Omg I'm so sorry for the wait. Life's been hectic and I took a writing break.

Normal

…

Aria practically sprinted down the hallway towards an emergency exit off to the side of the building. There was no way she was going through the hangar. Not after that.

She'd never dressed so quickly. Or in the pitch black for that matter. It wasn't till the lights went out that she returned to her senses.

Kissing Ironhide's holoform naked in the shower? What was she thinking?

Hormones. That had to be it.

Ironhide spoke as she got dressed, but he may as well had been speaking Cybertronian.

She'd sputtered some sort of excuse and rushed out of the changing room where he couldn't follow. Thank god for security cameras.

The ride home felt quicker than usual. Aria parked in the stall in front of her house. She peeked in after opening the door. Ironhide promised not to appear inside without her permission, but maybe he didn't think that was the case anymore now that he'd seen her naked.

Why? Why?

She sat down on the chair near the window giving her sore leg a rub before pulling out her phone and searched through the contacts. It was a little after seven, that wasn't too late was it?

She held up the phone to her ear as it rang.

"Hello?" came a male voice,

"Hey, Sam! It's Aria."

"Oh, Aria! Sorry, I totally forgot I gave you my number."

"Yeah, long time no see, hey?" Ugh, why did she say that? "So, uh, how's Washington?"

"Oh you know…" Sam cleared his throat. "Job hunting. All that fun stuff."

"I know the feeling." Aria let out an unconvincing laugh. "So, I was wondering if Wheelie's around? At all?"

A pause, then, "Wait…you're serious?"

"Um, yes?"

"Hey Wheelie!" Sam shouted away from the speaker. "Phone!"

Carley asked something about who would be calling for Wheelie in the background.

"Uh oh, what'd ya do?" Wheelie asked a few moments later.

"Are you somewhere private?"

"Yeah I'm on the balcony."

The balcony..? Whatever, as long as Sam and Carly weren't there. "Wheelie, I kissed him! Wait, no, he kissed me—but I kissed him more!"

"'Bout time, sis," Came a voice that wasn't Wheelie's.

"Brains? Wheelie!"

Wheelie made a nonchalant noise. "Not like we don't already know about your guys' thing."

"Yeah Ari, we're happy for you," Brains added.

"No, it's not like that. It was a mistake. I don't like him like that, it's just his holoform! What am I supposed to say to him now?"

"That you're a total doorknob," Wheelie deadpanned.

"I thought you liked him, sis. Making googly eyes all day at the base."

"I do not make googly eyes at Ironhide! He's a truck most of the time!"

"Look, Aria, you gotta make up your mind. You've been leading him on for what, almost a year now. You gotta tell him that either you like him, or you like like him."

"But I—how do you even know he likes me like that?"

"Aren't you calling because he kissed you?"

"Maybe he's confused too?"

Brains snickered in the background.

"Yeah? Name one time ol' 'Hide's sounded remotely confused."

The second she paused to think of a time he'd showed hesitation towards her, all that filled her mind was that cocky smile of his.

"That's what I thought," Wheelie said after her moment of silence.

"It's all you, sis," Brains added.

Were they really being honest? Did Ironhide truly like her like that? No, that didn't matter, because she didn't like him like that. She had to tell him and end…whatever this was.

He was a Cybertronian and she was a human.

Monday then. Monday she would confront him and end this misunderstanding. She would apologize for kissing him, explain that she was physically attracted to his holoform and had a lapse of judgement.

But she still wanted to be friends. Because being friends was okay.

Yes. On Monday, she would tell him.

…

"Shit."

It was Monday.

Aria took her sweet time getting off her bike. There were more vehicles than usual in the base parking lot. Was there something going on that she wasn't told about?

Still, that didn't matter. She'd go straight up to Ironhide and ask to speak with him privately. That's why she came early.

She let out a shaky breath and swore again.

One step after another she walked into the base. Breathe in and out.

How was he going to react?

Would he be mad? Upset? Would he yell?

He must have known something was up from the way she left him on Friday, since he didn't show up at all over the weekend. It would have been nice if he did, then she wouldn't have to agonize over what she was going to say for the past two days.

One of the guards greeted her as he let her into the base. It was strange that the bay door was closed. Something was definitely going on.

