Just a warning, this is definitely NOT the best chapter I've written(definitely the longest so far), IMO. Some of you might think otherwise but I think this chapter is complete crapola!! I rewrote this 3 times and I just can't get Ironhide or Decal's personality's right. The owner of Decal, ThatRedHeadedChick, basically told me that Decal is a female version of Ironhide, hence why I'm having a slight problem with her personality. =P But anyways…on with the story. PLEASE REVIEW!! I cannot stress this enough, when you review you make me all happy and warm inside and I'm like "Omg I have to write like 100 more chapters." SO if you want to me to continue to feel this way then you need to review!!!
Also, please note there is a moment in the story where I say "what on Cybertron he was doing." … that's like a little joke…you know how people say "what in the hell…" blah blah blah? Yeah well….same concept with that Cybertron comment. Just so you didn't think Ironhide was like magically back on Cybertron or anything…JUST SO YOU KNOW!! =]
…Hehe…another note…There's not a lot of Bee/Star in here…sorry but Ironhide and Decal RULE this chapter for the good of the story, of course.
'Hide…this is Decal…' The name hit his hears and he shook his head. There was no way in hell the voice coming through his comlink was Decal. She was gone. He watched her perish at the hands of Starscream. He recalled the incident like it had just taken place seconds ago. It happened the same night Bee had rescued Starfire. Starscream had Decal in his grasp, he had beaten her. There was no way that she was going to survive. Ironhide watched him as he ran to Decal's aide but by the time he got there, it looked as if it had been too late. That's when he heard Bumblebee cry for help, that there was bot that needed assistance. Ironhide hated himself for leaving Decal there, but he felt there was nothing he could do for her. She was gone. He thought he had lost his love for good, but now this unknown voice was trying to tell him otherwise.
'No it isn't.' His voice was calm, gruff but calm. He was extremely sure that this wasn't Decal. This had to be somebody playing a cruel prank on him and once he found out who it was they were going to pay. The voice spoke to him again; it was definitely feminine, soft and caring. It did sound like Decal…but Ironhide wouldn't let himself believe that it was her because if it was, in fact Decal, then that would mean that he would have been able to save her.
'Ironhide…it's me.' Decal rode along the darkened roads, behind Bumblebee and Starfire, her holoform staring at the road ahead of her. She didn't know how to convince Ironhide that it was really her, but then again she didn't understand why he didn't believe her. She furrowed her brows. 'What a moron. How the hell is it not me…Primus, I've only been with him for a couple hundred years you'd think the slaggin' idiot would know the sound of his mates voice.'
Ironhide was starting to get angry now. He was truly starting to believe that this was a joke. How could someone be so cruel to him? 'I am not talking to Decal. Now who the hell is this?' Just by the tone in his voice, you could tell that Ironhide was getting very upset. His temper was rising. He wanted this joke to cease.
'Hide…' Decal shook her head. Why wouldn't he believe her? Decal searched her mind for a reason to Ironhide's disbelief. While she was thinking, Ironhide spoke to her. 'Leave me alone…or there will be hell to pay.' Decal rolled her holoforms eyes. 'What a fucking asshole. I was won't talk to him then.'
He walked back into the hangar and told Optimus that he needed to take ride. "Are you all right?" He put his hand to his forehead; he was trying to stay calm and not blast something…or someone.
"I just need to take a ride…I'm getting stressed out." Optimus could tell that there was something bothering Ironhide. Hide wasn't one to go "take a ride" to cool off…he usually just shot at targets until he calmed himself down. "Of course you can go, old friend." Ironhide looked up at Optimus and gave him a slight smile and nod of thanks before turning on his heel and leaving the hangar.
Hide transformed and left the base. He was stuck on the coral atoll of Diego Garcia, so he knew he couldn't go far. He drove down to the beach and parked on the deserted road. He used his holoform to walk around the beach, just in case. He began to recall all of the memories that him and Decal shared. For the first time in a long time, he was actually sad. He hadn't seen Decal in years and he hated every second of not being around her. She was the only femme that truly understood him. He made his way over to a large rock, sat down and hung his head.
XoXoXoXoX
Meanwhile, Decal was fuming. Ironhide was being such a jerk, and it was all because he didn't believe that the love of his life was on earth. She rolled her eyes at the thought of his last comment. She was alone on her alt but she needed to talk to someone. 'Starfire, you busy…?'
