he doesn't stop until he gets to the medbay, sobbing. he slams the doors open and screams. Ratchet, Wheeljack, Hot Rod, and Perceptor all jump and look over. the sparkling is a blubbering mess, but Ironhide had already warned them as to what the sparkling had done.

"I bet you feel like an idiot now." Ratchet glares at Wheeljack. he walks over and scoops up Reflect cuddling him. "you're not even hurt Reflect you just got scared." Ratchet mutters holding him gently. Reflect whimpers, clinging to him.

"I didn't think he'd eat them all." Wheeljack frowns. Ratchet shifts him gently, holding him tightly.

"he's a sparkling of course he's going to eat them all." Ratchet huffs. "its okay Reflect." Ratchet mutters. "once I get him calmed down, we'll have to find something to do with him. he's got too much energy." Ratchet glares.

"we could take him to a human sparkling playground. using his holoform will burn off energy faster." Wheeljack suggests.

"holo-what?" Hot Rod asks.

"Wheeljack, you perfected the holoprojector into a solidified form? and you managed to make one for the sparkling?" Perceptor asks.

"actually, I perfected it. needed a way to get Bumblebee to shut the hell up when Sam fell down a flight of stairs and broke his leg. he couldn't go anywhere and Bumblebee almost crashed his processor worrying over him." Ratchet grumbles.

"Sam Witwicky. the Autobot Liaison and Bumblebee's human youngling charge." Wheeljack explains. Perceptor nods a little. the medbay doors slam open and Ironhide glares at Reflect.

"you little slagger." Ironhide glares. Reflect whimpers, cuddling closer to Ironhide, scared.

"Ironhide?" Ratchet ask.

"you little fragger told me to go suck a cable and I'm about to beat his little aft!" Ironhide glares. Ratchet raises an optic ridge, frowning and cuddling Reflect. the sparkling whimpers clinging to him.

"you touch my sparkling and I'm gonna reformat you into a toaster!" Ratchet snaps.

"frag that, if you touch my sparkling, I'll beat you're ass! never fuck with a wreckers family." Wheeljack growls in warning.

"Reflect just because Ironhide tells others to suck his cable does not mean you can copy him." Ratchet frowns. Reflect whines at him. "wanna take him to a park?" Ratchet asks, looking at Ironhide.

"no, why the frag would I want to take that little pit spawn anywhere?" Ironhide glares.

"because I need to put Hot Rod and Perceptor back together and run more scans on them. I need Wheeljacks help, and since this idiot has to help me he can't fix the fact he fed a sparkling barely more than a human year old, an entire plate of fragging goodies!" Ratchet snaps, glaring at Wheeljack. the inventor ducks his head. "and this little asshole needs to get his energy out, beside you love him." Ratchet frowns, shoving the sparkling at him. Reflect whines. Ironhide heaves a sigh.

"just take him out until he crashes." Wheeljack says. Ironhide glares at him, shifting the sparkling.

"fine." Ironhide grumbles, storming out with the sparkling. he puts Reflect down on the ground, holding his servo. he squeezes it gently. "you can walk to the door." Ironhide mutters. Reflect bounces happily, hopping after the bigger mech. Ironhide shakes his head, looking annoyed.

"you okay Hide?" Bumblebee ask.

"no. some how, I got roped into taking him to a fragging playground." Ironhide snaps.

"probably because Ratchet trusts you won't let anyone take his sparkling. some humans are really creepy with human sparklings." Bumblebee frowns. Ironhide grumbles a little.

"don't suppose you and Sam want to help me control him?" Ironhide asks, looking over.

"sure! let me grab Sam, we'll meet you there!" Bumblebee grins happily. Ironhide glares at the happy scout, taking Reflect outside. he transforms around the sparkling, driving off with Reflect bouncing and screaming in his seat. Ironhides holoform looks tired and annoyed immediately.

Ironhide pulls up to the park, growling.

"REFLECT SIT THE FRAG DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Ironhide snaps, for what feels like the thousanth time. Reflect screams in reponse, so Ironhide flings the door open and lets the sparklings holoform run out. he comes to a stop at the edge of the playground, confused.

"what this?" Reflect ask.

"a playground." Ironhide mutters, his holoform walking over to pick the sparkling up. he puts him down carefully on the inside of the playground barrier, then heads off to sit at a bench.

