A Lost Spark (Transformer fanfic)

Chapter 13

Ana leaned against the car door, groggily watching the landscape fly past.
The morning had gone by rather quickly; after Lennox's wake up call she had hurriedly packed her things, which admittedly wasn't a lot to begin with. Now, with her meager belongings safely in the back seat of Ironhide, she was on her way to her new temporary home. It was now well past 6 am, and Ana, riding shotgun, was trying her best to stay awake. Lennox had informed her that the trip would only take about an hour, and she relished the time to herself as the ride had sunk into a comfortable silence.

A bump in the road caused Ana to wince as her head bounced against the window of the top-kick. Readjusting, she tried to lean her head against the seat belt only to have it slacken from the weight of her head. She grumbled inwardly, sometimes it was impossible to get comfortable in a car. Determined, she tried again, and to her surprise the seatbelt held. Squinting one eye open she regarded Ironhide's radio suspiciously before letting out a small smile; he was such a soft spark when he wanted to be.

It didn't seem like long before she felt a nudge on her shoulder "Ana, we're here" Lennox said. Sitting upright she looked around surprised as they pulled onto a long gravel driveway, she must of fallen asleep.
Ana studied the surrounding area, the long gravel driveway ended at a average looking two story house, its white paint faded giving it a timeworn look. Large fields of tall grass bordered the house on all sides eventually giving way to clumps of sparse green woods lined in the distance. A small square of smartly trimmed turf seemed to hold back the tall walls of grass from the house, and further off in the dense meadow, Ana could could see a barn.

"This is where you live?" She asked curiously. Lennox regarded her with a nod "With my wife and daughter" he responded proudly. Ana studied the house as they approached, her stomach churning with worry. She tried to push it down, now feeling somewhat amused; After all I have been through social anxiety is still getting the best of me.
Ironhide crunched to a stop pulling up next to a small white car Ana had failed to notice on her initial inspection. As soon as he stopped, the front door of the house flung open and a young girl with wavy blond hair came running out.
"Daddy, Hidey!" The young girl exclaimed as she ran towards the truck, Ana guessed she must be four or five. "Annabelle!" Will said with a smile as both the driver and passenger doors popped open. The young girl came in for a hug as Ana dropped from her seat onto the gravel driveway. With her view temporarily blocked, he heard the girl ramble excitedly to Lennox. "Daddy, Guess what, I got to stay up till 9 last night, and mommy said that it was ok, but only for this one time, and mommy also said that you and Hidey were coming so I waited all morning by the door." 
Lennox laughed "All morning huh?" "Yeah! I got up super early and didn't even have breakfast!"
Ana smiled, rounding the truck to see the young girl puffing out her chest proudly.

The girl, Annabelle, was wearing a white t-shirt with a T-Rex printed on the front along with a plain blue skirt, Ana also noted that the girl was barefoot. The girl continued to ramble and Ana looked over to find that a woman had stepped out of the house. She had long blond hair and wore jeans and a royal blue blouse, she stood in the driveway smiling coolly with her arms crossed.
"Woke me up at 4" The woman said, causing Lennox to chuckle.
"Sounds like you've been a handful this morning" he said to Annabelle, squishing her cheeks between his hands. The girl gave a broad smile, grabbing at Will's hands "Yup!" Lennox let out another laugh, "She thinks she's cute" the woman said with a smile. "Because I am!" The girl exclaimed, worming her way out of Lennox's grip and scampering to the front of Ironhide's alt mode. "Right Hidey!"
"I think your a handful" he grunted.
Her grin didn't falter as she spread her arms across his grill in a makeshift hug.
"I missed you Hidey" she said with her face leaned against the grill.

"So you must be Ana" a voice caused Ana to jump, and she turned to face the woman who had approached her. "Y-yea" Ana responded awkwardly, the woman just smiled.
"I'm Sarah, Will's wife" she said holding out her hand, and Ana shook it "though you probably already figured that out." Ana mustered a smile as a new voice rang out.
"Mommy! Is that the new friend you told me about?" Ana turned to see Annabelle running towards her, before she could react the girl had wrapped her arms around Ana's legs. "Sorry, she's a little hyper today" Lennox said walking up, causing Sarah to snort out a laugh
"A little? She's been bouncing off the walls since I told her you and Ironhide would be here." "And a new friend!" Annabelle added, still holding Ana's legs. The girl looked up at Ana with a broad smile "Hi I'm Annabelle, I'm five." She said proudly "I like unicorns and dinosaurs and my favorite color is green" Ana smiled at her enthusiasm "Nice to meet you, I'm Ana" she greeted. Annabelle let go of her legs and pulled on her shirt so Ana could see the T-Rex. "My favorite dinosaur is the T-Rex, wanna know why?" "Why?" Ana asked while the girl beamed "Because it's big and tough just like Hidey!" Ana let out a small laugh and she swore she heard Ironhide chuckle.