Ironhide sat down with a tried sigh, the scanner was almost finished and he thought he deserved a break. He leaned against a boulder and watched as Ratchet put his hand on the scanner mentally connecting with it and starting it up. Once Ratchet's hand left the scanner he too let out a long sigh.

"Done" he told Ironhide with a grin.

Ironhide groaned and got to his feet "We had better start getting home"

"Right" Ratchet nodded and the two began their trek down the mountain upon which they had set up the scanner.

They walked in silence for a bit avoiding trees and other such things as they walked down.

Ironhide glanced up and spoke "Do you think Alana's day went well at school today?" he asked concerned.

Ratchet extended his leg and stepped over a small pine tree "Sure her day was fine" he said "She's got some good friends looking out for her. Not to mention Optimus is there"

"True" Ironhide allowed "But do you think Mabel was bothering her again?"

"Nah" said Ratchet "Mabel won't strike again for a while" Ironhide jumped over a rock and caused a small landslide which he slid gracefully down with.

"Wait" he said as he regained his balance "Strike again? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, humans especially of the female kind tend to hold grudges and strike back after much calculated planning"

Ironhide frowned "That's dumb" he said "Nothing say's revenge like a good punch to the face" he thought a punch was far more reasonable than planning.

"That's not how females do it. They prefer mental attacks, they perfect it as they grow older" Ratchet stated.

Ironhide was quiet for a moment then suddenly he looked up "Wait… you mean when Alana is mad at us, she's gonna use all sorts of mental attacks?" he asked.

"It would seem so" said Ratchet.

"Aw man…" muttered Ironhide. And so they continued walking down the mountain until they reached a dirt road where they transformed and drove out of there.

Optimus stared at the computer screen happily, the scanner had just connected itself to the Autobots main computer and it seemed to be working perfectly. Small blips of rock would appear and then disappear as the atmosphere disintegrated them. With a happy smile he checked the time and saw that it was time to pick up Alana from school, and so he walked out of the monitor room and was about to transform when Bumblebee opened a com link with him.

"Bumblebee to Optimus"

"Optimus here"

"Hey! Uh, Sam and I can pick up Alana we're just driving by…"

"Sure, see you guys when you get home"

"Okay"

Bumblebee cut the com link and drove into the school parking lot where parents were waiting for their kids. Turning on his holoform; he and Sam stepped out of the car and leaned against the hood while they waited for the final bell to ring. It rang a few minutes later and soon students were pouring out of the school getting onto busses, walking home or running to their parents. Alana was among the hoard of kids and when she saw Bumblebee and Sam she ran to them with a smile on her face.

"Hey Alana" Sam bent down and lifted Alana up as she ran into his arms; he set her on his hip and gave her a noisy kiss on the cheek.

"Eeeeewwww! Sam!" Alana pouted, laughing Sam did it again. Alana growled at Sam but smiled all the same, she gave Bumblebee a smile, "Hi Bee" she said.

"Hey Alana" Bumblebee lifted Alana out of Sam's grip and set her on his shoulders. "What's say the three of us get ice-cream?" he asked. Sam nodded enthusiastically and Alana cheered.

They got home and two hours later after stopping for ice-cream but then spotting the candy store on their way home, after they had bought candy they had stopped to look at the toy shop next to the candy shop and then they had gone through a car wash; which brought them home two hours later than expected. Optimus stood waiting impatiently for them at the front door of the base; he tapped his foot and crossed his arms as the two humans got out of Bumblebee and Bumblebee transformed.

"School is not two hours away" he said.

"Oooopppttiiimmusss!" Alana shouted on a sugar high, she giggled hysterically "We went for ice cream but then we saw a candy store and wanted candy so we got lots of candy like this fizzy what'chamacallit thing and we got root beer and we got's gummy worms but Sam ate them all he ate the gobstoppers too but I got a pack see? And then we got other stuff too, but then we were walking out of the candy shop and we saw this huge toy store and I thought they sells LEGO and they do! When we came in there was a LEGO Darth Vader! It was so awesome! But then we went to see the other LEGO sets and they had this set from Star Wars which was a huge walker and it deploys ships and it gots four Stormtroopers!" she held up four fingers and took a deep breath "And then we came home" she finished with a smile.

Optimus stared at Alana for a long moment, had he been human he would have been blinking, then he turned to look at Bumblebee who was shuffling his feet looking around nervously, "Well then" he said with a smile. "You had quite the day didn't you?"

"Yup yup yup!" Alana nodded. Sam who was also on a bit of a sugar high, though he was able to control himself better than Alana also nodded with excitement.

"I'm hungry" said Alana suddenly.

Bumblebee looked down at her one of his metallic brows raised "You just had a whole whack of candy"

"I know" Alana said "But I'm hungry"

"Me too" Said Sam rubbing his stomach, he grinned at Alana "Race you!" he took off running towards the kitchen. It didn't take Alana long to react she growled and ran after him her small legs taking her far.

"No fair!" she shouted "You got the head start"

"Loser!" shouted Sam over his shoulder as he turned the bend and skidded to a stop in front of the kitchen door. He was about to walk in when Alana's small body collided with his legs and he stumbled and fell to the ground. Alana caught her herself before she fell and ran into the kitchen.

