On the drive back to the base Paige realized something, "Ironhide, where will I be sleeping?"
Ironhide thought for a bit "Well, considering we are taking about Optimus' decision about where to place you. My best guess would be either in the med lab or out by the door"
"Alright" Paige said. "Will I have a bed?" she asked a minute later.
Ironhide chuckled softly "Of course Paige, we're not going to torture you or cause you any difficulty" he told her.
Paige let out a small sigh of relief, she shifted the pot of flowers in her lap and said "how long do you think I will have to stay at your base… not that I don't want to stay at your base, its just that-"
"I understand Paige" Ironhide cut her off. "It's hard being away from home"
Paige sympathized with him "especially if it's on a different planet" she said.
"Yes, Especially" Ironhide said.
Paige bit her bottom lip "I don't mean to open old wounds but… can you tell me what it was like on your planet? Was it beautiful?"
Ironhide le tout a long sigh, "Yeah, It was the most beautiful place, always filled with life and laughter"
"Then you had a war right?" Paige asked.
"How did you know?" Ironhide asked.
"I didn't, that just happens all the time, what is peaceful is corrupted by war" Paige told him.
"Well aren't you just a smartie" Ironhide said "yes we had a war, our planet was divided up into two groups"
"Autobots and Decepticons" Paige said.
Ironhide heaved another big sigh "Paige do you want to tell the story or should I continue?"
Paige bit back a retort "Fine, I'll stay quiet"
"Thank you. So anyways we had a big war over the Allspark. Bumblebee threw it into space and it was lost. Then after a while we got a team together to find the Allspark, because we knew the decepticons were coming after it. The team was lead by Optimus, and we ended up here as you see us now, except we lost one" Ironhide said, his voice seemed to have lost its emotion.
"Awww" Paige patted the dash and gave her condolences. Ironhide was thankful for her respect.
"His name was Jazz"
"Nice name" Paige murmured, she meant it. "He sounds like a nice guy"
"He was" Ironhide said.
"Do you want to go back home?" Paige asked feeling sorry for the poor guy.
Ironhide scoffed "What home? It was destroyed"
Paige felt the need to comfort him or make him laugh, she wished she hadn't brought up the subject, "Well as a resident of earth I extend my hand of welcome" Paige told him, she figured it was the right thing to say.
"Nice to know some of you guys like us" Ironhide said. The need to stroke him became too intense, so Paige extended her hand and ran it down the arm rest and back up.
"Some people just need to get used to the idea that giant robots roam the earth now" Paige told him as her hand continued to move up and down the arm rest.
"I-I suppose" Ironhide said. He was very aware of her hands on his seat and he was trying very hard not to shudder.
Paige stopped rubbing the arm rest when she saw the cliff end. She gripped her plant pot tight and closed her eyes.
"Paige, if you get in the back…" Ironhide felt bad for the poor woman and her fear of heights.
"No its fine, I can deal with it" Paige nodded as if reassuring herself.
"You're allowed to say yes to something's" Ironhide told her, thinking his lesson in saying no had gone too far.
"I know I just want to see if I can handle it" Paige said.
"Don't push yourself to places you can't go" Ironhide told her.
"I can do it" Paige said.
Ironhide drove onto the elevator; he activated it and moved his optics back onto the small human. Her eyes were shut tight and she gripped her plant pot tightly. He felt her tense in the seat, as soon as the doors to the base opened Ironhide sped in giving Paige some relief.
"You did good" he murmured.
Paige let out the breath she had been holding "Thank you" she blushed.
Paige reached into the back and grabbed her bag. She then got out, her plant swaying slightly to her movements. Ironhide transformed and signaled to Optimus that they were back. Optimus came in a few moments later and gave them a relived smile.
"You were taking so long" he said "I was planning to go after you myself"
Paige tilted her head "What do you transform into?" she asked.
"A semi" Optimus told her.
"Oooh" Paige smiled up at him, "That explains your size" she said. Optimus let out a small chuckle. "Where will I be sleeping?" Paige asked after Optimus had his small laugh.
"You will be bunking with Ironhide" Optimus told her "His room is big enough to hold his stasis bed, his guns and your bed. And I feel it necessary for you to be watched over at all times"
"With Ironhide" Paige felt the heat rising up to her cheeks and she didn't know why.
