chapter fourteen

Out of all of them, Jazz and Ironhide were probably the calmest at being kept on base. When Ironhide and Lennox had arrived, the black Topkick had been escorted directly to the Autobot hangar, and Lennox had been given strict instructions to avoid unnecessary contact. Ironhide had seen the look that crossed her face when Ember had told her that. Lennox had said nothing, merely glanced back at Ironhide and walked away to find the rest of her team.

Now, five days later, they were all starting to get nervous. They may have been stronger and faster than the humans, but every Autobot was clearly aware of one distinct fact: They were outnumbered.

Optimus shifted on his wheels. They had taken on their alt forms as a way to get the humans who kept walking in the hangar to ignore them. So far, no one from Lennox's team had made it in, and he was getting worried. He was just about to say something to break the silence – find out how his soldiers were holding up, how much longer they could tolerate this – when noises outside the hangar grabbed his attention.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but you can't go in there! Ember's orders!"

"Try and stop us, soldier." Lennox, angry and ready to fight. The unnamed soldier let out a squeak and apparently stepped aside. The human-sized door in the hangar opened, and Lennox walked in, followed quickly by Sing, Stringer, O'Connell, Jones, and Epps. Some of the tension seemed to ease from the room, and the Autobots automatically assumed their mech forms. Ironhide's optics brightened as Lennox made her way to him.

"I was wondering when you'd get around to showing up." he said with a grin. Lennox smiled back.

"Hey, we had to wait until Ember left base to get here." she said. She quickly climbed onto his hand, and Ironhide lifted her up to his shoulder. Optimus smiled to himself as the other humans quickly assumed similar positions.

Cliffjumper glared at them. "What makes you think you can keep us locked up in here?!" he demanded.

Jazz shook his head. "Cliffjumper – "

"I'm allowed to ask!" the smaller mech snapped. "Your leader told us we couldn't leave. What gives her the right?"

"Absolutely nothing." Lennox said. "And she's not our leader."

"Then who is?"

Lennox glanced around at her group. Sing answered for her. "Optimus is. That is, if he doesn't mind a bunch of humans pledging their allegiance to him." He flashed the Autobot leader a grin. Optimus couldn't help but smile back. Jazz snickered, and the Twins exchanged high-fives while Ratchet groaned. Apparently there was a betting pool on that one, Lennox thought with some amusement.

Cliffjumper stared at them. "You might as well be adopting them, Prime." he warned.

"Actually – " Optimus began, but Sunstreaker cut him off.

"Could we?" He sounded for all the world like a child asking to keep a stray dog. O'Connell looked up at him.

"Adopt?" he said slowly. "I know I wouldn't mind."

Epps snorted. "None of us would." he said. "Right, Lennox?"

Lennox grinned. "Dang straight."

"You don't even know what an adoption would entail." Wheeljack warned. "We don't even know for sure what would happen to you. Autobots generally don't spark-bond out of species."

"For good reason." Cliffjumper grumbled.

"Don't mind him." Hound said, shooting the minibot a dark look. "He's just annoyed that there aren't any other minibots for him to cause trouble with. Ironhide intimidates him."

"Gee, I wonder why?" came the dry response from Lennox. Ironhide just laughed.

Optimus turned his focus to the group. "Would anyone mind spark-bonding?" he asked. "It would be different with humans involved, but I believe it can be done?" He glanced over at Wheeljack, who nodded affirmatively.

"Choose carefully." Bumblebee advised, speaking up for the first time. "Once you do this, there's no guarantee that you'll keep your other human relationships."

"Is that why you never bonded with Sam?" Jazz asked suddenly. Bumblebee nodded.

Jones laughed. "I'm in." he said with a grin. "You guys may have scared me at first, but I like you people. Especially Sides." Sides grinned and took a bow. Murmurs of assent rose from the group. Sing turned to Optimus, placing a hand on his head to get his attention.

"Would you spark-bond with me?" he asked quietly.

Optimus nodded. "Of course."

Suddenly the door opened again, and Bale walked in. "You guys better get back in the barracks." he warned. "Ember's coming back." Lennox made a face.

"Any idea when she'll be gone again?" she asked.

Bale nodded. "She leaves tomorrow night and won't be back for another three days, tops."

"Good." She turned to Ironhide. "We'll be back then."

"Be careful." Ironhide said quietly.

Lennox grinned. "Always."

/----/

The barracks were quiet, for the most part. Lennox and Stringer made sure to keep their voices down to avoid waking the others. Lennox's team weren't the only ones who slept in there, after all. "Are you sure you're willing to do this?" Lennox asked. "What about your fiancé?"

Stringer stared at the ceiling in the darkness. "Remember that phone call I got a few days ago?"

"Yeah."

"He wanted me to leave the base. Said I was spending too much time there. He knows about the Autobots, apparently – he thinks they're all dangerous and they're going to kill us all as soon as they get the chance." She let out a frustrated sigh. "I told him he was an idiot. I mean, come on – can you picture Ratchet of all mechs trying to hurt one of us, much less killing us?"

Lennox snorted back a laugh. "If anything, ,the Twins are going to be the ones to die by his hand." she snickered.

Stringer chuckled. "Exactly. Well, he didn't take well to that. Told me to get my priorities straight and call him again when I was ready to lead a normal life." She fell silent for a moment.

Lennox spoke quietly. "You like Ratchet."

"More than I do my own fiancé." Stringer muttered. "Is that not a sad state of affairs or what?"

"How do you like him?"

"As a friend. Maybe a brother. You were the one who taught me that two good friends were worth more than a dozen boyfriends." She flashed the younger soldier a smile, even though Lennox couldn't see it in the dark. "He respects me more than Mark ever did. He doesn't even mind the whole Marine bit."

Lennox had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing. "I would say I'm sorry about Mark, but somehow I don't think you're broken up over it."

"Not really. Isn't that sad? We've been on the fritz for a couple of months now. I guess it was just a matter of time."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"No offence, Lennox, but you aren't the best at relationship advice."

Lennox nodded. "None taken. It's true enough. But I could have listened. You're my friend as much as you're my soldier, Stringer. You can tell me anything."

"I know." Stringer said. "I was talking to Mom about it for a while, and by the time the whole thing fell apart, it just wasn't worth mentioning."

"So long as that's all it was." Lennox said, rolling over to get to sleep. "I'd hate to think you didn't trust me."

"Perish the thought." came the snippy reply. There was a moment of silence, then, "How do you like Ironhide?"

Lennox closed her eyes. "I don't know."