What goes on between Ironhide and Auri is a completely father and daughter relationship. Nothing else. Get that.

The song "21 Guns" belongs to Green Day. It's not mine.

The first rule of the battlefield was inspired by the movie Batman Begins. Awesome movie. XD

Chapter 10

Learning

"Nope, Ironhide; really never."

Ironhide stared down at his beloved little youngling in amazement. "You've never been taught to defend yourself? -never even studied how?" he asked for the second time. She had been with Chromia and him for a few days, and he was now assessing her self-defense skills and beginning her training. He was trying to anyway; he was finding that he would have to start from the very beginning.

"I've never." Auri said patiently, trying to figure out why Ironhide kept asking, "I was trained in communications and secretary work, data, files and such. I've told you, yes?"

"Yes, my little one." He answered. "I just find it hard to understand... What was your guardian thinking?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know." Auri shrugged.

Ironhide glanced around the practice field. He knew she'd been neglected, but really, how could a guardian not take measures to make sure his or her little one could defend herself if need be? Chromia had wanted to be Auri's teacher at swordplay and self-defense, but Auri had asked Ironhide before Chromia could say anything. While his sparkmate had been a little surprised, she had not protested.

Ironhide glanced down at his precious charge. She was gazing off now, looking at the ocean, and slightly swinging one of the twin knives. He frowned. She was completely off guard and oblivious to her situation. That was not good. At least she had the knives in practice mode. Weapons in practice mode were virtually harmless, unless the user chose to send a little electrical shock through them.

"Auri, do you know what the first rule on the battlefield is?" he asked, crouching down to her height.

"All 'Cons must die?" she guessed, spinning the knife experimentally.

"Oh, no…" Ironhide groaned, "No, my little one; that is not even a rule. We should come to peace with the Cons if at all possible, and that does not included offlining every single one of them."

She considered this and nodded that she understood.

"The first rule is, 'always be mindful of your surroundings.'" Ironhide said, "It's especially important for the smaller, more vulnerable 'Bots to remember. The Cons tend to go after smaller opponents.

"Ug. But I can't say I wouldn't do the same."

"True, but it is the way in which they do it. They're malicious."

"Understood."

A little while later, Ironhide felt that Auri was ready for a couple practice moves. She displayed a confidence and picked up quickly on all that he instructed.

Auri brought her knives into readiness. Ironhide smiled before snapping his battle mask into place. Auri copied his action.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Feeling lucky?" she retorted, having learned much from watching him interact with other bots.

He tilted his head to the side, wondering how much and what else she'd picked up from him and if he should be more careful about his manner of addressing others.

He slung his twin knives out and down, comparatively slowly, towards her. She dodged, rolled, spun and "stabbed" him in the ankle with an electric shock.

"HOLD IT!" He roared in surprise, hopping to the side. He hadn't taught her that.

She came before him, grinning a little.

"Where did that come from if you've never fought?" He wanted to know, his optics wide with surprise. He disengaged his battle mask.

She ducked her head to disengage her battle mask. "I've danced."

"Y-... what-? Danced?" He'd become fairly accustomed to unusual or surprising answers from her, but this one was a little beyond him.

"I believe that is the correct term… dance…" She stepped back and began a series of smooth, graceful movements.

"Yes, that is dance." He confirmed, a baffled look on his face.

"So, for that move I did a combination of this…" she went into motion again, executing the new battle moves.

"Okay. Stop ." He said, trying to not laugh, "Fight is not dance."

She stopped and smiled up at him. "It has the same moves." She said earnestly.

"Well…"

"It is in the way one does it." Auri persisted. "I … twirl, like so…" Ironhide crossed his arms. "And you showed me this…" She snapped out the knives in the spin and stabbed the air. "Same move."

"Excuse me just a moment." Ironhide said before walking off several yards, shaking his head.

::Ironhide to Chromia. I need help:: he sent over the intercom.

::With what?::Chromia

::Auri thinks fight moves are like dance moves.::

::She's got the right idea, though, my Love. I can't help you anyway; Ratchet's got me in Med-bay for routine check-up.:: Chromia was laughing at him as she sent the message.

