I was utterly silent. The sky was turning various shades of pinks and oranges as it set to the west in the Nevada sky. I was breathing as quietly as I could-not moving. Laying perfectly still in the far-too-high truck bed, hiding-remaining there silently as if my life depended on it. That freaky, buff bastard was still counting. But I was already hidden.

"Ready or not, here I come!" he called, sinisterly. I closed my eyes, my heart increasing from the anticipation of the game.

The world was silent. And my mind drifted.

I was playing with Ron Smith, also known as Ironhide by his comrades. The nickname was so perfectly suited to the soldier. He was massive-tall, and incredibly muscular. He had perfectly sculpted cheekbones, but a crooked nose that had clearly seen many fights and battles in it's poor lifetime. His naturally white hair was always slicked back in an tidy way, perfect for the Army rules. Long compared to some of his peers, but still short enough to not touch his collar when he was in uniform. I believe I have begun to digress. Apologies.

The name 'Ironhide' had been the first thing he'd been called when I met him, and it had stuck with me. He lived in the garage of adoptive parents and their toddler daughter. And at first, I'd been rather wary of the huge, very-scarred military man. But truthfully, he was a big softie, regardless of the name 'Ironhide'. I figured that name only applied in battle, because he was never too harsh with me. And, if I was being honest, I had developed a crush on him, sometime between the point when I had first met him-and been scared of him-and this very moment.

"GOT YOU!"

I gasped, lurching forward and cracking my head against his.

"Ah, god damn it, 'Hide! You peeked!" I cried, disgruntled at having been found so fast, my hand covering the aching spot on my head. He was usually pretty terrible at the game, but this time, he'd found me in seconds flat. He chuckled, rubbing at his very hard head. Maybe the name 'Ironhide' was literal. OW.

"Nah, you're just bad at this," he said. My eyebrows shot up.

"I'm bad at this? You're saying that I, winner-of-nearly-all-games-of-Hide-and-Seek, am bad at hiding? As if!" I cried, accusatorially. He just chuckled again, hopping down and stepping around to the tail-gate of the truck, pulling the lever.

"Come on, I'll help you down," he said, extending a hand. I scooted toward him, taking his hand and letting him catch me as I jumped from the Topkick, "How'd you even get up there, anyway, Ramona?"

"I climbed," I replied, a cheshire grin on my face. His booming laugh filled the evening air.

"You're so..." he began, but it seemed he wasn't able to find the right words.

"Nimble?" I offered, "Agile? Spry? Cat-like? I know." His massive, calloused and warm hand slid into mine, and at a glance, I noticed his expression had changed from cheerful and joking to something much more serious.

"I was thinking 'perfect' would be more suited to you," he offered. His other hand came up and caressed my cheek, sliding back into my hair, and then he brought his warm lips down on mine. Holy shit. Ron Smith...Ironhide was kissing me. It was my first real kiss. And wow...my eyes drifted closed, my arms going up around his broad shoulders, and I found myself kissing him back. Eventually, I had to pull back, as air was an unfortunate necessity to human life. I kept my eyes closed, even as I regained my breath. If by chance that had been a day-dream, I wanted to preserve it for as long as possible. But 'Hide had other ideas.

"Do you want to go for a ride?" he offered. I slowly opened my eyes and, to my pleasure, he was still standing there. It hadn't been a day dream. Hallelujah. It took me a moment to remember what he had said, but when I did, I immediately nodded. He smiled briefly at me, then walked me to the passenger side of the GMC Topkick. He reached over my shoulder and opened the door, giving me a hand to haul myself into the massive truck. I waited calmly as he rounded the front of the truck and pulled himself in, turning the key in the ignition and pulling out of the Lennox's driveway.

