POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING (and spoilers): this contains a car crash, a bit of violence, mentions of injuries, etc.

Also: Frankie, yay! Honestly, I had absolutely no plans for her being in this chapter but here she is anyway. There's not a lot of Cody in this one so I'm sorry about that but I promise that the next one will be all about him! Anyways, I hope you enjoy! XX

Logic was fundamental.

The breadth of the universe was governed by logic- rules that had to be followed, be that in regards to the laws of science or the statutes of morality. Cybertron and all its creations were manufactured from the very concept of logic. Primus (a primordial being fashioned from light and order) was their creator and it was reflected in their very make-up; compositions of precise alloys, mechanical structures, defined pre-programming, societal structures based on reasoning and categorisation. Pure rationality.

In that regard, Earth was an antithetical abnormality.

Humans were the very amalgamation of illogical. As organic beings, they were governed by emotions and instinct rather than programming and even under Cody's kind tutelage, it was difficult to spy the reasoning behind certain human behaviours.

He just could not comprehend, for instance, why any human would deign to drive faster in the rain.

Chief Burns chuckled tiredly when the query was aired, peering through the tracks of damp that trailed across Chase's windows. "I don't know if there's a specific reason for it, Chase," he admitted. "Sometimes it's reckless teenagers who want to show off or have some fun but in most cases, people just tend to forget. It's easy to be careless in conditions like this, especially in a place like Griffin Rock."

It wasn't exactly an answer by any means and Chase only found himself more addled as they pulled out to hunt down the escaping car. With the flash of his sirens blanketed by sheets of grey downpour and his wheels slick and unsteady on the roads, it seemed even more obvious why speeding in such conditions was inadvisable.

Regardless, the car ahead noticed its pursuer and rolled to a begrudging stop.

"I do not know if this is relevant, sir," Chase mused bemusedly, "but I have noticed that the residents of Griffin Rock have an unusually high proclivity for danger. I find it somewhat disconcerting."

Chief Burns didn't seem to find offence in the comment. Rather, he shook his head ruefully. "Now that I definitely can't argue with."

The altercation took no more than a few minutes and the chief slipped back carefully into the driver's seat, dripping water across the upholstery. Chase took the liberty of adjusting his internal temperatures and watched in satisfaction as Chief Burns sighed and relaxed into the warmth.

"Thanks, partner," the human huffed gratefully. "This rain probably isn't too good for you 'bots in large doses. After we pick up Cody, we can head straight back to the firehouse and get dry."

Pleasantly surprised by the concern, Chase's engine let out an appreciative stutter. "Actually, it is not a problem, Chief. Cybertronians are able to withstand a wide range of extremities and I find the rain to be somewhat of a comfort. It reminds me of Cybertron, although I must admit that your planet's variety of precipitation is far more pleasant given that it cannot melt my armour."

Chief Burns released another chuckle and ran a hand across the wheel as they eased back onto the road. "I'm glad that's the case. Still, I'll feel much better for dragging you out here once we're indoors. Nobody should have to work in these conditions, even you Rescue Bots."

"Criminals do not await ideal circumstances, sir," Chase answered automatically and his old-aged oath rose to his glossa almost without his consent. "A Rescue Bot's duty is to serve and protect, no matter how big or small the task at hand and regardless of any undesirable meteorological conditions."

This summoned a rueful snort from the old human (and how bizarre it was to feel so much younger than someone who was, in reality, so many aeons younger than himself).

"Too true. And speaking of which-" Chase drew up on his axles as a show of rapt attention, "-I have something to ask you. Technically, it's a request to all of the 'bots but I figured that you might as well hear it first."

Chase blinked and raised an inquisitive optic ridge, unable to disperse his unease when he picked up a slight change to his cabin's atmosphere. His charge's heartbeat was raised and nearly erratic with what he assumed to be nerves. Odd, given that the chief was otherwise a paragon of restraint.

"Are you alright, Chief Burns? Something appears to be troubling you."

"Oh, I'm fine," the chief assured him but the ineligible hitch in the man's breathing was enough to convince Chase otherwise. "It's just… something came up the other day. I've been looking into it with my doctor and everything seems to be fine but- I, ah… I suppose it served as a wakeup call."