She was greeted with chaos.

Every Autobot was transformed and pacing around scattered personnel frantically trying to calm them down. People in suits and uniforms talking to each other, illegible chatter echoing off the tall ceilings.

Dead ahead was Optimus who was physically restraining Ironhide from whoever was on the bridge. It appeared he was shouting, but even Ironhide's voice wasn't discernible above the noise.

She turned and flinched as Ratchet came to a stop only a few feet away. He was perhaps the only Autobot that wasn't currently arguing with a group of humans.

"Greetings, Aria. Perhaps now is not a good time to be at the base."

"What's going on? Did I miss something?" She dodged a man walking past.

Ratchet kneeled down. "It was announced this morning that we are no longer authorized to have permanently attached projectile weapons on our person. We are required to immediately remove them."

Attached projectile weapons? What was he—oh! "They're taking away your weapons? But aren't they apart of you?"

No wonder Ironhide was pissed. They couldn't just take away his cannons!

"They are now allowing us to carry them as external weapons for the time being, but only when permitted." His eyes landed on the bridge before falling back to her. "I believe this may be a result of Ironhide and Starscream's skirmish, seeing as it was an unauthorized use of deadly force on Ironhide's part."

"Wha—What about all the other Decepticon attacks? Mission City and Egypt?"

"When we arrived in Washington, we gave verbal contracts to not engage Decepticons without your government's consent. Ironhide broke that contract."

She glanced back at Ironhide who was still hollering at Will and a few others on the bridge. This was happening…because of her?

"None of us blame you two. We are glad he got to you in time."

But this was horrible. Another right being taken away from them because of her involvement. She opened her mouth, but Ratchet spoke first.

"Any of us would do the same, be it you, or Colonel Lennox, or Sam."

Aria swallowed and gave a quick nod.

"Perhaps you can go talk to Ironhide."

She turned back to Ironhide who had his hand on the railing, actively crushing it under his grip as he argued with the men. The loud chatter of the base faded away as the image of Ironhide standing in front of her balcony filled her vision.

A metallic crunch snapped her back to reality. Ironhide ripped off the piece of railing and let it fall to the ground. He abruptly turned away and transformed, roaring out of the base, sending both human and Autobot scrambling out of his way.

Back up on the bridge, Will was looking between the other two men with him, one in a military uniform and one in a suit. They spoke a few indiscernible words before Will took his leave, climbing down the stairs. He caught sight of her and immediately marched over.

"Hey, you can take the day. It's not really the best…environment."

"I—" What could she say? Should she apologize for messing everything up?

Will put a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Aria. If you want to help, find 'Hide for me. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

"I'm—" Another man came up to Will, drawing him away with nothing more than a curt nod. "—not so sure," she finished under her breath.

She took one last look around the chaos before leaving the base.

The ride home was short. There were no signs of Ironhide past the dark skid marks leaving the hangar.

There really couldn't have been any worse timing for this to happen. He was already mad, and what she had to say was only going to make things worse. Why did everything have to be so difficult?

She turned into the parking lot in front of her condo and caught sight of someone sitting on the steps up to her door. No, not someone. Ironhide. Parked nearby was his alt-form.

Shit.

He looked up at her as she parked. His expression was distinctly indifferent. His posture was slouched, the complete opposite of his usual demeanor.

Even as she took off her gloves and helmet, all he did was watch.

"You want to come inside?" She asked as she approached.

He inclined his chin and stood, following her inside. He waited while she removed her jacket and shoes then followed her upstairs to her sitting room.

"I'm sorry about what's going on," she began, sitting down on the chair next to his.

He let out a humph, closing his eyes as if to compose himself. "Are humans treated the same way by your government?"

"I mean, in a lot of ways, yes. Lots of things they do seems unfair, but they do it to—I don't know—prevent the same thing from happening again?"

"Are they aware that what they are doing will just make things worse? Putting us at more of a disadvantage only makes the Decepticons more dangerous. Especially when they find out."

Her eyes fell. "Yeah, I know."

"Well then, if you know and I know and William knows, then why do they insist on doing it?" He lowered his voice. "All these decisions are being made by humans that haven't even met us. Why do they have the power to take what little we have left with no evidence it will help?"