"Ha!" she shouted as she ran into the refrigerator "Ow!" she rubbed her squashed nose.

"No fair" Said Sam as he got to his feet, "You used violence" he grinned as he walked into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge as Alana continued to rub her sore nose.

"Loser" said Alana with a big smile.

They settled down to eat left over salad and steak when Optimus came in, he leaned against the door frame and smiled.

"Hey Alana…"

Alana looked up at him a piece of salad sticking out of her mouth "Mmmph" was all she said.

"Ironhide and Ratchet are coming home tonight" Optimus told her, he had just received the com link from Ratchet saying they were on their way.

Alana's eyes widened and she choked on her salad, after Sam gave her a few good thumps on the back did she straighten up again and wipe her watering eyes, "When?" she asked hoarsely, she gulped down some water and looked back up at Optimus.

"Two hours from now" Optimus said.

Alana jumped up and cheered "Yes!" she danced around the kitchen when she suddenly paused as if remembering something. "Hhhmmm" she put a hand to her chin and pulled a thinking pose.

Sam tilted his head "What?" he asked.

Alana ignored him and pointed up to the ceiling and put her other hand on her hip "To the bedroom!" she shouted. She rushed out of the kitchen turned a corner ran and then paused, she turned on her heel and faced the opposite direction, "To the bedroom, which is that way" she headed back to the kitchen and ran past it to her bedroom.

Once in her bed room she crawled under her bed and dug out her LEGO creations. She stared at them for a moment and then shrugged, they would make fine welcome home presents; after all, Optimus liked his. She saw it all the time on his desk, so she was sure Ironhide and Ratchet would like what she created. Carefully she picked up her creations and with one in either hand she made her way out of her bedroom. Once outside of her bedroom Alana felt the need to be dramatic and secretive, so she pressed her back against the wall and began to silently sidestep her way down the hall keeping her eyes peeled for any enemies. When she saw Fireflight walking down the hall she froze and tried to press herself further into the wall.

Fireflight walked past Alana humming happily, but paused, he walked back a few steps and looked at Alana with a metallic brow raised, "What are you doing?" he asked.

Alana glanced up at him and then hissed "Shhhh" Fireflight stared at her for a moments and then nodded, he too pressed himself up against the wall and glanced down at her.

"What are we doing?" he asked but this time more quietly.

Alana lifted her head and stared into his blue optics "Secret mission" she whispered back.

"Really?" Fireflight pressed himself further into the wall, "What's the mission?"

"Gotta put these in Ironhide and Ratchet's room" Alana told him showing him the LEGO creations.

"Hey! Those are really good!" Fireflight told her enthusiastically.

"Shhhhh!" she said glaring up at him.

"Oh… right…. Sorry" Fireflight whispered. They slipped into silence and then quietly began to inch their way down the hallway pausing whenever they thought they heard someone. They reached Ironhide's room and Alana placed her present on the desk and then turned to Fireflight who was standing guard at the door. He gave her the thumbs up indicating the way was clear and they began to make their way to Ratchets room.

Alana peeked around a corner and after waiting a moment to see if the cost was clear did she ten signal Fireflight to follow her. They made their way around the corner and once more began to slide their way down the wall to Ratchets room. Once at Ratchet's room Alana ran in and placed her creation in a spot it would be seen. Then she ran out.

They were making their way back Alana's room when Optimus spotted them.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked as Fireflight and Alana froze and then looked at him guiltily

"Caught…" said Fireflight sadly.

"We were so close…" Alana shook her head.

Optimus regarded them for a moment and then crossed his arms "What were you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing…." Alana averted her eyes.

"Yeah…. Heh, Nothing" Fireflight added.

Optimus shook his head "You guys are terrible liars" he said.

"I know" Alana hung her head in shame and Fireflight nodded.

"So what were you doing?" Optimus asked again.

"A secret mission" Fireflight said.

"Secret mission?" Optimus raised a metallic brow.

"It's a surprise" Alana mumbled.

Optimus knelt down and flashed Alana a smile "Then let's keep it a surprise" he said.

The two hours wait passed slowly for Alana, she paced, played with her LEGO, watched T.V, paced some more and then realized only half an hour had passed. So she resigned herself to the T.V where she watched a Pokèmon marathon. She was joined by Sam an hour later, he changed the channel to some crime show and Alana groaned and went to get herself some cookies. Once she had a fairly substantial pile of cookies she went back to the T.V and watched as some guy named Mac Taylor tried to solve a crime.

As they were watching a familiar voice greeted them "Show's you how much we are loved" Ironhide's gruff low voice came from the doorway of the lounge "they know we're coming home and all they do is sit around and watch T.V"

Alana jumped to her feet, her cookies flew all over the place as she ran towards Ironhide and Ratchet "Your home!" she shouted running into his foot and laughing.

"You bet we are" Ratchet said as he bent down to grab Alana. He placed her on his shoulder and she leaned against his cheeks.

Ironhide looked at the floor where cookies were strewn all over the place "I thought I said no more cookies"

"That only counted for one day" Alana told him.

