Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The plan was originally for Mommy and Annabelle to head home straight from the hospital, even if it was a long way, while Daddy and Ironhide stayed behind with everyone else. There was a lot of work to do fixing everything that happened in Chicago after all. They couldn't go home just yet, not when there was so much left to do.

The plan lasted maybe five miles.

While the girl practically snuggled into the seat, simply happy to have her best friend back and not ready to let go of the seatbelt after she'd thought she'd lost him, her parents and the Autobot talked around her. She didn't really listen much, but Annabelle heard enough. No one wanted to separate. Not really. They'd all been split up too much with the kidnapping, the spaceship blowing up, the attack on Chicago by the bad robots, and then her getting stuck in the hospital for a few days. But they also talked about wanting her to be somewhere safe and all their worries because she got hurt.

She thought it was all pretty silly. The bad robots were running away scared. Daddy, Mommy, and Ironhide were there with her. So she was safe. And all her injuries would get better. The bruises were starting to turn funny colors around the edges, especially the smaller ones. Some of the scratches were already fading. And her cast had her drawings and names from Sam, Mikaela, Mommy, Daddy, and the funny man who worked for Mr. Simmons named Dutch. With the medicine that Mommy would pick up from the pharmacy, she would be fine.

Nothing bad could happen now. Everyone she loved was back together. Everything was okay now.

When there was a brief lull in the conversation, Annabelle decided it was time to speak her mind.

"I don't want to leave Daddy and Ironhide yet. Can we stay with them, Mommy? I've missed them. Please?"

And as her parents exchanged silent looks that seemed to have a lot of meaning and the seatbelt briefly tightened on her as a protective hug, the issue seemed settled.

Rather than going home immediately, she and Mommy would be staying to help with cleanup. The soldiers and Autobots would be helping with the debris and broken buildings, the Cybertronians either keeping out of sight or staying in disguise. Daddy and Ironhide would be really good at that because Ironhide could carrying heavy stuff as a truck.

And Mommy planned to help all the people with no homes anymore. There was a soup kitchen quickly set up and Mommy took charge of it and distributing supplies to the people who needed them. The one time someone tried to question her authority to take over and how she started running it, they apparently left crying. Mommy said they were just another "brainless bureaucrat" who didn't have a clue, so it was probably okay.

And while they were all busy helping everyone, Annabelle spent the days in a frantically-emptied store that served as an improvised daycare and shelter for kids. The children of other volunteers, kids who were missing from their families, and really sad children who no longer had parents all stayed there until something better could be arranged for them. Since everyone else was helping out, Annabelle decided to do her part too.

Even with her arm in a cast and the bruise on her side still healing, Annabelle worked really hard to cheer up the other kids. She organized games. She told jokes. She made sure anyone who even thought about acting like a bully quickly figured out it was a bad idea. She hugged them when they cried, even with the cast making it tricky. And she told them that the bad robots were gone and they were safe now.

Some believed her. Others weren't as certain. But Annabelle didn't give up.

So while Katie, a teenager girl with black hair and lots of piercings, watched over a large chunk of the children and the adults tried to fix the city, Annabelle kept trying to help the other children feel better. And at the end of the day, Mommy would pick her up and they'd ride back to where the Autobots and the soldiers were staying. Well, them, Sam, and Mikaela since those two were also helping alongside their friends. Some of the people would sleep on cots there, but Annabelle would curl up in the cab of her favorite truck. Ironhide didn't seem to mind.

The city was a mess. A lot of people were sad, angry, scared, or lost. But Annabelle was honestly happier than she'd been since the Decepticon arrived at her house.

And she was making new friends at the improvised daycare. Some of the kids she tried to comfort and distract quickly became her favorites. Danny was near her age, but was a little nervous about things. Izabella was eight years old and sad. But she seemed brave and seemed to understand the difference between good robots and bad robots. Luke was younger than her and energetic. His parents were helping with handing out supplies too. Peter was also eight and he was pretty shy. And Gwen was about Annabelle's age and stayed near Peter all the time. They knew each other from before Sentinel Prime messed everything up.

She liked them. So Annabelle did her best to keep them safe and happy while they stayed at the improvised daycare. It was easier than trying to chase down bad guys and her parents would probably be less worried that way.

But when a couple of teenage boys pulled up to the building in a van, one of them kissed Katie, and Katie started herding some of the children towards the vehicle, Annabelle knew something was wrong. Mommy told her not to leave the building without her. They weren't supposed to go anywhere. And the other teenagers who helped watch all the children were busy near the back doing something Katie asked them to help with. This was wrong. But Katie was calling it a field trip and telling them to get in the van with the strangers.

Katie collected Danny, Izabella, Luke, Peter, and Gwen for the strange field trip. Annabelle climbed into the van anyway. Someone had to watch over them.

The world kept changing. Ever since aliens started falling from the sky, nothing was the same anymore. And then they tore Chicago apart.

And no one even got it properly on film.

Mike wasn't like his friend, Tommy. He didn't hate and distrust the alien robots to that extreme amount. He wasn't fond of them or the war that caused so much destruction to his city. There was anger and fear of the unknown and the dangers that came from the Cybertronians existing. But Tommy was on a completely different level with his hatred. He wanted all of them dead and gone.

Mike, on the other hand, just wanted to be famous.

The idea was a little crazy, but awesome. Mike's girlfriend was watching over a bunch of children displaced by the battle in Chicago. And nothing could move the hearts and minds of people like scared and adorable children being threatened by giant robots. If anything could unite the people, it would be that. And once everyone wanted the same thing, the government would try to force the Cybertronians off the planet again. Maybe this time they would actually leave. None of them were entirely sure what happened after the demands for the Autobots to get off the planet were made and the spaceship destroyed, but they probably lied or something.

So with their plan in mind, Tommy and Mike drove to the outskirts of the city to the building serving as a daycare and "borrowed" a few of the kids. While the others taking care of them were in the back, Katie helped sneak out a handful of kids at the perfect age to win over sympathy.

As soon as the six small figures were loaded inside the van, Mike slammed the door shut and Tommy hit the accelerator. People weren't really supposed to be driving back into the main parts of the city. It wasn't completely safe and stable yet. The damage to the buildings and the bodies of the dead... But there were ways to get in. Soldiers and cleanup crews had cleared a few paths.

While Tommy focused on driving, Mike turned around to look at the children crammed in the back. Three girls and three boys. One blond boy in a blue shirt, the youngest and bouncing in his seat. A brown-haired boy in red and a blonde girl in green practically clung to each other. Another brown-haired boy in a striped shirt kept glancing around nervously. A black-haired girl in yellow stared out the window, something about her inescapably sad. And meeting Mike's gaze firmly was a blonde girl with a cast on her arm.

"Where are we going?" asked the girl in the cast. "We're not supposed to leave. Mommy will be really mad at you."

Smiling at the children, Mike said, "Don't worry, Sweetie."

"Annabelle," corrected the child firmly.

The kid couldn't be much older than five or six, but the others were looking towards her. Even the older girl and boy glanced towards her, as if waiting to see what she would say or do next. They were waiting for a hint of how they should react. Maybe it was her tone or how she didn't seem at all nervous or scared about the situation. Or maybe she'd already established some respect with the other children. All Mike knew was that somehow she was the ringleader of these kids.

Well, he could probably handle a six year old girl with a broken arm.

"Okay, Annabelle. No one is going to get in trouble. You're all going to help us with something important."

"Really?" asked the youngest boy.

"Yep. You're going to be in a video on the internet and end up famous."

Mike's phone started ringing, the cell service around Chicago having been reestablished in the days since the battle. Unless Katie was calling to warn someone already figured out what happened to the kids, there was only one person who could be responsible.

"Emily?" he said as he answered. "Scouting go well?"

"Better than expected," said Emily, the excitement clear over the speakers. "I have a surprise. We need to change our plans a little and make it a two-parter, but it'll be worth it. Meet me where we agreed and we'll get started. And tell Tommy to stop scowling. I don't even have to see him to know he's scowling."

Mike shot him a look. Tommy was scowling. Of course his girlfriend would know Tommy was scowling. The couple didn't always get along, but she knew him well.

"All right," Mike said. "We'll see you in five minutes. Ten at the most."

When he hung up, Annabelle asked again, "Where are we going?"

Glancing into the rearview mirror, Tommy said, "We're going to see monsters."

