Will climbs down from the berth carefully, like he's done repeatedly since he became a sparkling.

"just com Ironhide when you have an answer." Will mutters, heading out of the medbay.

Ironhide immediately scoops him up.

"c'mon, I got each of us a cube in my room." Ironhide says. Will nods at him, letting him carry him.

Ironhide locks the door behind him, setting Will on the berth. he can feel the other is upset.

"whats wrong? what happened?" Ironhide ask.

"I couldn't take all the yelling." Will murmurs. Ironhide frowns at him. "I hate this... I did it this way so I wouldn't hurt anyone any more than I had to and Ratchet just screamed at me. I'm really trying my hardest here and every choice I make is just... wrong." Will mutters, sitting and burying his face in his servos. Ironhide sits beside him.

"this is a lot to take in. if I didn't have the bond telling me it was real I'd probably freak out. the bond is pretty grounding." Ironhide mutters. "you don't need to worry, okay? just relax. in just over 14 hours they won't even remember it, neither will you." Ironhide murmurs.

"I will in seven years, so will they! I should've just told the Primes I chose to stay with you." Will says.

"stop it." Ironhide frowns. "look, this is hard on them okay? so just relax, you're doing the right thing. in seven years they'll remember today and Ratchet will feel stupid when he realizes that you actually chose to stay with them." Ironhide murmurs. Will sighs a little. Ironhide scoops him up gently, placing him on his lap. "here, you haven't had one today." Ironhide murmurs.

"yes I have. I had one at three am when I woke up starving. Prowl gave it to me." Will mutters.

"well it won't do you any good if yoru systems shut down. don't try to lie to me, I know much energon it takes for a sparkling to drive around like that." Ironhide murmurs.

"I just... feel sick." Will mutters. Ironhide shifts to look at him.

"Will?" Ironhide ask.

"I want this day to end early." Will murmurs.

"I don't." Ironhide admits. Will looks up at him. "I get one day with you for the next seven years, I'd like it to last a little longer." Ironhide says softly. Will looks down.

"what if I stay with you?" Will ask, hesitantly.

"then you're just confirming Ratchets fear. you've made the best choice Will." Ironhide murmurs softly. "I don't mind waiting for you, and I know this is harder on you than anyone else, but please don't end this day because Ratchet yelled at you." Ironhide adds.

"I'm sorry." Will says softly. "I'm really sorry. you're the bot I want to hurt the least and I'm hurting you the most." Will adds.

"sometimes doing the right thing hurts... what is it the humans say? no good deed goes unpunished." Ironhide says.

"I love you. I'm just an idiot." Will mutters, reaching for his cube. Ironhide hands it to him, before opening his own.

"I love you too idiot." Ironhide smirks. Will laughs a little.

"I won't end this day early. I promise." Will assures. Ironhide smiles at him.

"good. I'd hate to punt Ratchets sparkling across the base." Ironhide smirks. Will laughs and leans back against him.

"I wanna say I've missed this, but there wasn't really anything to miss on my end. I knew I was sitting with you and talking, but I know you didn't know. I know its hard Hide, I promise, if there was another way, I'd do it." Will says.

"I know Will, I'm not worried about it, you forget. I was there, I saw Ratchet when Nitro died, I carried them both with my own two servos out of that battlefield. I was there." Ironhide murmurs.

"I know I-" Will starts.

"and I was there when you found out Annabelle and Sarah had been killed. I carried you to my room. I carried you home, to their funerals Will." Ironhide murmurs. "I know why you're doing this. I don't hate you and I'm not upset with you. Will I love you and I know. okay? I can make it, I'll be alright." Ironhide murmurs. Will finishes his cube and leans back against Ironhide.

"I'm sorry you went through all that." Will murmurs softly.

"I'm a soldier." Ironhide snorts. "don't look up at me like that. all I can see is Reflect when you look at me like that." he chuckles.

"I am Reflect, Hide." Will snorts.

"am I supposed to call you that?" Ironhide ask.

"no Hide, you're the only one that can call me Will." Will assures, smiling at him.

"good." Ironhide smirks. "I'm smacking anyone else." Ironhide assures.