::Ironhide out:: Ironhide closed the com-line and thought back to the days of song and dance, retrieving an old Cybertronian party song and its dance moves by chance. He smiled, remembering old times. There was something similar there in the dance moves to battlefield moves, come to think of it.

He went back to Auri. She turned and waved a knife at him.

"Dance moves are like fight moves." Auri said, challenging him, "I have more experience in this art than you think."

"Let's see how much, then." Ironhide spoke amiably, but a chuckle made his voice sound deeper and more aggressive than it truly was as he snapped his battle mask in place.

Do you know what's worth fighting for?
When it's not worth dying for?
Does it take your breath away
And you feel yourself suffocating?

Auri followed suit, forcing herself to not tremble as she suddenly felt herself become terrified. He was way hulking bigger, and she hadn't expected him to respond that way. She wanted out, now, but she wouldn't dare think of saying so. She feared being reject for acting scared. Cons hated Transformers who ran away, scorned them as weak and pathetic. 'Bots, as honor-bound as they were, would hardly be pleased either, she supposed. And she didn't need Ironhide displeased with her; that would hurt too much. She glanced around, seeking some sort of distraction that might provide a way out. There was none, no hope. She considered herself doomed.

Does the pain weigh out the pride?
And you look for a place to hide?
Did someone break your heart inside?
You're in ruins

"What is wrong, My Auri?" Ironhide asked, quickly dropping down on one knee to lessen his vast height. He had seen the flicker in her optics, the fear and sorrow. Not once in her short stay with Chromia and him had she acted afraid of him. Even when they were playing rough, she'd not gotten frightened. Now she seemed terrified of him. He hadn't meant to frighten her. He would never knowingly do a thing like that.

Ratchet's warning about possible issues came rushing back. Ratchet had told him and Chromia privately yesterday that further medical scans had informed him that the little femme-ling had suffered from lack of attention. Certain programs that were dominant in all sparklings' systems had never been accessed or activated in Auri's system. These needed to run; they were essential for development, especially behavioral development. After Chromia had raged at the unknown and un-present former guardian for neglecting so precious a sparkling, Ratchet had assured her and Ironhide that given proper care and attention over time, Auri would be fine, almost as if the neglect had never occurred.

"Nothing's wrong." Auri said, stiffening her back.

"Don't give me that," Ironhide said, gently, "I saw the look on your face."

One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I

"It was nothing." Auri lied.

"Auri, little one…"

She turned away.

When you're at the end of the road
And you lost all sense of control
And your thoughts have taken their toll
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul

"Don't fight me." Ironhide pleaded. He pushed back a slight feeling of desperation. The medic had warned that Auri might be afraid of certain things that any other youngling wouldn't fear. Ironhide didn't want his little femme-ling to be scared to talk to him. "We're on the same side. You can trust me. –with anything."

"'Anything' is a lot, Ironhide…" Auri said softly, trailing off."I can't. I just can't." she said. "I just … I've only known you for three days…"

Your faith walks on broken glass
And the hangover doesn't pass
Nothing's ever built to last
You're in ruins

Ironhide reached out and set his hand on her shoulder, gently, mindful of the little femme's fear. "I've had my character for millennia, I'm not suddenly going to change my way in a second, my little one. What you've seen over the past three days is what I am."

One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I

She looked deep into his face. She wondered if she should tell, but the fears came piling up.

"Seriously, Auri, try me. Don't run away from me because I'm big and tough-looking. Put away the fear." He put a great hand under her chin, "Please?"

"No." Auri said. "I'll…" she hesitated. What could she do, really? She wouldn't tell him she wanted to back down. She would survive… somehow. "It's fine." She moved away from his hands and lifted her chin. "I said 'fine.' I mean 'fine.'" She was resigned within and defiant without. She wasn't going to back out…

Did you try to live on your own
When you burned down the house and home?
Did you stand too close to the fire
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone?

"That's not true." Ironhide persisted. "I've been around for enough year s to know that 'fine' does not always mean 'fine.' –particularly when it's spoken by a frightened little-one who needs support." He answered. "Give up this fight, Auri."

When it's time to live and let die
And you can't get another try
Something inside this heart has died
You're in ruins

"What if that means I lose?" Auri asked, thinking about her future. If she lost her future with the Autobots because she was marked as a coward, she would have been better off if she'd never set foot on earth, for the Decepticons knew there was a small, vulnerable femme on the planet.

