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Waking up was a slow, confusing thing for Robby, since he wasn’t entirely sure what had woken him in the first place. He hadn’t lurched out of a nightmare, and there were no glowing orange eyes at his window, cracked open to let in a little extra cool air that night. Squinting around the room also didn’t reveal any signs of a nosey little sister sneaking across the floor or onto the foot of his bed. He didn’t even hear the telltale click of his door or squeak of floorboards outside to suggest one of his parents had peeked in to check on him, something they’d been doing more often since the Mandroid incident.
Robby yawned and rolled over. If there was no reason for him to have woken up, there was no reason he couldn’t go right back to sleep. But, as he was burrowing back into the familiar warmth of his bed, a noise finally caught his attention, something he didn’t quite recognize.
Forcing his eyes back open, he lifted his head and cast another look around the room. Empty. Which meant whatever he was hearing was coming from somewhere else. Groaning, Robby sat up and tried to listen more closely. This time, at least, he definitely recognized the noise.
“What are you doing here?!”
He could only barely make out the words, but Robby recognized Bumblebee’s voice. Less familiar was the frantic edge to it, and that made it considerably easier to shake off the lingering desire to go back to sleep.
Frowning, Robby pushed the bedsheets back and climbed out of bed, tiptoeing - probably unnecessarily - across the room to the partially open window. He couldn’t feel anything from the Terrans, and he couldn’t hear anything like gunshots or explosions, so there was no reason to freak out. He reminded himself of that several more times as he peeked carefully out of the window. The slope of the roof gave him an imperfect vantage point, but nothing looked amiss in the yard. That was a good sign.
He leaned a little, trying to get a better view, and was just able to make out one of Bumblebee’s doorwings, the edge bobbing in and out of his line of sight as the Transformer shifted. It wasn’t like it was unusual for any of them to be up. Twitch had insisted at one point that they didn’t sleep, and even though he’d also heard Bumblebee talking about “recharging” on more than one occasion, they definitely didn’t sleep the same way the rest of the Malto household did.
“How did you even find me?” Bumblebee was asking, clearly trying to make an effort to keep his voice down. Robby frowned, something at the back of his head suggesting that it wasn’t actually Bumblebee talking that had woken him up.
He didn’t have a chance to follow that particular line of thought before another voice spoke up, and he tensed when he realized he absolutely did not recognize it.
“Knock Out told me!”
Bumblebee’s doorwing hitched up sharply, and something tight and nervous coiled in Robby’s stomach when he hissed, “Knock Out?! Knock Out knows where I’m at!?”
The unfamiliar voice made a noise that Robby couldn’t place but seemed angry or maybe frustrated, and something low rumbled underneath it. He swallowed hard and pretended his hands weren’t shaking when he reached up to carefully push his window further open.
“He saw you at the school and–”
“At the school!? What was a Decepticon doing near the school? And how long have you been in contact with him!?” Bumblebee’s voice was pitching into a higher range than Robby was used to hearing, and that was almost more nerve-wracking than the thought of a Decepticon near their school.
“Nevermind Knock Out!”
“Shhh!”
Robby leaned out of the window slightly, enough to see Bumblebee lurching forward, probably trying to silence the…whoever he was talking to. Slowly, very slowly, he pulled himself up onto the sill and out onto the roof. The cybersleeve pulsed lightly against the back of his hand, a faint thrum of confusion-curiosity-concern. He must have been projecting to the Terrans. Swallowing hard, he tried to push back reassurance. He was fine, after all, and other than some whispered bickering, there was no actual reason for him to think something was wrong…
Yet.
“Don’t shush me!” the unfamiliar voice hissed, and Robby crept carefully across the roof only to freeze when he caught sight of another wing shape. Not a doorwing, like Bumblebee. A larger, sharper shape, that temporarily thrust him back to the cave, the emberstone, Skywarp. Seeker. Decepticon.
His breath hitched, and he immediately felt a swell of worry-worry-worry through the bond. He didn’t even care anymore that he was trying not to jump to conclusions. If there was a Decepitcon at their house, he needed back up. Bumblebee needed back up. Why wasn’t he already fighting? Had this bad guy gotten the drop on him? Was he being held at gunpoint?!
“I can’t go with you, but Optimus–” Bumblebee started and was cut off by that low, rumbled noise again. It quieted abruptly, like it was being forcefully cut off, but the second voice was wayyy more worked up now.
“Nobody is going to get hurt here!” it hissed. Was that a threat? “And Optimus isn’t going to get here in time! If something happens to her because you wouldn’t–”
The sound of a blaster immediately cut through the whispered argument, and Robby gave up on trying to stay hidden, hurrying across the roof just in time to watch Twitch transform and land on her feet, blaster arm still smoking, and Thrash sliding to a halt beside her. The blast narrowly avoided the Seeker wing he’d spotted - and, thankfully, the house - but Robby made a worried noise when the unfamiliar Decepticon jerked Bumblebee in front of him like a human – er, Autobot – shield.
