As the weeks passed on, Will was missing his bondmate. He looked at a picture of him and Ironhide (holoform) smiling at each other, Will's arms around Ironhide's neck.

The picture had been taken in secret, but Will didn't mind. He had Ironhide smiling, something not very many have done. Some time had passed and Will had had enough.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Galloway demanded. "I'm leaving. I'm not working with you anymore." Will replied. "You can't just leave! You'll lose your pension, a job, your life!" Galloway hissed.

"I lost my job the day you forced me to work with you. You shut the NEST base down first, tried to help exile the Autobots, you've caused enough pain and I'm not helping you do it anymore. You laughed when Ironhide got shot! They fought with us! Sure, we lost some, but that's normal! Everyday, a soldier dies! That's just military life!" Will exploded.

With that said, Will ripped off his badge and walked out in pride and no regrets. 'Im coming, 'Hide. I'm coming.' Will thought.

Meanwhile, Sam got a text from Will. "Hey, guys! We just got a new helper!" Sam announced. "Who?" Hound asked.

"That would be me."

Everyone turned and saw Will, in proper clothing. "Will?" Jazz asked. "That's my name, isn't it?" Will joked. "Yeah, but you-- you said --" Crosshairs spluttered. "I changed my mind. I never wanted to be a part of that, I was forced." Will replied.

"How can you help us?" Cade asked. "I can hack into their mainframe and buy us time, I'm military, so I can use weapons." Will offered.

Later that night, Ironhide and Will were sitting next to each other, silent.

"Why'd you do it ?"

"Huh?"

"Why'd you do it?"

Will looked at the mech, unsure of how to explain. "Remember Galloway?" Will asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Ironhide replied, nodding. Will sighed, forcing himself to continue.

"After I had thought you were....dead...I was inconsolable. Epps tried to comfort me, hell, Sam tried! Nothing worked, I couldn't be comforted. Not even 3 days later, Galloway shut NEST down permanently. The base is still around, just really dusty. He came and said that we could either work for him, or lose everything. Jobs, pensions, everything. I didn't want another job, and it was still military, and I had no idea of what we were doing, so I joined. I tried to quit once, but Galloway used my feelings for the Autobots to control me. Why do you think I stalled him when we first saw each other again?"

Ironhide nodded, and noticed Will messing with his wedding ring on his finger. "You still have that?" Ironhide asked. "Yeah, I uh...I never took it off, except when I showered. It gave me a little comfort as it was from you. If you want it back, I understand." Will explained, mumbling the last part.

"Will...I thought you had betrayed us at first. But now, knowing that you didn't, not willingly anyways, that puts me at ease. I beat Crosshairs brutally though. Do you want to tell the others what happened?" Ironhide asked, glancing at his distraught human.

"No...not...not yet."