Thanks for all the feedback last chapter! Hope everyone had a great New Year.

Chapter Sixteen: Change

Ironhide drove into the transformation lot of the academy about ten klicks before classes were to suppose to let out. There had been less traffic than he been anticipating and had arrived earlier than expected. Ironhide briefly contemplated driving around the block a few times to kill time but ultimately decided against it. For as much as he didn't want to talk to any more senators or council members coming up to him hoping to somehow gain some influence with Optimus through their children, Ironhide didn't want to run the risk of Starfall getting out of school and him not being there.

The little seeker had looked nervous that morning when he'd dropped him off. So much so that Ironhide had felt uncomfortable leaving him. He didn't like seeing Starfall so anxious. Maybe it was his protective protocols finally kicking in, but for a moment that morning he'd been tempted to walk Starfall all the way into the school to his classroom just to make sure he got there safe. All day long he'd felt anxious every time he thought about Starfall and the frightened look on his facial plates as he'd walked him to the door. It was only when it was finally time to go pick Starfall up that Ironhide felt less on edge. He didn't think he'd feel completely comfortable until he got Starfall in his cab unit and safely back to their domicile. Optimus had entrusted him to pick up their son, and unlike the last time he'd done it he was going to make sure Starfall had no reason to try and run away before Optimus got home.

Pulling over on the far side of the lot, Ironhide transformed. A number of other creators and caretakers were already there, standing around and chatting in small groups along the edges of the lot. None of them seemed to notice the Consort's arrival. Ironhide was hopeful. Maybe he'd be able to pick Starfall up without being noticed.

"Consort Ironhide?"

Or maybe not.

Ironhide looked over to see a mech with dark red plating and gold trim striding towards him. Ironhide's initial reaction was to grumble and sigh with exasperation, but stopped when he recognized the mech. He'd only met the mech over the vid-com yesterday, but his accent was unmistakable as was his distinctive red armor. Ironhide's annoyance immediately disappeared.

"Burnout, right?" he said, holding his hand out to the other mech as he came up to him. "Yer kid's in the same class as Star."

"Yes, sir," Burnout smiled. He smoothly took Ironhide's hand and shook it. Ironhide was surprised. Most high-born mechs he had to deal with through Optimus's line of work weren't inclined to shaking hands. They would if presented with a hand, but they generally preferred to bow their heads as a form of greeting. In higher circles it was thought of as a more cultured gesture. Ironhide thought it was prissy. He believed one could tell a lot about another mech by how he shook hands. For Burnout, his handshake was strong and unhurried. After two quick pumps, he released Ironhide's hand and politely took half a step backwards to give Ironhide his personal space back.

"Thanks fer callin' me the other orn 'bout wha' happened. Ah don't think ah would'a found out wha' really happened if yeh hadn't told me."

"I simply wanted to do what was right and thank Starfall for coming to my son's aide," Burnout said. Ironhide had to listen carefully to understand the mech's thick accent. "As I said over the vid-com, Starfall is the first child to ever stand up for my son like that. Even though he got in trouble, I am extremely grateful for what he did. Convoy has done nothing but talk about Starfall since then. He has been looking forward to Starfall coming back to school since he was suspended. I believe today was the first orn I did not have to force Convoy to get ready for school."

Ironhide was unable to keep a sad frown from his face. "Ah'm sorry ta hear yer kid's havin' such a rough time at school. That's not right."

Burnout shrugged as though to say 'such is life,' but Ironhide could see the angry tension in the mech's shoulders. "I have spoken to Administrator Catalyst numerous times about what is happening. He keeps telling me he will see to it that something is done, but Convoy still comes home every orn saying he does not want to go back to school the next."

Ironhide snorted with disgust. "Sounds like Catalyst is 'bout as fit ta run a school as a Dinobot. After wha' happened the other orn he's on my semi-permanent slag-list."

Burnout gave Ironhide a tight smirk before quietly admitted, "He is on mine as well."

"Yeh know, if yeh think it'll help, me or my sparkmate could have a lil' talk with Catalyst 'bout what's happenin' with yer son. It might help light a fire under Catalyst's aft ta actually do something 'bout it."

