"So we'll need to search for them in person, now that their signatures are too weak to track," Tracker explained to both Surveillance and the Troopers congregated in the garage the next morning. Doc was leaning in the doorway, watching with his trademark coolly detached demeanour.
"They shrunk the Autobots," Commander breathed, shaking his head and climbing into his new car. "Unbelievable."
"Come on; the Decepticons will be looking for the Autobots, too. I refuse to let them get them first," I put in, mounting my bike. "I picked up Prime from the vacant lot on the corner of Parks and Manning; the search should be focussed in that area. Remember, keep it low key and watch out for 'Cons." We left and headed for the lot. When we arrived, Commander and Tracker worked in collaboration to take charge, sending out teams. Commander turned to me.
"Scout, you can go it alone if you'd prefer it." I nodded and took off, melting seamlessly into the crowd.

I trotted casually along to the edge of the day's search zone and started peeking into alleyways and wandering down side streets. There were no signs of any Cybertronian activity anywhere; no energon trails, no metal scraps, nothing. I was getting frustrated as it started getting colder and darker, and I hated the thought of leaving the Autobots out there by themselves. This neighbourhood was dodgy at night. I knew what it was like for the Autobots to be dramatically altered and lost in a crowd of strangers so much bigger than they were. I just hoped the results wouldn't be permanent. I heard a small crash and voices coming from one of the alleys. I paused, listening. Following the noises, I walked down the alley. There were three young teens standing over a smaller creature that I thought might be a dog, swatting at it with a lead pipe. "Hey!" I called out snappily. The three kids turned to me and I got a better look at their victim as he hunched against a skip bin. Ironhide. "He isn't a toy; leave him be," I ordered.
"Make us, bitch," one of the kids challenged. The kids laughed. I smirked.

"If you insist." I flashed my claws and allowed the energy to crackle over my body, streaking through my hair and collecting in my eyelashes as I stalked towards them. The pipe was dropped as the kids panicked and fled in the opposite direction. I sighed, letting my energy fade and retracting my claws. "Thugs," I lamented, shaking my head. I turned my attention back to Ironhide and smiled. "Hey, Ironhide. Looking a little worse for wear, I'm afraid," I admitted, taking in the dents and superficial tears in his armour.
"Are you here to kill me?" Ironhide mumbled resignedly, looking down as he supported his visibly twisted arm. My smile dropped and I shook my head.
"No," I said gently, kneeling down in front of him. "I'm here to take you back to HQ. Optimus is there." Ironhide raised his head and stared at me.

"You saved Optimus?" he demanded. I smiled and nodded.
"Of course! Well, I mean, at first I was just going to ignore him, but then Jazz called and I couldn't say no to him. So I came, smashed the electromagnet generator and warped Optimus out of Megatron's claws. Now he's back at HQ, and I'm here with the Troopers and Surveillance to look for the others."
"Have you found anyone else?" Ironhide asked, forcing himself to his feet.
"I haven't, but the others might have. Come on, let's go find out." I stood, stepped away and waited for him to follow me. He took a few shaky steps after me and I smiled sympathetically and held out my hand. Ironhide hesitated, glaring at the offered hand guardedly before reaching up and grabbing onto my fingers. I turned and we walked back towards the lot.

"Ironhide, good to see you," Commander greeted as we approached the group. I frowned, looking around at the exhausted figures.
"You didn't find anyone else," I huffed, running my fingers through my hair. Ironhide leaned against my leg unsteadily. I sat down on the pavement and put my hand on his back understandingly. "I'm sorry, Ironhide. We'll keep looking, though. I promise." Ironhide nodded. I took Ironhide back to HQ on my bike and put him into the med bay. Medic was there with Doc, and the two of them started making repairs before Brute joined them. Commander took me aside.
"Scout, we can't keep looking for the Autobots. We need to be on high alert because Earth is basically unprotected right now. We can't afford to waste time searching. Do you understand?"
"Of course," I agreed. "If that's what needs to happen, I shall continue the search on my own. And don't say you can't spare me when you've already done without." Commander looked me over reluctantly and nodded.
"Okay. Just don't overwork yourself, kid."