It was very quiet for the first few minutes of the ride. Car rides between 'Hide and I...they'd become very special. The first one had been just after he'd moved into the garage. Will Lennox, my adoptive father, had said something that had made me angry. Something about my birth-parents. It was a breaking point. I had screamed at him, thrown a glass iced-tea pitcher at him, and stormed from the house, out into the pouring rain in the middle of the night. 'Hide had been sitting on the porch. I hadn't known, at first, until he'd come and plucked me up from the muddy ground and plopped me in the passenger seat of his truck, cranking the heat and demanding I tell him what was wrong. When I did, he told me he could sympathize. Both of his parents had died as soldiers, he said. And while my parents hadn't been soldiers, they'd died a soldier's death, protecting me.

That was the first time we'd really spoken. My respect for the man had grown exponentially during that car-ride. And thanks to his calming and sympathetic words, I had been able to go back into the house and apologize to both Will and Sarah for my inexcusable actions, where I had begun to cry again, and explain why I was so upset by his words. They both hugged me at the end, and assured me that I was forgiven.

And then 'Hide and I started going on rides rather often. He drove me to school, for the last several months of my high-school career. During the summer, when he was off-duty, he would take me to run errands in town. We would go on picnics, hiking, to the lake, and virtually anywhere I had interest in going. And to my community college classes after that. Actually, now that I think about it, that is rather couple-y, isn't it? And during that time, we got very, very close. I trusted him with my life. He was my very best friend. I'm quite certain that it was in this very truck that I fell in love with him.

Did I say 'love'?

"Oh," I gasped, surprised at where my own thoughts had led me.

"What is it?" 'Hide asked, his eyes hardening and scanning the area for danger.

"I-I-I...it's nothing. At all. Just being stupid," I said, my cheeks going crimson. I looked away from him.

"Unlikely," he scoffed, and then his hand sought out mine between the seats of the truck, "You don't mind, do you?" he asked, sounding...hesitant? Was he really being shy? I smiled at him.

"Not at all," and I squeezed his hand in mine. He smiled a very small but sincere smile back at me, and I felt my heart warm. I think I really must love him. Even if it came as a surprise to me.

"I've never...done this before," he said, very slowly. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

"What do you mean?"

"I...this...dating. Courting. I've never done it before. It's a very strange and foreign thing," he explained.

"Oh," well, I would admit that I was surprised. Ron was big(and he Had scared me), but not unattractive. And he'd told me he'd been all over the world for work. Not one woman had been interested before? That was hard to believe. But I responded, "Well, neither have I." He glanced at me.

"That's not to say I've never been in a...relationship," he corrected, "But it was rather sudden. There was no...no bonding, beforehand. It just sort of happened." Oh.

"What...happened to that relationship?" I had to ask. It was just too personal of a question. This was something he'd never told me before, and I felt sort of hurt over it. Especially since he'd just kissed me, and now he was thinking of her.

"She died. In the war. In combat," he said. And suddenly it made sense.

"Oh, 'Hide, I'm so sorry-" I began, but he cut me off.

"No, it was a long time ago. Don't dwell on it," he shot a reassuring smile at me, "I just wanted to tell you that this is new territory for me. I wasn't raised to...how you say, 'take it slow'? But I want to try, for you."

My heart melted.

"Ron, that...thank you. You're so amazing, you know?" I smiled happily at him. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

But something in the air suddenly shifted. It was like a witch had been looking in a crystal ball and casted an evil spell over us. 'Hide's gaze switched quickly to the windshield, his gaze hardening. He turned back to me.

"Get out! Hurry!" he ordered, his voice a mixture of tones that I couldn't discern.

"What...? I don't...?" I was confused, so confused. Why? We were in the middle of nowhere after dark! Why?