Chase watched with growing concern when the man's hands flexed across his wheel with an unfamiliar strength. The flesh on the chief's knuckles tinted white from the force and yet his face remained unnervingly impassive.

"I'm getting old, Chase," he said finally. It was less of a curse than an exhausted admittance, one that had Chase tightening his seatbelt around his partner's torso. "I… I'm just not as young as I once was and I can't see me being able to do rescue work for that much longer."

The muted sorrow in the man's expression was enough to make the police-bot sink on his axles. He had suspected of course, but that did not soften the blow.

He had long since noted the sharp curve of the man's maturity; wrinkles pinched together to form miniature greying frowns, peppered streaks of white on grey acting as a staple of his partner's age. Humans were fragile, more liable to break as they grew older and Chief Burns was certainly older than most. Frankly, the idea of losing his wisened partner so soon- was more unsettling than he was willing to admit and he could not imagine that the chief felt any differently.

"I... I am sorry, Chief Burns," he stated sincerely.

The chief's answer was a smile that didn't quite touch his eyes. "It's alright, partner. It was bound to happen eventually and besides, at least I'll have plenty of peaceful fishing trips to enjoy."

Chase paused and kept quiet, hoping that a verbal response was unnecessary. Chief Burns didn't seem to mind and took the silence as an invitation.

"Anyway, what I wanted to ask was that you look out for each other and try to keep yourselves safe. I won't be around forever and I want to make sure that you're all safe and happy, even when I'm gone."

That phrasing was far too specific. Chase's engines nearly stalled in alarm and he tried to keep himself from rolling off of the road.

"Chief Burns," he spluttered sharply, spark jolting unpleasantly, "please do not tell me that you are suggesting-"

"I'm not suggesting anything, partner," came the quick reply, although Chase could not find it in himself to be comforted. "Just think of it as a precaution. I know that it won't always be possible considering what we do but at the very least, promise me that you'll try to keep Cody safe. He may be an excellent member of the rescue team but he's still too young for this job. Besides, he has a habit of attracting trouble."

Chief Burns didn't seem to know whether to sound amused or concerned by his youngest and that was a sentiment that was easy to sympathise with.

It was an excellent way to play the situation, Chase noted. Shift attention from the dark, foreboding comment regarding life expectancy to something more blithe- Cody's accident-prone magnetism.

As it were, Cody's ability to attract danger had become something of a running curiosity. Blades- ever superstitious- was certain that the boy was cursed and although Chase was a little less convinced by this, the evidence was admittedly stacked against him. Frankly, there were days where even Chase struggled to let Cody leave the house unaccompanied.

The 'bot couldn't help but sound a little dry when he replied, "I believe that is an understatement, sir."

Chase was not an expert at comprehending human humour, but his tone must have amused the man since he gave an agreeable chuckle.

"You're telling me," the chief huffed lightly. "I'm sure he's going to do amazing things one day but we've got to make sure that he gets there first. That's why I'm asking you to keep an eye on him for me, just in case I'm not able to."

It was sound reasoning, Chase decided as they rolled down the road towards Cody's academic environment, even if the police-bot thoroughly disliked it. He let out a reluctant vent that rattled his tanks enough for the chief to send him a bemused glance.

"I understand, Chief. I will try my best."

All at once, the heaviness seemed to drain from the chief; he sighed and the grey-stained wrinkles crinkled with his sound relief. "Thank you, Chase. That's all I can ask for." He gave a soft smile, wrought with gratitude and care. "I'm really glad you're here, partner."

Chase sunk low on his axles, begrudgingly placated.

"...And the same to you, sir."

If the seatbelt slunk across his shoulder felt tighter than normal, the chief did not mention it.

They pulled up just beyond the reaches of the school gates, the rain still falling as a light patter. With the chief now sitting quietly in his passenger seat, Chase allowed himself to be lulled by the knock of the rain on his windshield.

