so the taller could lift the femme safely up to her mother; Anabelle jumped when Optimus' hand was still three feet away.
"Belle!" Sarah shrieked as a few of the techs scrambled to get beneath their hands. Ironhide couldn't help but approve of their reaction, even if he'd never drop his little niece; even a couple of Optimus' cables had shot from his wrist, splitting and forming a net beneath the gap the second Anabelle's knees had begun to bend for the leap. Couldn't fault a bot for a good reflex.
Not that Anabelle genuinely needed it, either; the suit ensured she landed safely in Optimus' hand.
"What momma?" Anabelle asked curiously, looking calmly up at her gaping mother.
"Anabelle," Optimus rumbled in a gently chastising tone, lightly lifting the femmeling up toward her mother. "Humans of your current age and stature do not typically achieve a horizontal one metre flight without some form of physical aid. Regardless of the suit's capabilities you should not worry your femme creator so excessively, particularly whilst disguised as an air-cadet."
"Oh yeah! It's okay momma! The suit still works even though it looks like a uniform!" Belle stated cheerfully, looking up at her mother as Optimus' cables lightly wound around her torso; lifting and depositing her safely in her mother's arms.