"Reflect!" Ironhide shouts, running towards the medbay. the sparkling slams straight into his leg and screams, reaching up for him. "what? what happened?" Ironhide ask, picking him up quickly. Reflect whines.

"is he okay?" Bumblebee ask, running over.

"Reflect what happened?" Ironhide ask. the sparkling just cuddles up to him quietly.

"he's fine, he's not hurt."

"what the frag happened Jack?"

"uh... he walked in on me and Ratch."

"he saw you two interfacing? no wonder he screamed."

"rude."

"Ironhide? what happened?" Optimus asks, frowning.

"kids find. just walked in on Ratchet and Jack interfacing. poor squirts traumatized." Ironhide mutters, cuddling the sparkling. he looks amused, patting the sparklings back gently. Reflect whines, burying his face in Ironhide neck.

"oh thats reasonable Reflect, I'm traumatized just hearing about it." Bumblebee mutters, walking off. Optimus chuckles softly, patting the sparklings head gently.

"well, it could be worse I guess." Optimus snorts. Ironhide looks at him confused. "well they only just walked into the medbay less than five minutes ago. so it could certainly be worse." Optimus adds.

"thats true. there was that one time right after the war started." Ironhide mutters. Optimus shutters a little, laughing.

"we do not talk about that Ironhide." Optimus laughs, walking off.

"maybe you don't! its funny now Prime!" Ironhide shouts after him. Optimus snorts, waving his words off. "come on little one, lets go play in the snow." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect sits back.

"Ratch and Jack yucky!" Reflect huffs. Ironhide laughs, cuddling him.

"yeah, can't be all that fun to see your caregivers fraggin." Ironhide snorts, carrying the sparkling back outside.

"s'yucky!" Reflect says. Ironhide snorts.

"yup." Ironhide chuckles, carrying him outside. Reflect looks around a moment.

"Will like snow?" Reflect ask.

"oh yeah. he loved snow. come on over here squirt. I'll show you how to make a snow angel. something humans make in the snow. I'm not sure why, but Will would not let us play in the snow without making a snow angel. I think it was just something he did as a sparkling. I remember seeing him make them once with Annie..." Ironhide murmurs. he sets the sparkling down gently, backing away from him.

"what Ironhide do?" Reflect ask.

"hold on." Ironhide snorts, he spreads his arms out and drops backwards into the snow, making the ground shake pretty hard. Reflect squeals and giggles happily, climbing up onto the mechs chest and watching him wave his arms and legs around. he gets up after a moment, carefully holding the sparkling.

"my turn! my turn!" Reflect squeals.

"alright squirt, your turn." Ironhide murmurs. he sets the sparkling down and watches him flop backwards the same way he had. the ground shakes just a little. he watches the sparkling wave his arms and legs, giggling. Ironhide chuckles, picking him up gently. "look at that little one." Ironhide murmurs, pointing at the ground. Reflect squeals giggling happily and cuddles up to him.

"snow angle!" Reflect chirps.

"angel. snow angel." Ironhide murmurs gently. Reflect giggles happily.

"Ironhide throw Reflect." Reflect squeals.

"sure kid." Ironhide snorts. he lifts the sparkling up over his head, chuckling and moves to throw him, when the sparkling is yanked from his grasp. Reflect immediately starts screaming so Ironhide whips around as fast as he can. "let him go Sentinel!" Ironhide snaps. the sparkling is screaming and struggling in his grasp.

"listen here soldier-" Sentinel starts.

"no you listen! put the sparkling down before I fragging make you! you're scaring him!" Ironhide snaps. Reflects so busy screaming and trying to shove the arm on his waist off, that he can't even reach for Ironhide. he's screaming so loud, Ironhides windshield is rattling in his armor.

"LET REFLECT GOO! LET GO! RATCHET!!!" Reflect screams, struggling as hard as he can. the Prime holds tighter. "let go! let go! let go! let go! let go!" Reflect sobs, trying to pull free.

"let him go Sentinel! right now!" Ironhide growls.

"look here soldier-" Sentinel starts.

"let go of him!" Ironhide snaps. Reflect screams as loud as he can, sobbing and trying to struggle free.

