During the first few days of summer, Alana was blissfully happy. No school, no homework, just the Autobots and Sam- this in her opinion was perfection. But after a week of nothing but movies, T.V and LEGO Alana was becoming bored. So she would take long walks out beside the base exploring different places and spotting wildlife. She had been walking out later in the day, when the sun was just setting behind the mountains and the moon became more visible. She had out her small flashlight and was trotting through the trees hoping to spot wildlife. And so as she walked her bright green eyes scanned the surrounding area trying to spot the movement of a wild animal. As she was walking Alana failed to notice the ever darkening sky and a burst of white light streak across it surface.
Back at the base Sam was pestering Bumblebee about his Star Trek obsession and failed to hear the beeping coming from the monitor room. Ratchet on the other hand was pulled out of a peaceful and much needed stasis by the beeping. It took him a moment to recognize the sound and another few for him to get on his feet to rush to the door and head for the monitor room. He ran past Sam and Bumblebee, Sam was making fun of McCoy, Bumblebee's favorite character. Ratchet ignored Bumblebee's cry of outrage and skidded to a halt in front of the monitor room and opened the door. He ran to the control panel, hit a few buttons and glanced towards the screen.
Ratchet let out a gasp of surprise and quickly opened a com link with Optimus and called him over. Optimus entered the room a few minutes later, he saw Ratchet pointing towards the screen and he too saw what had surprised Ratchet.
"Another one" he spoke softly. "Can you tell Ratchet? Autobot or Decepticon?" Ratchet leaned down and pressed a few buttons after a moment he shook his head.
"Sorry sir can't tell" Ratchet stood up and looked toward Optimus for his decision.
Optimus was quick to snap into his leader mode "Alright, Ironhide Fireflight and I will go see who it is and engage if necessary. You and Bumblebee get Sam and Alana and make sure they are safe, then keep and eye on the monitors to make sure no one else is coming"
"Yes sir!" Ratchet and Optimus both ran out of the room, Optimus went to collect Fireflight and Ironhide while Ratchet went to inform Bumblebee and Sam about what was happening.
"So someone else is coming?" Sam asked.
"Yes" Ratchet nodded, he turned his head around trying to spot Alana. "Bumblebee…"
Bumblebee recognized the tone of voice and stood up "Ratchet?"
"Where's Alana?" Ratchet spun around looking towards the doorway hoping to spot her standing there.
"Uh…" Bumblebee ran to the doorway and looked down both sides of the hallway, when he didn't see her he glanced back into the room and shook his head "I don't see her" Both Autobots reacted in the same fashion, they looked at each other and then bolted out of the doorway calling out her name checking all throughout the base. When she didn't answer they became even more worried. Ratchet ran a hand over the top of his head as his optics scanned her room turning up no human life.
"Damn…" he muttered. Ratchet's faceplates were creased with worry as he spun around and was about to run down the hallway again checking every room when a thought occurred to him. He paused thinking it over and then ran down the hallway outside.
The sun was setting but it was still a nice warm summer evening, though Ratchet didn't care much for the weather at the moment.
"Alana!" he called out. When no one answered he turned on his scanners trying to spot Alana's heat signature, he found her a few moments later bending down looking at something. Ratchet overcome with relief walked on over to the grove of trees Alana was in and called out her name "Alana"
Alana's head snapped up to look at him, and when Ratchet saw her facial expression he knew that something was wrong, "Ratchet…" she pointed down to the ground.
Ratchet maneuvered his way around the trees until he was next to her, then he crouched down and saw what Alana was pointing at.
It was a small puppy.
Ratchet let out a low mechanical sound and scanned the puppy,
"R-Ratchet?" Alana said quietly "Is it dead?"
Ratchet shook his head "no Alana, it's just a little weak"
"Oh… Are we going to take care of it?" Alana asked.
"You bet" Ratchet smiled down at her, "Ok Alana I need you to pick up the puppy carefully"
"Like this?" Alana bent down and gathered the puppy in her arms; she made sure that the puppy's head was supported by her arm and held it close. The puppy let out a small whine and then snuggled in closer to Alana's warmth.
"Yes like that" Ratchet held out his hand and Alana climbed on and together they carefully made their way back to the base where they would take care of the puppy.
Optimus and Ironhide drove along a highway at impossible speeds while Fireflight flew just ahead of them. It would be another hour before they would reach the landing sight and then another half hour before the flying object hit the ground. All of them were checking their system's while they were driving making sure that their guns and programs were working up to their usual standards. And then when the time came all they could do was hope that they were joined by another Autobot.
Ratchet and Alana had brought in the puppy and had put in the med-lab where they were soon joined by Sam and Bumblebee.
