...

Aria took the following few days off work. Mark was hesitant to give her the time off at first but after a few more minutes on the phone he changed his mind. He gave her a week off unless she wanted to come back sooner.

She wondered what had come over the man as she hung up. But then Wheelie explained to her that even he couldn't figure out what exactly she was talking about for half the conversation. Apparently she unintentionally sputtered a lot of nonsense. It wasn't her fault she was doped up on medication.

The day after Ironhide took her to the hospital he had to go on a mission. He didn't tell her anything other than that he'd be back as soon as he could. He then proceeded to tell Wheelie that if the tiny Autobot so much as considered letting her out of his sight, he would regret it.

Wheelie did not let her out of his sight.

On Sunday he followed her around room to room and assisted her whenever he could. When it came time to do the chores, he had her come outside with him while he did his best to feed the horses. Aria occupied herself by brushing them since Wheelie got mad at her for trying to jump on Azimuth bare back.

On Monday she had a Disney movie marathon much to Wheelie's distress. The small Autobot openly vocalized his dislike for most of the princesses. In response Aruia decided the next movie would be Mulan. They got about five minutes in and Wheelie immediately compared Aria to the disaster that was Mulan in the beginning of the movie. Aria only had to wait a couple more and then declared Wheelie was Mushu.

It was Tuesday morning when Aria woke up and her body no longer felt sore. Her headache still lingered, but now disappeared completely with the help of some Tylenol. She wandered downstairs without so much as brushing her hair. She didn't plan on going anywhere again today and Wheelie did the chores so there was no point getting dressed anytime soon.

She padded into the kitchen. The tiled floor was cool under her feet. Wheelie was on his stool filling up the coffee pot with water.

"Mornin'," she greeted while grabbing the coffee filters and grounds from the top cupboard.

"Sup," he replied with equal enthusiasm.

Wheelie poured the water into the back section of the coffee maker and then Aria placed the filter and grounds in and pressed the button. The Autobot then skated back over to the couch.

Aria took her position at the little round kitchen table that sat in between the kitchen and living room. The surface was mostly clutter free with the exception of her compound bow off to the side and a small vase full of wild flowers she picked yesterday when she was out with Wheelie.

Sirius got up from his bed by the back door and happily trotted over to his owner. He sat beside her while she gently stroked the smooth black fur on his head. He was calm so Wheelie must have already let him out earlier that morning.

Aria thought about what she was going to do today. She should probably do some laundry and clean the bathrooms. Then maybe she would do some target practice, it had been a while since she practiced without a horse. She wondered if the lingering effects of the concussion would affect her aim.

The only things she really suffered from now were forgetfulness, weird mood swings, and sometimes she felt over emotional. Funny things were funnier and sad things were sadder. She cried like a baby at the end of Mulan.

Sirius's growling and a strange tingling feeling caused her to look around. On the couch she saw Wheelie sit up straight as well. She was about to question him when a figure suddenly appeared in between her and the Autobot.

She immediately recognised the broad figure. Not that materializing out of thin air already gave him away. It was Ironhide.

Loud barking filled the room and in an instant Sirius lunged at the holoform. Aria grabbed his collar in the nick of time, hollering no at the dog in the most authoritative voice she could muster. She was pulled up from her chair, but managed to stop the Doberman before he could attack. Sirius's growl turned into a whine and he sat down obediently.

Ironhide, who witnessed the short moment, crossed his arms with an amused grin on his face. "I didn't know you had it in you, punk."

Aria looked between Sirius and the holoform while she tried to figure out what he meant.

"What do you mean? All I did was stop him from attacking you."

"Fast reflexes and a stern command. There is hope for you yet," he replied cryptically. He then pulled out a chair and sat down at the table across where she now stood.

Aria hesitantly released Sirius now that he had calmed down and watched as he sniffed Ironhide curiously. He must have recognised him from a few days ago after that and went to lie down still keeping the holoform in sight.

Now that the coffee was done, she went back into the kitchen to grab a cup and poured herself some adding cream and sugar.

She turned around to face her guest. "Ironhide do you want some..." she trailed off. "Oh yeah."

Ironhide sent her a knowing smirk and shook his head. Aria turned back around and grabbed her cup before she could embarrass herself further. She made her way back to her spot at the table.

"That is interesting attire," Ironhide commented to her approaching form.

Aria suddenly became hyper aware of her appearance. Her thin silk lavender nightgown was very short and thin and left little to the imagination, especially since she only had underwear on underneath it. Her waist length hair was messy and parted at a strange angle. At least her puffy eyes were covered by her dark rimmed glasses.

Despite her internal mortification, she sat down and simply finger combed her hair forward so it covered her chest.

"Oh these are just my pyjamas," she replied calmly and took a sip of her coffee doing her best not to choke on it.