He had not been lying when he'd said he enjoyed the rain. The rhythmic connection of water on his outer plates was almost ataractic as the rivulets traced unknown charts in their journey to his undercarriage. Calming was the best word for it. Boulder may have even called it beautiful and to an extent, Chase could agree. Rather, he could appreciate the quiet it usually brought.

Now though, that same quiet was disturbed by lingering unease. There was a tension now and although his partner appeared outwardly peaceful, there was an undeniable twitch to the man's brow which seemed to suggest a desire to speak.

As always, the calm only precedes the storm.

A crash and a shout arose from the sidewalk and suddenly the sought-after quiet was in pieces. Alarmed, Chase directed his attention to the sound and found that some sort of argument had been sparked inside the quiet café beside him.

In his seat, Chief Burns straightened and then sighed profusely.

"Well, looks like our work for today isn't quite done yet. Sorry, partner, but would you mind waiting for Cody while I deal with this?"

He revved a faint affirmative. The chief wandered away, ducking beneath the safety of the building's reach and leaving the police vehicle static by the roadside.

Chase tried to fall back into the solace. It worked briefly before he was disturbed once more by the bell that rang across the near schoolyard. Children began to trickle from the front gates and it was not long before he spotted a familiar sheath of blond.

He watched as Cody waved goodbye to someone behind him- Frankie, assumedly- and darted to the curb. Chase was half-tempted to flash his lights in greeting but was aware of the many available eyes that would notice such autonomy. It was not necessary regardless as Cody spotted him almost instantly and swung him a glad grin from beneath the shelter of his backpack.

All was quiet.

The moment Cody stepped out into the road, the rippling rumble of an engine emerged from beneath the hush of the rain. Chase stilled, sensors expanding to their full range as the sound expanded to a thunderous growl and a car sped around the corner at full tilt.

His first reaction was to prepare to give chase to the speeding perpetrator but something about the driver's expression made him pause mid-action.

Fear, not excitement.

The driver- a sallow-faced woman- had her hands wrenching across the wheel but the vehicle was out of control, skidding and spitting up puddles. Chase watched, growing alert when he realised that the panic twisting the driver's face had jerked into horror.

He followed her eyes. The car was heading straight for-

"Cody!"

The transformation was seamless. His vocal processor snapped to attention without prompt, visor snapping into place so harshly that his HUD rippled in protest. Dormant formulae blinked across his optics so fast that his vision became a blur of frenzied blue. Across the street, Cody's head instantly shot up and Chase saw those big brown optics widen with imperceptible shock.

A memory surfaced, unbidden but as clear as polished Praxian crystal.

"Cody, you forgot your books on the table!"

Chase heard the call from above and turned to watch a wind-ridden Cody Burns slide down the length of the firehouse pole. His hair was ruffled and out of place, eyes bright with the erratic energy only a tired, eager youngling could ever carry.

"Don't worry, Dani, I won't need them today!" Upon seeing the cybertronians gathered together in the bunker, his features lit up in a familiar grin. "Good morning, guys!"

"Aren't you gonna be late?" Heatwave asked as Cody scrambled to the couch for his jacket. Though he seemed disapproving, the flicker in the mech's field betrayed his amusement. "Do you need one of us to drive you?"

The youngling shook his head sheepishly. "Thanks, Heatwave, but I'm gonna try and make it on my own today. School's not that far and it was kind of my fault that I woke up so late anyway."

Cody was too busy shoveling his feet into his shoes to notice the looks of warmth that the four cybertronian's shared over his shoulder. Although Chase himself may not have typically favoured younglings, Cody- as pleasantly earnest as always- always appeared as somewhat of an exception.

"That's very responsible of you, Cody," he complimented and the boy beamed with pride.

"Thanks, Chase! Are you and dad gonna pick me up later?"

Chase tilted his helm to survey their youngest quietly; small and brimming with nervous energy, crumpled hair follicles falling haphazardly over moist optics. Regardless of species, younglings were always the same, he couldn't help but think. The mech absorbed the awaiting smile that greeted him and was helpless to do anything offer back an unconscious one of his own.

"Certainly," he replied and Cody seemed to brighten tenfold. "I wish you a good day at your place of education and will be glad to see you shortly."

