AN: This is officially the longest thing I've ever written for a story. I got the idea from CoraxOnyx's beautiful Doors to Let Out Life. They have a hitchhiking Miles being picked up by Optimus Prime, but after that it pretty much changes. I highly suggest reading their story, I really loved it. Rather this continues or not I have no idea.

Optimus Prime drove along the highway in his alt mode, a large Peterbilt truck without the cargo hold. The Prime was reflecting on everything that had happened since coming to the small little mudball planet known as Earth, and everything that had happened to lead up to their coming there.

Sometimes it seemed like all the bad things he had done outweighed the good, and this was one of those nights. The young Prime had left their makeshift base in search of solitude so he could reflect in peace. After many years of movement, being stationary for too long felt odd, so the drive was the perfect thing. It was late at night, so the Prime didn't have to worry about many other drivers being out and about, though he had his holoform out anyway, and the rain was falling just enough to soothe him. Hard enough to play a calming tune, but soft enough to not make him worry about driving conditions.

Optimus brought himself out of his thoughts when his scanner picked up something living about fifty feet ahead. It was a human, and as Optimus' headlights flashed on the organic, he could tell it was only a young male one. Arm held out with a thumb up, in what Will Lennox had informed him was the classic hitchhiking pose. The poor organic looked soaked, but Optimus knew if he stopped and picked the male up that not only would Ratchet rant at him for it, but he could possibly disclose their secret identities on accident. Even after Mission City the government had wanted them to keep quiet. It wasn't until he got to about fifteen feet away that Optimus recognized the young male.

Miles Lancaster was standing there, a backpack slung over one arm, and the other still held out. Even through his damp hair clinging to his face Optimus could tell he was eyeing his alt mode hopefully, more than likely wanting to get in and dry off. Optimus knew that the teen knew nothing of them, and yet he knew about him, and that he was friends with Sam.

Optimus Prime came screeching to a halt just beside Miles, popping open the passenger side door. He watched as Miles scrambled around him, and opened it and hefted himself up to look inside. He looked at the teen, and the teen just looked back for a moment. If nothing else, Optimus was happy that the teen was trying to be a little cautious.

"Mr. Lancaster, right?" Optimus asked, offering a hand to help pull the teen in.

Miles looked startled, swiping his wet hair out of his face to get a better look at Optimus' holoform, showing off what looked like a recently new black eye. Sam had mentioned that while he and Trent had never gotten physical, Miles had come around sporting a lot of wounds with the jock's cursed name taking the blame.

Miles eyed Optimus' holoform wearily, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"I know Samuel."

Optimus was slightly surprised to notice that Miles hesitated while climbing inside when he said this. Had he been a normal organic like he was pretending to be he would have completely missed it, but as it was he didn't.

"Buckle up, Mr. Lancaster. Safety first." Optimus started his engine, waiting until Miles did so before starting to drive once more. "Back to Tranquility? You'll have to wait until I find a place to turn around."

"No!" Miles exclaimed, surprising Optimus. The teen coughed awkwardly, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, I don't know your name. Mr…?"

"Just calm me Orion."

"Well, Orion," Miles replied, "You can just call me Miles. If it's not too out of your way you can just drop me off at the nearest motel."

Optimus glanced sideways at the teen, "Where are you going?"

Here was another hesitation, just barely there.

"To visit my aunt down in Texas. Her and my mom got in a huge fight so she and my dad refuse to talk to her, but it's almost her birthday and we always go down. She's my favorite aunt and so I just thought…"

"Hitchhike?" Optimus filled in helpfully.

Miles grinned, "Right-o. And please, spare me any of that 'it's dangerous' stuff. I've done it before."

"Well, I will since I do know you, inadvertently. You're lucky that it was I to pick you up and not someone else." Optimus just couldn't keep the tone out of his voice. The one that Will, Sam, and even Robby said made him sound like a cross between an awesome leader and a chiding parental figure. "Sam has a car, though. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded driving you down instead of having you hitchhike. Why did you not ask him?"