"lemme go!" Reflect sob. "Ironhide!!" Reflect screams, reaching for him. Ironhide reaches for the sparkling but Sentinel smacks his servo away immediately.

"its okay little hold on." Ironhide assures gently.

"CREATOR!" Reflect screams.

"you have zero respect soldier!" Sentinel growls.

"let go of the sparkling idiot! you're scaring him!" Ironhide snaps. suddenly the sparkling is ripped from Sentinels grasp.

"daddy Jack!" Reflect screams, clinging to the bot hard. he wraps his arms and legs around the inventor tightly, whimpering and sobbing. "no let go! no let go!" he sobs, digging his fingers into any seam or crevice in the inventors armor he can. Wheeljack hugs him tightly.

"its okay little one." Wheeljack murmurs softly. he turns to Sentinel with a fire in his optics. "what the frag did you do to my damn sparkling!?" Wheeljack snaps. Ironhide roars in anger, tackling Sentinel hard. Ratchet walks over to the sparkling quickly, lifting his face gently from Wheeljacks shoulder.

"its okay sparkling. its okay." Ratchet murmurs softly, kissing his head gently. Reflects trembling and whimpering quietly, refusing to let go of Wheeljack.

"its alright Reflect." Wheeljack murmurs.

"its alright, come here Reflect, what happened? can you tell me what happened?" Ratchet frowns, taking the sparkling gently. Reflect immediately latches onto him. most bots left him alone if he was with Ratchet. the medic scared them. Reflect digs his fingers into Ratchets seams, trembling. he whimpers softly.

"monster hurt." Reflect whimpers. Ratchet hugs him tighter.

"no idea." Wheeljack mutters.

"IRONHIDE!" Optimus shouts running over. he yanks the weapons specialist off Sentinel with a disapproving look. "you better have a good reason-" Optimus warns. Wheeljack shoves his way between Ironhide and Optimus, growling.

"he was protecting my sparkling! hope thats a damn good reason to you!" Wheeljack growls.

"he yanked the sparkling out of my servos and scared the fragging hell out of him! he refused to let go and I was making sure he didn't get a dumbass idea like that again!" Ironhide snaps. Optimus looks over at the terrified sparkling. Reflect sniffles, whimpering. the little sparklings trembling has lessened at this point, but hasn't stopped. Ratchet kisses his head gently, patting his back.

"its okay Reflect. he wouldn't dare try that with me and Jack here." Ratchet assures the little sparkling gently. Sentinel gets off the ground, growling.

"Optimus your team is the utmost disrespectful unit I have ever met! and you call yourself a Prime, you couldn't lead these Autobots!" Sentinel snaps.

"thats it!" Ironhide snaps, shoving Wheeljack out of the way and punching Sentinel across the face. "you can insult me and scare the damn sparkling, but Optimus is a great leader! far better than you ever were! at least his whole team returns to the base at the end of the night!" Ironhide snaps, punching the Prime again. "at least he doesn't sacrifice everyone for his own gain!" Ironhide growls.

"enough!" Optimus shouts, pulling Ironhide away. "go inside." Optimus warns gently. Ironhide grumbles and storms inside.

"come on little one, lets go inside." Ratchet murmurs, carrying the sparkling inside.

"he could probably use a cube." Wheeljack murmurs, following after him.

"then we'll get him one. go check on Ironhide." Ratchet says. Wheeljack nods and walks off quickly. Reflect whimpers curling up to Ratchet. "its okay little one. its okay. are you injured?" Ratchet murmurs softly.

"no Reflect okay. scary." Reflect whimpers softly. Ratchet nods a little, hugging him gently.

"good. as long as you're okay." Ratchet murmurs.

"Ironhide play with Reflect and monster grab Reflect. yank away, scare Reflect, hold too tight. hurt." Reflect whimpers. Ratchet sits down with the sparkling, pulling a cube from his subspace.

"here, drink your cube little one, alright? let me look you over." Ratchet murmurs.