"Does that mean you listened to me the day I told you no more?" Ironhide asked.

Alana nodded "Yup"

"You listened only because I told you no" Optimus suddenly said from behind them.

Alana shook her head and put a finger in front of her lips "Shhhh" she told him.

"Uh-huh…." Ratchet placed his hands on his hips and grinned, he glanced at Optimus "How'd ya get her to listen?" he asked. Optimus shrugged and said nothings so Alana felt the need to answer for him.

"He took me to a movie, and we gots a huge bag of popcorn" Alana held out her arms to demonstrate the largeness of the popcorn bag.

"Pop…corn" Ironhide said slowly and Optimus took a step back fearing for his safety. There was a long pause "why didn't I think of that?" he asked.

Ratchet boped Ironhide on the head "Because it's un-healthy. Seriously, we keep feeding Alana and Sam crap"

Sam had joined them and mumbled "It's good tasting crap"

"But crap it still is" Ratchet said.

"Ironhide?" Alana interrupted the conversation.

"Yes Alana?" Ironhide turned his blue optics to her sea green eyes.

"Have you looked in your room yet?" she asked.

Ironhide looked at her for a good long moment before shaking his head, "Not yet" he said.

"Oh… Ok" Alana shrugged.

Acting on impulse and curiosity Ironhide plucked Alana off of Ratchets shoulder and placed her gently in his hand and began to walk to his room. Ratchet and Optimus followed after him. When Ironhide reached his room he walked in and saw a small object on his desk, he walked towards it and saw Alana's surprise.

It was a small LEGO version of himself, an uncontrollable feeling of love washed over him as he stared at the small LEGO version of himself.

"I missed you" said Alana softly in his hand.

"Dawww" Ironhide brought Alana closer to his chest and gave her a big robot hug, "I missed you too Alana" Ironhide picked up the creation carefully and examined it closely. As he did so Alana climbed up to Ironhide's shoulder to see Ratchet staring at Ironhide's gift jealously.

"I put yours in your room" before her sentence was finished Ratchet had run off to his room to check out the LEGO version of himself. A few moments later he came back holding the creation grinning down at it like a fool.

Ratchet made a few sounds like he was clearing his throat before he looked up at Alana "Thanks Alana, I missed you as well"

"I would say lets celebrate with cookies but…" Optimus shrugged "It seems Ratchet wants you to eat healthier so let's make do with carrots"

"Kay!" Alana smiled, the lack of cookies could not dull her day for her family was complete once again.

The last three months of school passed quickly enough, the scanner continued to work perfectly, indicating that nothing had come to earth or had left it. Alana had passed grade one with exceptional marks, math being her highest grade followed by science. Her lowest grade was English, her friends Bret, Harry and David also passed with well deserved marks and all four were excited for summer.

On the last day of school Optimus waited for Alana to exit the school, while waiting he observed the students exiting the school. He saw a group of girls dressed in feminine colours of pink and purple, walking and talking and laughing while they got onto their bus. Next came a group of boys who were all demonstrating their manliness by seeing who could create the loudest and longest burp. Then another group of girls came, they were holding a bunch of little dolls and paying with them while they walked down the stairs of the school. Then another group of boys rushed out of the building chasing after each other and when one boy was caught a playful wrestling match would ensue. And so the pattern went on until one group threw the pattern right off balance. Alana and her friends walked out of the building, they were ganging up on David. Alana had jumped on his back and was giving him a noogie while Bret and Harry laughed. Then Alana got off of David and they walked down the stairs talking until something that was said made Bret jump on Alana causing her to fall to her knees laughing. She rolled over and Bret fell off of her, they stood up and grab the others shoulders and started to push trying to knock the other over. Off on the sidelines David and Harry were placing bets, bargaining their army men.

Intrigued Optimus turned on his Holoform and walked up next to Harry and David who had their army men out in front of them and were watching the match with enthusiasm, David was cheering on Alana and Harry was cheering for Bret. Optimus crouched down next to them and David gave him a side look, he recognized him immediately.

"Oh, hello sir" he mumbled not sure how Optimus would react to Alana play fighting, he knew that his mother would not allow for it.

"Afternoon David" Optimus inclined his head in greeting. "I take it you've bet on Alana" he said.

"Yup" David nodded, relaxing "Gonna get three bazooka dudes if she wins" he said excitedly.

"I'm gonna get your tank when Bret wins" Said Harry while giving David a light shove.

"You mean if" said David shoving Harry back.

"No, when. Bret will win" Harry said confidently.

"No! Alana will!" David told Harry.

"Oh yeah!" Harry turned from Alana and Bret's match to glare at David.

"Yeah!" David set his jaw and looked Harry defiantly. They were silent for a few moments, and then suddenly chaos broke. David let out a loud war cry and tackled Harry onto his back.

Optimus watched the two boys and then glanced over to Alana and Bret who were still grappling. Then he shrugged and settled down to watch the show.

Alana came home half an hour later sporting a sore bottom, she had faller first to her shame and to David's dismay he had lost his tank. Though they had left on good terms, with a few punches and laughs the bid each other farewell and left for the summer vacation.