Training Days:

Chapter 1: Grounded

I would like to think that the transgressions of the past are welled up in some distance space, that they acknowledged; are forgiven and pass into non existence. I dwell on those transgressions. Sometimes I feel I am no better than my decepticon brothers, I have killed many in this Civil war, and it brings my spark no peace. It fills me, fuels me for the next battle, and I feel it's not very 'Autobot' of me. There would be something to say for being sorry, but even that, I'm not. It weighs heavy on me more and more.

"You ok out here?" Prowls voice broke my mental dialogue. "I know it seems terrible, but Earth isn't so bad." He said stepping forward slowly. His dark Optics looked me over once, his hands clutched his data pad.

"No it's not." I reply softly trying to be nice, I look out to the trees as the setting sun's final rays drain down past the horizon. I lean forward on the railing and look out, surprisingly it holds my weight, it was not made to do so.

"You look extra shiny tonight." The Strategist walked up to my flank, looking out over the edge of the building into the night leaning on the same rail on which I now lean, mimicking my stance. His head turning to me slowly a slighted gaze escaping him and a sigh.

"Lennox…gave me a wash and wax." I say quietly hoping to appease the strategist's inquisitive mind. I would never admit it but I enjoyed the buffer the humans use to remove the wax, for the first time in a long time I felt relief on my sore joints. I sighed and turned around facing away from my companion leaning my back against the rail.

"The clean suits you." He nodded and I was at my breaking point for this conversation. "Don't think I've ever seen you so well kept."

"Did you need Something Prowl?" I turned, wanting him to get to the point. My arms folded across my chest now; obviously I'd had enough of this. I don't like being toyed with, even on a good day.

"Optimus and I hadn't seen you, we were curious as to where you had run off, your last encounter with Starscream and all…" My hand went up more to stop his talking and a bit as a warning. I did not need a lecture from Prowl of all Autobots least of all did I feel my attitude warranted a lecture from him.

"I'm fine." I protested quietly.

"I don't think so…I think the Raptor got to your pride." He says turning "beat you and you don't want to admit it." He said pushing off the rail he was leaning on following my stride to the other side of the roof.

"Is there a point to this little 'talk'?" It came out angrier than I had intended, but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with this interrogation. I started to tap my foot against the floor. The many plates that spread to make my foot each making a different sound from the next.

"Optimus is worried about you, why don't you go talk to him." He said eyes light and airy "very nice Ironhide." I feel a finger run down the side panel of my rear mirrors and I flinch moving from him. I hate when he gets like this.

"You can go to pit." I say in return as he vanishes down the back of the building. I wondered what in the name of primus was going on. I have never complained, not once about any of my battles or encounters. It might be possible they think I am bottling it up, he did beat me and good, I lost my left arm. I reach to the joint touching the scar plate softly. Ratchet had reattached it but I still didn't enjoy getting partially dismembered. I was still sore and would be for what Ratchet would only call a 'long while.'

I just wanted to move on and get to the next mission; we were tracking a couple of rogue Decepticons that had been seen in the Midwestern united states. Wheelie had shown Mikaela the locations of the other seekers, and the one in Illinois was of great interest to Optimus. I don't know why he thinks this is important: most of the seekers were flyers, and I wasn't sure if this was the best way to go about recruiting more Cybertronians to our cause, but Optimus believed that when Jetfire had defected to the autobots his brothers and sisters may have done so as well. Lennox was preparing the trailers for our transport.

I turned to leave the roof, and saw Optimus behind me peering onto the roof. He motioned me down and vanished. I sighed quietly, my vents spilling cool air over my systems. Making my way down off the roof I made for his location behind the arsenal shed, away from everyone, I knew this would not be an 'on the record' meeting.

"Ironhide." Optimus looked down at me as I walked toward him. I look to my left and right to see who's about and look toward him as I see no one else, we are alone. He turns slowly the panel that covered his dental sliding back.

"You wished to speak with me Sir?" I ask crossing my arms about my torso, if only in an effort to keep my hands still. I get nervous when it's just the two of us, I hate reviews and I hate being judged. Even if I'm not the first Bot to admit it, but looking down prime and explaining yourself is hard.

"Are you sure you're ok?" He asked me in a concern filled voice. Prime and his genuine concern, I try to stare him down, but can't for long before I answer him optics darting to the left and the right.

"Optimus." I sigh "I'm going to be fine." My arms fall to my sides and I have no idea what else to say to him to appease his curiosity. I have no excuse or answer to give him.

"Going to be…and are…" he reminds me "are two different things." He sits down on a large trash container and looks to me again a hand on his knee joint he looks the image of an old man, but with half the parts from Jeftfire it's not far from the truth. "You were sufficiently damaged…Starscream got the better of you."