Sam had gone all misty eyed and was saying "I used to have a dog" he told Alana "His name was Mojo" he sniffed "but he got old and died" he finished.
Alana feeling the need to comfort Sam patted his head "S'ok" she told him.
Ratchet stood up straight, he had been scanning the dog some more and now he turned to the group before him.
"Alright everyone" he waited until everyone was looking at him. "This dog needs constant care so Alana I need you to grab a blanket from you room and keep him warm. I'm going to get a warm bath going for him. Sam and Bumblebee you two need to go to a pet store and pick up some food and other things that you think the dog would need"
"Yes sir!" Sam saluted Ratchet and jumped into Bumblebee's hand, and while they were walking out of the base Bumblebee spoke.
"Have you noticed that they are always sending us out to get things?" he asked. Sam thought about it and frowned,
"Ah well" was all he said.
Back in the Med-lab Alana had gotten her blanket and was warming up the dog who was licking her face gratefully.
"Are we gonna keep him?" Alana asked as her cheek was savaged by the happy tongue of the dog.
Ratchet looked up from his task and shrugged "I don't know yet Alana, right now we need to make sure the dog is ok and then we will see from there."
"Ok…" Alana smiled and nuzzled the puppy's fur with her nose.
Optimus, Ironhide and Fireflight had reached the landing zone and had taken cover as the flying object hurtled towards them. There was a resounding rumble as the object his the earth causing a cascade of rocks and dust to shot up into the air and fall back down to the ground. The crater was deep, and it was smoking. Cautiously Ironhide stepped forward his guns ready to fire if he felt the need to. Optimus walked up beside him he too had out his gun and had it pointing towards the landing sight. Fireflight was out of sight, hiding, he would be a surprise attack if Optimus and Ironhide needed his help.
They waited for a moment and then the usual sounds of transformation came from inside of the crater. Dirt was moves and sent up into the air, disturbed by the transformer moving inside of it. The Autobots tensed preparing themselves. A figure was then seen moving from the crater to stand just on the edge of it. Optimus was about to demand for the figure to identify it's self when a familiar voice came from the figure.
"Look I may have blown up a few of your possessions but that's no reason to shoot me" the figure held up his hands and the dust began to clear. The Autobots then saw who it was.
Ironhide let out a choked laugh and then did the unexpected, he retracted his guns and tackled the other robot to the ground and punched him, "Wheeljack!" he shouted as he punched him again. "That's for blowing up my room" he told him as he got off of him. Ironhide held out his hand and Wheeljack grabbed it and stood up.
"I suppose I deserved that Ironhide" he said. Optimus was grinning when he stepped forward, Wheeljack looked at him and tilted his head and waved "hello sir"
"Nice to see you again Wheeljack" Optimus held out his hand and Wheeljack took it.
"Got your message" Wheeljack said "the one you send a while back, figured you might need my help" he said.
Optimus clapped Wheeljack on the back causing him to stumble forward a bit "any help is welcome"
"So this planet is called Earth?" Wheeljack asked looking up at Optimus who was a good head taller than him. At the time of the question Fireflight happened to be walking in from the forest, he had seen the situation and deemed it safe to come out. When Wheeljack had asked the question he had perked up and rushed over.
"Yup it's called earth and you know why?" Fireflight had grabbed Wheeljack's hand and was shaking it vigorously in greeting while explaining the term earth. "They call it earth casue of all this dirt stuff your standing on, its annoying when you get it in your armor, it kinda itches but its cool other wise. The dirt is full of this stuff called nutrients and plants attach themselves to the ground and suck up these nutrients with their roots." In demonstration Fireflight let go of Wheeljack's hand and ripped a tree clean from the ground including its roots and pointed to them and said "These thingys suck up the nutrients and then trees and plants grow." Fireflight stuck the tree back in the ground and turned back to Wheeljack who was looking at the tree curiously "and you know how I know all of this?" he asked, Fireflight answered with out waiting for Wheeljack to speak "I know cause I studied!" he said. "And it was fun" he nodded in agreement with his own words. "Lots of fun. And you know what else, human food tastes really good! You should try the ice cream"
Fireflight would have continued had Optimus not stepped in, Optimus held up his hand and Fireflight fell silent, "Thank you Fireflight, you may tell Whelljack all about earth once we get back to the base"
"Base?" Wheeljack asked.
"We have a base a few hours away from here, there we can give you housing" Optimus told him. "Though before we go I would like for you to choose and earth form to drive as so that we can remain in hiding"
"Sure, no problem Prime" Wheeljack nodded.
