Author's Notes: The idea for this oneshot came when I noticed that there was a character in the pilot episode of the show named Hauler, but after a few seconds of screen time he was never seen again. This is my overactive imagination's way of explaining what happened to the short-lived character. I hope you like this story, and please review :)

Who Is Hauler?

Spike and Bumblebee were playing a video game on Teletran 1, and it looked as if Bumblebee was going to win. It was Spike's own fault. He knew Bumblebee was really good at Super Mario Kart, but he picked that game anyway because Chip had made a set of Super Nintendo controllers that would plug into Teletran 1, and he was eager to try them out.

Bumblebee's Yoshi was passing everyone on the track, and Spike was once again wondering why he had picked Toad. Toad slipped on everything! Hm...Slippy Toad. Just like Starfox. He chuckled to himself at the coincidence.

Their game was almost over when Prowl entered the room and abruptly turned off their game!

"Hey, I was winning!" Bumblebee whined.

"Teletran 1 is not a toy," Prowl scolded them, "Either file your reports or get off Teletran 1 and let the rest of us get some work done."

"Yes, sir. Sorry Prowl," Bumblebee replied contritely.

Prowl nodded and walked out of the room with his datapads in hand. Spike was a little miffed at the game being over as well, but he understood that Bumblebee had actual work to do on the supercomputer.

Bumblebee started organizing the files he had been told to work on, and Spike just sat back and watched him work. It was a little boring at times, but the technology involved and the translation process from Cybertronian script to English was fascinating to watch. Eventually they got into a comfortable rhythm.

Soon, though, Bumblebee got to the part where he needed to translate the names of the crew compliment into English, and that was when Spike started reading the names. Optimus Prime, Prowl, Jazz, Gears, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker...The names went on and on. Spike never realized just how many Autobots lived on this ship until he saw the names scrolling by. Huffer, Beachcomber, Hoist, Grapple, Hauler, Warpath, Omega Supreme...Wait. Hauler? Who was Hauler?

"Hey Bumblebee, who's Hauler?" Spike asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh, nothing you need to worry about," Bumblebee replied evasively as he continued to work.

"Yeah, but who is he?" Spike pressed on, "I've never met him. Is he stationed on the Ark or somewhere else?"

"Sorry Spike, but I've got a lot of work to do," Bumblebee evaded his question once again, "We can talk about it later. Why don't you go visit Jazz for a while? I'm sure he'd love to play this Mario Kart game with you."

"Yeah...Okay…" Spike conceded, but was still suspicious about Bumblebee avoiding his question.

As he left, he kept turning the name over in his mind. Hauler...Hauler...Nope, he had never seen that Autobot before. This was strange. Bumblebee never hid things from him. Why would he start now? Maybe Jazz could help him out with this…

"Hauler? Never heard of 'im," Jazz replied with a shrug when Spike asked about him, "Maybe it's just one of those glitches Teletran 1 tends to get."

Yeah right. Spike thought wryly. Then why would Bumblebee act so weird about it?

Instead of voicing his real opinions though, Spike instead said "Yeah, that was probably all it was. Thanks anyway, Jazz."

Spike left Jazz's office and went out into the halls. He didn't know who he could talk to in order to get straight answers. Optimus Prime was busy at the moment, so he couldn't talk to him. Prowl seemed like the next logical step. Yes, he would talk to Prowl.

He walked until he made it to Prowl's office and rang the bell that was placed at minibot height. Prowl opened the door without a word and Spike walked in to find the Datsun filing paperwork on his data pads. Typical. Hopefully Prowl wouldn't evade his questions like Bumblebee and Jazz.

Prowl looked down at his pede and saw Spike looking up at him. A small smile formed on the mech's face plate, but not enough to call it true joy. More or less he was just being polite.

"Ah, Spike. What can I do for you?" Prowl asked amiably.

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me about something I saw on Teletran 1 today. If you're not too busy, that is," Spike asked nervously, realizing this could be another dead end.

"You mean when you and Bumblebee were goofing off when he was supposed to be working?" Prowl chided.

"No, after that," Spike clarified, purposefully taking Prowl's statement literally, "I saw a bunch of crew names being translated into English, and I was just wondering…"

"Yes?" Prowl prodded when Spike didn't finish right away.

"Who is Hauler?" Spike asked while looking up at Prowl.

"That is none of your concern, Spike," Prowl replied firmly, "I would appreciate it if you didn't go around the ship asking about this, either. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Anymore? That means it used to matter," Spike deduced, "Who is he? Teletran 1 says he's part of the ship's crew, but I've never seen him. I don't even know what alt mode the guy has! Is he even here? What's going on?"

"Enough," Prowl put up a servo and spoke harshly, "You don't ask about this again. Understand?"