"what do?" Reflect ask, following Ironhide to the bench.

"go play and be nice to the human sparklings." Ironhide warns. Reflect whimpers quietly, looking around.

"how play?" Reflect asks.

"I don't know, go find out." Ironhide mutters. Reflect whines wondering out quietly, looking around. he doesn't know what he's doing, so he ends up standing in the middle of the playground, terrified. he looks around, lip quivering. there's too many humans here he doesn't know. too many children. his holoform is tearful. he throws his head back with a wail, after a few minutes, and a cry for 'daddy Jack'. Ironhide frowns, ready to get up and grab the sparkling when he sees a flash of Bumblebee's holoform. the blond runs past him, Sam following behind.

"hey Hide!" Sam waves.

"come here Reflect. its alright." Bumblebee assures scooping him up gently. Ironhide grumbles at them. "Sam, how do we play on these things?" Bumblebee asks, looking over at his charge.

"anyway he wants. playgrounds are built for children to use their imaginations." Sam smiles. he grabs Bumblebee's arm and pulls him over to a slide. "look this is a slide." Sam smiles. he climbs up onto the slide and slides down. "looks fun right Reflect?" Sam asks.

"no." Reflect mumbles. Bumblebee chuckles and carries him up to the top of the slide. he sits the sparkling down at the top and pushes him down, or attempts to. Reflect grips the sides of the slide with a whine.

"oh come on, you have to at least try to play." Sam chuckles, crouching at the end of the slide. he smiles. "come on down here to me." he adds. Reflect frowns at him looking around.

"he's got that same face Jack always makes before he does something stupid and explodes."

Bumblebee looks over at Ironhides warning. the bigger holoform frowns, giving him a dirty look. Reflect stands up on the slide.

"hey! no we don't do that!" Bumblebee says, reaching for the sparkling. Reflect ignores him and jumps off the slide, before running off.

"Reflect!" Sam shouts, running after him. Ironhides holoforms eyes are laser focused on the sparkling, carefully. watching him dart around the playground, rolling under the equipment too low for him to run under and sliding under the equipment too low for Sam or Bumblebee to run under. Ironhide never loses sight of him, or Sam for that matter. he wasn't worried about Bumblebee's holoform, but Sam and Reflect both had a history of misfortune and bad luck. both had a history of getting hurt in stupid ways, so he didn't want to lose sight of either of them.

Ironhides so laser focused on the sparkling, and Sam, that he doesn't even notice the other person sitting next to him, until they start talking to him.

"so nice to see dads out here, with their children." the woman smiles. Ironhide glances over at her, but looks back to Reflect. "so which one is with you?" she smiles. Ironhide frowns, shifting on the bench. Reflect screams climbing up on the monkey bars.

"get down from there right now! your caregivers are gonna kill me!" Bumblebee shouts, reaching up for him. Ironhide tenses watching them.

"that one hmmm?" she smiles. Ironhide glances over at her again, before looking back to Reflect. "he's cute... that little girl over there is mine." she smiles, pointing. Ironhide scans the park carefully. he doesn't care about this humans child, but he is curious.

"you mean the girl in the pink dress eating sand from the sandbox?" Ironhide huffs. the woman flushes bright red and jumps up, running over to the child.

"Sierra!" she shouts.

"idiot." Ironhide grumbles. Reflect runs over to Ironhide screaming. "what?" he snaps.

"hungry!" Reflect glares.

"well thankfully I have something for that." Ironhide mutters. "go play with the Bumblebee and Sam while I go get it." Ironhide frowns. Reflect runs back over to keep playing with Sam and Bumblebee. Ironhide comes back after a moment. Ratchet had been afraid the sparkling would get hungry while they were out, Wheeljack had given him a cube, modified in to the shape of a human sparkling cup, the lid is thankfully leak proof. the cup is dark enough no one can see the glowing energon and it has handles so the sparkling can carry it around.

Reflect comes running over before Ironhide can even call for him.

"mine! mine!" Reflect screams. Ironhide pulls him up into his lap and gives him the cup, but Reflect looks at it confused. he tilts his head back. "what this?" Reflect frowns.

"humans call them sippy cups. energon is dangerous to humans, so Wheeljack put it in this to keep it safe from humans." Ironhide murmurs softly. Reflect looks confused by the cup but lets Ironhide show him how to use it.

