Heatwave was angry.

No, scratch that, he was furious.

He was furious with the universe for sending him to this pit-forsaken mud ball, furious with the Decepticons for destroying his home planet, furious with himself for letting things come to this. Barely a decacycle in this Primus-forsaken place and he already hated it.

It was nothing like his home and yet everything was so achingly familiar- the people, the buildings, even the rescues were all the same. The only difference was how fragging small and soft everything was. He was used to harsh metal, to energon lakes and acid rain, the thrum of his planet's core beneath his pedes. The shimmering white skyscrapers the towered over Iacon and the bruising sunsets that would settle over a distant Praxus, blue and violet light that would bounce off the Helix gardens to streak across a charred sky.

His fist curled as he struck the dummy again and again, growling mindlessly as it spun and dug its splintered arm into his shoulder.

Scrap, given any other situation he probably wouldn't have even minded the company of the humans all that much- Pit, the rest of his team thought they were pretty interesting. But pretending to be a mindless machine? Forced to obey Kade's commands? Ordered to keep quiet as others took credit for his rescues? What a joke!

The wood gave an unsatisfying crunch under his knuckles and he drew back to shake splinters from his joints. The mark of his labour had been left behind as an indent on the pillar's surface; it made the make-shift punch bag tilt dangerously and his engine sputtered in frustration.

Primus, this was so fragging stupid. Even the training dummies on this planet couldn't measure up to-

"Heatwave?"

The intruding voice made him startle and the Rescue Bot turned, a snarl of irritation aggravating leaving him until he saw the pair of big fleshy optics that stared up at him. Suddenly his anger flooded away, replaced by sudden bitter exhaustion.

"Hey, uh, Cody..."

Even the language felt odd and unnatural in his mouth; wet, fleshy sounds that scraped off his glossa, so much unlike Cybertron's clicky vernacular.

Below him, the young human frowned, glancing curiously at what was left of the discarded punching bag. It looked less like a bot-sized pillar now and more like a rotting tree trunk that someone had taken a giant hammer to.

"Is everything okay? You seem-" Cody grimaced, "-kind of stressed out."

Heatwave nearly snorted at the overwhelming understatement, but covered it up with an ungraceful grunt, "I'm fine. I've just got a lot on my processor right now."

Cody looked drastically unconvinced. Heatwave could see the lines of hair above his optics draw together as his lips pursed to form a look of concern that Heatwave swore he'd seen once before- on Chief Burns, no less. It was begrudgingly endearing, especially when the youngling folded his arms and said, quite seriously: "Are you sure you're okay? Because if you ever need to talk about it, I'm always here to help."

Heatwave's pent-up fury softened slightly. Cody was a good kid. It was a shame that he was probably the only good thing about this planet.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll make sure to come find you when I need you, okay?"

Something crossed the boy's expression then, an unfamiliar expression that made Heatwave pause rather suddenly. He looked like he wanted to say something more but seemed to settle with smiling and nodding tiredly before trudging to the couch where he hiked himself up and became submerged in the cushion pile.

The fire-bot paused inexplicably.

Something sour tickled the edge of his processor as he looked over to his youngest charge. The youngling had pulled his legs up to his chest, eyes glassy and unseeing as he looked to the television blaring some arbitrary cooking program. Cody, seeming to think that he'd wandered from the bot's view, had dropped his kindly smile in return for a troubled shadow that fell across his childish brow. A certain disconcertment overturned his lips in an expression that Heatwave found unnervingly familiar; anger. It wasn't an emotion that he had often seen on Cody's face and now it seemed stuck there.

Something was wrong. From what he already knew, the kid should have been bouncing around, either clamouring for an impromptu game of Burns' Ball or happily rattling off his day into the nearest Autobot's audial. Instead, he was hushed and withdrawn, nowhere near the eager youngling that the bots had waved off this morning.

It was more unsettling than he was willing to admit.

The only issue now was figuring out what exactly was he supposed to do it about it. Heatwave may have been the team leader, but he wasn't really good when it came to dealing with emotions. He just wasn't wired that way. His version of comfort normally included a gruff comment and a sharp look- not something that would work when he was dealing with a sensitive youngling.

Eventually, he instead resigned himself to clearing the static from his voice box in an awkward cough. "That offer of yours- that thing about needing to talk? It works both ways, you know. Is there something you need to talk about?"

He watched as Cody rearranged his features into something less dejected. "What? I- No, I'm fine," the boy started hurriedly and offered a blatantly false smile that had Heatwave's optics narrowing. "Why are you asking?"