“Let Bumblebee go! And what did you do to Robby!?” Twitch demanded, faltering slightly when Bumblebee was forced between her and the ‘Con.
“Yeah, let our teacher and our brother go!” Thrash shouted, shield raised but clearly no more prepared to deal with a hostage situation.
“Who are they?!” the ‘Con demanded at the same time Bumblebee repeated “Robby?” with a concerned rev of his engine.
Robby knew he was gonna be totally grounded after this, cause there was no way all the noise wasn’t gonna wake up their parents, but he also couldn’t just stand by and let a member of his family be taken hostage or kidnapped again!
He backed up, took a deep breath, and sprinted across the roof, launching himself off the edge before he had time to think about it. He had a brief moment, airborn, where he could feel Twitch and Thrash spotting him. And then he was colliding with the edge of a blue Seeker wing, knocking all the wind out of his own lungs, but he latched on as tight as he could and kicked. Which, okay, definitely hurt his own foot. Probably more than it actually hurt the Decepticon. He seriously should have put shoes on before this.
But it had the desired effect of startling the ‘Con into letting go of Bumblebee, so he counted that as a win.
“Gah! What the Pit is–?”
“Robby!”
He heard his name, but couldn’t be sure who was saying it, too focused on not falling off of the twitching wing he was clinging to. He was up a lot higher than he realized and had a somewhat frantic thought that, oh no, had the ‘Con been kneeling down? He was maybe starting to regret this choice when the ‘Con twisted and something snagged the back of his shirt.
He scrambled to keep a grip on the wing, but it was all smooth metal under his hands, and without a seam or edge to latch onto, he couldn’t stop himself from being lifted straight into the air.
“O-Oh no! Oh no!” he yelped, automatically reaching back to clutch at one of the large, metal fingers on his shirt. They, along with the strength of the cotton material, were suddenly the only things keeping him from plummeting to the ground that was wayyy further away than it seemed when he was sitting on the roof.
He twisted, not exactly trying to get away, because he really didn’t wanna fall down from here, but he had to make sure the others were safe. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to spot them, but he felt his stomach swoop for more than just the lack of ground beneath him when he realized Bumblebee was forcefully holding the Terrans back. He definitely hadn’t thought this through well enough. He’d just traded out one hostage for another! And Bumblebee at least had weapons!
He was so focused on his family – Bumblebee trying to keep his arms hooked around an increasingly frantic Twitch and Thrash, the other Terrans confused and frozen in place in the mouth of the barn further back, but all of them unhurt, at least – that he didn’t realize he was being dropped until his hands lost their grip again. A scream started in his throat, but all that actually left him was a winded “oof!” when he hit ground far sooner than he expected.
No. Not ground. Palm. He had been dropped into the ‘Con’s hand. And the ‘Con was now staring directly at him.
“What are you doing? That was so dangerous!”
“P-Put me down!” he shouted, managing to sit up after a few tries. He flinched when the ‘Con brought his other hand in, but rather than being crushed, like he’d expected, the ‘Con cupped his own hand next to the first. Robby swallowed hard, secretly grateful that it put him further away from any immediate edge to slip off of.
“If you smash our brother, I’ll tear your wings off!” Twitch shouted, and Robby watched between the ‘Con’s curled fingers as she transformed in Bumblebee’s arm into drone mode. He must have been expecting it, though, because he managed to catch her again before she could fly over to them.
“Everybody, stop!” Bumblebee shouted, loud enough, and with enough of his Teacher Voice that the twins automatically fell still. Even Nightshade, Jawbreaker, and Hashtag froze where they had been trying to creep closer.
Bumblebee made a noise through all of his vents like a heavy sigh, and set Thrash and Twitch, after she transformed back, back on their feet. “Okay. Good! Let’s just calm down…”
“A Decepticon has Robby!” Twitch protested, waving up towards him.
The ‘Con in question groaned. “No, I’m–”
“Thundercracker?”
Robby felt his heart lurch into his throat, scrambling to the edge of the ‘Con’s hand – a startled noise rose up from over his head, but he wasn’t immediately squashed, so that was a good sign – so he could confirm that his mom was, in fact, standing underneath them. She was still in her bonnet and pajamas, but she was also wielding a familiar, G.H.O.S.T issued weapon, and the relief at seeing her rocked him so hard, he heard Thrash make a grinding noise for it.
“M-Mom, help!”