Ironhide tilted his head the slightest bit. "Pyjamas?" he questioned and looked at her nightgown closely without shame.

"Y-yeah," Aria stuttered, putting down her coffee cup. "They're what people wear to bed."

"Why are humans so uncomfortable with their natural forms?" Ironhide asked again without missing a beat.

Aria furrowed her brows at his question. Natural forms?

"As in, why do we always wear clothes?" she reframed the question.

He nodded in affirmation.

"Uh, societal norms I guess. Not all humans wear clothing like we do here in America though," she paused. "I thought you guys had a person to teach you about human cultures at the base."

"I would rather ask you than a random female I see once every other week."

Aria felt a pang of anger at the mention of another woman talking to him, but it was washed away a moment later with a feeling of warm adoration at the fact he would rather ask her.

Ironhide however, didn't give her a chance to change the topic. "So there is no time when humans here do not wear clothing?"

"Well yeah, when we bathe and um..." Aria shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "reproduction?"

Ironhide looked like he was about to ask yet another delicate question when Wheelie saved her with a loud coughing noise from the couch. "Aria, isn't it time to make breakfast or something?"

"Good idea!" Aria practically yelled, "I'm just going to go get dressed first."

She quickly stood up and flashed a smile at Ironhide, not missing the swift once over he gave her with his sapphire eyes.

She pranced up the stairs and closed the bedroom door behind her. She then immediately face planted herself onto her unmade bed with a loud groan.

Of course she was happy Ironhide had come to visit, but a little notice never hurt anyone. She didn't realize just how comfortable around Wheelie she'd grown until another Autobot popped into her house.

She trusted Ironhide with her life, but she still wasn't used to the strange man he now appeared before her as. His voice and personality were the same and even when he smirked she could see the Autobot's metal face reflected in it. She wanted to be just as comfortable around his holoform as she was with him, but still, she couldn't.

Honestly, she just wanted to see him again. Not his alt form, not his holoform; Him. But that wasn't going to happen ever again thanks to the government. She knew she should be grateful she was able to see him at all, but it wasn't enough.

With another sigh, she lazily rolled over onto her back and sat up on the edge of her bed. She looked around her room that was littered with clothes on the floor. Oh yes, she came up to change.

It was another warm day today and she wasn't planning on going anywhere so she picked out a knee length yellow sundress. As she pulled it on she heard Ironhide's deep muffled voice from downstairs; he must have been talking to Wheelie.

After getting dressed she went to the bathroom to do her usual routine. She felt a lot better once her hair was brushed. She also popped a couple of pills for her headache.

She exited her room and walked down the short hall towards the stairs.

"She still says she's fine," Aria heard Wheelie's voice.

"You are positive it is normal?"

"Yes it's normal! I researched it, unlike you."

She heard Ironhide scoff. "Unlike you," he repeated, "I was busy offlining Decepticons."

"Yeah right, you probably spent all your time recharging from using your holoform so much."

Aria descended the stairs cutting off whatever tirade Ironhide was about to go on. His glare left the small Autobot on the couch and softened when his gaze met hers. She raised her brows sending him a knowing look and then walked back over to the table to retrieve her coffee cup.

She proceeded to fill it up again and added more cream and sugar. While she did she noticed Ironhide watching her out of the corner of her eye. She didn't mind, since she now wore more appropriate clothing.

She was about to go sit down again when Wheelie spoke up.

"Aria, breakfast," he reminded.

"Ah!" She turned back around, putting her cup beside the stove. She gathered some vegetables from the fridge and began to chop them up on her cutting board. As she cut up the peppers Ironhide came to rest against the counter beside her. He watched her actions intently.

She moved onto mushrooms when Ironhide took to looking around the rest of the kitchen. She saw him glance at the sink for a moment, then casually reach over and turn on the tap. He let the water run for less than a second before turning it off again and returning his attention to her. Aria smiled to herself.

"Mind getting the eggs for me?" she asked, directing her smile at him.

Ironhide unfolded his arms and rested his hands against the counter behind him. "Unfortunately I do not know what those are."

"You don't wanna know," Wheelie piped up from the living room.

Aria rolled her eyes. "They're in the fridge," she gestured to it seeing Ironhide's questioning glance. "Little white balls in a cardboard box."

The holoform's brows only furrowed further, but he went to the fridge regardless. She heard him rummage around for a minute before he closed the door and put the egg carton down on the counter beside her.

"Thank you," she sung.

"I'm supposed to say you're welcome, right?"

"Mmhm," she hummed.

Ironhide continued to watch her mix the eggs and vegetables together in the frying pan and cook her omelet.

Aria wondered if what Wheelie said was true, and that Ironhide did need to rest or recharge or whatever from overusing his holoform. She wanted to ask, but she knew him well enough that if she did he might lie to protect his pride. Not to mention he was about to blow up at Wheelie for bringing it up in the first place.