A look of horror spread across Burnout's face. "Consort, I could not possibly allow you to do such a thing on my behalf, let alone bring the Prime into this! Surely you and the Prime have much more important things to worry about than my own problems. I couldn't possibly think of asking such a thing from you."

Ironhide waved Burnout's protested away. "It's no big deal. Ah'll have Optimus call Catalyst an' give him one of his angry speeches. Optimus is usually pretty calm, but he can be a real terror ta deal with if he's fightin' fer a good cause. That's how he deals with the Council orn after orn."

"Please, sir," Burnout insisted. "I am serious when I say that I am deeply honored by your offer, but I could not in good conscience accept. Your and the Prime's time is much too valuable to waste on such trivial matters. I already feel like I am intruding on you just speaking to you like this. There is no way I could ask something like that from you."

It took Ironhide a moment to realize that Burnout was being serious. He would have been lying if he'd said he wasn't surprised. Who didn't want someone as powerful as a Prime or Consort to go to battle for them? Any other politician or high-born bot in that transformation lot would have literally jumped at the chance to bring someone so powerful in on their side. Scion certainly would have. Bots like him would kill to receive such a favor. Yet here was Burnout looking positively panic-stricken at the mere suggestion of it.

"Yeh sure?" Ironhide asked. "It's no big deal, seriously."

Burnout shook his helm. "Thank you for your offer, Sir, but there is no way I could accept such kindness. I will find a way to deal with the Administrator myself."

Ironhide accepted Burnout's refusal with a nod. It was about then Ironhide decided he liked Burnout. Unlike Scion or any of the other politician-bots he had to deal with, he sensed no ulterior motives from the dark red mech. Ironhide liked to fancy himself as a good judge of character, and so far Burnout struck him as nothing more than a concerned father trying to do the best he could for his son on his own terms. He didn't want any favors or special treatment from Ironhide because he was the Prime's sparkmate.

"Alright. If that's wha' yeh wanna do. Just know my offer still stands if yeh ever change yer mind."

Burnout offered Ironhide a small smile of gratitude. "Thank you, Consort. I truly do appreciate your offer."

"Yeh can call me Ironhide. Honestly, ah hate being called Consort. Makes me feel like some sissy Tower mech."

Burnout looked at him in surprise. "But that is your title of honor as the Prime's sparkmate. I would not feel comfortable calling you by anything else."

Ironhide smirked at the other mech's politeness. "This time ah insist. Just call me Ironhide."

"Very well… Ironhide."

"See?" Ironhide smiled. "That wasn't so hard. Now tell me 'bout yerself. Where yeh from? Ah can't quite place yer accent."

Since coming up to Ironhide, Burnout had been holding himself unnaturally stiff like a new recruit reporting to his commanding officer for the first time. It was only now that he seemed to realize that Ironhide wasn't interested in formalities and let himself relax a little.

"My son and I are from a colony in the Andromeda galaxy - Pylon 8."

"Ahh," Ironhide grunted with a nod. "That's it. Ah recognize the accent now. Pylon 8 was one 'a only a few colonies in that area ta not get destroyed in the war."

"Yes, sir," Burnout nodded. "Before the war I specialized in manufacturing and shipping parts for transport shuttles. When fighting broke out, however, I reorganized my factory to produce spare weapons parts. Although I never formally declared a side, I never sold to Decepticons. I couldn't bring myself to do business with them no matter how much money they offered me."

"Weapon parts?"

"Yes. My company's parts were usually used in self-integrated weapon systems - ones that were formatted directly into a bot's armor and sub-wiring."

Ironhide chuckled. "If that's true then there's a pretty good chance ah have a couple 'a yer parts in me right now. Primus only knows the number of weapons ah had installed in me when the fightin' really started ta pick up. There was a time when both my arms were pretty much nothing more than two guns attached ta my shoulder joints. Those were the days." Ironhide allowed himself a moment of fond memories before turning back to Burnout. "Wha 'bout after the war? Once all the fightin' died down, can't imagine there was much of a demand fer weapon parts anymore."