Immediately, his mom’s eyes narrowed. “Thundercracker, put my son down this instant!”
The ‘Con – Thundercracker, apparently, and oh no he definitely recognized that name from the comics – made a whirring noise that, if he hadn’t been so panicked, Robby might have called a whine. “He jumped on me , Lieutenant Malto! I’m just trying to keep him from falling three stories,” he protested. But he did, at least, crouch down and set the back of his hands against the ground, letting Robby scramble off of them and straight into his mom’s arms without a fight.
Robby felt his mom’s arm brace tightly across the back of his shoulders, and he wrapped his own around her waist, relieved to be back on the ground and have plenty of back up against the Decepticon. He heard more noise – the Terrans rushing over, Mo and his dad calling out, worried, from inside the house – but he didn’t lift his head again until his mom started talking.
“Now somebody better explain what’s going on here,” she stated, sharp and no-nonsense. But also, Robby realized with a prick of confusion, a lot less concern than he’d expected. There was a Decepitcon in their yard and his mom hadn’t immediately forced them inside or ordered them to run. “Thundercracker, what are you doing here?”
Robby peeked back over his shoulder and watched the Seeker climb onto his feet, definitely taller than he’d initially realized. Taller than Bumblebee for sure. But the ‘Con didn’t start shooting or threatening or even try to run away like Swindle had. Robby realized after a moment that he was wringing his hands. He looked…worried?
“I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but I needed help, and the only one I could think to ask was Bee.”
“I told you, I can’t just leave in the middle of the night after everything that happened,” Bumblebee said, and he didn’t sound like someone who had been nearly kidnapped. He sounded apologetic.
“Buster could be in danger!”
“I’m sure she’s fine, TC,” Bumblebee insisted, and Robby shifted, stepping a little out of his mom’s arms, and he knew they weren’t in any immediate danger when she let him.
Thundercracker – TC?? Why did they have nicknames for each other? – made a frustrated sound that started in his voice but dropped suddenly, low, and it boomed out across the yard and the house, making the windows rattle in their frame.
“Thundercracker!” his mom snapped, and the ‘Con (?) winced.
“I can’t help it! And if I don’t find Buster, I don’t know what I’m going to do!”
Behind them, Mo’s voice suddenly piped up, “Who’s Buster?”
Robby glanced over at his sister, shrugging when she shot him a questioning glance. Behind her, dad was staring, mouth open and everything.
“Buster is his dog,” Bumblebee explained, and if an airplane could sound distressed, that was definitely the noise Thundercracker was making.
“You have a dog!?” Mo exclaimed, lighting up immediately.
“Wait, how come a Decepticon can have a dog, but we can’t?” Thrash asked, turning an accusatory frown on mom.
Mom held up a hand before any additional arguing could start. “Because Thundercracker doesn’t live in my house.”
“I’m also not…” Thundercracker groaned and crouched down suddenly, the air whipping around them when it was displaced so suddenly. He held his empty hands up towards mom. “She got out and hasn’t come home, and she isn’t coming when I call her. And Buster always comes back when I call her! But I can’t fly and look for her, or I might be spotted.…please help, Lieutenant Malto. I promise I won’t come back. I’ll even ask Megatron to relocate me further away.”
Robby glanced towards Mo, and they both felt the thrum of sympathy through the cybersleeve just before Twitch stepped forward.
“It’s like when Fluffy Ears got stuck!” she said.
“Yeah!” Thrash agreed, clenching his fist. “We have to help!”
“It would be unjust not to,” Nightshade piped up from where they were still planted firmly behind mom, and Jawbreaker and Hashtag nodded their agreement.
Mom waved her hand again. “Okay, okay, everyone relax. Thundercracker, we’ll help you find Buster,” she stated, and Robby watched the ‘Con’s wings slump with relief.
“Thank you, Lieutenant Malto.”
“Ranger Malto,” she corrected gently. “But you can call me Dorothy.”
He glanced up, surprised, but nodded and climbed back onto his feet while mom turned to the rest of them. “Okay. Shoes, coats, and flashlights, everybody,” she ordered, reaching over to grab dad by the hand, pulling him after them back into the house. “That includes you, Alex.”
Robby wasn’t at all surprised when, several minutes later, Mo barrelled into his room trying to put a shoe on the wrong foot. “Robby! What happened?!”
“You saw most of it,” he pointed out, shrugging into his coat before pointing at the left shoe she was trying to force onto her right foot. “That’s not gonna work.”
Mo looked down, staring at the sneaker for a moment before groaning and hopping to the other foot. “You know what I mean! Why was a Decepticon carrying you around?!”
“Uhhh…I kinda jumped on him,” he admitted.
“What?!”