Spike couldn't believe this! Bumblebee's and Jazz's denials were one thing, but Prowl acted like Spike did something wrong just by asking about a name. It felt like a big conspiracy, but that didn't make sense. Spike wasn't used to the Autobots hiding things from him. Why wouldn't they just tell him the truth? Who was Hauler?

Later that day, Spike found himself in the rec room with Hound and Bumblebee. The question about the mysterious missing Autobot still had Spike's mind reeling, but he didn't want to upset his friends, so he didn't say anything for the time being. Maybe it really didn't matter. Maybe it really wasn't any of his business.

While Hound and Bumblebee talked Spike found himself looking around the crowded rec room. He wanted to see if he recognized everyone. He wanted to see if any of these Autobots could be Hauler. There were the Lamborghini twins, there were several minibots, there was Grapple and Hoist, there was Mirage (alone as usual), and there was Tracks, Smokescreen, Ironhide, and Inferno. No, Spike knew the names of every Autobot there, even if he didn't know them all personally. Hauler was not among this group.

"Hey, Spike. What are you looking for?" Hound asked when he saw how distracted their human friend was.

"I just wanted to see if I knew everyone," Spike replied.

Bumblebee looked a little uncomfortable at those words. He knew why Spike was looking, and he felt awkward at knowing what question was probably coming next. Bumblebee subconsciously looked over at the other tables, and then back at Spike hoping the boy would just drop the subject.

"Knew everyone?" Hound repeated, "Well...I don't think Sunstreaker knows you very well, but that might be for the best. He's kind of a jerk."

"Oh, that's okay. I was just wondering about something, but I guess it doesn't matter. What were we talking about before?" Spike asked, trying to change the subject much to Bumblebee's relief.

"What were you wondering about?" Hound asked innocently, and Bumblebee was trying to get the green jeep to answer his comm so he could tell him to shut up.

"Well…" Spike seemed to hesitate, but then finally he bit the bullet and asked "Do you know who Hauler is?"

Hound looked taken aback by that. He gaped for a second, and then hoarsely asked "Who told you about Hauler?"

"Nobody told him," Bumblebee said quickly, "He just saw the name on the crew roster and didn't realize it was just a glitch."

Spike was starting to get annoyed at Bumblebee by now. Hound looked like he not only knew what was going on but was willing to talk about it, and Bumblebee just shut him down. It looked like he was never going to get answers.

"Listen guys, I've got homework to do, so maybe I'll catch up with you later," Spike said as he got up to leave.

Hound and Bumblebee tried to convince Spike to come back, but he didn't want to talk to them in that moment. He had just realized that they really were hiding something from him, and he didn't want to be reminded of that.

Unbeknownst to Spike, however, someone else in the room was paying attention to the conversation, and had just gotten up to follow him out.

Spike sighed deeply as he walked quickly along the orange halls. Nobody trusted him and the Autobots were keeping secrets from him. It was a lot to take in, and he felt a pain he didn't know his own friends could cause him. Part of him knew it was their right to keep things from him if they wanted to, but he was sure he had proven himself more trustworthy than that by now. Why wouldn't they tell him who this Hauler guy was?

Spike saw a shadow coming from behind him, and realized one of the larger Autobots needed to get through, so he walked over to the side of the hallway to let them pass.

"Excuse me, Spike, is it?" Asked a refined voice that Spike had only heard a few times before.

Spike looked up and saw Grapple standing over him. Spike didn't really know Grapple very well. He knew that Grapple was an architect and was best friends with Hoist, but other than that he knew nothing about him. Why would a mech that was practically a stranger want to talk to him?

"Yeah, my name's Spike," Spike answered the Autobot's question in a questioning tone of his own.

"Spike, I was wondering if I could show you something?" Grapple said with a somber expression on his face plate.

Grapple wanting to show off wasn't exactly unheard of around the Ark. He made many beautiful things and was considered a very proud mech. It was like he had Wheeljack's imagination and genius but also Sunstreaker's vanity. This, however, was different. Usually Grapple wanted a large crowd, but Spike was only one person. The grim visage was also different than what was typically seen.

"Um, sure," Spike found himself saying before he could think about it.

Grapple smiled down at him and offered his cupped hands for Spike to climb into. The young man stepped onto Grapple's hands and was lifted up to the large orange crane's left shoulder. Spike rode up there in silence as Grapple navigated the halls. Spike realized soon that the way they were going was unfamiliar to him, and soon they were in a part of the ship that was surrounded by molten rock from the volcano the ship was lodged into 4 million years prior.

The path was getting darker, so Grapple turned on his headlights. Spike trusted all of the Autobots, but he had to admit he was a little uncomfortable with this. Grapple was for all intents and purposes a stranger, and he didn't know what the large Autobot wanted with him.

Finally, they made it to a large silver oblong box at the end of the hall. Grapple put Spike down in front of it, and Spike could see beautifully carved Cybertronian glyphs on the edge of the box. It looked as if they were engraved by hand, but there was nothing overly technical about a long box. Spike wasn't sure what Grapple wanted to demonstrate with this thing.