"We don't really talk that much anymore." Miles said, sounding slightly bitter as he stared out of Optimus' window in to the darkness.

That didn't seem right to Optimus. The way Sam talked the two had been close for years, and most of Sam's interesting stories almost always included Miles. So he asked why. Miles looked at him, looking thoughtful.

"Well, I guess it started when he got the car he'd been dreaming of. The next thing I knew he was kicking me out for Mikaela Banes, didn't even want me in the backseat."

Optimus felt the need to interrupt here. He had heard from both Bumblebee and Sam some of the comments Miles had made of the girl.

"He mentioned you said some… less than pleasant things about her."

Miles snorted, "Oh, c'mon. Look at her, and then look at him. No one saw that coming, not even me, and I am-was-his best friend! He'd been crushing on her big time since elementary school and she'd never given him a second glance. I was worried about him, and I thought if I kept putting her down he'd eventually get over her and move on to something we both thought was more in his league."

Optimus realized something Sam hadn't in that moment. Sam had thought that Miles was just being jealous, over the fact that his friend was focusing on someone else, or that he had a hot girl. But Sam had been wrong.

"You were merely trying to protect him?"

"Exactly," Miles nodded, "I am happy it worked out between them. He apparently drove her home after ditching me. Then there was the whole Mission City fiasco, and both he and Mikaela came back tightlipped and nervous."

"Nervous?"

Miles shrugged, "I guess maybe the government had covered some of the truth up. Anytime it even came on the news while I was around and Sam'd freak out a bit, and from the way he acted something had to have been a lie. He always sucked at lying. I guess that was the main reason for us drifting apart, he was too afraid he'd let something slip. It just made it easier that he was dating Mikaela and needed to spend more time with her than with me."

Optimus let that sink in, suddenly feeling guilty about something else. He had personally asked both Sam and Mikaela to keep quiet about the Cybertronians and about the real event at Mission City. It had put a strain on one of their relationships with other organics, something Optimus had never thought about.

After that, they drove in silence for a while. Miles just looked out the window watching it rain, and Optimus focused on driving and losing himself in his thoughts again, but this time they focused on the organic inside of him, and the organics he had come to know.

"Did your parents name you after the hunter?" Miles asked suddenly.

"Huh?" It was a rather inelegant response for a Prime as experience as him, but it had caught Optimus off guard and he had absolutely no idea what the organic was talking about.

"Y'know, Orion, the hunter who was sent to the stars after his death and now makes up the constellation."

"Oh, no." Optimus replied with a frown, "What do you meant he was sent to the stars after his death?"

Miles grinned again, weaving the ancient Greek tale. He told of how Orion met Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and tried to impress her by killing all the animals he could. Instead it enraged her, and she sent a giant scorpion after him. After a fierce battle he died of the scorpion's sting, and Zeus, the leader of the gods, took his body and put him in the stars to honor him. He also put the scorpion there.

"Fascinating." Optimus was amazed at how creative the organics were, even in one of their earliest times on the planet Earth. He decided that some research of the planet they were now calling home should be done.

"I think so," Miles nodded, returning his attention to staring out the window. He looked up at the clouded sky somewhat wistfully as he added, "Everything would be a lot simpler if we could all just be turned into constellations."

Optimus made up his mind then and there. He'd find out what the teen was really doing even if it meant revealing what he was. But something like that needn't occur yet, so the Prime just bided his time. As they drove in silence Optimus made his holoform keep glancing at the dash, in case Miles would look over, and after about twenty minutes he had his engine start to sputter. He drifted himself off to the side and cursed for good measure.

"Sorry, it looks like I'm out of gas." Optimus said when Miles looked at him, giving his engine one last fake try before giving up. "I'm sure there's a gas station not too far ahead. I'll just walk to get some."

Both of them looked out the front windshield, watching as the rain came down harder.

"Wait until it stops raining, dude." Miles shook his head, relaxing back in his seat. "No reason to get sick over it."