'Nope. What's up?'
'I spoke to Ironhide…' Decal watched the back of Starfire's holoform head. She couldn't tell what Star was doing but it was taking her a few moments to answer.
'…And…?' She sounded a bit anxious, slightly excited as well. Starfire must have thought that she was going to hear good news, but alas she wasn't. Decal sighed a bit before answering her.
'Well, he said that I wasn't Decal…' Decal was starting to get annoyed, recalling to the comment that Ironhide had made to her. She shook her head in disgust. 'And the slaggin' pile of scrap metal told me to leave him alone or there was going to be hell to pay.'
Star bit her bottom lip. That was not what she wanted to hear. 'Well…um…maybe I can talk to him for you?'
Decal raised a brow when she heard Star's comment. 'You can try.' Decal did have her doubts, but she hoped that Star's plan would work. She thought for a moment then realized something. She realized that maybe Starfire could get through to him…he was probably more likely to believe someone that he had been working with the past few months rather than some phantom voice that he could not locate.
Starfire acknowledged Decal's answer and went straight into communicating with Ironhide. 'Hey Hide…I need to talk to you…'
Ironhide looked up from the rock, hearing Starfire's voice ring in his ears. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody. He needed to be by himself and clear his mind. For the past 15 minutes or so, he had thought about nothing but Decal and how, if she was still alive, he could have saved her life.
'Ironhide….' Starfire spoke in a singsong voice, it annoyed Ironhide.
'What Starfire?' He was aggravated and Starfire knew it. She bit her lip again, not sure how to mention Decal's survival.
'Um…have you spoken to someone…relatively unknown recently?' She tapped her steering wheel, waiting for his reply. Mikaela glanced over at Starfire, noticing a worried expression on her face. She tapped Star's arm and Star looked over at her. Mikaela mouth 'what's going on?' and Star just shook her head, mouthing back 'I'll tell you later…'
'Well, I wouldn't say relatively unknown. It was a familiar voice but I think it was a trick….and how the fuck do you know?' Ironhide stood up from the rock and began to pace around. He wondered how Starfire could have known that he was talking to someone earlier. Was it her that was playing that cruel prank on him? Ironhide became slightly enraged, pacing even faster to try and calm himself.
Starfire paused for a moment, wondering if Ironhide was even going to believe her. He didn't even believe his own mate, so why would he believe her? 'Hide…she's with me…' Shepaused again, waiting for a response that wasn't going to come. Ironhide abruptly stopped pacing and looked up at the heavens. Was it true? Was Decal, his spark-mate, still alive?
When Starfire realized that Ironhide had fallen silent she finished with 'Decal is here.'
Minutes went by and Starfire hadn't heard one syllable uttered from Ironhide. She looked in her rearview and saw Decal's furious expression, she was probably still pissed off about Ironhide and how he was acting towards her. Starfire brought her attention back to her com…still nothing from Ironhide. She was starting to become worried, wondering what on Cybertron he was doing. 'Hide…?'
'Yeah, I'm here Star.' This was unbelievable, Decal was still alive. He had to see her, he wanted to run to her, to be with her. He ran to his truck then stopped, he had just remembered how he acted towards her previously and mentally slapped himself. 'She probably won't even talk to me now…'
'Primus….I've been such an idiot…' Ironhide felt weird, he hadn't felt this emotion in such a long time. He was always such a hard ass but right now he felt horrible. He had just hurt the femme that he cared about most and he wasn't sure if she was going to forgive him. It seems so stupid to think that Decal wouldn't forgive Ironhide for something that seems so small, but in actuality it's a huge deal. Ironhide felt like he left Decal to die at the hands of Starscream, and he wished to Primus that he gotten closer to her to make sure that she was really gone. 'Starfire…can you talk to her?'
Star raised a brow, he wanted her to talk to Decal for him? She shook her head, knowing full well that Ironhide couldn't see her. 'Hide, you need to talk to her yourself. I can't fix this for you, hun.'
Ironhide got up into his truck and leaned back into the seat, debating whether or not to contact Decal. He knew deep down that he was going to have to eventually, and he really wanted to hear her voice but he knew that she was going to be pissed. Quite frankly, Ironhide was afraid of the consequences of his actions, which is something that he's never been afraid of.