"hey... he's got... energy." Sam mutters, looking out of breath as he walks over. Bumblebee looks tired behind him.

"yeah. he ate a plate of energon goodies, basically the equivalent of a bag of sugar to humans." Ironhide frowns.

"oh, I see, sugar rush." Sam nods. Ironhide nods in agreement.

"basically." he frowns. "but sugar rushes with sparklings are... different from humans." Ironhide frowns. he sparkling jumps down from Ironhide. "you can't take that with you." Ironhide frowns, taking the cup fromt he sparkling.

"no mine!!" Reflect screams.

"Reflect, the energon in your cup will hurt humans. you cannot take it with you." Ironhide frowns. Reflect screams at him and runs off with Bumblebee and Sam following him. Ironhide sighs a little.

"he's cute." the woman smiles, coming back to sit down beside Ironhide. Ironhide looks over at her.

"yeah." Ironhide mutters.

"how old is he? two? three?" she asks.

"something like that." Ironhide mutters.

"hi I'm Carrie." she smiles holding her hand out to Ironhide. "whats your name?" Carrie asks. Ironhide looks down at her hand and frowns. he resists the urge to roll his eyes.

"Liam." he grumbles, shaking her hand. Liam. the name Will had affectionately dubbed his holoform when the two were out in public and the holoform needed an identity other than 'Ironhide'.

"well Liam what are you and..." she trails, looking at Reflect.

"Reflect." Ironhide mutters.

"Reflect?" she asks.

"his parents aren't from here." Ironhide mumbles, not that he needs to explain. Reflect wasn't old enough to understand a holoform name.

"oh, well, what are you and Reflect doing after the park?" Carrie asks, smiling.

"back to the base." Ironhide says.

"oh, so you wouldn't want to get dinner?" Carrie asks. Ironhide turns his head to look at her, frowning, before looking back at the playground.

"my husband would probably have something against it." Ironhide says firmly. Carrie tenses slightly, before getting up and walking off quickly. Ironhide huffs quietly, watching Reflect scream and throw himself off the top of the jungle gym. he lands, rolls, and jumps up running off.

"Reflect you have to stop!" Bumblebee frowns, chasing after him.

"the more you two chase him the more he's gonna run, but he's on a sugar rush so have fun trying to out run him." Ironhide snorts.

they chase the sparkling around for hours, until he sees the sparklings holoform flicker as he rubs his eye. Ironhide frowns and chases the sparkling down himself, scooping the holoform up carefully.

"come on. come on. your holoform is about to fade. we've gotta get you out of here." Ironhide murmurs, carrying him quickly to his alt. Reflect whines, barely making it inside Ironhides alt, before his holoform shuts off.

the sparklings whining when they get back to the base. he's exhausted and can't keep himself awake, but he doesn't want to sleep.

"why don't you go to your caregivers." Ironhide murmurs, carrying him towards the medbay.

"no! want Ironhide!" Reflect screams.

"fine! but you're still getting a nap!" Ironhide growls, heading for his own room. he grumbles opening his door.

"Ironhide angry." Reflect mumbles, sleepily.

"because Reflect refuses to nap." Ironhide growls. Reflect whines quietly.

"not sleepy." Reflect pouts.

"too bad." Ironhide growls laying down on his berth. Reflect curls up on his chest pouting.

"Ironhide mean." Reflect grumbles.

"go to sleep, its fragging bedtime." Ironhide snaps, settling himself down for recharge.

"stupid." Reflect grumbles curling up.

~ (Song referenced in this part : https://youtu.be/jV9kQZGEl7s so you can get a feel for it)

Ironhide shifts, confused. there's music playing. one of Wills favorite songs. he sits up and looks around.

"what are you doing? how did you get music in here?" Ironhide grumbles.

"just... dancing. haven't gotten to do that in a while..." Will murmurs, looking at him. "and I went through yoru memory files to find it. I knew you'd remember it." Will smiles a little. "its been a while since I've hear it. you don;t listen to my music often." Will mumbles. Ironhide frowns.

"it reminds me you're dead." Ironhide frowns. Wills quiet a minute. Ironhide watching him dance.

"you never danced with me like you promised you would." Will murmurs, looking over at him. Ironhide frowns.

"yeah, well, you never made it home like you promised." Ironhide says softly, getting up off the bed. the song playing changes as he walks over to Will.