When the youngling laughed, Chase found himself endeared to the sound. He proffered a wave of farewell. The blond mirrored it and promptly disappeared from the garage entrance, though not without calling back a hasty goodbye that was fondly returned by all.

Behind him, Chase felt the playful tug of Blades' field on his own.

"Aw, he even has Chase wrapped around his fingers!"

Chase was well aware of what his teammate meant to imply, but settled for an ignorant, straight-edged stare as he retorted, "Physically speaking, Cody does not have fingers large enough for us to be wrapped around and regardless, I do not believe that my frame would be pliable enough for such a task."

Blades simply ignored him, rotors twitching with his eagerness. "Dani was so right! Cody's magic really does work on everyone."

"I was unaware that Cody was a practicioner of magic." Chase raised a disbelieving optic ridge- genuinely this time. "Or that such a thing even existed outside of common fantasy tropes."

"He doesn't actually mean magic," Heatwave snorted idly. Their leader seemed oddly content to lean against the wall and watch their exchange with mild amusement.

"Yes, I do!" Blades insisted and his turbines whirred affrontedly. "I mean, have you not noticed how quickly he manages to make friends with people? Even Heatwave likes him! I actually saw him smile the other day!"

Instantly, Heatwave's good-humour snapped and he glowered at the orange 'bot. "I told you to shut up about that."

"What? But it was adorable! Look, I even got a picture!"

The memory was swept away in the riptide of volatile codes.

That beaming image of Cody- bright and earnest and grinning shamelessly as he waved them goodbye- was torn asunder. The only thing Chase could see now was Cody's colourless cheeks, face pallid with horror as the car careened full-force towards him and, for a terrible moment, nothing else seemed to matter.

Chase shoved aside every command that desecrated his vision, coiled his legs beneath him and leapt forwards with a desperation that was utterly unfamiliar to him- just in time to receive the full-frontal assault of the small family car smashing straight into his chassis.

The sudden clash of metal on metal echoed a sickening symphony that seemed to rock the very planet below him.

Pain blossomed across his torso, raw and red and savage, unlike anything he'd felt before. It shredded a fritzed shout from his voice box as star systems exploded into existence behind his optics. Sent rolling across the stretch of hard tarmac, Chase felt the unwelcome edges of rock and serrated shrapnel ripping through his wiring and sending his vision tripping from black to white and back again.

Then there was the sharp crack as something small and warm connected with his backplates, trailed by a shrill scream and the tinkling of broken glass on torn metal plating.

Energon levels rapidly depleting … 72% ... 66% … 57% ...

Initiate emergency offline? No.

The world was still revolving when Chase started up again. He blinked away a flickering onslaught of alerts, jagged and aggressively-worried coding threatening to melt his processor down to molten slag. The warm road seemed to shift erratically beneath him- not the smooth metal of Cybertron's streets but hard and uneven grit- and his audials rang as if he'd just had a run-in with an angry Dinobot. There was the pain too, dull at first but growing stronger with every nanosecond as he tried to heave himself upwards.

Where was he? What was happening?

A quick scan of his surroundings told him something heavy and razor-sharp had dug its way to his centre pipelines, crushing his chest beneath its uneven weight. Even stranger still, he could feel something beneath him- soft and limp where it was strewn against his back struts.

Self-repair systems: online

WARNING: several energon lines ruptured, instant medical attention required

Safety protocols overwritten, counteracting pain receptors

A wet voice suddenly split the static; it was only a single word, spoken in a language that Chase could barely recognise, but its importance was somehow immeasurable.

"Cody!"

Instantly, his systems spiked. Chase's optics snapped open and his engines roared to life. He caught the frantic shouts of organics around him as his audials crackled protestingly. More yelling, a foreign designation shouted over and over, the scared murmurs of helpless onlookers, his battle computer fizzing as it wildly calculated the severity of his injuries.

Cody. Where was Cody?

With a huff of unmeasured strength, Chase wrapped his servos around the object pinning him down and dragged it up and out of the way. He ignored the warm torrent of liquid down his front and the sway of the street beneath him as he hauled himself to his pedes. Instead, he straightened and stopped to gauge a look at his surroundings.