Hours later, I went back to the med bay to check up on Optimus and Ironhide. Optimus was sitting on his bed with a dull grey plate attached to his chest and Ironhide was standing in the sink with a soapy flannelette, rubbing off the dirt from the previous night. "Need a hand, Ironhide?" I offered. Ironhide grunted and held the flannelette out to me. I smiled and walked over, taking the cloth and dunking it in the water, shaking up some suds. "How are you feeling, Optimus?" I inquired as I cleaned grime out from between Ironhide's shoulder plates.
"Better, although I would prefer to have my own chest plates back." I glanced at him over Ironhide's head.
"And how are you feeling about your situation?" Optimus met my gaze and looked away dejectedly. I sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"The Network can't keep looking, can they?" Optimus questioned. It was more of a statement. "They're needed for when the Decepticon's make their next move. They'll be standing by." I nodded.
"That's true; they will. But I'm going to keep looking until I've got everyone back again," I told them matter-of-factly as I gently brushed dirt from the back of Ironhide's neck. "I will find them, even if I have to sneak into the Decepticons' base myself." Draping the flannelette over the tap, I pulled the plug and bent down to get a towel out of the cupboard. It smelled like lanolin. The last of the water drained away and I wrapped Ironhide up in the towel and started rubbing to dry him off. In spite of his rough, heated disposition, Ironhide, too, went limp and started purring. I smiled, but I didn't dare comment. When he was dry, I scooped Ironhide up and set him on the bed next to Optimus', taking the towel to hang it over the edge of the sink. Doc walked into the room to check his new patients.

"Ironhide, I see you managed to get yourself cleaned up without much hassle."
"Scout helped," Ironhide admitted with an indifferent shrug. I smiled, shaking my head.
"Scout, I've been looking for you," Doc told me. Before I could ask him why, he had crossed over to some of the cupboards and pulled out an energon container and tossed it at me. I fumbled as I caught it, frowning. "I want you to drink that in front of me before you pass out," he informed me crossly.
"I'm not going to..."
"Drink it!" Doc ordered. I sat on the edge of the counter, sulking as I opened the container.
"Someday I'm going to work up the courage to hit you," I informed Doc, sipping the energon.
"No you're not," Doc countered surely. "All of it, Scout," he pushed, nodding to my container. I growled and sculled the thing, throwing it back at the doctor who caught it easily. "Now go to bed." I stalked from the room without a backwards glance. "Goodnight, Scout!" Doc called.

The next morning, I got up, downed a container of energon and a breakfast shake, dressed and headed to the med bay, peeking in through the windows. Doc was at his desk with a file and a mug of coffee, and Optimus and Ironhide were sitting on their beds, chatting. Ironhide noticed me at the window and nodded his greeting. I smiled and swung open the door. "Hey," I greeted.
"Have you had your breakfast?" Doc demanded immediately.
"Have you?" I challenged, looking pointedly at his coffee mug. He glanced up at me over his silver wire-rimmed glasses, unimpressed. I grinned. "That means no," I chirped, sitting down beside Optimus and sticking my tongue out at Doc. "And I have, by the way," I added. I turned my attention to the two Autobots. "I just thought that I'd check in before looking for the others."
"Thank you, Scout. We appreciate it," Optimus told me. I nodded.
"Well, I'm off then," I trilled, jumping off the bed and trotting to the door. "Wish me luck!" I called out as I left. "And Doc; eat something!" Medic came around the corner with two plates of scrambled eggs and toast.
"Don't worry, Scout. I'll make him eat," she assured me. I nodded and left for the garage.

After driving around the area covered the day before, I parked my bike and started wandering, looking for signs of Cybertronian activity. It was a cold day, and it had poured all night. The ground was muddy and oily, and the whole place smelled a little bit like wet dog, vomit and alcohol. I searched for hours down side streets and alleyways. As I traipsed down one alleyway full of soggy cardboard boxes and an overturned bin from a bar, I felt something connect with my ankle. I jumped and looked down to find a little silver hand desperately clutching my jeans. "Scout." The voice was weak and obscured by static, but I recognised it immediately.