The two just listened to the rain in companionable silence. Optimus listened to Miles yawn tiredly, watching as the teen tried to fight sleep, and felt as he idly rubbed the soft seat underneath him. He had been doing that for most of the ride, leading Optimus to conclude he either really liked how his interior felt, or he liked having something to do with his hands.

"Miles, do your parents know you're doing this?" Optimus asked softly.

Miles frowned out the window, "That should be obvious, shouldn't it?"

"I think it would be wise if I contacted them. They'll worry about you once they realize you're gone." Optimus reached for his radio, if nothing else planning to call Ratchet to tell him to do it.

"No, please! They won't even care that I'm gone. I mean," A slight pause, "I left a note, and they have my aunt's number. I've come all this way; I'd really rather not turn back now."

Optimus pulled his holoform's arm back, but looked at Miles. "Sam never mentioned you having an aunt in Texas."

"And how the hell would Sam know that I don't have an aunt in Texas?" Miles snapped angrily, "We don't go comparing where we do or don't have family."

Optimus held up his hands in a placating nature, and Miles refused to look at him. If Miles had known what the Prime was he would have had a lot more trouble, but thinking him just a fellow human made it easier.

"It's stopped raining. I'll go get some gas." Optimus said finally, reaching in the back to get a container. For once he was happy an organic had left something inside of him.

Miles nodded, slipping out himself to stretch his leg and go to use the bathroom. Optimus gave the teen privacy, focusing most of his processor on his holoform as it walked away so he wouldn't be spying on the teen. After so long he turned around, deciding that it seemed like he had gone far enough to get the needed gasoline. He walked back, taking the time to make sure to do everything he was supposed to even if Miles was nowhere near him.

When he got back, Miles was nowhere near his alt mode. Optimus cursed, setting the container down and scanning for the teen.

"Miles?"

"Over here, big O!"

Optimus was shocked to actually get a response, certain that the teen had bolted. He focused his scanners in the direction of Miles' voice, and found the teen, going over to him. Miles was sitting on his backpack to avoid the wet ground, staring up at the now mostly clear sky. The teen was silent until Optimus stood beside him.

"That's you," Miles said, pointing up at a grouping of stars. Optimus tilted his head back to get a better look, fake optics tracing the group of stars the humans had long ago named. With a start he realized one of them might have been the star that they had passed coming from Cybertron, but he would have to ask Ratchet to confirm it.

"Don't you think you're a little young to be hitchhiking, Miles? I understand it's for your aunt, but still."

Miles groaned, "Oh, not this again. Aren't you a little young to be a trucker?"

Optimus glanced down at himself. Like most of his fellow Autobots, he had converted his age to human years, and gone with that. He looked to be about his mid-20s, not buff but not easily overpowered either. He was tall, standing at about 6'8 with bright blue eyes and long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, on a suggestion from Will's wife.

He didn't understand why truck drivers had to have a certain age, but Sam had made a comment much like Miles' the first time Optimus had used his holoform.

Not to be deterred, Optimus pressed on.

"Are you running to something, or from something?"

"What are you, a psychiatrist too?" Miles asked sarcastically, standing up and grabbing the backpack. "Can we just get going again? I'm sure you want to get home at some point."

Optimus just nodded, following the teen as he walked back to Optimus' alt mode. Both of them climbed inside in silence, Optimus placing the container back in the back, and starting his engine. He pulled over and resumed driving. They drove in silence for about twenty minutes before Miles spoke up.

"I didn't see any gas station."

Optimus cursed inwardly, "It was on my side. You must have missed it."

"Oh. I was just beginning to think this is a really pointless road with nothing on it."

That much was basically true. They hadn't passed anything in a good while, and the next town was still a ways away. Optimus was thankful for that, he was sure that something was going on with the teen.

He had tried to help many in his life, and failed more than he had ever helped. Countless had died because of his servos, and others because of his mistakes. Each loss, even Decepticon, weighed on his spark, creating a scar that could never be healed. The Great War had caused much suffering, and he knew he wasn't the only one to feel it.

