AN: Thanks for reviewing. I think these chapters are getting a whole lot easier to write. You wouldn't believe how difficult and easy it is to lose your train of thought. Daytime's a lot more activity. I also went for a walk with my bearded dragon Allie. Made it the stop sign before she wanted to go back to the house. Oh well, worth a try. I needed to walk to lose weight and it's a beautiful day. So far, no rain. Yesterday was rainy and grim. :D

Poor Noel...Sunstreaker's being an aft.

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Chapter 21

"I can care less!" Sunstreaker told Ironhide a second time.

"Brig. Now!" Ironhide ordered. "Report to Red Alert."

Noel had never heard of Red Alert and wasn't sure who he or she was. Sunstreaker glared at her as he left. Noel shuddered at his glare and was thinking of retreating into her room. Sideswipe looked genuinely worried now. His brother rarely became jealous or angry with the humans. "Sideswipe. Go to your apartment and stay there." Ironhide said quietly.

"Noel?" Ironhide asked. "Come with me."

Noel didn't want to go to Ironhide. He seemed to tower over Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. It made her feel a lot smaller and embarrassed. She hadn't meant anything by making Sunstreaker angry with her.

Ironhide walked over to her and she backed away from him. The giant Mech reached out and she fell into his servo. Gently lifting her to his chassis, he left the hangar. Noel couldn't see very well where Ironhide was taking her. Only that the trip seemed longer. Ironhide stopped in front of a large door that read, "Optimus Prime". Ironhide didn't bother knocking and both Optimus Prime and Ratchet turned in his direction. Prowl stood onscreen and several other Mechs were behind Prowl. "Ironhide? Can it wait?" Optimus asked in a startled deep voice.

"No sir." Ironhide said. "I'm afraid not."

"Surely this matter can wait, Ironhide."

"No it cannot." Ironhide said. "I have Noel with me."

"She is supposed to be with Sunstreaker at this time. None of us-"

"And Sunstreaker has been sent to the brig." Ironhide interrupted.

Optimus frowned. "Why has he been sent to the brig?"

"I caught him in the act of intimidation and using his size as an advantage."

"Against whom?"

"Noel." Ironhide said.

The three Mechs were silent. "When was this?"

"Just a little while ago."

"Is that true, Noel? Has he been intimidating you?"

Noel looked at Prime and then Ratchet. She answered in a small voice, "Yes."

Prowl stiffened up on screen and Prime pinched the bridge of his nose. "Noel. You need to tell me everything and I will speak to him."

Noel didn't want to tell Optimus anything. But here she was, after Ironhide warned Sunstreaker not to mistreat her. Here she was, being asked to tell Optimus everything. Noel launched into everything that happened last night. It became easier to tell the Mech's everything. By the time she was done, she was reduced to tears.

The Mechs were stunned. Optimus glanced at Ironhide. "Ironhide, you take care of Noel. I will be having a talk to Sunstreaker on the terms of respecting the organics here again and he will serve three days of patrol. Then he apologize to Noel." Optimus said, standing up and leaving the office.

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Noel sat in Ironhide's office after her bout of crying. It had taken her a long time to finally tell Ironhide she was worried about her parents and everything that happened. She didn't bother leaving out any of the details.

Ironhide listened to her before getting out a clean polishing cloth and dampening it with cool water. There, he gave her a small shred of it. Noel began wiping her eyes and cleaning her face.

"Thanks." She said, hoarsely.

"You are welcome Noel. However, be assured that Prime will take care of Sunstreaker."

Noel nodded. "I'm really thirsty. Is there some way I can get something to drink?"

Ironhide nodded. "Sure."

Ironhide left the office and Noel stayed right where she was. She took a chance to look around the office and discovered many pictures. Noel could see that the pictures were different. Some had weird large crystals on them, others had a planetary system, and a metal ball was on one of them. Ironhide also had pictures of heavy duty guns and cannons. Noel saw the screen on the wall. It had an Autobot face floating around in space. Noel suddenly heard the door open and close. Looking behind her, she saw Ironhide walk in. She breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"I grabbed some snacks too." Ironhide said, laying the items on the desk, next to Noel.

"Thanks." Noel said, grabbing the water bottle and taking a huge drink out of it. "Um, what's with the metal ball and large crystals?"

Ironhide looked at the paintings on the walls. "The crystals are from the Crystal Gardens and the metal ball you see is a young successful Cybertron before the war."

"Oh." Noel answered. "Whoever painted them is a great artist."

"That would be our resident artist, Sunstreaker." Ironhide said. "He loves to paint."

"Oh. I didn't know-but why is he so mean to me? What did I ever do to him?"

Ironhide walked across the room and sat down behind his desk. "There's a story I've got to tell you and it's not pleasant."

"So what happened?" Noel asked.

Ironhide looked at Noel. "He went crazy, threatening to become a Decepticon and destroy the human race. He took one human girl and held her hostage for fifteen days. He was using the girl to find his brother and when he found his brother, the girl was told that if she ever told on him, he'd find her. The girl kept her promise. She never told a living soul about her kidnapping. Not even her parents. Not even her friends, teachers, or the NEWS media. She was scared that she would get captured again.

"Then one day, after getting off the bus, she saw Sunstreaker again and ran. Sunstreaker followed her." Ironhide paused for a moment. "He was checking in with her and finding out if she told anyone. For a long time, he followed her off and on." Ironhide looked at Noel. "When she was older, her boyfriend thought something was wrong because whenever she was nervous around yellow Lamborghini's. Her boyfriend saw him and chased him with a heavy metal bat and hit the slag out of his rear bumper. Try explaining why he had a dented rear bumper to Ratchet. Sunstreaker lied to Ratchet about being irresponsible and being accident prone. Ratchet didn't believe him and consulted Optimus about Sunstreaker's strange behavior.

"When asked about his behavior, Sunstreaker finally told Optimus what he had done. Optimus spent a long time chastizing Sunstreaker and how wrong he had been to see that poor girl. He said that stalking was against the law and is punishable by a lengthy sentence off Earth."

Noel was silent, shocked, and not to mention scared. Why had Optimus assign him as a guardian? He was so mean, cruel, and sick in his head.

"Noel. Is there anything you need to ask?"

"Why didn't he leave well enough alone?" Noel asked weakly. She felt nauseated from all her nerves. And seeing Sunstreaker again sent chills running up and down her spine. She didn't want to see that Mech again.

"According to Ratchet, in an effort to find his brother, he started acting out of processor." Ironhide said.

"Then why did Optimus appoint him as a guardian to me if he's out of his processor?" Noel asked.

"Because he deemed it a good idea. Sunstreaker needs to learn that not all humans are destructive and mean."

"How did you know what he did?"

"Optimus Prime told me Ratchet's findings."

"And he thought it'd be a good idea to have Sunstreaker look after me?"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't want to see him. He can apologize to me. But I don't want to see him after today. I can take care of myself."

"Very well. We shall see." Ironhide said.

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Thank you for reading and don't forget to review. On another note: They canceled fireworks for the fourth. :*( We're having too many severe thunderstorms lately and they're going to set them off in Sept.