"I'm okay with that." Will grins. Ironhide smirks a little, watching him. its quiet for a moment, before Will looks away. "what the hell are you looking at?" Will mutters.

"nothing. you just have that same stupid old smile now that you have control of your body." Ironhide mutters, looking away with a huff.

"awww, you love me." Will grins.

"no." Ironhide grumbles, huffs. he looks away annoyed, but Will can feel his embarrassment. he laughs and cuddles up to the bigger mech.

"yes you do." Will grins.

"whatever." Ironhide mutters. Will chuckles. Ironhide puts his cube down to the side and shifts the smaller on his leg. "don't fucking fall off. I can't imagine Ratchet or Wheeljack being in the right state of mind to work on you." Ironhide mutters.

"hey, I'm fine. I'm hard headed." Will grins, wrapping a knuckle hard on the side with a head. Ironhide snorts.

"great, I still don't think thats going to help if you fall off my berth." Ironhide mutters, pulling him a little further back.

"I'm not going to fall." Will snorts. "you wouldn't let me fall." Will grins at him. Ironhide frowns at him.

"just, sit back alright?" Ironhide frowns.

"okay." Will snorts, sitting back some. Ironhide heaves a sigh. "what time is it?" Will asks.

"almost 11AM." Ironhide mutters.

"okay." Will murmurs.

"okay? whats wrong?" Ironhide ask.

"nothing and everything." Will mutters.

"don't be dramatic." Ironhide snorts. "everythings going to be fine Will." Ironhide assures.

"I guess so. I made the Primes give me a second choice and then I made them fix everything. what if I'm just better off with you?" Will asks.

"do you have any idea how to be Cybertronian? an Autobot? do you have any idea how to use your body?" Ironhide frowns.

"well... no.... not really." Will sighs. "no. I don't." Will mumbles.

"an do I look qualified to teach you?" Ironhide ask.

"guess not." Will mutters.

"see? you need them Will and they need you. don't give up on them, please. Ratchet is one of my oldest friends. he's being defensive. he doesn't do being afraid very well and he's terrified right now." Ironhide murmurs. "even if he won't remember it tomorrow, today, he basically lost his sparkling, at least to him. I know he hasn't and you know he hasn't, but he's afraid." Ironhide sighs.

"I know, I'm trying Hide." Will murmurs. there's knock on Ironhides door and suddenly it flies open. Ironhides immediate reaction, is to grab Will protectively and holds him carefully.

"just me." Wheeljack mutters, poking in.

"if you're here for more yelling, you can go, Will can't stand to hear it." Ironhide frowns. in a soldiers position, Will can handle it, but outside of that it often reminds him of his parents. he grips part of Ironhides armor hard and Ironhide immediately tightens his hold on the smaller. he'd seen all of Wills childhood trauma when they'd bonded and, caregiver or not, Ironhide would beat Wheeljack to a pulp if he brought him into a panic attack, far easier in his sparkling body than in his original body.

"I'm not here to yell, but I would like to take Will and talk for a bit, I'll bring him back, I promise." Wheeljack assures. Ironhide looks down at Will.

"you alright with that?" Ironhide ask. Will nods at him a little.

"yeah sure." Will mutters. Wheeljack walks over and scoops him up.

"I swear, caregiver or not Wheeljack, if you hurt him, I'll know. I will end you." Ironhide warns.

"I don't want to hurt him." Wheeljack mutters, turning to leave.

he takes Will to his lab and sits him on a counter. Will looks around, folding his legs as he does so.

"never been allowed in here." Will mutters.

"well, usually its dangerous, but I've cleared everything out so I can talk with you without Ratchet getting in the way..." Wheeljack trails. Will nods a little. "I have questions." Wheeljack says.

"I don't have all the answers you want." Will admits.

"I know, but if you can't answer, please just tell me." Wheeljack says. Will nods.

"okay please, just ask your questions Jack." Will mutters.

"I don't know where to start..." Wheeljack admits. "but Ratchet had the right question, why chose us, over Ironhide?" Wheeljack ask. Will frowns.

"okay, um... if you had a chance to see your family from before the war, would you ignore that for Ratchet?" Will ask.

"well, no. I'd probably end up ignoring him to see them..." Wheeljack trails.

