Tinman

The Terms

Back at Autobot Headquarters ...

It took nearly a half hour of chasing and a well-placed cannon shot from Bumblebee to finally stop Ironhide's obsessive search for tracks. Optimus literally had to shout the old mech out of his fixated state. Eventually, Optimus and Bumblebee managed to persuade Ironhide to head back to the airfield. The weapons specialist had spent the past thirteen hours incessantly pacing and checking the sensor monitors for any sign of Decepticons. The Autobots as well as Will had enough sense to keep out of his way during the entire time. Each hour that passed weighed heavily on all of them but Ironhide's rage only burned hotter in his Spark chamber.

"What's taking them so long, slag it!" Ironhide snarled, optics flashing, "They should have hailed us with their demands by now! WHY aren't they talking?!"

Ratchet hissed wearily—every hour he'd asked that same fraggin' question! The medic gripped one of his wrenches, contemplating throwing it at the irate black mech, but decided Ironhide would probably retaliate with much deadlier force in his current state, so he put the tool down.

Ratchet thrummed his fingers on the console, "Like I've told you for the twentieth time, they're Decepticons. They'll notify us whenever they want."

Ironhide's cannons spun as he ranted, "It's been too long. We can't just sit around here doing nothing, it's senseless!"

"Ironhide," Optimus said sharply, "Cool your processors. Getting angry isn't going to bring them back any faster."

The weapons specialist jabbed his left cannon at him, "What would you know Prime? All you ever do is pacifistically wait around on your aft when you should be taking action!"

Optimus set his metal jaw firmly and said in a calm yet stern tone, "I'm not going to ask again, Ironhide. Please, calm yourself down."

Rumbling dangerously, Ironhide's cannons both heated up as he menacingly took a step at Optimus. The air seemed to thrum with tension. But slowly, the glowing, twin monsters powered down as Ironhide stormed out of the air hanger. Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Optimus all cleared their vents.

"I haven't seen him this mad in several breams." Ratchet mentioned.

Optimus leaned against the hanger wall shaking his head.

...

Will, meanwhile, had been sitting outside on a stack of crates lost in his own worries and thoughts as the sun peeked over the horizon. Where were his girls? Were they alright? Was Annie warm enough? Did Sara have the courage to keep them both calm? He hung his head between his knees, hands clenching his hair as his shoulders shook. He just wanted to see them. He just wanted to make sure they were still alive. All his war experiences and glances with death were nothing compared to the agony of not knowing. It was his family in danger, not him. He could live with danger to himself, but not them.

The ground around him suddenly shook when Ironhide bulled his way out of the air hanger, striding right past him. The mech's massive cannons were whirring like two giant hornets, threatening immeasurable pain upon anything in his path. Lennox could hear every vent in the black Autobot hissing deeply as he stopped several yards away, truck shoulders arched. Suddenly, the black mech roared thunderously with clenched fists. Whirling around on the spot his cannons surged forward, belching forth hot blue and orange explosions at one of the airfield sheds. Will felt his breath catch in his chest as the all too familiar wave collided with the shed and blew it apart like a house of cards. The similarity to Blackout's attack on Qatar was chilling.