Something was off, Katashi pondered as he walked the halls of the enormous building. Machines were whirring busily, guns were blasting in the shooting range, and workers were exchanging information and concentrating on their individual tasks. Reports were being filed appropriately and papers for him to look over were constantly being brought to his office. And yet something seemed off. He just couldn't place what.

"Sir!" Yusuke's voice cut through the previously silent hallway. Ah, that's what was missing. Somehow things seemed too quiet unless Yusuke was heard in the simulation room encouraging the soldiers and giving them instruction or was complaining about something. Having two demons within the building tended to change the flow of things especially given their personalities. Many of the workers had grown accustomed to Kurama's sense of humor, himself included. Katashi turned around to give the young man his full attention. Yusuke jogged up to his boss with a determined look upon his face.

"You're in early," Katashi noted as he raised an eyebrow. The boy was more likely to be late than anything and so seeing him in early was peculiar.

"I wanted to ask you a few questions before you lock yourself in your office for the day." Katashi began walking and Yusuke fell in step beside him. "It's about that truck." Yusuke cast a sidelong glance to his boss who was looking amused about something.

"Really?" The old man looked almost eager to hear what Yusuke would say.

"Yeah. Sir, I know you like surprising people, but it would have been nice if you'd have warned me that the truck could drive itself," Yusuke grumbled as he unconsciously rubbed his shoulder where a bruise had formed.

"Yes, yes I could have," Katashi agreed. "However you adapt to situations best if you figure them out yourself." Guessing how Yusuke would react had been a gamble, but apparently his guess was correct and the boy was taking it in stride.

"It was strange though…" Yusuke's tone became contemplative. "It knew where the demons were."

"So he's already working on adapting his sensors, impressive. For a while we thought we would have to send directions."

"Hey, wait, what are you talking about?" Yusuke broke Katashi's musings impatiently. The old man continued on as if Yusuke hadn't spoken.

"While he is here, Ironhide will serve as your partner. He was originally sent here for information, but I think it'd be best if he gathered the information first hand. Also it would be keeping him busy and you out of trouble…"

"Sir," Yusuke cut him off as politely as possible. "You do realize we're talking about a truck right?" Katashi stopped for a moment, looking mildly surprised, before waving a hand around.

"Oh, a truck, yes…yes." He sounded far too distracted for the words to be believable.

"Sir, there's obviously something I don't know that I should know. Information has been kept from me before and I usually find out about it when I almost get my ass fried." It was his Spirit Detective years all over again. He was always told the basics of the case, but the fine details –important details- came later, after he had found out about them first hand.

"It's something you would have to see for yourself," Katashi replied. The words were true, but not enough to pacify Yusuke.
"Sir, I don't like surprises. I had enough of them when I was a teenager." Yusuke continued to try to pry the information from his boss. Unfortunately, Katashi wasn't about to reveal anything anytime soon. The door to Katashi's office came into sight and his time for questioning was coming to an end.

"Ah," Katashi turned around suddenly. "Yusuke, it would be appreciated if you didn't try to do anymore damage to Ironhide." With that the man went into his office and shut the door, leaving a frustrated and confused Yusuke on the other side.

IIIIII

It had been, for the most part, a slow day. He had been assigned to teaching the basics and running drills, nothing related to demon survival. He went out to the shooting range in order to watch over the young recruits practicing their aim when Syoran had been called out for an emergency. Then he got to sit at his rarely used desk and start on his yearly report, the one that took up pages and pages of paper. It was due the first of January, but it took forever to complete and so he started early.

Katashi had let him leave early because the more experienced soldiers were out and about and he usually drilled them before he left. So Yusuke was left with more energy than he was used to having when leaving work. He shrugged on his jacket and fished out his keys. In order to expend his extra energy he decided to drive to the area near Genkai's and do whatever it took to feel like he did something rather than just sit around and instruct.

Yusuke eyed the innocent looking black Topkick warily. It hadn't done anything threatening, or really anything at all besides drive, and his boss wasn't worried that it'd try to run him over. It must be somewhat safe. He climbed into the truck, only slightly surprised when the keys in the ignition turned themselves.