Chapter Text

Life was completely unfair.

He was just minding his own business and then wham!

Actually, he'd actually been doing something nice. All of them had been busy helping since the battle. Search and rescue work in the days immediately following the fight went a lot faster and smoother when scanners could pick up signs of trapped humans in the rubble or people hiding in half-collapsed buildings. They did most of their work in vehicle form so they didn't scare the traumatized humans worse, but it still helped. And Wheelie's small size and his experience as a scavenge drone poking around wreckage of various sorts was useful for once.

Though he did scare a few trapped people when they only saw glowing red eyes in the darkness.

But most of the rescue work was already done. Anyone still left in Chicago was either dead or part of the effort to actually fix the place. And that included his Warrior Goddess and the guy she agreed to actually keep permanently. After all, they didn't have anywhere else to be. Mikaela's boss was a traitor to his entire species. And dead. Very dead. And Sammy-boy's boss was a bit insane after his encounter with Laserbeak, so he wouldn't be returning to his job immediately either. So the pair decided to stay around to help and Wheelie was stuck. They and Bumblebee were his ride back home, after all.

Anyway, he'd just wandered away from Mikaela and Sam for just a moment. He could only stand to watch the newly-engaged couple for limited spans of time without wanting to make a snide comment at the young man, which would not make his Warrior Goddess happy. He didn't even make it that far. He barely started poking at a piece of metal to see if there was anything worth salvaging.

Then something heavy hit him and the next thing he knew, Wheelie woke up in a cage while a teenage human girl smirked and his processor ached.

"What did you do? Hit me with a rock?" he snapped. "I just got repaired from the last time."

"Shut up," said the teenager, kicking the dog cage sharply.

Wheelie flinched and fell back on the kind of behavior that let him survive his time within the Decepticon ranks: he stopped talking and paid attention to his surroundings. Not only was he locked in a metal dog crate, but he was also in a dark room with cracks in the wall. The only light came from an electric lantern. His captor was a tall girl with purple streaks in her hair that the ex-Con was fairly certain did not occur naturally in the species. Her smirk and confidence would have been intimidating, but his first encounter with Mikaela involved a blowtorch to his optic. This lady had nothing on his Warrior Goddess.

He had some options. Wheelie knew he could use his comm to contact someone. But that would mean letting them know about his humiliating situation. Getting captured by some crazy teenage girl and locked in a crate like an animal is not something he was eager to let Sam know about. At least Mikaela had a blowtorch when she caught him the first time. And while he could probably tear his way out of the cage with enough time, the teenage girl was watching and wouldn't give him the chance.

So until he figured out exactly what was happening and what she wanted, Wheelie would keep quiet and wait for his chance. Because eventually she would make a mistake and he would be gone.

And maybe once he escaped, he could sic the Warrior Goddess on her.

The abandoned and half-crumbled building they'd chosen looked like any of the others. There was nothing to really distinguish it from the others, though it was more stable than some. They pulled right up to the doorway with the van. Mike and Tommy climbed out, listened carefully to make sure no one was around, and then yanked open the back doors.

"All right," Mike said. "Everyone stick together and follow us."

None of them appeared eager to follow the teenagers into the dark interior. Most of the children looked afraid. The boy in red and girl in green clung to each other even more tightly than before. The boy in striped shirt had evolved from nervous to almost in tears from fright. And even if he didn't particularly like scaring children, it would definitely help make the right impression.

"Don't cry, Danny," said Annabelle, patting his shoulder. "It's all right, Peter and Gwen. Nothing bad will happen."

"Yeah," the youngest boy said, practically bouncing. "We're on an adventure."

"Right. An adventure," said Mike, digging out his cellphone. "Just make sure not to wander off."

The children fell in line with the practiced ease that only elementary students could achieve. Annabelle took up position at the front while the oldest girl with black hair brought up the rear.

Leading them into the dim interior, Mike turned his cellphone towards Tommy and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Anytime you are," he said.

"Remember, I'll edit everything on my computer before we load it online. So relax. If you mess up or anything, I'll take care of it," said Mike before he started recording, nodding to signal his friend.

"Do you remember when our only enemies were each other? When the only threats came from Earth? Now look at us," said Tommy, trying to sound dramatic and serious. The shadows certainly helped make him seem mysterious. "Our cities are crumbling. Our people are dying. Our children cower in fear. All because of these giant, inhuman, monstrous aliens that invaded our world. Those Cybertronians ruined everything. And the worst part is that they've managed to trick some people into thinking some of them aren't a threat."

"They aren't," Annabelle interrupted. "Decepticons are the bad robots. Autobots are nice."

"Hey," hissed Tommy.

"Just keep going," Mike said. "I'll edit it out later."

Trying to recapture his momentum, Tommy said, "Don't be fooled by the propaganda. They are not our friends. They are not our allies. All these transforming robots are alike."

"No," she interrupted again, glaring at the teenagers. "Autobots have blue eyes. Decepticons have red ones. And they're really mean. They're nothing alike."

"Untrustworthy," said Tommy through gritted teeth, trying to continue as if the girl never spoke. "Violent. Dangerous. They are not like us. They don't have hearts."

"They have sparks."

"They don't have any real feelings."

"Do too," Annabelle shouted. "They're people. They're not human, but they're still people. Stop lying."

"All Cybertronians are murderous monsters and we should drive them from our home while we still have the chance," said Tommy, raising his voice to be heard over the angry child.

"That's dumb. Carl was a bully at my school and has red hair. That doesn't mean all red-heads are bullies. And not all Cybertronians are bad either."

"This is our world. Not theirs. We won't let them take it," shouted Tommy.

"The Autobots don't want to steal," the girl yelled back, stomping forward and glaring at the taller figure. "We can share. We can all live together. We can be friends."

"I'd like that," said the black-haired girl, smiling weakly.

Clearly growing frustrated with the situation, Tommy grabbed Mike's arm so he could point the cell phone at the children and said, "Look at what they've already taken from us. Look at these children orphaned by those aliens."

"Nuh-uh," the young blond boy said. "Daddy is helping fix the city. So are Annabelle's parents. And Danny's family is just missing."

Ignoring the correction, Tommy said firmly, "Think of the children. Is this what you want for their future? Are these the horrors you want them to face?"

"Hey," shouted Emily, stepping out of the back room. Mike could already tell he'd be cutting a lot of footage during editing. "What's with all the shouting?"

"Your boyfriend being dramatic," Mike said. "What's your surprise?"

Smirking proudly, she said, "I found a way to get them closer to one of those things than we expected."

"Are you crazy? We don't want the kids to get hurt," he said.

"Trust me. They'll be safe. But It'll like great on your video," said Emily. "Just make sure to record the kids' reactions. It should be epic."

Mike loved the sound of that. He would need something epic if he wanted this video to gain popularity and attention all over the internet.

Unfortunately, while they were distracted by Emily's arrival, the angry little girl decided she was done playing nice. With her uninjured arm, Annabelle threw a punch straight towards Tommy. And even more unfortunate, she was a child and thus short. Due to her height, a certain piece of vulnerable anatomy ended up taking the hit and making Mike wince in sympathy. Tommy fell to the ground while snarling in pain.

On the bright side, Mike got the whole thing on video. Even if he edited it out for the main video, he could still laugh over it later.

"You brat," snarled Tommy, his voice a breathless whisper.

"You meanie," she snapped back, glaring down at him. The girl looked like she was on the verge of tackling the downed teenager and continuing her attack. "Stop lying and saying mean things. I don't like you. You're a big meanie."

"You're loud and scary," added Danny.

"I don't like you either," the black-haired girl said. "You've been angry the whole time and I don't think we should have gone with you."

Finally letting go of Gwen, Peter said, "Izabella is right. We should go back. We're going to get in trouble and I don't like it here."

"You made Annabelle mad," said the young blond boy. "That wasn't nice."

By the time Tommy staggered back upright, the children were on the verge on a full-on rebellion. And Annabelle was at the center of it all, glaring up at the teenagers without a hint of hesitation. A blonde little girl in a cast and a heart t-shirt should not give off the impression of a general leading her troops into battle. She wore pink shorts and was tiny. She shouldn't be intimidating.