"right, well, I've never really had a family until you and Ratchet. alright? I've really never had any family. I've got Ironhide. he's the only real family I've ever had, then I died and became Reflect and I have you and Ratchet, I don't want to give it up. I will have to in a couple years, but for now I want to be selfish. is that so bad?" Will ask. Wheeljack frowns a little.

"well, no I guess no." Wheeljack frowns.

"I didn't get the chance to pick who cared for me, or even what happened to me, but I'm getting a choice now and I choose you. I choose you and Ratchet.... but the question is, do you guys choose me?" Will ask.

"I do." Wheeljack murmurs. "everytime, as long as you're still our little Reflect, of course.... you are still Reflect right...?" Wheeljack ask.

"of course. I am Reflect. we're the same person, only Will is human and Reflect is not. I'm not human anymore Wheeljack. I haven't been for a while now. I am Reflect." Will murmurs. "but I don't know how Ratchet feels. he seems angry at me. I didn't get a choice Wheeljack. I never got a choice." Will sighs.

"Ratchet loves you. don't worry, he's just scared." Wheeljack murmurs.

"why? in a few hours it'll be like this never happened." Will says.

"I know and he knows, but he doesn't want to lose another sparkling." Wheeljack says.

"I know you guys lost Nitro. I know he was alone, or at least he felt alone when you lost Nitro. but this time, when I don't get a choice again and I have to age up, he'll have the memories and he'll have you. you'll both still have me, I just won't be a sparkling." Will murmurs. "but I need him to tell me right now if he wants me to stay or he'd rather I stay with Ironhide. because its been made clear he doesn't like anything about this. I'm trying to make the right choice... guardians. you're guardians. caregivers. you're supposed to help me and instead he's just yelling. which doesn't help anything." Will murmurs. "I didn't do this on purpose... I'm fighting to stay with you guys, but whats the point in fighting if he doesn't want me to stay?" Will ask. Wheeljack is silent a moment, before setting his jaw and turning to storm out. "w-wait! Jack! h-hey! you can't just leave me up here! Jack? Jack!" Will shouts after him. he sighs watching the inventor storm out.

"Hide...?"

Ironhide answers immediately, to his utter relief.

"where are you?"

"the lab, on a counter. its too high for me to jump off of, I might break something."

"stay still, I'm on my way, I don't want you hurt."

"thanks. I'm sorry."

"don't be."

Will sits anxiously on the counter. things are ticking and buzzing around him. being in the lab makes him nervous because, at his size, he'd never survive an explosion the normal size of Wheeljacks explosions. not this close. its like sitting directly on a bomb, he'd never make it. he's honestly afraid to move. Wheeljack had set him right here for a reason, he wasn't going to move.

he does look up when the door flies open.

"hang on, I'm coming." Ironhide mutters, carefully scanning the room. he carefully steps into the room. he's a seasoned soldier and he was going to treat this room like a minefield. "just stay still alright? it may not actually be dangerous in here, but I'm being cautious." Ironhide mutters. Wheeljack barely survives these explosions sometimes, he knows Will wouldn't. he's being extra careful. Will watches him nervously. "just relax. I've got you." Ironhide assures, scooping him up gently.

"thank god." Will mutters. "he just up and left me here." Will sighs.

"don't worry. just be still alright." Ironhide murmurs. he carefully gets them both out of the lab, shutting the door behind them. "fucking lab is a minefield." Ironhide grumbles.

"I can't believe he left me in there."

Ironhide grunts in agreement.

"where are you going?" Optimus ask, looking at them both.

"Ratchet and Wheeljack are arguing again. they left him in the lab. I went after him. its a minefield in there Prime. would you leave someone his size in there? one explosion and it would kill him." Ironhide frowns. Will looks up at Optimus silently.

"I see so they're still not taking it well." Optimus frowns.

"not really. Ratchets pissed and doesn't believe I want to stay. Wheeljacks upset and confused."

Optimus looks a little shocked, then looks down at him.

"sorry, can't talk out loud. I can't risk anyone else hearing me."

Will frowns up at the mech. Optimus nods a little.

"right." Optimus says. he looks at Will a moment, then shakes his head. "alright, well, please be careful then." Optimus murmurs, walking around them, looking bewildered.