"okay." Reflect says, taking the cube. he sucks it down while Ratchet looks him over. the sparkling has some paint missing and some scratches from where he'd tried to pry himself free but the Prime held tighter, but he seems alright other than that.

its quiet while the sparkling downs his cube, even when Wheeljack comes back. he sits with his family a moment before Ratchet looks over.

"Ironhide okay?" Ratchet ask.

"I think he punched Sentinel so hard he broke a knuckle, but he won't let me look." Wheeljack frowns. Ratchet frowns, passing Reflect over to him.

"take him to the medbay and patch up his paint, I'll talk to Ironhide." Ratchet assures. Wheeljack nods, getting up. Wheeljack carries the sparkling to the medbay and sets him on a berth gently.

"okay little one. lets take a look." Wheeljack murmurs. Reflect nods a little, sitting quietly.

Wheeljacks still working on his paint when Ratchet walks in with Ironhide. the black mech is growling, holding one servo with his other.

"have a seat. I'll get it fixed." Ratchet says. two knuckles were broken on the mechs servo. he hadn't cared. he would've broken his whole servo beating the Prime. it definitely wasn't the worse injury he'd ever gotten and it didn't really hurt all that bad. he'd been willing to let his self repairs fix it, but Ratchet had insisted.

"Ironhide 'kay?" Reflect ask.

"I'm alright squirt. don't worry. are you okay?" Ironhide asks, sitting down. he watches the sparkling carefully.

"just some missing paint. he's okay." Wheeljack assures.

"monster squeeze too hard." Reflect whimpers.

"I know. I'm sorry little one." Ironhide murmurs softly. Reflect sniffles, laying on his berth while Wheeljack fixes his paint. Ratchet sits down in front of Ironhide and gets to work on his servo.

"I can't believe he hurt the sparkling." Wheeljack says softly, sitting back.

"I can." Ironhide grumbles. "how the hell did Reflect manage to get a hold of his gun? I don't think it was a coincidence. I think he tried to shoot the sparkling. wouldn't surprise me if he did." Ironhide growls.

"give gun, say play." Reflect mumbles. "Reflect sorry...." he adds.

"no little one its not your fault. its okay." Ratchet assures gently. "we're just glad you're alright." Ratchet assures.

"don't worry Reflect. we won't let him near you again. next time I'll just break his arm to get you free." Ironhide says. he'd been afraid to hurt the sparkling and hadn't wanted to risk it, but if there was a next time, he'd beat the fuck out of Sentinel.

"okay." Reflect says. he sits up quietly, watching Ratchet work on Ironhides servo. "Ironhide sure okay?" Reflect ask.

"yeah kid, I'm good. don't worry. Ratchets got me covered." Ironhide assures.

"its just a broken joint or two Reflect, it's not bad. he'll be alright." Ratchet assures. "be honest with him Hide, he's been reading my medical datapads. he knows some of the little stuff." Ratchet adds. Ironhide nods a little.

"sorry, didn't know he was training to be a medic." Ironhide murmurs.

"Reflect learn about reversing polarity of motor!" he chirps.

"thats, thats very nice Reflect." Ironhide chuckles. "I don't think that knowledge will help my fingers though." he snorts.

"no but this is a good time for him to learn. its something nonlethal and you don't seem to be in much pain." Ratchet says, grabbing Reflect. he sets the sparkling on the berth beside Ironhide, so he could look down at Ironhides broken hand.

Ironhide has never been a very a patient mech, but he sits as still as he can while the sparkling learns as much as he can. despite taking time to teach the sparkling, Ratchet works quickly to fix his servo.

when he's finally done, Ironhide flexed his fingers.

"good job squirt you'll be a great medic in no time." Ironhide smiles. Reflect chirps, grabbing his servo gently. Ironhide lets him, letting the sparkling look his servo over. "its fixed its all good. I'm fine." Ironhide assures. Reflect nods a little, letting his servo go.

"Ironhide is okay little one." Ratchet murmurs gently, patting Reflects head. Reflect nods and turns, reaching for Wheeljack.

"you don't want Ironhide to hold you?" Wheeljack ask. Reflect shakes his head, making grabby motions at him.