She would make sure he didn't stay all day this time. At home, she was safe. She had Wheelie and Sirius to protect her here.

Ironhide followed her to the table and resumed his spot across from her. She began to eat her omlete, blowing on it before taking a bite.

The holoform put his elbows on the table and leaned in to watch her more closely. Under his intense gaze, she ate even slower and more carefully. Obviously he was curious about how humans ate and seemed content just to watch. She indulged him knowing that she probably did the same to him and the other Autobots without realizing it.

After he seemed satisfied with watching her eat, his eyes fell to the compound bow on the table. He picked it up to examine it further. He touched all the different parts of it and pulled on the strings.

"Do you plan on training today?" he asked, glancing up at her for a moment then back at the bow.

"I was. Do you want to join me?"

Ironhide sat up slightly. "Of course I do," he declared. "I'm curious to see what you can actually do with this primitive weapon."

"Okay, I just have to do some things first," she grinned and took a sip of coffee.

Ironhide slouched back into his chair. "Fine."

Aria finished her breakfast and washed the dishes. Ironhide had no issues with following her around and upstairs to her room. She didn't really want him to see her unusually messy room, but then she remembered he had already been in there while she slept. She prayed he didn't see her drool.

No no, she had to remember that he wasn't human and like Wheelie, had no concept of guest etiquette.

He leaned against the wall by the door as she gathered up her clothes from the floor and piled them into the laundry basket. She couldn't figure out why she had such a hard time keeping her room clean the last few days. She couldn't even be bothered to make her bed.

Ironhide wandered over to the balcony doors. Carefully he twisted the handle and opened one of the twin doors. He stepped out onto the balcony.

Aria watched him curiously as she straightened up with the full basket in her hands. She wandered closer to him.

"I apologize for your railing."

Aria felt her face warm up. He didn't need to know how many times she looked out the window at the bent railing while she got ready. He didn't need to know how many times she leaned against it while she thought of that night.

"Don't worry about it," she chirped. "It faces the trees so no one can see it anyways."

He nodded absently, still looking thoughtfully at the railing.

Aria raised her brows and smiled. "I'm going back downstairs now. Don't forget to close the door when you come back in."

With a grunt, he followed her closing the door behind him.

...

"I've never seen one of those up close before," Ironhide commented from behind Aria as they walked towards the old shed.

"What, a horse?" Aria looked at the two beasts that were trotting towards her from across the field. She decided she would introduce them to Ironhide.

They reached the fence just before the horses came to a halt in front of them. They huffed loudly and attempted to sniff Ironhide from across the fence.

He took a step back. "They are larger than I anticipated."

Aria laughed and climbed over the fence. Her horses crowded her looking for attention. Ironhide watched with mild concern.

"This is Azimuth," she pat the tan and black horse, "and this is Zenith," she pet the white one on the nose.

He must have come to the conclusion that they were harmless and approached the fence again. This time when the horses came to investigate him, he reached out to pet them like Aria had.

She giggled at the holoform's scrunched up face while Azimuth ruffled his hair with his nose. While he was occupied with the excited animals, Aria entered the shed where she stored more bows in with farm tools.

Mounted on the wall were two compound bows and two wooden ones. Three of the four were lefties, only one of the wooden ones was suitable for a right handed person. It was the one her dad used when he came over for target practice.

On a shelf below, she stored her arrows and other accessories. She had quite the assortment thanks to the years of archery themed Christmas presents from her parents.

There was a hum of approval behind her.

"More than one, I'm proud," Ironhide said with a lopsided grin.

She did her best to maintain composer despite the warm tingly feeling that filled her body. He was proud of her?

"I've been practicing archery for most of my life, so yeah, I've got a few."

She took the two wooden ones off the wall and passed the one her father used to Ironhide. She then gathered some arrows and a couple of arm guards.

"You expect me to use this archaic thing?" he snorted.

"I know it might be difficult for you because it requires skill, but I believe in you."

Ironhide's eyes narrowed at her sarcastic tone. "Is that a challenge?"

Aria flashed him a cocky smirk as she passed him and exited the shed. Outside she saw Sirius chasing around Wheelie's alt form over by the house. She shook her head. They both had too much energy sometimes.

Ironhide came to a stand beside her, she lead him over to the side of the shed were she had a target set up. It was backed by two by fours and plywood so the arrows wouldn't penetrate the building.

"I'm guessing you know how all this works?"

"Of course," he replied.

They walked away from the building towards the two rocks Aria had set up as a marker forty yards away. She put the quiver full of arrows on her back and strapped on her arm guard on her bare arm. She looked at Ironhide who watched.

"You might want to take off your jacket, or make it disappear or something."

