A/N: Hi everyone. I hope you're New Year was amazing. One of my resolutions was to improve my writing and to include more in a chapter. I'm going to take Lissa and Hide's relationship slow for now. They may have confessed that they have feelings for each other but that doesn't mean that they're in love or anything just yet. It's sort of an innocent relationship right now. I'd like to know if you guys have ANY ideas about how to improve my writing? I've seen a decline in reviews so I'm going to try as hard as I can to make this the best it can be. I want this story to be unique and original, not like any other Ironhide/OC stories that anyone has ever wrote. I hope I can meet up to that expectation. Enjoy.

Lissa awoke the next morning to the sun shining through the blinds covering her window. Small beams of light danced around the room where the blinds didn't cover. She smiled a little and felt someone's arms tighten around her a fraction. A little confused she glanced down at the man sleeping beside her. That's right she thought, Ironhide stayed with me last night. A small blush dusted her cheeks at the thought. Lissa wasn't usually one to show her emotions, but the small but growing relationship she had with Hide' was truly opening her up bit by bit.

A nurse quietly strolled into the room smiling sweetly and carrying a tray of oatmeal in her hands. Lissa sat up quickly and took the tray, thanking the kind nurse. She tried to be discreet as she shoveled her mouth full of the delicious food, but she was starving. Being on an IV for twenty-four hours that fed you automatically didn't satisfy your hunger like real food did. The nurse giggled a little at her reaction. "A little hungry are we?" She whispered.

Lissa looked up at her with a mouth full of oatmeal. She nodded and swallowed before speaking. "Yeah, thanks again for bringing this to me. Do you know when I get to go home?"

"Whenever the doctor can give you a final examination and you're friend there wakes up."

Lissa stopped eating and glanced at the man who still had one arm protectively around her waist as she sat. She looked back at the nurse, a neutral expression that she knew so well gracing her face. "He's just a friend. Must've fallen asleep while we were talking last night." She shrugged like it was no big deal.

The nurse nodded, internally smirking a little. She knew Lissa was lying, but of course she wasn't going to call her bluff. "Alright dear, do you want me to open these blinds for you?"

Lissa glanced at Hide' before returning to her meal. "Sure, thanks."

As soon as the light shown through the window Ironhide started tossing around, mumbling things as he started waking up. The nurse giggled again and made her way to the door, "I'll just leave you two alone then."

Once she was gone Lissa shook Ironhide to get him to wake up. He mumbled something unintelligible before opening his bright blue eyes. Sitting up quickly he took in his surroundings, trying to see what was wrong. "What? What happened?" He asked gruffly.

Lissa just rolled her eyes. "I was just waking you up you grumpy old man, don't get your knickers in a twist.

Ironhide looked at her confusedly, "What?"

Lissa couldn't help but laugh at his confusion. "It means, stop being cranky."

Hide' scoffed and rested his head on the pillow beside her, watching her as she ate. "How are you feeling?" He murmured.

"I'm okay. A little sore but I'll make it." She smiled at him. "How are you?"

He sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, resting his head against hers. "I'm alright. It's a little hard to keep the holoform up for so long."

"Then deactivate it. The nurse said they would let me out as soon as the doctor did a quick check up on me so I'll come see you when it's time to go home."

"I don't want to leave you alone." He mumbled, tightening his arm around her small form.

Lissa snorted and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine Hide'. They'll take good care of me."

"They better." He growled under his breath.

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before climbing out of bed. Ironhide watched her in curious concern. "What are you doing?"

She opened a few drawers, obviously searching for something. "Looking for a hairbrush."

Hide' chuckled a little her antics and got up to join her. "You know, I'm pretty sure they don't keep a hairbrush in here."

Lissa groaned but kept looking. "They should! Just look at my hair! Who would want to go out looking like this?" She gestured to her knotted mane and hospital gown.