Burnout casually shrugged. "After the war I reorganized my factory again, only this time to manufacture a new type of cog wheel that happened to find a niche market for heavy-duty construction equipment. Since so much of Cybertron was destroyed in the war, construction became a major industry, especially with so many construction-based bots either dead, fleeing to other galaxies or captured as Decepticons. Since the end of the war my company has expanded several times. Almost overnight I found myself with more credits than I could ever hope to spend. I now own eight factories and two different shipping companies."

"Wha' brought yeh ta Cybertron?"

"To be closer to the center of business. More than seventy percent of my market is concentrated on the main planet. About two vorns ago my son and I moved here when I relocated my company headquarters from Pylon 8 to Iacon."

"Wha' about a sparkmate? Ah'm assumin' yer bonded. Did he or she move here with yeh?"

A dark shadow seemed to pass over Burnout's facial plates. His optics noticeably dimmed with remembered pain. Burnout looked away from Ironhide towards the ground. "No," he softly murmured. "He didn't. Business reasons aside, the real reason I relocated to Cybertron was to try and escape painful memories. About a vorn before we moved to the main planet my sparkmate, Slingshot, came down with terminal joint rust. The medics tried to do everything they could, but by the time he was diagnosed Slingshot's illness was too far advanced to treat. His internal gears and mechanisms rusted tight and he slipped away only six lunar cycles after the medics told us what was wrong. Despite my new wealth, all the credits in the universe could not buy a cure for my sparkmate."

"Ah- ah'm sorry," Ironhide murmured, his spark constricting in his chest. To lose a sparkmate in such a horrible way was unimaginable. "Really. Ah didn't know."

Burnout weakly waved Ironhide's apology aside. He still seemed unable to look Ironhide in the optics. "It has been Convoy and me ever since. Convoy was barely two vorns old when my sparkmate died. Slingshot was his carrier. They were as close as a creator and child could be all the way up to the day Slingshot's spark finally faded out. Convoy has not seemed able to find much happiness in anything since. I thought moving to the main planet might help Convoy move on, but instead he only comes home every orn and begs me to let him stay home from school." Burnout became quiet for a moment, his optics staring at something far away only he could see. Ironhide did not feel it right to break the moment.

Finally, Burnout seemed to come back to himself. "Ever since your son stood up for mine, I have seen a shine in Convoy's optics I have not seen in a very long time. At least not since Slingshot was still alive. Forgive me if I overstep my station or assume too much, but I would be in your debt if Starfall was allowed to become friends with Convoy. My son has been so lonely since we moved to Cybertron. Starfall seems to have given him hope that things might not have to be so bad." The pleading look of desperation Burnout speared Ironhide with made the old warrior's spark clench with sympathy.

How could a mech with any conscience deny another father such a simple request? "Like ah said over the vid-com, ah ain't got no issues with Star and Convoy bein' friends. Star's a bit in the same boat as yers. He's got trouble with other people warmin' up ta him 'cause of his make. As long as yeh don't care 'bout yer kid bein' friends with a seeker, me an' Optimus don't have any problems with lettin' 'em spend time ta-gether."

A spark-breaking smile of gratitude exploded across Burnout's face. "Sir - Ironhide - I am in your debt. You do not know how much this means to me - to Convoy. If there is anything I can ever do for you or the Prime, ask it and it will be done."

"No need ta go that far 'bout it," Ironhide joked. A thought that had been weighing on his mind ever since Burnout called him the orn before last sprang to the forefront of his processor. "One thing yeh can tell me, though: how did yeh get our contact number the other orn? The Prime's private line ain't exactly in the directory database."

Burnout replied with a secretive smile. "I might only be a merchant, but I am still a business-mech who knows bots in high places. While I might not have any real political power I can still call in favors with those who do and find out certain information. How else would someone from my humble background become so rich?"

"Papa!"

Both mechs looked up to see a flood of children spilling out of the front doors of the school. Coming towards them across the transformation lot were Starfall and Convoy, running side by side. Ironhide was relieved to see none of Starfall's nervousness from earlier that morning on his facial plates anymore. If anything, the miniature seeker seemed to radiate happiness. The little red mech with him, Convoy, seemed to mirror his exuberance. A huge grin was firmly plastered across his face.