"What is it?" Spike finally asked when Grapple said nothing.

"This is Hauler," Grapple said in a low respectful voice, "Or rather, what's left of him."

Spike gulped and looked again at the box, which he now recognized as a coffin. He stared at the Cybertronian letters for a moment before looking back up at Grapple and seeing the pain and sorrow in his cerulean blue optics. Out of all the Autobots to tell him what was going on, Grapple had never even crossed his mind. Grapple could see the discomfort the boy felt, so he sat down in an attempt to be closer to Spike's level. Humans were such tiny creatures; like skinny minibots.

"Spike...You know we have moved our war to your planet, but perhaps you are unaware of just how serious our conflict has been for these past few epochs," Grapple said as he rubbed his servo lovingly against the casket, "Hauler was the first and so far only Autobot to die on this planet. He was my split-spark brother; my twin. He died shortly after we arrived here."

Grapple took a moment to wipe away a stray dab of cleaning fluid flowing from his optic. Spike could see the architect deflate, and in that moment Grapple looked so weak and crushed that Spike almost wished he hadn't said anything.

"Hauler and I used to do everything together," Grapple said with a strain in his vocals, "Well, us and Hoist. The three of us were quite a team. To be fair though, Hauler and I did have our differences. I was always the artist, the outsider. I preferred projects to the company of lesser minds. I could stand Hoist, but most other Cybertronians just didn't understand my vision. Hauler was the type that had to be surrounded by other mechs or he would go insane. He was the one that would host parties, insist on having photos taken to remember precious moments, and build lesser projects so he could help others. I couldn't tell you how many times he rebuilt the same exact homeless shelter in Tyger Pax every time it was destroyed! He never gave up when he knew others needed his help. It was one of his finest qualities."

"Wow…" Spike breathed, still looking up at the mournful Autobot, "So...How did he die? If you don't mind me asking."

"Ah, yes! That fateful day…" Grapple's dramatic delivery seemed more in line with what Spike knew about him, and it made him feel a little more comfortable talking to him about this, "It all started two weeks after we awoke from our prolonged stasis. You and your father hadn't quite moved in yet, and Hoist and I were still trying to get the scrap out of our rooms from the crash. Hauler had been helping Hound deal with a beam that had rammed through his ceiling. That was when we got the call. The Decepticons were raiding a power plant in California, and Optimus ordered several Autobots to help him stop them. Hoist and I stayed behind to work on our cleaning up of the rooms, but Hauler and Hound both insisted on going. I remember it was raining outside, and I was worried about it being acid rain and possibly eating through the Ark and killing us all. As it turned out it was just water. It was kind of a let down, actually."

Spike chuckled lightly at Grapple's flippant description of rain, but returned to his previous respectful attention after a moment.

"Anyway, I wasn't personally there, but I know the exact time Hauler died. It was three o'clock in the afternoon exactly. I know because I felt the intense pain in my spark from where Hauler had been shot, and then I felt the worry, then the relief, and finally just...nothing. I had never felt nothing in our bond before in all my life. Hauler and I were connected closer than any two beings should be, and that twin bond was as natural as breathing. It was as if I were being strangled; as if the very fluids in my body couldn't get to where they were supposed to go. I found out later that Hauler was shot because he pushed Hound out of the way of Megatron's fusion cannon. His final act in this universe was to save someone else's life. Yes, he died the way he lived; thinking of someone else."

"Wow, that's amazing," Spike said through a choked-up voice, "But I don't understand something. Hauler was a hero. Why do the other Autobots act like he never even existed?"

"Because of me," Grapple replied bluntly, "I spiraled into a depression after that day. My only companion for months was Hoist, as he was the only one who could stand me when I was in such a bad way. I would yell at him...I would yell at everyone. Hauler was a part of me. It was as if a part of myself had died. I didn't want to live anymore. It took a lot of time and patience on the part of the other Autobots before I was ready to live again. I suppose they're afraid of reminding me of Hauler for fear of what it will do to me. They don't understand though. I never forgot Hauler. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of him, and that will never change. It can't change. He was my twin. Every Autobot has lost someone to this war, and sometimes I feel like I have no right to grieve. My grief is not special. Everyone has been there before. I will never forget Hauler, but he wouldn't want me to wither away and die. He wanted me to live, so I try my best to do just that."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Grapple," Spike said as he placed a comforting hand on Grapple's arm, "Thank you for trusting me."

"And thank you for letting me grieve," Grapple replied.

The two sat there for a while longer in silence. Spike felt after this he knew Grapple a little better than before. He also knew the stakes for the Autobots were high. How did he not notice that an Autobot had died at the hands of those evil Decepticons? He felt so stupid for the times he treated this whole thing like a fun adventure. For his friends the Autobots, this was the most painful time in their lives.