I couldn't figure out where I wanted to put this so I'll put it here. the request was "Can I ask for a tie in to second chances dealing with the aftermath of Annabelle and Sarah's murder at the hands of the Deceptacons? Showing Will's grief but also Ironhide(& Will) happening to the Deceptacon that killed them?" so here's my go at that....

"no, no! Ironhide!" Will screams, trying to get down from the wreckage he's standing on. his guardian looks over, confused. guardian, thats what he had to be while on a battlefield. guardian, not lover.

"Will?" Ironhide asks, walking over quickly. he's afraid Will has been injured and he hadn't noticed.

"get me down! right now! Ironhide get me down right the fuck now!" Will shouts, desperately. he has to be wrong. he can't be seeing what he thinks he's seeing. Ironhide scoops him up gently and puts him on the ground. Will takes off immediately.

"ANNIE! ANNABELLE!" Will screams, racing for the crushed Honda. Ironhide doesn't understand until he gets close enough to recognize the car.

"oh no... no no no no no." Ironhide murmurs, stumbling a little. he's immediately got Ratchets attention as the mech is standing close enough to hear him. "it can't be." Ironhide murmurs. he rushes over to Will crouching down.

"NOO! NO NO!" is all Will can manage. he's yanking on the crushed door. Ironhide kneels beside him.

Ironhide is an old worn torn mech, fighting for many millenia. he'd seen many deaths, lost friends, and family, but nothing could prepare him for what he saw in the car.

there wasn't much left of the car, but in what was left of the front of the car, sat the remains of Sarahs burnt and crushed body. half of her face was melted off, blood and bone shone through. the other half is crushed and smeared with blood. there's a giant hole in her torso. her organs bleeding out into what was left of her lap. she's bent, mangled, damaged, burned. but what catches Ironhides attention, is the tiny pink shoe sticking up in the air from the back seat.

oh Primus... oh Primus no. Annabelle.

Will is hysterical. he's screaming at the top of his lungs, leaned against whats left of the back of the car. Epps and another soldier come running over.

"NO! NOT MY BABY! SHE'S MY BABY! SHE'S MY LITTLE GIRL! MY BABY!" Will screams as his fellow soldiers frag him away. he's sobbing and fighting them the best he can.

the upper half of the little girls body is laying in the backseat floorboard. she's bent and burnt just like her mother, though her torso had been crushed and separated from her lower body. her legs are still under whats left of the seatbelt, still in the car seat. the little girl was dead, just as Sarah was.

Ironhide can't hear anything, can't tear his optics off whats left of his favorite little girl. the little girl is dead. the little three year old who'd never see her fourth birthday now. who'd never take another ride with him again. he's not sure if he lets out a sound of anguish, he can't hear anything.

he doesn't feel the servos on his arms, or the two bots hauling him to his peds, catching him as he stumbles. he's staring at the remains of the car.

"Annie..." Ironhide manages quietly.

"Ironhide." Optimus' firm but gentle voice calls softly from his left. Ironhide finally manages to tear his optics away, turning to look at the Prime. "you need to wake up, Will needs you."

the mech jerks awake, rolling backwards on his tires. he can hear Will screaming from his bedroom. his holoform must've shut off, so he reactivates it in the mans bedroom, running over to him.

"Will, Will!" Ironhide shouts, gripping th eman gently. Will jerks up, screaming. tears are streaming down his cheeks.

"ANNIE!" is all he manages before Ironhides holoform hugs him tightly.

its only been three weeks since they found the two dead in the midst of a Decepticon battle. the nightmares had been constants for the both of them.

Will immediately buries his face into the holoforms neck, sobbing. Ironhide holds him tightly. he doesn't say a thing, words won't bring the dead family back.

Annabelle was his baby girl and Sarah, despite being his ex wife, was one of his best friends. sure she cheated on him, but they had a baby together.

Ironhide holds the trembling man gently, curling up with him on the bed. he'd stay with the man the rest of the night.