"Papa!" Convoy yelled as he rushed up to Burnout. "Can Star come over and play? Please? Please?"

Starfall went to Ironhide. "Please?" he timidly joined the chorus. His overlarge optics were wide and pleading.

Ironhide was disarmed by the look. It was like Starfall's gaze cut right through him down to his spark. He glanced at Burnout. "Ah don't care. Depends on wha' Convoy's dad says though."

A truly agonized look of regret flashed across Burnout's face. "Unfortunately, that is not possible today. Convoy and I both have previous engagements."

"What do I have to do?" Convoy whined.

Normally, Ironhide could not stand listening to arguing, especially coming in a child's high pitch voice. But somehow Convoy's heavy accent mixed with the spark-broken look on his face made Ironhide's spark involuntarily buckle with pity and endearment.

"You have syntha-key lessons today."

"But I do not want to go to music lessons today," Convoy insisted. "I told Star he could come and see my Primal Vanguard action figures."

"Perhaps tomorrow," Burnout placated. He cast Ironhide a quick glance. "If that is acceptable to Consort Ironhide, that is."

"Sounds good ta me," Ironhide shrugged.

"I can pick the children up tomorrow from school and take them to my domicile. After they are done playing, I can either drive Starfall to your domicile or you can come pick him up."

"Ah can pick Star up. Ah'll just need yer address."

"Of course. Here." Burnout sent the necessary information along with his contact number to Ironhide in a short, open-air data burst.

"Looks good. Yeh can just give me 'r Optimus a call over the vid-com whenever yeh want one of us ta come pick Star up."

"I will do that. Come, Convoy. You do not want to be late for your lesson."

Convoy sullenly looked at Starfall. "I am sorry you cannot come over today."

Starfall seemed to share his disappointment. "Me too. But that's okay. I'll see you tomorrow in school."

Convoy seemed to brighten a little and gave Starfall a shy smile. "See you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Ironhide," Burnout nodded. "Thank you for everything. I am in your debt." He offered his hand to Ironhide, which the older mech vigorously seized.

"Not a problem. Ah'll see yeh tomorrow when ah come ta pick Star up."

"I look forward to it," Burnout smiled. The two mechs released hands and each looked to their respective offspring. "Come, Convoy."

"Bye, Star!" Convoy called as Burnout transformed and opened his front passenger door.

"Bye, Convoy! See you tomorrow!" Starfall called back.

As Burnout pulled away, Ironhide transformed into his own vehicle mode. He swung his passenger door open for Starfall. "All right, kid. Up yeh go."

Starfall obediently climbed into Ironhide's cab unit and buckled his safety belt. Ironhide pulled out of the transformation lot and onto the road. For several klicks they drove in perfect silence. Finally, Ironhide could take no more of it and vocalized the sound of him clearing his throat line. "So… Convoy an' yeh are friends now?"

He felt Starfall's wings shrug against his seat upholstery. "I guess," Starfall murmured. "We talked and had fun between classes."

"That's good," Ironhide said. Uncomfortable silence once more filled his cab unit. He was dismayed by how stiff the conversation was. He was still unsure of how to uphold his side of conversation with a sparkling and Starfall still seemed extremely guarded around him, like he was afraid Ironhide would start yelling at him at any moment. Ironhide internally vented a cycle of air. At least the kid was talking to him. He could at least consider that a step forward. He was definitely going to have to talk to Optimus about interacting with sparklings later after his sparkmate got home. He was tired of these awkward conversations with Starfall and yearned for the day he could talk to the little seeker as easily as Optimus did.

Several klicks later, Ironhide pulled into the transformation lot of their apartment tower. He let Starfall out and together they took the lift to their penthouse domicile. When Ironhide opened the door, the domicile was dark inside.

Starfall visibly wilted with disappointment. "Dad's not home yet," he sadly murmured.

"Ah didn't think he would be. Not this early. Contract negotiations can go on fer joors. Ah'll be surprised if he's home before yer bed time." Starfall's wings drooped lower down his back with a sullen, 'oh.' Ironhide frowned with sympathy. "Yeh got homework ta-night?" he asked.

Starfall nodded. "Yea."

