Author A/N:
Wow, okay it is official ... Decepticons have invaded my life and taken over my technology. I'm serious! First my computer blows up, then my cell phone stops sending/receiving text messages, then my TV stops working, then my MP3 player dies (and because I don't have my computer I can't charge it T.T) ARG! So I offer my apologies for this later update -.-'
The only good that has come out of it is that I was granted the time to stop, really plan out the rest of this story, and do a little research to clear up some details and make it as believable as possible. :)
Once again, thanks to my beta (who was also having some computer problems but still managed to find time to read through this), so THANK YOU!
And thanks to all who have taken the time to show this story some love, I am amazed at just how popular it has become.
Ollie-Marie: Fanfiction always fixes everything :D That's why I love it so much! Grandpa Ollie has become a rather fun character to write, even though he was a spur-of-the-moment decision ;) I'm glad you made a positive connection! And yey for internet at the cottage! XD
Chocokoko: Lol, doggy-Ironhide is the best, but his time as our four-legged friend is coming to a close :( I don;t know how much I'll stick him back in this form again, but it's been a hoot! Ratchet is so much fun to write! Thanks for keeping up with this! :)
clipchip: Picking on Ironhide is so much fun, and so evil ... but maybe that's why it's so much fun X3
Mieschers: Glad you think so! It's always nice to hear from any new readers :)
Transformers Obsessed: I'm glad you enjoy it! And, to answer your question, yes and no. Yes because, as you mentioned, he was completely forgotten after he was killed. At first I was hopeful, like maybe that meant that he wasn't really dead and they'd bring him back, but as the movie progressed I was more and more heart broken. But, at the same time, no; because in wake of everything that happened, they didn't really have time to mourn. With Sentinal on the loose, and the Decepticons forming, and the government kicking the Autobots out, I don't think they had much of a chance to deal with it. I was still pretty angry that they didn't show anything. That had to be my biggest beef with the movies, they didn't have enough robot time, it was basically always on Sam ... :( But, based on Prime's violent final fight, I felt that he was mourning the loss, and took it out on Sentinal and Megatron, even if they never clarified that. But that's just me :)
keacdragon: It's rather amazing how they do that isn't it? I've watched videos on some of the most 'dangerous and violet' dogs doing a better job at baby-sitting than most humans XD
SunlightOnTheWater: Tell me about it ... at the last family reunion I attended there were like, 50-some people, and I only knew about 10 of them -.-' I love Ironhide and Annabelle time ... she really brings out the best in him XD
LionLover190: I'm glad to hear it! Thanks for sticking with this, it really means a lot! :D
Cybela: Thanks! I wanted to make it that nothing super-natural and hard to believe happened. I wanted to make it a real 'this could've happened' situation, and I'm glad people are responding to that :) Hope this lives up to what you were hoping for!
Silver Mirror: I would so take in a Autobot-turned-canine in a heartbeat XD they would make the best pets without leaving any messes behind ;)
GavinDarklighter: Of course he wouldn't, not with his 'big, tough reputation' and all XD I love writing Hide and Ratchet! They work so well off each other, and they really care for each other (even if they would never admit it out loud) ;) Annabelle is adorable, and she's a hoot, and easy to write which is always a plus in my books.
Botosphere: I don't think I'll ever be able to tell you just how much it means to have your approval for this story. I absolutely love how you write for this category, and you've been an inspiration for a lot of the happenings in my fic. So I'm absolutely thrilled you like it :) Especially for approval of Ironhide and Ratchet ... they are my favourite bots to read about. And it is fun to have Hide like this ... but I agree, it's just not Hide, so hopefully he'll be back to normal and a royal pain in everyone's -coughRatchetcough- afts soon enough XD
Again, thanks to everyone for your continuing support ... I would crash and burn without you :)
Disclaimer: I have absolutely no ownership over the Transformer franchise, this is meant to be strictly for entertainment purposes.
Things remained pretty quiet after the search party returned to the house. Allison sat with her parents quietly while Annabelle hung out with Ironhide up on the porch. As soon as it got dark enough, a fire was lit and Ironhide was left alone as Annabelle went to roast marshmallows. Grandpa Ollie passed by once, but other than that things were quiet. Ironhide only moved when Grandpa Ollie came back outside and sat down beside him with a sigh.
"Nice night, don't'cha think, mutt?" Grandpa Ollie said with a contented sigh as he leaned against the one of the porch beams. "Stars are out, fire is going, surrounded by family ... after a lifetime on the battle field it's easy to learn to appreciate the little things in life. And that's what it felt like, the war, that is. You couldn't think too far ahead, 'cause you didn't know when, or if, you were going to make it home ... just had to take it one day at a time."