~

its two months after Annabelle's death, in the middle of the night, when Ironhide wakes to a loud clap of thunder. he shifts on his tires, activating his holoform, to run upstairs and check on Will.

"baby?" Ironhide ask. he frowns, the room is empty. the house is empty. he scans the surrounding area and feels a wave of panic hit him. Will is standing on the roof in the rain.

"Ratchet! Ratchet I need you over at the farm house now. Wills standing on the roof I think he's going to jump!"

"I'll be there asap."

Ironhides holoform appears on the roof, before Will gently.

"Will, hey baby, come on." Ironhide murmurs, around the sounds of the pouring rain. he inches closer to the man. "Will, hey, its okay." Ironhide says softly. Will standings silently on the roof, before taking a small step forward. his bare feet hardly make a sound as they shuffle across the shingles. "Will, baby, hey talk to me." Ironhide says, slightly louder.

"I've always wondered... what it would feel like to jump without a parachute." Will mumbles.

"hey! hey! don't do that!" Ironhide shouts, gently grasping his hand. his alt for is ready and waiting to catch him, but that doesn't mean he wants Will to jump. "hey, its alright. come on, its okay." Ironhide murmurs. he looks down at Wills wrist. "you're bleeding." Ironhide murmurs. the wound isn't deep enough to kill him and Ironhide has seen it before Will has a matching scar on his other wrist, from when he climbed on the roof to take down the Christmas lights last year. he knows it won't hurt the man. "Will hey, look at me." Ironhide murmurs. Will shakes his head.

"I don't want to talk." Will mumbles, looking out over the farm land. "and I can't sleep... all I can see is Annie... laying in two pieces... her head smashed... her face gone... my sweet baby girl. my little girl. she was my world Hide. she was my baby..." Will mumbles, shifting slightly. he pulls his arm free from the holoform, turning to look at him. he looks lost.

"Will, hey its okay. its gonna be okay." Ironhide murmurs. there's a sick feeling churning in his tanks. it seems like just yesterday he was on Cybertron, having a similar conversation with Ratchet when Wheeljack commed him to say the young medic in training wasn't doing so well. "I miss Annie too." Ironhide says, shakily.

he missed the sounds of her little feet running across the floor. he misses curling up with Will, using his holoform, on the bed. he misses laying asleep in bed when the little girl was with them for the weekend. he missed the little three year old running straight into the room, jumping on the bed screaming "good morning daddy! good morning papa Hide! wake up daddy! wake up!" the thought made his spark hurt.

"I miss her too." Ironhide says softly. "come here, we can talk about it. you're soaked and shivering. you're gonna get sick baby." Ironhide murmurs. Wills teeth are chattering quietly, pulling away from him. he wraps his arms around himself, inching towards the edge of the room. "no! Will, no. come here." Ironhide soothes. he could grab the man and yank him back, but he doesn't want to do that.

"what do you think happens when you die?" Will ask.

"I don't know." Ironhide murmurs.

"I wonder if I'll get to see Annie." Will murmurs. he turns to face Ironhide. his tears are mixing with the rain, he watches the holoform. "I didn't want you to have to find me." Will mumbles.

"baby are you drunk?" Ironhide ask.

"I never drank when my baby girl was around... but now that she's gone, I'm never sober. you know that." Will mumbles. he watches Ironhide, before sniffling. "I've always heard its not the fall that kills you, its the sudden stop at the end." Will says. he looks up at Ironhide. "I don't wanna do this anymore. m'sorry." Will murmurs, bottom lip quivering. he leans back.

"Will!" Ironhide shouts, making a dash for him with his holoform. WIll falls before the holoform can grasp him, but Ironhides sitting just out of eyesight. he grasps the man and pulls him to his chestplates, tightly. "don't you dare, ever do that again." Ironhide growls lowly, holding him tightly. Will sobs against him, clinging to him. Ironhide can see the ambulance lights and hear the sirens. Ratchets near by. Will will be alright.

~~

Will looks around standing on top of the building. Starscream is behind him along with Ravage. he looks down at the ground, before whipping around to stare at the bots, before turning and running for the edge of the building.