"If yeh get yer homework done early ah'll let yeh stay up a while with me ta wait fer him. But not too late, yeh hear me? Optimus'll have my hide if ah let yeh stay up til the middle of the night."

Starfall's reaction was instantaneous. His wings perked and his head spun around on his neck towards Ironhide. His optics shined with excitement. "Really?"

"Ah said ah would. But yeh need ta get yer homework done."

"Okay!" Faster than Ironhide's optics could track, the little seeker was gone. Ironhide didn't even have time to turn around before he heard the door of Starfall's door sliding close behind him at the end of the hall.

He stood for a moment in the foyer, still trying to figure out what had just happened before finally just shaking his helm. He went into the main living area of the apartment and dropped onto one of the lounges with a sigh. He flipped on the tele-consol and turned to the afternoon's news feeds. It quickly became apparent nothing of importance had happened since he read the news earlier that morning. Ironhide sighed with boredom. He hoped Optimus got out early. It was days like this when he really felt the tedium of civilian life start to weight on him. He'd already finished writing all his reports for the Planetary Defense Force earlier that afternoon and now had nothing else to occupy himself with. For lack of anything better to do, Ironhide got up from the lounge, went to the nearby storage closet and fished out a locked strongbox. He returned to his seat. Keying open the box, he removed an aged blaster gun.

Ironhide turned the blaster over in his hands, letting his fingers find the well-worn grooves of the grip. It was his favorite weapon. Even before the Great War broke out he'd had this gun and kept it in his subspace compartment first for personal protection, then later to protect Optimus. It was only after the war ended and peace returned to Cybertron that he had let Optimus convince him he no longer needed to carry it with him at all times. He'd retired it to a drawer in his and Optimus's berthroom where it had sat for a number of vorns gathering dust. After they'd adopted Starfall, Optimus had ordered Ironhide to properly store it in a locked container where a sparkling couldn't accidentally find and play with it.

The weapons specialist skillfully disabled the blaster's power pack and began dismantling its parts for cleaning. It didn't really need cleaning, but for lack of anything better to do stripping weapons and cleaning them was as good a task to occupy himself with than anything. During the war, it had been one of his favorite things to do to relax.

Unfortunately, such a distraction could only occupy a mech like Ironhide for so long. In less than a joor, Ironhide had cleaned the blaster to a sparkling luster and returned it to its lockbox in the closet and listlessly gone back to watching old news feeds on the tele-consol. He was almost ready to go on the hunt for some other weapon to field strip and clean when he heard the sound of a door opening and then soft footfalls coming down the hallway towards the living area. He looked away from the tele-consol just as Starfall came around the corner into the room.

The seeker abruptly froze at the sight of him. "Oh. Um…" Starfall's wings stiffened behind him. Ironhide realized he must not have been expecting to find him already there.

Ironhide quirked an optic ridge at him. "Yeh need something, Star?"

"Um, no, but…" Starfall's optics unconsciously darted towards the tele-consol. A strange look of disappointment crept into his optics as he looked back at Ironhide. "I'm sorry. I… um, I'll just go back…"

"Star," Ironhide insisted. "Wha'd yeh need?"

Starfall timidly met Ironhide's gaze. "I just wanted to watch a show. Dad lets me watch the tele-consol after school sometimes if I get all my homework done. But it's okay. I'll just-"

"Did yeh get all yer homework done?"

Starfall's wings were stiff with tension, his facial plates nervous, as if he thought the question was setting him up for some kind of trick. "Well, yea. But-"

"Then here." Ironhide tossed the tele-consol remote onto the end of the lounge nearest Starfall. "Watch what yeh want."

Starfall eyed the remote for several moments before hesitantly creeping closer. He timidly climbed onto the lounge. Ironhide was disheartened by how far away the seeker sat from him as if he was afraid to get any closer to Ironhide. Starfall was still uncomfortable being around him. While Ironhide understood his reasoning and realized this was the price he had to pay for being so antagonistic towards the sparkling, a stab of hurt nonetheless went through his spark. He didn't want Starfall to see him as the enemy anymore. He wanted him to see him the same way he did Optimus - as someone he could trust and who'd take care of him.