"you com'd him?" Ironhide ask. Will nods at him. Ironhide snorts and keeps walking. "wanna go to the range?" Ironhide ask. Will shrugs a little.

"I don't have any weapons."

"thats true. alright, lets take you to the house. you can just ride in my alt." Ironhide shrugs. Will nods a little. Ironhide carries him outside, transforming around him carefully.

Will settles in quietly, looking around. Ironhide is only quiet for a few minutes.

"are you alright Will?" Ironhide asks.

"huh? oh yeah, m'good. thanks for the rescue... well, rescues." Will snorts a little.

"don't worry about it Will, I was your guardian long before your bondmate, I'll always be a guardian to you." Ironhide assures gently. Will smiles at the steering wheel, before patting the dash gently.

"is that really my handprint?" Will asks.

"yes." Ironhide answers immediately. he sounds sad about it. "on Cybertron, when you lose your bondmate in an awful way like that, you memoralize them. almost like a human tattoo. many bots do it in different ways. some get their bondeds spark signature, some do their bondeds name, whatever they want. you didn't really have a spark signature, more of an energy signal and honestly, I didn't want anyone asking about your name. I wanted something unique. human handprints are unique." Ironhide explains.

"wow." Will smiles a little. "can I touch it?" Will asks.

"yeah, and I'm not getting rid of it." Ironhide warns, defensively.

"I will never ask you to. technically Will is dead." Will reminds him, leaning forward to put his hand over the print. his hands are slightly bigger now and it makes him smile a little. "how many bots can say they got to bond the same person twice?" Will ask.

"actually quiet a few." Ironhide says.

"huh... really?" Will ask, confused.

"mmhmm." Ironhide snorts. "genrally younglin's but sometimes, the bond doesn't stick and you have to rebond." Ironhide says.

"oh wow, the more you know." Will snorts, looking out the window. "I don't want you to get rid of the hand print Hide, so don't worry okay? it makes you happy, I'd never ask you to give up something that makes you happy." Will smiles. the bigger mech is quiet a moment, driving as he things.

"that means a lot, thank you Will." Ironhide murmurs. Will cuddles into his seat happily.

"of course. your my bondmate, I want you to happy like you want me happy. thats the point right?" Will ask.

"yes Will of course." Ironhide murmurs. its quiet again before Ironhide dumps him into the backseat.

"uh- hey!" Will yelps. he wholeheartedly laughs, laying in the backseat. the cab is filled with his joyous laughter and Ironhide couldn't be any happier. he's not sure why Will is laughing like this, but he's going to enjoy it for as long as he can. he doesn't want it to ever stop. he wants Will to laugh forever.

his laughter slowly turns to giggles, then quiets. Wills grinning and shaking his head though.

"I have no idea why that made me laugh so much, really I don't. I guess because it made me happy. you probably think I'm fucking crazy." Will snorts.

"I've always thought you were crazy, but never apologize for laughing, no matter how crazy you appear." Ironhide snorts. "besides, I rather enjoyed your laughter. I like you happy. remember? thats the point." Ironhide murmurs. Will chuckles and cuddles into the backseat.

"I've missed this." Will murmurs.

"me too Will." Ironhide agrees.

"just riding around, talking. both of us enjoying the ride and the conversation..." Will sighs happily. "god this is great." Will murmurs.

"its nice, but I think it'll be nicer when I can race your ass across the desert." Ironhide smirks. Will chuckles.

"I bet it'll be fun." Will smiles.

"are you seriously keeping that alt mode?" Ironhide ask.

"yes I am. I like it, is it that terrible to you? hmm? you better get used to it. you're gonna have seven years to get used to it." Will grins.

"only if you don't change your mind." Ironhide says.

"not happening." Will grins.

"fine fine. I guess I'll get used to it." Ironhide mutters.

"you better." Will teases. "I'd hate to have to beat your ass." Will smirks.

"you? beat my ass? only in your dreams." Ironhide snorts.

"oh yeah? I have the power of the Allspark and the past Primes on my side. I could kick your ass all the way back to Cybertron." Will laughs.

"only in your dreams Will." Ironhide chuckles.

"only the best dreams baby." Will grins.

