Ironhide dusted off his favorite T-shirt, the one he had custom-made with the Autobot insignia on it. Kayla sat on his bed with a towel wrapped around her body. Ratchet was going to give her a professional once-over before Ironhide was permitted to take her to the PTCs. She had been given a shower (by Ironhide, of course) beside Jazz, who was getting examined under the possibility of him carrying Blaster's sparkling. Jazz was stroking her hair and braiding it gently. He wasn't nearly as efficient or as quick about it as Optimus, but Kayla liked how gentle he was. She looked back at him. "Do you think you're carrying?"

Jazz shook his helm. "But Blaster wants me to be sure." The warrior leaned back and he rubbed at his chest. How Blaster had gotten Jazz carrying was beyond Kayla, but she assumed it was during one of the times that the two had snuck out. She, like everyone else, had been surprised to learn that Jazz accepted Blaster as his mate. They pestered him if he was sure it was time, since he had lost his previous mate, Prowl, to the war. Cybertronians did not simply change mates. Love was forever to Cybertronians, and mates were practically inseperable. Blaster had been extremely careful around Jazz, and somehow the two of them had fallen in love and created a sparkling together.

Ratchet walked into the room, nodded when he saw Ironhide had more than kitten-boxers on, then he walked to the two waiting patients. "Jazz first," he said. It took a matter of moments for him to find that Jazz was not carrying Blaster's sparkling after all, which made Ironhide sigh. "Now it's your turn, Kayla."

She obediently laid back and she gave Ironhide the towel. She closed her eyes, but she could feel them all staring at her. She heard her sire walk into the room and she cracked her eye open to watch him.

"She looks perfectly healthy. Every organ working as it should." Ratchet patted her knee, then wrapped her back into the towel just as she started to shiver at the loss of warmth. "Her heart is especially healthy. I am impressed."

Optimus dressed her in a dress, then he helped Ironhide into his shirt. "Tell me how it goes," he said. He gave his mate a meaningful look, then they both left the room.

Ironhide frowned and he leaned against the wall. "Wonder what's going up with them. They'd been spending more and more time with each other."

Jazz yawned and stretched. "If they're enjoying each other, Blaster and I can't hear them over our music."

"I'm surprised you can hear at all!" Blaster and Jazz's apartment was right next to Ironhide's.

Kayla stood and stepped into her sandals the moment Ironhide slapped on a cowboy hat. "Trying to impress my teachers?"

"Think I look like the out-of-town-now-in-town uncle?"

"I think you look like a dork in boots and a hat," Jazz said as he laid back.

Ironhide hissed and jumped at the smaller man, making him squeal in delight and roll off the bed in a fit of giggles. Kayla waited patiently, smiling and laughing while Ironhide licked Jazz's arm.

Blaster leaned against the doorway. "Ahem. Is there a reason why your tongue is all over my mate?" He was smiling, which made the warrior relax.

"Well, not all over, but close to it, actually. And yes, there is a reason, unbeknownst to you."

He snorted and cuffed Kayla's head. "Is he always like this?"

"Only as a human, thank Primus," she said as she smiled. "I was hoping to go to PTCs, but it doesn't seem like I'm going."

Ironhide jumped up and slapped his hat back on. "We are going to those conferences if it is the last thing I do as a man!"

Blaster pretended to bless Kayla in Cybertronian. "May the stars light your path."

When Kayla and Ironhide finally got outside, Ironhide purposely yanked his fly down and he unbottoned his jeans. "What are you doing?"

He then adjusted his hat so that it was lopsided and he gave her a grin. "Think they'll get the wrong idea if I walk in like this?"

"Carrier is going to kick your aft!"

Ironhide buttoned his jeans quickly, but he left his zipper down and he kept his hat the way it was. "Make my funeral short and sweet. Some roses. Make Optimus sing. Prime has a sexy singing voice. Did you know that?"