"Yes. I've had Ratchet already set you up a suitable bed so all that is left is for you to get settled in"
"Thank you Optimus" Paige said gratitude evident in the tone of her voice.
"My pleasure Paige" Optimus gave her a reassuring smile.
Ironhide gave Paige a small nudge with his foot "come on Paige" he said. "I'll show you the way"
"Oh ok" Paige followed after him. Ironhide walked down the hallway and turned, a door opened and he walked in. Paige followed in after him and let out a big breath. "Wow!" she said in awe. Guns lined the walls, each looking more deadly than the one before.
Ironhide looked down at the small impressed human "Well this is it" he said Paige looked around the room and saw a bed.
She walked on over to it, it was a queen sized bed and would suit her nicely. She placed down her plant and bag and jumped onto the bed. She rolled back and forth and let out a small giggle. The bed was soft and seemed to absorb her every movement, she couldn't have asked for a better bed. She sat up and looked over at Ironhide, he saw sitting down and watching her with an amuse expression.
"What?" she asked.
"It doesn't take much to amuse you does it?" Ironhide asked.
Paige shrugged "I am easily pleased" she told him, redness had entered her cheeks her cheeks once more. Paige was angry with herself, she was blushing and showing off far too emotion than was normal for her. Ever since Ironhide had saved her Paige had felt a weight being lifted from her shoulders; she hadn't even known it was there. She had been surviving going through life as was normal before she had met the Autobots, but now that she knew them, she wanted. She wanted not to survive, but rather she wanted to live, she wanted adventures, she wanted romance, she wanted it all. It scared her a little bit, but she wasn't going to back down. She wasn't going to run at the smallest shadow but rather she vowed to charge it head on. And she was doing it, she hadn't moved from her seat when Ironhide had gone down the elevator. She had yelled at a giant robot, but the one thing that made her the most happiest was that she had made friends with the same giant robot that she had yelled at.
He sat before her eyeing her with an expression that she knew was one of amusement. The way the metal of his face moved to display different emotions fascinated Paige, she wanted to get a close look at him face but then she figured that she would be invading his personal bubble. Maybe someday when she had the courage she would ask him to let her climb on top of him and get a better look.
"Thank you Ironhide, for putting up with me" Paige sat with her legs dangling over the edge of the bed and leaned back on her hands.
Ironhide moved a bit, he looked as if he were embarrassed "Its nothing Paige, I am your guardian after all"
"My what?" Paige asked with her brow raised.
"Your guardian, you've been my charge ever since I started driving you to work" Ironhide told her.
"Really?" Paige let off a small laugh, "and here I thought we were just friends"
"We are friends. Are we not?" Ironhide asked.
"Yes we are." Paige said "And I'm grateful for that"
"We are friends and I am your guardian, I am responsible for your safety" Ironhide told her, he crossed her arms and leaned against the wall in a lazy fashion.
"That will be hard work" Paige told him "I am very clumsy"
"I already noted that" Ironhide told her, a smile flickering across his features. Paige remained silent for a moment, she observed the guns lined against the wall and then turned her gaze to his massive arms which she knew housed big guns as well.
"Are you really skilled with these, or do you just like guns?" Paige asked.
Ironhide sat up, "I love guns, he told her, but you wont ever find a better shot than me" he told her proudly.
"Is that so?" Paige asked sitting up in the same way Ironhide was.
"You don't believe me?" Ironhide said, noting her sarcastic remark.
"Well after saying something like that, I do require a bit of proof" Paige told him.
"Alright then human, follow me" Ironhide stood up and waited for Paige to jump off her bed. Then he opened the door and walked out of the room. Paige followed after him and when they reached the elevator she let out a flinch.
"We have to go on that?" she asked.
"Well human, do you want this proof or not?" Ironhide asked, he dearly wanted to show off his skills and shoot something.
