Reflect shifts, slowly sitting up. he looks at Ironhide sleepily.

"you're staring." Reflect mumbles. Ironhide shakes his thoughts away.

"hmm?" he ask.

"you're staring and thinking too hard. it woke me up." Reflect mutters.

"sorry." Ironhide frowns, walking over to him. "I didn't mean to wake you up." Ironhide murmurs.

"its like, 4PM. I don't need to sleep all day." Reflect mutters.

"but no one would blame you if you did." Ironhide assures. "lets go get you a cube." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect nods getting up.

they head out to the rec room quietly. Reflect isn't awake enough for a full conversation and Ironhide too lost in thoughts to speak. the moment they walk into the rec room, Sam runs over to them.

"hey Reflect!" Sam grins, waving at him. Reflect blinks and looks down.

"I'll get you a cube." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect nods, kneeling down.

"whats up Sam?" Reflect asks.

"Epps said you finally gave Charlotte Mearing an ass whooping." Sam grins at him. Reflect half smiles at him.

"sort of." Reflect says. "she pissed me off and I had to leave." Reflect frowns. Sam nods a little.

"well, at least you gave it to her." Sam grins. "bout time someone on this base put her in place." Sam smiles. Reflect chuckles softly, standing up when Ironhide walks back over.

"oh yeah he yelled at her then left. Prime had fun cleaning that up." Ironhide mutters. Reflect snorts at him, taking his cube happily.

"hey, how busy are you today?" Sam ask.

"m'not." Reflect shrugs.

"can I get you to take me to my house? not for long, Bee's on patrol and I forgot my backpack. I've got an essay due tomorrow." Sam says, hesitantly. Reflect nods.

"yeah totally. give me like 20 minutes." Reflect says. Sam nods, looking relieved.

"thanks!" Sam grins, running off.

"you're not supposed to leave the base." Ironhide frowns.

"geez what am I? a sparkling? I don't need my previous caretakers telling me not to leave the base." Reflect snorts.

"no you're not a sparkling, you're carrying a sparkling." Ironhide frowns.

"if you're worried, just come with us." Reflect snorts.

"I will be." Ironhide frowns.

"then whats the problem grumpy?" Reflect snorts.

"the 'problem' is, you're carrying. its advised not to drive around too much. it can cause, what humans refer to as, engine stalling. it won't hurt you or anything, you'll just not be able to drive." Ironhide explains.

"oh... is it dangerous?" Reflect asks.

"no. I remember watching Ratchet tow Wheeljack home at least twice a day." Ironhide snorts.

"then I don't understand the problem Hide." Reflect frowns.

"the problem is, if you stall out, I'll have to tow you home so Ratchet can fix you." Ironhide frowns.

"well... I guess I coul stay behind if you wanted to take Sam." Reflect says.

"no I don't mind towing you. I won't force you to stay on base, nor will I let anyone else force you to stay on base. I'm just letting you know." Ironhide murmurs. "I would have a chat with Ratchet though, just to make sure it won't hurt either of you." Ironhide adds. Reflect nods.

"yeah. you make a good point." Reflect says.

"are you awake?"

its quiet a moment.

"sort of. are you alright?"

"yeah I just wanted to make sure its not gonna hurt the sparkling for me to transform and drive off base. Sam needs me to take him somewhere because Bumblebee took Ironhides place and Ironhide refuses because he doesn't want to leave me home alone."

"it won't hurt you no, might lock your system though. which is fine. I can always come and fix you up."

"locking up won't hurt the sparkling?"

"no but. you'll still be in full control, you just won't be able to drive or transform. Ironhide could tow you to safety."

"alright, thanks Ratchet."

"Ratchet says I'm good to go if you're going with." Reflect says.

"alright then you've got the all clear medically." Ironhide murmurs.

"I drove off base before and it didn't hurt me or the sparkling." Reflect said.

"yes, but you've almost hit the end of month 1. so things liek that will start happening. remember the datapad." Ironhide says. Reflect nods a little.