"daddy Jack save, want daddy Jack." Reflect murmurs. Wheeljack takes him gently, cuddling him. Reflect hugs his neck tightly. Wheeljack pats his back gently with the servo not holding the sparkling up. he'd picked up a gentle swaying/bouncing motion after watching humans with their own sparklings. it seems to help keep them calm and Reflect never objects. he kisses the sparklings head gently.

"its alright. its alright little one." Wheeljack soothes. Reflect whines softly, cuddling to him.

"he's getting sleepy. I should get before Prime comes looking for me and wakes him up." Ironhide murmurs getting up. he rubs a servo down Reflect back, the sparkling chirping quietly as he cuddled closer to Wheeljack. Ironhide smiles a little and walks out of the medbay. Wheeljack kisses the sparklings head gently.

"okay little one, its naptime. you get some sleep and when you get back up, we'll let you go play in the snow with Ironhide again." Wheeljack assures gently.

"want hold." Reflect whimpers softly.

"I'll hold you the whole time little one I promise." Wheeljack murmurs.

"no let monster get me." Reflect whimpers.

"we won't let him touch you. I promise." Ratchet soothes, kissing the sparklings head gently. Reflect yawns and buries his face into Wheeljacks neck.

as promised, when Reflect waks up two hours later, Wheeljacks still holding him. Reflect shifts and whines.

"shhhhhh little one, its alright." Wheeljack murmurs as the sparkling sits up. he runs at his face, before sucking on his servo. "you hungry my little sparkling?" Wheeljack smiles, nuzzling his face gently against Reflect. Reflect nods a little. "okay, we'll get you a cube." Wheeljack murmurs, carrying the sparkling out of the medbay. Reflect lays his head on Wheeljacks shoulder gently, sucking his fingers quietly.

he carries Reflect into the rec room gently.

"Ironhide." Reflect mumbles, reaches for the mech. Ironhide is sitting and sipping his cube quietly.

"lets get you a cube then you can sit with Ironhide alright?" Wheeljack ask. Reflect nods. he grabs the sparkling a cube and heads over to Ironhide. "busy?" Wheeljack ask. Ironhide looks up at him, then at the sparkling, who's watching him. Ironhide moves his own cube aside gently, before reaching up for the sparkling.

"never too busy for my favorite bot." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect sits up and chirps, reaching for Ironhide. Wheeljack passes him over gently, passing Ironhide a cube for the sparkling as well. Reflect snuggles against Ironhides side, reaching for his cube. "here squirt." Ironhide murmurs, passing him the cube gently. Reflect takes it happily, drinking it down. Ironhide picks his cube back up, cuddling Reflect gently.

"you gonna stay here with Hide?" Wheeljack murmurs. Reflect pulls back from his cube a little, nodding his head and snuggling closer to Ironhide.

"stay. play snow." Reflect says softly.

"alright." Wheeljack murmurs, patting the sparklings head gently. he walks off and smiles. Reflect goes back to his cube.

"so we're gonna play in snow when we're done?" Ironhide ask. Reflect nods a little.

"yes. Ironhide play in snow? never get throw, monster take Reflect." Reflect whimpers. Ironhide nods a little.

"alright. alright. we'll go play in the snow. finish your cube first." Ironhide mururs.

"hey Ironhide!" Cade shouts, running over to him. Ironhide glares at him, shifting Reflect.

"what?" he grumbles.

"um, i can't find Ratchet or Optimus.... I was just trying to see if maybe you could contact Jolt or, uh, Mirage, and see how Tessa's doing...? the news says they've got four foot snow and two foot of ice." Cade says, looking up at Ironhide hesitantly. Ironhide looks confused.

"I do not know a 'Tessa'." Ironhide says.

"she's my daughter, she's off at college.. um Ratchet said that Jolt and Mirage were keeping an eye on her...." Cade murmurs. Ironhide frowns a little, going quiet. Reflect sucks his cube down watching Cade.

"Jolt says he and Mirage have taken up shelter inside the garage of the house Tessa is renting. that its cold and the power is out, so they have the windows opened, but are attempting to keep her warm in the garage. she is currently curled up with a total of six blankets in Jolts backseat. she's okay. no signs of hypothermia, frostbite, or even a cold. she's using Mirages head lights to work on her homework. Jolt is attempting to jumpstart her back up generator but it hasn't worked yet." Ironhide explains. Cade looks immediately relieved.

