Author's Note: A big hug for all you who have reviewed! Thank you, thank you, thank you. It makes me happy to know that you like the story! That said, here is chapter eight for ya! I hope you like it too!

Disclaimer: Transformers...how I wished I owned you!

Ironhide's POV

Ironhide trudged down the hallway towards Optimus' office, grumbling to himself the entire way. He tried to mentally prepare himself for the lecture he was sure he would be getting from Prime. It was hard for him to concentrate, though. His processor kept redirecting his thoughts back to the occupants of the med bay. He was still slightly upset that Ratchet had forced him to abandon his unconscious human there under Bee's watch.

'My human?! Where the frag did that come from? She's a criminal for Primus' sake...but still...No, don't even think about it. I should've stuck with the plan and dropped her off with some humans somewhere and been done with it. Probably shouldn't have even gotten involved in the first place, but...I couldn't have just ignored the situation, though...she needed me...I couldn't have just stood by and watched. I had to do something...'

Ironhide did not like where this thought process was heading. He felt slightly uneasy about how protective and possessive he had become over Revecca in the few hours they had spent together. For the majority of that time, Revecca had been completely unaware that he had been anything other than a truck. It was entirely unlike him to become attached to anyone so quickly, let alone a tiny organic lifeform he barely knew who was completely terrified of him. He shook his head to try to clear his processor.

He came to a halt outside of Prime's office. Now he would have to justify his actions to Optimus. While he was positive Optimus would understand his motivation for involving himself in the situation, he was sure he wouldn't have agreed with his tactics in dealing with the problem. The Autobots were to practice discretion at the request of their host government. They claimed that it was a matter of national security and best for all parties involved if no one outiside of their immediate circle knew they were here.

Ironhide grinned. His actions had been anything but discreet, but it had felt good to watch Ryan tremble before him. He had deserved it. By treating Revecca the way he had, Ryan had been practically begging for someone to teach him a lesson. Ironhide was pleased that someone had been him. He wouldn't apologize for his actions. He straightened himself up and knocked on Optimus' door.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile...Back in the Med Bay...

Revecca slowly became aware of her surroundings once again. She found that she was still lying on the counter where the robots had left her. Her head felt fuzzy and her mouth was dry. She could recall having some sort of major panic attack which had resulted in her being sedated by one of them. She vividly remembered three large, metallic faces staring down at her before everything went dark. She pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around herself nervously. As far as she could tell, she was, thankfully, all alone.

Carefully, she stood up. Her pants, she noticed, were still around her ankles. Bending, she grasped them by the waist and pulled them up to her knees and tried to gently pull them up over the thick bandages there without much luck. After struggling with her pants for another moment, she decided the only way the was ever going to get them on was to pull the gauze off of her knees. She let out a soft hiss of pain as the tape holding the bandages in place caught on the tender skin as she slowly removed it with one hand while holding her pants up with the other. "Damn it!"

"Do you need some help?"

The voice startled Revecca and her fingers slipped loose of the waist of her jeans and they fell once again to pool around her feet. She spun around to find herself looking into the face of a young man who seemed to have appeared out of no where. "Wh-where the hell did you come from?"

The young man shifted from foot to foot a bit uncomfortably as he tried not to stare openly at the half naked female in front of him but was finding it difficult not to. "Ratchet asked me to keep an eye on you while he went out for a bit. He wanted someone to be here with you when you woke up."

"Ratchet?" Revecca stared at the man blankly for a moment before deciding the he didn't pose an immediate threat and returned to the task of removing the gauze.

The young man watched Revecca curiously as she pulled the last bit of tape off her knees and hauled her jeans up over her slim hips and zipped them, seemingly oblivious to him watching her. Humans were fascinating. "He's our Chief Medical Officer. You became a little agitated and he had to sedate you."

Revecca's eyes widened. "Medical offficer? You're tellin' me the big ass robot with the freaky needle thing is a doctor?"

The man nodded and smiled a bit. "Yeah. He says you're fine, just a little banged up and stressed out."

Revecca was busy pulling on her boots but stopped to glare angrily at the young man. "No shit." Revecca immediately regretted the hateful way the words left her mouth as she watched the man's smile melt slowly off his face as he cast his eyes downward.

Revecca stood up straight and looked the young man over. She figured he couldn't have been no older that eighteen or nineteen. He had slightly messy blond hair that curled just over his ears and framed his gentle-looking face. He looked to be just short of six feet tall, slim but strong judging from the lean muscle that made up his body. He wore a long sleeved, yellow tshirt and a pair of black, baggy cargo pants. Revecca thought he looked like he might be right at home on a beach somewhere with a surfboard.

She took a step toward the young man. "Hey...look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out the way it sounded. It's just...the past few hours of my life haven't been the greatest, y'know? I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm...my name is Revecca. Everyone calls me Rev. Who are you?"

The young man seemed to brighten considerably as he looked back at her and smiled. "It's alright. I understand. Ironhide said you guys had quite a night. I'm Bumblebee. Its nice to meet you, Revecca." Bee held his hand out to shake Revecca's as he had seen humans do so often when greeting each other for the first time.