"right. locking up, dizziness, purging, migranes, loss of function of different parts of my body." Reflect says.

"just be careful." Ironhide says. Reflect nods, putting his empty cube away, before smiling.

"I will. you'll be there, I'll be fine." Reflect smiles. Ironhide nods once, kissing the mechs head as he walks past.

"I'll meet you two out front then." Ironhide says. Reflect grins after him, before heading to find Sam. it had only been 15 minutes, but he's positive the boy will be ready. he finds Sam walking out of his room.

"hey, ready to go?" Reflect ask. Sam nods.

"yeah! thanks again." Sam smiles.

"yeah, don't mind if we have a tail. Ironhide has to follow." Reflect says. Sam raises an eye brow.

"why?" Sam ask.

"uh, glitches caused by the sparkling." Reflect says, frowning. "y'know you'd think the Primes would give warning, but nope." Reflect huffs. Sam snorts.

"yeah I've seen them once or twice since bringing Optimus back to life. I didn't expect this when they told me to expect a new, but familiar, Autobot when Wheeljack found you out there." Sam says.

"you saw them?" Reflect ask. Sam nods. Reflec tnods, heading out of the base with him.

"you don't mind giving me a ride though, right?" Sam ask. "has to feel... weird." Sam adds.

"nah." Reflect snorts. "you're not even the first human I've driven." Reflect snorts.

"I'm not?" Sam ask, confused. Reflect transforms, opening his driverside door for Sam. the man climbs in and buckles up.

"nope. I drove Cade Yeager home from the airport the other day." Reflect says.

"yeah but I was the first person to ever sit in your alt mode. remember? you shoved me in to the bed of your alt and sped off." Sam laughs.

"thats true you are, but Cades the first one since I changed." Reflect snorts.

"speaking of Cade, whatever happened with Barricade? you just kinda dropped him after a while." Sam frowns. Reflect goes quiet for a moment.

"Sam, do you remember... when you left to visit your parents for a week about a year ago?" Reflect ask.

"yes." Sam says, looking confused.

"while you were gone, Ironhide took me out into the desert so I could play with my abilities. I was playing with Mirages powers and.... we never expected it. Decepticons came out of no where." Reflect murmurs. "Starscream, Barricade, and a couple of others I don't remember. when I showed myself Starscream kicked me in the head. I don't remember much. I just remember watching Barricade blow a hole through Ironhides chest. I used my mimic abilities to copy Ironhides canons and blast at them. then I teleported us back to the base. thats the last interaction I had with Barricade. the Primes told me he meant me no harm, but I guess it didn't click that they didn't mean everyone else as well. they just meant me. he stopped Starscream from shooting us when I ran to Ironhide. they didn't realize I was there." Reflect frowns.

"oh. no one ever told me." Sam frowns.

"Ratchets the only one who would listen when I told him what happened. everyone else thought I was making it up and had accident shot Ironhide." Reflect frowns.

"thats stupid." Sam huffs.

"the joys of being a child." Reflect frowns. Sam pats his steering wheel.

"well, I believe you. what about Ironhide?" Sam ask.

"well, he believes me now." Reflect says.

"huh?" Sam ask.

'well, little TMI, but when we bonded we shared memories. he has all my memories now, even from when I was human. I have all his as well. so he actually saw it from my point of view. right Hide?" Reflect ask.

"yes."

comes over the radio.

"having technically witnessed it with my own optics, even if it was from his view, I'd apologise for that, but you also shared memories I did not entirely need to see."

"yeah you did the same." Reflect huffs. "your youngling years were wild." Reflect snorts.

"maybe so, but Wheeljack and Ratchet are two of my oldest friends and I certainly didn't need the memory of you running into the medbay, catching them 'facing, and running away screaming."

"in my defense, I didn't want or need that memory." Reflect grumbles. Sam laughs.

"so you share memories when you bond?" Sam asks, looking at Reflects radio.