A vehicle, totalled, was on its side several metres away with a pale and shaking organic perched at its side. Patches of sparking energon were splashed under its wheels, sizzling under the mid-day sun. The functioning part of him registered that it was his but that was unimportant.

Where was his youngling?

Chase ignored the growing crowd of human spectators to scan the rubble, scouring for that familiar shock of golden hair. When nothing of the sort emerged, panic tilted in his chest. But then a whimper- barely audible over the persistent ringing in his audios- snatched his attention and his engines went cold in his chest.

A fragile head was lolled against the pavement, shuddering breaths of pain rattling a tiny chest. The human's leg was twisted at entirely the wrong angle beneath it and flecks of red and splotched violet were dotted starkly across its faceplates.

Cody.

At the back of his processor, the brittle hum of his teammates' questions scratched down his comm. unit. A low murmur arose from the street, the sound of worried humans gathering around the smoking wreckage as people ran to help pull the injured child from the rubble. Chase couldn't bear any of it.

He barely noticed the frantic buffeting of his teammates' fields against his own as the rest of the rescue team finally pulled up against the roadside- minutes too late, it seemed.

Kade stumbled out first, seeming to take in the wreck with beady eyes before darting forwards and skidding to his knees beside his youngest brother. Graham and Dani followed with frightening speed, both blowing out breaths of matching panic. All the while, Chase could do nothing but watch as his bruised and broken charge was obscured beneath a veil of mismatched rescue uniforms.

An odd sensation of numbness settled across his plating then. It sunk through his wires, the chilling bite of it threatening to drain the floor from beneath his faltering pedes. He never even noticed the sound of heavy steps edging up behind him and started when a cold servo brushed against his dented shoulder plate.

"-ase! Chase, what happened?" The static faded as he met burning amber optics. "Chase!"

His programs hissed at him, threatening to run haywire. He couldn't tear his optics from the shred of stained blond laying in Chief Burns' lap, even as glitched syllables of unfiltered hysteria poured from his vocal cords. "I- I do not- I am-"

Beyond the remains of the crash, he could hear Dani start to give way to her own panic. Her fingers- which had been wrapped tightly around Cody's limp wrist- came away stained red and blue.

"There's no time! Dad, we have to get him to the hospital now!"

Nobody argued with that. Blades' rotors hummed with the nervous energy of a live electric wire as his body slotted into helicopter mode. Dani hurried over and yanked a medical stretcher from his cabin with Graham shadowing close behind her.

A soft whine scratched from Chase's voice box as Cody, limp and unresponsive, was hauled into Blades' back seats. A frantic hand on his pede drew his attention and he transformed, more second nature than conscious decision, allowing the chief to launch himself into the front seat with a look half-terror pasted wildly across his face.

"Drive, Chase!"

Chase's sirens instantly began to shriek. He ripped down the street with the tear-away scream of tires and smoke, his only guide the unsteady touch of the human in his passenger seat. His partner's clammy hands were plastered across his steering wheel like petrified steel rods but Chase had no comfort to offer. Instead, his processor pin-focused on siphoning every morsel of energon to his wheel treads.

The hospital felt like a lifetime away.

Griffin Rock seemed to turn to monochrome in the silence of their journey. Black-and-white streets tore by, a scornful recreation of one of Chase's beloved films. Devoid of all life and colour. Devoid of Cody Burns.

The instant they pulled into the hospital parking lot, the chief tore from his seat, followed by the rest of the Burns family. Cody (and Primus, he was so tiny) was carted from Blades' cockpit and into the haze of flashing lights, swallowed by the flurried panic of hospital staff.

The hours seemed to pass in slow-motion.

Chase watched as the colour seeped back into his surroundings eventually, gradual and muted like a poorly-taken polaroid. Sound followed close behind in the form of heavy pedes pacing back and forth and the careful vents of someone trying not to fall apart. Somehow he found himself back in his bipedal form, hunched against the side of the white-washed building. Blades was perched at his side, welding kit open and active. When had his repairs begun? He couldn't even recall.

