A/N: I thought I'd warn everyone that I am putting "What Makes a Family" on a small hiatus. I know where the story is going. But as of late, my muse hasn't been there, at all. So I decided to just work on THIS story for now, and come back to "What Makes a Family" when I feel my muse will allow me to finally come back to it. :)

A/N #2: This is NOT slash, at all. Cliffjumper and Ratchet are ONLY roommates.

A/N #3: In this AU, the Transformers are well-known and live side-by-side with humans. But it still takes place in the Prime universe.

Pairings: None, or at least none explicitly stated, there won't be any 'Pairings' in this fic. Though subtle hints of CliffjumperxArcee will be here and there.

DISCLAIMER: All recognizable characters belong to Hasbro, I don't even begin to own Transformers. Any OCs though? Are mine.

...

CHAPTER 1
Found

The streets of Jasper, Nevada were silent that night, the night air still as could be. Yet still, the chill that protruded down the back of Kyle Rickers was unrelenting that night. When most people thought of abandoned kids, they thought of infants. Kyle hadn't had that luxury. The fifteen year old had been abandoned by his parents at a McDonald's while he got some lunch only six months before. Kyle was the rarest of the rare, an abandoned teenager. Left behind for reasons that not even Kyle himself understood.

In a city where Autobots and humans lived side-by-side, it wasn't easy avoiding being caught. Constant movement and lies were the key, as much as Kyle hated doing either one, it was survival. He had some friends in the city, almost all of them homeless like himself. It was like most people said, on the streets, you look out for each other, or you die. Simple as that. That night, however, Kyle was shelterless, friendless, and caught in the middle of the coldest night of the year. Pulling his thin jacket over his body slowly, he shifted slightly on his feet, taking a deep breath, his breath visible in the night air.

The ambulance, at the time, seemed like a Godsend. At three in the morning, Kyle was certain it had been abandoned, as who would park it on the side of the road otherwise? The fifteen year old had never picked a lock before, but if he could get inside, turn on the heat, and save himself from freezing to death... Well, he'd take it, without hesitation. Making his way to the ambulance, he immediately took out a small pin, and began to pick the lock on the back doors.

He immediately regretted his choice.

"Hey! What the frag are you DOING!"

Kyle fell back onto his butt as the ambulance's parts began to shift around. He could feel his heart stop beating for several seconds as it slowly stood and fully transformed. The large, older, red and white mech bared its two blue optics upon him in an instant. "I have half a mind to turn you into the authorities!" The mech shouted, angrily "Do you realize-!" He began.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry man, I was just cold! I didn't know, honest!" Kyle fumbled with his words.

As a medic, it didn't take Ratchet more than a moment to realize that Kyle was homeless. The boy's vitals indicated he was unusually thin, and the rising fear indicated dread. "Hey, what's going on, Ratch?"

A second Autobot, this one even more intimidating, stepped around the corner. The Autobot was tall and a deep red, his faceplate silver, horns on his head, almost bull horn like, and soft blue optics as well. Cliffjumper immediately set his optics on Kyle slowly. "Aren't you out here a little late?" He questioned, pointing to Kyle a little.

"I think we've just run into a street urchin, Cliffjumper." Ratchet informed him.

As Kyle stumbled up to his feet quickly, backing up slowly, and looking about ready to take off running. "Hey... We won't hurt ye." Cliffjumper cooed, unusually, he was better with most kids than he was with adults "We need to get a hold of social services, Ratch. It's freezing out here." He noted "The boy needs shelter." He added.

Kyle wanted to run, but knew he had little to no chance of outrunning two Autobots. "It's late. They aren't going to be able to find a Foster Home that quickly." Ratchet replied flatly, turning to Kyle slowly "But we can't simply leave him out here, that is for certain." He turned to Kyle "I'm not sure what to do though." He noted.

Cliffjumper was thoughtful for a moment, turning to Ratchet, then to Kyle. The large mech crouched low to Kyle, putting on a smile as kind as he could possibly manage. "Hey, I don't think I caught your name." Cliffjumper told him, attempting to not scare the already worried young human "I'm Cliffjumper. But most people call me Cliff or CJ." He explained.

"Kyle..." Kyle choked out, finding his voice at last.

"You look like you could use food, water, and somewhere warm to spend the night." Cliffjumper noted, he was careful to put his hand outward and smile "Our place isn't much. But I think I can offer you all three if you can just trust me." Kyle backed up a little, nervous "Come on, I may look scary. But I'm not going to hurt you." He added.

"Cliffjumper... Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Ratchet questioned.

"We have three spare bedrooms, I don't see the problem if he doesn't mind sleeping on a big-aft berth." Cliffjumper muttered "What else are we gonna do, leave a kid to freeze to death? I mean, we do have the room." He turned to look back at Kyle "What do ye say, kid? Think you can trust me long enough to spend the next few hours at our place?" He asked.

