Just so you know, this is a collab with Arya_Skye, who came up with this idea.

In this oneshot, the Autobots have accidentally turned human, and this is based of her TFP series, consisting of her two books The Incident and The Hunt. This one-shot takes place in between these two books.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading her books! I've enjoyed them, and if you like my writing, you'll like hers too. Thanks!

Arya Skye drew the picture above.

Hope you enjoy reading this. :)

-BP

~~~

June walked into the base and raised an eyebrow when she saw a cane lying in the middle of the room. She picked it up and walked to the computer.

"Did you drop this?" The nurse asked as she handed it to the doctor. He glanced at it and glared at the screen.

"No. I threw it." He growled. She sighed and rolled her eyes. She handed him the cane, grabbed his arm and drug him away from the computer.

"Where are we going?" He snapped as he limped after her.

"Out." She muttered as they got to her car. "You've been cooped up in here for a while and need some fresh air." She said.

"There's plenty of air in here." He grumbled. She gave him a look.

"Let's go for a walk." The nurse smiled.

"You're going to be the death of me." He growled and she smiled as he got in.

***

Ratchet looked around as he and June walked the street. He squinted at the bright sun and looked at the nurse in annoyance. She smiled and he was about to say something when someone bumped into them.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I-" June stopped mid-sentence as the girl looked up at her and smiled.

The medic couldn't find any words as he stared at the girl eyes wide. June hugged the girl and watched as she pulled out her notebook. Ratchet grabbed the young girl and hugged her tightly. Her eyes widened in surprise and she glanced at the nurse slightly confused. June simply smiled. The doctor let go and held her out arm's length. She studied his face and saw something familiar about it.

"Cassidy," he said simply. She knew that voice anywhere, and her eyes widened. The medic hugged her again, and she hesitantly returned the embrace and held on to him.

"But...how...are you human?" she asked once he let her go.

He hesitated and looked at himself as if he had forgotten he was human.

"Oh," he muttered and glanced at his cane. "That's...a long story," He grumbled. "The Decepticons tried to turn earth into another Cybertron. They launched something into the atmosphere.....not exactly sure what. Shockwave must have miscalculated when creating the formula..." he muttered as he thought about it. "Hmm....." he was suddenly deep in thought. Cassidy smirked to herself. He may be human, but he's still Ratchet, she thought to herself, watching him as he was thinking.

He soon snapped out of it, looking at her again, not realizing how much he'd missed her until now.

She was thinking the same thing, and she looked him up and down, studying his face and clothes, until she stopped at his cane, and tilted her head.

He looked to see what she was looking at, and hesitated, unsure what to say.

"I was captured...." he stopped and glanced at her arm briefly, which was now fully healed. "Bumblebee and I crashed in an aircraft.... trying to escape the Nemesis," he muttered. Her eyes went wide, and she looked at him, truly concerned.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded slowly and looked at the ground. He felt a little awkward that someone was so concerned about him. June set a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you come back to the base with us?" She smiled at the girl.

She nodded, excited to go back and see the others, and she led her to her car, where she had parked so Ratchet could try walking around. Cassidy got in in the back, and couldn't quit grinning.

A few minutes later they pulled up into the base and June looked back at her as she parked. "Now.... don't be too surprised...um, the others are human as well." She said. Ratchet scoffed. "Way to prepare her." He grumbled as he got out. June gave him a look before getting out.

She got out and looked around, seeing who else was in the room before spotting the three humans, along with their respective guardians. She waved at them excitedly, eyes widening a little when she caught sight of the Autobots' human forms.

"Cassidy!" Miko yelled excitedly as she waved.

"Who?" Smokescreen asked as he came into view.

"You know," Jack said to Smokescreen. "The girl I introduced to you, and the one who almost became your charge?"

"Oh yeah...." he mumbled as he remembered the encounter. "So much has happened since then."