An hour came and gone and Ironhide was still sitting in the truck, wanting to contact Decal, trying to figure out what to say. He needed to say something that would justify his actions but he couldn't find the right words. He shook his head before throwing it back into the headrest. He tuned himself into Decal's frequency. 'Decal…I'm sorry. Starfire explained to me that it really is you.'
Decal had finally gotten herself calmed down when she heard a familiar gruff voice. She snorted at his comment and rolled her eyes. Honestly, she was so pissed off she didn't want to hear his apology, now she wanted him to leave her the hell alone. 'Leave me alone, Hide.'
Ironhide didn't like being commanded, even if it was by his 'old lady.' 'No, I'm not going to leave you alone. You wanted to talk to me earlier, and now you don't want to?' His anger was rising again. He lifted his head off the headrest and leaned forward in his seat. It looked as if he was yelling at his dashboard.
'You couldn't believe it was me until Starfire told you…' Decal's voice rose, making it known to him that she was also mad. 'You should know the sound of her mate's voice, Ironhide.' Decal sounded like a wife scolding her husband for forgetting their anniversary. Things were going to get intense. Ironhide and Decal's tempers flared up fast.
'I thought it was someone playing a joke on me…' Hide's voice got low and harsh, a voice that was made through clenched teeth. 'If I had thought for one moment that it really was you, I would have figured out a way to be by your side.'
'Mhm…Oh yeah, speaking of being by my side… let's also talk about how you left me on Cyberton…' Bingo, Decal hit a huge nerve. Ironhide couldn't control his anger anymore and punched his passenger seat hard. He got out of the trunk, not wanting to damage it. He walked out onto the beach, there was nothing around for him to hit so he began to pace again. 'You know what Decal, if I thought you were still alive then I wouldn't have left you there. I saw the fight between you and Starscream…you looked like you had gotten killed.'
'You saw the fight and yet you didn't jump in to help me?'
'By the time I got there I was too fucking late…or so I thought.' Ironhide shook his head, still pacing, still trying to calm himself. The memory of the fight flooded his mind once more. 'Seeing you lying there killed me…Everyone calls me a hard ass but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings and that doesn't mean that I wanted to leave you there. I just wanted to get away from that scene as fast I could. Do you really think that I wanted to stand there and look down at you, thinking that you were a lifeless corpse, Decalia?' Decalia…Ironhide had only used her real name when he became increasingly furious. He knew that she absolutely hated her real name, so he never used it but when he entered fits of rage against her, her real name would escape from his lips.
Decal was speechless, she knew how Ironhide felt about her but she didn't realize how deep his love for her was, until now. She did understand that it must have been painful for him to see her fall in battle but it really hurt her that he didn't even check on her to see if she was alive. None, of the autobots did, they all just figured she was dead.
'Hide…I've missed you so much…' Her voice became soft, caring, and empathetic. She didn't know what else to say to him. She knew that his voice was full of anger but she knew him better than that. Decal knew that he was hurting and she didn't want to make things worse. She didn't want to lose him as a mate.
'...I've missed you as well. And I am so sorry for leaving you there.' Ironhide's voice began to grow softer as well, not wanting to fight with his love anymore. Ironhide had stopped pacing and sat back down on the rock and sighed. 'I'm so happy to hear your voice.'
'Hide….I lo…' Decal's link was suddenly cut off and Ironhide couldn't figure out why.
'Decal?...Decal?!' His message wouldn't go through to her.
XoXoXoX
Everything happened in a flash…Decal broke from her conversation with Ironhide to see Starfire throw Mikaela out of the car. She transformed and was immediately hit by something. It sent her flying and within seconds Bumblebee was transformed, with his mask down. He was in fight mode and he was going to kick ass. Decal quickly transformed herself and began to flight alongside Bumblebee. A lonely con had attacked the group and was quickly taken down by Bumblebee's ninja like moves and Decal's highly advanced weaponry. Starfire, however was nowhere to be found. After she was hit, she didn't join the battle.
After a few minutes of searching, they found her behind some trees in the nearby forest. She wasn't moving and looked to be very badly damaged. She was hit by a sneak attack that might have just ended her life.