"You look like you just tried to fight the world and lost, dude." Miles said simply, and Optimus realized that the teen was looking at his holoform.

"Excuse me?"

"I've heard the expression of someone wearing their heart on their sleeve, but I've never seen it before. What are you thinking of?"

It was true. The Prime had always had trouble hiding his true emotions, and the battle mask on his bipedal mode was a blessing because of that. In alt mode no one or mech could tell anyway, but if he was using a holoform he apparently wasn't that lucky. Optimus thought for a while, Miles looking at him expectantly the whole time.

"I used to be a soldier, on a tiny island you never heard of. Civil war broke out, and a side had to be chosen. Friends and families were split up, and no one didn't suffer through a loss by the end of it. I was the leader of one side, and my…" Here Optimus hesitated slightly, the events of Mission City playing in his processor. "My brother was the leader of the other. Many died, and eventually he died too, ending the war."

"And I bet you're one of those who took every loss personally, even if it wasn't one of your men." Miles said, surprisingly softly.

Optimus could only nod.

"If you feel so bad after all that, even after winning, then I'd say your good, dude. If all you ever did was the best you could, then that was all you ever could do, and your people still stuck by you, so you must have been doing something right." Miles looked out of his window thoughtfully, "No one escapes life unscarred, Orion. That you take on all the weight you have, though you needn't of, shows you have a good heart. But it's okay to let it go, too. No one will hold it against you if you let yourself relax and be happy. Sometimes you just have to strive on and make life work for you."

Optimus could tell that Ratchet and Miles would get along well. The hot-tempered Medic had always been trying to get Optimus to relax, especially after the war had ended.

Optimus decided a topic change would be nice, "It looks like you've been in a battle of your own, recently."

Miles looked at him questioningly, before he realized what was being talked about, and nodded.

"Yeah, some jock in school named Trent."

Optimus recalled Sam saying that Miles had been on the unfortunate end of Trent's fists a few times before, and then Mikaela's confusion over the matter. Trent hated Sam more than Miles, and he'd never raised a hand against Sam. She'd never heard of him raising a hand against Miles, either, because he usually boasted about any fights he had. Sam had admitted that he'd never seen Trent actually hit Miles. That meant Miles was lying.

"Sam's mentioned him before." Optimus replied offhandedly.

Miles grinned, "Find out he's terrified of clowns yet?"

"Is he?"

That would certainly explain the fight he had with Mikaela about going to the circus. Miles dug in his pocket and pulled out his phone, pulling up a photo. He handed it to Optimus, and while the Prime thought he should pretend to pay attention to driving more, he took it with one hand anyway.

There was Sam, probably not long before he had met Bumblebee, with a clown. The clown had an arm wrapped around the teen, and the look on Sam's face would have been hysterical to Bumblebee or Mikaela. Poor Sam looked like he was about to cry.

"His parents let me help with one of his birthday parties. Judy left me and Ron in charge of the clown, and well, Bobo ended up setting Sam's hair on fire. He's been terrified of them ever since, and that's why he refuses to let his hair grow out, too."

Optimus couldn't stop a small grin coming out, he'd have to use that later. The Prime went to give Miles his phone back when he accidentally switched pictures to a middle aged woman.

"Who's that?" Optimus asked curiously.

"My mother." Miles replied, flashing a brilliant smile.

Optimus studied the picture a bit more, "You look a lot like her. Is your father in here, too?"

The smile faltered, before coming back looking a little put on.

"The next picture."

The next picture was of Miles' mother hugging what Optimus took to be her husband. The male organic was a good deal darker skinned than Miles, with darker hair and darker eyes.

"Oh, you don't look much like him at all." The Prime knew that organic genetics could act oddly, but usually the offspring looked somewhat similar to both genitors in some respect. Sam did, Mikaela did, Robby, Will, and Sarah did. Even little Annabelle showed traits from both her parents. For a Cybertronian it was easier to pick these similarities up, be it just slight facially, or prominent.

"Genetics." Miles said shortly, looking out the window again.