Optimus gestured to Ironhide who took the hint and projected a few images of cars that Wheeljack could choose from. It took Wheeljack a few seconds to choose a form, he scanned the image and began to transform into a sleek silver car with green and red trim.
"Very nice" Wheeljack's voice came from inside of the cab. "Ready to go Optimus" Wheeljack said.
"Alright, Autobots transform and roll out" Optimus transformed into the semi and with him leading the group began the drive back to the base.
At the base Sam and Bumblebee had come back with the needed pet supplies and the group was having fun washing the squirming puppy. Alana and Sam were soaked by the time Ratchet deemed the puppy clean. They took him out of the bath dried him of and gave him some food. Then while the puppy ate they sat back and watched it with a satisfied silence.
Then suddenly Alana spoke "why do you think the puppy was in the forest?" she asked.
"Ran away" Sam answered instantly.
"Thrown away" Ratchet answered at the same instant.
Alana looked at them both for a moment and then turned to look back at the puppy, "Thrown away…" she murmured to herself.
Sam nodded "Now that Ratchet say's it that seems the most likely. He probably was thrown away on the road and walked all the way over here" Sam said.
"Thrown away…" Alana murmured to herself. Then she looked at Ratchet and pointed to the puppy "Like me?" she asked.
Alana watched as Ratchet gained a pained look, he looked at the puppy for a moment and then nodded "Yes, like you"
"Oh…" said Alana sadly "poor puppy…" then she smiled "The puppy was lucky like me cause it was found" Alana then got up and went over to pet the small dog.
Sam turned his head and gazed at Ratchet with a knowing smile "when she asks to keep the dog what are you going to say?" he asked.
Ratchet made a mechanical groaning noise "you know I can't say no to that" he said.
Bumblebee went over to the puppy and gently picked it up "I think it's kinda cute" he said as the puppy began to sniff its way around Bumblebee's hand.
"Is it a boy or a girl" Sam asked as he walked over to get the dog from Bumblebee to cuddle with.
"He's a boy" Ratchet said.
"Good boy" Sam crooned as the puppy began to sniff his hair and then take an experimental bite, "hey!" Sam laughed as the dog began to lick his cheek, "Ugh dog breath!" Sam laughed.
"Name?" Alana asked looking at Ratchet.
"Huh?" Ratchet looked confused.
"Name, he needs a name" Alana pointed to the puppy which was sitting on top of Sam's head contentedly. "And it has to be a good one." Alana told him.
"Alright…." Ratchet looked at everyone in the room "Just shout out names until we find one."
"Uh ok…" Sam thought for a moment "Spot!" he said suddenly.
"Nah, he doesn't have spots" Alana said "He's a nice black puppy" the dog did indeed have black fur except for a big brown spot on his rump.
"Blackie?" Ratchet shrugged
"No…" Alana and Sam both shook their heads.
"Shadow?" Bumblebee said.
Ratchet shook his head "Nah, too cliché"
"Clic- Clich… e" Alana had an eyebrow raised in confusion as she tried to figure out the word.
"Cliché means that the word is used too much, in this case that name is very common for dogs" Ratchet told her.
"Oh… I see" said Alana. She frowned for a moment and then started pacing. "Ruffus?"
"No…"
"Cooper?"
"Nah"
"Spock!" Bumblebee suddenly said. Everyone in the room turned to look at him then they shook their heads and began pacing. "Fine" Bumblebee muttered.
"Cat!" Sam suddenly shouted.
"What?" Ratchet frowned
"But he's a dog" Alana pointed "silly Sam"
"No, no!" Sam held up his hands "Don't you see the irony calling a dog Cat? Eh?" Sam waited for the burst of laughter but Alana just shook her head.
"It's a dog Sam, silly Sam" was all she said.
"Brutus?"
"Negative"
"How'bout Diesel?" Bumblebee said. The group looked from Bumblebee to the dog to Bumblebee again.
"Diesel…" Alana liked the sound of it.
"I like it" Ratchet said "fit's with the surroundings too"
Sam looked up at Bumblebee "it pains me to say it my friend but you may be a genius"
Bumblebee glared at Sam "If you weren't holding Diesel I would hit you"
"Diesel it is then" Ratchet said. "So Sam you know the responsibility of taking care of a dog I would like for you to brief us on the duties"
"Alright…" Sam set Diesel down and began his lecture on taking care of dogs.
While he was nearing the end of his lecture, Sam was interrupted by the entrance of Fireflight who skipped into the med-lab.
"Guess what!" he sang, he was about to continue when he suddenly saw the dog, he quickly bent down and studied the dog through this blue optics, "what's that?" he pointed towards the dog.