"Ironhide..." Revecca recognized the name of the giant black robot that she had spent most of the night with. She briefly wondered where he was. Shaking her head to rid it of the image of the mech, Revecca hesitantly shook the hand Bumblebee offered to her. She was slightly startled by the calming blueness of his eyes for a second. "Bumblebee, huh? Interesting name." A smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. "Alrighty, then. Nice to meet you, too."

She released his hand and hugged her arms around herself as she walked back toward the edge of the counter and peered over the side trying to figure out a way to get down without jumping and shattering her legs in the process. It had to be at least a fifteen to twenty foot drop. "Umm...Bumblebee?"

Bee's holoform moved to stand behind Revecca. "You can just call me Bee...if you want."

Revecca chuckled a little and took a step back from the edge. "Okay, Bee it is." She turned to face him. "You wouldn't happen to know how to get down from here would you? Being up here makes me...nervous."

Bee looked at her intently for a moment and then grinned. "You promise not to scream or throw things at my head?"

Revecca cocked an eyebrow curiously but allowed him to lead her away from the one side of the counter to the other. She followed his finger as he pointed downward. Revecca immediately recognized the Camaro parked innocently in the corner. Realization dawned on her then as she looked back toward what she now knew was another one of those strange holo-things standing beside her. She watched as the young man flickered out of existence and turned her attention back to the Camaro. She watched, fascinated, as it shifted piece by piece the huge, yellow robot she remembered from earlier. "Awww, damn..."

"Please don't be scared. I wouldn't hurt you." Bee sensed her apprehension as he came closer to her and was aware of the increase in her heart rate and respiration. He leaned down toward her, concern evident in his optics. "Are you going to be alright?"

Revecca swallowed hard as she peered into the surprisingly friendly looking, metallic face in front of her. Her voice cracked as she spoke. "Oh, yeah. I'm just great. Never better."

XXXXXXXXXX

Optimus Prime's Office

Optimus was roused from his study of the latest report on Decepticon activity, or lack of, by a knock on his door. The inaction of the remaining Decepticons was beginning to concern him. It was just completely out of character for them. He couldn't get over a nagging feeling in the pit of his spark chamber that told him that all was not well. Laying the report aside, he called out to whomever was on the other side of the door. "Come in."

The door slid open as Ironhide lumbered in. He stood at attention in front of Optimus' desk. "Ya wanted to see me, Sir?"

Optimus smiled behind his face plate. "I did. Sit down, old friend." Optimus gestured to a seat in front of him. He waited until Ironhide was situated before he continued. "Ratchet informed me that we have a guest."

Ironhide shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah. That would seem ta be the case."

"You know we promised the government that we wouldn't expose ourselves needlessly to outsiders." Optimus' voice had a tone of understanding but was still full of authority. "It was part of the agreement we made in order to be able to remain here."

Ironhide sighed. "I am aware of that, Sir, but under the circumstances I couldn't sit idly by and watch."

Optimus looked at his friend thoughtfully. "Perhaps you should explain to me what happened. All I have heard was Bumblebee's initial report and he was in a bit of a panic when he came here looking for you. You would probably be able to better elaborate."

Ironhide nodded. He explained the entire encounter to his commander, in detail, from the time Revecca had first walked up the Witwicky's driveway until the time Bee had found him on his way to take her to a medical facility. He filled Optimus in on everything he had learned about Revecca from the time they had spent together. He even played the data files he had made of the phone calls Revecca had received from her employer for Prime. "I think if I hadn't been there he would have forced her to interface with 'im, Optimus. I couldn't let that happen."

Optimus was silent for a moment after Ironhide finished his report. "Ironhide, I may not approve of your method of intervention, but I believe that your spark was in the right place. I can't say that I wouldn't have done similar if put in your position. I've noticed that some human males can be cruel when dealing with what they consider to be the weaker sex. From what you have explained, it seems to me that she may have been acting under duress. The female, Revecca, she is unharmed?"

"Ratchet said she's gonna be fine. Just a little bruised. She was pretty upset when she woke up in the med bay. The doc had to give her somethin' to knock her out. She's in there with Bee now." Ironhide felt a small twinge of something in his spark at the thought of leaving Revecca alone with Bee. He didn't like it. He wondered what was going on in the med bay in his absence, if Revecca was awake, and what Bee would be doing with her if she was. He felt a surge run through his systems.

Optimus regarded his friend with some amusement. He didn't miss the slight look of jealousy that flashed across the weapons specialist's face for a brief second. He stood and moved toward the door. "I should head down there. I'd like to meet her since she is probably going to be with us for a short time. At least for as long as it takes for us to figure out how to handle her knowledge of us. Care to join me?"

No sooner had the Optimus made the offer, Ironhide was on his feet and moving toward the door also. As he followed Optimus down the hall toward the med bay, Ironhide found that he was actually pleased at the prospect that the little female would be remaining at the base, even if it was for only a little while. Afterall, a lot can happen in a short time.

End of Chapter 8

Whew...this is short..but it took forever to write, lol. Looks like 'Hide got off the hook since it doesn't seem like Optimus was too upset about what happened, so thats good. I just worry about poor little Bee, though, seeing as how Ironhide doesn't really like the idea of him watching over HIS human, lol. It also seems that Revecca will be meeting Prime in the very near future...hope that goes well...we shall see. Bye!