"No time," he said. The door popped open all on it's own, and he pushed me out roughly. Luckily, I didn't land on the road, or even on the edge of the road, where concrete met gravel. No, no. I tumbled down the steep bank on the side of the road, my hair getting tangled with twigs and dust, and I was just lucky enough to roll into some thorny bushes. My wrist hurt, immediately, and I was concerned that it had broken during the fall. There was a warm wetness on my forehead. Blood, I realized, my blood. And the rest of my body would be pretty bruised in the morning. I could tell that much. I began to army-crawl my way back up the bank, so I could yell at 'Hide and ask him what the Hell his damned problem was! But the sight that I was met with wasn't something I was exactly prepared for. Instead of seeing Ron sitting in the truck, there was no truck, and no Ron for that matter. Only two giant, fighting robots in the middle of the road, duking it out. Right there.

...

Yeah.

I didn't move, to stunned to do anything but stare. One of them was shiny and black, and this one had shining blue eyes(like stars) something said in the back of my head. It's armor was all dented and it looked like it had been through many, many fights. Scratches welded shut, and other robot 'wounds' that were similar. The other one looked comparably worse for wear. They were alike of size, only...this one was silver. It's eyes were an angry, glistening red. It reeked of sinister. And I slid down the bank a little, trying to hide from its gaze. But it had seen me, and it said something, its words grating like bad violin playing. It lunged forward, trying to evade the other one, the one I felt I could trust. Luckily, it couldn't get past the good guy. The black robot sliced a giant sword-thing that I hadn't noticed before straight through the torso-area of the other robot, sufficiently slicing it straight into nice little halves. Well, not little.

And then he stabbed it through the head for good measure. He looked at the robot for a second, then slid the sword into some sort of compartment on his back. It's gazed turned directly to me, and it's blue eyes met mine, before the sound of sliding and shifting metal met my ears, and it was a robot no more.

And the GMC Topkick was sitting in the middle of the road as if there weren't a giant robot corpse sitting just feet ahead, in the middle of the road, leaking some acidic blue liquid. As if it hadn't had one of the most major fights I've ever seen in my whole life. As if it hadn't just changed everything I'd thought I'd known.

Suddenly I was being tugged upwards by my forearms. I didn't even have the mind to gasp in pain at my wrist being jarred. 'Hide was speaking to me as he held me on my feet by my arms, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. It sounded like he was very far away, at the end of a tunnel. Even though I could see him right there. Just a few inches away from my face. He looked worried.

Why was he worried? There was nothing to worry about.

Oh. Right.

The giant-droid death match.

I must've forgotten.

And then I came back to reality again, and I was sitting in the passenger seat as I had been only a few minutes before. Only a few minutes before the giant robot fight in my freakin' back yard. Just a few, meager minutes before holy shit I'm fucking nuts. I must be hallucinating. That has to be it. My stomach was turning.

Oh my god. Why was 'Hide not having a colossal-meltdown like me? He needed to be freaking out a lot more. Unless I really had hallucinated that whole thing.

And then another problem suddenly arose.

"Oh my god, I'm insane!" I cried, tears welling in my eyes.

"What? I've been trying to get you to speak for the last twenty minutes, and that's the first thing you say?! To the Pit with it all!" 'Hide yelled, his eyes trained on the road ahead.

"I just-I just-I just...I-I...robots! In the street! I'm nuts! Oh, have me committed! Oh, my god! Oh, my god!" by now tears were streaming down my cheeks. I felt the truck slow to a halt, pulled to the side of the road carefully. 'Hide grasped my arms high up, almost by my shoulder, and shook me lightly.

"Ramona, stop crying. Ramona. Ramona, look at me," I tried, but I really couldn't stop crying, so his shape was all blurry. "That really just happened."

"Wh-what? Those robots were...real?" I asked.

"Yes. This truck...he...it was trying to protect you. That other one was a baddie. That's why I pushed you out of here. I'm sorry. Are you okay?" he asked, folding up the arm-rest in the middle of the front seat and pulling me tightly into his chest. I sighed, my tears having suddenly subsided.

"Yeah," I whispered, "I...I'm really thirsty." And it was true. The nausea had all but disappeared, and now I was just craving liquids. Preferably something carbonated.

