Disclaimer: All Transformers characters, settings, etc. are the property of Hasbro and any other respective owners. Any original characters and the plot are the intellectual property of Litahatchee/ Letohatchee. No part of the story, ideas, or OC's are to be used without the express permission of Litahatchee/ Letohatchee. Litahatchee/ Letohatchee is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: THIS FIC CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON. Don't read any further if you don't want spoilers.

I never thought I'd write a resurrection fic. Some are just too hard to believe. This one may be hard to believe too, but the more I talked about it on dA, the more it seemed possible, even if it's a bit ridiculous and isn't meant to be. This was originally going to be a crack fic using the logic that the Matrix rematerialized from a pile of dust in ROTF, so why not Ironhide's rust dust pile too? It would make about as much sense as that. But, the more I joked about it, the more something actually seemed plausible, especially after having written all that stuff in "Night Fire" about sparks, bonds, and CPUs and what makes up a Cybertronian being.

LtCol Will Lennox (he has been promoted since ROTF) said in DOTM that the Matrix is the only thing that can revive a Transformer's spark. Obviously they already thought of the Matrix revival possibility and they did the rust thing because they meant for Ironhide to be truly dead, but the plot bunny had bit and I just had to get this out there.

Plus, they brought Ironhide back in IDW after what was a sure death, using the same thoughts about sparks and CPUs being separate and that both are needed along with a frame to make a whole Cybertronian. It's the same premise that a whole person is made up of mind, body, and spirit.

Anyway, I figure there may be a spark in Ironhide's remains somewhere...maybe...it could happen. There will probably be others to draw the same conclusion. It's a logical step, so this is my take on it. And look how many Jazz resurrection fics there are! Of course, bringing back Jazz now would be easier than ever, now that all they need is the Matrix. :)

I decided to use the names 'Wheeljack' and 'Mirage.' They are what is used in the book and apparently were supposed to be in the movie but they couldn't get the rights in time. I don't really like thinking of 'Que' as 'Wheeljack' and I was going to have 'Que' and did have that name for the majority of the time while writing this. However, I wrote an explanation of why his face looks like it does and it dawned on me that Wheeljack would do something like that, so I changed it back to Wheeljack. If you'd rather it be 'Que,' then try replacing the name 'Wheeljack' with 'Que' in your mind while you read.

Also, Chromia is in this fic. I don't know if she's supposed to be dead or not, but I didn't see her die in ROTF. We see Flareup get hit, but Chromia was still fighting uninjured by Ironhide's side the last time we see her in the movie. So, she's not dead in this story, which is AU, so forgive me if I have some characters wrong. I've also added Hound to the story. He and Mirage hang out a lot in most universes, so I figured he could have arrived when Mirage did.

This is just going to be a quick two chapter short story, but I hope you enjoy it. (This story is not related to "Night Fire." It is a separate story from that one.)

Italics are flashbacks

Normal print is the present

Enjoy!

Ironhide: Reboot

Chapter 1

Denial

by Litahatchee

His faceplates were set in grim determination as his hands briskly scrubbed the rust away from the remains of his oldest friend. The remains were laid out anatomically on a work table. He had personally supervised the relocation of the remains himself to be sure that nothing was left out. The parts that had completely turned to dust were carefully swept up to make sure it was all saved. Even the dust was placed in its right place anatomically. Everything was where it should be.

Ratchet worked on cleaning each part that remained, removing as much rust as possible, dipping the parts in a bucket of rust solvent, and then moving on to the next part. He had started at what was left of the feet, picking out what bolts and gears remained. Nothing was salvageable, but most of what was still recognizable was in the chest area, which he scanned earlier...

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"It's not fair," Ratchet intoned sadly after he had all the remains laid out and could see them for what they were...and weren't.

"War is not fair, Ratchet. It does not discriminate. You know that better than most," Optimus tried to give reassurance, but he knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he had failed at that. "Even Ironhide was not immune to it."

Ratchet's vents gave a sigh while his optics glanced at Optimus in irritation. He did know it better than most. Now was not the time to have it pointed out to him, though. However, his irritation melted away as quickly as it came and he sighed through his vents again.

"But Ironhide was supposed to be indestructible." Ratchet swept his hand over the remains. "This is just hard to believe."

It was Optimus's turn to shunt air through his vents. Ironhide was their greatest warrior. It was going to be hard for all of them to make their CPUs come to terms with what happened. It wasn't supposed to happen this way, not to Ironhide.

