Transformers - Preparations

Vivian muttered, "The storm has picked up."

Hot Rod hummed, "Don't worry, the base can adjust the temperature as required."

Ron spoke up, "Either way, come along, kiddos, it's really late and new guests or not we will have our hands full tomorrow."

Sam looked at him then the bots, "Go ahead Dad, I still have one last thing to talk about with these guys."

Ron eyed his son before nodding, "Alright, but I expect you three kids in bed by twelve though."

Miles, "You got it."

Raph blinked, "What did you want to talk about?"

Optimus turned to Sam, "Is everything alright?"

Sam, "What's your back up plan big guy?"

Ironhide, "Back up plan?"

Jazz was curious, "Do you think we won't get the Allspark back?"

Sam looked at Jazz, "I won't pretend to know how the rest of the Universe works, but on this planet there is something called Murphy's law."

Miles, "Ahhhh... I see where this is going."

Hot Rod groaned, "I had forgotten about that."

Vivian sighed, "Me too. Well, it's more of a warning than an actual law."

Ratchet curious looked it up, "What in Primus name?"

Sam, "Yup, Anything that can go wrong will go wrong and at the worst possible time."

Raph scratched his neck, "Sam has a point. Do you have a back up plan?"

Optimus was staring at the children before he asked, "I am curious, how bad do you think things will turn out?"

Sam shrugged, "Well, best case scenario you succeed, no one else on this planet finds out about you, you return home and restart your new life."

Arcee tilted her helm, "That's the plan."

Sam, "Worst case scenario, you fail, Allspark gets destroyed and you have no other way to restart your life, the people of this planet find out about you and look at you as an enemy."

Optimus grumbled something under his breath then turned to them, "I have considered those possibilities. If the worse case does happen then, I am afraid we die out as a race."

Sam, "But that's just the worst case. So in order to deal with the Murphy's law, humans prepare for the worst and do our best for the best result."

Ratchet mused, "Hence the back up plans."

Miles, "Yup."

Sam, "Also just because you will fail this mission doesn't mean I, or rather we will leave you out to rot. The Witwickies have always provided a home to Cybertronians. That fact will not change anytime soon."

Raph smiled at Bumblebee, "Agreed."

Bumblebee, :BFF.:

Miles gave Cliffjumper a thumbs up, "Bros before hoes man."

Cliffjumper chuckled, "I know."

Sam, "But, you never know what happens. The Allspark was found by my grandfather but he was not alone. I don't want to be bearer of bad news but I don't recognize the rest of the men."

Optimus, "I see. We may have to deal with other humans."

Vivian, "Human adults who may not be open to your presence like us."

Miles rolled his eyes, "Just call them what they are V. They are racists, though since these guys are a different species, would it be speciest? Is that even a word?"

Raph, "I think racist describes them pretty well, they are a different race too."

Optimus, "I have read about the fights humans got involved with because of their religious and racial belief."

Sam visibly winced, "Went down that hell hole, did you? Yeah, it's not the best part about humanity but it is what it is, I guess."

Jazz poked Sam gently, "You are too young to worry about such things though. If things get bad, we can deal with it, so why do you worry so much?"

Sam, "Well, like I said Murphy's law."

Ironhide, "Aren't you being paranoid?"

Sam looked at the others and looked back at them, "Not really. You guys want to do a head count?"

Raph, "I'll start. The first time I met Sam, we were being threatened by a kidnapper with a gun to our heads."

Ratchet turned sharply to Sam, "Is that where the scar is from?"

Sam nodded, "Yup, second time we were threatened at the bank by a bunch of robbers."

Miles, "Third, Vivi here was almost run over by a car."

Hot Rod growled holding her protectively, "I made sure the neandathral will never get out of prison."

Vivian pat his servo, "And I appreciate it. The fourth time was a just few days ago when a crazy shooter entered their school."

Sam, "Murphy's law. When things go bad it goes really bad. Frankly speaking, I'm actually surprised we are still alive considering everything that happened to us."

Optimus who had his servo around Sam picked him up cradling him, "You are not even younglings. Only fifteen Earth years, none of you should have gone through that."

Sam pat Optimus's chest plate, "Hey, it's okay big guy. We survived."

Raph muttered, "Somehow, how are we even alive after all that anyway?"

Bumblebee scowled cradling Raph cursing the shooter in the private comm then paused checking Raph over. Raph pat his servo comforting the obviously angry soldier feeling a little surprised and flattered by the care. But then again he did fight to keep them safe from the three Decepticons, come to think of it, what happened to them. Optimus and Sam though were discussing other laws including renter's laws, the rights and duties that Ambassadors have. Since Optimus was one of the leaders of Cybertron, he could easily be considered an Ambassador of Cybertron, if the worst case scenario happened.