"Oh no," Yusuke said as he gripped the wheel firmly. "I'm going to be the one driving. You are going to be good and not pull any stunts like last night, got it?" The engine revved and the wheel tried to turn, but eventually the truck resigned to the fact that Yusuke was not about to relinquish his control. Yusuke smirked triumphantly. He flipped on the radio, but it shut off immediately. This was repeated three more time before Yusuke growled and gave up. "Fine!" He couldn't shake the feeling that the truck let him have control.

It was a fairly peaceful drive to the wilderness where he could practice without any innocent bystanders accidentally stepping into the line of fire. Once he had parked he took off his jacket and began running laps. His other usual exercises had to be ignored because his back was still sore from being used as batting practice. Metal beams hurt like hell, he was lucky his spine hadn't snapped in two. After a while he began working on his spiritual focus. He had found that he could pack quite a bit of energy into a smaller bullet, but keeping the energy constricted until the initial launch was difficult and took a lot of concentration. Eventually it would allow him more shots and it would be useful when wanting to be inconspicuous. The damage ratio of the blast would also be minimized by a great deal by hitting just the target, but it also required perfect aim. Unfortunately practicing the technique nearly exhausted his entire energy store.

Sweat ran down his forehead as Yusuke powered up for his second shot, taking careful aim at the small target, but making sure the power remained contained. He held fire a moment longer before releasing the blast, which was half the size of his usual Spirit Gun. But it had the same amount of power to it because it obliterated the target and kept on going. For how long, Yusuke didn't know, but he was relieved knowing that there was nothing around for miles.

He let himself fall onto the grass and looked up at the sky as he began to feel the effects of energy loss. He had managed to get it to half the size, but it still caused more damage than necessary and wasn't inconspicuous enough. That blast alone could have taken down ten unintended targets, possibly more if they were close enough for the aftershock to hit them.

The golds, oranges, and reds of the sunset colored the sky. He knew he should start heading home if he wanted to arrive before dark, but he didn't want to move yet. At one point the rapid thumping of his heart would accompany his heavy breathing, but now all was silent. He had been a demon for nearly ten years now, but he still wasn't used to the absence of his heart beat. Perhaps in a hundred years it wouldn't bother him any longer.

His senses were heightened dramatically since his demon blood had awakened and he found himself hearing things he normally wouldn't have. Smelling scents, like blood or even rain, that had faded from human senses days ago. He was also more attuned to life and found the slow pulse in the air that indicated life comforting.

Yusuke closed his eyes as his brows furrowed in concentration. The peaceful thrum was interrupted by a different pattern, one that was unfamiliar to him. Humans, animals and demons all had different life patterns. He had learned to tell one from the other long ago, but this one was alien. It almost had a sound; a low key constant sound that reverberated through the air and disrupted the natural life patterns.
Warning bells began to ring loudly in his head as he sprang to his feet and scanned the surrounding area. His movements were tense, slow and deliberate. What energy he had left began to gather into his index finger, ready for a sudden attack. His attention was drawn to the truck when it revved its engine. The strange pattern, he noticed, constantly changed unlike a human or demons.

He cautiously approached the truck. Despite it not showing any hostility, Yusuke wasn't about to take a chance. The thing had a life energy proving it was more than just advanced human technology. Chances were humans had nothing to do with its creation at all.

"So, Katashi wasn't off his rocker after all," Yusuke spoke as he circled the truck. "It would explain why your door didn't fly off when I kicked it." The engine revved in an annoyed manner, obviously not happy about the reminder. "You can't be a demon….so what the hell are you?" He probably didn't want to know, but the question had left his mouth before his mind caught up.

The truck backed up and, for a moment, Yusuke thought it was going to drive away. The thought left his mind as quickly as it had come when parts of the truck began shifting and realigning to create a towering figure. Blue optics lit up and looked down at the shocked Yusuke. He took a few steps backward when the giant robot knelt down in front of him, still towering over him despite.

Strangely, the robot didn't do or say anything as Yusuke took a moment to register what he had just seen. Okay, so perhaps there were still things that could surprise him. Suddenly the truck having a name didn't seem so strange anymore.

