Author's Notes: Thank you for the reviews. Helps any writer. And any literary mistakes are mine, I do not have a beta proof reader and spell checker stopped listening to me years ago. For more Ironhide and Annabelle fun read Annabelle, Aliens and Abductions, set when she is older. New chapters will be appearing there before long. Onward to fun.

Whappy Paws

Annabelle Lennox, five-year-old daughter of military father William Lennox of the NEST forces wondered if Optimus as Prime or her daddy had to handle the same situations. Swinging her blonde hair back, she leaned forward to mock glare.

"No, no whappy paws," she stated again with a firmer tone to her voice. Soft hands separated the two boo boo bot bunnies and their slapping paws. Nearly three dozen of the mechanical square critters hopped or rested around her room, all loved and all a secret. The black bunny in her hand continued growling, the round front arms swinging as she held it in the air. Her blue eyes matched his blue optics. "We play nice. No meanies."

The yellow green bunny on the carpet examined its multi toed front paws as though checking for damage before it hopped off, the battle forgotten already.

Holding her favorite black one close, she smiled at their antics. Two by two, the babies began appearing fulfilling her wish for more. Spring break turned into full spring as she ran and played, the scar on her leg fading. Small scrapes and bruises common to an active child on a farm monitored and tended to every night before they turned into cubes, recharging themselves.

"You are so silly," she giggled, reaching down to flip over another by her feet. Green and red on its chest with grey paws, its behavior had worried her the most. Unlike the others who hopped or transformed to a cube it had a strange trait. The third week of more baby bunnies and she had nearly panicked yelling for mom, revealing the secret. Hopping across the floor with a sudden stop, the bunny made a squeaking noise before rolling rapidly over and over. Not an easy feat for a square shape. Tilting onto its back, all four paws wiggled in the air before blue optics dimmed.

"Are you ok? Did you hurted yourself?" Annabelle held him carefully in both hands, rising to yell for help when mini blue optics turned back on. Placing it back on all four paws he acted normally. In no pattern she could ever guess, it would glitch, rolling before stopping upside down like offline. Invariably one of the other bunnies mostly the green yellow one would bump into him. Pushing and bumping until he tilted over and back onto paws. "At least I think you are a he. Wheeljack. I hope the real Wheelajck doesn't mind." Calling many of the bunnies by her Autobot friends' name made the secret more fun. Of their alien existence and the hidden bunnies.

Footsteps on the stairs triggered all the bunnies to cube and hide, clearing the bedroom almost faster than Annabelle could see them moving. Only the black one that growled and the pink and first white 'mama bunny' as she called it stayed.

"Another package from the base," Sarah Lennox announced, pushing open the bedroom door.

"It's my power strip. Or maybe another present," the little girl guessed, grabbing the plain brown wrapped package, shredding the paper. "Power strip," she announced, waving it around before plugging it in.

"Why? These could hold a hundred bunnies. He is not making you more is he?" Sarah asked.

"Wheeljack promised no more off base except mine. I don't want his feelings hurted. He likes making things," Annabelle explained. What she did not say was the several conversations with the inventor reassuring the bunnies would never get sick, offline or get hurt as they were military grade armor. Cybertron grade armor, not earths. He misunderstood her asking about more bunnies appearing, reaffirming the ruling to not allow more off base. Her idea of bunnies making more bunnies a good enough explanation then.

"It's hurt feelings not hurted. All right remember to unplug them if we leave. Don't want the house burning down with an over surge," she reminded. "Lunch ready in 10 minutes."

Smiling, the little girl nodded, glad the play datapad feature for ordering supplies worked, keyed in per Wheeljack. No bot knew what she ordered or had made by remote drones then mailed to her house though the list was short. Replacement paw pads, power strip and basic armor repair paint, all black. A hidden gift for when Ironhide would visit. Talking to him over the Teletran lines never the same as being held next to his chest plate armor.

The old warrior mech enjoyed their nightly conversations, never asking why she would inquire about different Autobots. "Ironhide, tell me a story about some bot with green colors, likes to explore," she would suggest, in reality learning names to call her friends.

Noises in the kitchen downstairs had bunnies transforming, hopping back out. Hound the smaller green bunny with camouflage colors and the knack for exploring. Twice lost in the closet, the other bunnies alerting her for rescue. Their intelligence level questionably high beyond their medical feature but imagination and play time more important to a child. Bee the yellow with black ears and a curved back instead of square. Blues the wild blue bunny and fastest of the group, also the most vocal. A red and white bunny who hopped only in circles Red Alert. The tiniest two bunnies orange and green caught her attention. Front feet slapping furiously at each other, the metal clanging barely audible.