Using the remote, Starfall changed the channel to a computer animated kid's show. Ironhide recognized it as one of the more popular children's shows at the moment. Several of the mechs he worked with at the PDF who had young children had mentioned it once or twice in passing as their son or daughter's newest obsession. Although it wasn't Ironhide's first choice of entertainment, the show was surprisingly well done. Ironhide caught himself unintentionally chuckling at several points along with Starfall at a joke or some antic of one of the characters.

When the show finally ended a quarter of a joor later, Starfall carefully slid the remote back to Ironhide across the lounge. "Thank you," he murmured, and slid down off the lounge. He began to head for the hallway back towards his room.

Ironhide stared after him for half a klick of indecision before finally finding the courage to speak. "Star?"

The sparkling paused on the edge of the room and timidly glanced back. "Yes, sir?"

Ironhide ignored the title. "Yeh wanna play a game?"

Starfall seemed confused by the question, but nevertheless stared at Ironhide with an intrigued expression. "What kind of game?"

Ironhide got up from the lounge and went to the closet he'd just stashed his blaster in. As Ironhide rooted through the miscellaneous boxes and bins, Starfall stood off to the side with an uncertain expression on his face. Ironhide finally found what he was looking for and carried the long thin box over to the lounge table. He set it down and knelt on the ground beside the table. He motioned for Starfall to do the same across from him. As Ironhide opened the box and began removing a large board with a checkered block pattern and handfuls of small metal tiles, Starfall timidly joined him at the table. Kneeling on the ground he was barely big enough to see over the edge of the table. He watched, intrigued, as Ironhide arranged the board between them and then began spreading the metal tiles facedown across the table beside it.

"What is this?" Starfall asked.

"It's called Wordplay. Yeh play by usin' these tiles-" he held one up for Starfall to inspect, which was printed with the Cybertronian glyph for 'T,' "-an' arranging 'em on the board ta make words. They all have different letters, so yeh can spell out just 'bout anything. Trick is though yeh hafta make words using a tile from some other word already on the board. Person with the most word points at the end wins. Yer suppose ta be really good with words, so yeh shouldn't have much trouble playin.'"

"Okay," Starfall nodded, his optics bright with excitement.

Ironhide pointed towards the miniature sea of tiles spread across the table. "Yeh start by pickin' out ten tiles. Every time yeh put a word on the board, yeh hafta pick enough new tiles ta keep ten pieces fer yeh ta play with next round. Got it?"

"Yea!" Starfall exclaimed and eagerly began snatching up pieces.

Ironhide found the seeker's enthusiasm endearing and followed his lead. When Jazz had given him and Optimus Wordplay as a gift a number of vorns ago, Ironhide had never expected to actually use it. Wordplay was mostly a party or family game. Since he and Optimus rarely ever entertained in their home, and it was just the two of them, the game had sat unused and mostly forgotten in the closet until now. Ironhide was glad to finally find a use for it.

As the game progressed, Ironhide found himself very impressed by Starfall. It quickly began clear that the little seeker was a quick learner and knew more words than Ironhide ever imagined a sparkling his age was capable of knowing - enough so that Ironhide found himself having to actually work to stay competitive with Starfall.

"That's not a word!" Starfall exclaimed at one point, staring accusingly at Ironhide's latest play on the board.

"Sure it is," Ironhide insisted. "'Pomf''s a word. It's the sound a blaster gun makes."

"Nuh uh! A sound's not a word. You can't spell a sound."

"Sure yeh can. It's called a ona-… onama-…. ona-something 'r other. Ah can't remember the word. But it's a word that means a word that's suppose ta sound like a noise."

Starfall gave him a flat look that said he didn't believe him.

"Fine," Ironhide grumbled, and took his tiles back. Left with no better options, the only other word he could play was 'map,' which earned him a grand total of five points.

Starfall snickered excitedly and played off that word to spell 'meridian,' earning himself sixty-nine points off two separate double-point squares.

Ironhide stared in disbelief. "How do yeh even know that word?!" Ironhide didn't know much about sparklings, but surely a vocabulary word like that belonged more to a child of pre-upgrade age.

