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By the time Robby heard the car's engine it was too late.
He was struggling to hold back laughter as Mum tried to show Optimus how to change the wallpaper on his phone so that she could send him the picture she'd snapped of Bumblebee sleeping snuggled against his side. Robby had no idea how Bumblebee was able to sleep over the shouts of his siblings playing hot potato (or hot cube as the Cybertronians called it) in the cow field next door. Which was probably why he didn't hear the car coming until it was parked right outside the barn.
In the split second it took Robby to wonder why an ambulance was at their house when no humans had been hurt that badly during the battle with Mandroid, the vehicle had already transformed into a twenty foot tall robot.
It wasn't a Transformer Robby had met before, nor was it one he recognised from TV.
"Er hi?" Robby said but the robot didn't appear to have heard him. Instead it marched straight towards Megatron who was perched on the grass opposite the barn. At the sight of the ambulance heading his way, Megatron clutched the battered remains of his arm and turned to glare in Optimus' direction.
"You called Ratchet?" Megatron hissed.
Optimus ignored him, pretending to be too engrossed in his phone.
The bot, who was apparently called Ratchet, paid the interaction no mind and produced an oversized wrench from who knows where and whacked Megatron over the head with it.
"I know your helm is as thick as a dinobot's tail but can you at least try to think next time before you try to use your fusion canon when your arm is half fallen off! Now sit!" Ratchet shouted.
Robby waited with baited breath for Megatron to start blasting but despite his scowl, the former Deception followed the orders without question, which even after everything that happened, was probably the most surprising thing Robby had seen that day.
He'd never seen Megatron follow orders that quietly before. Even with Optimus he usually had a sparky remark or two.
Who was this Ratchet? Judging by the way he was currently fixing Megatron's arm, Robby assumed he was some kind of Cybertronian equivalent of a doctor. And with his Mum's non-repulsed eye roll and Dad's silent freak out, even if Robby didn't know who this bot was, he was fairly certain his parents did.
That was when the second car arrived.
It must've been following right behind Ratchet although with everything that had happened in the last minute, it felt longer to Robby.
It too transformed from a flashy race car to a giant robot. His armour was a pristine white with swirls of red and yellow. Two swords larger then Robby's entire body were strapped to his waist with another across his back. But they weren't half as terrifying as the Deception logo tattooed across their chest.
Before Robby could cry out, his Mum was already standing in front of him, blaster poised to strike.
"Stand down Mrs Malto." Optimus said, in that gentle but commanding tone Robby recognised from his speeches on TV. "This is Drift. He has now switched allegiances to the Autobots."
"Funny, because last time we met, he was a Deception assassin called Deadlock." Mum snarled.
Robby noticed that his Dad had taken up a similar protective stance in front of the Terrans who had abandoned their game to watch the unfolding scene.
"My allegiance was not the only thing I changed." Drift said, hands raised in the universal sign of surrender, although he didn't sound to be that bothered by his Mum's blaster.
"Well who are you then?" Mum demanded, reluctantly holstering her weapon under Optimus' watchful eye.
"I'm Ratchet's conjux." The Deception stated with a soft smile that didn't match the rest of the walking arsenal.
"What's a conjux?" Hashtag asked, taking the question from Robby's mouth.
"What do you mean what's a conjux?" Ratchet scoffed as he finished welding Megatron's arm back together. "What are you, a bunch of spark-"
Ratchet glanced away from Megatron's injury taking his first real look at the plainly armoured bots around him. His eyes widen before suddenly flashing white. "Sparklings? You found sparklings! AND YOU DIDN'T CALL ME?"
Ratchet's thunderous voice left Robby wobbling on his feet and woke Bumblebee up with a start.
The glare Optimus sent in Rachet's direction did little to deter to doctor's tirade. Megatron was the only one who appeared happy, relieved that the doctor's ire was no longer focused on him.
"Please tell me you at least gave them a routine check up!"
"Errr..." Bumblebee replied eloquently, still sounding half asleep.
Ratchet tssked, a sound Robby had no idea how a robot could make without any teeth.
"Why do I always have to do everything?" Ratchet grumbled to himself. A ray of blue light spread over the nearby Terrans, making them giggle as he presumably took a scan. Whatever he saw on the results made his eyebrows disappear beneath his helmet.
"Their energon levels are all below ten percent! How are they even still alive?"
"It's okay they don't need energon." Bumblebee told him, sounding more awake now.
"And you know this how?"
"Because they might have nearly collapsed of it- but then it was okay because we discovered that they just need Earth water to survive!" Bumblebee replied quickly, leaning more into Optimus with every word as though he could hide under the Prime's armour.
"Oh and you know this in your expert medical opinion do you?" Ratchet retorted, his armour plating shaking to the point Robby was worried that the friction would set it on fire. It was a sight Robby suddenly recognised from his own parents when their anger at him doing something particularly stupid was an explosion of their terrified concern.
"Ratty, remember your fuel line pressure. Take deep vents." Drift said, gently squeezing the crook of Ratchet's elbow.
Robby heard the doctor grumble something about where his conjunx could shove his fuel line pressure, but he did take a reluctant deep breath. It rattled the plates of his armour like the brittles of a cats fur, seemingly settling Ratchet enough that he no longer looked liked he was about to spontaneously combust. Sighing, he produced what looked to Robby like sticks made out of rust from his seams, holding them out towards the Terrans.
"Here. These should get your energon levels up. But don't eat too many at once. My days of cleaning up sparkling vomit are long over."
For some reason those words only made Bumblebee sink against Optimus even further.
Robby watched as his metallic siblings take tentative bites of the rust sticks. He had to stifle a laugh as all too soon they were gobbling them up like kids with candy on Halloween.
"Yes well thank you for your assistance Ratchet." Optimus said diplomatically. "But it must be a longer drive back home for you and Drift, so we'd best let you get on your way."
"Oh you're not getting rid of me that easily Prime! I'm staying here to keep an optic on these sparklings." Ratchet stated.
"And where Ratchet goes, I go." Drift declared from his side. Robby almost missed the twitch of a smile Ratchet sent in his conjux's direction. But he was glad he didn't. As it showed that underneath the medic's sharp exterior, was a spark that cared about the bots around him. Even if he was willing to offend their feelings to protect their physical wellbeing.
"Can we keep them Mum, please?" Robby begged, utilising his best puppy dog eyes.
She shared a quick look with her husband with was pointless since Robby knew his Dad would be over the moon at the idea more transformers staying with them. Sure enough, his Dad was jumping up and down like an excitable puppy.
"We're going to need a bigger barn." His Mum sighed.