'Trust me human, I know the feeling.'
Ironhide kept one ear tuned into what Grandpa Ollie was saying, and one on the rest of the family. He was scanning the property more frequently; one close call with his charge was one too many for his liking.
"We didn't have all the fancy-schmancy toys the army plays with today, like those giant robots that hit Chicago. Could've used a few of those back in my day, might've saved a lot more lives," Grandpa Ollie sighed as he gently rubbed Ironhide's head. Ironhide stiffened slightly at the mention of the battle He knew some humans still held resentment towards them for the loss of human life.
"You wouldn't have known how to deal with those 'fancy-schmancy toys' back in your day, old man," Will laughed as he came over and sat on the steps.
"Yeah, but the enemy wouldn't've known either ... could've just thrown them at them and taken over when they were trying to figure them out," Grandpa Ollie smirked then gestured back towards the fire, "the natives getting restless?"
"Yeah, be a whole lot easier if I could just shoot'em and be done with it." He grumbled. Ironhide snorted and roughly nudged his shoulder.
"William!" Grandpa Ollie scolded, but there was laughter in his eyes, "how many times do I have to tell you? You gotta poison them all, easier to cover up your tracks that way."
Both men laughed, as the fire crackled and popped in the fire pit.
"What about this ol'boy?" Grandpa Ollie asked as he rubbed the top of Ironhide's head roughly. "He got any family?"
Will actually froze and looked over his shoulder at his fuzzy guardian. The topic of family had never really came up with them before.
"You know ... I'm not really sure."
"What about his owner, Rick, or whatever his name is."
"Ron Hatchett," Will corrected as he poked Ironhide's shoulder, "and he's had Hyde for a long time, as long as I've known him in fact."
"Raised him from a wee pup then?" Grandpas Ollie laughed as Ironhide gently bit Will's hand.
'I've changed my mind, you own me waaay more than a single wash and wax.'
"Sure, let's go with that answer," Will smiled as the two of them playfully wrestled with each other. Ironhide tried to pin the man's arm while Will tried to push the dog onto his side. They stopped as people started getting up and moving away from the fire, children draped over shoulders and yawning. A quick glance at his internal clock informed Ironhide it was already 11:50 pm. Will stood up as Sarah walked up with Annabelle in her arms and Tom and his family in tow.
"Can you take her upstairs while I get these guys settled?" Sarah asked.
Will took his daughter in his arms. He kissed her forehead as Grandpa Ollie stood with a groan and Ironhide sat up.
"It's been a long day," he said with a yawn, "bed sounds like a good idea."
Ironhide, back in his humanoid form, sat at the foot of Annabelle's bed, as the little girl snuggled on his lap, and watched as Sarah and Will wrestled with the air mattress.
"Sarah, let's face facts," Will grumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair, "this is as good as it's going to get unless we start moving furniture out into the hall."
"I thought we had this worked out already," Ironhide said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Annabelle in her bed, you two on the air mattress, and I'm tucked neatly in the corner."
"No, that's what you had worked out," Sarah snapped at him, "you, out of all of us, deserve a good bed to sleep on and I am not leaving you to sleep on the floor like a dog."
Will arched an eyebrow and glanced meaningfully at Ironhide. Ironhide smirked, amusement clear in his eyes, but said nothing.
"Okay, bad example."
Ironhide chuckled deeply as he maneuvered Annabelle down onto her pillow. The little girl was already sound asleep and completely oblivious to what was happening aroud her.
The house was quickly going quiet as the family settled in for the night. Sarah had exhausted every resource, every pillow, blanket, source of padding, and spare stuffed animal to ensure everyone's comfort. Tom and his family were in the living room downstairs, Grandpa Ollie was in the spare bedroom with Rosalie, Valerie and Aunt Astrid, and Sarah's parents were in master bedroom with a few other cousins. Every single horizontal surface was officially packed.
"Sarah, I sleep on a metal berth almost every night, I think I can handle one night on the floor," Ironhide said softly with a hand on her shoulder. Will was already trying to get comfortable on the air mattress, pillow propped against the wall, and feet barely half and inch from hanging off the end. He sighed and shifted again, cursing as his elbow connected roughly with the wall.
"Yeah but ..."
"No 'buts', Sarah, if it will make you feel better you can wash and wax me once I'm back to normal."
Sarah laughed quietly as she pulled him into a tight hug.