Kayla shook her head. She hadn't been sung to since she was a little girl, and that was when Prime only sang lullabies, which made Blaster and Jazz turn up their sound systems. Ironhide would stand in the doorway and watch. He would pretend to fall asleep, which made Ratchet smile and purr. She missed those days.

When Ironhide walked in, the teachers seemed to sigh with relief and they went to Kayla's first-hour teacher.

Ms. Jayson looked Ironhide up and down. "You're not Richard or Orion..."

"No, ma'am, I am Orion's brother, Isaac. Richard and Orion are...occupied. Kayla here is doomed to hang out with her uncle and aunty, huh?"

Kayla nodded and she listened to Ms. Jayson talk about Kayla and her grade (B+), which got you wait until you get home, missy. B+? Really? Aunty Christa will kick your booty when she sees this! Is this full effort!? He then turned back to the teacher, grinned, stood and shook her hand firmly. "Thank you."

Ms. Jayson smiled up at him and nodded. "Any time, Isaac. Hope to see you around."

Kayla got up and as they moved to the next teacher, she punched Ironhide in the arm. "She was flirting with you!"

"I know." He smirked. "But I am a one-woman mech, my dear."

Kayla frowned in confusion. Ironhide wasn't attracted to mechs? News to her. So who was his mate? She was about to ask when "Uncle Isaac" plopped down in front of the next teacher and shook his hand enthusiastically.

They made it through nine teacherrs, then they started to walk home. Ironhide was looking around, and he missed it when someone from behind them shot gum into Kayla's hair. But he scented it and he deftly plucked it out before it could stick. Then he located the offender. "Excuse me, boy? I think you dropped this. Come here, please." Even with his fly down, Ironhide must have been intimidating, because the boy walked up with his head lowered, his mom behind him. "Are you his mother? Ah. I believe this," he held up the gum, "belongs to your boy. I found it in my neice's hair."

The boy winced and his mother glared down at him. Ironhide stuck the gum on the boy's shirt.

"I better not hear that you are causing more trouble to my baby neice, do you understand? If Richard had been here, he would decapitate you with a duck foot, and I am not kidding around." He crossed his arms. "Now, then...I recommend an apology."

The boy muttered sorry and the mother jerked her son away. Ironhide looked over at Kayla and she was surprised to see that her Uncle Isaac's eyes were reddening. Reddening like a Decepticon's.

"If someone every does something like that to you again, tell me, and I'll jam their rods down their throats."

She nodded, not liking this side of her uncle. Before she could start to whimper, however, Ironhide dropped to a squat and he poked her belly.

"Let's get some ice cream into this winner's little tummy, okay?"

She nodded again and she let him lead her to the ice cream shoppe that was a couple blocks away. She thought about comming in, but Ironhide was way ahead of her. Apparently neither Ratchet nor Optimus was answering, which wasn't too unusual, except that they had acted extremely weird before they left.

Ironhide bought her a sundae and he watched her eat, smiling when she had whipped cream on her nose and he pretended that it was actually everywhere but. They walked back together, past the Decepticon apartment complex.

She stopped to look up at it and she thought she saw Shockwave watching her, but Ironhide pulled her away before she could confirm the thought. For some reason unknown to her, her heart was aching for the Decepticon.

Shockwave was sitting on the fire escape, listening for Kayla. She had left the safety of her apartment complex with an escort, some warrior he could not identify right away, and then he settled down to wait for her.

When he heard her, she was giggling and her escort was purring. She stopped and looked up, right at him, but her escort pulled her away, and that left no doubt in his mind. He stood slowly and hopped back into his apartment.

The femme he had fallen for was already taken. He closed his eye, grabbed an object (he didn't know what) and he threw it at the opposite wall. That would show him to start to unharness his closely guarded feelings. He started to lock his feelings away again, and the room seemed to start to grow colder.

But for some reason unknown to him, his spark was yearning for her heart.