"huh? how'd you-" Will starts.

"hush." Ironhide grumbles. he grabs Will gently and pulls him to his chest. "you know I hate dancing, but if dancing is what you want." he murmurs. Will looks confused, letting the bigger man lead him. he doesn't really recognise the song. its been too long since he's heard it, but he knows he knows it.

"what...?" Will murmurs, listening to the beat.

"didn't want to dance?" Ironhide ask.

"what song is this?" Will asks. Ironhide goes quiet a moment, smiling,

"oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I'm gettin' old, and I need something to rely on..." Ironhide murmurs, along with the song quietly. he smiles a little to himself, pulling the smaller closer. Will perks up immediately, grinning, he tilts his head back to look up at Ironhide. the bigger man smiles down at him.

"I love this song. its the first song I convinced you to dance to..." Will murmurs softly. "no words in this one... and oddly a nice amount of guitar." Will chuckles.

"this version is better." Ironhide assures gently, pulling the man closer. Will grins and drops his head onto his chest.

"so, why don't we go, somewhere only we know?" Will hums happily. Ironhide rolls his eyes a little, but finds himself grinning. if Will wanted to slow dance the night away in his dreams, he was just fine with that.

"this could be the end of everything. so, why don't we go somewhere only we know?" Ironhide murmurs.

"never could get you to do this all that often when I was alive." Will murmurs. Ironhide holds tighter.

"I've come to appreciate the little things in life since then." Ironhide says softly, moving his hand up from Wills hip to the back of his head briefly. he holds the smalls head against his chest for a moment, before dropping his hand back down..

"too bad it didn't happen while I was still alive." Will chuckles, swaying happily with the song. he misses the guilty look flash across Ironhides face.

"I'm sorry." Ironhide sighs.

"don't be. means more this way." Will assures. Ironhide smiles a little, pulling away ever so slightly. he lifts his hand and spins the smaller man carefully, making him laugh.

"humans have odd traditions. dating, going to movies, the carnival, Christmas Presents,, dancing... so odd." Ironhide comments, pulling Will back to his chest. Will grins and chuckles.

"yeah, you never seemed to complain." Will teases.

"it made you happy to do all those things with me. I was more than happy to comply for you." Ironhide murmurs. Will smiles, before sighing happily.

"I like this version better." Will murmurs.

"why is that? the guitar? the lack of words? the fact I found it?" Ironhide grins.

"the fact that you like it. you took a song I liked and found a version you preferred and don't mind dancing too, so I like it better." Will murmurs. he smiles and cuddles up to him.

"I'll dance to it with you until you don't want to anymore." Ironhide assures gently.

"you're sweet when you wanna be." Will chuckles.

"only for you." Ironhide mutters.

"sap." Will teases.

"I will not hesitate to toss your ass out a window. this is my dream." Ironhide warns. Will laughs a little.

"yeah but I control it" Will grins.

"so you planned for me to dance with you?" Ironhide asks. "you made me do it? thats brainwashing." Ironhide snorts. Will frowns a moment, before grinning.

"no I didn't but it is a nice turn of events." Will murmurs, pulling the taller down so he can kiss him. Ironhide can feel the smile against his own mouth and chuckles softly. "I could dance with you all night." Will murmurs, pulling back some. Ironhide only hums in response. "you're more... sappy with me in here. more..." Will trails, trying to think.

"lovey?" Ironhide teases. Will laughs.

"yeah." he chuckles.

"I didn't know what I had until it was gone." Ironhide frowns. "I should've, I'm a soldier. I know things can change in a second... but I let my guard slip... let it down. got comfortable. never even thought anything bad could happen.I thought I'd have time with you to do things later, but I didn't in the end." Ironhide murmurs softly. Will smiles, cuddling up to him with a happy sigh. "and I will dance with you whenever you want Will." Ironhide murmurs, hugging him tighter.

"I'll hold you to that." Will grins. Ironhide smirks and drips him carefully at the end of the song. Will laughs and drops his head back. "where did you learn to dance?" Will laughs.

"you told me you wanted, one dance to celebrate when we kicked the Decepticons afts. we didn't get the chance because before we made it to the base we were attacked again, and you died." Ironhide murmurs.

"I remember." Will says, looking confused. Ironhide stands him carefully, frowning.