"I read it on a data pad once," Starfall matter-of-factly told him. "I looked it up. It means the line between the north and south poles of a planet."

Ironhide could only stare at Starfall with a look of bewildered disbelief. When he'd offered to play Wordplay with Starfall he hadn't been expecting to be getting vocabulary lessons from a sparkling. Shaking his head in helpless admiration, Ironhide scanned his tiles for anything he could use to help him close the gap between his and Starfall's scores. He was surprised by how much he was enjoying being around Starfall. While interacting with him like this he'd almost completely forgotten who Starfall used to be, and even then memories of Starscream no longer made him feel sour towards the miniature seeker. It was getting more difficult for him to connect the two in his mind anymore. He was beginning to truly understand what Optimus had said about them not being the same bot. Starfall was a well-behaved, gracious sparkling whose intelligence made Ironhide feel slightly inadequate in comparison but strangely proud at the same time.

Another round of play earned Ironhide another twelve points and Starfall thirty-one. Starfall's face was split by a smile as he added his new points to his score. Ironhide couldn't help but smile a little bit himself. The kid was wiping the floor with him.

"So yeh like this game then?"

"Yea!"

"Well, ah don't. Yer too good. Ah was expectin' ta beat yeh with no problem."

Starfall giggled at the older mech's grumbles. He seemed to understand Ironhide was only joking.

"I like this game," Starfall said as he set down the tiles for a new word. "Does dad know how to play? It'd be fun to play with three."

Ironhide's spark gave a sad, uncomfortable twinge. "He does. But yeh know… yeh can call me dad too, if yeh want. Yeh don't hafta keep callin' me sir. Ah'd like it if yeh called me dad too." Ironhide forced himself to ignore the embarrassed rush of mech-fluid to his facial plates at the admission.

Starfall froze and looked at Ironhide. He stared at him as though the thought had never occurred to him before now. "Oh. Okay," he mumbled, timidly dropping his gaze back towards the board. "I can do that."

Ironhide couldn't help but feel disappointed. Starfall didn't sound convincing - like he was only agreeing in order not to hurt Ironhide's feeling. Hiding his frustration, Ironhide turned his attention back towards the board. He wasn't going to push Starfall. He wanted the sparkling to accept him as his father, but on his own accord.

Finding no good letters at his disposal, Ironhide was just about to play 'dawn' when the sound of the front door's locks disengaging sounded. Both Ironhide and Starfall looked up to see Optimus walk through the door, looking tired but satisfied.

"DAD!" Starfall shouted and sped towards the Matrix-bearer.

"Hello, Star," Optimus smiled as he disengaged the locks to his mask and hoisted the sparkling up into his arms for a hug. "How was school?"

"Good," Starfall grinned.

"Have you and your father been behaving yourselves?"

"Yea. We're playing a game. It's called Wordplay. I'm winning."

"Are you?" Optimus chuckled and looked towards Ironhide, still sitting on the floor by the lounge table. A questioning look of tentative hope shined in his optics. He came into the living area and sat on one of the lounges. Starfall eagerly joined him by climbing up onto the lounge beside him.

"Yer out early," Ironhide said. "Ah wasn't expectin' yeh home so soon."

"I wasn't either," Optimus admitted, tiredly leaning back on the lounge and hugging Starfall to his side. "But after I came back to help mediate, the city council and workers union's dispute seemed to resolve itself rather quickly. I don't know if they just needed to yell at each other for a day without me there, but they both seemed eager to end the strike as quickly as possible."

"Well, that's good if fer nothing else than not havin' ta deal with 'em anymore." Ironhide awkwardly tried to push himself off the ground back onto his pedes so he could join his sparkmate on the lounge, but in doing so accidentally knocked the edge of the table with his knee joint. Lettered tiles went skittering across the board, disarranging all of his and Starfall's words. Ironhide was secretly none too sad to see his failure as a linguist erased from evidence.

"Oh no!" Starfall cried in dismay. "Our game…"

"Yeh won, kid," Ironhide chuckled. "No doubt 'bout that. Yeh beat me."

"Can we play again?" Starfall asked.

