Ok next Chapter is up :D

I have a beta reader now :)

And she is helping me out on spelling and what not (I won't post her username unless she tells me I can)

And here's a description of Penny (because I don't have a clear description of her):

She has long brown hair (sits around her elbows)
Bright green eyes and is about 16 yrs old. She wears a blue watch on her right hand and a teardrop shaped necklace around her neck.

Enjoy

The Children:

Chapter 5: Don't take him!

Penny rushed around the restaurant placing plates on tables and grabbing dishes from people who were done. They were really busy today they had three birthday parties going and an anniversary plus all the other customers. Finally, she was able to get a breather. She ran into the kitchen and looked under the island.

Sunstreaker, Ironhide, Blaster she thought scanning through them she knew how easily they got lost.

Wait, where was Sideswipe?!

"Ironhide! Where's Sideswipe?" she asked him, looking around. Ironhide didn't respond. He looked terrified as he watched the odd sets of legs that he could see from underneath the curtain on the chief's island.

"He said he was going to help you…" Sunstreaker said, responding for his red friend.

Penny's eyes grew wide. A little red troublemaker was now running around the restaurant. She quickly got up and began looking around but she couldn't see him anywhere and there were new orders she had to deliver. She grabbed the orders and began handing them out despite her current situation. As she went she kept on looking down trying to find her little friend. She handed an old couple their meal and went over to three young girls who had called her over.

"Can I take…." She trailed off. There sitting in-between them was Sideswipe. He seemed to be struggling to get away but the girls kept on picking him up like a baby and hugging him. Penny was tempted to leave him there for a while but, then the girls would probably take him home and losing one of her new friends that was not a risk she was willing to take. Sideswipe saw her and relief washed over his face.

" Penny!" He said outstretching his hands like a child would to his mother. She tried to pluck him from between the girls but they stopped her.

"Hey. He's ours leave him alone!" The girl said squishing Sideswipe close to her. He struggled in her grasp and looked at Penny pleadingly.

"No he's not," She said glaring at them she was about to yell at them one the other girl let out a happy squeal.

"Look there's more of them!" She pointed over at the kitchen and like she said three little mechs had wandered out. Penny ran over and scooped Blaster and Sunstreaker up but she couldn't find Ironhide. She shoved the two under the island.

"What were you thinking!?" She asked giving them an alarmed look.

"We wanted to help you" Sunstreaker said. Penny just sighed and ran back out into the restaurant. She scanned the place wildly. Where was he? Her thoughts seemed to scream.

She already knew where Sides was. He could survive. She was more worried about Ironhide!

"Found him!" One of the girls's yelled holding a very reluctant Ironhide up in the air. He looked terrified though he was trying to hide it.

" Put me down you slagger!" He complained attempting to get the girl to let go. Penny ran over and tried to take Ironhide away from her but she refused to let her. One of Penny's fellow workers came over and pulled her away trying to calm her down.

" Penny! It isn't worth it," he tried consoling her. She glared up at him. He may have been taller than her and a few years older but that didn't change much in her eyes.

"What do you mean not worth it!" She yelled trying to pull away. By now the entire restaurant was staring at them. He pulled Penny out and into the kitchen.

" Penny they're only toys it isn't worth loosing our job over!" he told her, making her turn and face him. His brown hair was now falling over his eyes as he glared at her. His eyes were blue and they pierced right through Penny but she did not give up. She fought back.

"Just toys! They're not toy's they're alive! Did you not see Ironhide yell when he was lifted off the ground!" She continued to struggle and eventually was able to wriggle free. The second she felt his grip loosen she ran back into the restaurant just in time to see the girls leaving the two reluctant bots in their arms. She ran out after them down the street she could hear her co-worker behind her.

"Mike leave me alone! I need to save them!" She yelled back at him. The girls heard this and turned when they saw her they booked it down the nearest ally.

She continued to chase them as they swerved down allies and across streets. It was easy for her to stay on their tail because of the fact that they were carrying small robots that were trying desperately to get away. They finally turned into an ally that she knew had a chain link fence at the end of it. As they turned the corner she heard a loud clang. She winced at the sound. When she saw them they had started climbing over the fence.

"How could you drop him?" One if the girls said to the other.