"I promise," Ironhide mumbled against the top of her head, "I'll still be here when you wake up." He gave her a knowing smile as he pulled back and shifted down into his dog form. Sarah blushed and nudged his shoulder with her foot as she settled down beside her husband. The mattress was just wide enough for them to lay shoulder to shoulder without falling off, but Will only shifted and wrapped an arm around her with a happy sigh. Ironhide curled up near the head of the mattress, half under Annabelle's bed, and still in plain sight for Sarah. He did one last quick scan of the property before allowing himself to slip into recharge.
Hidden in a cave, deep in the Amazon rainforest, a set of red optics scanned the sky nervously. The hulking metal mass growled as it shifted back into the shadows and retreating deeper into the earth.
"You shouldn't fret so much, Bludgeon," a dark, silky voice spoke from the shadows, "the Autobots are still preoccupied with their own, they aren't focused on us."
"Not yet they aren't," the Samurai-like Decepticon growled, "they'll be even more likely to come after us once they realize not all the Decepticons have fled the Earth."
"Well then perhaps we should make our move before we are discovered."
"And what do you propose we do, Mindwipe?" Bludgeon asked, irritation beginning to leak into his voice.
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk robot emerged from the shadows like some kind of nightmare, a cunning grin on his faceplates.
"We get rid of Prime's strongest pillar; you saw how shattered their forces were when they believed their weapons specialist was gone," Mindwipe purred as the daggers at his wrist glittered in the faint light.
"Are you mad?" Bludgeon roared, rounding on his companion with a snarl. "If Sentinel Prime, a Prime, failed to kill him, what makes you think we could do any better? Especially now, when the Autobots are keeping a closer eye on him than ever, and we are fighting alone?"
"Ah, but there's the beauty in it all," Mindwipe grinned, completely unfazed by his partner's anger. "Ironhide has never been one to be tied down and babysat. He'll be out on his own sooner or later, and he is in a more vulnerable frame now, so one hit would probably take him out. Once he is killed the other Decepticons will come to work for us."
Mindwipe grinned as he watched the information sink into Bludgeon's processors.
"Think about it," he urged, "Bludgeon; the Decepticon that killed the almighty Ironhide. You know the price Megatron has on his head-"
"Had on his head. Megatron is dead."
"Regardless, your name would go down in history."
"What, you don't want a piece of that fame? You're awfully eager to push this one me."
"You can have the weapons specialist, I want the chance to take out Optimus Prime."
"You have a death wish," Bludgeon growled, but he was beginning to see the plan play out in his head.
"All we need to do," Mindwipe purred with a murderous grin, "is to get the weapons specialist under my control, and the rest is easy."
Morning was a rather sluggish event at the Lennox household. Sarah's parents had woken up first and started preparing breakfast, a never-ending line of bacon, eggs, toast and coffee. It wasn't long before the mouth watering smells worked their magic and slowly started waking the others.
The rest of the morning went by without a hitch, and before too long bags were being packed and vehicles loaded in preparation for long drives home. Ironhide stayed curled up on the front porch with Annabelle as Sarah hugged each and every one of her family members as they left. Grandpa Ollie and Sarah's parents were almost done packing their vehicle when a flash of familiar colors coming towards the house had him perking up. He barked twice before hopping off the porch to meet Ratchet.
::What the slag are you doing here, medic?::
::A situation has come up. Prime wants you back on base::
Will came out the front door of the house with Grandpa Ollie just as Ratchet's holoform stepped out of the driver's seat of the S&R hummer. The confusion on his face faded to a concerned frown as they moved forward.
"Ratc-I mean, Ron, what are you doing here?"
"Ah, so you're Ron Hatchet," Grandpa Ollie smiled warmly as he extended his arm for a handshake, "I'm Oliver Looke."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Ratchet shook his hand warmly.
"You've got one heck of a dog here, lad," Grandpa Ollie said with a grin as he rubbed Ironhide's head.
"I've been told that before," Ratchet said with a grin as he wrapped an arm around Ironhide's neck and pulled him roughly towards him.
::I will kill you, medic::
"Has he behaved himself, Lennox?" He asked, ignoring the weapons specialist as he gave the dog a playfully rough noogie.
::Kill you dead::
"Did you expect anything but the best from him?" Will laughed as he watched they murderous expression on Ironhide's face.
"Funny, now why can't you ever behave for me?" Ratchet asked dryly as Ironhide nipped at him.
"Hey, Ron, what are you doing here? We weren't expecting you until later tomorrow," Sarah asked as she and Annabelle came over to them.