"Okay. I'll stop and get you a drink on the way to Base. What do you want?" he started driving again, and I was glad that he let me sit pressed up against him, instead of making me go back into the passenger seat. His closeness was comforting. I closed my eyes and just felt the rise and fall of his chest, listening to the roaring engine of the truck...which was alive beneath me. For some reason, their existence bothered me less than the thought that I had just...imagined the whole thing. And I trusted this truck. It had protected me from the other one, after all.

"Ginger Ale," I responded immediately, "A two-liter of it." I felt him nod against my head.

It was only seconds, it seemed, before 'Hide disappeared into the store. I was happy when it was only a few seconds before he returned to his lace in the driver's seat. He handed me the two leader, and I could barely get the cap off for the shaking in my hands and injured wrist, but I managed. Within the twenty or so minutes it took to get to the military base that both 'Hide and Will frequented, I'd been able to drink about 2/3 of the Ginger Ale. And I was still thirsty.

"Why are we here?" I questioned, leaning my head on his shoulder once more, sighing. He sighed as well, although his was not one of tired contentment.

"One of my superiors will be able to explain everything to you in a...much more elegant way than I would ever be able to," he explained, "Plus, the CMO can have a look at you. I'm concerned, between the fall and the shock of-well..." I hummed in response, closing my eyes tiredly. He sighed deeply-I could feel his chest expand with the power of it. But I didn't move. And he ended up pulling me out of the truck bridal-style, and the rocking motion of his walking nearly lulled me to sleep.

"Ratchet, can you do a quick scan...?" 'Hide said, but I chose not to listen to his words. Instead, I lifted my weary eyes and looked around.
The hangar was huge(I'm talking massive here), and there were giant robots walking around pretty freely. I could count five from where I was. Not including the big black one that was the Topkick.

"Sprained wrist, although ace bandages will need to be purchased for treatment. I recommend ice for the first two days, and heat after that. Tylenol for the pain. And a bandaid for the head wound-calm yourself, Ironhide, it's just a scratch," he sighed. This must be the CMO. A bandaid was smoothed over the scratch on my forehead, even as I struggled to open my eyes the whole way.

"Are you sure, Ratchet? I-"

"I'm absolutely certain, Ironhide. You should know by now to trust my judgement," Ratchet said, his tone irritated.

"I do. Of course I do. She's just so...delicate. So human," he muttered. Human? Of course I was human. But...

"I know, Ironhide. I know, old friend," said Ratchet.

"Where is Prime?" Ironhide asked, after sighing heavily.

"Oh, he's around here somewhere," Ratchet said, incredibly unhelpfully.

"Ironhide?" I groaned, cracking my eyes open and looking up at him, miserably.

"What is it, Ramona?" he asked, gently.

"I can walk," I croaked. He gently set me on my feet, and took my hand, guiding me along. The hangar was drafty, and absolutely huge. The robots were moving around, and suddenly, my eyes came upon one that was taller than the others.

This one was blue, and had red flames painted on his...shoulders? And somehow, I knew that this is who Ironhide was looking for. I briefly noticed that the truck had been following us around, but it didn't concern me so much.

"Prime!" he bellowed, and the giant robot turned his eyes(optics?) in our direction.

"Ah, what is it, old friend?" the robot designated as 'Prime' asked Ironhide.

"Ramona...was exposed to Cybertronians. I was hoping you'd be willing to explain everything to her," Ironhide requested.

"I really don't need to know everything," I chirped helpfully, "Let's stick to the basics, please."

"Very well," Prime responded, "My name is Optimus Prime, and I am the leader of the Autobots. Our kind came from a planet known as Cybertron, seeking something that was lost in a war, a very long time ago. We found that something, but we weren't the only ones searching for it, and in the end, it was destroyed, and our planet was left desolate. So we've stayed here with the permission of the human government," Optimus said, "Tell me, Ironhide, what is it that happened that she was exposed?"

