Paige slept very peacefully that night; she was comfortably warm and had no intention of moving from her comfy spot on the bed anytime soon. She was lying there breathing softly enjoying the warmth in the room when suddenly she heard knocking on her door. Groaning she got up. As she walked towards the door, she hiked up her night gown to her mid thigh and scratched an itch. She then let go of the fabric and allowed it to hang back near her shins.
Paige opened the door with another yawn, she blinked a few times and then Ironhide's holoform came into focus.
She leaned against the door frame and looked up at him through sleep filled eyes "good morning" she said brushing her hair out of her face.
Ironhide gave her a slow and easy smile and said "Good morning to you too." He looked past her into her apartment "You ready for work?" Paige snapped to attention and whipped around to look at the clock on the wall, when she saw the time she swore. Whipping around once more to face Ironhide she looked around the hallway to make sure that no one was watching, she then grabbed his arm and dragged him into the apartment. "What the-"
"Sorry" Paige gave him an apologetic smile "Wait here, I'll get ready" she rushed back into her room and Ironhide looked around her apartment. He saw her massive amounts of flowers and smiled softly.
Ironhide heard Paige rummaging about in her room and spared the opened doorway a quick glance. He saw skin. Paige had forgotten to close her bathroom door as she quickly got undressed for her shower. He just saw her bare back but that was enough for his holoform to feel a human longing. It took all of his self control to pry his eyes away from the human female and continue his observation of the apartment. He walked around and picked up a small shirt which was lying on the ground. It had the words 'Trees are 4 hugging' on it. Ironhide folded the shirt and draped it across her couch.
He continued his observation and his eyes came to rest upon the picture she had hanging above her fake fireplace. He identified the flower as an Iris, seeing as the picture was the biggest and had the nicest frame Ironhide figured that the Iris was her favorite flower. He looked through her apartment some more, his eyes occasionally drifting towards the open door in which Paige was having a shower.
Paige got out of the shower and looked around the bathroom, she gave out a small curse; she had forgotten to bring her clothes into the bathroom. Quickly she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her wet body. Then she walked into the living room and proceeded to look for some clothes to wear. Ironhide blinked as Paige walked into the living room with nothing but a towel.
"Uh Paige…" Ironhide said sounding somewhat nervous.
"Oh sorry Ironhide" Paige brushed away the wet hair from her face "I never had much use for closets, I always throw my clothes all over the place" she picked up a pair of jeans and began looking for a t-shirt. She chose the one Ironhide had folded over her couch. Then she winked at him and returned back to her bathroom and closed the door. Ironhide was left staring; he looked somewhat shocked and somewhat amused.
Paige came out a few moments later; the clothes she had chosen looked nice on her. The t-shirt was a bit too big but it still looked nice. She quickly gathered up her things and then turned to Ironhide who gave her a smile.
"I'll wait for you outside" he said as he fizzled out of sight. Paige grabbed her keys and went to lock her apartment. She put her key into the lock and noticed a few unusual scratches, frowning she locked the door and headed on out to Ironhide. Ironhide opened his door for her and Paige crawled in.
"Thank you for waiting Ironhide" Paige said, she patted the dashboard and Ironhide allowed himself to chuckle.
"My pleasure Paige" he said.
Frenzy was freaking out "holy-shit-man-that-was-so-fragg'n-creapy-I-mean-so-creepy-i-mean-so-very-creepy-that-just-freaked-me-shitless-holy-crap-man-that-was-just-so-disgusting-so-very-disgusting-I-mean-so-disgusting-"
He was cut off by Barricade's smooth voice "Frenzy…" he spoke softly.
"What? Barricade-you-gotta-believe-me-man-that-was-so-fragging-strange-that's-not-normal-man-that-was-so-"
"Shut up" Barricade muttered.
"But-you-don't-understand-you-gotta-understand-that-was-not-namral-I-think-a-fat-guy-in-a-speedo-would-look-more-normal-ugly-humans-but-this-was-even-weirder-man-you-gotta-just-listen-to-me-it-was-so-irregular- it-makes-me-think-that-Starscream-may-have-a-wire-loose-what-the-hell-does-he-want-with-that-human?" Frenzy jittered on and on and finally after having enough, Barricade secretly shut off his audio receptors and drove peacefully.