Ironhide was slightly surprised by the question. "Not ta-day. But, yea, we can play again sometime. Maybe ta-morrow."

A brilliant smile lit up Starfall's face. "Okay!"

As Ironhide stooped to pick up the tiles and return them and the board to their box, he couldn't help but look forward to getting the chance to spend more time with Starfall soon. He was going to have to look into getting some more board games.

Later that night, after Starfall was asleep on his berth, Optimus and Ironhide sat together to the lounge watching that evening's news feeds on the tele-consol. Optimus was only half-listening to the news, too busy relaxing with his sparkmate by his side. He was exhausted from the day's events. He could only send a quick prayer of thanks to Primus that negotiations had not gone longer than they had. He'd been serious when he said he'd thought he been stuck at the Iaconian city hall until late into the night. It had been a long, stressful series of negotiations but he'd done his job seeing to it that both sides had come to an agreement. He'd always heard that a successful business negotiation was when both sides left feeling only slightly less dissatisfied than when they'd arrived. If that was true than it had been a successful day.

Optimus glanced at his sparkmate out of the corner of his optic. Not as successful as Ironhide's day, however, he thought. He'd almost been struck speechless when he'd come home to find his sparkmate and son not only getting along, but actively interacting with one another with no hostility or tension between them. Pride for his sparkmate swelled Optimus's spark. Ironhide really was making an effort, just like he'd promised. Although a long road still stretched before them, Optimus sensed a subtle change in Ironhide and Starfall's relationship. It made Optimus all the more hopeful that they would someday come together and be the kind of family he'd always wanted.

A sudden ring from Optimus's office made him startle out of his reverie. Ironhide and Optimus both glanced at each other knowingly.

"Let it go. It's late," Ironhide insisted.

"You know I can't do that," Optimus sighed. "The work of a Prime is never done. No matter what joor of the orn it is."

"If it's that shiny aft-plate Scion callin, tell him Star's booked solid fer the next twenty vorns fer play dates."

"I'll be sure to tell him that if that is Scion," Optimus agreed as he got up to answer the vid-com. He never actually would, but it was nice pretending with his sparkmate that he had the gumption to do so if he wished. He activated the internal mechanism of his battle mask to retract its sides over his mouth.

Leaving Ironhide on the lounge, Optimus went into his private office and shut the door. He sat in the chair and hit the accept button on the screen. A face immediately filled the vid-com's screen.

"Senator Draxil. How can I be of service to you this late?"

"All Council- and Senate-members are being alerted," Draxil announced without any preamble. "We just received a message from Vos. The Vosian Emirate wishes to send a representative to Iacon."

"Vos?" Optimus choked in a startled whisper. "The Vosian's have had no contact with the Council since-"

"Since before the Great War broke out," Draxil nodded, his facial plates strained. "This is the first time any Vosian has requested to come outside their walls since Vos became an isolated city-state. As you can imagine, both the Council and Senate are beside themselves. No one knows what to make of this."

"Did the message say what the Vosians wish to talk about?"

"No. But the message did specifically request that the representative be given a private audience with the Prime."

The knot of nervousness in the pit of Optimus's fuel tank tightened. "They wish to personally speak to me?"

"Yes. And while other Council-members might not come out and say it, general speculation is that word of your adopted son's model has finally reached the Emirate."

Optimus stared at the screen for a long moment of contemplative silence. Although he wasn't one to speculate what another city-state's representative to the Council's motives might be, he couldn't help but feel that Vos's sudden desire for contact somehow had to do with Starfall.

"What do you want to do?" Draxil asked. "As Prime, your word has great weight in how the Council ultimately decides to act."

Optimus met Draxil's gaze through the screen. "Send a reply to Vos. Tell them I will be honored to meet with a representative of the Vosian Emirate and that the Council extends its formal welcome to them."

Draxil nodded. "I will pass on your orders." The screen went abruptly dark as the transmission was cut on the senator's side of the line.

Optimus sat for a klick of stunned silence before reaching out and shakily cutting off his own side of the connection. He still wasn't sure what to make of the Vosians' sudden desire to come to Iacon. He still didn't know if this visit had anything to do with his son. But one thing he was sure of was that things were about to change.

to be continued