"yeah." Reflect says.

"yes but it only happens when bonding. technically I've downloaded his memories and can erase them, he can do the same, but they will redownload if we rened the bond again. there's no point in getting rid of them, well, I do get rid of the nonimportant ones, but htey'll come back. like I've gotten rid of the one we just discussed, but I remember seeing it."

"I got rid of alot Ironhide shared with me. most of them being deaths and battles. some things from Cybertron, such as the time he got drunk and got his cabl-" Reflect starts.

"I beg of you, do not share that one."

Reflect chuckles softly.

"okay okay." Reflect snorts. Sam grins a little.

"oh I'm very curious. Ironhide begging you not to tell?" Sam snorts.

"he's carrying my sparkling, I wouldn't hurt him. you, however, I would squish in a second."

the growl gets a chuckle from Reflect.

"no you wouldn't and don't worry, I won't tell any of your memories like that Hide." Reflect murmurs.

Reflect shuts off the open com, turning on his radio. he blasts his music happily, rolling his windows down. Sam laughs, his hair whipping around, and bobs his head to the music. he speeds off around his bonded, but not too far.

don't just run off! if you lock up you'll cause an accident!

I won't I wouldn't put Sam or the sparkling at risk."

Ironhide easily speeds up to ride beside him.

the ride to Sams house is pretty uneventful, though Reflect ran into an issues after hitting a pothole, they arrived just fine.

"you can activate your holoform and come say hi... Bumblebee told her who you were. hope thats alright.I didn't know he was gonna do that." Sam frowns.

"you know it'll be Reflects holoform right? its not gonna look like Will." Reflect frowns.

"I know." Sam smiles. Reflect shifts a moment.

"um, my holoform is carrying as well." Reflect mutters. Sam frowns, thinking about this.

"well, thats okay. no one will even notice." Sam assures. "you don't have to. I just figured I'd offer." Sam shrugs, getting out. Reflect frowns, Ironhides already activated his holoform. he stares at him expectantly. Reflect sighs and activates his, getting out. he'd changed his clothing and, despite Ratchet and Wheeljack helping him try to override the holoform, the bump stays. he's wearing baggy clothes so its not notice able, but it doesn't make him any less uncomfortable.

"sure took your time." Ironhide snorts. "when did you change your outfit?" Ironhide ask.

"Ratchet helped." Reflect mutters.

"whats got you in a bad mood?" Ironhide frowns, leading him to the door behind Sam.

"nothing." Reflect mumbles.

"mom! hey! I'm home!" Sam shouts.

"where is he?" Judy asks, walking out of the kitchen quickly. she pauses spotting Reflects holoform. he stares at her a moment, before clearing his throat and nodding his head.

"Mrs.Witwicky. always a pleasure." Reflect greets.

"Will! oh!" Judy shouts, running over to hug him tightly. Reflect lets her, but puts distance between their bodies. "how many times do I have to tell you to call me Judy

"still Reflect." Reflect murmurs. she lets go and grabs hold of his face.

"oh you were always such a nice man, always looking out for our Sammy. we went to your funeral." Judy says.

"ma! hey! don't do that. leave him alone, he doesn't need you telling him that." Sam warns, heading up to his room. Reflect stands awkwardly with her hands on his face.

"Judy, I will kindly ask you, to remove your hands from his face." Ironhide says firmly.

"oh, right sorry." Judy smiles, letting him go. she pats his cheek gently. "oh wait right here!" Judy smiles, running off.

"thanks." Reflect grumbles. Ironhide nods.

"of course. I could feel you were getting uncomfortable." Ironhide murmurs softly. Reflect leans back against him, tilting his head back.

"sorry." he frowns.

"awww you two were always so cute!" Judy grins. Reflect and Ironhide immediately snap their attention to her, seperating. "oh sorry. here." Judy murmurs, holding a box out to him. Reflect looks confused.

"uh, whats this?" Reflect ask. Judy frowns a little.