Paige nodded, she set a determined face and when the door opened she stepped on the platform and Ironhide stepped on with her. Once he was standing Paige placed a hand on his foot and forced herself to calm down. She closed her eyes and heard the beginnings of the elevators decent. Ironhide kept an optic on the small human, her posture remained relaxed as they continued down, and he felt proud of her. She was facing a great fear and when he looked down at her a visual look displayed a human with nothing to fear. Paige of course was not relaxed, her heart was pounding and she felt her stomach rise with the motion of the elevator.
Then suddenly it was over. The elevator stopped and Paige cracked open an eye and let out a little breath. They were in the bottom of the cliff, shear rock faces connected and extended towards the sky. The ground was fairly flat providing excellent sparring ground for the Autobots. Off to the side there were small targets which had been set up especially for Ironhide. She looked back up at Ironhide the awe clear upon her face.
"You guys have a place like this?" she whirled her head back to the large area "Wow!" she beamed.
Ironhide smirked "come along then human" He began to walk off the elevator "I have a boast to prove" Paige followed him to the area which she figured was the shooting area. She stood next to Ironhide and looked at him expectantly. Ironhide made a big show of bringing out one of his canons. His fingers wiggled and then out came a cylinder, metal parts moved in and out of the way and soon a respectable canon flipped out of his arm. Paige crossed her arms and raised her brow. Ironhide took a stance, one of his feet moved behind him and he extended his arm. After some quick aiming he mentally triggered his canon and sent of a large amount of energy. His blast hurtled towards the center of the target and hit it dead on.
Ironhide looked down at the small human who was clapping "that was awesome!" she shouted "Do it again!" she told him.
Ironhide let out a low chuckle and shrugged "Alright" he was in fact quite pleased that Paige had taken such an immediate liking to what he had done for most of his life- and the was blowing up things. Then again Ironhide thought, who didn't love a big explosion now and again. Ironhide activate his other canon, and in one quick motion sent of six blasts towards six targets which he hit all perfectly center.
"Woooaaahhh!" Paige was staring at the robot before her dumbfounded.
"Is that proof enough?" he asked mildly.
"Holy crap" Paige said "your awesome!" she told him, giving him one big thumb up.
Ironhide let out a booming laugh "Well thank you" he told her after he was done laughing.
Paige frowned up at him "What's so funny?" she asked putting her hands on her hips.
"Well now, I don't know" Ironhide told her. He knelt down, "But I felt the need to laugh" he said.
Paige rolled her eyes "you robots…" she muttered. Ironhide just shrugged, Paige took her hands off her hip and looked around. She spotted black dirt near the elevator. She tilted her head and stared at the dirt a moment more, she then walked over to it and knelt down. Ironhide watched Paige curiously; he walked up behind her and leaned over a bit so that he could see what she was doing. She had dug her hands into the dirt and when she had a good mass of it in her hand she gave it a sniff and rubbed it through her fingers. As the dirt trickled down Paige had and idea. A brilliant idea if she did say so herself. Loosing one of her hands of all the dirt she felt her back pocket and found that indeed she had remembered her wallet. With this brilliant idea in mind she turned to Ironhide who was staring down at her with a very comical look. He looked as if he thought she was insane.
"Paige why did you smell the earth?" he asked.
"Never mind that" Paige waved his question away with a small motion of her hand. "Can you give me a lift?" she asked.
"I suppose" Ironhide said, wondering where she would want to go.
"Go I need you to take me to a Garden Center" she said.
"Garden… Center…?" Ironhide repeated "What do you want with a garden center?"
"You'll see" Paige told him.
"Alright" Ironhide sighed. His main reason for agreeing was that he was curious as to what the small human had planned.
Dutifully he transformed and Paige got in, she was careful not to touch any of his interior with her dirty hands. The seat belt came around her torso and tightened. Then Ironhide revved his engine and drove onto the elevator. Paige had been so excited for her idea that she had forgotten about the elevator until they actually started going up. She let out a low groan and sunk into her seat. She closed her eyes tightly.
"It'll be alright Paige" Ironhide said. A low moan of agony was his response.
When they reached the top Paige let go of the breath she had been holding and relaxed, "We made it" she breathed. Ironhide didn't bother to reply, he was busy searching up the nearest garden center. He found one twenty minutes away and began his drive. Paige didn't talk to Ironhide, she was too busy planning. The dirt that she had found was rich in nutrients and would serve as a wonderful garden. She figured that she would do something nice for the Autobots to show them how much she appreciated her help and decided a nice garden would do the trick. Then not only would she get to give them a thank you gift but she could fulfill a small dream of hers- she had always wanted to plant a garden.