"He was indestructible," Optimus said, not giving up on the reassurance his medic desperately needed. "No Decepticon could kill him. No enemy could kill him. He was betrayed, Ratchet. He would never see that coming, not from an Autobot, and especially not from a Prime." Optimus trailed off at that. How could Sentinel do this? Optimus understood that saving their race was important, but killing some of it, the best of it, to get to that end was unacceptable. And enslaving others to do it was even worse. Optimus did not think a Prime would be capable of such treachery, but he was wrong. "None of us saw it coming..."

Ratchet knew what Optimus was trying to do, but it did not make him feel any better. Perhaps Optimus was trying to reassure himself too, to try to come to some sort of understanding of how this could be.

Ratchet turned back to the remains and prepared a spark signature scan. There wasn't much hope, but he scanned the chest area anyway, looking for any signs of a spark of life. He had already checked before they moved the remains, but he wasn't leaving anything to chance. If the spark remained, perhaps...

Having the only thing in the universe that could revive a Cybertronian's spark had its advantages, but...

Ratchet could build a frame; it wasn't unheard of for Cybertronians to be reformatted and it was a fairly regular occurrence among both factions. All that was needed was a medic to transfer the spark and CPU.

Nothing showed up in the scan.

Ratchet bowed his head in defeat. There was nothing Optimus could do with the Matrix. There was nothing left; no spark, no CPU, no frame. Even if Ratchet did find a spark in this case, it would no longer be Ironhide without the memories.

"What about Chromia?" he nearly whispered, the thought of Ironhide leaving behind a sparkmate being almost too much to bear.

"She and Hound are on their way back from their mission," Optimus replied. "I'll tell her myself when she arrives."

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Ratchet was interrupted from his thoughts as someone sat down next to him. He saw the blue coloration in his peripheral vision and his spark warred with feelings of hope and sadness that Chromia finally decided to try to accept the inevitable.

When he turned his head to look at her, he saw that it was Wheeljack instead.

When it became apparent that they could salvage Wheeljack's frame, Ratchet was able to repair it for the most part. Even Wheeljack's CPU was intact. There would probably be some memory loss resulting from corrupted files, but most of it was there. With Optimus in possession of the Matrix, all that was needed was a whole mech to be able to revive.

The only thing that they lacked was a suitable spark casing. Wheeljack's old one was beyond repair. The blast that got him tore it to shreds. Ratchet could use resources on Earth to rebuild parts of his frame, but there was nothing on Earth that was strong enough to be made into a Cybertronian spark housing.

When things had settled down somewhat, the Wreckers had immediately gone to work scouring the war-ravaged city for parts to begin building a new ship. One afternoon, they showed up with their arms full of spark casings.

"We know how hard these are to come by, Ratchet, so we saved a few for ye. Thought ye might need 'em."

Ratchet didn't want to know how they got them, but he accepted them nonetheless. He then immediately went to work on fitting one for Wheeljack's spark.

Once Optimus revived Wheeljack, he secured the bodies of Sentinel and Megatron. The humans were not happy, but it wasn't up for negotiation. Ratchet wasn't sure what he may do, whether or not he may revive them, but Ratchet was to repair as much as possible. Both of them had extensive damage to their CPUs, though.

"How are you feeling?" Ratchet asked after a moment.

"Stiff," Wheeljack replied. "And sore."

Ratchet did a quick scan to make sure his self-repair systems were still working optimally. He then smiled softly. "You'll be good as new in no time."

One of Wheeljack's optics twitched. His CPU was a little glitchy, but Ratchet wasn't sure which part of it attributed to his ordeal or if it was because Wheeljack was always a little glitchy. Ratchet again thought of Wheeljack's face. Wheeljack did it to blend in even more with the natives. For whatever reason, he felt that being able to transform into a native vehicle wasn't enough to fully 'blend in.' He thought he could fit in better if he transformed his face too. Many of the said 'natives' thought it was too creepy for his own good. As Ratchet watched him, he was inclined to agree.

Resisting the urge to tell Wheeljack that he should change his face back to the way it was, Ratchet turned back to his work.

Wheeljack watched on, his faceplates not giving away any emotion. He watched as Ratchet picked up a small bolt, the insidious rust infecting Ratchet's own fingers as he tried to scrub it away from the bolt. He dipped the part in a rust solvent, rubbing his fingers in it as well to stave off the infection.

"You know," Wheeljack began hesitantly. "When they decided to execute us, I thought they were going to use that rust cannon technology on us."

Wheeljack took in a nervous intake of air. Being near the Matrix bearer had its perks, but being rusted down to nothing made that option null.

"I was never so scared in my whole life," Wheeljack continued, his voice barely above a whisper. He motioned towards Ironhide's remains. "At least he didn't see it coming. After seeing what happened to him, I didn't think there'd be anything left of any of us to put back together. I wasn't sure if they were going to exterminate us all with it."