"Paige!" Paige whipped around to the sound of her name; it had been her boss who had called her. "Paige, hon' do me a favor"
"Sure boss" Paige shrugged, she didn't have anything to do at the moment, the photo shop wasn't busy at the moment.
"I need you to pick me up a coffee, I'm dying here girl. I got too much paperwork to leave and well I need a coffee. There are no words to describe how much I need this coffee" he was about to go on when Paige help up her hands silencing him.
"I got it boss" she told him smiling "What sort of a coffee do ya want?" she asked preparing to grab her purse and walk on over to Ironhide.
"Black, that's all!" he told her. He gave her one final wave as Paige exited the building.
Ironhide was doing an internet search and couldn't be bothered to notice Paige. He did notice when she opened the door and climbed in, she sat and he snapped to attention. Paige put on her seatbelt and looked at the steering wheel.
"Can you find a good coffee shop around here?" she asked.
"You want me to drive you to a coffee shop?" Ironhide said sounding amused "are you skipping from your duties?" he asked.
Paige looked appalled "I would never!" she told him "My boss says that he is dying without coffee and so has ordered me to go get some." She told him.
"Well then" Ironhide said "Why can't your boss get his own coffee?" Ironhide asked as he pulled out of his parking space and drove on towards a Starbuck's he had located on his GPS.
"He has too much work to do" Paige said settling nicely into her seat.
"So now you're an errand girl?" Ironhide said, he felt that Paige wasn't having her talents used properly.
Paige leaned forward "I don't mind, I am being paid to do this and he's my boss and my friend, I don't mind giving him a favor" she told him
"I suppose" Ironhide said as he stopped for a red light, he watched as an old lady hobbled by.
Paige sat back "besides I like doing favors, makes me feel good about my self. I'm helping others out of the goodness of my heart"
"Or your just being used" Ironhide argued.
"That might be for other people but I do favors for good kind people." Paige told him. "Besides I have said no sometimes when I felt that it was the wrong sort of favor to give."
"I see" Said Ironhide thoughtfully as he pulled up to the Starbuck's, Paige thanked him and got out. A few minutes later she came back in carrying two coffees and a bag which was filled with a few cookies.
"I thought your boss said he only wanted one coffee" Ironhide said.
Paige smiled "I also did him the favor so I could get myself a coffee and a few cookies" she told him.
Ironhide let out a snigger "Well that just makes every thing better"
Paige sipped her coffee and nodded "Coffee does make everything better" she told him "I'd give you some but I'm not sure if you can drink or eat" she looked at the dash thoughtfully and when he didn't respond she said "Can you drink or eat?"
"Well when in robot form we use Energon as a sort of food, but when I am in my holoform I can eat human food" he said.
Paige held out her coffee "Do you want to try?" she asked.
Ironhide hesitated for a moment but then pulled over and activated his holoform, "Alright he said. Paige handed him the cup of coffee and he took it and sipped it. Ironhide felt warm liquid enter in his mouth and he immediately liked the taste. So he swallowed and took another sip.
"Hey that's mine!" Paige unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to try and grab the coffee but Ironhide leaned away from her and held the coffee out of her reach. "Aw come on Ironhide" she made another grab for the coffee but ended up slipping and falling into his lap. She felt and heard Ironhide laughing and sat up, his blue eyes sparkled mischievously as he held the coffee. Paige pouted and tried once more to get the coffee, she failed and Paige pouted once more. Ironhide took another gulp of coffee and watched as Paige got up from her seat, she brought up her feet and was about to touch the seat with her shoes when Ironhide stopped her.
"No dirty footwear on my seats" he told her sternly.
"Fine" Paige rolled her eyes and took off her shoes, she wore fuzzy socks. She brought her feet up to the seat again and sat in a sort of crouch. Her feet were on the seat and her knees rested just under her head. She balanced on the fronts of her feet and when she saw Ironhide take another sip she growled and leaned forward once more. Ironhide pulled the coffee out of her reach and stuck his tongue out at her. Paige closed her eyes and she too stuck her tongue out at him. She opened her eyes when she heard Ironhide laughing.
Paige pouted "Can I have my coffee back?" she asked still leaning forward.
Ironhide smile he took one last sip and then handed the coffee back to Paige, "Fine" he said with a small smile.