When they reached the center Paige got out and told Ironhide to wait for a bit. She ran for the entrance and let out a little happy sigh when she saw the mass of green before her. She walked towards the outdoor plants section and began to browse. She looked through numerous shrubs and plants picking out different things she liked and when she had an armful of different plants she realized that she would need a cart, so she ran off and got one. Pretty soon she had a substantial amount of plants, pleased she wheeled her cart over to the check out. Once in line she realized that she needed dirt so she left once more and got three big packages of dirt and wheeled it back. Once again she was in line when she realized that fertilizer was also needed, with a happy smile she left the line up once more and went to grab that as well. Finally she paid for the respective items- it cost a total for two hundred- but Paige figured it was worth the price.
Ironhide had been waiting for half an hour, and steadily he was growing impatient. He had no idea what Paige wanted with a Garden Center but what ever it was it was taking far too long. He grumbled to himself as Paige exited the building laden with a cart full of plants. When she reached him she pulled down the tailgate and jumped in. Unable to talk to her with out drawing attention to himself he waited patiently for her to load up her things. When he saw the bags of dirt he decided to screw cover, no way was she going to dirty him.
He closed his tailgate. Paige frowned and kicked him, "Come on Ironhide"! She said.
"No dirt" Ironhide told her simply.
"Yes dirt" Paige said. She leaned over the tailgate to grab her bag of dirt. She got it and tugged it over and dropped it into the back.
"Paige!" Ironhide sounded as if he was whining.
"Ironhide!" Paige mocked him "I'll give you a car wash after" she told him.
"Fine…." Ironhide muttered. Once Paige had loaded up all her things she crawled into the passenger seat and in order to further annoy Ironhide she patted her dirty hands onto his steering wheel.
"Hey!" Ironhide grumbled. Paige just smiled and allowed him to drive back to the base. Once there she prepared herself for the decent.
"Make sure you go all the way to the bottom of the cliff" she told him.
"Alright" Ironhide muttered, the sooner he could have the dirt out of him the better. Paige unloaded with efficiency and Ironhide transformed. He gave one great big shake and dirt sprayed out, Paige let out a shriek of laughter and cowered as the giant robot above her tried to relieve himself from the dirt in his systems.
Once Ironhide was done shaking he sat down in an angry huff, "This car wash better be good" he muttered.
Paige winked at him "oh it'll be good" she told him. Ironhide was surprised to feel a shiver of excitement. "You'll get it after I'm done here" Paige said as she arranged her plants and her tools.
"How long with that take?" Ironhide asked.
"Give or take an hour or two" she said a she dug a hole with her hands.
"Be a little more specific" Ironhide said in an impatient way.
"I dunno" Paige said shrugging "I'll be done when I'm done" Paige began to take the plant out of its plastic home and placed it in the dirt.
There was silence for a long while, Ironhide watched as the small human dug holes and placed plants in the ground.
"What are you doing this for?" Ironhide asked, wishing to break the silence.
"Well" Paige said as she lugged a heavy plant over to its spot in the ground "I wanted to thank you Autobots for giving me a place to stay and protection." She said "So I figured I would give you a little garden"
Ironhide looked at the makings of her garden and gave her a soft smile "it's beautiful" he told her.
Paige's cheeks went a shade darker "Well it's not finished yet, but when I'm done it'll look nice" she promised him. She put the large plant in its hole and began to fill it occasionally checking to make sure that the plant wasn't tipped. "Did your planet have things like this" she asked as she pounded the ground near the bottom of the plant.
"No not like this, but rather we had massive structures all built of concrete and metal towering across out planet" Ironhide let out a small sigh.
Paige knew she was stepping into a tender area and immediately retreated "That sounds lovely" she said brushing away some of her hair with a dirty hand. She figured that last comment would be then end of it and she was right. Ironhide slipped into silence and once more watched as Paige created a small garden.