"Jazz!" I gasped, kneeling down in the muck and pushing away the rubbish and cardboard to reveal the little silver robot huddled underneath. "Ohh," I sighed sadly, looking at the stains and filth that covered him. He was so dirty, parts of him looked black. Jazz shifted closer to me and fluids seeped from a slash in his side. "Come on, Jazz," I soothed, picking him up and sitting him on my hip. He let his head fall against my shoulder and closed his optics. "I'll take you back to HQ," I told him as he bunched my jacket in his fists.
"I'm so sorry, Scout. I never thought ya were evil, but I didn't know what ta do," Jazz slurred. I smiled and rubbed his back affectionately.
"It's okay, Jazz. We're okay," I replied. Jazz pushed air through his vents softly and wrapped his arms tighter around me, purring. I took him back to HQ and turned up at the med bay.

"Scout, you're back early," Doc commented as I pushed through the door. "Ah, I see," he added, spotting Jazz. I set him down on one of the metal tables, ignoring the sticky mess he left on my side.
"He's got a tear in his side and he's leaking. I'm assuming that his energy's down," I informed Doc, standing to move away from Jazz. Jazz grabbed a fistful of my shirt, halting me.
"Don't go," he asked quietly. "Ya just found me." I smiled and bent down to his level, cupping his jaw in my hand.
"Relax, Jazz," I murmured gently. "I'll come back to you, I promise. I'm just going to update the others and give Doc some space to fix you." I brushed my thumb across Jazz's cheek caringly and softly pried his fingers loose. "Doc, once you've patched him up; call me, please," I requested, walking out.

I told Commander and Tracker that I had brought Jazz back and went to clean myself up. I brushed my hair into two pigtail plaits and put on a pair of paint and grass stained jeans and singlet. My earpiece went off and I answered. "Doc."
"We did our best. Jazz is waiting for you." We weren't big on small talk. I slipped on some boots and headed off to the med bay. When I walked in, Jazz was tipping up a container of energon with shaking arms. The liquid sloshed down his front, adding to the dirt, and I sighed. Taking the container, I sat on the table next to him and bundled him into my lap. Wrapping my left arm around him to make sure he didn't fall off, I took the container in my right and held it to his mouth. He held his shaky hands up to the edge of the container as I fed him.

"So this is what being a mum feels like," I giggled. Jazz met my gaze but didn't stop drinking. He seemed perfectly comfortable nestled on my lap.
"That is a terrifying thought," Doc mused, writing something down in a file. Optimus started to protest but I grinned.
"Yes it is," I agreed wholeheartedly. Jazz pushed at the container and I took it away. He'd taken less than half, judging by the weight. "Better?" I asked, tilting my head curiously. Jazz smiled and nodded. He looked drowsy. I smiled warmly at him and shifted him onto my hip, standing up.

Jazz put his head on my shoulder again and I went to the cupboards and pulled out some towels. Arranging them on the bed next to Ironhide's, I set Jazz on the bed and went back to the cupboards to pull out a basin. I put it on the counter and ran warm water, pouring in some pine wash and taking it over to Jazz with a flannelette. I sat myself on the bed cross-legged, pulled a towel over my lap and sat Jazz down on it, setting the bowel in front of him. Dipping the flannelette into the basin, I squeezed it and gently wiped the dirt off Jazz's face and head. I dunked the cloth again and started brushing off the dirt on his chest. Jazz purred, going limp and letting his head loll back into the crook of my arm as his eyes dimmed again. I cleaned Jazz up, dried him off, and tucked him into bed. "So, now you're back here, what will you do?" Doc inquired without taking his eyes off of his file.
"I'm going to take a nap and go back out this evening," I responded. "I won't stop, and you can argue with me all you like; I'm about as stubborn as you are." Doc grunted, obviously displeased with my plan.
"Of course you are," he agreed, irritated. I smiled and walked out, heading to my room.