"Calm down," Mike soothed, placing himself between the girl and Tommy. He didn't want his friend lashing out at the child for hurting him. "We're all on edge. I get it. But let's be nice about this. Just help us out a little longer and we'll take you back. And I promise Tommy won't yell anymore. We just want to show you a couple things and film it."

The kids glanced towards Annabelle while she stared at Mike suspiciously. Slowly, she nodded at him.

"Okay," said Annabelle. "Be nice and I won't hit the mean liar again. But Mommy will be really mad. She'll make you really sorry when we get back."

Ruffling the child's hair briefly, Emily said, "Don't worry about it, shrimp. She won't find out. And even if she does, it won't be that bad."

For some reason, that made Annabelle grin. It wasn't a reassuring expression.

Chapter Text

Shouts from the other room drew his captor away. And the instant the teenager was out of sight, Wheelie started attacking the cage. Unfortunately, the wire mesh was too closely-woven for him to get a servo through, so he couldn't reach the latch or hinges. The best he could do was to try to pry at the corner of the door. If he could bend it enough, maybe he could squeeze out.

He tried. Wheelie struggled against the cage like Soundwave was after him. But even though he managed to bend the door a little, he ran out of time. Footsteps and voices gave him slight warning. A group of humans were returning.

Three taller figures were teenagers, one the female who stuck him in the cage and two brown-haired males. All of them looked tough enough to tie Sam in a knot. Wheelie immediately determined the trio to be typical examples of teenagers based on his admittedly-limited exposure to the age group. Impulsive, annoying, not particularly bright, but still dangerous. Kind of like Mudflap and Skids.

One of them held his cellphone out, apparently recording the entire thing. Maybe he wanted to just share it with his friends, but it was more likely the teenager intended to share it with the world via the internet. And that meant that even if Barricade hadn't mentioned it yet, the Decepticons would discover Wheelie's betrayal as soon as the teenager loaded it. There was no possible way that Soundwave wouldn't be monitoring the internet closely for anything to do with Cybertronians.

Well, it wasn't like they wouldn't figure out he was alive eventually.

Accompanying them were half a dozen smaller children. Most of them looked a little nervous as they entered, but catching sight of him pushed them closer to actual fear. Red optics glowing in the dark couldn't be reassuring after what the Decepticons did recently. At least none of them were crying yet.

But front and center of the children, looking far more confused and surprised than afraid, was a blonde girl that Wheelie really should have expected. Because of course Annabelle showed up. The kid managed to get into a warzone on her own. Showing up in a half-broken building with crazy teenagers was far less impressive.

Annabelle's eyes locked briefly on his optics, examined the cage, and glanced towards the teenagers. Something about her expression was reminding Wheelie less of Ironhide and more of Sarah Lennox. And that was terrifying in a completely different way.

"Well," he said in a dull voice, "that's it. We're all dead."

A couple of children squeaked in fear at his words. Annabelle, however, was startled into a few giggles. Whatever her previous thoughts that his current situation sparked, she was now distracted away from them.

"No, I'm serious. We all know that somehow this will be my fault, so your mother will off-line me. And then she'll go after the teenagers over there," Wheelie gestured vaguely at them while a hint of hysteria crept into his voice, "for dragging you out here. And then she'll go after whoever was supposed to be watching you right now."

"Katie," she said.

"Whatever her name is, she's going to die from your mother," continued Wheelie. "Even if no one else gets involved in the slaughter, your mother will wipe out everyone. Between her, Warrior Goddess, and you, the femmes of your species are scary."

"We're not scary."

"Are you kidding me? Everyone is scared of your mother for a reason. It's called 'not wanting to die horribly.' No one wants to make her angry because she's dangerous."

Breaking out of their stunned silence, the teenage boy with the cellphone said, "But... But you should be scared of it."

"Why?" asked Annabelle, sounding honestly confused by the very idea. "He's not scary. He's small."

"But he's got red eyes," one of the young boys whispered. "Isn't that bad?"

Stepping towards the cage, she said, "Well, that's because he used to be a bad robot, Peter. But not anymore."

"Well, duh," said Wheelie. "The Decepticons are a bunch of psychopathic jerks. I jumped ship the moment I found out it was an option. Autobots are a lot less volatile overall and less likely to crush me into pieces for fun."

The other children started approaching him, more curious now than scared. Annabelle's proximity and lack of concern was clearly reassuring to them. The black-haired girl even seemed to be smiling a little. The teenagers, on the other hand, seemed to be growing frustrated as they watched whatever plan they had spiral out of control.

Good. If they were determined to ruin his day, then they deserved to get upset too.

"You... know each other," the teenage girl said.

"The Mini-Ironhide you dragged in here? Yeah, I know her. And you made a big mistake messing with her. It never ends well," he said. "Her family is dangerous."

"What's your name?" asked the smallest child, practically bouncing.

"His name's Wheelie," Annabelle said, her fingers burying into the wire mesh of his cage. "And no, he's not a baby robot. He's just little."

Dropping his head briefly, he muttered, "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"

All the children started giggling and crowded around his cage excitedly. They started chatting between themselves, talking about why they thought he was so small and wondering what he transformed into. The older humans were glaring at the entire scene.

"I don't know how much footage I can salvage from this," said the teenage boy recording with his cellphone.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know the kids wouldn't be scared of the thing?" the teenage girl asked. "Not my fault you and Tommy picked the one child who is too crazy to stay away from the little creep."

"They didn't pick me," Annabelle whispered with a mischievous grin. "I jumped in."

Of course she did. Because why wouldn't she?

As she reached for the latch, Tommy's behavior became more aggressive and he snarled, "What are you doing?"

"Letting him out," she said firmly.

"No, you're not," continued Tommy. "You can't let that little monster loose. He's dangerous."

"You're kidding," Wheelie said dryly. "I'm a fraction of your size and I don't have weapons. Your girlfriend with anger issues took me down with a rock. How dangerous could I be?"

Glaring at them, Annabelle said, "You hurt him?" Wheelie saw her shifting her weight back and forth, as if she wanted to launch herself at the larger humans and was trying to restrain herself so that she didn't leave him undefended. "Picking on someone smaller than you and locking him up? I don't like bullies."

"Bullying is wrong," added the youngest boy.

"You're not letting that thing out," the teenage girl said firmly.

"I'm not leaving him here," said Annabelle, just as stubborn. "He's my friend. And 'Kaela likes him a lot and is probably worried about him." She glanced at the other children. "Izabella? Danny? Want to help me?"

Two children nodded and reached for the cage. Annabelle only had one hand to use, but she still helped by grabbing a corner. The three children picked it up, making Wheelie wobble slightly as he nearly lost his balance. None of the teenagers looked happy. She didn't seem to care.

"Kids giggling over the Cybertronian doesn't really send the right message," muttered the teenage girl. "Hard to prove they're evil that way."

"Is there any footage we can use, Mike" asked Tommy.

The guy with the cellphone turned it off and said, "I don't know. The earlier stuff should be fine once I get rid of the interruptions, but I won't know if we can salvage anything about the smaller Cybertronian until I go back and edit it."

Well, that offered some possibilities. If those teens wanted to make a movie, then so be it. But maybe the world deserved a more honest version. One that had no editing.

Cellphones were designed to broadcast information and they didn't have the best security in place, even by the standards of their species. A youngling could hack into it. While Annabelle and the other children carried the cage towards the door, Wheelie silently hacked into the cellphone, found the file of the recording, and uploaded it on every single video sharing and streaming website he could find. He then tracked down all three of the teenagers' social media, posted the un-edited video to ensure all their friends would get a good look, and left a little note about why kidnapping children was never a good idea. Without any outward indication of what he was up to, Wheelie exposed the teenagers to the world.

Granted, Soundwave would definitely find out he was still on-line and let the rest of the Decepticons know about his betrayal. But since Barricade didn't intend to use him as a mole, he would tell them eventually. And unfortunately Wheelie wouldn't be able to hide his capture and incarceration from the Autobots and especially Sam. Wheelie had decided making the trio look like idiots was worth the minor humiliation.

"Fine," growled Tommy. "Bring the little monster if you want. But it stays in the cage." He turned towards the teenage girl. "Did you at least track down one of the big ones, Emily?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah, I found some. A big, scary-looking one that's armed to the teeth and a slightly smaller one that's still decently-sized. And they're separate from the soldiers, so that shouldn't be an issue."