An hour passed when Paige finally stood up to assess her work. She wiped away some sweat from he forehead and turned towards Ironhide.
She gestured towards the garden and said "Surprise! It's a garden!" Ironhide laughed and Paige turned back to the garden, "We need to water it" she said.
Ironhide thought for a moment and then said "We have a hose. We needed to use it to wash off all of the dirt we got on our armor when we were training down here"
Paige laughed "that works" she told him. Ironhide got up and brought her the end of the hose. "Well now I can use this to wash you off too" she told him. She took the end of the hose and aimed it towards the garden. Ironhide turned it on and Paige watered for a few minutes. Once done she turned towards Ironhide and gave him a spray in the face.
"Hey!" Ironhide protected his face with his arms and Paige laughed, she walked closer. She kept aiming for his face. "Paige!" Ironhide shouted getting up to run away from the small human with the hose. Paige just laughed and ran after him. Pretty soon Paige ran out of hose length and had to stop, Ironhide stood a safe distance away, his laugh echoing off the canyon walls. "When I said car wash I didn't mean that!" he told her.
Paige shrugged and walked over to the tap where she turned off the water "Well your clean now aren't you?"
"No I'm not" Ironhide said, "I still have dirt all over me" he told her with a small pout.
Paige put her hands on her hips "Then come here and transform, I'll wash it off for you" Ironhide did as she told him and once he was a black gleaming truck did she then begin her promised car wash.
She rubbed him down with some clothes she found near by and heard Ironhide give off a contented sigh "Now this is a car wash" he told her "With out that damn hose" he said. Paige laughed; to further annoy him she sprayed him with the hose again. "Hey!"
Paige had Ironhide dirt free half an hour later; by that time she was drenched with cold water. Ironhide had dried off quickly his armor warmed and dried easily by the sun, Paige eon the other hand had clothes on which didn't dry so easily. Her hair was dripping wet and it stuck to her heart shaped face framing it nicely. Her tight jeans seemed even tighter and her t-shirt clung to her body, Ironhide noticed all.
"Aw man" Paige muttered, she looked up and winked at him "Well good thing we got some clothes"
"Yeah…" Ironhide said.
Paige frowned her head turning towards the elevator "I'm gonna have to ride that thing again" she sighed.
Ironhide transformed and walked onto the elevator, Paige followed after him "You'll make it" he told her.
Paige nodded "Alright" she said. On the way up her hand came to touch Ironhide's foot in what he knew was her seeking comfort. They reached the base entrance and walked in, Paige excused herself and ran over to Ironhide's room where she got changed. She putted on some sweat pants and a tank top which was a little too small for her. After putting her hair up in a soggy pony tail she walked back out and almost ran into Sam.
"Woah" Steady hands gripped her shoulders. Paige gained her balance back and stepped away from the boy.
"Thanks" she smiled at him. He was about the same height as her, his hands still gripped her when Ironhide walked in.
"Sam what are you doing?" Ironhide asked in sharper tones than he had meant to.
Sam let go of Paige and turned to Ironhide "We accidently walked into each other" Sam told him, gripping his neck in what he hoped was a casual way.
"My fault" Paige said glancing from Ironhide to Sam "Sorry, My bad" she told him giving him a smile.
Sam waved her apology away "No problem" he told her.
Paige's stomach suddenly growled and she put a hand to it embarrassed "Sorry." She said again "Got anything to eat?"
Sam laughed and took her wrist "Come on, The Autobots build a kitchen for us" he began to lead her towards a door. Paige glanced up at Ironhide surprise evident on her face.
"You build us a kitchen?" she asked stopping so that Ironhide could answer.
"Why not?" Ironhide said "you humans do have needs. We would never purposely harm you" he said.
"Well thank you" Paige said, she was feeling as if her garden wasn't the best gift after all.
"Come on Paige" Sam pulled her through a door and Paige looked upon a gleaming kitchen filled with all sorts of things. Sam opened the fridge and began to help himself to the milk; he closed the fridge and opened a cupboard to some bowls and cereal. Paige followed suit and opened the fridge. She took out the makings of a sandwich.
As she sat down to eat it, Paige felt safe. She knew the Autobots would be taking care of her and figured that all would be well.