Sam, "You are the leader of Autobots, I will not allow anyone including yourself to address you and your group as refugees. As a leader you must consider how things will look like to the rest of the world and how vulnerable the civilians will be if any of them survived."

Optimus was watching Sam amused, "Of course Sam. I just find it flattering you care about us, we only met little one."

Sam blinked then pointed at Bumblebee, Hot Rod and Cliffjumper, "Look over there big guy."

Optimus turned to where his men and their human charges were talking softly to each other, "They are close."

Sam, "They are a family and that is more than enough for me to care for the rest of you guys as well. Though honestly speaking, I may not meet some of your team because of many reasons."

Arcee, "Is that really all you need? You don't even know what we have done."

Jazz, "She's right. We are military child, we have done things we are not proud of."

Sam, "Oh I have no doubt about that. No doubt at all. I am not blind. But, this is how I feel, I am not going to lie to myself about the fact I care and wish to help you."

Arcee, "You are just a sparkling little one."

Jazz, "We appreciate it but.."

Sam, "I suppose, I can understand why you are reluctant after learning what happened to your kids. But family means a lot to humans, to us, and we will be careful."

Optimus, "That is all we ask, child. Now, I believe we promised your parental units we would ensure you have enough sleep."

Ratchet, "Humans require eight hours of sleep, human sparklings require more for healthy growth."

Sam, "You all should take this chance to rest as well. Nobody's doing anything with the weather out there."

Optimus nodded and placed him on Bumblebee's servo who had been patiently waiting for him, Raph was already fast asleep cradled against his chest plate. Sam paused commenting the two of them looked cute together making Bumblebee perk up. Hot Rod and Cliffjumper had already left for their private rooms with Vivian and Miles, seeing Vivian was exhausted from the days travel and Miles nodding off. Once they left however Jazz and Ironhide got to work going through the many laws humans had.

Jazz grumbled, "Why do humans have so many countries? Learning all these laws will take forever."

Optimus rumbled amused, "Good thing we have the whole night and Sam did advice we start from the longest legislation first then go to the shorter ones."

Ratchet, "Hot Rod sent a list, the longest one belongs to a subcontinent called India. A very fascinating place that one from what I can see."

Arcee sat down making herself comfortable, "The country boast about having the highest number of diversity on the planet. With one hundred twenty two major languages and one thousand five hundred ninety nine less common ones. How in Primus name do they get anything done at all? They have the second highest number of population too divided into so many distinct classes based on religion, ethnicity, tribe, etc."

Jazz, "It's gonna be a long night, ey boss? Boss?"

They turned to look at Optimus who was already focused on learning, optics bright with curiosity. Ratchet shook his helm, at least it will keep his Prime from trying to do the impossible in this weather and went to settle himself at the med bay. Ironhide gave a wave indicating he heard Ratchet when he told them that and focused on the criminal laws, Jazz and Arcee can deal with the civil law area. The night passed by with the storm calming down in the early morning hours with Sam, Miles and Raph waking up excited.

Bumblebee played a radio clip, :It's six o'clock in the morning. Good morning ~ Good morning ~:

Raph grinned, "Morning to you too. Come on."

Hot Rod snickered, "Aren't you going to join them?"

Vivian looked up then hid under her blanket again, "This is my vacation, I will sleep in late."

Hot Rod, "Of course, little lady. As you wish, rest well."

Optimus looked up sensing movement, "The children are awake."

Ratchet, "Yes, they are and I don't hear the storm anymore."

Ironhide, "Where are you younglings going?"

Raph, "To play in the snow."

Jazz, "Weren't you wary of the snow just yesterday?"

Miles, "That was the storm my big friend."

Jazz, 'Friend? That fast?'

Sam, "Come on, we will show you. Open the main door."

Optimus was curious and opened the large door only to end up having to adjust his optics when he registered the surroundings as white and nothing else. It was not just Optimus even the other bots were confused as well and Ratchet was starting to panic thinking something was wrong with him. The three kids though cheered and ran to the snow calling Bumblebee and Cliffjumper to join them and enjoy it. The two mentioned bots took a tentative step forward and then marvelled at the surroundings, everything was covered in snow.

Sam, "Come on, the second storm wave won't start for a few hours."

Raph, "Bee, Bee, come make snow angels with me."

