Making Connections
…
It was around noon when a louder than usual engine revved into the main hangar. It didn't sound like any of the Autobots, with its distinct higher pitched engine.
Aria looked up from the spot she was sweeping in between Jolt and Bumblebee, the latter of who had the windows down, playing some eighties hair metal.
Parked by the entrance was a motorcycle. The person riding it got off and removed their helmet. It was Will.
Aria dropped the broom off at her cleaning cart as she made her way over to him. "I didn't know you had a bike."
"Don't usually ride it to work, but I figured it was nice a day as any." He took off his gloves. "Why, you like bikes?"
"I had a dirt bike a long time ago, before my parents made me choose between it or horses. Old Honda. It was a blast."
"You have a licence?"
"I did, when I was a teenager."
"Why not? A bike would be perfect for you. A lot cheaper than a car would be." He leaned in closer to her ear. "And a lot less hassle than an Autobot."
Aria snickered along with him before answering. "Never had the funds to by one. Plus, it's been so long I'd probably fall over."
"Wow, Aria. I learn something new about you everyday!" He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Come on, you can try mine around the building. Plenty of parking lot space."
She crossed her arms, doing her best Ironhide impression. "I don't have a break for another hour."
"Take it early! Not like anyone's going to care. Come on!"
With a swift glance back to her cart sitting off to the side of the large room, she gave a shrug. "Yeah, why not."
She didn't have to change or anything. Unlike at the museum, there wasn't a uniform. Here she could wear whatever, so jeans and a tee shirt worked well enough. At least training and physio paid off, her legs were the same size again. Maybe even more muscular than before!
Will simply turned the bike around so it was facing out the overhead door. Outside was warm and clouds speckled the blue sky.
She hopped on. The bike was a bit tall, so only the balls of her feet touched the ground. The Kawasaki sport bike had a different sitting position than her old dirt bike, but still felt somewhat familiar.
Will helped her turn it on and she quickly went through the controls. Front brake, rear brake, shifter, and clutch.
Will passed her his helmet, "for legal reasons". It was loose on her head, she had to hold it down to open the visor and put her glasses back on. She gave a nod, kicked up the kickstand, and putted into the vacant parking lot.
Outside she rode around in first gear. Will had followed her out and now stood by the security guards outside the door.
Once the bike felt more comfortable under her, she began doing circles and figure eights, going faster and leaning further with each round.
Every time she circled past the overhead doors, more and more Autobots appeared at the entrance. Eventually, she rode back to them.
Ratchet and Ironhide looked on like a pair of dads. Sideswipe and Bee were being scolded by Optimus for transforming and attempting to play in the parking lot too.
"How was it?" Will asked as she removed his helmet and handed it back to him.
"It was great! Maybe I should get one now that I can probably afford it."
Aria and Will walked though the crowd of Cybertronians.
"What a dangerous mode of transportation," Ratchet commented.
Jolt replied, "I think it's efficient. I've seen them navigate through traffic with relative ease."
Skids and Mudflap were making crude motorcycle noises while holding onto invisible handlebars.
Ironhide and Sideswipe stood side by side examining the bike as if it held all the answers to life's greatest mysteries.
Will stopped at Aria's cart with her. "So how've you been feeling?"
"Good, the incision's all healed. My arms and legs are still really tingly sometimes, but I haven't noticed much else."
"Have you got the bow to work yet?"
"Not yet. Ratchet and the Doctor say it might still be a while yet, maybe not until the tingling feeling stops and the Energon gets a chance to fully circulate."
Will shook his head. "You know this is nuts, right?"
"I'm aware," Aria said with a chuckle.
A man called Epps called Will from one of the hallways. Apparently, it was time for him to get back to work too. He gave a farewell and left Aria to her own devices.
…Her own devices being the dust pile left on the floor. The fact it was untouched spoke volumes about Wheelie's absence. Gone were the days he'd "accidentally" drive though them. He and Brains were now roommates with Sam and Carly in their new apartment. Hopefully the mischievous duo wasn't too difficult to manage.
Countless dust piles later, seven PM rolled around. Aria brought her cart back to the janitorial closet and grabbed her bag. Next stop was the gym.
The more she explored the base, the more of a resort it became. Training rooms, gyms, coffee shops, cafeterias, even offices converted into hotel rooms.
The Autobots had multiple rooms too. A couple of training rooms and a three more quiet ones for privacy or sleep—stasis. Then there was the big theatre room where Amber held her lectures.
A couple of others were in the gym when she came out of the changing room. She'd seen them before—the regulars.