Optimus realized he had treaded on to an iffy subject with the teen, and racked his processors for why. An old conversation with Sam and Bumblebee popped up in his processors.

"Hey, Sam, what does bastard child mean?" Bee had asked, the two Cybertronians in holoform and sitting beside Sam. They had been watching some television show, and when that phrase had been used there was a big hubbub over it.

Sam thought for a moment, "It's supposed to mean a child whose born when their parents aren't married yet, but I've heard it used differently before, like when a spouse cheats on another but the child remains in the relationship. Remember Miles? His mom cheated on his dad, but his dad was kind enough to accept him and forgive her."

Now Optimus wondered if that was true. He couldn't fathom how any parent could hurt their offspring, but he had heard of it before.

"I'm going to ask again: are you running from something?"

Hesitation, until Miles quickly said no. Like all the other times Optimus didn't believe him.

"Sometimes you just have to strive on and make life work for you?" Optimus asked, copying Miles word for word.

Miles was just starting to realize how much Optimus didn't believe him. Optimus could read the realization on his face, and then the acceptance of that. The teen just made a small noise of confirmation in reply, knowing he was stuck where he hadn't wanted to be.

"Miles, where did you really get that black eye?"

Silence. Optimus knew Miles had heard him, the teen was looking directly at him, but now he couldn't read anything on the young organics face.

"Sam mentioned something about your father once. Did your father, does he-"

"Don't." Miles uttered this word so softly that a normal organic might have missed it.

Optimus didn't ask anything else, he didn't need to. He was almost certain he had the answer he was looking for now, but he realized too late that he'd never really wanted it. One look at Miles and he could see that the teen had never been looking to give it.

For the first time that night, Optimus Prime wondered if he had made a mistake in picking up a soaked Miles Lancaster.

The Prime took another look at the organic sitting beside him, and made another decision. He had failed many in his lifetime, but this time he refused to fail again. He would help Miles.

Slowly, Optimus adjusted the air coming in through his air conditioner and added a sleeping gas to it. Ratchet had given him a small container of it in case he needed to transport any injured or scared organics, who it would just be easier to send to sleep. There were still plenty of Decepticons on Earth, and there was always that chance. He had told Ratchet he'd never end up using it, but took it anyway.

Optimus Prime finally used that gas, and five minutes later Miles was sound asleep in his passenger seat.

When Miles first woke up and opened his eyes, it wasn't the throbbing in one of them that worried him. It wasn't that he had absolutely no clue where he was, or how he had gotten there. It was the fact that when he looked down he couldn't recognize the clothes he had on. An oversized white t-shirt, and too big sweatpants. He was only slightly reassured to see that, when he checked, he still had on his own boxers. He noticed his clothes neatly folded on the floor near to him.

He glanced around the room to find it extremely bare. It was large, with windows high up and a cement floor. He was lying on what looked like an air mattress, with a thin blanket at his side. It almost looked like he was in an empty warehouse, or a hangar. Miles tried to remember the night before, remembering getting in with a hunter, no a trucker, named Orion, but after that most of it was a blurr.

"How could you just bring him here? Did you think at all?" An angry voice yelled, startling Miles.

"Now, Ratch, calm down!" He recognized Orion's voice, "I have reason to believe his parental units did him ill."

Miles scowled, and stood up. He was going to give Orion a peace of his mind for messing around with his life. If he had just left Miles alone he'd be off by now without anyone the wiser. Miles stalked toward the open door, and threw it open.

"Now you look here, Orion! You had no right kidnapping me-!"

Anything else Miles had to say died on his lips when instead of finding the man he remembered from last night, he instead found two giant robot-like things. Both stared down at him in surprise, but the taller one reminded him of the truck Orion had been driving. Miles mouth dropped open in shock.

Optimus looked at Ratchet with worry, "I thought you said he should have been asleep longer?"

"Did you use all of the gas?" The Medic asked, surprisingly calm now that the organic in question was in front of them.

Miles realized that Orion's voice was coming from the big blue one, and that the other one was the one he had been about to fight with. He also realized that from the sounds of it he had been knocked out by some gas.

