A/N: thank you to RogueNya for the idea!

/speak/ -Draco and Halo communicating

Note typing

Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Chapter 10

"Is she crying?" Epps asked.

"Yes she is." Ironhide said, before trying to calm her down again.

"I think I know what it is this time!" Hermione said.

"What?" Ironhide asked.

"You're treating her like any family would!" Hermione said. "She's never had a family of her own that she can remember, and what you've done, and said since she's woken up, is all strange to her! But it's something she's always wanted. I mean, we've treated her like family, yes, but we've never been able to fill the role completely. You have!"

Ironhide looked down at the tiny sparkling he held, and he felt his spark ache for her. He promised to herself to make sure she was safe and happy from now on. He gently rubbed her back, and waited for her to calm.

When Halo stopped crying, Ratchet came forward. "I'm going to have to scan you, to see if anything needs to be done for your recovery." He said.

Slightly tense, Halo nodded, and let Ratchet run several scans to check her. When he was done, she chirped in a curious tone, trying to ask if he'd found anything.

"You seem to be fine. Your change and then deep recharge has helped you recover." Ratchet said, and Halo relaxed, having been granted a clean bill of health. Now all she had to do was find a way to communicate.

Several alarmed chirps and beeps reached them, and Halo looked down to see who she assumed must be Draco, sitting up, and looking at his arms and hands. Ratchet picked him up, and ran several scans, while explaining what happened to him. Halo let out a chirp, and Draco looked across to see her.

/Halo?/ He chirped. Halo grinned that she could understand.

/It's me, Draco. Can you understand me?/

/Yes, I can. So, we're both sparklings now? Weird, but I think I can cope./

/Me too. Being a Cybertronian doesn't seem so bad. And I think Ironhide's kinda adopted me./

/You think?/

/Yes. He seems very protective. I'm able to sense all Cybertronian's sparks, so I can sense his protectiveness, and Barricade's too. They both seem to look at me like any parent would a child./

/Barricade is the Deceptacon, right?/

/He is. My gut told me that I could give him a second chance, and I saved him. In turn, he saved me. But, as I tried to repair him, I told him about myself, and I could sense him becoming protective./

/Does that mean I have two overprotective father figures that I'll have to be threatened by at some point?/ Draco asked.

Had Halo been able to, she would have blushed. As it was, she just ducked her head, and rubbed the back of her head. The others in the hanger watched as Halo and Draco seemingly communicated. They watched as Halo seemed to become embarrassed.

Optimus looked at Lennox. "Will, could Halo and Draco borrow your computer. They will be unable to write, but they can type."

Lennox nodded. "That's a good idea. That way, we can understand them. I'll go get the laptop."

He disappeared for ten minutes, before coming back with a sleek silver laptop, which he quickly booted up. Ironhide and Ratchet put the two Sparklings down on the ground. Halo walked straight up to the laptop and loaded up an empty word document, before typing.

Is there anything else we need to know?

The others read the short note. Optimus sighed. "Well, there is one thing. We decided not to tell you before as we believed that you would want a normal life. When we said that the energy from the All Spark just gave you the ability to heal us, we lied. You have the same power that the All Spark had."

Halo was momentarily stunned, before turning back to the laptop. Thank you for considering what I wanted. But how will this affect me? Apart from the obvious…

"We do not think that it will. Your body seems to be coping well, like your body copes with your magic." Ratchet said.

They told you about that, then huh?

"Yes, they did. We know about the war, and the different factions after you, but we will do everything we can to keep you safe from them." Ironhide said.

Halo sent him a greatful look for the reassurances. It was good to know that someone would be protecting her for a change.

"Now, Barricade tells us that you rescued him, and gave him a second chance, Halo. Is this true? And do you trust him?" Optimus asked.

Yes and yes.

"Very well." Optimus said, looking over at the Deceptacon. "Ratchet, continue where Halo left off with repairing Barricade. If Halo trusts him, then that's good enough for me. But a warning, Barricade, if I ever get any indication that you will turn on us, I will rip you apart to protect everyone here."

"I understand, I will not betray your trust, Prime."

"See that you don't."

With that, Ratchet got to work repairing the remaining damage to Barricade.

Two days later, Ratchet and Halo had managed to finish the repairs to Barricade, and he had shifted out of his Alt mode. After that, he had picked Halo up, and not put her down for several hours, until he was absolutely sure she was alright.

Halo and Draco were getting used to their new selves, and were slowly working their way to talking. The matter wasn't helped by the fact that their mental age kept reverting to that of a toddler every so often. That meant that Halo's first word's as a sparkling had been "papa" when looking straight at Ironhide and then "Daddy" while looking at Barricade. The two Mechs had been stunned at first, but Ironhide had quickly scooped the tiny sparkling up and held her close to his spark. He and Barricade weren't friends, but after that, their fighting died down, as they both agreed it was in the best interests of Halo.

Draco had been slower to speak, but when he had, his first word had been similar to that of Halo's. "Daddy Ratchet!" He called excitedly, while having one of his relapses into infancy, to gain the attention of the medic. Said medic had been over the moon for a sparkling to call him that.

From then on, the two sparklings called the three aforementioned Cybertronian's by what they'd called them the first time they'd spoken. On the third day, they received word that the new base had been set up, and a team of soldiers, now known as the N.E.S.T division had been assigned to the base, along with Lennox and Epps. However, the Cybertronian's were unsure whether they felt it was safe to move Halo to the new base, and out of the wards.

"Look guys, this place is near muggle civilians. Too close to muggle civilians." Remus said. "The others will pick up on the use of magic this close to ordinary civilisation, in fact, they will be looking out for it soon, if they have not done so already. But, Dora and I can put up permanent wards around this new base. And there's the fact that the locator spell doesn't work, if the one they're trying to track is on the move, it can't lock on. How about one of us goes on ahead, and then wards one of the buildings of the new base, so Halo has a place she can stay peacefully until we can ward the whole place?" Remus suggested.

The Autobots, which now included Barricade who had changed the Deceptacon symbol to an Autobot one, all agreed, after a while, that that was probably the best course of action to take.

So, Remus went with Epps and a few other members of the newly formed N.E.S.T team to the new base, to get it ready for Halo. The others remained behind, and Halo and Draco were now trying something new, so it would be easier for them to travel without drawing too much attention. They were trying to shift back to their human forms.

Ratchet had theorised that it was possible for them to change back, and then they could change back and forth at will, like Animagi, but when they reached the end of their first frame to the beginning of their second, he believed that they would no longer be able to change back to humans, which was now considered to be Draco's and Halo's Alt forms.

It took another two days, but then, after working with Tonks and all the Autobots, Draco finally managed to change back, but instead of his silver eyes, his eyes were now the same blue as his optics. Now, only Halo had to accomplish it. It was hard. The energy in her body seemed to really like her new form, so she had to really push at the energy to mould it to her will to change back to her human form, but she managed. She managed just before they got the call from base saying that Remus had finished. Wasn't that timing?

A/N: So, what do you think? Please review! Thank you to all who have!