Considering the fact that any surviving Decepticons had cleared out of the city and went back into hiding, Emily must have spotted some Autobots helping with cleanup. And that meant this wouldn't be fatally stupid. It wouldn't get them killed. At least not until Sarah Lennox eventually arrived. So Wheelie decided not to say a word and let the teenagers herd the children out of the building. They would learn their mistake soon enough.

"Don't worry," whispered Annabelle. "I won't let them hurt you anymore. And I'll get you out as soon as they aren't looking."

Briefly imagining what she and her surprisingly-loyal army of children would do if the teenagers tried to take him back, Wheelie said, "I know. But until then, I'm going to enjoy the show. Just... make sure and tell your mother this isn't my fault. I don't want her to off-line me."

That set off another round of muffled giggles from the children and a few frustrated glares from the teenagers, the trio unable to hear the quiet exchange. Wheelie allowed himself to feel smug. He had a feeling that the next stage in their plan would be entertaining.

Chapter Text

Hot and tired from ensuring crowds of displaced people and volunteers didn't go hungry, Sarah allowed herself to feel momentarily proud of her accomplishments. She knew from past disasters that the government could occasionally be slow to organize and respond with the necessary supplies and personnel and smaller organizations could only do so much on their own. And during that time frame, people would only suffer more. But the people on site around Chicago were surprisingly competent. And once Sarah asserted herself a little and stressed to those in power to send the required resources now, things went amazingly smoothly.

Not to mention Dutch was quite helpful at organizing things. Until Simmons contacted him again (and possibly made bail), the strange man seemed content to assist her. Or at least was too afraid to anger her by leaving yet.

As Sarah looked over her prepared lunches waiting to be sent to the improvised daycare, an uneasy feeling began prickling at the back of her skull and made the woman frown. Something was wrong. She didn't know what it was or how she knew, but something was wrong.

She had to see her daughter.

She wouldn't call it paranoia. After how many times recently Annabelle had vanished, Sarah couldn't take any chances. If her maternal instincts were warning her this strongly that something was wrong, Sarah would be checking on her little girl.

"Everything is loaded and ready for delivery, Mrs. Lennox," said Dutch, looking over his list as he finished counting. "I shall return after the children have their lunch. Then we can see if the-"

"I'm coming with you," she interrupted, climbing into the passenger seat of the dirty white truck.

"Wait, what?" yelped the man in his German accent. "I mean, whatever you say."

"Alexis," she called, catching the attention of the brown-haired young woman. "I'll be right back. You're in charge while I'm gone."

Without another word, Dutch climbed in and started the vehicle. The improvised daycare wasn't actually that far away. But it was easier to transport that much food by driving it there. Then they would pass it out to the kids and the caretakers/babysitters and return. It was simple and practical.

But as they pulled up to the emptied store, Sarah couldn't banish the nagging feeling that something was still wrong. So rather than immediately helping Dutch unload, she decided to take a quick peek inside. Once she assured herself that Annabelle was fine, she would be able to relax and focus again.

The first thing she saw was all the children running around under the supervision of a handful of teenagers. Sarah knew that many of the kids were now orphans or at least missing family members. That knowledge made her heart clench in sympathy. When everything settled down a little and people could focus on less immediate concerns, social services would eventually get involved and start shuffling them off to foster care. They would be scattered across the country to wherever there was space and their entire lives were completely turned upside-down. Nothing would ever be the same for so many of them.

The cost of war was not just the lives lost or the buildings destroyed. It was also the effects it had on those left behind to pick up the pieces.

The second thing that Sarah noticed was that she didn't see her daughter.

"Annabelle?" she called, hoping she was wrong. When a familiar blonde head didn't appear, Sarah tried again louder. "Annabelle!"

Trying to shove down the panic fluttering around her chest, Sarah turned towards the teenagers who were supposed to be watching over them. A few instantly grew pale under the force of her gaze.

"Where," she said slowly, "is my daughter?"

None of them wanted to meet her eyes now. A couple started backing away and another grabbed a child to use as a human shield. Sarah stared at them, waiting for one to break down or for someone to reveal themselves as the weakest member of the herd.

And as predicted, a black-haired teenage girl with multiple piercings suddenly tried to make a run for it.

"Dutch," Sarah said sharply as the girl practically plowed through the children in a panic.

The woman had no clue what he used to do before working for Simmons, but it certainly left Dutch with impressive reflexes. Sarah blinked and he was across the room, dropping the teenage girl like a football tackle. By the time Sarah reached them, Dutch had wrenched the teenager's arms behind her back and pinned her to the ground. It looked exactly like a police officer arresting a resisting suspect. The teenager was struggling, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I believe you were about to tell me where my daughter is," Sarah said, letting some of her anger bleed into her voice.

"Get this psycho off me," snapped the teenage girl. "Leave me alone."

Dutch wrenched her to her feet and forced her to meet Sarah's gaze. The teenager instantly froze like a deer in headlights.

"Tell me everything," Sarah ordered. "Now."

Izabella didn't want to think about what happened to her family or what would happen to her now. It was just too sad, scary, and confusing. Thinking about it too much would just make her cry and crying never solved anything. She needed to be strong and tough. She could take care of herself. She would be fine.

That's what she tried to do when she first ended up with all the other kids. And then Annabelle showed up. She was so nice, friendly, and cheerful. And even if she was younger than Izabella, wore a cast, and had bruises still in the process of healing, there was something about Annabelle that seemed so brave and strong. She was always ready to help. Lots of kids flocked to her because Annabelle always acted like she wasn't scared of what happened. She was comforting and reassuring to be around.

They didn't have to be as strong because Annabelle would be strong enough to help everyone.

And now it made sense. Annabelle knew the Cybertronians. She really knew them. They weren't these huge and vague threats that so many people seemed to imagine. They were people she recognized. So all those times where she talked about Autobots and Decepticons, trying to cheer everyone up and comfort them, she really knew all about them.

Izabella looked at the cage they were carrying again. Or rather, she looked at the small robot inside. He was completely different than the giant ones who attacked and killed everyone. He was small and funny. Izabelle already knew that not all Cybertronians were bad, but this was the first nice one she'd actually met.

How many Autobots did Annabelle know? A lot? Could Izabella meet more of them?

...Were Tommy, Mike, and Emily taking them to see more? That's what it sounded like they planned to do. Izabelle didn't like them and Annabelle was right when she called them bullies. But the kids were still following the trio through the rubble-filled streets. She didn't know about the others, but she really wanted to see more good robots.

She hadn't been excited for anything since the Decepticons attacked and took away everything. Now she wanted more than anything to meet more Autobots. She wanted to see something amazing and good.

But if the teenagers tried to do anything mean or Annabelle decided she was done putting up with their lies, Izabelle and the others would make them sorry. Annabelle already hit the biggest and scariest one for what he said. And there were a lot more kids than teenagers.

Izabella noticed that Annabelle kept looking at the trio and the door of the cage. She clearly wanted to let Wheelie out. And Izabella wanted to help. Maybe she and the other children could distract the teenagers later. It shouldn't be hard.

"We need to be quiet and be careful now," Emily hissed abruptly. "We're getting close. We don't want them to know we're here."

"And then in the third grade, I cheated on my math test," Katie sobbed pitifully. The terrified teenager tried to confess everything to the woman as ordered, unwilling to risk making things worse. "Then I started that rumor about Rachel when I was thirteen, the one about her and Eric-"

"Stop," snapped the woman. Katie instantly obeyed. "So your friends kidnapped my daughter and other children, loaded them into a van, and drove them into Chicago itself. Which is still dangerous because not all the structures are stable anymore. And your friends did this for a video?"

Katie frantically nodded her head. She was shaking like a Chihuahua in a snowdrift and her face was all puffy from terrified sobbing. The weird man who'd tackled her had taken pity earlier and handed her tissues from his pocket. Katie knew she must look like a mess, but she was too scared to care.

Her anger was like a physical thing, overwhelming and intense as it struck. The woman was a force of nature. Like a hurricane. She was powerful, frightening, and impossible to stop. She didn't lay a hand on the teenagers, but she didn't have to. Not yet. The force of her emotions and personality were causing enough damage already. All Katie could do was hope the woman's fury didn't wipe her from existence.

"How dare you? We trusted you with our children and you used them," said the woman, her words so cold they burned. "You and your friends are using them to be famous. To spread fear and hate. To do whatever you want without a single thought about them or their families."