"um you died before we could get this to you. it was supposed to be a Christmas present. I'm sorry." Judy murmurs. she looks at Ironhides holoform. "I thought about giving it to you, but Sammy was afraid how you'd react, so I intended just to hold on to it a while, but when Sam told me who you were, I dug it out." Judy explains. Reflect looks at the box. its a medium sized box, wrapped in Bumblebee print wrapping paper with a dirty white background. "please open it." Judy murmurs softly.

Reflect looks down at the box, confused. he glances at her and she nods at him, smiling. Reflect can feel Ironhide walk up behind him, putting a hand on his back gently, looking over his shoulder curiously. he rips the paper off and looks at the box. he can feel a sense of overwhelm and nerves. Ironhide soothes him gently over their bond, watching him open the box. his spark immediately shatters.

there's a picture of Annabelle and Will, sitting on the roof of Ironhides altform. his holoform is smirking behind them, hand firmly on Annabelle so she doesn't fall off. there's also a large ball in the box. Reflects too busy staring at the picture to notice it. Ironhide reaches out hesitantly, touching it. immediately it comes on with a flash of Annabelle. the little three year old smiles.

"hi daddy! hi papa Hide! mommy says you at war and we can't call, but I love you! don't miss my birthday daddy! you promise! you promise too papa Hide! we swim! you promise! I love you! bye bye"

Reflect jerks immediately at the words. though he's distracted, Ironhide grabs the box and yanks it from his grasp in time for Reflect to vomite all over the floor.

"oh my!" Judy yelps, jumping back. Reflect turns, shoving Ironhide out of his way so he can run to the front porch. Ironhide watches him go. Reflect is vomiting violently into Judys flowers. "I... I'm so sorry. I... Ironhide I didn't mean..." Judy starts. Ironhides eye twitches and he turns around to follow Reflect.

"Will," Ironhide starts. his bondeds holoform flickers, tripping, before he shuts it off. Reflect throws his alt into reverse, nearly hitting Ironhide and speeds out of the driveway, before taking off down the road.

Will! come back!

LEAVE ME ALONE!

"Ironhide, what happened?" Sam asks, running down with his back pack. Ironhide clutches the box.

"get in." Ironhide snaps, tossing the box into his back seat. the driverside door flies open. Sam looks confused, so Ironhide grabs him with his holoform and throws him into the driverseat. he backs up and speeds off after Reflect.

"Ironhide, what happened? why was the living room covered in puke? where's Reflect?" Sam asks.

"your mother." Ironhide snaps. he uses the bond to track Reflect down.

"Ratchet, I'm probably going to need you and Wheeljack out here."

"what? what happened? whats wrong?"

"Judy gave Reflect a video of Annabelle talking. he just lost it. started purging everywhere then took off."

"send me your coordinates. I'll grab Jack and we'll head out."

"he's still on the move. he's got five minutes on me. I had to wait for Sam. I'm trying to track him through the bond but he's so emotional I can't get through them to track him properly."

"how are we supposed to find him then?"

"don't worry, I think I know where he's going. wait... he stopped."

"he must've stalled out. tha'll put a damper on his fit."

"I'll move him."

Ironhide finally manges to catch sight of his bonded. he can hear the mechs engine clicking repeatedly. Ironhide activates his holoform, jumping out of the passenger seat.

"stay here Sam. I don't want you hit." Ironhide grumbles. Sam nods hesitantly. Ironhide runs over to his bonded.

hang on, I'll get you out of there.

Reflects holoform kicks open his driverside door angrily, nearly taking Ironhides out in the process.

"don't fucking touch me!" Reflect snaps.

"breathe. baby breathe." Ironhide murmurs, running around to his front. "pop your hood." Ironhide says softly. Reflect shakes his head, wiping at his face. Ironhide turns and walks over to him, hugging him gently. Reflect sobs against him. his alt form is shaking. "I know Will. I know." Ironhide murmurs. "let me get you to her and you can wait there for Ratchet and Wheeljack okay? they'll get you up and moving, or tow you home." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect nods against him.