Bumblebee grinned and ran up to Cassidy. He picked her up and spun her around happily, which scared the girl a little, but she soon got over it and smiled at him. After he set her down and steadied her, he started signing, but ended up fumbling over his words. She was pleased he had learned ASL and soon started conversing with him, making the speedster pleased he could talk to someone who didn't have to guess what he was saying.

Optimus walked into the room to see what all the commotion was about and smiled as he saw the girl.

"It's good to see you again Cassidy." He said as he walked over.

Cassidy finished signing something to Bumblebee before turning to Optimus and shaking his hand, before pulling out her notebook.

It's good to see you too.

Optimus smiled again and was about to say something before Cassidy was suddenly tackled in a hug from behind by Miko, and the girl almost made both of them fall to the floor at Optimus' feet.

"I've missed you!" Miko cried as the two regained their footing. Cassidy patted her hand, saying she had too, and to let go, which Miko did.

Wheeljack came in then, tossing a grenade up and down before catching sight of Cassidy and walking over.

"Hey, kid," he greeted, and she tilted her head to the side, not remembering him before.

"The name's Wheeljack," he grinned as he tossed the grenade again. Cassidy followed it with her eyes as Ratchet growled across the room and glared at Wheeljack.

"Easy Doc, I won't hurt her," Wheeljack said, putting his hands up in surrender, his right hand holding the grenade.

"Why are you so protective all of a sudden?" Miko smirked at the doctor.

"Miko, if you're gonna go off about Ratchet and Cassidy being a 'thing' agai-"

Jack caught sight of Raf and Cassidy, who were both frowning, and he just shut up after that.

"No, of course not," she replied as Raf walked up to Cassidy and hugged her. "Especially since everyone knows Ratchet and your mo-"

"Miko!" Jack hissed angrily, cutting her off. Miko smirked again. Luckily, the adults hadn't seemed to notice. Bumblebee and Bulkhead had left the base to go get something.

Cassidy let go of Raf and glanced over at her guardian and Nurse Darby and smirked to herself, before walking over to Jack, taking out her notebook from under her arm and jotting something down.

I think it's cute.

Jack became flustered as he looked at her, his face blushing a bit.

"It's weird," he whispered to her. "It's like, Miko and the toaster."

Cassidy made a face, remembering the event, and didn't reply after that.

Wheeljack walked up to them and smirked, throwing his grenade up in the air a little.

"Hey, wanna play catch?"

"With that?" Jack said, his eyes wide.

"Why not?" he replied.

"Wheeljack, put that grenade away before you blow us all up!" Ratchet snapped at the wrecker, before limping away from Nurse Darby and over to his computer. Cassidy frowned slightly as she watched him limp around. Wheeljack attached the grenade back to his belt with a shrug and walked off.

"We have so much to tell you!" Miko said excitedly as she grabbed Cassidy's hand and led her to the "human area" before sitting her down on the couch, and then sitting next to her. Cassidy flipped to a page in her notebook and wrote again.

Like the 'bots becoming humans?

"Yes, exactly!" Miko replied. "It was weird at first...but we're getting used to it."

"Bee met my family," Raf added, sitting on the floor in front of them. Jack grabbed a crate and sat on that.

"You have to stay the night here," Miko said to Cassidy. "You have to."

She smiled, and decided she could probably smooth things over with her family and stay "at a friend's house".

"So, where should I start? I guess the beginning would work, " Miko muttered to herself, before she looked over at Cassidy and then proceeded to tell her what happened up to "this point". Jack and Raf added something here and there, but Miko did most of the talking. She told her everything from the time they found out about the Autobots being human, to Ratchet and Bee flying the aircraft.

"Then that's when the others rescued them from the plane crash," she finished, panting by now.

That's a heck of a story, Cassidy replied, before looking back at Ratchet and his cane, and a thought occurred to her.

If Ratchet ever finds a way to turn him and the others Cybertronian again, would his injury affect him then, too?

The other three looked at each other.