"Things cleared up with my family, so I thought I'd come get Hyde early. Ironically enough I just got a call from base, and I'm needed back there ASAP."
Will straightened up at Rachet's words, a serious expression his face. Sarah chewed her lip as her parents called for Grandpa Ollie to get in the vehicle. He and Will said their farewells as Sarah walked over to give the three of them a proper goodbye.
"You're taking him away?" Annabelle asked with a sad look on her face. Ratchet smiled warmly and knelt down to her level.
"Just for a little while, kiddo," he said as Annabelle wrapped her arms around Ironhide's neck. "Then he can come back, okay?"
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Annabelle sighed sadly, but nodded and gave Ironhide a quick kiss before running over to say goodbye to her grandparents. Ratchet and Ironhide shared a meaningful look, and the weapons specialist trotted over to the idling hummer.
"Don't worry yourselves," Ratchet said quietly to Will, "it's nothing that requires immediate N.E.S.T. attention, but Prime wants 'Hide back where we can keep an eye on him."
::I can hear you, you know::
Ratchet grinned at Ironhide's growl, and shook off Will's questioning look.
"We'll keep you updated, but Mirage is hanging around to keep an eye on things around here," Ratchet said as he turned to open the door for Ironhide, "and he'll bring you back to base once your leave is complete."
Like Sam, the Lennox family had an Autobot panic button to use in case of emergencies. However, most of the time, one of the Autobots was standing guard over the Lennox ladies. They seemed to like getting away from the hassle of the N.E.S.T. headquarters for a few hours.
"Thanks Ratch, take care of Ironhide for us," Sarah said coming back over as her parents drove down the driveway waving. Will frowned when his phone beeped, alerting him of a new text.
"Don't I always?" Ratchet grinned, then laughed as Will showed him and Sarah the text ('I can still hear you.), before he winced lightly as Ironhide bit his armrest. He gave them both a quick wave as he opened the door to hop back into his alt mode, holoform fading as they drove away. Ironhide waited until they had turned back onto the highway before shifting out of his dog form.
"Aw, and here I was just getting used to having a dog-ompf!" Ratchet cut off as Ironhide kicked his dash.
"I hate you," Ironhide grumbled, then rested his feet on the dash as Ratchet laughed.
"Get your boots off me, you big sparkling."
"Yeah, yeah," Ironhide said as Ratchet clicked the locks to his doors closed, "so what's going on?"
"Jolt encountered a Decepticon drone while on patrol," there was a tenseness in Ratchet's voice that made Ironhide swing his feet back to the floor and sit up a little straighter.
"Is he okay?"
"He's fine, but it was a bit of an optic opener that there are still Decepticons in hiding," Ratchet said as he sped up a little. Ironhide frowned lightly as he watched the scenery go by.
"Why am I not surprised," Ironhide sighed, "there were what? Some 200 Decepticons that came through the space bridge; it was foolish to believe they all left once the fighting was done. However, that still doesn't really explain the sudden pick-up service ..."
"Prime doesn't want you out on your own while you're like this, you're too vulnerable."
Ironhide narrowed his eyes and sighed heavily as he crossed his arms over his chest. The locked doors suddenly held more meaning than just keeping him in; they were also keeping anything else out. It was Ratchet's way of protecting something: don't let the enemy get to it.
"Don't argue on this one, 'Hide," the medic growled in warning. "You can't deny the facts this time."
"I'm not arguing, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," he huffed. Ratchet just sighed a heavily, patient sigh, before falling silent.
::Prime to Ironhide, are you with Ratchet yet?::
::Yes Prime, the babysitter has picked me up already::
::Ironhide ...:: The black mech winced slightly at the annoyed paternal tone of Prime's voice. Thankfully he was quickly distracted a familiar yellow vehicle appeared in front of them.
::Bumblebee? What are you doing here?::
::Hey 'Hide! Prime's orders, I'm your backup::
::Oh goodie:: Ironhide huffed, but couldn't find it in him to be annoyed or angry at the young scout.
::It's for your-::
::'Own good,' I know Prime, I know::
A/N: For here, things will be getting a bit more serious ... and in that note, if anyone out there is a big fan of Mindwipe or Bludgeon and I make any mistakes on them I encourage you to tell me. I'm mostly going off Transformer wiki information to learn about them -.-' Also, my dearest mother has recruited me to do some house work for her, so I honestly have no clue when the next chapter will be up ... plus my lap top still needs to be fixed :) Till then!