"You just seem kind of quiet. Bad day at, uhhh... what's that place called again? Scoof?"

Instantly, Cody went stiff. Heatwave watched bemusedly as his charge's eyes seemed to grow very wide for a moment before shifting abruptly to the floor, almost as if he were afraid of looking straight at the mech. Then, as if suddenly remembering that he'd been posed a question, the boy shrugged in a manner that was so overtly non-plussed that Heatwave couldn't help but raise an incredulous optic ridge. Apparently, Cody was a terrible liar.

"School, Heatwave. And yeah, it was okay."

Heatwave glanced bemusedly to his HUD's chronometer.

"Why are you back so late anyway?"

"I had detention."

"Detention?"

"It's like... a punishment at school. If you do things that are bad, you have to stay behind for a couple of hours to make up for what you did."

To Heatwave, nothing could have sounded more suspicious. The words 'punishment' and 'Cody' didn't really seem to fit together and even Cody seemed to know it.

"A punishment for doing what?"

Heatwave was unsurprised this time when Cody stiffened. The youngling seemed to know the question was coming but didn't look sure of how how to answer it. The mech watched as conflict ignited in his eyes and waited, curiosity suddenly getting the better of him when he saw the shame that flashed across the boy's expression. It quickly morphed into false sheepishness.

"I was just talking too much in class," Cody answered shortly. "It was my fault, really." And rather than let the conversation continue, Cody gave a very deliberate yawn and trudged over to the side to grab the remote for the television.

Heatwave watched the boy's progress with a careful optic, noting the slight buckle at the knee and the tiny flinch of the boy's fingers when he moved. To the human eye, it would have been nearly imperceptible, but to Heatwave it was laughably obvious; Cody's left leg was off balance. Somewhere unbeknownst to him, a subconscious roil of suppressed programs began to rear its sleepy head. His optics narrowed and his suspicion rolled into mild concern.

"Cody, why are you limping?" he called. He would have been blind not to notice the panic that flashed across Cody's face at the question.

"Uh... I probably just twisted it or something during gym class. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt or anything." The boy shrugged, smiled stiffly and then made to leave again but Heatwave wasn't having it this time. He deftly grabbed the retreating boy by the back of his shirt and hefted him upwards, ignoring the yelp of surprise as he did so.

"No offence, but you're a terrible liar. Tell me what happened before I set Chase on you."

Cody actually winced at the threat, no doubt scenarios of being restrained and tortured via municipal codes causing him to grow considerate. He seemed to do battle with himself for a long moment. He must have noticed the utter gravity to Heatwave's tone because he caved with a frustrated sigh, throwing up his hands in begrudging defeat.

"I'll only tell you if you promise not to tell Dad or Kade. And especially not Dani!"

Heatwave's expression dipped into amused consternation. Something about this narrative was starting to dissolve into something weirdly familiar.

(Memories from his time back at the Rescue Academy began to surface; first, the girlish shrieks of the class glitch-head as Heatwave poured paint stripper down the mech's backstruts, then the image of Gridlock- the academy coordinator- glaring at him across a desk as a younger Heatwave nursed a leaking energon line in his dented cheek. He'd had cleaning duty for three cycles after that particular incident. Chase had not been amused.)

"I promise that I won't tell them."

"Not even my dad?"

Against his better judgement, Heatwave sighed and nodded. "Not even the chief."

The boy paused, shifted uneasily as if weighing his options, and then gave a forlorn sigh of regret. He dug his face into his hands and mumbled something so very unintelligible that even Heatwave's advanced audials could barely pick apart the words.

"Say that again?" he asked and this time Cody's face lifted from the safe space of his trembling fingers.

"I got into a fight..." the boy muttered sullenly. For a long moment, Heatwave stared confusedly at the little human sitting rigidly amongst his digits. A part of him wondered whether he needed to reboot his systems- because there was no way he could have heard that correctly. But then Cody shifted uncomfortably in his grasp, looking so uncharacteristically guilty that Heatwave was taken aback.

The kid must have expected some kind of reprimanding because he flinched when the bot swiftly took a seat amongst the bot-sized couch cushions. "I'm sorry," he mumbled ashamedly and his cheeks started to change colour. "I didn't really mean for it to happen."

Bewildered, Heatwave was knocked from his surprise and frowned down at his companion. "Just, uh, tell me what happened."

After taking a deep breath, Cody did.

