"SANDRA!"
A loud female scream startled me from my sleep; instinctively my eyes opened and my heart began to race. I sat up and rub the sleep out of my eyes.
"SANDRA, WHERE ARE YOU?! " female voice asked.
"WILL YOU STOP SCREAMING FEMME? MY AUDIO RECEPTORS ARE STARTING TO HURT!" a man's voice said. "YOUR FRIEND IS ALRIGHT."
"WELL, WHERE IS SHE THEN?"
"SHE IS RECHARGING, I MEAN SLEEPING."
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU SICK MANIAC? "
"NOTHING!"
It took me a few seconds to figure out to whom the voices belong and then it hit me.
"Monica," I whispered.
I grabbed my crutches that stood next to my bed and quickly descended down the stairs trying not to trip over my foot, and break my neck in the process. I walked into the kitchen and saw Monica standing behind the kitchen table, holding a frying pan in her hand and across from her was Ian; they didn't even notice that I came in.
"I said stay put!" Monica shouted. "I'm not afraid to use this," she said, waving the frying pan in front of Ian's face.
"Put that down femme before you hurt yourself" Ian said, leaning across the table trying to take the pan out of her hands.
"Don't come any closer, I'm warning you!" Monica said, stepping one step back.
"What are you two doing?" I asked confused.
Both Monica and Ian stopped and turned to me.
"You are alive!" Monica said happily, throwing a pan into the sink and hugging me. "Thank God."
"Told you," Ian muttered, not taking his eyes off Monica and putting his hands in his jacket pockets.
Still not letting me out of her embrace, Monica turned her head and looked at Ian.
"Who's he?" she asked, scanning him from head to toe.
"Monica this is Ian," I said, introducing him to Monica. "Ian this is my best friend Monica."
"Yeah, we met" Ian said, turning his head to look at me. "If you need me, I will be outside working on the car," he said, and walked out.
"He scared the hell out of me, I thought he was a robber," Monica said, as she sat down at the table.
"What are you doing here? It's 7 am" I asked.
"You did not answer my phone calls, so I decided to stop by to check on you," she said.
And then her eyes slid down to my leg.
"My God, what happened to your leg?" she asked, as she looked at my leg.
"Long story, I will tell you over coffee."
"So, let me get this straight," Monica started. "You saw a giant robot right after the Topkick disappeared, and the military sent Ian, who is a weapon specialist to take care of you until you recover because it was his fault you twisted your ankle," Monica said, trying to wrap her mind around this whole thing.
"Yeah, basically" I said, taking a sip of coffee.
"And why you didn't say no to that?"
"I tried, but Orion can be very persuasive, not to mention that I wanted to get the hell out of there so I was ready to say yes to anything he says."
"I don't know….. " Monica started. "Something smells fishy to me."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the whole thing is fishy. I think the reason they sent him to look after you is that you wouldn't tell anyone what happened, "she whispered quietly, as if she was afraid that Ian might hear us.
"You and your conspiracy theories," I said, laughing. "It happened in broad daylight; in front of a lot of people, everybody saw it; I'm sure it was even on the news."
"No, it wasn't," Monica said, in a serious tone.
"Come on Mon, stop joking" I said, still laughing.
"Sandra, listen to me there was nothing on the news, "she said, looking me straight in the eye.
At that moment I realized that she was telling me the truth.
"You don't think that he might try to kill me in my sleep?" I asked, nervously rubbing my neck.
"I don't know, but just in case…. "Monica said, and began digging through her purse until she found something. "Here, take it, it might come in handy," she said giving me a pepper spray.
"Why do you have a pepper spray?" I asked.
"Just in case," she said. "Now listen and listen good, always carry this pepper spray with you, and when you go to sleep be sure to lock the door behind you; also it would be a good idea to call Bobby and tell him to search Ian a little."
"Is not this a little bit extreme?" I asked her.
"Maybe, but it can mean the difference between life and death; please promise me you'll call Bobby tonight."
"I promise," I said. "But, I will not take the pepper spray; so you can take it back."
"Fine," she reluctantly agreed.
"Good," I said, getting up to put the cups in the sink. As I put the cups in the sink, I looked out through the small kitchen window and saw Ian sitting in his black SUV talking; it wouldn't be so strange that he was not alone in the car and he was not holding his cell phone. Obviously he sensed me because in the next moment, he raised his head and looked in my direction; startling me; I quickly moved away from the window.
"Come to think of it leave the pepper spray," I said, turning to Monica.
Meanwhile, outside
"Ironhide to Optimus" Ironhide said, trying to contact the Autobot leader trough his comm link. The leader of the Autobots responded at once.
"Optimus here, is everything all right?"
Ironhide was thinking whether to tell Optimus about the incident that happened this morning, but eventually decided not to.
"Yes, everything is fine."
"Then, why did you call me?"
"I want to return to the Lennox's residence."
"Ironhide orders are orders."
"But Prime I'm their guardian, they need me."
"I'm sure the Lennox's family will manage fine without you."
"Prime I know I was wrong, but your punishment is too severe."
"Punishment….. You think this is punishment?" the Autobot leader said, in disbelief.
"Yes."
"This is not punishment Ironhide; this is an opportunity for you to learn how to get along with humans."
"The Lennox's family are humans, and I get along with them very well," Ironhide said, hoping to change Optimus mind.
"Yes, and that's because William Lennox is a solider like you, but when it comes to the civilians on this planet you don't care; for you they are just obstacles standing on your way."
"Because they usually are," Ironhide mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, sir."
"The orders will remain; you will take care of human femme until she recovers; Optimus out." The Comm. Link went silent.
"I hate this planet," Ironhide whispered, slamming his hand on the steering wheel.
A/N You are probably wondering why Ironhide's ALT mode is SUV now. All I can say is that you will find out in the next chapter.