“Shhh!” he hissed, glancing down the hall past his room to make sure their parents weren’t there. Sure, Thundercracker had already told mom that, but he was still hoping she’d been distracted enough by a Decepticon turning up in their yard that she hadn’t really caught that part. “I overheard him and Bumblebee arguing, and it sounded like he was trying to kidnap him or something!”
“So your plan was to get kidnapped instead? That’s so stupid,” Mo pointed out, shoving her other shoe on.
“No, that wasn’t the plan! I was just distracting him so Bee could get away.”
“Yeah? And how did that work for you?”
Robby pursed his lips and frowned at her. “Shut up.”
Mo didn’t comment on it again, but her smug expression was just as bad. She hummed thoughtfully on their way back downstairs, though. “It’s kinda weird that mom is okay with helping, though, right?”
Robby nodded. “Yeah…but he also mentioned Megatron. And Bee called him TC like they’re…friends.”
“And he has a dog,” Mo said with a sage nod, and Robby looked over at her.
“Huh? What’s that got to do with it?”
“Dogs are good judges of character!”
Robby was pretty sure it wasn’t as black and white at that. But technically Thundercracker did show up looking for help finding his dog. He thought, briefly, about Swindle crying for help for his brother only to turn around and put his little brother and sister in danger. But mom and Bumblebee had seen straight through Swindle. It had to mean something that they were actually on board with helping this ‘Con, right?
“I’m sure she’s okay, TC. Probably just got turned around. We’ll find her,” Bumblebee was saying when they made it back outside, and while Thundercracker didn’t look convinced, he seemed grateful for the reassurance anyway.
“All right. We’ll break up into groups to cover more ground, but nobody is going anywhere alone, am I understood?” mom said, passing flashlights out amongst the human members of the family. When nobody immediately responded, she rose an eyebrow and looked around. “I said, am I understood?”
A chorus of “yes’s” and “yes mom’s” followed, and even Thundercracker nodded along when mom looked expectantly at him.
“Good. The triplets will go with dad, the twins will go with Bumblebee, and Thundercracker, Mo, and Robby will go with me,” she said, either missing or ignoring the surprised look Robby and Mo both shot her. She was letting them team up with the Decepitcon too? “Now, Thundercracker, where did you last see Buster?”
It turned out, Thundercracker had been hiding out in an abandoned mill a sparse few miles from the farm. It was the kind of old, empty structure on an overgrown plot of private land that was common and overlooked in a small town like Witwicky. Robby wondered if there were Cybertronian stowaways hiding out in any of the others around town, and also briefly considered how cool checking them out would be for a MoveTube channel or something. Then again, he’d be grounded for life if he got caught sneaking onto private property to film videos or something, so probably not a good idea.
“I saw her run off that way,” Thundercracker explained, motioning to a thicket of trees near the overgrown edge of what had probably been a lawn or something a long time ago. “I think she was chasing something. But it gets…dense pretty fast, and I couldn’t keep up,” he explained with a small flick of his wings.
The group considered the situation for a few minutes, pointing out a few different directions that seemed the most likely to start in for their search, but it was Jawbreaker to lifted a finger and asked, “Is she gonna be scared if a bunch of bots she doesn’t know show up?”
Thundercracker looked down, something Robby couldn’t really understand passing over his face before it was swept up in more easily recognizable concern. “Uh…I don’t know. She knows a few other mechs already. But don’t chase her! If you see her, comm me and I can come to you.”
Twitch and Thrash nodded but the newer Terrans glanced between each other.
“Comm you?” Hashtag repeated, tilting her head. “What’s that mean?”
Thundercracker stared at her for a moment, that same weird look on his face. And instead of answering, he looked to Bumblebee instead, eyes wide. Bumblebee winced, lifting a hand to the side of his head, and Robby had been around enough Transformers by this point to tell when they were doing that ‘sending messages in their head to each other’ thing.
“I know, I know, later, okay?” Bumblebee said out loud, and the air around them stirred heavily when Thundercracker vented out a huff.
Mom, at least, seemed to have a better idea what was going on. “Triplets, if you spot anything, just let Dad know. He’ll give us a call,” she stated. That seemed like a good enough answer.
“Oh, wait here,” Thundercracker said, turning on his heel and ducking into the mill through a massive garage door. Even with the size of it, he had to bend low to get through, and while Robby thought that was probably really annoying and uncomfortable, Thundercracker dipped in and came back out smoothly enough that it was probably something he was used to by now.
When he rejoined them, it took a minute before Robby realized he was holding something that, at first, looked incredibly tiny in his massive hand. But when he leaned down and held it out to mom, Robby realized it was–
“Dog treats!” Mo said.