"One of the boys in my class was getting bullied by one of the upperclassmen. I saw it happening in the corridor and I- I..." Heatwave's optics shuttered as his charge's expression morphed from one of hesitation to guilty frustration. "I couldn't just let it happen. He was calling him names and making fun of him and I know I should have just gotten a teacher but there wasn't any time! I wanted to stop it before it got out of hand so I just jumped in between them and, well..." Cody winced as he glanced down to his leg. "It didn't really work out like I hoped it would."

A hot burst of protective anger flared in Heatwave's chassis, so raw and new that his engine stuttered with surprise at the sensation. Oblivious to the 'bot's anger, Cody carried on.

"One of the teachers was coming down the corridor when it happened and... I guess she figured it was just an argument that got out of hand or something? She ended up putting us both in detention for the whole of next week. I'm supposed to write him a letter tomorrow to apologise and-"

"Don't bother," Heatwave cut in sharply. At the look he received, he ground out a huff of annoyance. "What? There's no point in writing that fragger anything. You didn't even do anything wrong. If the guy wants to be a glitchhead then that's his fault, not yours."

Cody relaxed slightly, though the tension in his shoulders didn't let up as he moved to scuff the air with his foot. "Maybe... I did hit him though, so..."

"What? Wait, you did?" The fire-bot gazed at his charge with new-found surprise. "Why? And since when did you know how to punch?"

"Uhh, me and Blades did a three-day marathon of 'Ninja Rough-Housing' last week. I didn't really mean to do it! It just sort of... happened. He said this thing about Frankie and I was just really angry and I just- well..." Cody trailed off, turning to brandish a shameful fistful of reddened knuckles. "I hurt my hand doing it, though."

As gentle as he could manage, Heatwave lifted Cody's proffered arm using the tip of his digit. A quick scan told him that the damage was superficial- a light dusting of greyed contusions gathered beneath the upper epidermis layer. Or 'bruises', according to the internet. The leg injury was much the same and Heatwave's high-strung coding drew back, satisfied if still broiling for some well-sought vengeance.

"Well, no-one punches right on the first try," he muttered.

"...I shouldn't have punched him at all." Cody didn't seem to want to look at him as he said it. His remorse was practically palpable.

After a long moment, Heatwave sighed. He glanced down to the forgotten wooden dummy which now laid overturned in the corner- an example of how even he could get carried away. In that respect, maybe he and the little human weren't so different after all.

"No, you probably shouldn't have," he agreed. "Look, I won't condone getting into fights-" he could almost hear Blades laughing now, "-but it sounds like you tried to do the right thing. You were just defending your friend. The most important thing here is whether you regret it."

"I- yes? I... No?" Cody startled, almost as if insulted. He screwed up his face, so much like a chastised sparkling that Heatwave felt his lips twitch involuntarily. "I mean, I regret hitting him but I don't regret getting involved. I can't call myself part of the rescue team if I can't even rescue someone from a bully, right?"

It was actually a better answer than the one he'd been looking for. Heatwave blinked and tried to suppress a sudden wave of proud approval. Instead, he poked the youngling gently with his finger; a gesture of affection he'd never really put into practice before. It was awkward and disjointed but Cody didn't seem to notice, gripping the finger in a wide approximation of a hug.

"Then you've learnt your lesson. Now, stop looking so ashamed of yourself. Just remember, if it happens again, go find one of your instructors first so you don't get in trouble. Then come talk to me and the chief. We'll handle that scraplet for you, even if that means I have to go marching up to your school myself."

Cody actually giggled smiled at that and Heatwave smirked approvingly. The image of the giant cybertronian trying to squeeze himself through the flimsy front doors of Griffin Rock Middle School was probably a ridiculous, but funny one.

"I don't think Principal Harrington would like that very much."

"Too bad. If he taught his students to be less like afts, it wouldn't happen."

"Afts?"

Heatwave paused. "You didn't hear that word from me."

The sound of Cody's surprised laughter seemed to bring a little more life back into the firehouse and Heatwave felt the angry tension ease off his back like an oiled weight.

It was weird, honestly. Maybe he was going soft or maybe the universe had just put him through too many wringers but suddenly this whole Earth deal didn't seem all that bad. Rescue duties aside, there was only so much time a bot could spend with their crew in an air-locked cabin before they started to get a little crazy. Cody was a nice kid- even if his older brother was an utter aft- and Chief Burns didn't seem too bad, either. Maybe things would work out, after all.

They must have sat there for a while, filtered off into a comfortable silence. Eventually though, Cody's childish impatience seemed to win out.

"Hey, Heatwave?"

Heatwave hummed an idle note. "Yeah?"