"go a head and nap, like you always do, I'll wake you up when we get to the house." Ironhide assures.

"alright." Will murmurs, snuggling into the seat.

"your holoform, can you make it human?" Ironhide ask.

"yeah sure. right now I have two. one for my older form and one for me, just have to customize it to look like me." Will says.

"do that." Ironhide says. Will nods and settles in to work on his holoform.

Wills snoring by the time they get to the house and Ironhides hesitant to wake him, but he wants the man awake, he can go back to sleep in a few minutes. he activates his holoform and wakes Will. he jerks up mumbling.

"hmm?" Will asks.

"activate your holoform." Ironhide murmurs. Will nods and activates his holoform, it looks just like he used too, only with a couple of added tattoos. he'd customized himself indeed. his holoform looks sleepy.

"what're we doing?" Will yawns. Ironhide doesn't answer, smiling at him. the look is almost lovesick. "hmm?" Will ask. Ironhide shakes his head before grabbing his hand and leading him inside. "you want nostalgia?" Will murmurs. Ironhide grunts and pulls him up the stairs.

"you clearly need a nap and I'd like to lay with you once before you're gone again." Ironhide grumbles. he can admit this to him because Will won't remember tomorrow. the holoform gives a goofy grin.

"awwww, of course I'll cuddle you." Will murmurs, walking closer and hugging his back happily.

"good, cause I wasn't asking." Ironhide grunts, pulling Will down onto the bed. Will immediately curls up. Ironhide sets a three hour alarm, basing it off his previous interactions with the holoform, for how long they can be asleep with holoforms on before Will needs more energon. Ironhide pulls the blanket over them and wraps his arms around Will tightly, curling up with him.

now that Wills curled up right here. Ironhide can take the chance to relax and let all this sink in. Will is here. he is the sparkling. his bondmate is curled up with him once more, and not in some dumb sparkling body. he actually has his bonded back for a few hours, even if Will only wants to nap in that time. Ironhide smiles and settles into stasis quietly. he wants to enjoy this time with Will.

to Ironhides surprise Will's up an hour later. usually, the sparkling will nap from anywhere between 2-5 hours, so three hours isn't unusual, for the sparkling. normally Will would nap about 5 hours minimum. so when he shifts and stretches happily, Ironhides immediately awake.

"Will?" he asks.

"sorry, I wanna get up and look around again, if you'll let me up." Will murmurs.

"why are you up so early?" Ironhide ask.

"oh uh, the Primes and I didn't want me to sleep the whole freaking day and miss everything, so we adjusted a couple things for today." Will smiles. Ironhide nods, getting up with him.

"what do you want to look at?" Ironhide ask.

"I don't know. I've just kinda missed this place." Will smiles, looking around. Ironhide nods and has no issues with trailing the man around the house silently, like he did the first day Will brought him here and Will gave him a tour.

"anything you're looking for?" Ironhide asks. Will shakes his head.

"nope, just looking." Will smiles, turning to face him. "it'll be a few years before I can see it like this again, y'know? I just wanna look." Will murmurs. Ironhide nods and looks around the hallway himself. its nothing he hasn't seen a hundred plus times, when his holoforms eyes come back to Wills, the mans staring at him.

"what?" Ironhide ask. Will watches him a few minutes, before throwing his arms around the others neck and hugging him tightly, dropping his head on his chest. Ironhides shocked, but immediately hugs the smaller hard. "didn't realize I was the thing you wanted to look at." Ironhide snorts, hugging him tightly.

"of course you are." Will mumbles. he pulls back slightly after a minute to look up. "you better prepare, as soon as I wake up as me seven years from now, this is the first thing I'm doing. like the absolute second I wake up, I'm running and hugging you and I don't care who sees. I certainly don't care if you're in stasis." Will says. Ironhide chuckles and hugs him a little tighter.

"I'll hold you to that. gonna be a little out of character if I'm the one who has to do this to you." Ironhide snorts.

"that makes me want to wait, but I promise you, I'll run at you so hard I knock you over." Will grins.

"I'm expecting it. if you don't, I'll have to do it to you and you won't like that." Ironhide murmurs. Will laughs and lets go, stepping away.

"okay, I promise." Will chuckles. "what time is it?" Will asks. Ironhide checks his clock immediately.