"You lost a lot of energon," Blades murmured. The normally effervescent mech was eerily quiet, face robbed of any kind of any emotion save for concentration as Chase's fluids trickled through his digits. "Your nanites have kicked in but you've still got to stay off your pedes for now. In the meantime, drink this." The medic shoved a full cube of med-grade energon into the enforcer's servos yet Chase barely registered it. Instead, he looked up.

Boulder was nearby but hunched and quiet; the soft-sparked engineer seemed wilted. He was fiddling with something small in his servos- Cody's torn-up backpack, Chase realised. Further beyond that was Heatwave. The fire-bot was stepping back and forth across the empty parking lot, engine pulsing into one long growl of aggravation and worry.

Ignoring Blades' hushed protests, Chase stumbled to his pedes. Heatwave and Boulder both turned to look at him but he ignored them. Instead, he turned. It took him mere seconds of window searching to find them; the Burns family, scattered like lonely shreds of a family portrait across an empty hospital room.

Graham and Dani were leant against one another, the former murmuring baseless comfort into his sister's ears though she seemed unable to tear her eyes from the rusted red settled on her fingers. Kade was stood with his back to the wall, face lowered so that his hair curtained whatever expression he wore. (Chase knew enough of the eldest child to know that he was fighting his own self-blame.) And finally there was the Chief, head bowed and head buried in his grey and wrinkled hands.

Chase's sudden movement drew their attention. Chief Burns looked up and, upon meeting the Autobot's gaze, mustered a small smile of relief.

"Hey, partner," he said softly. Even through the glass, Chase could hear that note of exhaustion and wrongness in his voice. "How are you doing?"

It took Chase a long moment to process the question. Part of him felt disbelief- frankly, the answer was so obvious that it was nearly insulting. Then he saw the tremble in his partner's wrinkled hands and understood.

"I am functional, sir," he managed after a moment and the words threatened to strangle him into silence.

Chief Burns sagged. "Good. I'm glad you're alright."

They staggered back into silence.

Chase wasn't sure what to do now. Blades had retreated, his warnings having fallen on deaf audials. Boulder had at some point joined him, the pair trading hushed whispers and sad glances that made Chase's back struts itch. Heatwave had fallen still too but Chase didn't have to turn around to know that his leader was still seething.

He wasn't sure what made him said it. It welled up out of him; a soft and mournful cry that made him tremble.

"I… I am sorry, sir," he murmured and saw the Chief look up again. Kade went still in the window as behind him, Blades stiffened. "I have failed you in my mission to serve and protect. I should have been able to prevent this. My attempt's to save Cody were inadequate and miscalculated. I do not believe that I remain worthy of calling myself a rescue bot and I…"

At first, he didn't even register that he was trembling. Then he spotted the droplets of processed energon dribbling down his servos as it spilt over the sides of the energon cube. Some of the toxic liquid dribbled down his digit to mingle with the rain and dried blood still sprayed across his plating. He clenched his optics shut and tried to pretend he couldn't still hear the squeal of tires in the back of his processor.

"This wasn't your fault."

The tremble in Chase went still. He looked up and his gaze tracked automatically to the Chief but was surprised to find Kade glaring at him through the frosted window.

"We're all rescue workers, dammit. None of us were there and none of us could help you so we're all at fault for this." When Kade shook his head, his eyes were filled with a determined fire that made Chase falter. "Cody is still alive right now because of you, so don't you dare apologise for saving my little brother's life."

Chase didn't know how to respond. The other Autobot's had drawn up behind him, their fields flickering like dying candles against his own. Fear, worry, surprise and gratitude all merged into one.

"I agree." The chief had stood to join his eldest by the window, a heavy hand coming to rest on his eldest's shoulder. Pride gave way to age where wrinkles met a greying brow and the Burns' patriarch smiled sadly. "You only did what you thought was right and you can't condemn yourself for that. Nobody can be blamed for what happened and I know that if Cody were here right now, he would be saying the exact same thing."

Chase knew that the man was right. Cody wasn't the type to blame others when things went wrong. He knew more than anyone the dangers of commonplace accidents. He would not blame anyone.