Ratchet paused, the weight of what Wheeljack was sharing with him falling heavily on his spark. As bad as it was for Ironhide, he couldn't help but be thankful that none of the Decepticons had possession of the weapon. There was no doubt in his mind that they would have used it if they had it.

"It looks like Sentinel reserved that just for Ironhide," Ratchet said sadly. "He knew he had to take him out quick or else he'd have had a serious fight on his hands."

Wheeljack nodded. Ironhide wasn't a warrior that many wanted to find themselves up against. A Prime would be impossible for Ironhide to defeat, but Sentinel wasn't stupid either. He wouldn't have wanted to take any chances.

Wheeljack's faceplates suddenly contorted in deep remorse. "Chromia...She..." he started.

"I know," Ratchet said, stopping him.

Chromia was in some sort of denial. She repeatedly told them that Ironhide was not gone. She even refused to see his remains, maintaining that she didn't need to see the dead remains of someone that wasn't dead. She refused to believe that the Matrix couldn't bring him back.

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"The Matrix turned into a pile of dust and it came back. It has to be possible, Optimus. Make it happen," Chromia said.

"I cannot make something happen that isn't meant to be," Optimus had said to her.

"How can you say that? He is my sparkmate...It's meant to be."

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It broke Ratchet's spark to see her so distraught. However, Chromia's state of denial was extremely unhealthy and he was afraid she was on the verge of madness.

Chromia had been on a scouting mission with Hound when the discovery of Sentinel had been made. Hound had arrived with Mirage, Wheeljack, and the Wreckers. Optimus had felt it was getting too 'crowded' with the humans trying to regulate their every move. Chromia had a ship, so he sent her and Hound out to scout habitable possibilities on nearby planets. They would never leave the new home they found in Earth and they would never stop watching over it, but having a secondary base off planet would be a nice respite from the stresses of the humans.

Optimus did not inform them about the Ark and Sentinel. He didn't want to take the chance of inadvertently alerting any Decepticons that could have been trying to hack their networks. He didn't want to take the chance of anyone finding out about Sentinel and he didn't want to take the chance of anyone founding out about Chromia and Hound's mission.

What Chromia and Hound were doing had to remain absolutely secret. In fact, she was not to contact Earth through their communications systems while they were gone. The only way they could keep the communications fully hack free was by using her and Ironhide's spark bond.

The sparkmates could communicate freely through their bond and no one would ever know. It was not possible for anyone to break into that. So, Chromia communicated with Ironhide through their bond, and Ironhide gave Optimus regular updates on their progress. Since the bond was the only communication they were using, then the contingency plan was for Chromia and Hound to return if contact through the bond ceased. As unlikely as it was that she'd lose contact with her sparkmate, they knew to cover all bases; war taught them that.

Ironhide could have told Chromia about Sentinel through their bond. He discussed doing so with Optimus, but Optimus thought it was best that she and Hound be left alone to complete their mission. Ironhide agreed, also figuring it would be a nice surprise for them when they got back. Sentinel Prime was one of their greatest leaders and having him back was nothing short of a miracle; every Autobot would be filled with joy.

Ironhide didn't tell her that the Decepticons were back either. He didn't even bother discussing that with Optimus. Knowing him, he probably thought that wasn't worth telling. He knew he could handle it. If it were just the Decepticons, he could have. But, then the unthinkable betrayal happened and everything went so fast from there...

Chromia had known something was wrong through the bond. The pain was unmistakable. When it hit her, Hound thought that Ironhide had died for sure. However, she did not think Ironhide was dead. She knew something horrible had happened, but it didn't feel like death to her. However, she could no longer contact Ironhide through their bond. They raced back to Earth as fast as her ship could carry them.

"There really is nothing left, is there?" Wheeljack said from beside Ratchet as he looked over his work.

Ratchet stopped what he was doing and sat back, defeated. He was trying to make the body more presentable for Chromia. She was going to have to come to terms with it eventually. Despite her persistent denial, Ratchet had to help her to see and try to start moving on.

With that in mind, Ratchet's determination won out over his defeat and he renewed his efforts. He decided to stop trying with the arms and legs; they were a complete loss. He moved on to the torso and resumed his work just below the area where the spark casing was.

Seeing Ratchet's determination, Wheeljack got up to get some anti-rust solution so that he could help. Even though it seemed hopeless and Ratchet wasn't in much of a talking mood, he knew Ratchet needed a friend right then, even if all he did was help scrub rust free from the remains in silence.

As Wheeljack returned with his own bucket of solution, Ratchet felt a slight charge in his fingertips. Thinking it was more rust getting at him, he dipped both hands in the solution, letting them soak a moment before he continued.