"Well...I overheard the 'bots talking about how he might end up with a permanent limp. But I don't know how that will affect him when....if he turns back into a Cybertronian." Raf said.

"I bet he'll fix it.... somehow." Miko said. "Besides it'll probably be an easier thing to fix when he turns back." Her eyes widened all of a sudden.

"Have you seen the burn marks? They're kind of cool!"

"Miko!" Jack hissed as he glanced at Cassidy, whose optics widened a little.

Burn marks?

"Um, yeah..." Miko replied. "During the crash, part of the front blew up and his leg got burned when the console exploded...I guess..." she fidgeted in her seat, now feeling a little uncomfortable.

Cassidy looked over at Ratchet for a minute, and without thinking, set her notebook down and walked over to the medic and hugged him.

Ratchet's eyes widened as someone wrapped their arms around him, and he looked behind him to see Cassidy, and he blinked, not knowing what was going on. He looked up at Optimus as if he'd give him an explanation, but the Prime only smiled at him.

Ratchet turned around and hesitantly hugged the teenager, wondering if one of the kids said anything to upset her. He furrowed his brows in thought.

She eventually let go, blushing a little, and he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Is everything alright?" he asked. He didn't know why, but he was suddenly worried she might want to leave again.

She nodded, before signing.

"I'm just glad you're okay."

Still frowning, he looked up at the kids.

"What did they say?" he asked suspiciously as he looked back down at her. He knew Miko could exaggerate, and he didn't want his charge to worry.

That was his job.

"They were just...telling me about you and Bumblebee in that crash," she signed in reply.

"Oh..." he muttered, before staring at her for a moment, making her slightly uneasy, and she looked at the floor.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," Ratchet eventually said, smiling a little to try and convince her. She only looked up at him and frowned a little, still not feeling any better.

Bee and Bulkhead suddenly returned, and they exited a black-and-yellow Urbana 500, and soon the smell of pizza filled the room as Bulkhead pulled out five boxes of pizza, the top one already open. Bumblebee had a slice in his mouth already.

"Pizza's here!" Miko said excitedly as she ran down the stairs toward the two, followed close behind by Jack, Raf, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen. Ratchet just turned back around again, focusing on his work. Cassidy stared at him, before exhaling a bit and walking over to the others, joining them and smiling as the kids laughed at Smokescreen, who was trying to shove three pieces of pizza in his mouth at once.

As the night settled in they played games and watched a movie. Miko and Raf fell asleep shortly into the film. Jack had gone home before the movie started, as he had to work in the morning. The others had wandered off to bed while the doctor quietly worked on the computer. Once he was sure they were asleep, he quietly walked up to their area. He moved to the couch and smiled slightly at the sleeping girl. Ratchet sat next to Cassidy and smiled a little more. He brushed some hair out of her face as she slept, and she stirred, but didn't wake up. He sighed quietly and stared at the floor. His mind raced as he thought about everything that had happened. He frowned and fingered the brace on his leg. How was he going to protect her from harm? He looked at her again and gently set his hand on her head. He had to protect her; he was her guardian after all.

Cassidy stirred again, before waking up, causing the doctor to jump as he saw her eyes were open.

"I...didn't mean to wake you," he said quietly, to not wake the others. He removed his hand from her head, and she blinked a couple of timed before she sat up and turned around to face him.

"Something wrong?" she signed, turning to look at him.

"No," he replied automatically, before his shoulders slumped a little, and he sighed.

"Cassidy..."

She looked up at him, worried.

"I just...I'm not sure...I'm not sure how I can protect you, with this," he eventually said, glaring at the brace on his leg. She gave him a small smile, placing a hand on his arm, before removing it to sign something.

"You protect me just fine."

He looked at her for a minute and then smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her a sideways hug.

"You have more faith in me than you probably should," he mumbled to himself, but she heard anyway.

"I don't think so," she replied, before hugging him back. He smiled a little more and hugged her tighter.

His little Cassidy.

And he'd protect her, no matter what.