"well, when I agreed... I realized that you wanted a real dance, not like the previous time where you'd taught me to waltz. you wanted something... romantic. I didn't know how to do romance. you know that... so before we were attacked again, I downloaded 300 styles of dancing that were considered romantic, but then I remembered watching some stupid movie with you, the couple was dancing. I'd scanned you, you'd shown serious interest. your body language showed you thought the dance was romantic. so I downloaded the movie. I learned the dance and was very much ready to dance with you, just to make you happy." Ironhide murmurs.

"awww." Will grins, hugging his neck. he laughs and hugs the the bigger as tight as he can. Ironhide hugs him back. "you're so sweet." Will mumbles.

"I am not." Ironhide growls. "I can and will blow a hole through anything with my cannons. I'll rip a 'Con apart!" Ironhide snaps. Will chuckles, pulling him down into a kiss. as soon as Ironhide melts into the kiss, he walks the man backwards, until he falls over the snorting.

"oh yeah, big tough guy?" Will teases, laying over him. "seem to melt right away with me." Will grins. Ironhide huffs, looking away, but he does look embarrassed.

"well of course. you're my fraggin' bondmate." he grumbles, gripping the mans hips carefully so he doesn't fall. Will chuckles and holds him. it goes quiet for a few minutes.

"its getting late." Will murmurs. Ironhide holds tighter.

"you have to leave?" he asks.

"I will soon." Will sighs. he props his chin up on Ironhides chest and smiles at him. "so, whose Cade Yeager?" Will grins. Ironhide looks confused and shrugs.

"never heard that name." Ironhide says. "where'd you hear it?" Ironhide ask.

"from the sparkling, and the Primes." Will grins.

"he some kind of boyfriend to you or something?" Ironhide ask.

"not to me." Will grins. Ironhide looks more confused.

"then to who?" Ironhide ask.

"I went snooping and well.. I found something interesting." Will grins. "he doesn't become a bondmate, not like me or Sam, but he does date someone." Will adds.

"Sams a bondmate?" Ironhide ask.

"wow, you really haven't payed attention? Bee and Sam. totally. like three years now. they do a better job at hiding it than we did, but I think its because they're afraid to hurt you now that I'm dead...." Will trails.

"Bumblebee and Sam are bonded?" Ironhide ask. Will nods.

"he absorbed Allspark energy too." Will murmurs.

"so, who does the 'Yeager' man date?" Ironhide asks. Will grins.

"I'm not telling." Will smirks.

"can't or won't?" Ironhide asks.

"oh this one is definitely a won't the Primes said I could tell you, but I'm not." Will grins.

"you're an asshole." Ironhide mutters, huffing.

"yeah, but you love me." Will grins.

"I do. I love you more than your stupid human brain could ever understand." Ironhide smirks. Will huffs with mock offense.

"you're so rude." he teases. "but I do love you too." Will smiles. Ironhide smiles at him, before sighing.

"I'm sorry." Ironhide murmurs. Will looks confused.

"sorry?" Will ask.

"yeah. I never treated you right. I should've treated you better when you were alive." Ironhide murmurs. Will shakes his head.

"I was happy. I am happy. happy with you. I love you and I know how you act. I knew what I was getting into when I told you I loved you." Will assures gently. "I didn't need someone hanging off my arm, telling me they loved me constantly. I didn't need someone like... like Sarah. I needed someone who matched my energy. it wasn't just you, it was me. I'd get lost in paperwork and forget the time and be late for dates. late for movie nights... I was late a lot. I took for granted the fact I knew you'd wait for me." Will murmurs softly, cuddling him. Ironhide smiles and kisses his head.

"I didn't mind waiting on you. I never do. I'd wait for you till your planet collapses." Ironhide murmurs.

"to end of the Earth..." Will chuckles softly. his smile falls. "I gotta go, but I love you." Will murmurs. Ironhide pulls him down and kisses him.

"love you too." Ironhide sighs.

"be safe." Will smiles. Ironhide snorts and smiles at him.

"always. I got something to live for. can't die until Reflect grows up and doesn't need me anymore." Ironhide murmurs. Will chuckles getting up.

"see ya later." he smiles.

~

Ironhide sits up, mumbling. immediately the sparkling chirps, whining. he'd slipped off Ironhides chest and into his lap.

"owie." Reflect pouts.