"Decepticon," 'Hide responded, "One I've never seen before."
There was a pause, and Ironhide turned to me, hesitantly. Something in his eyes looked...scared. He looked terrified. And his voice permeated the air once again.

"There's something important I have to tell you, Ramona," he began, taking both of my hands in mine, "I hope that you can forgive me. I haven't been entirely honest. This...truck, as you saw, was a Cybertronian also. One of the Autobots-the good guys. He was charged with the responsibility of being a Guardian to the Lennox family, and by extension, you. Ramona..." he paused,

"I'd hoped to keep this a secret for longer. Please, try not to freak out." The robot-the Topkick-transformed up slowly into the form that I had seen fighting in the road. I looked confusedly to 'Hide.

"His name..." he sighed, "He's Ironhide. I am him." 'Hide said. But I didn't understand, I mean, they were two completely solid beings and...

But suddenly, 'Hide...'Hide's human form disappeared in a shower of sparks. The giant black robot crouched down, so his head was only a few feet higher than mine.

"Are you...okay? I'm so sorry I didn't tell you the truth, the humans want as few people to know as possible..." he said. I just narrowed my eyes.

"It all makes sense now," I hissed.

"It...does?" Ironhide...Ironhide in his robot form asked.

"Yeah," I said, and with a shimmer of the air, the human Ironhide was in front of me, and I took the liberty of smacking him across the face as hard as I could.

"You cheated, you lying bastard! That's how you found me! I was in the damned truck-in you! Damn it 'Hide! You cheated!" I cried. He gave me a disbelieving look.

"You...that's all you have to say? That I cheated?" he asked, "What about...the rest? The...the kiss?"

"I don't care about that! You cheated! God damn it! I knew something was up with that!" I fumed.

"But...aren't you...scared?" he said, desperately seeking something out of me. A reaction he wasn't getting.

"Scared?" I scoffed, "You saved my life! Why in the Hell would I be scared? That's just stupid. You're stupid, 'Hide." He laughed, putting his hand to his head.

"But what about...what we talked about earlier?" ah, now he was worried. I could see it in his eyes. I snorted.

"Nothing changes," I waved my hand dismissively, "You're still the same person you were a few hours ago...but I'm still pissed off you cheated! Damn it, 'Hide! I knew you did..." I crossed my arms over my chest, like a stubborn child. But he just laughed and picked me up, twirling me around in glee. When he stopped, he placed me on my feet, not letting me go, and abruptly kissing me hard on the mouth. And I was dizzy. I wasn't sure if it was from the spinning or from the kiss, but either way...well, the kiss was awesome. I didn't think there was anyone in the world I would rather kiss than my 'Hide. He was crushing my crossed arms between his abdomen and my chest, or else I would have been pulling him as close as possible.

When he pulled away, he was grinning like he had won the lottery. I don't think I'd ever seen another person happier than he was at that moment. His smile was one of the most incredible things I'd ever seen. It made my heart flutter with happiness. There was absolutely nowhere that I'd rather be.

"Ha! And you were worried about telling her!" came a mocking male voice.

"Shove it, Sideswipe," Ironhide said cheerfully. That was definitely a saying he'd picked up by spending time with me. This 'Sideswipe' character laughed, before it was quiet again.

"Do you want to go home, now?" 'Hide asked.

"I don't care," I sighed, laying my head on his chest.
"Let's go finish our ride, then. I'd like to spend a bit more time with you," he said.

"Sounds perfect," I said, lifting my head and smiling at him. Ironhide bent down and swept his arm behind my knees, sufficiently picking me up, bridal style. I didn't let it phase me-it certainly wasn't the first time he'd done it. I lifted my arms around his neck, and I sighed, resting my cheek on his shoulder and watching his face as he carried me over to the Topkick-his other form?

"You sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet," I giggled. He smiled.

"Well, that was the plan to begin with," he said.

