Over the years, Annabelle had learned to look up to Sam like a big brother. At home, she was a sweet little princess. When Sam showed up, she ran around screaming and wildly laughing. Annabelle was always happiest when she was playing games with Sam. She loved the games that had no rules the most. Sam was always willing to babysit Annabelle because he loved talking to her. She was lovely and innocent in every way, and she always knew how to make Sam smile. As Sam grew older though, he had a lot less free time than Annabelle did, and he spent all of his time devoted to Carly and their 'normal' life together. Sam no longer babysat little Annabelle, doing silly things and goofing off at the Autobot base. The fact was, both Sam and Annabelle were growing up. But Sam was growing up faster than Annabelle wanted him to. So the two friends went their separate ways.

They didn't reunite until after the Battle of Chicago. When all the human Autobot representatives were called to meet at Autobot HQ to discuss what to do next, Sam saw Annabelle there with her father. Annabelle was silently excused from the meeting by her father when tiny rivers of tears started to run down her face. It didn't take long for Sam to figure out what was upsetting Annabelle so much. 'Poor kid.' Sam thought as he caught a glimpse of the crying child running away. She missed Ironhide.

During the meeting it was confirmed that NEST buildings would stay open as the Autobots' home since few Autobots had human charges that they could stay with. The Matrix of Leadership would be used freely as the Autobots pleased. All Autobots would be welcome to come to Earth. No secrets between humans and Autobots would ever be hidden away again. And that was about all Sam caught out of the meeting. (Its not that Sam was bored to death or he wasn't paying attention, he just got a little lost in all the political talk.) Sam was the first one out of his chair when the meeting concluded. Bumblebee transformed and opened his doors for both Carly and Sam but Sam stepped around his car, and left the room and everyone's staring eyes behind him.

Sam knew exactly where to look for Annabelle. On his way to Ironhide's vacant room, he made a note that Ironhide's room was just past the med bay. Out of curiosity, Sam poked his head inside to see Ratchet's current patient. To his delight, he saw exactly who he wanted to see. Now Sam was running down the hall, his excitement being too much to contain! He was on a mission. Annabelle had to know about what he'd seen and he had to tell her now! Sam suddenly skidded to a stop in front of the doorway to Ironhide's room. An eerie feeling washed over him. He didn't know why, but something felt very wrong about stepping inside a dead mech's room. But Annabelle was inside, so it had to be okay. Sam took the first step inside and Annabelle spoke up from the top of Ironhide's berth.

"Dad said Ironhide was... murdered" Annabelle hesitated on the new word that hit so close to home. The girl looked down at Sam. "Sentinel was a Prime! He was supposed to protect us, and he killed Ironhide!" Annabelle cried. Despite Sam's feelings for the room earlier, he rushed inside and climbed up onto Ironhide's berth and sat next to Annabelle. Sam wrapped her in a hug and held her close.

"It's okay 'Belle. I know this is hard for you, but if you can put on a brave face till we get to the med bay, I promise you'll feel a whole lot better." Annabelle dried her tears with her shirt sleeve.

"What's in the med bay?" Sam gave her a mischievous smile and hopped down from the berth.

"You'll have to find out." Sam teased. Annabelle was not amused.

"If this is a game Sam, I don't want to play."

"Since when do you not want to play games?" Sam challenged. He grabbed her hot pink flip flop off her tiny left fairy foot and started running. Annabelle screamed because she had so little time to contemplate what was going on. When she realized what the trickster had done she took off after him screaming.

"HEY! GIVE THAT BACK SAM OR ELSE!" As Annabelle continued to scream at Sam every threat a five year old could think of, Sam laughed at himself for acting like such a little kid.

Just inside the med bay, Optimus Prime ignited a spark from the Matrix and gave an Autobot his life back. The Autobot's chest glowed blue until the light formatted itself into a living spark. Optimus Prime's relief was short lived. Strangely, the Autobot did not 'explode back to life' as Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime had both done. Ratchet, who was standing close by, was also worried. Scans showed that the Autobot was alive, but not quite conscious yet. Not a word was spoken. Though their fellow Autobot was living, he showed no other sign of life other than his spark. His optics were still dark and there was absolutely no activity inside his processor of any sort. Everything about him seemed to be dead, other than the spark in his chest which was clearly alive. Optimus Prime wondered if he'd done the right thing. Did he really bring his friend back to life, only so the mech could be permanently processor dead? Were some beings not meant to be resurrected? They could only wait now; wait and see if their comrad would ever wake up.

In the hallway, Sam had given Annabelle her flip flop back. Annabelle gladly snatched it from his hand and leaned against the wall to put it back on. She quickly realized where they were. They were standing just a few feet away from the Autobot sized med bay door. Annabelle glared at Sam.

"Okay, I'm here!" She snapped. "Now what?" Sam knelt down to the child's level.

"Annabelle." Sam said calmly. "Ironhide's death was too soon and it wasn't fair. But like I said, I really think you'll feel better if you go inside the med bay. Ironhide's in there now and... Well I think it would help if you got the chance to you know... say goodbye to him one last time." Annabelle thought for a moment about this.

"No." She answered.

"No?" Sam repeated.