"Auri. You will never regret losing to me. What about the last two days? Have you always won?"

She gave him another deep searching look. They had had a couple little battles of the wills since she had become his and Chromia's ward, but she had surrendered each time, and nothing bad had happened. Ironhide dipped his head a little, keeping optic contact.

"I promise you won't regret." He told her.

One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky
"Alright…" she said slowly, "I…" she hesitated as she struggled to override the fear reactors in her system. She wished it wasn't so hard. She didn't understand why it was so hard. "I don't want to … to sword-fight with you. Even though I challenged you."

Ironhide felt confusion over her fear of admitting that to him, but he sighed with relief, overjoyed that she had confided in him. "That's perfectly alright, My Auri, and I understand completely your fear of taking me on."

"Really? -You do?" she swung her head up to look at him in confused amazement.

"Yes. I am pretty intimidating. I know that. I guess I sounded more than a little dangerous when I took up your challenge. It's my fault. I don't blame you a bit for wanting to back out." He put his hands on her shoulders. "It's completely alright."

"Thank-you…" she said softly, relieved.

"I did not mean to scare you." He said, bringing her close to hug her.

She cuddled against his shoulder, "I didn't want to appear scared." She confided.

"Nobot does." He reassured her. "Okay now?"

"Yeah. Okay." She smiled. She still felt shaky, but it was over. It was alright to be afraid now and then, and Bots wouldn't reject her for it. She'd confessed to her fear, and Ironhide hadn't kicked her aside in disgust In fact, he was smiling down on her.

"Shall we get back to the official lesson?" he asked, hoping she would still want to go on with him.

"Yes, 'Hide. Let's get. And anything you say goes." She answered, speaking with a new confidence.

One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I.

Sometime later, the great old Autobot warrior stood just to the side his little protégée. They were finished with self-defense lessons for the day. They were both hot, but Auri wasn't quite as overheated as Ironhide had feared she might become. He supposed it must have come from being in line with dancing.

"We're done here; would you like to see the challenge course?" He asked. He was content with the day's work. She had done well with her first round of training, and they had bonded some more.

"Yes!" She said, ever eager to see new things.

He motioned her to come, and they walked along an access road.

"We'll go along this road. You can get into the mix later." He told her.

"Fine with me." She said, blowing at the dirt on her vambraces. "Messy here."

She remained looking up at him even though he had turned away and they were walking on. "I can tell you anything?" she asked after several minutes.

He stopped. "Yes." He replied with earnest sincerity, "Yes, anything, Auri."

"And you won't hate me?"

He felt his processing nearly jam. Pausing, he stopped to straighten it out. Three days she had been with him and Chromia, and they had grown very close; the incident on the field had been harrowing for him and now this question was terrifying. He picked her up gently and seated her on top of a trailer, bringing her to optic level. "I won't hate you." He vowed, "You shouldn't even think that I would hate you, or any other Autobot, for that fact."

He studied her young face, wishing he could find out what had prompted such a question. He knew it would be rooted in the past and that it would have something to do with being neglected. He added, "I may be disappointed with bad behavior, or sorrowful over something grievous, but I don't – and won't- hate my fellows. I never give up on them."

She lowered her head and processed this thoroughly before looking up at him again. "I just feel so small and vulnerable… and not knowing is hard."

"'Not knowing' what?"

"N-not knowing what will happen to me." She said sadly with lowered head.

"You can trust us, my little one; we will always look after you. You must know that,"

"I... I guess I was raised ignorant as well as neutral."

"You're a bright little 'Bot," he encouraged her, "That won't be too hard to fix."

"It's the 'fixing' I fear." She whispered.

"Fear not." He answered, "We love you. Always, always remember that we love you."

She was silent. He rubbed her shoulder.

"I love you, my little youngling." He said softly, meaning it with all his spark.

Her head came up, her optics wide.

"You are as my own sparkling, Auri. I would not have you be afraid – not for the whole universe."

"O-!" she seemed on the verge of overload, as if she could not process what he meant.

He took her into his arms as she started to cry a little. "Oh, what did I say?" he asked.

"Something nobody has ever said to me," She whispered, "I love you, too."