The holoform flickered for a moment and the dark jacket was replaced by a simple white tee shirt. She turned away before he caught her gawking at his exposed arms. She had to keep reminding herself that the man in front of her wasn't real.

Swallowing, she asked him to hold out his arm so she could put a guard on him too. Her hand shook slightly as her fingers brushed his forearm. She didn't know what was wrong with her all of a sudden. She had held his hand only days before, but then again, she had been pretty out of it.

She backed away when she was finished and handed him another quiver full of arrows. "Alright, I'll demonstrate for you."

She took her position behind the rocks and notched an arrow. She brought the bow up with an inhale. She then exhaled while pulling the string back until it rested against her chin and lip, continuing to exhale as she realised the arrow. She watched it sail through the air and hit its mark near the center of the target. She raised her brows and gave Ironhide a cheeky grin.

"That hardly seems difficult," he said, taking her place at the stones.

"Alright then, prove it."

Ironhide mimicked her stance almost perfectly. He notched the arrow on the string and began to pull it back.

"You have to use your other hand," Aria interrupted. "My bow is for left handed people, yours is for righties."

He realised the bow sting and gave her a strange look. "You have both hands," he stated.

Aria resisted the urge to laugh. "No no, what I mean is my left hand is dominant so my bow is made differently."

"Ah."

He switched hands so the bow was in his left and he pulled back with his right. Aria watched him bring the string close to his face but not touch it. His hand was a little low and his elbow wasn't turned out enough.

He released the string and they both watched the arrow fly intently. It made contact with the top corner of the target.

She was amazed at his accuracy. Forty yards was a long distance for a beginner. Then there was the breeze to correct for, familiarity of the bow, even stance to adjust.

"Wow that was pretty—"

Before she could finish he had already notched another arrow and pulled back. He modified his stance slightly and fixed his elbow. This time the arrow hit one of the outer rings of the circle. She heard him growl as he went for another arrow.

She couldn't tell if he was frustrated because he didn't hit dead center on his first try, or because he didn't like to be beaten. He released arrow after arrow, modifying slightly each time. Aria would wait until he got whatever it was out of his system before she helped him.

Aria grew hot as the sun beat down on them. After a few more minutes of observing the angry holoform, she sat down on the cool grass and leaned back on her palms.

Finally, Ironhide ran out of arrows. He looked partially at her and partially at the quiver across her back.

"Would you like some suggestions?"

He muttered something at first and looked over to the target where her arrow taunted him from its spot in the center. He crossed his arms with the bow still in hand.

"Alright," he finally relented.

She let out a huff of laughter and got up to help him. He returned it with an eye roll and grin. Thanks to her, his expressions looked perfectly human, and for that she was proud.

She spent a few minutes explaining what he was doing right and wrong and then walked with him to the target to retrieve the arrows.

She shot a few more times, explaining her process as she did. This time Ironhide openly asked her questions that she happily answered. She much preferred his attitude now.

"I admit it," he said. "I'm impressed at your skill with this weapon."

"Thank y—"

"Despite it being useless on the battle field."

She frowned and put her hands on her hips. "It's not useless!"

"I'm only kidding, Aria," he smiled at her fondly.

This time when Ironhide took aim, his form was perfect. She was a little put off with the fact that the holoform did not need to breathe or have any body sway for that matter. When he held the string back to his cheek, he looked like a statue. She liked the way the tee shirt stretched over parts of his body.

Nope, he's not real Aria.

He realised the string and the arrow landed right beside hers in the second ring from the middle.

"Holy crap," she mumbled.

"That's more like it," Ironhide exclaimed, doing little to hide his satisfaction.

Target practice then turned into a competition as she was sure how most things with Ironhide turned out. As the day went they backed up to further rock markers until they reached the sixty yard mark. Her amazement towards Ironhide's skill shifted to his amazement towards hers. At some point Wheelie and Sirius joined them, the former joining in on the banter.

"So 'Hide, you going to Aria's thing next week?"

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what this 'thing' is," Ironhide remarked while he aimed.

"You know, the opera? You only drove her to rehearsals for it for months."

Ironhide let go of the sting, sending the arrow flying. "No, she neglected to tell me anything about it."

Aria was once again sitting on the grass giving Sirius belly rubs.

"Well I'm sorry I didn't know you could suddenly will a human body into existence!" she defended. "Also I know you wouldn't like it, it's not some half an hour musical. It's hours of singing in a different language"

"We know most languages," Ironhide said while grabbing another arrow.

"Oh yeah..." Now she just felt dumb. "Anyways, it's expensive and nearly sold out already. And my parents are going to be there."

Wheelie and Ironhide exchanged mischievous glances.

Aria huffed, "Ugh, I'm going to get something to drink."

...

You better believe I stopped and watched Mulan after mentioning it.