"Mike said they'd bring the kids right back," Katie sobbed, cringing under her gaze. "No one would even notice they were gone. That's what they said. The kids would be safe."

"And what if something happened?" snapped the woman sharply. "What if someone got hurt? Or lost. What if a Decepticon is still hiding there, keeping out of sight after the battle? How would you handle that? What would you do if that happened and you had to look a grieving parent in the eye and tell them that you got their child killed just so you could make a video to post on the internet?"

"I'm sorry. We just wanted... I'm sorry. We were stupid. I shouldn't have let them. Please let me go," she begged desperately.

"Not a chance. You're going to help me find them. And they better be safe or so help me, I'll come up with something that'll make Megatron pity you." The woman glanced at the strange and now-very-pale man. "Dutch, bring her to the truck."

"Yes, Mrs. Lennox. Don't kill me," he said frantically.

They hurried past the other caretakers and children, the group having wisely decided to go unload lunch rather than hang around for the interrogation. There were only two seats in this truck model, so Katie was directed towards the bed of the truck. She would have to ride in the back like a load of gravel.

Technically, there was nothing to keep her in the vehicle. She could jump out and make a run for it at any time. There was nothing holding her back.

Nothing except blind overwhelming terror of the angry and protective mother in the passenger's seat.

Chapter Text

When the teenage girl warned they were close to their destination, Wheelie started climbing the walls and pressing himself against the ceiling of the cage. He wanted to get a glimpse of whichever Autobot the teenagers had tracked down. If it was Optimus, they wouldn't face anything worse than a speech and an attempt to demonstrate the Autobots meant no harm. If it was the twins, Wheelie knew it would be hilarious and annoying to watch. And if it was someone like Mirage or Sideswipe, it would be something completely different. If he knew who the teenagers found, he might be able to predict what would happen.

Regardless, Wheelie knew it would be interesting. Annabelle Lennox would ensure that. And the ex-Con would use it to ruin the teenagers' plans further. The first video was already gaining a large number of comments of the various sites. Some people remarked on how dumb the hate speech sounded, others praised the children for standing up to the teenagers, and almost all of them complimented on Annabelle's punch. The video was a hit and people would definitely watch more. Wheelie was already hacking the cellphone, starting the recording process and putting it on the internet live.

Streaming it live would be for the best. No one would want to miss whatever happened next.

"All right," whispered Mike as they crept to the corner of the building. "Let's see what we've got." Glancing at his cellphone, he frowned briefly and said, "Huh. Guess I left it on. I'll have to cut out the extra. Anyway, stay close and we'll show you some of the really scary giant robots."

A couple of the small children cringed at the idea, but most of them simply glanced at Annabelle to reassure themselves that she wasn't afraid. And as long as she wasn't scared, they knew it would be fine. They trusted her judgment.

And while the teenagers focused on whoever lay across the street, Annabelle hissed, "Don't worry. It's almost time. Just follow my lead."

He wasn't sure if she was speaking to him or the kids, but Wheelie finally caught a glimpse of two larger figures as the humans leaned around the building currently serving as cover for the group. And he instantly recognized the black mech with the cannons and the blue femme who were currently shifting rubble. The small Cybertronian struggled not to burst out laughing. It was too perfect. Of all the Autobots the teenagers could have tracked down, they found the ones who would be the most entertaining.

They had Ironhide's favorite youngling. There was no way they could get away with that. And whatever happened would have a live audience all across the internet.

Clearing out debris and assessing the stability of the buildings still standing was not the most exciting task. Honestly, it was fairly monotonous compared to combat. But Ironhide threw himself into the work. While Lennox and his men focused on areas closer to where other people might stumble upon them, he and Chromia put their efforts into more discreet locations.

The recovery efforts gave him something to focus on. He did not have to think about how Annabelle was seriously harmed and could have easily been killed. Time was not diminishing his horror of that fact. She was kidnapped from her home when he was not there to protect her and then she charged onto a battlefield, so small and vulnerable to the dangers. Even though she survived and was healing, the fact she was placed in such danger still made his spark ache. The one thing in his existence untouched by the war was nearly lost all because of Sentinel Prime and his betrayal.

Another thing the work distracted him from was the conversation. Specifically, the conversation with Chromia where she stated she couldn't stand to lose anyone else important to her. Ironhide knew there would have been more to the conversation if they hadn't been interrupted. He was not certain what he or she would have said to each other next, but the mech knew it would have changed things. And while Ironhide would happily fight any foe without hesitation and could not be considered a coward by any definition, he was fine leaving that conversation on hold a little longer.

Perhaps the monotonous task was distracting him more than expected. Otherwise Chromia wouldn't have been the first to notice something unusual. He at least paid attention enough for Ironhide to see when her posture shifted and her gaze turned.

"Chromia?" he asked.

"We have an audience," said the femme softly.

"An audience?"

Now that he actually paid attention, his sensors could pick up a small group of humans. And not soldiers. Six of them were too small to be adults. Three older humans were with them, so at least the children were not alone. But the group hiding just out of sight had no reason to be wandering around Chicago while the city was in its current state.

"Should we make certain they aren't in trouble or would it be better to contact Will to deal with them?" Ironhide asked quietly. "We would not want to frighten the younglings."

Nodding slowly, she said, 'They have faced enough hardship from the Decepticons in recent days and may be skittish. They are not all like Annabelle."

Then, thoroughly interrupting any attempt to discuss the situation further, high-pitched shrieks erupted from the humans' hiding place. There was a lot of scrambling and yelling. Ironhide was about to ignore the possibility of frightening the small children and go over to ensure none of them were harmed from whatever threat was causing the chaos. But then one of them broke cover, running towards him and Chromia.

"Look at them," whispered Mike, recording first the Cybertronians across the street before panning towards the gathered children. "What do you think of these scary robots? Give us your honest opinions."

"Especially if you're afraid of them," Emily said quietly. "Tears would be perfect."

He knew it would take a lot of editing to make the video useable. Mike knew that their plans had gone off the rails. None of the children were behaving the way they expected, mostly due to one little girl. Annabelle, the rebel leader, was throwing the entire thing off by encouraging the others not to be afraid.

But Mike knew he, Tommy, and Emily would get it back on course. Annabelle might somehow know the tiny Cybertronian and was able to convince her friends that he wasn't dangerous. The size and the fact he was in a cage probably helped. But these were full-sized versions of the species. And the black one looked especially dangerous. The children would be afraid of them. There was no other possibility. And he would get it all on film.

"Behold the monsters of your nightmares," hissed Tommy, trying to be dramatic and keep his voice down at the same time. "You know what they're capable of. You know they are dangerous. They'll kill you if you give them a chance. They are pure evil."

A loud, shrill, wordless shout of fury was all the warning they received before an angry six-year-old girl hit the back of Tommy's knees so they bent and unbalanced him enough for him to fall. Annabelle's attack also seemed to serve as a signal for the other children to start tackling, kicking, and slapping the teenagers. Mike stumbled backwards, wincing at the small feet hitting his shins. They were absolutely vicious.

Then his frustration turned to fear as the small Cybertronian started climbing up Mike's shirt. He never even saw Annabelle open the cage. The teenager desperately swatted at the blue figure, falling to the ground and screaming.

"Hold still," snapped the Cybertronian. "I'm not hurting you, even if that girl stuck me in a cage. You're just being replaced as a cameraman."

And with that, he yanked the cellphone from Mike's hand and jumped off. But before the teenager could climb back to his feet, Luke flung himself onto his chest to try pinning Mike down. The impact knocked the wind out of him.

Screams of surprise and pain from the teenagers and shrieks for rebellion from the children filled the air. Mike could already feel bruises forming from the fall. Then, as he tried to straighten out his scrambled and confused thoughts, he realized they'd lost track of one of the children in the chaos.

At some point after her initial attack on Tommy, Annabelle had vanished.

Chapter Text

Annabelle knew that Mommy and Ironhide didn't want her hitting people. Mostly because Ironhide would rather deal with bullies for her instead. Otherwise Carl would have been punched a lot more.

But Tommy deserved every hit. He was mean and a liar. And when he started saying bad things about Ironhide and Chromia specifically, Annabelle started the real attack. She released Wheelie from the cage, knocked the teenager to the ground, and saw the other kids lash out as they followed her lead. Once she accomplished that, Annabelle ran.