Aria hung out in the free weight section. Dr. Harlow told her to take it easy for at least another week so the incision could heal properly or in case it caused complications with the Energon beginning to circulate through her body.
It was nine when she entered the shooting room. She took the bow out of her locker after entering the passcode and putting her finger on the fingerprint reader. The room was empty besides her, but that was because she had special permission to use it between nine and ten since the bow was a secret.
The black baton shaped piece of Cybertronian technology sat in the palm of her hand. Still nothing despite the persistent tingling in her fingertips. When was she going to finally be able to use it? Or even see it for that matter?
Static filled the air and sent a strange shock through her chest. She whipped around to the sudden presence just as he appeared.
She just about said his name but froze. The room had security cameras!
"I already asked Wheelie about the security cameras. He says they get turned off from nine to ten thanks to Will."
"So no one sees the bow?" That explained the specific time window Will gave her.
Ironhide nodded. "Still nothing?" he asked, approaching her.
She held it out to him. "No."
As he took it, his hand brushed hers. She nearly flinched at the sudden jolt.
Ironhide only raised an eyebrow at her for a moment before looking back down at the bow. He turned it in his hands as if feeling for size and weight.
She looked up at him. "Can you make it transform?"
"I cannot. My holoform isn't made up of enough Energon to make it work."
"Really?" That was almost enough to make her feel better. Ironhide's holoform was purely made using Energon, and even that wasn't enough to activate the bow.
"If my true form were your size, I could. Otherwise, no."
"So if there was a Cybertronian my size, they could use it?"
"Aria, I told you I made this bow in a way that only you can use it. The bow is technically made to only work with my Energon signature. With the shard in your chest, you now also have my Energon signature."
So that's how it worked. "But what about the Perceptor? Can't it track me now?"
"It can, but if it's already tracking me, it knows where you are. That's why you're so close to the base."
Her eyes fell. He was right. Not only did she live near the base, she spent most of her time here. Still, living in one of the small hotel like rooms wouldn't be bad. She could sleep soundly knowing Ironhide was only a few floors down.
Ironhide slowly reached out, taking her hand in his. "You're safe now, Aria. Nothing is going to happen to you."
If that was true—or even if that's what he thought was true—then why did he feel the need to make her the bow? To take out a piece of his spark and give it to her?
"You promised you wouldn't lie to me."
His thumb that had been caressing the back of her hand stopped. A look spread across his face as if he too just realized what he had said. "Perhaps I should have promised I wouldn't lie to myself either."
He admitted it then. That she wasn't safe. That something could happen, to her or…to him.
She looked down at their intertwined hands. Everything bad that's happened so far had been to her. She got hurt, healed, and gained a new scar.
But what if the coin flipped and something happened to Ironhide? What if he got badly hurt and couldn't protect himself? Would she have it in herself to step into the fight to protect him?
When he fought Starscream, the best she could do was cause a distraction. And if that hadn't have worked, then what? Would Ironhide even be here right now? Would Starscream have killed him?
Her vision began to blur.
He looked out for her time and time again. Even before he knew her back in Egypt.
His shard of his spark was in her chest, and there was nothing she could do in return.
"What's wrong?" Ironhide's voice cut through her thoughts.
She wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall. "I-I'm just scared."
"It only takes me five minutes to get to you, less if I have to."
"But how long would it take me to get to you?"
He frowned.
"What if you're the one in danger somewhere far away on a mission, or even at the base? There's nothing I can do to help you." She blinked as more tears began to pour down her face.
Ironhide closed the distance that separated them. His arms wrapped around her, enveloping her body in the same warmth the spark shard emitted in her chest.
"I've been around for a long time, Aria. I'm not about to go anywhere."
"You better not." Her words were muffled by his chest.
They stayed like that for a long time. Long enough for the tears to dry from Aria's eyes.
"Are you still tired?" She asked, not moving.
"Not anymore."
They parted but remained close. The air of the room sent a chill down her spine.
Ironhide's eyes fell from her face to her chest, narrowing in concentration, searching for something.
"It's impolite to stare at a woman's chest you know."
Ironhide's attention snapped back up to her face. She couldn't help but giggle at his stunned expression.
Between the Dr. Harlow's constant prodding and Dr. Martinez's little tests, she'd had her shirt off more times than she could count in the name of science.
She reached for the hem of the tee shirt. Not like Ironhide would be interested in her chest anyway, he was a alien robot. To him, it was just a human body, right?
Before her thoughts could stop her, she lifted the shirt over her head. Under it was her sports bra, that she had to pull down on it a bit more to reveal the thin scar. Lifting her eyes from it, she was met with Ironhide's surprised expression.
"Well, there it is," she said.
