Chapter 146

-0-Sideswipe, on his way to Earth two days later

He stood in line his duffel lying at his feet. The crews were rotating out and he was going home. Sunstreaker was off the rotation and Bluestreak had five orns before he would have to go to Autobot City for his turn. He was tired and wanted to go home. Standing quietly in line, he watched as the Protectobots began to load the shuttles for their mission. They'd built shuttles and armed them to the teeth. They were of Cybertronian design with different modifications for speed and strength. The garrison was providing soldiers, four in each one and they would help with the refugees who were now in range of actual contact.

He'd been worried that he'd have to go but Ratchet had intervened. He grinned. He had to talk to Blue and Sunny about what had happened. Sunny had actually told Ratchet that he wished the medic and Ironhide were their genitors. He had felt that moment and for a second there was such love in him for his brother that he thought he'd burst from the enormity of it. Hard aft loner, vainglorious snob, lonely insecure beauty, Sunstreaker had actually gotten up the gumption to say something to someone that showed his need.

It was slaggin' awesome.

By the time the line began to move Sideswipe was happier than he had been in ages.

-0-Wheeljack and Perceptor

Ratchet breezed in, Orion in arms and dragged a chair by his ped to where they were sitting. Plopping down, he grinned. "I want to make an appointment for Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Bluestreak to come and design their sparkling's protoform with you two."

Wheeljack glanced at Orion who sat in Ratchet's lap staring at them solemnly, then nodded. "We can do that. Orion looks great."

"Well, he is at that end of the awesome scale," Ratchet said with a snort. "Or so someone tells me."

Wheeljack chuckled. "He is, at that," he replied. "I have to hand it to Ironhide. He's been a wonderful genitor. I'm surprised you got him out of his servos."

"It wasn't easy," Ratchet said. "He'd be in the berth with us if he had his way. Sort of cuts down on the 'face life if you know what I mean."

"Too much information," Perceptor said wincing with his usual nerdish dignity.

"Really?" Ratchet said. "So what's the story about you two?"

Perceptor rising in self-defense begged off. "I have an appointment." He left quickly.

"An appointment with what?" Ratchet asked with a smirk. "Scaredy pants."

Perusing the internet as the cultural reference was made, Wheeljack grinned, his audial lights flashing his amusement. "You're a formidable force of nature, Ratchet."

"For good, Wheeljack. I use my powers only for good," he said chuckling. "You and Percy a thing now?"

Wheeljack considered Ratchet a moment. "You do realize that you're mad. Stark raving mad."

Ratchet grinned. "You say the nicest things."

Wheeljack grinned as he shook his head. "Yes, we're a 'thing'. There. Are you happy?"

"It only took about nine million years. How many can say that?" Ratchet said with a smile. "I'm glad."

Wheeljack's finials flashed a mild shade of pink as he looked at Ratchet with a happy expression. "So am I."

"My younglings. You will be taking care of them? Sideswipe comes back in about two joors and I want them in here before they can change their mind."

"I'll get Percy. When they get here and are ready to come comm me. I'll be here."

"Thank you, 'Jack," Ratchet said rising to go. "You're a good friend."

Wheeljack reached out and caught Ratchet's arm. "So are you, Ratchet," he said.

Ratchet smiled.

Orion smiled.

Wheeljack and Ratchet smiled at Orion.

Then Ratchet walked out the door to do more do-gooding.

Perceptor who was hiding nearby walked back in. then sat He looked at Wheeljack with a genuine shade of fear. "What did he want, 'Jack?"

"Everything," Wheeljack said with a smirk

"I was afraid of that," Perceptor said glancing at the door with loathing.

/... go ahead and fret, Percy ... that'll teach you to abandon me in my hour of need .../ Wheeljack returned to their project with a grin.

-0-Ironhide

He was making his circuitous rounds rattling locks and displaying his awesomeness to the mercs who had taken to sitting on hummers to 'sun themselves' across the tarmac in front of the Embassy. They were utterly brazen and there were no regulations to prevent them from doing what they were doing. Around them, the usual crowd of soldiers, sailors, marines and civilians were watching, too, but they were curious and friendly, not ominous and hateful.

Fulton was fuming and everyone else in the chain of command was, too, but no one could do anything about it.

The Aerialbots had said they would park in their space but the need to rescue the refugees had come up and most of them had to shoulder shuttle duties while two of their brethren were on that task. All-in-all, they had to tolerate the scrutiny and implied menace.

Ironhide making even closer and closer passbys as he made each round found himself wanting to mush them under his peds. However, in the interests of inter species amity and the Wrath of Prime, he didn't. He did, however, have delightful fantasies when they hoved into view. When they were left behind on the circuit he would go back to the images that made him most happy, Ratchet and Orion.

The medico had taken his sparkling away from him for a while and he felt a bit put out. Lots put out. 'Pouting like a sparkling' put out. He grinned then schooled his face into a scowl to scare the mercs. He was a sparkling about his sparkling. That little sparkling had stolen his spark and he was hopelessly in love with his little baby boy. Being an older genitor, he'd gotten a lot of stoopid done already in his long fabled life and his priorities were different now. Ratchet, Orion, Prime, his garrison and the humans, the Autobot Cause and Cybertron were about all that Ironhide needed to be fulfilled.