“They’re her favorite. Maybe if everyone has a couple she’ll smell them? Or if you startle her, they’ll make her less afraid.”
“That’s a great idea, Thundercracker,” mom insisted, passing treats out to everyone. When she glanced back up, Thundercracker was holding out another small item, but this one Robby recognized. A picture frame. Mom nodded approvingly and took the photo, waving everyone closer so they could get a look.
The photo itself was…actually kinda cute? Well, Buster was super cute at least, Robby admitted immediately. She looked like she was probably some kind of mix, with short, brown fur and floppy ears. In the photo, she was sitting on what Robby belatedly recognized as Thundercracker’s head, which was pressed against a massive desktop like he’d fallen asleep there.
Bumblebee peered down over their heads and grinned. “Hey! I took that one!” he realized.
“You did?” Robby asked, glancing up.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I was hiding out here with TC before Optimus called me in to help with the Terrans,” he explained. Well, sort of explained, but seriously that just left Robby with a lot more questions.
Questions that he did not have time to ask before mom was speaking up. “All right, everyone, remember what I said about staying together. Be careful. If you find Buster before we do, give us a call, but be careful not to startle her. We’ll meet back here in one hour.”
A chorus of affirmations rose up around the group before they splintered off. Bumblebee waved Thrash and Twitch on, and Robby heard him saying something about good scouting practice on the way. And off in the other direction, dad was already being bombarded with questions about dogs by the other Terrans as they picked their way into the treeline.
Thundercracker stared after them, wringing his hands again, before looking down at mom. “Which direction are we going?”
“We’re gonna head this way where there are less trees for you to shimmy through,” mom said, making a motion opposite where the other groups had gone. “But first, is Buster microchipped? Have you posted anything online about her yet?”
Robby got the impression of the sad airplane sound again, and Thundercracker shook his head. “I can’t…exactly take her into the vet myself for it,” he pointed out before huffing softly. “And I panicked when she got out and didn’t come back. I went looking for Bee first.”
“All right, kids, this is where you come in,” mom said, turning to them, and Robby straightened up, feeling Mo do the same beside him. Mom handed them the picture of Buster. “I want the two of you to get some pictures up – let’s see if anyone else has seen Buster since she got out. Of just the dog,” she added, as if they needed reminding not to post a picture of a Decepticon on PetSearchers.
“On it!’ Mo insisted, snapping a quick, zoomed in pic of Buster on her phone, and Robby was quick to follow suit, consulting with his sister for a few minutes on who would be posting where.
Mom reached up and patted a hand lightly against the side of Thundercracker’s leg the way Robby had seen her do with Megatron a few times. “Once we’ve got Buster home, we’ll help you get her microchipped.”
“They also make GPS tags and collars and stuff so if she gets out again, you can track her,” Robby added, courtesy of a surprisingly helpful ad.
Thundercracker glanced between the three of them and offered a shaky, but grateful smile. “...Thank you. I’m sorry if I startled you..Robby?”
“Uh, yeah, Robby,” he agreed, surprised.
“And I’m Mo!” Mo offered from beside him, grinning. “It’s okay, Thundercracker! We’re definitely gonna find Buster! And if you ever need anyone to walk her or play with her, we could definitely help!”
The smile on Thundercracker’s face seemed to come easier that time, and he made an amused sound that shuddered the ground under their feet slightly. “Thank you,” he repeated. “She’d probably like the company while I’m working.”
Mom motioned for them to start walking, leading the way out across the open, overgrown field surrounding the other side of the mill.
“What kind of work?” Robby asked, curious despite himself. What kind of work did a former (?) Decepticon do?
Thundercracker was keeping his eyes up, scanning methodically back and forth as they walked. “Oh, I’m a writer. Gives me something to do and helps me pay for Buster’s food and toys and all that.”
“I didn’t know you were writing, Thundercracker,” mom said, sounding surprised as she swept her flashlight back and forth in front of them.
“What kinda stuff do you write?” Mo asked. “Like books?”
“Mm, sort of. I write for comics during the day, but I mostly do screenplays in my downtime,” he explained, and Robby glanced up briefly when he realized some of the nervous edge had eased out of his voice.
“You write comics? That’s really cool!” Robby insisted, smiling when Thundercracker glanced briefly down at them. “What ones do you write for? Anything we would know?”
Thundercracker made a grinding sound like he was clearing his throat. “Uhh…I actually write for the Transformers series,” he admitted.
“What?!” he and Mo shouted together, temporarily distracted from their mission.
“Seriously?! We have, like, all of them!” Mo said, bouncing in her steps.
“Yeah! Which ones did you write?! Mom, dad’s gonna freak!”
Ahead of him, he heard mom laughing. “Dad is already freaking out,” she assured him. “But that might just be the cherry on top.”