"Ratchet was able to repair most of the damage I suffered." I reply softly to him. "And the seeker didn't get away undamaged himself." I remind him.

"You and I have been doing this a long time old friend." He says, always the teacher this one. I shift my weight from my left leg to my right and wait for him.

"Your point Sir?" I ask softly, I don't want to upset him but I want him to get to it. I hate interrogations, unless I'm the one giving them.

"You're not going to the Midwest with us." My jaw hinge is broken I think. I look at him blankly. His optics don't leave mine, and he's dead serious.

"Of course I am." I say in protest, he can't do this to me not now I look at both my arm mounted cannons. "Optimus what if this Seeker is hostile…I am the specialist." I still continue to protest this decision.

"I have a fine group assembled…and will most likely not need you this time." He said looking at me "you're not ready for battle just yet my friend, you will be staying here...I do not think this encounter will turn violent." Again he may have to pick my jaw plate off the ground. He's keeping me here under Ratchet's order, I'll have to ask him later if he put prime up to this.

"Optimus.." I begin to protest a hand raised finger pointed at him.

"That's an order." He cuts in against my words his own hand pointing me down. I stand there my arm going slack to my side. I give a simple nod; it's all I can do. Good soldier and all that. I look down at the ground trying to find some way to change his mind searching my processor. He's quiet as he rises and puts a hand on my shoulder "you need rest." I really want to say something now. "When I feel you are sufficiently rested I will place you back on active duty." I worry now for that statement. It's up to Optimus not Ratchet.

"Am I remanded to base?" I hope he knows what I am asking. I don't want to be stuck here in the dark all day long with humans by myself.

"You may continue to front as Lennox's personal vehicle." He smiled a bit at me hand pulling from my shoulder "I know you enjoy it…and he will want to go to his dwelling soon."

"It's something to do." I say.

Optimus looked up pushing me off the subject of work. "We leave in the morning; you will be responsible to look after Skids while we are away."

"You're taking Mudflap and leaving Skids?" I ask confused shaking my head Skids had been hurt in the Starscream assault as well, more so than I, and we didn't have all the sufficient parts to repair him and myself.

"Skids isn't ready to leave his leg is still not fully repaired and Ratchet doesn't have the time to do the repair to the servo before we leave." He says to me with stern eyes. "You and skids will be alright will you not?" I want to shake my head no, but nod in simple response. I can handle a youngling like him, at least I think I can, and I prey to primus they are less annoying apart as they are together.

"We'll be fine." I say and turn making my way to my hanger. I stop short and turn back.

"I would expect as much." He starts to turn but I stop him trotting back up to his left side.

"Optimus I would like to have training games upon your return." I say, it's been on my mind a while but I have yet to approach him with it. "I will require the back training field."

"Training for everyone?" he stops and looks down. "Games?"

"Yes" I take a breath to steady myself "Um…to help with training and overall moral…there will be a group effort and then individual matches on a team bracket." That's how Prowl would have put it.

"Sounds interesting…permission granted…I can't wait to see what you've come up with Ironhide. A bit of competition would do us all some good." Optimus turned slowly with a small wave and walked away. I walked toward the far hanger, I shared with Ratchet and Jolt. I didn't want to go in just yet. I looked out and saw the twins sitting out on one of our transport trailers on the tarmac. The stars spilled over the sky as the two looked on.

"Look there!" Skids pointed a hand "Shooting star!"

"Aren't ya saposta make a wish or something?" Mudflap asked.

"I dunno Google it." Skids shrugged.

"You ready to go in bro?" Mudflap asked standing up. "It's late I gotta go in the morning."

"Yeah help me." Skids rose up a hand "I wish I could go tomorrow."

"I wish I could just stay…I gotta stay with Ratchet the whole day." Mudflap admitted and helped skids to his one good leg "Careful…you get anymore hurt Ratchet will yell at us some more…don't need that." Skids nodded in agreement.

"He's cranky sometimes."

"I'm ok." Skids replied quietly limping next to his brother. I shake my head and walk forward enough for mudflap to catch me. He stops and looks up. "Ironhide?" Skids asks "we were just looking at the stars…"

"You're not in trouble…you should be inside though." I say walking around to the other side of skids and lifting him up in my arms. "Come on…let's get you bots back to your hanger you both need recharge before tomorrow…If Ratchet or Sideswipe catch you out here you're both going to get it."

"Ratchet the hatchet." Mudflap laughs. I turn and shake my head.

"You haven't seen him do medical work in the middle of a war son." I say.

"Hope I won't have to." Mudflap's quiet reply.

"That's a smart conclusion." I give him credit for it. They aren't the smartest bots on earth but they're not the dumbest that's for certain.