She was overtaken by the urge to reach out to him. To hold him. To hug him until he felt better.

What was wrong with her? Instead of doing any of those things, she merely answered.

"Our world is full of band-aid solutions and quick fixes. Rarely are things done that would actually solve the problem. We're more likely to sweep it under the rug until we're forced to deal with it later."

She glanced up at him from the dried rose on the coffee table. His focus was towards the window and the city beyond. He only frowned in response to her words.

What else could he do?

He didn't deserve any of this. None of them did, of course, but him especially. Maybe it was because all of this was happening because he saved her. Because he wanted to be there for her. He was one of the most selfless beings she'd ever met, and all he got in return was apart of himself being taken away.

"I haven't heard that one before."

"Hm?"

"Sweeping something under the rug."

"Oh, it means trying to hide something in hopes it goes away."

He slowly turned his focus back towards her. "Like what you do to me."

She froze as his eyes met hers. Blue as ever despite his hard expression. "Wha—I would never, Ironhide!"

"You ran."

She opened her mouth, sputtering. "I—I meant to talk to you today! As soon as I saw you."

"And tell me it was a mistake. That you didn't mean it." He remained completely impassive.

"Yes!" she blurted. "I got carried away. It's just your holoform—I'm really attracted to it, and I got carried away when I shouldn't have and led you on when I should have stopped!"

Ironhide recoiled as if her words physically hurt him. "Why do you keep denying it?"

"Because it's not normal! And it's not fair that you keep using your holoform to make it feel like it is. You're an Autobot and I'm a human and that's that!"

His expression turned from hurt to anger to something else.

But he disappeared before she could decipher it.

Disappointment? No. Regret? No.

Defeat?

She dropped her face into her hands, shaking her head. How could she be so stupid? He was everything to her and all she ever did was hurt him.

Wait! Maybe he was still outside.

She jumped up, sprinting down the stairs as fast as her bad leg would allow. She threw open the door, her socks coming to contact with the cool cement.

But he was already gone.

What now? How was she going to fix this? It couldn't end like this.

The base!

Throwing on her shoes and helmet, she ran over to her bike. She put her glasses back on and pulled down the visor, starting the engine and speeding back to the base.

She arrived in what felt like both forever and only a second.

The base was in no different state than less than an hour ago. The only difference was that Ironhide was nowhere to be found. What if he didn't come back? Where else would he have gone?

Sideswipe was just about to pass her by unnoticed when she called up to him. It took him a second to spot her amongst the personnel filtering past.

"Have you seen Ironhide? Did he come back?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the one he goes to."

"He was with me, but I said something stupid and he left!"

"Oh no. Relationship problems all ready?"

"No. Yes—I don't know. Can you please just help me or something? I need to find him!"

"Well why didn't you just ask in the first place?" He took a step back and transformed. The Corvette door swung open. "Come on."

She jumped into the driver seat. The door closed behind her only a second before Sideswipe darted between human and Cybertronian alike and out of the base.

"You know where he is then?" she asked, still fumbling with the seatbelt between Sideswipe's highspeed turns.

"I have a few ideas."

If Ironhide was bad for speeding through traffic, it was nothing compared to Sideswipe. By the time she got the seatbelt fastened, they were already on the freeway headed east. One she'd been on a thousand times before.

"You think he went to my old place?"

"A few of us still sneak out there. It's the only place we can get some peace and quiet, especially now that there's no neighbours."

"I guess."

It was still weird that the Autobots came by despite her no longer living there. Did they come more often now than before? Maybe they liked the property more than her company.

"We were going to ask your permission, but 'Hide said he'd tell you when he thought you were ready."

"Ready? Ready for what?"

"To come hang out with us there. We feel bad taking advantage of your place without you."

Blurred shades of green passed outside the widow as they exited the city. Lush trees and grass filled her view, familiar and comforting, unlike the brick concrete surroundings of where she lived now.

"I appreciate that, but I don't think Ironhide will be there after what I said to him."

They pulled onto the small road that led to her driveway, caution tape haphazardly tied to trees flapping in the wind.

"This has been his secret hideaway since we moved here."