Thundercracker reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, and it was hard to tell from the ground, but Robby could tell he was pleased. And embarrassed. “My pen name for the comics is, uh…T.C. Seeker.”
A moment of stunned quiet fell over the three humans in their group, and it was mom who started laughing first. She did, at least, put a hand over her mouth and try to stop, but as soon as she started, Robby and Mo followed suit.
“I know, I know,” Thundercracker groaned.
“Thundercracker, a pen name is supposed to hide your identity,” mom laughed, reaching up to wipe her eyes.
“I didn’t really spend much time with humans before…well everything happened. I might have panicked when I chose it…”
Robby was still struggling to get his own laughter under control. “That’s amazing!” he insisted, snickering. “It’s like…hiding in plain sight!”
“I asked Optimus if it made sense before I submitted it,” Thundercracker muttered, and that just sent mom laughing all over again.
“You trusted Optimus?! Sometimes, I think that bot knows more emojis than he does words,” she said, and the laugh that escaped Thundercracker was loud enough to send a flock of birds screeching out of a tree somewhere to their right.
“Sorry,” he insisted more quietly, wings still twitching with obvious amusement.
Robby glanced over and shared a grin with Mo. Maybe she was right? Dogs were a good judge of character, after all.
Gradually, though, the good mood faded. It was late, and it was dark, and no matter how many times they called Buster’s name or how many areas they checked, there was no sign of her. Thundercracker had gone back to wringing his hands, and Robby frowned when he realized he could practically track how hopeless he was getting by how much his wings were drooping.
He found himself refreshing his posts more and more frequently, frustration bubbling up when he continued to turn up empty handed. Whether it was because it was the middle of the night or because nobody had seen Buster, they weren’t getting any responses.
When another rocky outcrop showed no sign of the little dog, Mom checked her phone and sighed. “...The hour is almost up. We should probably start heading back so we can check with the others,” she said.
There was a whirring noise from Thundercracker that Robby wasn’t sure was his voice or some other part, and he shook his head. “You head back. I’ll…I’ll keep looking a little longer.”
Mom, unsurprisingly, was not on board with that. She frowned and reached over, putting her hand on Thundercracker’s foot. “When I said nobody goes off alone, that includes you,” she said sternly, before her voice gentled again. “Even if nobody has called yet doesn’t mean they haven’t seen something or found a lead. We should get together and see how much ground everybody covered. And we might have more help in the morning when people are up and start checking their phones.”
Thundercracker glanced down and looked like he wanted to argue, but he also looked…really sad. It made Robby feel guilty all of a sudden for having jumped on him. He was just looking for his dog and he’d been kicking him, even!
“...You’re right,” Thundercracker muttered.
Mom rubbed the metal under her hand and tried to offer him a reassuring smile before turning to lead them back towards the mill.
Even with Thundercracker’s heavy footsteps, it was a quiet walk back. Robby felt like he should say something, try to be reassuring maybe or at least apologize for earlier. But when he glanced up to try, there was such a sad, dejected look on Thundercracker’s face that he clammed up.
Dad and the triplets were already there when they reached the mill. They looked up, quick and hopeful when they noticed them coming back, but they must have realized they were empty handed, too. Mom laid her hand briefly on Thundercracker’s leg again before walking over to speak in a quiet voice with dad.
There was no sign of Bumblebee or the twins yet, but they hadn’t received a call, and there was nothing but a soft sense of disappointment-frustration pulsing through the bond. Thundercracker glanced towards the mill, looking as if he were going to duck back inside and stay there, but after a moment he sighed and shifted to sit in the grass, staring silently out at the woods.
That feeling crawled up again, like he should say something, but Robby didn’t know what to say. He shifted awkwardly on his feet, feeling tired and sad and useless. It wasn’t a good feeling.
It was Mo who moved first, walking over and sitting down right next to the hand Thundercracker had set on the grass. He didn’t seem to notice right away, but he looked down when she reached over and put both of her hands on the back of one of his fingers.
“It’s okay. Buster’s still out there, and we’re not gonna give up until we find her,” she insisted. And when Thundercracker didn’t immediately respond, she patted his finger. Like mom. “She may have gotten tired and found somewhere to sleep where we can’t see her. And we’ll be able to search a lot better in the morning when the sun comes up. So don’t give up, okay? Cause we won’t.”
The ring of light in Thundercracker’s eyes cycled small then wide several times, and Robby was startled when he realized they were wet. He didn’t know Transformers could cry like that.
“...Thank you, Mo,” Thundercracker said quietly, making a hitched noise when Mo leaned over and wrapped her arms around his wrist, hugging as best she could.