Ironhide took in her appearance, honestly he had no idea what she was talking about. He thought she looked just fine as she was. Well, he thought she looked great in whatever state she was in. But he wasn't much of the soft type, not normally anyway, so he just kept his thoughts to himself. Suddenly an idea formed in his processors. "Lissie," He called from the other side of the room, "Come here."

Lissa straightened and walked towards him, a small fleck of hope lining her face. "Did you find one?"

Ironhide shook his head. "No. But…turn around for a moment."

Lissa had no idea where he was going with this but did what he asked. She felt a large hand tentatively rest on top of her head, before it ran slowly through her hair. She shrank into the touch, secretly loving the sensation.

Hide' carefully unknotted all of her long blonde mane, being sure not to cause her any discomfort. He could see a look of bliss stretched across her face and took small pride that he was the one to give her that reaction. Once he was finished he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. "All done." He rumbled.

Lissa giggled before wiggling herself out of his grasp. He watched as she limped/walked over to the sink to rinse her face. Gosh did she feel dirty! After turning the water off she looked at herself in the small mirror. Her whole demeanor changed at she took herself in, scrutinizing her features. Hide' got a little worried when tears collected in the corners of her eyes. She moved a shaking hand to her jagged scar, touching it softly. Then ran her finger down the pink line. "Ironhide." She said, her voice cracking a little. "You need to…go get some rest. I'll be fine here just…I need some time alone."

Hide' felt conflicted, as much as her offer appealed to him, he couldn't miss the way she changed when looking at herself in the mirror. She looked almost…disgusted to see her face. And that worried him some. But, she was the one who told him to leave, and he would respect that.

A defeated sigh escaped from his lips. "Alright, but if you need me, all you need to do is tell Sam. I'm here for you Lissie, don't forget it." With that he strode over to where she was standing and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, "You're beautiful, don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He murmured, and walked out of the room.

Lissa stood there, frozen at his words. Had he really meant it? Did he truly think she was beautiful? Honestly she didn't know what to think. After the accident, she'd never thought of herself as anything except ugly. Scarred yes, but that didn't change the fact. The scar just made it worse, not to mention how scarred she was on the inside. How could he even stand to be around her much less like her? It made no sense. Yes, she was mentally, physically, and emotionally scarred, but all through this a realization came to her. Ironhide didn't care. True he had his own scars, being an alien warrior and all but she was sure he didn't know the true magnitude of just how broken she truly was. Or how he was healing her, putting her back together piece by piece, and it scared her a little bit. A part of her didn't want to come out of her safe zone, which was not letting anyone in, because they could be taken away from her just as quickly. But wasn't that true for Ironhide too? She was sure he knew any of his colleagues could be taken away from him at any moment, she could be taken away from him at any moment.

A look of fierce determination crossed her features, this was going to be a battle, and she was going to have to fight too. She didn't want to be scared anymore, that night happened a long time ago, she was ready to forget it. The nightmares, the emotional pain, and her habit not to let anyone in, she wanted all of that to go away. Ironhide would help her, Sam would help her, even Judy and Ron would help her. All she had to do was fight herself and maybe, just maybe

She could become the girl that Sam once knew.

She knew that's what he truly wanted, was his fun loving cousin back again, and apart of her still reasoned that, that person was long gone. But she knew that wasn't true, many of her actions that past few days have only solidified that belief. Deep down she wanted to be that person again, for Sam, for everyone she had let down over the years, and for Ironhide.

She looked at herself in the mirror once more and did something she hadn't done while studying herself in years,

She smiled.

A/N: Yeah I know, kinda boring. But her thoughts were needed to move the story along. It was kinda a filler chapter I suppose. But now we understand how Lissa is feeling. This'll start the fight for her to finally get over that traumatic day. After this there should be some more fluff between them, I know that's what you guys TRULY want! Haah, I want that too. I think with time this could turn out to be a pretty interesting story.

I love you all!

~Court