Bumblebee, :Angels from heaven?:

Raph, "Come on I'll show you."

Miles, "Cliff with me."

Sam seeing the mischievous look on his childhood friend decided to skedaddle, "I am going that way."

Optimus seeing the look Sam threw at Miles he decided to follow, "I'm coming with you. If the storm restarts I can transform and we can rush back."

Sam chuckled, "A gentleman through and through aren't you? I bet you are very popular among the Cybertronians."

Optimus, "I would not be sure about that."

Sam, "I was going to check on our parents. I know the house is just a few blocks down but still, it was a storm."

Optimus, "I understand."

A few blocks away they heard loud cursing coming from Ironhide and Miles cackling and cheering Cliffjumper on. Optimus looked back only to see Ironhide chasing Cliffjumper with his gun out and Miles shouting out only snowballs allowed. Ironhide paused and gathered a large ball of snow and then start chasing after him again. Bumblebee and Raph were giggling from from where they were making snow angels looking adorable together. Optimus was feeling happy seeing his men happy even if it was just for a few Earth days till the storm completely subsided.

Sam checked in on their parents who were just starting to wake up and the early birds were preparing breakfast. Turns out Sam's Uncle Jameson and Aunt Lennie will be there for breakfast and assured Optimus they knew about the Cybertronians as well. Optimus nodded feeling relieved they would not have to hide and could be themselves very freely among them. Well, just a few human family units but it was a start, perhaps one day both Cybertronians and humans could get along freely. Sam finished his checking and started to move somewhere else away from the housing unit.

Optimus, "Sam, where are you going?"

Sam smiled at him, "Come on, I want to show you something. It is one of my favorite things about winter."

Being curious about his new friend, Optimus followed the young human towards the lake noticing a pair of shoes with blades bring held by Sam. Optimus became wary when they got closer to a frozen lake, it was smaller than the one they landed in. Sam sat on a fallen log and start to put on the shoes on his feet and start to glide around the lake. Optimus watched curious about it and Sam explained it was ice skating one of the fun activities humans did during winter. Around noon Sam's Uncle, Aunt and cousins joined them, Dani and Cody were very interested in the bots.

Just like Sam had expected, Raph and Cody on their on, were cute but together they were a force of adorableness. The bots were very obviously fond of the two and it looks like Dani got Ratchet's interest after she explained what a first responder did. She just cleared her final exam with bright colours and would be joining the response group. It was nice way to spend Christmas, the bots satisfying their curiousity about the holiday and the humans indulging them. The time after Christmas was spent preparing to get the Allspark in the bots side, doing homework for the kids and preparing the farm for New Years.

The days till New Year went by very fast in Sam's opinion between the bots planning and training to get used to the cold. Optimus was dividing the team into two, one led by him and the other team would be under Ratchet. He, Arcee and Ironhide would head to where the glasses would show the Allspark was, which they were pretty sure was the cold Arctic. The other team consisting of Ratchet, Jazz, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper would stay behind as their back up. New Year's eve was fun, especially when Miles took out the fireworks, apparently Cybertron used to have fireworks.

But it had been thousands of years since the war started, many had forgotten what it felt like to watch a firework. Ratchet muttered coming to Earth was like going back to their youngling era, when the civil strife had not yet turned into a war. After the New Year's though Hot Rod and Vivian had to return to England, she had a job and Hot Rod was her Guardian, but he could meet up with them North side he said. That is once Hot Rod gets one of the other bots to become a temporary Guardian for Vivian. Vivian had argued it was not necessary but Hot Rod was not moving on the matter.

Optimus watched them go, "He has changed."

Ratchet, "If I knew giving him a youngling to be responsible for was all that was needed I would have assigned him one a long time ago."

Ironhide chuckled, "Indeed."

Bumblebee, -We will be taking the rest home as well. Except the Burns, they are heading to Australia. That's where they work from.-

Cliffjumper, "We should consider giving them a Guardian just in case. I don't like that they are going there on there own."

Bumblebee muttered, -Especially with all the crazy stories from Australia Cody shared.-

Optimus, "I understand your feelings but Jameson Burns declined my offer. He stated it would be better if we focused on completing our mission instead. Our home is waiting for us."

Arcee mused, "He does look like someone who loves his home a lot."

Jazz, "That he does. So boss bot, are we moving?"

Optimus, "Yes, we are. Sam, Miles, Raph, is something wrong?"

Sam, "Just wanted to say we are going soon."

Miles, "After getting glasses, you will be off to wherever the glasses guide you."