Quiet and unassuming, the smallest string of solace started to sew itself through Chase's chassis.

"I… Thank you, Chief."

Chase received a small but steady smile that was backed up by the supporting servos pressed to his back struts. He might have said something, perhaps offered his own consolation to the exhausted humans, but was halted by the sound of hurried footsteps down the corridor.

Eyes and optics alike turned as a nurse appeared in the doorway; a tired, life-drained vision in white and green. A certain stillness followed her and she glanced to the window, no doubt taken aback by the many glowing optics peering into the small hospital room, but said nothing as she traversed the last few steps into the room.

All four humans immediately shot to their feet and fired off their frantic questions.

"Is he okay?!"

"How is he?"

"Is everything alright?"

"Please tell me that he's-"

When the nurse raised a still hand, the room immediately fell back into a baited silence, waiting for her words. It was almost cruel and a part of Chase felt enraged- because how dare she seem so calm when their world was crumbling around them? But then something gave way in her eyes.
It took a moment for him to process her smile.

"He's going to be just fine," she said softly.

Chase's vision flickered unsteadily. Around him, the company dissolved into a puddle of relief. The 'bots beside him seemed to shrink back, their joy and excitement reflected in the bubbling of their fields and the frantic twitching of kibble.

He barely paid attention to it. Instead, he listened with rapt regard as the chief- though incredibly relieved, judging by his frenzied pulse rate- continued to question the nurse with lingering unease.

"How bad was it?"

"A badly broken leg, several cracked ribs, a pretty big concussion from the impact and some third-degree burns on his arms and facial area but other than that, he's perfectly healthy. To be honest, you got lucky. if your rescue robot hadn't known to jump in front of him like that-" Chase stiffened when the room's eyes tracked to him. "-he would have gotten off a lot worse."

The Rescue Bot let those words settle in his helm.

He… had succeeded?

The sudden streams of data pouring across his HUD made it difficult to concentrate as pure, unadulterated relief threatened to topple him. He leant heavily against Blades', struggling to maintain his robotic persona, especially as Chief Burns turned to give him a subtle, grateful nod.

"Is there any way that we'll be able to see him?"

"He's asleep right now but we can go in to check on him if you'd like."

Chief Burns seemed to sink into his gratitude, a weary but genuine smile lifting the weight from his shoulders. "That would be wonderful. Thank you, Jennifer."

The nurse only nodded, a saddened smile of her own surfacing. "It's no problem, Chief. You and your family have done an incredible job of keeping our town in one piece and Cody sounds like a really good kid. If you need anything else, we'd all be happy to help. Now if you'll follow me, I'll take you to right to him."

"To the left... Wait, back to the right a little! Oh, but now the letters are crooked!"

"Blades, would you please keep still? It looks fine."

"Fine?! But it has to be perfect!"

The noise of the firehouse was inescapable; Blades and Dani were loudest as they tugged a frayed banner back and forth above the garage entrance. Heatwave and Kade only watched, offering snarky commentary by way of helping (ranging from "Heatwave, does that writing look kind of wonky to you?" to "I did try to tell them that colour wouldn't work with that shade…", both answered with an angered hiss of: "Would you shut up and help?!") Inside, Boulder seemed content to help Graham monitor the snack-laden table while the Greene's were collaborating over the decorations- the younger looped streamers across the walls, whilst the elder vigorously monitored the music.

The rest of Griffin Rock hadn't been forgotten either. Though not physically present, their mark was left in the cornered collection of gifts which had gathered over the course of the past weeks; kaleidoscope bouquets and fruit baskets, ribbons and confetti and scribbled drawings from school children. Even Optimus Prime had made a contribution- a smaller gift box that lingered at the front of the table. (When opened, it would reveal a trinket-sized Autobot symbol and a clumsily-doodled 'get well soon' card signed by the whole of Team Prime and one 'Miko Nakadai'. Chase was not going to ask how the impressively-sized Prime had managed to craft such an ornate and tiny gift.)

And Chase? The police-bot was left standing by the entrance, optics tracing back and forth across the road as he waited for the old cruiser to roll around the corner.