"I'm so glad..." I started, but trailed off, "Why did you chose me?" His expression changed to confusion, and he looked down at me.

"What do you mean?" he asked, baffled at the sudden change in demeanor.

"I mean, why did you chose me. Of all the Cyber-uh-Cybertronian? women that you've met, and all the human women in this world, why chose me? I'm...ordinary," I explained. He scoffed.

"Trust me, Ramona, there a thousand different adjectives I could use to describe you, but 'ordinary' certainly isn't one of them," he said, assuringly, "Like I said, Ramona, you're perfect. A perfect human, a perfect person. Perfect...for me, I think." There was a pause, where I didn't know what to say.

"You...you really feel that way?" I whispered.

"Yes. I do," he said, quietly. I once again was unsure of what to say. I didn't know what to think. Just as I opened my mouth to try, 'Hide placed me in the passenger seat of the...uh. Him. And slammed the door before walking around to the other side, and getting in the...him, just as a human would. But I knew he didn't need to do that. And I couldn't figure out why he did.

As he slowly maneuvered around people and other...Autobots at the base, it was silent. It was silent when he got on the road, and it was silent for the next twenty minutes. I had no idea what to say. I was still processing...well, everything. But glancing over at him, I could see the turmoil as he tightly gripped the steering wheel. It was such a human expression-so normal. So average. I scooted over, and he didn't notice me until I put my hand on his very tense shoulder. Then he glanced over at me. His muscles relaxed, and one arm came and looped around my shoulders.

It was only a few minutes before we came to the overlook that we frequented. It looked down into the valley where the city resided. We looked down on it together for a few minutes, the lights of the city shining and twinkling and going nuts, as city lights always did. It was crazy, that everything down there could be so...busy. People bustling, partying, fighting with each other...but up here we were so far away, so peaceful. I looked to my hands, sick of the silence, and feeling entirely responsible for it.

"I'm sorry..." I began, "I don't know what to say. I...stand by what I said. I...I've been falling for you for a while, you know?" I asked, smiling down at my hands, were know wringing each other mercilessly, "You're pretty amazing, 'Hide. And being a...an Alien Robot just makes you more special. So...I'm sorry, that I don't have anything to say. It's not because...I just...I don't have anything to say." He didn't speak, and I was to afraid to look at him to see his reaction. His calloused fingers gently tugged at my chin, bring my eyes up to his.

"Thank you, Ramona. For...everything." And then he kissed me again. God, every time I could see the fireworks. His hand was warm on the back of my neck, the other lightly resting on my hip. My left hand was squeezing his shoulder, the right trying to pull him closer to me, but he was as close as he could possibly get. He pulled away and pressed his forehead against mine, sighing happily.

"I'm so glad I can finally do that..." he said, "Kissing is so strange...It's so human. Cybertronians don't have any customs quite like it...but it feels very good." I blushed at his words, but his eyes were still closed, and he was too close to see anyway. He might be able to feel them flaming, though.
He sighed, pulling his forehead away from mine and replacing it with his lips. They were warm and comforting. He felt different, his demeanor. He sagged a bit.

"I'm sorry you got hurt. It was the last thing I wanted. I'm sorry that I pushed you...do you hurt anywhere?" he asked, guiltily.

"I feel fine," I said. And I did, mostly. My wrist ached, a little. My head was throbbing a bit where I had scratched it, but Ratchet had put a bandaid on it, and it felt a tad better.

"Good," he sighed, "The Energon signature was masked. I didn't know there was a 'Con until it was on top of us. Or I would have never taken you that way."

"It's fine," I soothed, "I'm fine, and you killed the...'Con. You saved me." He pulled back, and though my words had been comforting, I could see the self-blame lingering in his eyes.

"'Hide," I whispered, bringing my hand up to his cheek. He put his own over it, enveloping my own, and closed his eyes. But I knew, even if 'Hide didn't, that he would keep me safe. Always.