And kicking Decepticon aft.

And punching Decepticon faces.

Shooting holes in Megatron.

Standing on top of Decepticon carcasses.

Those were good, too.

He rounded the corner and they were there sunning themselves on top of hummers drunk from drinking beer all day as they watched him. He knew he was awesome because of their attentive gaze when he came into view. He knew he freaked some humans out. He knew it from their expressions. He was enormous, twenty-five feet of brawn and menace. His expression which Ratchet loved and looked so cute on his sparkling was hard to read in his black paint scheme so he always looked dangerous even though those who knew him best knew he was good sparked, extremely intelligent, patient when it was called for, loyal and even cultured. That most didn't suited him because those who knew him and most Cybertronians who saw him could see all his other qualities. They were there but to humans he looked like ... what was it Ratchet called it?

Oh yeah.

A demonic Kewpie doll.

He moved along the route he was making that took him within range of projectiles from the mercs. He knew it. He was in his own way provoking them, walking along the outer edge of Autobot territory cannons out, menace showing, smoke snorting from his nostril assembly, his tread heavy and his danger maximum. They watched him go past and as he continued onward, he felt something hit him then bounce off.

He paused then turned to look down at the ground. An unopened can of beer was lying there rolling back and forth before stopping. He looked at them, the mercs who were smirking, then at the can. He stepped on it smashing it so flat it was pressed into the ground. Then he looked at them his cannons whining. His lower processor stem screeched to blast them but he didn't. He just looked at them, unmoved, unblinking and frightening.

Two of them quieted and sat back in the hummer trying to be invisible. Two of them didn't. Tim Bolton, having gotten marching orders to provoke was at it again and his partner, Seth Tomas, himself enamored over Bolton's already earned bounties on bullshit had joined him. The others were only hanging out and some of the mercs were absent completely. They stared at Ironhide wondering how far to push him. Since Lawrence and Todd weren't there to tell the two of what happened the last time someone did, they didn't really know any better.

Mostly.

They just believed that the Autobots would obey orders and take their crap without retaliation. Too bad they had the wrong Autobot in their sights for that assumption to be true.

-0-Sideswipe

The craft landed then seven soldiers deplaned to walk and roll across the tarmac toward the Embassy. As they got within sight of the hangar, they could see a situation in front. Sideswipe tossed his duffel to another then rolled forward to skate to a stop just behind Ironhide. The mercs sitting on their hummer were giving Ironhide a line of slag and Ironhide was standing on their side of the divide with a look of utter ferocity on his face.

All of the mercs but Bolton and Tomas had left the site moving away when it because clear that the two mercs were going to press their luck. Some of the mechanics in a nearby hangar had come out to watch and one of them had called someone on their cell.

Sideswipe took in the whole situation as he came to stop just behind Ironhide. "What do you want to do, Ironhide? I'm with ya."

Ironhide glancing over to nod at Sideswipe, then turned his gaze back to the humans. All they had to do was step over the line and he would have them. All it took was one bold moment and they were his. The big mech commed Sideswipe. :I want them to cross the line into our territory. Go to the hangar door and wait inside. Record all of this:

Sideswipe nodded then skated backward, moving into the Embassy to roll to one side. He watched as the mercs sat on the hood of their hummer and catcalled Ironhide. A burn in his spark so hot he could feel it in his extremities filled him but he waited recording every word, every movement, every single drunken stupid thing they were doing.

-0-Red Alert

"Prime?"

Optimus looked up from the stack of datapads before him. He was sitting in Ops Center working on the endless data processing that came with great responsibility. "Red?"

Prowl who was standing nearby sorting data threads into 'critical' and 'who gives a frag right now' turned as well as Red stood by the main desk in distress.

"Look at this," Red Alert said switching the overhead monitor to another scene of the base. It was the front of the Embassy. Ironhide was standing out front without moving and two mercs were harassing him. The mercs were rising up from the hood of their hummer to step down and walk slightly away from the truck toward Ironhide.

The big mech might as well have been a statue so quietly was he standing and Prime knew in a moment what he was doing. Rising, his eyes riveted upon the scene, he called. :Prime to Ironhide:

:Ironhide here:

:We see you:

:I know: Ironhide replied.

:Dangerous game, Ironhide: Prime said.

:Sideswipe is filming. All they have to do is step across the line into our territory:

:I am coming: Prime said then he moved quickly for the door with Prowl right behind him.

It, of course, was too late.

-0,-Ratchet

He was standing in the corridor outside of Med Bay when he saw Bluestreak rounding a corner. Behind him, hurrying along as well was Sunstreaker who paused long enough to grab Ratchet's arm. Ratchet and Orion were hustled onward with them. They made their way to the rec room and saw that a number of mechs and Prime were standing out of view watching something going on outside. Walking closer Ratchet felt Ironhide's calmness and focus.

"Oh-oh," Ratchet said moving with the two younglings to stand near to Prime and Prowl.