It had been a long six weeks since the incident. A certain pensive silence had taken to the firehouse, not simply because of Cody's injuries but also because of the abrupt absence of life at home and on missions. There had been no helpful advice inserted over the comm. units, no gentle cajoling or reassurance, no bemused explanations for human nuances of humour. Although their human partners had done their best to fill the silence, something persistent had remained missing.

"Are you okay, Chase?" he heard someone ask suddenly. Chase looked down to find Frankie perched at his pedes, rocking back upon the edges of her heels. Her frown was soft and emphatic, her tiny darkened hands brushing across his outer armour with what he gathered was both affection and concern- as observant as always.

"I am fine," he answered smoothly- a white lie, or so he had been told. Normally, he would have been appalled by his own deceit but as of now, he could not seem to focus on anything other than the heavy discomfort settled deep in the bottom of his tanks.

"You don't have to be nervous, you know," Frankie murmured kindly. "Cody loves you."

His optics flicked down to survey the girl.

Humans were frail and easily broken- he was all too aware of that now. Frankie, however, did not appear as such. Perhaps it was the nature of her personality but small and thin though she may be, she had never looked fragile to him. Even now she stood with her arms folded calmly behind her back and lips curled into a pleasant, comforting half-smile.

"Maybe so," he found himself admitting, "and yet I cannot help but feel somewhat responsible for his current condition."

Frankie's frown shifted into something deeper. "Is that why you didn't volunteer to pick him up from the hospital?" It was. "But you've already seen Cody since then and didn't he already tell you that it didn't matter? Sure, Cody got hurt, but it isn't like he would ever hold that against you."

"If I had been quicker or more efficient, Cody would not have been injured at all."

Frankie hummed, rocking back and forth upon her toes in an expression of childlike thought. "Maybe so," she echoed and it drew a reluctant softness to his mouth, "but that's kind of an illogical way of thinking, isn't it?"

Chase went very still. This time when he glanced down, it was to find her watching him with her own astute brand of bemusement. It was not the first time he had been taken aback by her shrewdness and he had no doubt that it would not be the last. Regardless, he shook off her stare and straightened.

"I do not understand what you mean."

Frankie sighed. "If you hadn't done what you did, then my best friend would be dead right now." She said it so matter-of-factly that even Chase had a hard time not flinching. She was correct, of course, but it remained disturbing to hear. "Even if you had been quicker or even more efficient like you said, what's to say that Cody wouldn't have still ended up getting hurt- maybe even more injured than he is now? There's no point in being nervous about what could have been, you should just be happy about what has been."

It took him a moment to process her words and even then he found himself frowning. He might have questioned her further if his optics hadn't caught the familiar black and white of the chief's old police cruiser.

From behind him, he heard cheers erupt from Blades and Boulder, followed by the mutterings of a happy, newly paint-splattered Heatwave. Music pulsated across the trimmed lawn as the odd scent of human food and drying paint mingled with the delighted laughter of the human youngling, who was picked from the police cruiser in giant metal servos and placed gently in his wheelchair.

"Hey, Chase?"

The call snatched him back from the glittering of Cody's grin. He turned his attention just in time to see Frankie encase his lower leg in a tight embrace; one he accepted with blatant- though not displeased- surprise.

"I never thanked you for saving Cody's life," she murmured, "so… thanks."

She pulled away and Chase let out an involuntary purr when she pressed a warm, childish kiss to his sun-stained armour. Then in a flash, she was gone again, running across the tarmac to fling herself into Cody's wheelchair for a huge, desperate hug. It tore a bubble of joyous laughter from the boy's throat, one that the surrounding adults echoed affectionately.

The firehouse was full of noise again.

Chase, quiet and contemplative, watched as the party gathered around their youngest companion. The banner behind him fluttered in the wind, the words 'WELCOME HOME, CODY' printed in wild, haphazard capitals.

Once, he might have thought a decoration like that to be illogical; uncoordinated, disorderly, and without thought or purpose. Now, looking around at the wash of colours and sounds, he could only find himself content.

Logic may be a staple for the rest of the universe but Earth seemed somehow untouched by it.

Surprisingly, he didn't really mind.