"okay." he says shakily.

"meet us at the graveyard. he wants to see Annie."

"we're already on our way there."

"get back in your alt, I'll pull around you." Ironhide murmurs. his alt moves around and he ties a chain from the back of his alt to the front of his bondeds. Ironhide takes a moment to rub his grill gently. "I've got you okay? now do you want me or Sam to ride with you or do you think you can hit your breaks and turn by yourself?" Ironhide ask. Reflects silent, but rolls forward slightly, driver side door popping open a little. Ironhide nods, walking around to the passenger side of his alt.

"is he okay?" Sam ask.

"just sit here and pretend to drive. I'm going to sit with him. he's a mess. I won't talk to you, but feel free to play with the radio." Ironhide mutters, shutting the door. his holo climbs into Reflects alt, before he takes off. he's careful pulling the other.

the inside of his bondeds cab is silent, Ironhide holoform sits in the driver seat quietly, carefully rubbing the steering wheel in front of him.

"its okay Will." Ironhide says softly. he knows there's no point to look anywhere specifically. "you gonna talk to me?" Ironhide says softly.

"no..." Reflect says shakily after a few moments.

"I know it hurts, I'm sorry... I didn't know she was going to do that." Ironhide says softly.

"stop. just stop." Reflect manages. Ironhide nods a little at him, gently caressing hsi lovers steering wheel.

"okay. I'm sorry." Ironhide says softly.

"h-how could I have forgotten her?" Reflect chokes.

"you didn't. you were scared and busy with other things. you didn't forget her. you knew exactly where she was, she wasn't on the forefront of your mind." Ironhide assures.

"she's my baby! she should always be on my mind!" Reflect hisses.

"I know she is." Ironhide says softly. "she's always on mine too baby." Ironhide murmurs gently. "she will always be. you know... I don't think we've ever talked about it before and you probably don't have anything in it yet because you didn't know of it, but Cybertronians have a... file of sorts." Ironhide explains. Reflects holoform appears beside him, watching him. "we keep a file of all the ones we know and or love, that have died, in that file. I have every friend or family member to ever die, even some Decepticons from before the war are in there. every human that we've lost in every battle. soldiers, innocent bystandards, everyone.... I tracked them all down. they're in that file... I have every name in there over 4,000 names, but I have three at the top of the list that will never change. three names that are more important than anyone elses." Ironhide says softly.

"who...?" Reflect asks, shakily.

"Annabelle Renae-Paisley Lennox, William David Lennox, Sprinkles Lennox." Ironhide murmurs. Reflect chokes out a laugh.

"you hated that stupid cat." Reflect mutters.

"that does not mean Annabelles grieving didn't hurt me. that mailman ran her over and I would've saved her if I could've." Ironhide murmurs. he looks over at his bondeds holoform. "my point is love, you can and will always remember Annabelle, but you cannot always dwell on it. the ones we lose, will always be in our heads, our sparks, but worrying about other things doesn't hurt them if they're already gone Will. Annie would understand, you know she would." Ironhide says softly. "just because she's not an active thought, doesn't mean she isn't on your mine. I know you're always thinking about her, but you've been overwhelmed." Ironhide says softly.

"Ironhide, don't run that red light." Sam says. Ironhide's holoform immediately turns back to the road, gently pressing the breaks on his lovers alt.

"when we get there, don't leave me." Reflect says quietly. Ironhides holoform looks over.

"okay. I'll leave Sam with Jack and Ratchet. Ratchet will make it so you cna transform and drive okay?" Ironhide ask softly. Reflect nods, wiping at his face. "Sams on the phone with Judy, she's very sorry." Ironhide murmurs.

"I don't care about anything else. just don't leave me." Reflect chokes.