"A giant robot…well, this is something straight out of the movies," Yusuke muttered. He ran a hand through his hair before looking up at the robot his boss had referred to as Ironhide. "What the hell are you, where did you come from, and what are you doing here?" Yusuke questioned in a rather impatient tone as he crossed his arms. A displeased sound came from Ironhide.

"Impertinent thing aren't you?" Yusuke glowered at him. "Did Katashi not explain the situation to you?"

"When does he ever?" Yusuke grumbled as he began pacing. "Okay, forget my other questions. Katashi said you're supposed to gather information. Information about what?"

"Demons, as you call them," Ironhide replied evenly as he watched Yusuke continue to pace. "We were told the creatures are more common here than anywhere. It is strange that I could not find any such information on them aside from various tales."

"That's because humans aren't supposed to know about them. Anyone who's in the know is supposed to keep their mouths shut about it. That's getting difficult…" Yusuke growled lowly. "Why do they matter to you anyway? All you have to do is step on them. Why the information gathering?"

"In order to fight an opponent, it is useful if you first know about them." Ironhide's words sounded repeated, as if he had heard them thousands of times before.

"Yeah, that does help," Yusuke agreed. "Are there more of your kind? Here on earth?"

"Yes, they are in America currently." Ironhide eyed the man warily and any further questions about his kind would undoubtedly be left unanswered.

'Wonderful, no wonder the demons here are acting strange. They know something different is here and now they have an idea of what it is. They'll probably try to get a hold of one of them.' Yusuke let out a sound of frustration and rubbed his hands through his hair furiously. He ceased his pacing when one of Ironhide's hands blocked his path. Apparently pacing not only annoyed humans, but supernatural beings as well.

"So they sent you here to learn more about demons?"

"I volunteered," Ironhide corrected.

"All right, this is my last question, do you have any means of defense other than the obvious?" He waved his hand in a sweeping motion, motioning to his armor and gargantuan appearance. There was a mechanical whirring and suddenly Yusuke was looking, no longer at a hand, but a large cannon with unknown energy sparking within. "You were just waiting to do that weren't you?" Ironhide merely smirked. Yusuke had a feeling that the mech had a habit of showing off his cannons. "Well, just so you know, I'm not used to working with giant robots."

"I am still adjusting to working with humans, so I suppose that makes us equal."

"This is going to be interesting," Yusuke sighed as he ran his hands through his hair again. Ironhide had come to the conclusion that the motion was a nervous habit.

"Indeed," Ironhide agreed. "Are you through with your questioning?"

"Yeah," Yusuke shrugged as he sat on a boulder and rested his arms on his knees.

"In that case, I have a question myself. How can you still function without a heartbeat?" According to Ironhide's knowledge of organic beings, they needed a heartbeat in order to live. It had baffled him to no end and he had found nothing about it on the world wide web.

"I'm not sure myself," Yusuke admitted. "All I know about it is a demon heart doesn't beat in human terms. I don't know much about what's keeping me alive, my energy maybe. I haven't been a demon long, ten years maybe, and there's still a lot I haven't figured out yet. When it comes to the inner workings of a demon, Kurama would be the best person to ask. Anything else?"

"No."

"Okay." Yusuke looked up at the dark, star specked sky before speaking again. "Can we go home?" The clicks and whirring filled the area as Ironhide transformed into the Topkick and opened the car door. Yusuke climbed in and buckled up as Ironhide drove on the dirt path. Yusuke closed his eyes and remained silent for a while before speaking suddenly. "You blasted that demon."

"It was trying to rip off my door," Ironhide defended. "Are demons obsessed with ripping off car doors?" Yusuke let out a bark of laughter in response.

IIIII

My first time writing Ironhide, I hope I'm doing well. I keep reffering to wikipedia and various, well written, fanfiction. I have a basic idea of how he is, but am not entirely certain. I know for a fact he's trigger happy. No one can deny that! Thank you to those who have reviewed my story. I'm glad that you guys are enjoying it!

I adjusted the fight in the previous chapter, Vaeru pointed out that the fight was not detailed enough and I found she was correct. I suppose that's what I get for trying to write a fight scene at eleven at night. Hopefully this is much better.

Yu Yu Hakusho (c) Yoshihiro Togashi

Transformers (c) Hasbro