"almost 5 pm. Wheeljack had you in the lab for almost two hours." Ironhide murmurs. "plus the three hour drive here, but we spent an hour talking." Ironhide says. "it'll take us another three hours back." Ironhide mutters. Will tenses.

"guess we should head back then." Will murmurs softly. Ironhide nods once.

"we should be back at the base before night." Ironhide says. Will nods once, looking around again.

"okay, I'm ready. its been great spending the whole day with you as me. I'd say I'm gonna miss it, but I won't even remember." Will scoffs softly. Ironhide gives him a small half smile.

"I will." Ironhide murmurs.

"I know." Will sighs. Ironhide leads him back outside, both shutting their holoforms off.

the trip back is anything but silent both talking and laughing the whole time, but the chatter lessens the closer they get to the base.

"ready for this?" Ironhide asks as he pulls up to the base.

"not really. its like saying goodbye and it sucks." Will murmurs.

"you won't even remember it Will." Ironhide says.

"I know." Will sighs. Ironhide murmurs, transforming around him. he holds Will tightly, looking at the base.

"you know as soon as we go in someones going to bitch you've been with me all day and try to take you right?" Ironhide ask.

"I'll do what Reflect does best, I'll scream if I have to." Will shrugs a little. Ironhide snorts. "hey I've had little to no methods of communication for a year now, I'm used to screaming and yelling at people, even in languages they can't understand." Will mutters. Ironhide chuckles and shifts him.

"well, just a few more hours and you'll lose control again." Ironhide mutters. Will leans into him.

"hey, there you are squirt. where've you been? we were supposed to have a battle against the humans on the Playstation." Sideswipe huffs, walking over. Will stares at him.

"he's been with me. got a fragging problem?" Ironhide scoffs.

"yeah I do! we lost because I can't play two characters at once." Sideswipe huffs.

"he's an Earth year old you idiot, you two would've lost anyway." Ironhide scoffs.

"at least he would've been there. c'mon squirt. I got us a rematch." Sideswipe says. Will glares him down.

"he's staying with me." Ironhide says firmly.

"oh come on Ironhide, I need him." Sideswipe says.

I swear I'll kick you.

he growls at the red twin.

"he'd rather stay with me thanks." Ironhide says, walking past him.

"oh come on-" Sideswipe pouts.

"Ratchet and Wheeljack are fighting. the sparkling fucking stays with me. reach for him again and I'll blow your fragging head off." Ironhide snaps.

"fine, jerk." Sideswipe mutters, walking off. Ironhide carries him off.

"you could've screamed at him." Ironhide huffs.

"you had it handled. if he had grabbed me I would've screamed."

Ironhide snorts and shakes his head. he carries the smaller into his room, sitting him on his berth.

"stay here, I'll run and get us some cubes." Ironhide says, turning to leave. he pauses. "and Will?" Ironhide ask.

"hmm?" Will asks, looking over.

"stay out of the fucking vent." Ironhide glares, before shutting the door behind him. Will laughs a little and sits on Ironhides berth silently.

when Ironhide comes back, Will has an odd look on hi face.

"you alright?" Ironhide ask.

"I feel... sick... can you guys even get sick?" Will mutters.

"yes. we can get virus', bad energon, headaches. hell we can purge, puke as humans say. we get sick, but I think its just the stress." Ironhide frowns. "would you like me to call Ratchet?" Ironhide ask.

"why? what the hell is he gonna do other than yell?" Will asks.

"Ratchet."

Will looks ready to be sick all over the floor.

"alright come on, we're going to the washracks, maybe it'll make you feel a little better." Ironhide murmurs, scooping him up gently.

"what the frag do you want?"

"I think Will is about to be sick everywhere."

"he's got antivirus, he'll be alright. if he does get sick let me know."

Ironhide growls quietly to himself.

"some fragging medic you are. get you feelings hurt and neglect the bots on base. are you sure he has antivirus? hmm? I fucking doubt it. y'know what? fuck you. Will didn't ask for any of this shit, he was thrown into it. don't fucking bother talking to him the rest of the night. you can see him again tomorrow, when he doesn't remember what a fucking asshole you've been to him today."