When Ironhide's Away, Sideswipe Will Play

(In loving memory of Ironhide. You will be missed.)

Sarah Lennox knew the risks of having an Army husband, but she never agreed to him. If it wasn't the random exploding bombs or chasing any "intruders" off, it was Ironhide's overprotective nature toward Annabelle. True, she was only three when he met her, but she's old enough now to not be overshadowed by some monster truck from the "Pit". She's 16 for goodness sake! Will had agreed that Ironhide was going to be the family's guardian, but time was dwindling down to Annabelle's high school graduation. She's already into her second year and her guardian couldn't keep going back and forth from the base to just pick her up from school. Since her mother was stuck at the house with a 3 month old twin boys and housework to do, she really didn't have time to take her independent daughter anywhere. Giving Annabelle a car was out of the question. It wasn't that she was a bad driver, oh, no, Ironhide said that he didn't trust the "safety measures" in those "weak Earth metal" based cars. Sarah went ahead and bought one of those used SUVs for Annabelle. For about a week, Annabelle snuck off on her bike and went to the local mall where her SUV was hiding from her alien nanny. She secretly drove around the area. Sadly, said nanny caught on. That SUV was never. Seen. Again.

The SUV was the last straw for Annabelle. Her teenage rebellion took full force. She would glare at Ironhide and slam the door hard when she would get out of the truck. She knew she had to do something to get back at him. Two weeks passed and finally he came. Sideswipe. The Cybertronian version of Loki, the god of mischief. Oh, the GMC truck threw the biggest temper tantrum when he found out he was coming. Ratchet had to throw about ten wrenches and threaten a systems' flushing session to shut that sparkling up. What made it even worse? Annabelle connected with Sideswipe like they were best friends from the very beginning. Every day, Sideswipe would laugh and joke around with her. Ironhide had to drag Annabelle away when it was time to leave the base.

Optimus could see that those two younglings' bond was strong. He could say it was stronger than Bumblebee and Sam's bond. He was glad that Annabelle was attaching to Sideswipe so well. When Sideswipe first contacted about his incoming arrival, he was informed that Sunstreaker was not with him. The commander knew that was never a good thing for either the twins or the Autobots around them. Family bonds are more serious that humans' own emotional bonds. If the family units were separated, the Cybertronians become distant or even become violent to others. It's even harder on split-sparked twins like Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Luckily, Annabelle helped filled the void. She didn't replace the narcissistic twin, but she distracted the hurting spark from the suffering.

When Annabelle came up to Optimus about her future plans about college and later on, she stressed that Ironhide was probably going to have even more trouble with the distance. There were no colleges she liked in her area, and the one she liked was about a state away. Optimus hid his smile when she said that. He knew the reason why she wanted to go to that particular institution was because of his weapons specialist. Lennox had occasionally "vented" to him about how he was tired of Sarah telling him what Ironhide did that day. "Optimus, I'm going to be frank with you. I need to get away from Ironhide. Yes, he's protecting us from Decepticons, but does he have to scare the guys I like with that biker/ex-con holoform of his? Drake can't even look at me without peeing his pants? The mech said that he'd get one of his 'friends' to stalk him if he EVER thought of taking me on a date." She gestured wildly.

"Calm down. Calm down." Optimus fanned his hands in a peaceful gesture while trying not to laugh. "Ironhide is a great warrior and he's also an excellent friend. It can't be true that he's this 'obsessive' all the time. "Annabelle's eyes widened. Oh, no. He's not gonna budge! She screamed internally.

"But I will accept your wishes. Since you seem to be so adamant toward Sideswipe, I wouldn't forgive myself if I denied you as his charge." Plus I can't wait to see Ironhide's faceplate when I tell him. Optimus smiled with his optics glowing brightly.

Annabelle squealed and ran into his leg, hugging it like it was a life line. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! You won't regret it!" She said before releasing her grip and running to tell Sideswipe.

The silver Lamborghini skidded as it turned onto the gravel driveway. Annabelle was rocking out to Pink's "Raise your Glass". She drummed on the wheel as she sang along with the artist's voice. She raised her hands and fist pumped before realizing she was still in the driver's seat. She nervously grabbed the wheel with a tight grip. "Hey, take it easy, Anne. I can feel that, ya know." Sideswipe said while he lowered the music's volume to a mere whisper.

"Anne" was Sideswipe's nickname that he gave Annabelle. She giggled and blushed. "Sorry. Keep on forgetting that you're not a 'car'." She said, tucking some strands of hair behind her ear.

"Did Ironaft had to deal with your 'death grip' when you were driving?" Sideswipe asked as he slowed down to the Lennoxes' home.

"No. He wouldn't go over 30 mph on the main road when I drove him. He can be a nice guy sometimes, but he can be very 'maternal' especially when dad's on a mission. I guess he gets anxious because he's not watching dad's back." Annabelle said.

"I think…it's time for Ironhide to have some 'fun'. What do you think?" Sideswipe asked. If he was in robotic mode, he'd be grinning.

"I think you're an evil genius." Annabelle retorted.

Sideswipe opened her passenger door, which she climbed out of. Annabelle had to find the perfect prank for Ironhide. He's been working so hard with watching Optimus' backside all the time along with chasing the twins around the base. She jogged up to the front door as her guardian drove away. He tapped his horn as a quick goodbye. The girl's dusty shoes made a trail as she went inside. Sarah and Will were sitting at the dining room table, finishing up some strawberry shortcakes. "Hey, honey! Made your favorite dessert." Her mom said, but Annabelle sped on by toward her rom.

"Save me a slice. I'll eat it for breakfast!" She called out before shutting her door.

Annabelle changed her clothes and tossed them to the floor. She grabbed her PJs off the bed and quickly threw them on. She tied her hair into a long, single braid. She pinched off the ends with one hand while reaching over to the night stand for a rubber band resting on it. She twisted and wrapped the band around the end of the braid. Before flopping on her bed, she got onto her knees and pulled out her secret sketch pad under the mattress. It was filled with some elaborate pictures of the Autobots in their alt forms along with their holoforms, which they sometimes used to "fit in" with society. She was flipping through the pages when a small photo fell out onto the carpeted floor.

Annabelle paused and reached down to pick it up. She turned the photo over in her hand. The picture was a younger version of her father with his outrageous 80s' attire. He had ripped off sleeves, baggy, navy blue shirt and these matching navy blue/light blue zebra pants. She laughed and shook her head. A light bulb went off in her head. What if Ironhide got a new paintjob? Or better yet, he was stuck in his alt mode with his new paintjob on. A large grin formed on her face only the Chester Cat would love. "I found your new paint job, Ironhide."

To be continued…

Okay, this is my new humor "baby". This plot bunny's been nagging me for awhile, but my old story wanted to get upgraded before this guy was written. Sorry for any mistakes or if it seems rushed. My bad. I figured some Ironhide fans need some love since Ironhide had to die in DOTM. So in memory of Ironhide, I made a two-chapter story involving his trademark beat downs of his favorite victim, Sideswipe. R and R. Please see my other story "The Warrior's Heart". It needs some love too. (No flames please!)