Paige took the coffee and found he had drunk almost a quarter of it, she turned her brown eyes towards him and said "you owe me a quarter of a coffee" she took a big gulp of her coffee and smile at the old welcome taste. Ironhide watched her for a moment, but he then noticed the small bag which Paige said had cookies. He picked it up and looked over to Paige who sighed and held up one finger "Only one" she told him. Ironhide took out one circular shaped item and nibbled on it. After doing a quick internet search he found the cookie's name- chocolate chip. He liked the taste of the cookie as well and gobbled it up fast. When Paige saw his intent to grab another cookie she took the bag and hid it behind her.
"Aww come on Paige, one more" he held out his hands and Paige sighed.
"You're like a child" she told him, she handed him one more cookie and took the last one for herself. The finished their snacks quickly.
Ironhide grinned at Paige "Thanks for the coffee and the cookies" he told her.
Paige laughed "Your welcome" she said "I may have to take you to a candy store someday soon" she said thoughtfully.
Ironhide was about to say 'how about now?' but he realized Paige still had work "Uh Paige I think you should get back to work" Ironhide told her.
Paige slumped back into her seat and pouted "now that's no fun" she told him.
Ironhide shrugged "We can go there after…" he said hopefully.
Paige turned her head and laughed "Alright" she said. "Let's get back to work"
Barricade drove along the country side, his audio receptors were off and he was enjoying peace and quiet while Frenzy chatted not knowing his voice could not be heard by the larger robot. Suddenly Barricade took a turn and drove into a field kicking up dust and other such earthly matters. The field was a farmer's field but it was far enough away from human's for Barricade to transform. As he did so Frenzy stood on the ground and stepped back as a giant robot emerged form the once was police car.
"where-is-Starscream-I-mean-what-the-hell-man-I-went-through-that-nightmare-and-he-is-not-even-here!!!!" the small robot threw up his hands in an aggravated manner.
"Hush Frenzy" Barricade silenced the small robot as a jet with cybertronian markings flew into the clearing. It looked as if for a moment, that the plane would hit the big robot but its metal body began to shift metal plating slid over metal plating, and soon limbs were appearing. The robot landed quite gracefully. His head seemed a bit too small for his body but he still managed to pull off an evil sort of look.
"Barricade, Frenzy… have you completed your mission?" he asked with an animal sort voice.
"Yes" was Barricade's answer
"Yes-yes-yes-we-did-we-totally-did-and-I-was-not-scared-no-sir-disgusting-human-did-not-scare-me-not-at-all-no-no-no-no-no!" Frenzy told him.
Starscream seemed somewhat pleased "then show me your findings." Frenzy did just that, he projected an image of a human and Starscream knelt down as Frenzy's projection changed, the projected image of the human changed and Frenzy let out a little shudder. Barricade stayed silent while Starscream regarded the image with a strange sort of fascination.
"gross-gross-gross!" Frenzy shivered "why-the-hell-do-you-want-with-this-human-anyways?-its-so-gross!"
The projection ended and Starscream picked up the small robot "What you fail to understand my little-" he paused for a moment "pathetic, friend. You fail to understand the… potential she has"
Frenzy looked up at the massive robot before him "the-potential-to-be-disgusting?" he asked.
Starscream lost his temper, he threw the small robot on the ground and stepped on him, he smiled when he heard the small robot groan in pain.
"Just to be sure this little screwed up piece of trash was right about the human…" his head snapped up "Barricade!" Barricade got the silent order and transformed and drove off.
Paige had given her boss the coffee and he thanked her with a small wink. She had gone back to her desk and was minding her own business waiting for a customer when a man walked in. she looked up and gave him a smile.
"Hello!" she smiled. He grunted but gave no greeting. "Uh… what can I do fro you today?" she tried to keep her smile in place, but it was difficult, the man before her was creeping her out. He had dull red eyes which seemed to stare straight into her very soul. She shivered.
"Just a passport photo" he said, his voice cold and heartless.
"Uh sure… just this way" she gestured into a dark room where the photo would be taken. The man walked in the room and she followed after him. Once the door was shut she gestured towards the stool at the end of the small room, "Have a seat" she told him kindly. He did as she ordered and Paige went to get the proper camera. Once she had the camera set up on the tripod she began to make the proper adjustments. While she was doing so the man was staring at her.