Penny looked through the fence and saw Ironhide lying there lifelessly she stared horror-stricken. When the girls looked up and saw Penny they scooped up Ironhide and started running away. Penny scrambled up the fence and just jumped off the other side. The girls had gotten a head start and Penny was now having trouble catching up with them. Finally after what had seemed like forever the girls slowed down. She ran up to them and glared and was about to yell but then saw that they were either crying or looking extremely upset.

"He's not moving" The girl who was carrying Ironhide said looking up at Penny.

"You know a lot about them please you can have them back if you fix him," she said holding up Ironhide. Penny took him into her arms she had no idea how to fix him the last thing she had repaired was the engine of her dad's car and that was with an instruction booklet and after five different tries. She looked down at him sadly tears building up behind her own eyes Sideswipe was being squished against the girl who was holding him.

"We only wanted to have some fun," she mumbled and the other girls agreed. The three of them were all sorry for what they had done.

"We didn't want to hurt them…" the last girl added.

Penny was near tears when she heard someone panting behind her. She turned to face Mike who was exhausted from chasing after her.

"I'm never doing that again," he said gasping for air. Penny and the others were also breathing hard but none of them said anything.

"What's wrong?" He said looking around. Penny gave the girls a cold icy stare. She had dealt with death before but she just couldn't hold in her sadness any longer.

"They killed him!" she yelled pointing at the girl's tears pouring from her eyes. Sideswipe by now had managed to get free and was hugging Penny's leg. He was obviously crying but was trying to hide it. Mike looked at the form in her hands.

"Can I see him?" he said lifting Ironhide out of Penny's arms. She just nodded sadly and lifted Sideswipe up. She hugged him and started mumbling something about never caring about anyone again. Mike opened Ironhide up and started fiddling with his insides pulling various tools out of his apron. Penny and the girls looked at him strangely.

"What are you doing?" one of them asked, staring at the almost endless supply of tools coming from his pockets.

"I trained to be an engineer," he said smiling up at Penny. "He'll be as good as new in no time."

Penny's grim mood disappeared and she hugged Mike.

"Thank you" she whispered, letting go and smiling. Sideswipe, who had been forced into the hug, quickly got down. They watched Mike work and finally smiling he closed Ironhide up.

"His systems should reboot on their own now." Mike handed Ironhide back to Penny and she cradled him. She could hear his systems working and all her sadness melted away. She nestled him in one arm and picked Sides up with the other.

"We should be getting back," she said glaring at the girls. Mike nodded and stood up.

" Penny, you might loose your job. You do know that right?" he asked, looking at her with a worried expression. Mike had been working there for several years so the manager knew that if he left it was for a good reason but Penny had only just started and any excuse to fire her and hire the next person in line would be used. She just nodded. At the moment she didn't care. A job could be replaced. A friend couldn't.

Penny re-entered the restaurant getting strange looks from the customers as she passed. She was still carefully cradling Ironhide in one arm and was holding Sideswipe in the other. She ran into the kitchen and shoved Sideswipe under the island. She was going to have to talk to him later. She then carefully placed Ironhide near Blaster.

"Watch him," she ordered Blaster. He seemed concerned about his comrade and did what she said placing Ironhide's head on his lap.

" Penny I'm sorry," Sideswipe whispered. He hadn't meant to hurt anyone; he was only trying to help. Penny looked at him. She wasn't impressed but she saw he was sorry she quickly pulled her head out from underneath the island and got back to work. She could feel her manager's eyes on her the minute she left the kitchen. She went about doing her shift without being bothered but when her shift ended her manager asked her to step aside for a moment. Penny did so.

" Penny I saw the incident earlier," she started, glaring at Penny. Penny flinched. She was in for it now and was already preparing her mind to start job searching.

"I am giving you a warning. Do something like that again and…" The manager let the threat hang. When she was gone, Penny let out a huge sigh. That meant no job-hunting for her. She ran back into the kitchen and peeked under the island pulling her bag close to it.

"Everyone in," she said rather cheerfully. Sideswipe stared at her strangely she just smiled and lifted Ironhide up into her arms. As soon as everyone had climbed into her bag and she had slung it over her shoulder. She thanked Mike on the way out and headed home. After she was out of sight she let the twins out of her bag so they could drive ahead of her though this time she made sure they didn't get too far away. She didn't need another incident like before.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside. She continued to cradle Ironhide as she walked up to the kitchen. She did have a dinner planned but she decided to make it tomorrow because she was exhausted from today's events. She threw in a Pizza Pocket and sat down in front of the TV.