Still cradled gently in the mech's lap, Cody suddenly lunged forward, wrapping his twig-thin arms around the bot's neck panels. The Autobot froze and his optics shuttered in surprise, an involuntary purr rattling in his engines as Cody's tiny figure wrapped his jaw in a fragile warmth. Heatwave was struck to silence, bewildered by the alien flutter of affection that emerged beneath his chest plates as the human youngling pressed his head into the cybertronian's neck joints.

"Thank you... you know, for listening..." the boy murmured gratefully. Then suddenly the embrace was over and Cody was pulling away, scaling down his arms and lap like an energised glitch mouse with surprising dexterity.

"I- Cody..."

"I need to go talk to Dad really quick," Cody called as he hit the floor. "I'll see you later, okay?" And before the bot could even answer, the kid shot him a wide, glittering grin and then vanished into the firehouse lift as if nothing had happened at all. Heatwave stared after him, so caught up in the odd immeasurable feeling gathered by his spark chamber that he didn't even notice Blades shuffle into the newly quietened firehouse.

"Woah, Heatwave, are you actually smiling? Did someone we know offline?"

"Shut up, Blades."

But the light jab wasn't enough to squander the warmth in his tanks, nor the undeniable quirk of his lips.

In the corner, the splintered wooden dummy lay forgotten.

"C'mon," Kade said suddenly as he slapped Heatwave's hood. "We've got 10 minutes before we've gotta pick up Cody from school."

Heatwave gave a grunt of assent as his partner hauled himself into the driver's seat. Much to his chagrin, a wave of hot food followed close behind, spilling across the firefighter's lap in a wave of paper bags and loose fries. The Autobot groaned as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Are you serious?" he grunted. "I don't want that scrap stinking up my cabin again."

Kade rolled his eyes and swallowed noisily. "Calm down, drama queen. It's only 'til we get back to the firehouse. Besides, some of this is for Cody." When Heatwave begrudgingly quietened down, Kade smirked. "I guess you really do have a soft spot for him."

"Go jump in a smelter."

A muffled snicker followed.

It was only as they began to near the gates of Cody's school that Heatwave began to notice something wasn't right.

There was a small crowd gathering just outside. Kids from all years were floundering down the front steps, all trying not to look interested in something yet failing as their attention was caught. Heatwave, equally curious, rolled a little further forward to get a closer look.

A boy was stood just beyond the front steps, a backpack dangling from a cursory, whitened fist. He wore an expression of sour distaste, much like the kind that Kade would pull when his burger was soggy. The only difference here was that this boy's disdain was not aimed at food, but rather at the person standing opposite him; a dark-skinned younger boy who's hunched shoulders and lowered head seemed to spell unease.

The first child stepped forwards, sneering out a few words that Heatwave couldn't catch over the mindless thrum of road traffic. They seemed to have some sort of effect because several bystanders flinched back as if stung. Then, completely unprovoked, the boy- or rather, the bully stepped forwards and pushed the other kid so hard that he went tumbling to the ground. The latter's bag hit the road beside him and burst open, books and pens spilling out across the sidewalk in a clatter of cheap plastic.

Heatwave's engine fluttered in alarm. Was this the bully that Cody had mentioned?

A few crowd-goers instantly sprung into action, assisting the kid back to his feet and firing glares and looks of confusion towards his attacker. They had practically no effect. In fact, the boy only seemed to thrive on the attention.

Then a shock of blond hair caught Heatwave's attention- a newcomer had entered the fray and was now stood between the fallen child and his attacker with tightly folded arms. That military jacket was familiar, Heatwave thought as he neared the group. Then he noticed the shock of blonde hair on the boy's head and the offlined hover-board clutched under one arm. Was that Cody?

A sense of perverse pride emerged in Heatwave's spark-chamber. It was a warm and foreign feeling and his codes rolled pleasantly as he settled on his axels with a huff of surprise.

The bully seemed less impressed. He fronted on Cody, brandishing the dangling backpack like some sort of weapon. The rescue recruit's lack of reaction only seemed to embolden him and he started spitting words once again, earning no reaction from his target save for the casual tapping of fingers. Suddenly, he lunged at Cody, entwining his fingers in the other boy's lapel and hauling him from the ground in a surprising show of strength. Cody, paler but face set in determination, reached his toes to the floor and held strong under the other boy's glower.

"-st leave him alone, Ashton," Heatwave heard the boy say arduously. "He hasn't done anything to you." Ashton seemed to falter unsurely under the blond's cold disapproval. For a second, Heatwave wondered whether he was actually going to back down but then the heat returned with a spurned vengeance.

