Ugh! I am so sorry I took this long to update. My muse took an extended vacation, and took my plot bunnies with it! It finally came back, and this time I'm not letting it go! *Looks at box in the corner with chains wrapped around it* I would like to take a moment to thank all my reviewers and readers. Without you guys, I never would have written this story! Anyway, on with the show!

Ratchet had been busy for days trying to figure out what had caused the 'Bots' rather -ahem- fragrant problem, but he wasn't getting anywhere. He was becoming more and more frustrated, and that left him incredibly cranky. Anyone, mech or femme that entered his medbay unless they were in danger of off lining would promptly receive a wrench upside the helm for their trouble. There was only one 'Bot besides Ironhide that had no fear of the grouchy medic, and that was Ironhide's spark mate, Chromia. She was tough as nails, tough enough to keep even Ironhide on his toes. As tough as Ironhide was, he would rather be looking down the barrel of Megatron's fusion cannon than go anywhere near Chromia when she was upset with him. That would be a guaranteed trip to Ratchet to fix all of the holes she blasted in his hide!

Chromia had had enough of Ironhide's backfiring and had decided to pay a visit to Ratchet to see I he had anything that would get rid o the backfiring, or barring that; the smell! Despite his best efforts, Ironhide wasn't able to keep from backfiring; and even though he stayed away from his quarters as much as possible, per Chromia, he still left behind an unbearable stench! Chromia punched in the entry code for the medbay, and the doors hissed open. A rather large wrench was sent flying toward her helm, and she just managed to duck in time, as the wrench hit the wall beside the door with a loud clang. Chromia drew her ion pistol and promptly fired, hitting Ratchet in the backside. He yelped and spun around, another wrench at the ready for whoever shot him.

"Who did that?" Ratchet yelled. He saw Chromia standing by the door, a scowl on her faceplates, and a smoking ion pistol in her hand. "I thought I made it perfectly clear that I was not to be disturbed, and yet here you are. What is so blasted important that you see fit to barge in here and interrupt my work?"

"You're just lucky I didn't do worse, medic;" Chromia growled. "Throw a wrench at me again, and you will end up with it firmly wedged somewhere VERY uncomfortable! The reason I bothered you, Ratchet, is Ironhide's backfiring. I wanted to see if you had any treatment for it yet. It is getting so thick in our quarters that I fear one spark will blow the place sky high!"

"Just what in Primus' name do you think I've been working on for the last six days? Sparkling toys?" Ratchet yelled, flailing his arms wildly. "I have been working night and day trying to figure out what is causing this blasted backfiring, and devising a treatment for it, but I have come up with nothing yet. My own backfiring isn't helping matters any, either! Every time it happens, the stench almost knocks me out! Now get out of my medbay, and LET ME WORK!" he screamed. Suddenly, his optics widened in horror. "Oh Primus! Look out Chromia!" he gasped.

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA P!

The backfire was so powerful it knocked Ratchet on his backside, which was already sore, thanks to Chromia. He got up slowly, wincing in pain from his singed backside, and turned back to his work.

Once Chromia had gotten over the shock of Ratchet's enormous backfire, she turned to the busy medic. "I am going to grab a quick cube of energon, if you don't mind, and I'll leave you to your work. I hope you figure out what's going on before you rupture something with your backfiring. Phew; I thought Ironhide was bad!" she grumbled, walking away with her energon. Ratchet just waved her away and continued to work.

Chromia quickly finished her energon cube and tossed it in the nearest recycling receptacle, and she made her way to the firing range where she knew Ironhide was. She walked in to find him blasting targets with blistering precision; the barrels of his cannons glowing red hot. Walking up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his chest plate and nuzzled into his back; showing her rarely shown soft side for him. He lowered his cannons and shifted his vents to blow cooled air on his cannons to cool them, and subspaced them. He turned around, already knowing it was his Chromia behind him, and took her in his arms, holding her close. With the *ahem* problem he had been having, Chromia was reluctant to let him get too close, so when the opportunity presented itself, he was quick to take advantage of it! Unknown to Ironhide, poor Chromia had been feeling a little cramping in her tanks, but she paid it no mind, figuring it to be a bit of stress. She relished the warmth of 'Hide's strong arms, and was in no hurry to leave them. She looked up at him, love shining in her optics, and 'Hide looked down at her, a soft smile on his lips. He had just started leaning down to kiss her when the unthinkable happened.

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAPP!

Ironhide looked at Chromia for a moment, shock and surprise evident in his optics. Poor Chromia just looked mortified! A proper femme just didn't do things like that! Now, Chromia would be the first to admit that she was far from a 'proper' femme, but she still had her standards! Ironhide had recovered from his shock, and it was evident he was struggling valiantly to keep from laughing! He just couldn't believe a noise like that could come from Chromia! She was worse than he was, and he knew he was bad! Chromia noticed this and glared at him.

"One word out of you, and you will be spending the next Earth year recharging in the hall!" she growled.

Ironhide was about to reply to Chromia's threat, but before he could utter one word, it happened again!

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAP!

That was all it took, and Ironhide doubled over, roaring with laughter! Chromia's optics flashed red for a moment, and her ion pistol warmed up. Taking a moment to turn up the setting to high, she aimed at Ironhide's backside and fired! The shot hit him dead on, but he was laughing so hard, he barely felt it! That really made Chromia mad, so she turned up the power to maximum, and fired again. The shot would have seriously injured any other mech, but he was called Ironhide for a reason! Besides, no matter how angry Chromia got at her mech, she would never seriously hurt him. The shot hit him squarely in the behind again, but this time he definitely felt it! He turned and saw the anger in her optics, and the only thing that registered in his processor was RUN!

Ironhide took off running down the halls of the base with Chromia hot on his heels, firing shot after shot at him, and hitting him every time. Unfortunately, every time Chromia would pull the trigger, the recoil would trigger an enormous backfire from her! It was a vicious circle. The backfiring made 'Hide laugh, which, in turn made Chromia shoot at him, which made her backfire all the more!

"Mia! Ahm sorry!"

BANG!

"Ow! Primus!"

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAP!

*snickers* "Mia, please, Ahm sorry! Stop *snickers* shooting!"

BANG!

"OW! Blast it that hurt!"

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAP!

On and on it went; 'Hide running, and Chromia shooting at him, until Ironhide made it to the medbay. By this time, his backside was smoking, and he had several large scorch marks on it. Chromia had given up, and went back to her quarters to fume, but not without letting Ironhide know he'd be recharging elsewhere for awhile!

Ratchet took one look at Ironhide and gestured to a nearby berth, which 'Hide gingerly sat on. Ratchet handed 'Hide an enormous cold pack to sit on until he could fix him. He just looked at 'Hide and said one word: "Chromia?"

Ironhide vented slowly and nodded; and had to hold back a snicker when he saw the black scorch mark on Ratchet's backside!

"That's my 'Mia!" he thought proudly.

So, what did you think? Was it worth the wait? I hope so. Please leave a review, even a brief one! They make my day!