"I don't like the idea of being alone with the humans …" Skids says and I blink my optics slowly and let out a long sigh.

"I will be remaining at the base with you." I tell him much to my own dismay. I lift him up a bit to hold him better and keep walking slowly, Mudflap to my left.

"Really?" I keep my optics forward as Skids asks in disbelief. I can see them exchange glances as we walk. "Awesome...I think." I look at skids now as we approach the hanger. Arcee Flareup and Chromia await us outside.

"Tucking the boys in for the night?" Arcee asks.

"I hope you all have a pleasant recharge." I say and set skids down to his brother on the ground. I don't wish to stay anywhere near this hanger, I just want to go back to my own. I can't be anywhere near the females, I just can't handle it.

"Ironhide…" Flareup says halfheartedly behind me as I walk. "You're so serious…lighten up...you can talk to us you know!" I turn and shake my head at her and she looks between Arcee and Chromia. I look at Chromia softly and shake my head. As I'm walking away I can hear her, but I keep my optics to the ground.

"He won't change girls." Chromia says coaxing them all and the twins into that hanger. I am not meant to hear that, but I do. I just stare before my feet and keep walking to my own hanger.

My hanger is dark, save for the light coming from under the doors, I slide my hands across the metal and push the doors open. Turning I pull them closed behind me. I am not two feet into the hanger doors before I am barraged. "Ironhide…If skids does anything stupid I have a few things on the table for you…you can do a field patch on him if need be until I return right?" I grab a data pad off one of my weapons crates. "Don't let him be an idiot while I'm away."

"I'll be with lennox tonight." I say changing the subject. "I think Skids and I will be fine." I admit; it seems everyone knows I'm grounded. I open a panel on my arm and slide the data pad inside. I turn "good night." I say quietly and try to exit the hanger as fast as I had entered it. I find William waiting outside holding his duffle bag. He's waiting for me.

"Hows the wax?" He asks and leans forward giving my knee joint a rub.

"I would be interested in having you wax every so often." I admit "It is nice to be clean."

"Saturdays," he smiles "and we'll rainex your windshield next time."

"Rain-x?" I look down confused. "This is a verb?" Sometimes humans are confusing creatures.

"Trust me water will just slide right off you…it's like wax for your glass parts." He says with a laugh and I transform. I open the driver side door and wait. "You're upset aren't you?" I close the door. I don't want to talk to him about it.

"A bit…" I say quietly giving him a sense of what I feel.

"Prime is pretty worried about you." Lennox says "says you're keeping too much to yourself."

"There's nothing to be concerned about." I sigh outwardly, Lennox can hear it.

"Starscream near Ended you Ironhide and you walked away like nothing happened." Lennox said "You don't even flinch, you're a machine." He says and then thinks about what he's just said "When humans get this way, they start going into battle without talking things out, they turn into monsters." He says "I think Optimus wants to ensure that doesn't happen to you."

"It will not." I assure him, though I do understand him now, it happened in one of my ranks back in the war, one of our autobots went on a murderous decepticon rampage. "I was saving skids from getting torn to shreds by starscream."

"You and Chromia had words before Starscreams attack…it got to you." Lennox says.

"You're an awful therapist." I say "I'm fine William." I say through the radio "rejection brings out the worst in me." I hadn't talked with him about what had transpired between Chromia and I.

"She shot you down?"

"In so many words…" I silence myself and just continue to drive.

"So you try to take it out on an F22 with an attitude." Lennox puts his hands on my steering wheel. "Hide…you need to cool it." He said "Calm down, and let all this frustration go…" he says "Hey you never know the next two days with Skids may be just what you need." He admits.

"Babysitting was not my first idea of fun." I admit quietly and sigh again.

"They are adolescence Hide...They just need a good role model …"

"I highly doubt I qualify." I say quietly.

"That's not what Optimus said." Lennox puts a hand on my dashboard. I am quite shocked by his revelation.

"I will be working with skids while you are gone." I say softly. "Try to teach him better targeting. I believe it best to take the twins one at a time with weapons training." I say.

"Maybe do they have weapons?" Lennox asked leaning back in the driver's seat.

"Air cannons only which are effective under most battle conditions." I said plainly. "I was thinking of letting Skids try a plasma rifle…allow him to shoot carbonated beverage canisters."

"Pop cans huh?" Lennox shifted his weight a bit.

"Affirmative." I reply.

"Sounds like fun actually." Lennox laughed softly as I continued to drive. The night would be a long one for me, no recharge. I spent all night leaned up against a tree in the back of the Lennox home, reading a data pad on weapons technology that the humans were developing and seeing what, if anything, would be useful to us to know.