"No."

"That'd be why. It was meant for a couple of people, not just one." Ratchet bent down, getting closer to scan the organic.

"You are so cool," Miles breathed out, surprising both of the Cybertronians. Most organics reacted with some amount of fear. Even Sam had. Ratchet's scan picked up systems running on surprised adrenaline, but not necessarily fear, and it looked as if the teen might have caught what Sam often called a 'bug'.

"His scans are good, Optimus." Ratchet said at length, straightening up. He didn't like the look of the organics eye, but he'd watch it.

"Excuse me? Orion, I'd love to know what's going on."

"Orion? You gave him your old name?" Ratchet asked in surprise.

"I had nothing else. It's apparently a human constellation, so it worked." Optimus shrugged, "Miles, my true name is Optimus Prime. Before that I was Orion Pax, so the name I gave you is not a direct lie."

"No, you don't seem the type to actually lie. You just half ass it."

"He's got you pegged already." Ratchet snorted with amusement. Optimus gave him a sideways glare.

"I'd prefer to see it as half-truths." Optimus said defensively, "We are from the planet Cybertron, referred to as Cybertronians in general by your people. The war I mentioned was between my faction, the Autobots, and Megatron's faction, the Decepticons. The war eventually destroyed our planet, and we sent our greatest hope, the Allspark cube, off into the far depths of space. It eventually came to be here, and Megatron followed it. Sam's great-grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, found Megatron in the arctic circle. The humans unearthed him, and that is where your technology comes from."

"No shit?"

"No shit," Optimus replied with some amusement, before explaining everything else. How Sam became involved, how the Allspark cube had been hidden in Hoover Dam, and how they had eventually taken the battle to Mission City. The way Megatron and the cube had ceased to exist, and that the government then moved them to their own little base in Nevada.

Miles was silent for a moment, before starting to laugh. "So instead of kidnapped, should I think of myself as abducted?"

Ratchet smirked, "Just don't worry about getting anal probed. We have no interest there."

Optimus was completely lost while the two laughed. He was happy to see Miles was taking everything better than he could have expected, but with what he believed the teen would have been good at putting on a smile to hide what was inside. He wasn't sure how to bring it up now that the teen was actually in front of him again.

"Optimus thinks you were abused." Ratchet, however, had no such problem. Optimus frowned at his CMO, the mech had never been good at beating around the bush.

"Optimus thinks a lot of things." Miles swiftly evaded the topic.

"I think you're trying to change the topic. It won't work on me, youngling. Optimus might not have the metal bearings to confront you right out-"

"So he abducted me instead," Miles cut in.

"-but I do. I'm Ratchet, the Chief Medical Officer of the Autobots, which means I have to deal with their processors to." Here Ratchet jerked a servo in Optimus' direction, "If I can even get him to open up, I think I can get what I want out of you, too."

Ratchet let that sink in for a moment, crossing his arms over his chassis as he eyed the teen. Optimus just stood there, allowing the Medic to take the lead in this area. He was better at it. He did expect the teen to try to smooth talk them a little more, so he was surprised by the look of defeat the flashed across Miles' face. When he glanced over at Ratchet, the Medic appeared slightly surprised too.

"I know, I know, it's not right. I should have told someone." Miles finally said, sighing and looking straight down at the ground. "It doesn't even happen that often, but I knew the older I got the harder it would be to explain. So, this summer seemed perfect. I could just escape; become another teen who had run away for no apparent reason. Me 'n Sam had drifted apart, so it's not like he'd worry too much over why, or at least I hoped not."

"Why did you let it continue?" Ratchet asked, bending down to the teen's level once more.

"She really loves him. He's never raised a hand to her, and I can tell he truly loves her, too. I couldn't ruin that."

Optimus activated his communication center, and sent out a comm to Ratchet.