She saw Ironhide and Chromia's surprise when she broke cover. They didn't expect her there. But he recovered quickly and managed to meet her partway. And no matter how angry she was at the dumb teenagers, wrapping her uninjured arm briefly around his leg instantly brightened her mood. Her best friend could always cheer her up.

"What are you doing out here, Annabelle?" he asked, tilting his head. "Do your parents know where you are?"

"No," admitted the girl. "But I had to come. My new friends needed me. They were stolen by the teenagers with a van, so I came too. And then Wheelie needed help. And those dumb, mean teenager were being a bunch of lying bullies."

A large metal hand patted her comfortingly. Annabelle smiled in response and leaned into the contact a little more. This was nice. She couldn't wrap both arms around him right now, but she could still give him half a hug and enjoy the sturdy reliability of his presence. And the one good thing about being sort-of kidnapped was that she didn't have to wait for the end of the day to see him.

"I see," Ironhide said evenly. He spoke the words calmly, but she could hear a slight edge to them. "They stole the other children?"

"Katie helped them and she was supposed to be watching us, so I don't know if that means they really kidnapped us or not. But Mommy will still be mad."

"Many people will not be happy with them, Annabelle."

Yep. Like Ironhide. She briefly wondered if he planned to use his cannons on the mean teenagers. He said he would help her with Carl that way once. And Tommy deserved it a lot more.

He deserved to be hit by her. And scared by Ironhide's cannons. And by Mommy. Bullies should be punished for being mean.

"Wheelie, where'd you go?" Sam shouted, climbing over another pile of rubble. "Get out here, robo-rat." Glancing back at his fiancée, he added, "'Kaela, I'm actually starting to worry about the little guy."

"I told you," said Mikaela. "He doesn't just wander off like this."

Since the day she burned out his optic, attached a chain to him, and shoved him in a metal box, Wheelie stuck around. He annoyed Sam to death, but the ex-Con was devoted to Mikaela. And there was no way he'd go very far from her while they were hanging out in the warzone version of Chicago. His "Warrior Goddess" would not approve. And while he did seem to have some respect for Optimus Prime, Sam had no doubts in his mind who held most of Wheelie's respect, loyalty, and obedience.

Only 'Kaela could Stockholm Syndrome a Decepticon this much.

"Because he knows who's the boss of him. And he doesn't want to run into a Decepticon and get killed."

"Which is probably what's happened. I just finished repairing him and he's probably scrap metal now."

Trying to reassure her, Sam said, "I'm sure he's not dead. He's got more lives than a cat."

He honestly was tougher than his size would suggest. Wheelie survived their misadventure to Egypt and the Fallen incident. He and the others survived the spaceship exploding, though that was because they were prepared for an attack. And he survived another spaceship crashing during the battle, the same crash that crushed Brains. So Sam felt confident that the little pest was fine.

Though there were still enough small doubts whispering at the back of his mind that he wanted to make sure. After all, Wheelie was an annoying pest, but he was one that Sam had grown accustomed to dealing with. It would be weird if he was gone. And Mikaela would certainly be upset.

He was worried for Mikaela's sake. That was it. Definitely.

...He really needed to learn how to lie better.

A loud whistle caught both of their attentions, making the young adults snap around to face their companion. Bumblebee tapped the side of his head before gesturing towards one of the side streets. Sam didn't even need a sound clip to understand.

"Got a message from one of the others, Bee? Anything to do with our missing ex-Con?"

"You got it, partner."

Smiling at the line that sounded like it came from a Western, Sam glanced back at Mikaela and said, "There you go. Let's go grab him before something else happens."

Izabelle pinned down Tommy after Annabelle jumped off, Danny joining her with an anxious expression. The dark-haired girl glared down at the teenager. She wouldn't let him get away. Annabelle was depending on them. And it made Izabelle feel better to fight back against someone who deserved it, even if it was Tommy rather than the Decepticons who took everything from her.

But then she caught sight of where the younger girl ran and Izabella froze. Annabelle was right next to the biggest and scariest Cybertronian that Izabella ever saw so close. But she didn't seem to notice the size or the weapons. Annabelle just looked so happy, casually chatting with the giant robot.

He was another good one. Like Wheelie. He was a good and nice Cybertronian.

He was Annabelle's friend.

Snarling words that Izabella's parents would have never allowed under their roof, Tommy rolled out from under the two children. Izabelle glared up from where he knocked her and Danny off. He scrambled to his feet, backing away as he appeared to realize the Cybertronians knew exactly where they were.

"Tommy," shouted Mike, spotting his friend's retreating, "where are you going? What about the kids?"

"Leave them," he yelled back. "Every man for himself. Come on, Emily."

After acting so smart and tough the whole time, he was running away. Izabella couldn't believe it. The teenager was abandoning them. He was leaving them behind.

Coward.

Izabella flung herself to her feet, snatched up a rock, and threw it at Tommy's retreating form. She missed, the rock bouncing off the rubble. But a large blue shape skated in front of the teenager, cutting him off.

"What's your hurry?" asked the blue Cybertronian, balanced comfortably on her tires as she stared down at them. "I don't believe we've even had a proper introduction yet. But you seem to know our Annabelle. Perhaps you should stay a while."

"We insist," the black Autobot said, stepping towards them with Annabelle.

The words were friendly, but there was a dangerous hint in their tones. It wasn't directed towards Izabella or the other children. But the teenagers' eyes seemed wider as they stared up at the towering figures.

Holding up a cellphone as he scurried between Izabella and Danny to get a good angle, Wheelie said, "Yeah, the whole leaving the kids behind to save yourself thing? That's really not going to go over well with your fans. Even if they aren't in any danger, you still thought you were leaving the kids to die."

Kneeling down to his level, Izabella asked, "Hey, you know them, right?"

"Chromia and Ironhide? Yeah. She and her sister turn into motorcycles. And he's a trigger-happy weapon specialist who turns into a truck when he isn't keeping an optic on Annabelle," he described.

"And they... fought the bad robots? The Decepticons? The ones who attack here?"

"All of us did, but they probably took out a big chunk of them. Ironhide is especially good at blasting bots to pieces."

"Can... can you introduce me?"

They fought the Decepticons and drove them out of Chicago. They fought the giant robots that destroyed Izabella's entire world. They might have even fought the Decepticons who specifically killed her family.

The Autobots were heroes. Annabelle's friends were heroes who made all the horrible things stop. And for that, Izabella would always be grateful.

Wheelie glanced at the confused and intrigued children, the looming pair of Cybertronians on either side of the group, and the cowering teenagers. And the entire time, he was capturing everything with the cellphone in his hand.

He then shrugged and said, "Sure. Let's get all of Mini-Ironhide's little friends together and do this right. She can help with introductions. She said your name is Izabella, right?"

"Yes. With a 'Z.' But you can call me 'Izzy' if you like," she said, holding out a hand.

He stared at it a moment, his red eyes difficult to read. Then he chuckled slightly and accepted the offered handshake.

"This is definitely less painful than my first meeting with Warrior Goddess. Come on then, Izzy."

Chapter Text

Whatever Sam expected Bumblebee to lead them to, this wasn't it.

They turned a corner and wandered into a very strange scene. Ironhide was on one side of the open space between damaged buildings and Chromia was on the other, guarding the entire area like a pair of giant gargoyles. In the center sat three teenagers, their expressions wary and watchful. One boy kept getting dirty look from the other two. And scurrying around, climbing all over the Cybertronians and chattering excitedly, was a group of young children.

"Look at who showed up finally," called Wheelie, the tiny ex-Con scrambling into view. He didn't seem to horribly mangled and held a cellphone in his grip, so Sam was right when he said he'd be fine. "Hey, Warrior Goddess! Sammy-boy! Come meet the gang. You'll like them." Turning back briefly toward the children, he added, "If you're done with those two, there's another Autobot here. Not very talkative, but nice."

Bumblebee took that as a cue to move closer. Sam was always amazed at how graceful and easily beings so large could move. He somehow crossed the distance and met a pair of eager children while keeping his movements nonthreatening and friendly. He even helped the girl in a green shirt over a pile of rubble. The cheerful-sounding chirps that came from the transformed Camaro only increased his friendly impression.

Sometimes Sam had to remind himself that he'd seen Bee rip Decepticons apart with his hands in combat.