Raph, "Watch out for black ice."

Ironhide, "You humans have way too many problems to look out for. Don't worry though it won't stop me from completing this mission."

Ratchet hit him, "Don't you dare go around crashing into poles just because I won't be there."

Ironhide grumbled, "I was just trying to reassure the kids."

Ratchet, "Do it another way."

Bumblebee, -Cliff and I will take turns to be part of the second team while you are gone.-

Cliffjumper nodded muttering, "Yeah, and hopefully, we don't have to worry about anymore crazy humans trying to offline their own sparklings this time."

Optimus looked at the kids who were chatting with Jazz, "They should not have gone through any of that. We read the report, it is a miracle no one pulled the trigger."

Two hours later they returned to Tranquility and Sam went to his room to grab the glasses which were inside a box made from lead and had old designs. Bumblebee eyed the box understanding why he could not find the glasses before, he made a mental note to get his holoform avatar fixed. It would make their patrols easier in the long run. Meanwhile Optimus used his scan to get a reading from the glasses, with it showing the location at the Arctic circle. It was no doubt the location Archibald Witwicky met Megatron. Sam though marvelled at the map that was projected making Optimus feel smug at the awed look.

Sam, 'I know I saw it in the movie but this is something else.'

Ratchet commed, "He sure is easily impressed."

Ironhide, "Like a sparkling. Look at his eyes, haven't seen such innocence in forever."

Optimus, "Autobots we got the location, let's roll out."

Sam, "Best of luck."

Bumblebee, :Safe travels ~:

Sam turned to Bee, "You know you can go with them right?"

Bumblebee nodded, :Yes, but, prevention is better than cure.:

Raph, "He is worried it was moved and some Decepticons might come after us. No rest for the wicked, huh?"

Bumblebee shrugged, :It is what it is.:

Sam chuckled, "I really have no idea where you get those clips from buddy."

The next day it was back to school for most of the kids around town wearing warmer clothes and sweaters. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper took turns staying in Tranquility and at the base, while doing patrols. At one point Jazz who had received his holoform pretended to be Raph's Uncle while Cliff and Bee were needed for a mission for Ratchet. Sam, Miles and Raph worried but understood as kids who did not even know how to use a gun, they could not do much to help. Jazz distracted them though asking them about the late Winter party being held as it was cancelled last time. Before Sam could answer they heard a loud slap and Mikaela storming away from her boyfriend.

Raph winced, "Guess she found out about him cheating on her."

Miles, "It was coming anyway."

Sam sighed, "Trent is an idiot."

Jazz, "Doesn't she live a little too far from here?"

Sam, "Jazz, would you consider giving her a ride? The three of us can squeeze in the back."

Jazz, "Considering the weather sure."

Sam got a whip lash when Jazz introduced himself to Mikaela and she visibly brightened on seeing the three of them. It was similar to the movie meeting and yet at the same time it was completely different. Mikaela broke up with Trent because he disrespected her, but then again cheating is disrespectful so maybe not that different after all.

Raph looked at her with concern after she put on the belt, "Are you okay?"

Mikaela, "Yeah, I was not expecting that though. Thanks for the ride."

Miles, "Bros before hoes Mika. You are the only other person in school who earns money besides the three of us. You are one of us."

Mikaela gave a smile, "Thanks."

Sam, "Don't worry about Trent, Mikaela. If he bothers you, just tell us. We will get him to back off."

Mikaela, "You would?"

Sam smirked, "One of the Professors was lecturing him on his poor grades. Something I think he has not told his parents yet ~"

Mikaela started to laugh, "Oh you clever devil. Remind me not to piss you off."

Raph giggled, "He will be too busy answering his parents if he bothers you."

Jazz chuckled listening to their younglings, yes the three were now theirs, bond and joke around with the youngling femme. It was adorable to watch friendship grow between them and he even threw in some ideas on how to deal with stubborn idiots. Now, those had all four of them snickering, Ratchet would have his helm for giving them ideas, especially Miles. The medic dread the day Miles met the twins, hopefully never, but it was worth listening to their laughter. They dropped Mikaela off and she informed them they could bring their cars over anytime they wanted.

Jazz, "I'll keep that in mind little lady."

Mikaela beamed at him turning to the boys, "I will see you at school tomorrow. Thanks for today."

Miles, "No problem."

Sam, "Anytime."

Raph, "See you tomorrow."

[A. N.: Happy New Year everyone!

Hope you all are doing well.

I'm combining the movies and TFP here so the chapters are sort of long.]