Robby’s own eyes felt wet, and his throat was tight when he walked over and wrapped his arms around the same wrist, and the metal plating shuddered where he’d pressed his cheek against it.
The Terrans were less certain, but they definitely felt what Mo and Robby were feeling, and the concern-sorry-comfort pushing through the bond was quickly followed by three more Maltos joining the group hug. Thundercracker made a noise that was almost a laugh but warbled with static before he shifted and carefully brought his other arm around the five of them.
“....Maybe you should come back with us tonight, Thundercracker,” dad suggested after a few minutes, and Robby glanced over to find their parents standing nearby, watching Thundercracker with soft concern.
“I c-can’t,” Thundercracker protested, making that grinding, throat clearing noise again when his voice tripped. “I want to be here if Buster comes back.”
Mom nodded and reached over, rubbing the side of his leg. “Okay. Then me or Bumblebee are gonna stay with you tonight, okay?”
His eyes did that cycling thing again, and he looked up, frowning. “You don’t have to do that, Ranger Malto. You or Bee. I’m sure you’d be more comfortable at home.”
“No, we don’t,” mom agreed. “But we’re not leaving you here by yourself. Nobody off on their own, remember? And I told you to call me Dorothy,” she added, smiling back at the surprised look Thundercracker had fixed on her.
“Are you sure…?”
“Dot doesn’t usually change her mind once she’s made it,” dad said, offering a reassuring smile of his own. “Best to let her win this one, I think.”
“Dad’s right about that,” Mo agreed, snickering softly.
Thundercracker glanced around the group of them and managed a small smile of his own before lifting his head again. “Bee and the sparklings should be back by now, shouldn’t they?”
“Yes they should,” mom agreed, frowning and pulling her phone out. “I’ll give Bumblebee a call.”
She hadn’t even gotten her phone unlocked, though, before there was a burst of feeling, flashing the cybersleeve and filling the bond with happy-success-relief-yes-yes-yes!
“Mom!” Robby gasped, straightening up quickly and looking to Mo, a grin already pulling her expression wide and bright. “Mom, I think they may have found her!”
Thundercracker was careful not to jostle all the smaller people and bots around him, but his wings jerked up, and he immediately leaned closer to them. “What? How do you know?”
“We can feel them!” Mo explained, and Thundercracker didn’t look like he fully understood, but he lifted his head, as if hearing something the rest of them couldn’t, and mom managed to reach over and ease the triplets back just in time for him to shoot up onto his feet.
“You did!? Is she okay?!” he said, and Robby didn’t know if he got an answer or not, but a moment later, Twitch flew into the clearing, rolling through the air with a delighted sound just before Thrash sped up behind her. And he’d barely come to a stop before the same cute dog from the picture was jumping out of his sidecar and sprinting into Thundercracker’s lowered and outstretched hands.
“Buster! Thank Primus, you’re okay!” he said, crying again when he lifted the little dog up to his face. Buster was wagging her tail so hard her whole body shook, but she managed several loud, sharp barks, and wiggled close enough to lick Thundercracker’s face.
She was still wagging her tail and barking happily when Bumblebee joined them, looking equal parts relieved and happy. “She still recognized me after all,” he said.
“Of course she did. She missed you when you left,” Thundercracker said as if that should have been obvious, carefully lifting his hand and letting Buster jump onto his shoulder where she made a few happy circles and nudged her head against the side of his.
“Yeah? Well, I guess I missed her, too,” Bumblebee said, smiling, and he nudged Thundercracker lightly with his elbow. “Both of you.”
Thundercracker smiled slightly back and reached up, wiping the wetness of his face. “Where did you find her…?”
“We think she followed a raccoon down into a spot she couldn’t get back out of,” Twitch explained, transforming back.
“She started barking when she heard her name, and came running up as soon as she saw Bumblebee!” Thrash added, grinning, even as he gave a little shake and knocked several crumbs out of his seams. “The treats definitely helped, too, even if she did eat a couple of um in my sidecar!”
Thundercracker laughed and reached up to pet Buster with a gentle finger. And after a moment, he carefully picked her back up and set her on the ground by his feet so they could all see her.
Buster stayed close by Thundercracker’s foot, but she barked and wagged her tail again, happy to accept more pets and treats from the rest of the Malto family.
“She’s so cute!” Mo squealed.
“She is! Can we please come by and see her again? And you?” Robby asked, looking up at Thundercracker.
“Huh? Me?”
“Uh, duh, you write our favorite comic book series!”
Bumblebee looked over, grinning. “You told them about T.C. Seeker?” he asked, his smile turning sharp when Alex’s head whipped around.
“T.C Seeker….Thundercracker: Seeker! That’s you!” he gasped, and Robby could practically see the stars lighting up in dad’s eyes.