"Shut up, Burns," came the hissed reply. "Why have you always got to try and play the hero? Just get over yourself."

In a movement venturing on bitterness, Ashton released Cody's collar and shoved him backwards. However, instead of simply stumbling away, the young rescue trainee lost his footing entirely and staggered, careening to the floor with a yelp of pain as he landed very squarely on his injured leg.

Suddenly, the space behind Heatwave's optics began to burn. He felt more than heard his engines roll into a deafening, thunder-like growl that startled Kade's hands from the wheel entirely, but the fireman's yell of surprise went unnoticed and ignored as Heatwave seized the controls and swerved to the roadside, almost without processing the action at all.

Inside the cabin, Kade's head nearly smacked the edge of the steering wheel. Outside, Heatwave's wheels hit the curb with a bounce and mud kicked up under the rev of the engine, arching up from the road to soak the bystanders- a bewildered Cody included. The bully yelped as the sludge soaked the front of his jeans and splattered through his hair, startled into taking several stumbled steps backwards.

"Hey, what the hell is your pr-"

As he turned to shout at the vehicle that had caused the attack, a brisk stream of gushing ice water tore his gripe away. Satisfied, Heatwave's loosened nozzle flicked away the last few droplets of liquid and then righted itself; the perfect image of guileless innocence.

A small shift of tense quiet passed where the boy stared at the motionless firetruck, mud and ice water dripping steadily from his chin. Then someone from the crowd began to laugh. Then another student followed and another until a tittering crowd had gathered at the base of the stone steps to stare at the wet and humiliated student. That was when Heatwave began to grin. The school's laughter was sickeningly sweet in his audios as the boy, teeth chattering audibly, scrambled to his feet and stomped away, but not before fixing the idle truck with a final monstrous glare that promised vengeance. Primus, now wouldn't that be something?

"Heatwave! What the scrap was that?!"

The agitated slap of Kade's hands on his steering wheel turned Heatwave's attention back to his cabin. His human partner was glaring at him through the monitor, teeth grit in an expression that probably would have looked no better on one of Hayley's kindergarteners.

Heatwave scoffed. "Built-up oil slicks up the tracks if you don't clean them out, remember? I asked you to help me with it last week but you were 'too busy'." It wasn't even a lie, really. Sure, Cody had already helped him to clean out his gears a few days ago but Kade didn't need to know that.

"I- but that doesn't- Heatwave!"

The bot couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Kade, thank Primus, hadn't seemed to notice the commotion outside. He was too involved in preserving the precious remains of his burger- some of which had apparently rolled under Heatwave's carriage. Ugh.

"Just watch where you're going next time, you big bag o' bolts," the firefighter grumbled and Heatwave tried not to roll his optics into the back of his helm.

"Whatever you say, tough guy."

Still muttering, Kade resumed munching on his food with the pouty vigour of a sparkling with a handful of rusted energon candy. Bemused, Heatwave turned his attention back to the mess he'd left on the sidewalk.

Save for the occasional puzzled straggler, the crowd had already dissipated, and Cody was chief among them. He was staring bewilderedly after the trail of black puddles that his attacker had left behind. The sight of the dispersing crowd only seemed to make him more confused and it was only after he saw Heatwave's mud-stained grill sat at the curb that he seemed to put the pieces together.

Cody was shaking his head as he hauled himself into the passenger seat but the grin on his face gave him away. The Rescue Bot couldn't help give a slight rumble of affection, more creature than cybertronian as he slid his seatbelt snuggly across Cody's shoulders. Perfect. He could feel the boy's laughter, part disbelief and part rueful, resonate through his leather seats and stifled a chuckled of his own.

Never one to be left out of the loop for long, Kade made a noise of confusion and horror.

"Woah, woah, you're getting mud all over the dashboard! What did you do, roll around in the outfield for an hour?" The look he tried to give his younger brother might have been stern if he hadn't been talking around a mouthful of soggy fries. The boy smiled regardless.

"Sorry about the mess, Heatwave."

Heatwave couldn't help but snort this time. "Nah, you're fine. Just try not to get it on the seats."

As they pulled away from the sidewalk, Kade's suspicious eyes gradually wandered back to the road. Heatwave felt a small, grateful hand tap the inside of his door lightly. In response, the 'bot tightened his seatbelt around Cody's shoulders in as close to a real hug as they could ever get.

Sure, things on Earth weren't perfect- he grimaced as Kade spat a spray of yellow mush across his dashboard- but just maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.