As Ratchet dug around for the next part, he felt a shock. This time, it was unmistakable. Shocked himself, he jumped slightly.

"You okay?" Wheeljack asked.

Ratchet's optics were wide as he answered, "Something shocked me."

Not wasting any time, Ratchet scanned the area where he was working..."Primus."

A very faint spark signature was detected in the scan. It was so slight that Ratchet had to check again to be sure. There was a spark of life, but it couldn't even be called a full spark. However, it was there.

Ratchet mentally berated himself while his spark skipped in hope and joy. Ironhide's spark signature was not in the right place. It had moved down a little while his parts shifted during the rust-induced decomposition. Ratchet should have known that. He should have scanned the entire pile of remains, not just the chest area.

Ratchet jumped up in his excitement. "Get Optimus!" he exclaimed to Wheeljack.

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Optimus stood patiently as Ratchet explained the possibilities of what they could do with Ironhide's spark. The signature was faint, but that's all that was needed for the Matrix to revive a spark, no matter how slight it was. At first, Optimus was just as excited as Ratchet to discover the spark of life. However, his hope slowly faded as he listened to his medic.

Ratchet had a spare spark casing for the spark, thanks to the Wreckers, and he was confident he could build a suitable frame, as long as they could get a few things that he needed. However, Ironhide's CPU was completely lost.

"We don't have a backup of his CPU files. He never allowed it," Ratchet was saying as Optimus continued to listen.

It was standard for a medic to have backup files or all his patients' memory cores, in case they were needed for the various reasons of CPU crashes, files becoming corrupted, or loss of memory during reformatting. However, Ironhide was always adamant that he didn't want anyone near his CPU to download anything.

Ratchet could put together a new CPU with the programs needed for a mech to function, but the memory chips would be blank. Essentially, they would be bringing a new mech into the world and it would not be Ironhide. Ratchet could provide the new mech with programs that would make him more advanced than a sparkling, so at least he wouldn't be a sparkling, but any memory he took on would be new from the moment he was brought online.

Optimus stopped him with a raised hand. Being the Matrix bearer and being able to revive a spark of a mech who was still whole was one thing. However, when that mech was no longer whole, there was a lot more to think about.

What would that mech want? Should they revive someone who could no longer function as he did before? Yet, a life was a life and there was still life within Ironhide's spark. Was it morally wrong to let that life fizzle out? Optimus was understandably conflicted, but he had known Ironhide better than most anyone.

"I don't think Ironhide would want to live like that," Optimus began. "Chromia might not want that either. Their bond would be intact, but he wouldn't even know why they have that connection. He'd have to relearn everything and be bonded permanently to someone he wouldn't even know. That could be unbearable for both of them."

With the mention of Ironhide's sparkmate, Ratchet paused. There was something he remembered Ironhide saying in passing one day, when Ratchet tried again to get a CPU backup.

"Nobody can have my memories but my sparkmate," Ironhide had said.

Ratchet suddenly laughed, taking Optimus completely off guard. Ironhide would understand the importance of having a backup; he just didn't want anyone to have it. Ratchet had heard of sparkmates downloading their memory cores into the CPUs of their mates from time to time. Ironhide must have done that with Chromia. It was the only being he'd entrust it to.

"Chromia has it," Ratchet explained his sudden outburst with a grin, excited that it seemed they had a real shot at bringing Ironhide back.

The cogs on the side of Optimus's head turned as he thought about it. He knew sparkmates shared their memory cores. He had thought about it with Elita on more than one occasion. However, Ratchet had a backup of his CPU files.

"Are you sure?" Optimus asked after a moment.

"Actually, I don't know for sure. It's just something I heard," Ratchet answered.

Optimus was glad that Ratchet was in a better mood, but he wanted to be absolutely certain before they committed themselves to this possibility.

"Where is Chromia now?" Optimus asked next.

"I'm right here," Chromia's voice sounded from behind them.

Both Optimus and Ratchet jumped slightly. It wasn't the fact that she was there, but the confidence in her voice was disconcerting. She did not look like someone who should be grieving.

Ratchet first thought that she finally decided to come and see Ironhide's remains, but she just seemed too...proud. He then wondered how much of the conversation she had overheard.

Ratchet got his answer in the next moment when Chromia walked straight up to him. She did not divert her gaze from Ratchet's optics. He wasn't sure if she was trying to avoid looking at Ironhide, or if it was something else. She then unsubspaced several datapads and handed them out for him to take them. As soon as he grasped hold of them, Chromia turned towards Optimus.

Ratchet accessed the datapad and gasped. It was the backup files of Ironhide's memory core that they needed.

"I told you he was still alive," Chromia all but whispered.

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