Thundercracker held his hands up. “I’m technically in hiding, you know,” he pointed out.
Beside him, Bumblebee shrugged. “Technically, so I am. And you’ve already met all the Terrans, so you can see that I uhh…definitely have my hands more than full now trying to teach them all.”
Hashtag gasped, looking up from Buster to clasp her hands together. “Does that mean you might teach us, too, Thundercracker?!”
“Oh my gosh, will you!? Nobody here can do any flight maneuvers with me!” Twitch pointed out.
“Please!” Alex added, clasping his own hands eagerly in front of him.
Thundercracker looked distinctly overwhelmed, glancing from all their eager faces and then to Bumblebee and mom, who chuckled.
“Okay, okay, everyone relax,” mom cut in. “Thundercracker and Buster had a very stressful day. Let’s give them a chance to relax before we ask anyone to take on another job, huh?”
Thundercracker rubbed the back of his neck, wings twitching behind him when they all backed off with a bit of reluctant grumbling. “....Thank you,” he insisted. “All of you. For everything. I don’t think a few history or flight lessons will ever be enough to pay you back, but…in exchange for bringing Buster home, it’s the least I can do.”
Jawbreaker and Thrash high fived and Twitch made a delighted “whoop!” sound. Robby smiled a little at them before glancing up and clearing his throat. “You don’t…owe us anything, you know,” he said when Thundercracker glanced down at him. “I mean, I definitely tried to attack you, y’know. Uh, sorry about that, by the way. But you don’t owe us for helping out.”
“Yeah, it was just the right thing to do,” Mo agreed.
“We’re all simply happy to have been able to help,” Nightshade added with a calm smile of their own.
Thundercracker smiled softly in return and reached down to pick Buster up again, his expression fond when the little dog curled up happily in his palm. “...Right. Well, even if I don’t owe you, then, I still wouldn’t mind helping out if I can. And I’m sure Buster wouldn’t mind the extra company.”
Robby smiled at that, feeling a steady thrum of happy-happy-happy from all ends of the bond. But his jaw definitely cracked when a wide yawn overtook him a few content moments later.
“Robby, stop!” Mo complained, reaching up to clap a hand over a yawn of her own.
“Okay. It is way past bedtime for everybody,” mom stated, raising her hand to silence the bit of halfhearted grumbling that followed. “Not up for discussion. Kids, time to head back with dad. Bee, do you want to head back with the kids or stay here tonight?”
Thundercracker looked up at that. “Huh? Nobody has to stay here tonight, Dorothy,” he protested, lifting Buster carefully in his hand to reiterate her presence. “You already found Buster.”
Mom scoffed. “And you both still had a rough night, and I already told you: nobody off on their own.”
Bumblebee chuckled softly and glanced their way – dad hadn’t quite managed to usher everyone to the car yet. “Will you be okay tonight? Call me if anything happens at all?”
Mom smiled and nodded. “If we need you, I promise to call. But we’ll be fine,” she insisted, reaching over to pat Bumblebee’s hand lightly.
He knelt down and exchanged a few quiet words with mom, too far away for Robby to hear, before rocking up onto his feet and turning to Thundercracker.
“All right! Tell me I still have my room, right? You didn’t clear it out for a Buster play area, did you?”
Thundercracker watched him head off to the mill, a slow smile on his face as he followed. “Of course I did. She needs the space more than you do here,” he pointed out, and Robby lingered outside the car just long enough to hear Bumblebee say something about “Knock Out” again, before he was ushered up into the cab between mom and dad.
It took a little reconfiguring to get everyone, including the triplets who were still lacking alt-modes of their own, heading back towards the house together, but the Maltos were nothing if not resourceful. It was a short drive back, all things considered, but Mo dozed off along the way between Robby and mom, and Robby himself leaned heavily against dad’s side, sighing softly.
“...You know what I don’t get?” he murmured.
Dad shifted slightly, sounding like he’d been close to dozing off himself. “What’s that, iho?”
“Thundercracker said he wrote the comics, but…he’s nothing like the him in the comics, you know? He seemed like…I dunno, a nice guy with a nice dog.”
“Mmm,” Dad hummed softly, nodding a little where his head was leaning against the top of his. “Well…people change, and a lot of people change for the better as they get older. Thundercracker probably isn’t the same bot that he was during the war. Kind of like Megatron.”
Robby nodded, yawning softly again. “It seems like…it’d be really lonely to live out there all by yourself.”
He didn’t have to look up to feel that dad was smiling against the crown of his head. “I thought so too,” he whispered. “Good thing he has all of us now, right?”
Robby smiled, feeling tired and warm and safe-family-happy. “Right.”