Paige straightened up and began to walk over to the man so that she could tell him what sort of position to take. Suddenly the man seized her, his big hands went around her small wrists and she was pushed up against the wall. She had time to let out a scream before one of his hands clamped down on her mouth. His other hand held the two of hers above her head. His red eyes flashed and then moved their way up and down the length of her body. Paige struggled against his hold but he snarled at her, telling her to stay still.
Ironhide had heard the scream and was debating whether or not to help when he saw a police car parked right outside of the photo shop. He let out an angry growl and activated his holoform, he then ran inside and scanned the area quickly looking for Paige. He found her struggling against another form. Ironhide burst in the room and tackled the man. Paige fell to the ground in a heap while the two men began a fist fight.
Paige clamped her hands over her mouth trying her best not to scream as Ironhide was thrown against the wall. Ironhide got up and dodging a blow to the face he went in low and hit the man with a well placed punch to the stomach. The man let out a little groan but lashed out a kick towards Ironhide. Ironhide blocked and hit him once more, this time smashing his head with his knuckles. The man staggered back and leaned against the wall for support. Ironhide stood in front of Paige and looked calmly towards his attacker.
"Stupid" the man muttered, he gave Ironhide an evil smile and then his body fizzled and disappeared.
Paige let out a little surprised gasp. Ironhide turned to the woman behind him and let out a little sound of sympathy. He had decided to let the Decepticon go, because he was unable to care for Paige and chase after the other at the same time, so he had figured that the human was his first priority.
He bent down "Paige?" she looked up at him; her hands still over her mouth, there were the makings of tears in her eyes. "Aww, Paige, don't you worry. I'm here" he looked at her hands and saw bruises forming, Barricade had gripped her hard. He was careful not to hurt her when he grabbed her arms. She allowed him to move her hands; Ironhide took a hold of her chin and moved her head gently, checking for damage.
"What the hell is going on!" an angry voice suddenly shouted from the door way.
Ironhide looked up, he saw two men and a lady, one man had his arm around the lady's shoulders, "Who are you?" he asked moving slightly in front of Paige.
"I'm Paige's boss" the man with out the lady said.
"I'm Bradley" the man with his arm around the woman said, he introduced the woman as Pat. Ironhide recognized Bradley's name as the name of Paige's ex-boyfriend, when he saw the woman in his arms he figured it was Paige's actual ex-boyfriend. 'Who are you?" Bradley asked, he seemed unsettled by Ironhide's hand on Paige.
Ironhide looked at Bradley for a moment with narrowed eyes, then deciding to give Bradley more grief he smiled "I'm Paige's boyfriend" he told them.
Bradley flinched "Oh are you?" he asked trying to sound pleasant.
"Enough of that" Paige's boss ran into the room and knelt down next to Paige, she was shivering and seemed to have no knowledge of what was going on. "What happened to her?" he ran a hand down Paige's arm.
"She was attacked" Ironhide said, he was gathering Paige up in his arms and was preparing to take her on over to the Autobot base where he would get Ratchet to check her out and then they would discuss what to do after.
"Good God" Paige's boss breathed.
"I'm taking her to the hospital" Ironhide lied; he needed to get Paige out.
"Yes yes, you do that" he ushered them out of the room and sent them out.
Ironhide walked quickly he held onto Paige gently, Paige held onto him and she seemed a bit better.
"It's going to be ok Paige" Ironhide told her as he deposited her in the passenger seat. He then got in and his holoform disappeared. He started driving to the base.
After a few moments Paige spoke up, "Ironhide?"
"Yes Paige?" Ironhide said, he was relived to hear that her voice was back to normal.
"Why did you say that you were my boyfriend?" she asked, her forehead was pressed against the cool window, her eyes were closed but she looked better now that they were out of the shop.
Ironhide chuckled "you saw Bradley there right?" he asked.
"Yes I did" Paige paused "Scum" she muttered "had his arm around Pat, his new girl I suppose" she said miserably.
"He seemed jealous that I was the one who saved you" Ironhide said sounding amused.
Paige sat up "I would prefer you over him any day" she said.
"As your savoir or as your boyfriend?" Ironhide couldn't help himself from asking.
Paige paused, she gave the empty seat next to her a small shy smile "Both" she said.