She leaned forward in her seat. The caution tape that was once strung across her driveway was ripped and dangling over the driveway. Tread marks indicated that it had been driven over multiple times.

As soon as the remains of her house came into view between the trees, her eyes landed on the black Autobot sitting behind it. If he heard Sideswipe pull up to the end of the driveway, he didn't acknowledge it.

"Told ya."

"Thanks, Sideswipe," was all she said, eyes locked on Ironhide's figure as she let herself out.

With the sound of crunching gravel and a retreating engine behind her, she approached the rubble. Her stomach felt like a rock, weighing her body down. Her shoes dragged past the driveway and into the tall grass.

It wasn't until she was right beside him that he glanced down at her so fleetingly that she may have imagined it.

She opened her mouth…but what was she supposed to say? It wasn't like she'd been wrong, it was the way she said it. There had to be a better way to explain it—a way for him to understand how she felt.

But…how did she feel?

No, it didn't matter how she felt. There was only right and wrong, and her feelings were wrong. Everything was wrong.

It was then that Ironhide finally spoke. Her eyes flew up to his faster than her mind could perceive his words.

"Would it change your mind if I told you I love you?"

No—no! Surely that wasn't what he said. "Y-you what?"

"I love you." His words were strong. Clear as day. Yet, it sounded like Latin.

"I wanted to tell you sooner," he continued. "But I decided to wait until you were more comfortable. Though, every step I took forward, you took one back."

"But that's because I'm—we're different. It's not—"

"Aria."

She shut her mouth. Never had he said her name so harshly before.

He faced her now, tone as sharp as his eyes. "I don't care about what's normal, but I doubt that has ever crossed your mind, has it?"

Oh, now he was pinning it on her? "How am I supposed to know how you feel?" She raised her voice louder, letting everything out. "You're from a different planet, remember? I don't know what you think is normal or not normal, just like I don't expect you to know the same for me!" She gestured wildly. "All I know is that everyone is going to think I'm a freak!"

The weight of his gaze sent her down to her haunches. Her fingers clawed her hair.

"Why do you care so much about other people's perceptions?"

"Because I don't want to be an outcast!" Despite squeezing her eyes closed, her tears still escaped. "You're my only friend. Before I met you, I didn't have anyone. Just Sirius and my horses, and I don't even have them anymore!"

The sound of shifting metal filled in the quiet gaps between her sobs as his shadow enveloped her.

"If I am your friend, then why are my feelings the only ones you haven't considered, hm?" He reached out and caressed her back. "You must value my thoughts and opinions as I do yours."

"I do. I just thought I was crazy for thinking you would ever like me that way."

"You mean like like?"

An undignified snort escaped her. Wheelie was dead next time she saw him.

"Yeah, I guess."

"And do you know why I like like you?"

She shook her head.

He used his thumb to brush away the tears on her cheek, warm and gentle. "Because you're not normal. No one else has dared to do what you've done for us, and you've lost everything because of it. And even after that, you still refuse to let us go."

How he managed to look so soft was indescribable.

She looked up at him through heavy eyelashes. "I don't want to be apart from you. Everything's just so quiet when you're not there."

"I feel the same."

She reached out for his thumb that hovered close to her face. The metal was smooth under her fingertips. "I'm sorry. For being so difficult, I mean."

He gave a lopsided grin. "About time."

She let out a huff of laughter.

He leaned in until the glow of his optic eyes bathed her skin in blue light. The spark in her chest hummed, sending a strange warmth through her body. She stood and brought her hand up to his face, touching the metal that made up his cheek. He came even closer, leaning into the touch. His hand cupped her body, ever so slightly pushing her closer to him. It wasn't until she was pressed up to him that he let out a hum.

She stayed like that, caressing the various parts of his face, from his nose to the jagged metal around his eye.

She was the first to break the silence. "I'm afraid if we tell anyone, they'll make me leave, or fill out lots more paperwork."

"Of course they would. It seems to be this planet's answer to everything."

"What do you want to do then?"

"I'm happy with what we're already doing."

"Me too."

"But no more running away."

"Only if you don't disappear."

"I won't."

"Then it's a deal." She pressed her lips against his face, sealing it with a kiss,

…