He looked between the scar and her face a few times before his body visibly relaxed. He then lifted his hand up and brushed her skin where the scar was. The shard in her chest warmed up and the tingling sensation intensified from the tips of her fingers to her toes. Slowly, he placed his hand over the spark shard.
And her heart.
His gaze immediately softened.
The intense tingle turned to something more pleasant, almost like a hum.
"Can you feel that too?" she asked.
"I can." His eyes never left hers.
A faint whining noise drew her attention down to the bow in Ironhide's hand. He hummed, taking his hand off her chest and held it out to her.
She grasped it, holding it close to her face. It wasn't cold anymore. "Is it working?"
"It recognizes you. Try to make it transform."
"How? I thought it just does."
"You have control over it."
She looked up at him. "That doesn't help me much."
He grinned. "You feel the Energon, don't you?"
"Yeah, all over."
He grasped her forearm. "Draw that feeling to my hand."
She nearly laughed. Her arm already prickled under his touch. Like ever nerve fired at once at the mere contact. "And then?"
He ran his fingers down her arm to her wrist. The action alone sent tingles down her spine, but with the addition of the Energon, it was more like electricity that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
The feeling spread to her palm as he brushed it with his fingers. The bow sprung to life the second the electrical current in her body met it.
Each end of the piece of metal expanded out and unfolded until it resembled a combination of a recurve and compound bow. Despite the fact it tripled in size, it was still the same weight, lighter than any bow she'd ever held before. The bowstring was made of multiple thin metal cords braided together. It looked way to difficult to even attempt to pull back. Did Ironhide even consider draw weight?
She placed her fingers on the string and pulled back. It wasn't light by any means, but it wasn't heavy either. She lowered the bow and turned back to Ironhide.
His soft smile turned to his usual lop sided grin. "You like it?"
"It's amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!" Minding the bow, she threw her arms around him. "Thank you so much, Ironhide."
He returned the hug. "You're welcome."
She let him go, falling back onto her heels. "Now I just need some arrows." She went back to the lockers. In hers was some arrows she'd bought days ago. They were expensive since they were made of carbon fiber, but who knew what this bow could do. Or who she'd have to use it on.
Ironhide crossed his arms and stood back as she took her spot. At the other end of the range was a human shaped target attached to the wall. It had a couple of bullet holes around the chest and head area.
She took stance and brought the bow up. She gauged the weight as she adjusted her aim. Pulling the drawstring back to her cheek, the pressure released much like a compound bow. Aiming at the figures head, she relaxed her fingers.
A loud crack filled the air. Bits of arrow flew around her, narrowly missing her hand and face.
"W—what?"
It exploded before it even left the bow. She'd flexed the arrows the other day, so they weren't cracked or broken.
Ironhide was at her side in a second. His eyes flashed over her before he swiftly took the bow from her hands that still held it up.
"What's the draw weight of this bow?"
"Three hundred and fifty pounds," he answered, still checking her over.
Other than a small nick on her hand, she was lucky. That could have easily been much worse.
Wait, did he just say…
"Three hundred? That isn't even possible. Most bows don't even go up to eighty! I mean I can only pull fifty, and that's when I'm in shape."
"Wheeljack helped me design it to penetrate any Cybertronian armor." He exhaled and shook his head. "We thought the carbon arrows would be strong enough. Clearly, we were wrong."
Realizing she was still tense, Aria dropped her shoulders and let out a shaky breath. "I can go look for stronger arrows. I just looked in the one store."
The bow in Ironhide's hand transformed back into a small rod. "No, I'll have Wheeljack help me make arrows. It's the only was we can know they'll be strong enough."
"That sounds like a better idea." She reached out for the bow. "I'll go put it back, it's just about ten."
Ironhide handed it to her. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
She smiled. "Mmhm."
"All right then. Sleep well, punk."
"Good night, Jonny."
He disappeared with a smirk on his face.
It was only when she was about to leave when she noticed her shirt was still on the floor.
How did she manage to forget about that?
She got home later that night and immediately got ready for bed.
What a day. First riding a motorcycle for the first time in about ten years, then finally seeing the bow. It was absolutely incredible. To have that kind of force behind it, was frankly, incomprehensible. Even the strongest arrows she could find exploded from the sheer velocity.
Ironhide wasn't kidding when he said he wanted her to have a weapon strong enough to fend off a Decepticon.
She got into bed, pulling the mass of covers over her body. She ran her fingers over her arm where Ironhide had and closed her eyes. He only meant to do it to help her use the bow, but his touch was so gentle.
Hopefully the bow wouldn't work the next time so he'd have to do it again. Or maybe she could just pretend…
…