"We gots a dog!" Alana said excitedly pointing towards the happy puppy who was studying Fireflight through wide eyes.
"I named him Diesel" said Bumblebee proud that he had done so.
"Really?" Fireflight stood up and stared at the dog a bit more.
"Uh Fireflight? You uh wanted to tell us something?" Ratchet said.
Fireflight turned his head slowly "yeaaahhh…" he paused for a moment, "but I forget what it was." He waved his hand "guess it wasn't important" Fireflight bent back down to study the dog some more.
Sam was about to continue his lecture when Ironhide walked in "Hello everyone. Guess what?" he said.
"What?" said everyone including Fireflight.
"Well… we- what's that?" Ironhide was staring down at Diesel who gave off a yip.
"It's a dog" Ratchet sighed. Once more the group introduced Diesel and Ironhide instantly liked the little dog. He held out his hand and the curious puppy crawled onto it and began to sniff around.
"It's… It's so… cute" Ironhide said as the puppy gave off a little sneeze, his black pointy ears flew up for a moment and then flopped back down to his head.
"Diesel's just like me Ironhide" Alana told Ironhide.
"He is?" Ironhide raised a metallic brow.
"He was thrown away and found just like me" Alana told him. Ironhide stared between his little girl and the small dog and felt a small ache in his spark. With a small smile he brought down his hand and Alana climbed on. Then he held the small girl and puppy close to his spark and in that moment he was perfectly content.
Though his fluffy moment was ruined when Ratchet spoke "You wanted to tell us something Ironhide"
Ironhide looked up "I did?" he frowned "I don't remember…" he looked back down at the small girl and the puppy and smiled again "Probably wasn't important."
At that moment Optimus walked in "guess you guys heard the news" he said when he saw the happy smiling faces of all in the group.
"WHAT NEWS!!!!???" Ratchet shouted, "no one has told me anything, what news?"
"Calm down Ratchet, we just- what's that?" Optimus was staring down at the puppy in Alana's arms.
"Not again…." Ratchet moaned.
"It's a puppy" Alana said.
"His name is Diesel" Ironhide said.
"Really?" Optimus held out his hand for the dog and the dog waddled onto his hand and then sat down and stared up at Optimus with big black eyes. Optimus was enraptured, "It's so … small… and….cute…"
"Optimus" Ratchet was trying to remain calm "You had something to tell us?"
Optimus didn't even bother to look at Ratchet "huh?"
Ratchet glared at Ironhide, Fireflight and Optimus who were all staring at the dog with affectionate looks.
"Oh never mind" he snapped.
"Never mind what?" a strange yet familiar voice filled Ratchet's audio receptors.
"Wheeljack…?" Ratchet looked towards the doorway and saw that it was indeed him. "Wheeljack!" Ratchet rushed forward and clasped his hand and shook it.
"Ratchet" Wheeljack said warmly, "good to see you again." he looked past Ratchet and saw familiars and some unfamiliar. He saw Fireflight staring at him with a: who-the-hell-are-you expression.
Ironhide was shuffling his feet and murmured "oh right…"
While Optimus was staring at a creature in his hands he gave Wheeljack a glance "huh" then he shook his head and gently put the dog on the table where it ran to its food and began to munch.
"Forgot about me already?" Wheeljack asked amused. Simultaneously Optimus, Ironhide and Fireflight pointed to the dog on the table.
Optimus made a noise like he was clearing his through and began to speak "I suppose some introductions are necessary" he paused "Bumblebee you know, and this is Sam Bumblebee is his guardian."
"Yellow" Sam waved at Wheeljack and Wheeljack nodded in acknowledgement.
"You know Ratchet and Ironhide, and this is Alana- both humans live with us" he added.
"Hello Alana" Wheeljack bent down and held out his hand; Alana immediately liked him and climbed onto his hand.
"Hello" she said "I'm in grade two" she told him.
"What's grade two?" Wheeljack asked. The whole school process was explained to Wheeljack who nodded in understanding "I see" he said.
"And this is Diesel" Optimus gestured to the dog which had curled up and was sleeping peacefully.
"He's cute" Wheeljack said.
"That he is" Optimus agreed.
Later that night when everyone was sent off to bed and stasis, Diesel had chosen to sleep by Sam and was curled up nicely at the foot of his bed. Wheeljack was to share a room with Ratchet for the time being until they could build him a room and a lab for his scientist work. Alana was being tucked into bed by Ironhide, she was tucked in good and Ironhide was leaving when she spoke,
"Our family got bigger right?" she said sleepily.
"That's right" said Ironhide.
"That's nice" yawned Alana.
"Sure is" Ironhide smiled and closed the door softly behind him and headed off to his room.