"maybe I'll get to see you again Annie." Will murmurs, jumping off. he doesn't hesitate. he closes his eyes and gives a small smile. the wind offers little resistance. he can hear it whistling as he goes by.

he can see his sweet baby girls little smile. he can hear her little giggle. he can almost hear her shouting "daddy! daddy! play a game with me!" he gives a quiet laugh, he can feel the tears welling up in his eyes. he's finally gonna see her again. after 6 long months.

"WILL!"

Wills eyes snap open immediately and he watches Ironhide transform and speed towards him. he transforms, rolls, jumps, and reaches for Will. the happy look immediately slips off his face. he can't leave Ironhide like that. he can't do that. not to his bonded. he can't just leave Ironhide like that, Ironhide would be miserable without him. he reaches for the mech.

"IRONHIDE!" Will shouts. blunt fingers wrap around him and Ironhide pulls him to his chest immediately. he tucks the man to his chest and hits the ground, rolling. he lands hard on his back and slides.

the moment they stop moving, Ironhide drops his head back onto the ground. he's still for a moment before Will shifts. Ironhide lifts his head a little, slowly lifting his cupped hands from his chestplate, to stare at Will. the man is laying facedown on Ironhides chest, but lifts his head to look at the mech. the stare at each other for a moment.

"I... I'm sorry." Will whimpers softly, clinging to him. Ironhide lets out a huff of laughter, dropping his head back hard. he snorts.

"its okay. I wouldn't let you die." Ironhide murmurs. he lets go of Will. the man rolls off and Ironhide gets up. "come on, we've got some Decepticon aft to kick." he growls.

~~~

its been almost a year since Annabelle and Sarah died. Will had been in a mood all day so Ironhide decided to take him to the beach.

"she used to love the beach." Will murmurs randomly.

"I know." Ironhide says. "she'd run around in the sand, flapping her little arms with those silly water wings." Ironhide murmurs. Will lets out a shaky laugh.

"my sweet blond little baby girl. she'd dig her little toes in the sand and scream when the water touched her toes." Will murmurs, snorting.

"she'd pile buckets of sand into the bed of my alt." Ironhide murmurs. WIll laughs.

"screaming for you to play with her." Will laughs, tearfully.

"papa Hide! papa Hide! come play with me! play with me! build sandcastles with me and daddy!"

"I never thought I'd miss the feeling of her sandy little toes in my backseat." Ironhide huffs a quiet laugh.

"never thought I'd miss having to vacuum the sand from your floorboards." Will huffs. it goes quiet between them. "I miss her so much." Will finally says.

"me too." Ironhide sighs. "her and her stupid little Saturday morning tea parties." Ironhide snorts.

"I'll never forget you being squished into a tiny little toddler sized pink chair." Will laughs, wiping at his eyes.

"you can cry if you need to. I won't judge you." Ironhide says softly.

"Annie didn't like when I cried." Will chokes. Ironhides holoform shifts on the sand beside him.

"I think she'd come to forgive you." he murmurs, patting Wills leg.

"she'd have been four today Hide." Will murmurs. Ironhide nods a little, before smiling at him.

"yeah." he murmurs. his holoform stands. "you ready? I promised." Ironhide murmurs.

"papa Hide?"

"yes little one?"

"will you swim in ocean with me?"

"no."

"for birthday?"

"sure. for your birthday, I'll swim with you."

Will nods getting up.

"its going to be cold." Will murmurs. Ironhide nods, taking his hand. they walk towards the dock together.

"it'll be alright." Ironhide murmurs. "just don't let go." Ironhide adds. Will smiles a little.

"we'll hold hands with daddy, but don't let go!"

"I won't let go, I promise."

"promise." Will murmurs. they take off running once they hit the edge of the dock, clinging to the others hand as they jump off the end, landing in the freezing water. Will wants to stay under, but Ironhide pulls him up to the surface. the holoform keeps them afloat when Will clings to him. "happy birthday Annie." he murmurs.