"If I see Ironhide again, I'll be more sad." Annabelle mumbled, looking down at the floor. Sam put a hand on Annabelle's shoulder and waited for her eyes to meet his again.

"You don't have to look. Just come in with me, please?" Sam encouraged. Annabelle tried to smile.

"I don't know..."

The next moment, Optimus Prime and Ratchet saw the med bay door slide open to two humans. The little girl walked in with both her hands covering her eyes, and the young man guided her. Ratchet took an immediate scan of Annabelle.

"Samuel, what happened to Annabelle? Has she suffered an eye injury?" Ratchet stressed.

"No. She's okay." Sam said, putting up a defensive hand. Annabelle stopped walking. "Keep coming." Sam instructed.

"I'm still not sure about this." Annabelle announced loudly, unaware of how close Sam was.

While Optimus Prime and Ratchet curiously watched the scene play out in front of them, energon started to flow. Inside Ironhide's body, energon slowly made its way from the spark to his systems. The energon flow awoke his processor and automatically onlined his optics. When Ironhide came to, he heard the most glorious sound. Annabelle. He could hear her voice loud and clear. She didn't sound too happy, but it was still her. The little girl who he'd loved and protected ever since the day Will introduced him to his family. Next thing Ironhide noticed was that he was lying down on a berth in the med bay. Between Optimus and Ratchet, Ironhide watched his charge blindly walk towards him. Then Ironhide's optics shifted over to Sam, and Sam took notice of Ironhide too.

"Annabelle it's okay. You can look now." Sam reassured. Annabelle halted again and shook her head'Be.

"I don't want to."

"C'mon 'Belle."

"I don't want to." Ironhide's optics softened. He had an inkling of what his charge was afraid to see. The mech grunted, pushing himself up from the berth.

"I am here, little one."

Annabelle jumped at the sound of her guardian's voice. She dropped her hands from her face and caught sight of Ironhide, who was very much alive and smiling at her. Annabelle was petrified for a long five seconds. After the shock passed, Annabelle screamed at the top of her lungs and ran to him with her arms open wide. Optimus lifted her onto the berth. Annabelle wrapped her arms around Ironhide's neck and cried into his metal shoulder. Ironhide hugged her back with one servo. Moments later Sam was lifted onto the berth next to Ironhide and Annabelle.

"I'm not even gonna say I told you so." Sam commented with a large grin. Annabelle mumbled something to him with her eyes still crying tears of joy and her face still buried in Ironhide's shoulder. Sam just patted her on the back.

Thanks to Ratchet's expert medical work and Optimus' control of the Matrix, the Autobot family was put back together. Autobots including Que, Skids, Mudflap, Chromia, Arcee, and Elita One were resurrected. At the end of the day Sam, Carly, Wheelie, Brains, and Bumblebee drove home together. When the excitement of the grand reunion was over, Annabelle decided she was ready to go home too. The drive home was uneventful. Ironhide stayed quiet and often let Will take over driving so he could contemplate every detail of what happened while he was dead. Sentinel Prime was a traitor. Cybertron was without a doubt, lost forever. Some humans risked their lives for the Autobot cause. Some humans sacrificed their lives for the Decepticon cause. Optimus Prime killed his teacher and his brother to protect Earth. Every 'Con in the main Decepticon chain of command was dead and the Autobots...won! The war was finally over. He could finally say that he lived to see the last day of the war! Every sacrifice he'd ever made for his Autobot and human comrads was worth it! Autobots and humans won this war together. This was Ironhide's greatest victory. Ironhide pulled into the Lennoxs' driveway and let Will and Sarah exit. When Annabelle didn't move from her seat, her parents seemed a little worried.

"Annabelle?" Her mother questioned. "Are you feeling okay?" Annabelle looked up at her and smiled innocently.

"Can we have a moment alone?" Her parents smiled back, understandingly and gave guardian and charge their privacy. When Annabelle's parents were inside the house, Annabelle climbed up to the passenger seat and started chatting. "I'm so glad you're back Ironhide. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Annabelle. And I am sorry my untimely offlining caused you so much sorrow. I should have been more vigilant of Sentinel."

"It's not your fault." Their conversation went dead silent for a while. Then Annabelle knew what she had to say. "Ironhide? What's gonna happen when you die again? I mean everything has to die sometime, and nobody lives forever, right?" Ironhide understood what Annabelle was worried for. She didn't want to see him die again. But he wouldn't last forever and neither would she.

"That is correct Annabelle. Every sentient being must die. But what bonds those sentient beings together, never dies. Such bonds are unbreakable. Do you understand Annabelle?" Annabelle pondered her guardian's words for a moment before saying,

"Yeah. We're gonna be friends forever!" Annabelle was suddenly bursting with joy. She ran inside the house calling, "Goodnight Ironhide!" but not looking back. She was probably off to tell her parents about what they'd talked about. Ironhide sighed. Had he just fooled Annabelle and himself into believing in something that was impossible? No. It was true. No force in the universe or beyond, not even death could break away the bond that Ironhide and Annabelle shared. Ironhide made a promise to himself. From that moment on until the end of time, Ironhide would always love and protect the Lennox family, and he and Annabelle would be friends forever.