Why hasn't he woken up yet? She wondered, looking at Ironhide. Blaster had pulled himself up beside her and turned the TV on flipping through the many different channels. The twins had gone off somewhere. Probably to booby-trap her room again.

The microwave beeped and she placed Ironhide beside Blaster. The minute she put him down he began to move around uncomfortably so she picked him back up and took him with her. After a brief moment she plopped back down beside Blaster with her dinner in one hand and Ironhide in the other. Blaster had finally found a channel he liked and was staring at it. He seemed somehow intrigued by this odd newscast.

"We don't know exactly what happened but a very similar event from a few days ago has occurred once again. This toy store seemed to have been torn apart over night, walls seemed to have been blasted right through and the what is left of an assortment of toys lies on the floor." The newscaster on the TV reported.

Penny zoned out. The Pizza Pocket had long been devoured and she was bored. Penny glanced at Blaster, wondering why was he so interested in the story. Blaster got up from his seat and jumped onto the floor.

"I'm going upstairs," he said leaving the room. She nodded and watched him leave. Something moved in the crook of her arm. Ironhide was waking up.

"What the frag happened?" He asked sitting up and rubbing his head. He looked up and the minute he saw Penny he jumped from her lap.

"Ironhide…. What's wrong?" She asked him. He seemed to have been pushing her away since she found him. Ironhide sighed.

"Ya wouldn't understand it even if I told ya…" Penny smiled at this remark.

"Try me."

Ironhide looked up and finally began to tell her what was wrong.

"This," he said moving his hand off his leg to reveal a burn-like mark in his upper thigh, which looked like a moon. Penny looked at the mark. So that was what he was keeping hidden she thought.

"The person who had me before you called himself a "hard core" collector. He burned this fragging mark into every single slagging toy he ever owned. Unfortunately he believed me to be one of them."

Penny put her hand on his shoulder she didn't need to hear the rest. She stood up and went to go get some red paint that could at least cover the mark up.

" Penny wait," he said calling after her "There is one more thing," he whispered

"That slagger also placed a tracker in me somewhere," he said looking down at his hands. Penny's eyes widened. What would happen if he found her? This collector guy would know they were coming to life!

Penny tried to hid her fear but Ironhide could see it.

"I'm gunna leave, I'm putting ya in way to much danger." He rose but Penny swept him up in her arms.

" No way," she said with another smile plastered on her face. It didn't matter how much danger she was supposedly in. There was no way she was going to give up her new friend. She walked up the stairs carrying a struggling Ironhide all the way.

" PENNY!" Ironhide yelled at her but there wasn't anything he could say or do to make her put him down. If she had to she would lock him away somewhere until he agreed to stay.

She entered her room and was surprised she didn't end up with a bucket of cold water on her head. She placed Ironhide up on the bed if he jumped she would defiantly hear him hit the floor.

Penny glanced at the shelf. It would really help if she could have Prowl or Optimus awake so they could take care of the others while she was at school or work. But then again, they would probably make everyone leave. By now, Ironhide had crossed his arm and was sitting in the corner of her bed glaring at her. She looked at him then at her hands. Was it physically possible she thought she looked at the shelf and located Jazz.

He's harmless enough, she thought to herself. She walked towards the shelf but before she could reach it Blaster yelled from the hallway and ran inside of her room.

" Penny!" he yelled. She groaned. That was probably the fifth time someone had called to her today! She ignored him and continued to walk over to the shelves while looking at Blaster.

"Stay away from the shelv..." It was too late. The twins, who had been hiding on the bottom shelf, popped out and grabbed her legs. She tipped over and crashed into the shelves, knocking the entire thing on top of her.

Despite the fact she was falling into thousands of small plastic figures and solid metal shelves her first instinct was to cover the two troublemakers from the weight.

" PENNY!" Blaster and Ironhide yelled in unison as they saw their friend crushed by the shelf. To make matters worse, one of the figures that had made contact with her skin began to glow. He came to life, marching out of the wreckage.

"Me Grimlock no like being squished!" he roared.

Don't worry Jazz will be here soon

And Penny will be fine... I think... giggles'

If anyone is confused on the height of the transformers they're about the size of this Blaster: members./jeffb/transformers/Blaster.jpg

I'll get up the next chapter ASAP