"thank you. I know you don't know me and didn't have to do that, but I really appreciate it... I'm glad to know she's not freezing to death alone in her house." Cade murmurs.

"no I don't know you, but you have a sparkling you are worried about. we have something in common. Reflect isn't my sparkling, but I worry about him either way." Ironhide says firmly, nodding one. Cade smiles at him a little.

"thanks again Ironhide. I really appreciate it. no idea where big rig went..." Cade frowns a little.

"I think he is taken a nap, Ratchet is outside. as it gets colder, I believe humans should stay inside. its getting colder out there. if it gets too bad you can request Optimus send out Skyfire to pick up your sparkling along with Jolt and Mirage." Ironhide says. Cade nods.

"thanks again." Cade nods, walking away.

"sure thing." Ironhide shrugs a little. he sits with Reflect, both of them drinking their cubes quietly.

after their cubes are finished they head outside, playing in the snow until Reflect cries about being cold. since its getting late, Ironhide takes the sparkling inside to his room.

"Reflect cold!" Reflect whimpers.

"I know. I know. you're blanket is still in my room. we'll wrap you up in it and curl up for bed." Ironhide murmurs.

"story?" Reflect ask.

"yes I'll tell you some stories." Ironhide assures, wrapping the sparkling in his blanket. "how about I tell you about a very very special story? I've mentioned it before." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect tilts his head confused.

"okay. special story?" Reflect ask.

"its special because it shows that Will loved me." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect perks up immediately.

"tell story! tell story!" Reflect chirps. Ironhide chuckles.

"well, as I've said before, we do not have birthdays as the humans do. we have creation days, which are similar but not the same as Allsparked sparklings weren't technically 'born' they appear out of thin air.." Ironhide explains. "with some help from Sam, Will figured out my approximate creation day in Earth time, and wanted to celebrate. we had just started the human dating custom merely eleven months before. Will said we could consider it a date. we spent all day doing things I wanted to do." Ironhide murmurs.

"like?" Reflect ask. mostly sex, but Ironhide doesn't say that.

"well, that morning, when we woke up, we went outside and shot guns into the backyard. then we blew up more fireworks. Will through a small party, with just us." Ironhide murmus. when they first got up, Will had immediately jumped him for some sleepy and sweet, sex, then they'd headed down stairs. but the sparkling didn't need to know that. "he took me out and we 'raced go carts'. we bumped into each other and shouted insults, but it was all in good fun little one. when that was done he insisted we go to a hands on car wash. I wasn't so sure, his hands were really the only ones I wanted to touch me. I don't like humans touching me, but it was nice. they spent almost two hours on me. washing, scrumbing, drying, and waxing me. hell they even waxed and cleaned my tires Reflect. it was nice." Ironhide murmurs. of course, this was followed by more sex in the mechs backseat of his alt, as Ironhide was appreciative.

"humans give Ironhide bath!" Reflect giggles.

"yup they sure did." Ironhide snorts. "that was the first day I ever ate anything with my holoform. when we finally got home hours later, Will had a 'cake' waiting on the table." Ironhide murmurs. it had said happy birthday Ironhide! in a beautiful cursive. Ironhide remembered looking utterly confused. "well he put candles on the cake and told me to 'make a wish' and 'blow them out'. its a human tradition. I don't entirely understand what its for, but whatever. I followed what Will said to do. then, he tried to shove cake into my face. I refused because I wasn't sure eating was safe, but then Will gave me that same stupid ass look he always gave me." Ironhide grumbles. Will had pouted at him, bottom lip quivering just slightly. he looks hurt and sad, like a kicked puppy. Ironhide had groaned, rolling his eyes. "so I ate it, but only after he shoved it in my face and got icing up my nose and in my hair." Ironhide grumbles. he looks down a little, Reflect is sound asleep. Ironhide chuckles.

he lays back on the berth, clutching the sparkling like he'll never get to do it again. assuming Sentinel would wait until his blaster was fixed, this would be an interesting next few months.