"What's going on?" Mikaela asked. "And why are you over here, Wheelie? How'd you get here?"

"Funny story. See the one with the purple hair?" said the small Cybertronian, pointing at the teenagers. "She stuck me in a cage while her buddies grabbed a bunch of kids to record freaking out. Too bad for them that Annabelle came along."

"Hi, 'Kaela," shouted the child, waving from her comfortable perch on Ironhide. "Hi, Sam."

"Are they suicidal?" Sam asked. "Mrs. Lennox is going to kill them."

"That's what I told them," said Wheelie. "Anyway, the two clambering over Bee are Peter and Gwen. Danny and Luke are over there with Chromia, though Luke keeps running all over the place. And..." He turned back and looked. "Well, she was over by Ironhide. Izzy, where'd you go?"

A scrambling sound preceded the head of a dark-haired child popping into view. The girl hurried over the rubble to sit down next to the ex-Con. She smiled at Wheelie before glancing towards Bumblebee with a similar look of admiration.

"Izzy? The Warrior Goddess," introduced Wheelie smugly. "Mikaela? Izabella."

She gave the young girl a nod of greetings and Sam waved briefly. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea that the three teenagers were crazy enough and stupid enough to snatch up Annabelle. Messing with the kid was a good way to get killed. Didn't they have any survival instincts?

Then again, Sam remembered chasing a "possessed" Camaro, running through a battle in Mission City, and directly attacking Megatron at the same age. Apparently survival instincts hibernate during the teenage years.

He did notice that the teenage boy in the middle, the one receiving the angry looks from his companions, seemed particularly dumb. While scared, there was still enough anger and hatred that Sam suspected he might try something stupid if given the chance. Kind of like some of the jocks from high school, if he was honest. He was probably the ringleader behind their kidnapping ring.

"Wait," Sam said. "Why did they snatch the kids? Why did they want to record them?"

Scrambling close enough to grab Mikaela's leg for support (though his servos never strayed towards dangerous territory), Wheelie said, "The original owner of this cellphone apparently planned to post it on the internet. Probably hoped to make us look like the bad guys by showing a bunch of crying kids. So the crazy girl hit me with a rock or something and when I wasn't enough to freak them out, they dragged the children out here to see the bigger Cybertronians. Which obviously didn't work either."

"Excuse me?" said Mikaela, a dangerous gleam in her eyes making Sam thankful she wasn't behind the wheel of a vehicle. "She hit you with a rock? And put you in a cage?"

"You burned my optic to a crisp."

Mikaela didn't even respond to the reminder. Sam, Wheelie, and Izabella just stood back and watched the young woman march over towards the teenagers. The trio of prisoners glanced up, but Mikaela's eyes were locked on the one with the purple streaks. She didn't even pause or slow with her movements, so there was no warning about what she intended to do until Mikaela slapped the teenage girl hard across the face.

"Yeowch," Sam said, flinching at the sharp sound. He had to admit, however, that it was kind of hot too. "A bit harsh, don't you think?"

Giving her target a final glare, the teenage girl pressing a hand to the reddening mark on her cheek, Mikaela said, "Like you wouldn't do the same if someone messed with Bee. Wheelie is my responsibility and she's not allowed to get away with something like that."

"See? That's my Warrior Goddess," said Wheelie, grabbing Izzy's arm and shaking it. "And she's not even the scariest femme around here, but she's still tougher than most would guess. She's helped take out several Decepticons. The normal sized ones. And she never even had a real weapon. She uses whatever she can find."

"She's awesome," Izabella said with equal admiration.

Grinning in a way that probably looked a little goofy, Sam said, "And she's going to marry me someday."

"Poor judgment on her part, but nobody's perfect," muttered Wheelie.

While Sam gave him a quick glare, Izabella tried to smother a few giggles. It gave him some mild deja vu. She wasn't exactly like Annabelle, but there she was clearly bonding quickly with the Cybertronians and wasn't afraid to state her mind. But there was a heaviness and cynicism behind her eyes that Annabelle lacked, something no child should carry.

"Well, I'm going to be like her when I grow up," Izabella said.

As she rejoined them, Mikaela reached out and ruffled her dark hair. Maybe Izabella reminded her of the girl she babysat as well.

"Thanks," said Mikaela.

Annabelle surveyed her miniature kingdom from her perch on Ironhide. This was what things should be like. If she ran the world instead of big-headed bureaucrats, the girl knew it would be just like this. All her new friends were getting to know her Autobot friends. The other kids were asking Ironhide, Chromia, and Bumblebee all the questions that Annabelle grew up asking them. Bumblebee even seemed to play with whichever child came over to him, switching through a variety of songs both to communicate and to amuse. Even Sam and Mikaela seemed to be enjoying the interactions, hanging out with Izabella and Wheelie as he filmed everything with his borrowed cellphone. The only sour note was the three teenagers sitting in the middle, guarded by everyone and clearly uncomfortable.

"Big, dumb meanies," she muttered under her breath.

"Not even the twins would have tried such a stunt. They will not be leaving this place without being thoroughly educated on why their actions were a very bad idea," rumbled Ironhide quietly. "That was foolish, dragging all these children out here. What if something happened? Did they believe they could protect all the younglings themselves?"

"That's why I went with them. To take care of everyone."

A soft chuckle shook his frame under the girl, but not enough to dislodge her even with only one fully-functional arm. Annabelle gave him a bright smile. She liked him being happy.

"Your sister was right. There's a whole pack of younglings over here."

The girl's head snapped up, spotting Mirage approaching the small gathering. Accompanying the red mech was the more petite Arcee and the silvery Sideswipe. Annabelle waved at them as the other children gawked at the new arrivals.

"And she and Ironhide were going to keep them all for themselves," said Arcee in a teasing voice. "Too bad. You're going to have to share."

"Robots can have sisters?" Gwen asked in awe, scrambling towards the pink femme while dragging Peter along.

"Yes, we can," said Chromia. "I'd like you to meet Arcee."

"You're really pretty," the girl said. "Both of you."

"And you're very nice," said Arcee.

"Do you turn into a motorcycle too? That's what Chromia turns into, right?"

"I do."

Annabelle grinned. No one ever said it out loud, but she could tell Autobots liked children. She knew Cybertronians lived a long time and she'd never seen a kid robot, even if she'd mistaken Wheelie for one initially. But whenever one of them called her a "youngling," she could tell they treated her like one of their own kids. So letting Cybertronians meet all these children made the Autobots happy and made her new friends happy. And that made her happy.

Plus, it showed all those mean teenagers that they were wrong. It proved that Autobots were good. It proved that they were nice. And it proved that Autobots and humans could be friends. Watching the other kids getting along with the Cybertronians so easily, the teenagers would have to see the truth.

But they would still be in trouble. They weren't nice people. They deserved to be in trouble. They deserved to be punished.

Annabelle's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an approaching vehicle.

Chapter Text

"I still can't believe you tried to run," hissed Emily, glaring at her boyfriend. Or possibly ex-boyfriend. Mike couldn't tell how extreme her ultimate reaction towards Tommy would be. "You wanted to just abandon the kids? What's wrong with you?"

"Better than all of us getting captured or killed," he hissed back. "Now those things have us. We're their prisoners."

Mike had to admit that while it was terrifying to be surrounded by giant robots, it was also kind of cool. If he still had his phone, he would be able to get some amazing footage. It wouldn't help spread the right message. Mike knew that for certain. But a video of so many Autobots up close would probably get more attention than he could even imagine.

The tiny blue one had the cellphone though. So they were stuck sitting on a pile of rubble, no chance of making that video and wondering if they would all end up arrested by the army. Or dead.

They never should have attempted the crazy idea. Or at least they never should have let the girl in the cast climb into the van. That's the point where everything spiraled out of control.

"Why did we even listen to you?" Emily muttered. "We could have avoided all of this."

"We were trying to make a difference. We need to show the world the truth," said Tommy quietly.

Mike said, "And the truth is that we have no idea what we're doing and that you'd sacrifice a whole crowd of children to save your own skin."

"Shut up, Mike," he hissed sharply.

Before any of the teenagers could respond, a white truck pulled up. All the Autobots and children turned to face it. A chill ran up Mike's spine for reasons he couldn't explain.

Then he saw his girlfriend, Katie, in the bed of the truck. Her face was blotchy and her expression terrified. She looked absolutely frozen with fear. It didn't help his sense of unease.