:What should we do? I initially thought that alerting the Child Services would be good enough after getting him here safe and dry.:

Ratchet took a moment to reply, :In a situation like this, the victim's psyche can often be very delicate. I am afraid that if we report his male genitor that it would only naturally break his genitors apart, and then he'd blame himself. Whether he blames himself for what his male genitor does to him I can not tell.:

:He seems so strong and unbreakable.: Optimus recognized Miles' resolve to stick through it so that his mother could be happy. It was completely foolish, and the teen was only making himself hurt, but he could admire that just a little bit.

:So do you.: Ratchet hinted that just like Miles, Optimus hid his true weakness underneath.

:I say we adopt him!: Ironhide's voice came on the line, surprising the both of them.

Optimus knew he had been using the open comm line, but didn't know that Ironhide had been paying attention. Or that Ironhide knew what was going on. That was when the Weapons Specialist poked his helm around the corner, offering a wave as he walked into view.

:WHAT THE PIT DO YOU MEAN BY 'ADOPT HIM'?:

Optimus tried not to cringe back from the Medic at the loud noise, knowing it was just inside his processor. Ironhide however leaned far back from the irate Medic, standing next to Miles.

:The government owes us a favor, right? The brat doesn't want it getting out, and I agree. Imagine how Sam would feel.:

Neither Optimus or Ratchet had added Sam into the equation. Both could easily think of how absolutely devastated Sam would be, and how much he'd hate himself for never noticing. Ratchet only grew more annoyed that it was Ironhide pointing this out. Ironhide and Ratchet often clashed heads, the Medic almost always second guessing himself while the Weapons Specialist was almost always too sure of himself.

:Now imagine how Sam would feel if Miles was thrown into CPS and had to move far away to a new family.:

It would be almost the same reaction, only a lot worse.

"Hey, you want a job?" Ironhide asked, looking down at Miles.

Miles looked annoyed, "Sure, why not. Get abducted by giant alien robots, spill out my life story to giant alien robots, stand here as giant alien robots go silent, and why not take a job from giant alien robots?"

"Don't give me that attitude." Ironhide growled, instantly shutting Miles up. The teen didn't know how much he could get away with, and Ironhide used that awareness to his advantage.

Ratchet and Optimus realized what Ironhide was getting at.

"If you accepted a job with us, we could pull some strings and get you allowance to stay here. You're genitors could come visit you, or you them, but one of us would go with you so you wouldn't have to be alone with the aft." Ironhide explained.

"Why would you do that for me?"

Ratchet looked down at the teen, "Why would you do that for your mother?"

Miles looked up at all three of them in silence, finally just nodding his acceptance.

"Fine, whatever, it's not like this isn't all messed up insane anyway. Can I eat breakfast now?"

All three Cybertronians looked down at Miles, and then at each other. Ratchet turned and hit Optimus hard over the helm.

"You didn't even think to get any fuel for him? What kind of glitch are you? Take him and go see if you can scrounge up any junk Sam or the soldiers left behind!"

Optimus obeyed immediately, grabbing a laughing organic up as he went in search for any food. While there were no actual dorms or barracks for the humans to stay in yet, they made do on air mattresses or the couch in the rec-room hangar. Most of their food was left in the hangar deemed as the cafeteria for organics, and the Energon station for the Cybertronians.

Ratchet opened up a private comm to Ironhide.

:Why'd you come up with that?:

:Did you see Prime's face? He's got it in his processor that helping this youngling out is what he needs to do.:

Ratchet vented softly, :I know. He means the best, but he really should try to stay in our species.:

:Actually, I think this will liven things up a little around here. He's been moping since Mission City, and now he has a purpose again. On top of that, could you imagine the bolt Sam is going to blow when he finds out? And besides, Bee deals with Sam daily. It can't be that hard to take care of an organic.:

:The ones we deal with have things to take care of themselves, even Sam and Mikaela. We have next to nothing here for just Miles. Those are Will's clothes, and I guarantee whatever's left is just junk food. That's hardly healthy, and what if he falls ill?:

:You worry too much, Medic.:

Things were about to change big time around the Autobot base, and only Ratchet was worrying if any of it could go bad.