Kyle looked up at the mech slowly, then back at the outstretched hand. Slowly, he made his way forward, and settled onto the Autobots hand as he lifted him up to his body. "It's okay, I won't hurt you." Cliffjumper was gentle as he slowly held him towards his warm spark, Kyle seemed to fight, but only a little "Hey, Ratch. I'm going to go get Kyle back to our place, get him warm." He added.

"Go ahead, I'll catch up." Ratchet replied.

Cliffjumper was careful in carrying the young human away from the area. Kyle slowly took in the warmth of the beating spark, his body relaxing. Before they were even close to Cliffjumper and Ratchet's apartment, the boy had slowly fallen fast asleep.

...

Kyle woke up surrounded by warm blankets, his blue eyes slowly opening. The bed he was in was at least four times his size, but was warm and inviting. It took him a few minutes to remember that just the other night, he had been found by two mechs. And another several to remind himself that one of those mechs had taken him home with him. The door slowly slid open as Cliffjumper entered the room with a small smile. "Good morning, Kyle." Kyle slid into a sitting position "You do remember me, right?" He asked.

"Y-Yes." Kyle chewed his lip "I-Um... Thank you for last night." Kyle looked down a bit, then looked at him "You saved my life." He muttered.

Cliffjumper nodded his head a little, putting some food and water down on the table beside the berth. "It was nothing. I have the room for eight homeless kids in here if I wanted to." Cliffjumper replied, he shrugged his shoulders slightly "You looked like you could use a little sympathy, with no offense intended." He explained, being polite as he could be.

"None taken." Kyle grabbed the bowl of cereal he'd been given, digging in slowly "This'll get me through the week."

Cliffjumper frowned a bit, and shook his head. "You'll get food at your Foster Home. I'm calling child services ASAP." Cliffjumper grunted, Kyle gave a small frown, not liking the sound of that "Sorry kid, but it's the middle of November. It'd be wrong for me to let you just go back to the streets." He noted "What are you even doing out there anyway?" He asked.

"Where else do you go when your parents abandon you outside a restaurant?" Kyle asked, taking in a deep breath "I wasn't exactly young enough to go do "Safe Haven" at a hospital." The mech's face fell a bit at that "Please, just don't call social services. I don't want to go to a Foster Home, okay? I've avoided it for six months already, I don't want to go there now." He added.

"Your parents just abandoned you at this age?" Cliffjumper contained his anger.

"Yeah, what of it?" Kyle replied.

Cliffjumper looked at Kyle, he shook his head a bit. "That ain't right. You can't just raise a kid this long and then decide you don't want them anymore." Cliffjumper searched for the right words to speak to his young friend "I'm sorry someone decided to do that to you, kid. I wish I could sy more than that, but.. I'm not good at that." He then added "Call me in when you want out of bed, okay?" He questioned.

As Cliffjumper left the room, he sighed a bit. As a law enforcement officer, he couldn't exactly ignore what the boy's parents had done. He didn't blame him if, after that, he wanted to avoid a Foster Home. "Don't." Ratchet noted as he made his way out of his own room.

"Don't what?" Cliffjumper questioned.

"You want to give the human boy a home. I know you." Ratchet replied, he tilted his head "I heard the conversation, and though I feel great sympathy towards the boy... We both work, we're both single mechs, and frankly..." He took a deep breath "We aren't exactly the most patient mechs on the planet." He added.

Cliffjumper crossed his arms, sometimes, his friend could read him way too well. Cliffjumper sighed, and shook his head a little. "That might be true, but what we do have is the room and most definitely the money." Cliffjumper noted, shaking his head a bit "Not to mention we both like kids, and-" He began.

"Cliff, I'm not ready to be a Foster Parent. I know-" Ratchet began.

"Then I'll foster him, you don't have to be his guardian. Only one of us would have to be." Cliffjumper replied, he then added, quite calmly "You can't tell me that something weird didn't occur last night at all." He explained "I mean some kid just happens to show up moments after a stake-out? Literally two weeks after we got this place?" Ratchet was quiet for a moment "I just can't... Not take him. Weird, right?" He asked.

"You attach too easily, Cliffjumper." Ratchet rolled his optics.

"I was abandoned too." Cliffjumper reminded Ratchet "I was a kid when I was abandoned just like-" He began.

"Fine, fine." Ratchet threw his hands up in defeat "Foster some youngling we literally just met if you HAVE to. But I personally think you have completely lost your processor." He noted in complete frustration.

Cliffjumper smirked a bit, he knew Ratchet was thinking the same thing. But it was of course in the medic's nature to automatically say no to pretty much anything that seemed to disrupt his typical life. "Well then, I have a few calls to make. Get him down if he wants down, will ye?" He asked.

Cliffjumper didn't even bother to pay attention to whatever curse words came next.

...

A/N: So what do you guys think? Worth continuing? I have several chapters written already if it is. :)