"I think we're about to get in trouble," said the young man who came with the yellow robot.

"How is it our fault?" the dark-haired woman asked. "We weren't even babysitting."

"Doesn't matter. She's on the warpath."

"Who?" asked Izabella.

The truck door opened and a man climbed out. He looked rather ordinary. Then on the passenger side, a woman emerged.

Humans may have evolved to the point where rational thought guided their actions, but they still possessed certain baser instincts. Some of the more animal traits remained. Part of Mike's brain, buried deep below his consciousness, started screaming in terror at the sight of the woman. Like a rabbit trapped beneath the shadow of a hawk, every instinct warned him of danger.

But her gaze didn't immediately lock on them. They turned upwards, searching for something else first.

"Hi, Mommy!" Annabelle called, waving from her perch on the black Cybertronian. "Look! All my new friends are meeting my Autobot friends."

Nodding stiffly, the woman said, "I see that. And these teenagers brought you?" She glanced back at the truck. "Right?"

Katie nodded rapidly, shaking and sniffling. It wasn't a pretty picture.

"Would you like me to deal with them, Mrs. Lennox?" asked the man accompanying her.

"No, Dutch. I can take care of this myself."

Mike felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise at her words. The young man and woman flinched and took a few steps back, moving closer to their yellow robotic companion. All the Autobots stared at her. And even if they weren't human, he could recognize their wary expressions. They were cautious of her. Mike could read all the signs that Mrs. Lennox was a threat.

Tommy, on the other hand, either didn't notice his survival instincts screaming warnings at him or didn't care. Once the woman was identified as the mother of Annabelle, he rose to his feet in challenge. Maybe he felt safer with more humans to witness, certain that the threat of death no longer remained. Maybe he felt more confident with an opponent closer to his size. Or maybe Tommy just couldn't recognize the danger that Mike instinctively noticed.

"You kidnapped these children. You could have gotten them all killed," said Mrs. Lennox, a dangerous edge to her voice.

Marching forward while trying to look as tall and broad as possible, Tommy snarled, "I was trying to show the world the truth. To show everyone the monsters that threaten our world." He stopped right in front of the woman and started poking her shoulder sharply. "But your stupid brat ruined everything. If it wasn't for-"

Her hand abruptly snapped forward during one of his attempt to poke her again, grabbing the offending finger and pushing back in one smooth motion. Mike flinched as Tommy screamed in pain. The teenager collapsed to the ground and cradled his injured hand close to his chest. His index finger was now bent at an unnatural and sickening angle, making it clear that the woman did some damage.

"You will not speak about my child like that," said Mrs. Lennox in a frosty tone. "Especially not after endangering her and others like that for publicity. Do I make myself clear?"

Gasping and whimpering in pain, Tommy scrambled and crawled backwards away from her. The appropriate amount of fear was now on his face as he stared up at the woman with wide eyes. While a few of the children looked unnerved by the brief act of violence, no one else seemed shocked Mrs. Lennox took down someone larger than her so easily.

"I'm so glad I got that on camera," the smallest Cybertronian muttered, still holding Mike's cellphone.

"She broke my finger," said Tommy, somewhere between confused and furious. "That stupid b-"

"Quit complaining," she snapped, cutting him off before he could finish the insult. Tommy flinched at her voice. "I only dislocated it. Unlike some people, I understand the concept of restraint."

The pink Cybertronian said, "I can't tell if she's referring to Ironhide or Sideswipe with that one."

"How is this restraint?" asked Tommy, holding up his injured hand.

"Well, you kidnapped us. And said a lot of mean things. And then you yelled in Mrs. Lennox's face and poked her," Izabella said. "If you can't be nice, then you'll get punished."

"And Mommy is really good making people sorry," added Annabelle.

Judging by Katie's blind terror, Tommy's current state, and the fact that the giant robots seemed cautious of her presence, the child's assessment was completely right. Honestly, Mike now felt more afraid of Mrs. Lennox than of the Autobots. They seemed perfectly content to just keep the teenagers contained and trapped. She wanted punishment for endangering her daughter.

"Is she going to put them in a time out?" asked Luke.

"Are we in trouble too?" Danny asked.

"You are not in trouble," said the large black Cybertronian. "Why should younglings be punished for the actions of their elders and caretakers?" He glared at the trio of teenagers again, causing Mike to flinch as he was reminded of the size of the Autobot in question and the fact that maybe he should still be afraid of them too. "They should have known better."

"They should have," said Mrs. Lennox. "And I will ensure they remember next time." Her arm shot out sharply, pointing at the truck. "All three of you. Get in the bed of the truck with your friend. Now."

Mike, Emily, and Tommy instantly reacted. The idea of hesitating or disobeying never occurred. Cringing, they joined the tear-streaked Katie in the back. Mike didn't think it would be a pleasant return trip. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

"Mommy, can we come back with Ironhide and the others?" Annabelle called. "We'll be good."

"Only if they aren't too busy with cleanup."

"Too busy for Annabelle?" asked Chromia, sounding amused by the very idea. "Never."

"We'll help them with the kids," the dark-haired young woman said. "There should be enough of us around to get them back safe."

"Don't take too long," said Mrs. Lennox. "There could be other parents figuring out the same thing I did."

With that, she and Dutch climbed back into the truck. The engine starting felt like it sealed the teenagers' doom.

"Her mom is a little scary," whispered Izabella.

"You can say that again," Wheelie said as he turned off the cellphone. "I'd hate to see her with weapons."

"That's the stuff of nightmares," said Sam.

Wheelie finished his little project by closing the livestream on the internet, the recording of the event remaining on the various sites just in case someone missed the show. Most of the people were still reacting positively. There were plenty of comments discussing how adorable the children playing with the Autobots looked. And between Annabelle's punch, Mikaela's slap, and Mrs. Lennox's... Mrs. Lennox-ness, almost everyone seemed to agree that the teenagers were jerks and the females were amazing.

"So I guess we better start organizing rides for everyone," said Mikaela, crossing her arms thoughtfully. "We've got six kids and us. And we aren't going to risk more angry parents by putting anyone on bikes without helmets. Sorry Arcee and Chromia. I know you wouldn't let anything happen, but it would still worry them."

"Understandable," Chromia said.

"But I want to ride with Arcee," pleaded Gwen. "She's so pretty. Please? I'll be good."

As Sam and Mikaela moved off to negotiate with the girl on the topic of riding Cybertronian motorcycles, Izabella tapped gently on Wheelie's shoulder. There was some hesitation on her face as she bit her bottom lip, an expression he rarely saw on the cheerful and outgoing Annabelle.

"Does that mean I can ride with Arcee and Chromia then?" she asked quietly.

Tilting his head, Wheelie said, "You heard Warrior Goddess. We don't want another angry and protective parent on a rampage. Annabelle's mom is already enough of a threat."

"But... I don't."

"Don't what?"

Quiet and with clear sadness in her voice, she mumbled, "Don't have any parents. Not anymore. They're gone."

He stiffened at her words. It made sense. Izabelle lost her parents. A lot of people died in Chicago. The Decepticons killed so many humans. Even Brains died and he was at least a little more durable than some of them. The possibility of her family dying in the attack was just too high.

"So... what'll happen to you, Izzy?"

"I don't know. They'll try to find people to take us in," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. "Strangers." Then, frowning stubbornly, she said, "I don't need them. I can take care of myself."

Wheelie stared at the child, someone who clearly adored both the Autobots and Mikaela. Someone with nowhere else to go. Someone who probably could take care of herself. He knew better than to underestimate the species, even the young ones.

But just because you could keep from being killed on your own didn't mean that you couldn't have something better. You could have someone to watch out for you. You could have a guardian, ready to protect and stand beside you. Or a Warrior Goddess.

A crazy idea started rattling around. He knew it was stupid and insane, but... he liked her. And it wasn't like the others didn't do it all the time. Bumblebee had Sam. Ironhide had Annabelle. And while Mikaela had Wheelie instead of the other way around, there was no reason why he couldn't start collecting like the rest of them.

"Well, that plan needs work," said Wheelie. "How about you stay with us instead? You're missing your family and we just lost a buddy of mine. So we should have room. And the Warrior Goddess loves taking in strays like me and Sammy-boy. You'll fit right in."