"No whappy paws. I keep saying that," she reminded, separating Skids and Mudflap. Her other favorite, a large white cube body with black stripes and black ears angled to the sides hopped over, tapping each on their heads. "Good job Powl" the R sound in the name still being worked out for a little girl with a loose tooth. He kept the other bunnies safe, digging them out from the laundry pile or nudging them back from falling off the bed.

"Look out!" she warned, grabbing him up as two bunnies raced through, one red with a long body and wide felt pads and its twin-size bright yellow, the shiniest of all. "No running inside!" she reminded watching them scatter other bunnies in their path. Sliding to a stop, they touched their bodies together, forming a bigger shape. "And no ganging up! Or I will put you in time out! And no whappy paws. You're not listening!"

The spring weather continued, more bunnies appearing until they covered her quilt at night before recharging themselves. Annabelle spent the daytime at school while they kept hidden, the data they gathered never sent.

Another curved back bunny that challenged many a bigger bunny, losing and ending up on its back, red paws wiggling became Cliffjumper. A light blue bunny with white streaks in its ears the hardest to find, seeming to disappear. Mirage the name Ironhide suggested with his stories. A light blue bunny always snuggling with her favorite black bunny seemed right though she only had heard stories of Ironhide's Chromia. Running out of names she made some up using favorite cartoons and stories. "No more babies until we get a power strip," she ordered.

Separating the mama bunny and the other female bunnies by placing them in an upside-down crate didn't stop new ones from appearing. Annabelle felt sad they missed each other, watching the mama bunnies reaching through the upside-down crate to touch paws with their mates, confinement lasting two days before she let all them all out.

Then her Optimus bunny appeared one morning with a larger pink and white mini bunny alongside, receiving the name Elita One. They never strayed far from each other, his paws resting on her white paws. A week after that a new bunny hummed on Annabelle's chest as she woke up.

"I know who your mommy and daddy are," she giggled, rubbing the square head and ears. "Red and blue of Oppie with long pink ears and tail."

The start of summer shifted her group to the barn during the daytime, letting them explore. About twenty more bunnies of various color combinations appeared and stopped finally. Play time continued, some needing rescue from odd spots they fell or got stuck in the hay. Mom would hear the rustling, assuming they were mice in the hay after spilt grain. Night time they returned to Annabelle's bedroom, climbing a rope she made for them out of old bedsheets. Their paws agile enough for climbing except for a few. Those Annabelle lifted in a bucket on a rope reserved for just that purpose. She added another power charger to stop whappy paw fights for certain spots when they outnumbered the amount of plug ins.

A rare rainy day kept the little girl inside, her mom Sarah resting after cleaning the house non-stop the day before. Play time upstairs unobserved and uninterrupted. Bandaging a bent ear on her 'patient' she missed the front door opening downstairs. "Told you not jump off the bed to the dresser. You keep falling Silverbolt and your ear goes floppy."

"Annabelle!"

"Daddy!" Half screaming, hearing his voice coming up the stairs. Bunnies instantly flowed to the wall under the window, magnetizing into a bright colored toy box shape. Her Ironhide bunny and mama bunny jumping to the recharge station, transforming down into plain cubes.

"Is 'Hide here too?"

"He's with his family," Will hugged his daughter, squeezing tight. The man glanced past the toy box, used to items appearing and disappearing around the house while away. If it didn't transform or attack he ignored it, bright colors ordinary in a child's room. Even mismatched colors. "But guess who is coming this weekend?"

"Hide? Mia?"

"Yes Chromia, who you can meet now and Grimlock. He accidentally destroyed Optimus trailer. Transform got stuck after a big battle and needs off base. "

"Oppie is mad and Grimmie needs to hide here," she translated.

"Optimus Prime," he stressed, pushing her blonde hair up to see her eyes, "is allowing our friends to come here to learn of human activities. But only if they stay hidden and a secret. Your mom and I have a night planned in town and he can babysit."

"I can keep secrets. Does he like bunnies?"

"He only looks like a dinosaur, silly girl," he tickled with his free hand, making her squeal. "Not a meat eater."

To be continued…