"I won't leave you." Ironhide assures gently. "I'll never leave you I promise." Ironhide murmurs. he looks up as they pull up to the graveyard. "take your holoform baby and you go sit with her. I'll be there in a few minutes alright?" Ironhide ask. Reflect nods and gets out of his alt mode. Ironhide hops out and heads to his alt. the driver side door opens as Sam jumps out, confused.

"Ironhide-" Sam starts.

"stay here. wait for Ratchet and Wheeljack. let Wheeljack take you back to the base. I'm staying with him." Ironhide says, walking past Sam. Sam nods.

"okay, just let me know if he's alright... my mom.. she... she didn't mean to." Sam says softly.

"I know kid." Ironhide mutters. he walks over to the little teddy bear shaped grave stone he knows holds Annabelles name. the soldiers had come together and specially ordered it for her while Will had still been struggling with the idea of burying his daughter. they'd also come together and paid for Sarahs, when her boyfriend at the time was never found and Will refused to leave her unburied.

"she may have cheated on me, but I still loved her and she was still the mother of my child. she doesn't deserve that. she deserves to be buried with respect, just like our little girl."

Ironhides holoform kneels beside his sobbing bonded.

"I-I missed her birthdays." Reflect choked.

"I know." Ironhide murmurs, pulling the other to him.

"here I am with a new partner and having a new kid and... she's still here. stuck at the same age." Reflect chokes.

"she always wanted a sibling. how many times did she ask us to have a kid together?" Ironhide snorts. Reflect gives a shaky smile.

"a dozen." he sniffles. "she wanted a brother she could name Remix because she liked the way Jazz remixed music." Reflect murmurs. Ironhide smiles a little.

"thats a name we can always add to the list." Ironhide says softly. "its okay WIll." Ironhide murmurs.

they sit there for a while, before Ratchet walks over.

"hey Jack took Sam back to the base. I've got you all fixed up." Ratchet murmurs. Reflect nods a little, staring at the little bear gravestone. he huffs a laugh.

"she was terrified of you." Reflect mutters, glancing at Ratchet.

"humans fear medical personal." Ratchet shrugs.

"no, her fear wasn't like that." Reflect murmurs.

"how so?" Ratchet ask, sitting himself down on Reflects other side. Reflect gives a small tearful smile.

"she was at the base one day, while you were working on Ironhide. you were the only being she'd ever seen or heard, hurt Ironhide. she thought of him as a superhero. that he couldn't be hurt. she figured you were a supervillian. she was afraid you were going to take over the Earth, take Ironhide from her." Reflect chuckles quietly. Ratchet snorts.

"sounds about right." Ironhide snorts.

"didn't realize I scared her so bad." Ratchet murmurs.

"not much did." Reflect huffs.

the three sit there quietly. Reflect can't tell how long, before his holoform flickers. Ironhide looks over at him.

"lets get back to the base alright? we'll come back out here again." Ironhide says softly. Reflect nods.

"no ones looking, shut your holo off." Ratchet murmurs, glancing around. Reflects holoform flickers once more before shutting off. Ironhide shuts his off as well, Ratchets follows after.

m'still tied to you.

yeah, I intend to pull you home. you're a little distracted. I will untie you if you'd like to drive.

yeah.

Ironhide reactivates his holoform, taking the chain off and throwing it back into the bed of his alt, before shutting it back off.

"if you come into trouble again, we're tying you to Ironhide until we get to the base."

"okay."

ready?

lets go.

they take off one by one. Ratchet in the front, Reflect in the middle, Ironhide falling in behind.

Ironhide is careful, but he does gently bump his bondeds back bumper with his own bumper occasionally, when the smaller drifted on the road.

Will, are you alright?

can you stop ramming into me?

I am not, I believe humans call it a love tap. just getting your attention so you'll stop drifting into oncoming traffic. I don't mean any harm by it but if I'm hurting you I'll be gentler. I don't want to hurt you. I'm just afraid you'll wreck.

no you're not hurting me Hide... just scared me a little.

Ironhide bumps him again, as gently as he can.