Alias (my other Transfic that will not END) is not playing nicely with me right now, so here, have a long chapter to this one. And someone find my muse and slap her around for a while until she behaves, will you? All she wants to do is write diabetes-inducingly schmoopy Optimus/Alias fluff and is pretty much refusing to concentrate on anything else. *le sigh* I mean, yeah, it's fun and all, but we should probably move on, right?

*moar le sigh*

In related news, "schmoop" is a fantastic word.

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There was too much traffic on the highway for him to transform and step over the fence again, so Ironhide made his way along the fence line until they came to a gate that Anna could open for him. She'd taken the passenger seat after locking the gate again behind them instead of the driver's side. Ironhide waited a moment to see if she'd change her mind, but when it became clear that she had no intention of driving, he'd darkened the windows and pulled onto the access road without pressing her.

She didn't speak as he took the next ramp onto the highway again. Ironhide didn't like it–he barely knew her, true, but only a few hours ago she'd been driving Ratchet crazy and teasing Optimus into uncharacteristic laughter, and her silence worried him. He sought for some way to break the tension but he couldn't think of what to say.

After a few miles, she did it for him. "I'm sorry I kicked you."

He gave a silent sigh of relief. "Don't be. You had reason, and you didn't hurt anything." She went back to staring out the window and he added, "Or maybe I should say, you didn't hurt me. You never did tell me why you were limping. Did you damage yourself when you were trying to get out?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine. The ground was uneven and hard to run over, that's all."

He wasn't convinced–he'd dealt with enough Autobots who tried to hide wounds from their commander to know the difference between limping and stumbling–but he let it drop for now, just glad that she was speaking to him. Then he thought of another reason why she might've been having trouble running. "You didn't rest for very long. Aren't you tired?"

Anna shrugged. "Honestly? Yeah, I'm exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to miss anything, just in case y'all left before I woke up."

"Optimus and Ratchet both promised you that we wouldn't do that."

"Actually, I think Ratchet would like to get Optimus away from here as soon as possible," she contradicted him.

"Well, I won't argue that, but he gave his word," Ironhide pointed out, but when she shrugged, he realized that she didn't have any idea how seriously the Autobots took that. Then again, why would she? She had never even heard of them before yesterday. "Look, I know you don't really know us, but when Optimus Prime makes a promise, he doesn't break it. And I know you and Ratchet haven't exactly gotten off on the best foot, but he's the same way. When we give our word, Anna, we keep it."

Suddenly she laughed. "Well, I only have your word for that, Ironhide," she teased, and he chuckled. That was more what he'd come to expect from her.

"Yeah, yeah, smartass," he said, and she laughed again.

She turned in the seat, no longer staring out the window. "You're right, though. I don't know you. Tell me about the Autobots, Ironhide. If you want me to really trust you, convince me."

Ironhide hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what to say. Ratchet had mentioned limiting her exposure and Ironhide had to admit that it was a wise recommendation, but then again, Optimus had answered her questions without any hesitation at all while Ratchet had been repairing him. Ironhide had followed his Prime's lead in situations far more hazardous than this, but Ratchet was right. Optimus acted strangely around her. It was a kind of strange Ironhide could get used to–none of them had seen him relax enough to laugh in so long that they'd all but forgotten he'd ever known how to do it–but until they were sure that it wasn't because of some hidden brain injury or a side effect of her improvised first aid, it would be wise to be cautious.

Then again, if they were going to convince her to keep the secrets she'd learned, she needed a reason beyond some vague threat of keep quiet or else. Fear was far more likely to make her run than to lead to trust, as this morning had very well proved.

And the Autobots also couldn't very well protect her from the Decepticons if she ran at the sight of them.

Finally Ironhide decided to answer, but cautiously. "The Autobots are a faction of Cybertronians who are dedicated to peace, and protecting the galaxy," he said as he navigated the light Sunday-morning traffic. "Optimus Prime is our leader."

"Don't you mean commander?" she interrupted, and when he paused, she added, "The Autobots are an army, right?"

"No, not quite," Ironhide disagreed, even though an argument could be made for that considering how much of their time was spent fighting. Still, that wasn't all they were. "You've met so few of us and yes, this is a forward team, mostly consisting of warriors, so I understand where you got that impression. Optimus is our commander, but he's more than that, just as the Autobots are more than just a group of fighters. There are Autobot scientists, and artists, and diplomats, and–and medics, like Ratchet," he said, seeing a chance to try to alleviate her fear of him. "He can fight, but he doesn't unless he's forced to, and it kills him to do it. His driving purpose is to heal others, not harm them."

She didn't comment on that. "Warriors exist to make war. Who are you protecting and from what?" she asked.

Ironhide considered not answering that question, but she had to be warned that there were other Cybertronians here who wouldn't be bound by Optimus Prime's peace bond. Not every Transformer could be trusted. If Megatron's forces found her, she needed to know that she would be in danger. "Another faction of Cybertronians called the Decepticons. They follow a despot called Megatron."

"And would this Megatron describe Optimus as a despot?"

Ironhide mentally gaped for a moment at that unexpected question. She was sharp, all right, asking questions pointed enough to cut, and while none of them had simple answers, this one was at least clear. "Since Megatron has vowed to subjugate the galaxy and Optimus Prime is the biggest obstacle in his way, I don't want to repeat how he describes Optimus."

She drew a sharp breath. "Subjugate the galaxy?" she echoed in disbelief. "The size of an army that would take is… How many of you are there?"

He groaned. "Primus, I don't know," he said, wondering just when he'd lost control of this conversation. He'd only intended to tell her enough about the Autobots to reassure her!

"Millions? Billions?" she pressed.

"Trillions, probably, at least at the start. Our kind don't die easy but we've lost a lot," Ironhide reluctantly guessed, and she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with a shaking hand. Damn it, this was the opposite of reassuring, and he tried to gloss over it. "Look, your planet isn't especially significant, okay? I doubt they'll bother the Earth."

She gave the dash a quelling look. "Don't do that, Ironhide. I'm not stupid. If the Earth held nothing of significance, Optimus wouldn't be here. Leaders go to important places."

He sighed. She had a point. "Okay, yeah, what we're here for is important," he admitted. "And we really need to get to it first or some bad things could happen. But once we have it, we're going to leave, Anna. Optimus isn't the type of Prime who conquers alien worlds, and the reason we exist is to keep the Decepticons from doing it, either. Optimus lives by one guiding principle–he says freedom is the right of all sentient beings. He'll do whatever it takes to safeguard humanity's freedom from Megatron's tyranny."

She covered her face with her hands for a moment, then looked up again and sighed. "You know, every time I think I'm getting a handle on this, it just gets deeper and deeper. I've gone from helping one alien robot to learning that there's an enormous interplanetary war going on that humanity knows nothing about."

"We hope to keep anyone else on your planet from having to find out about it, either," Ironhide said, wishing he could promise her that the war wouldn't touch her. "That's why only five of us came. We don't want to draw attention to your world."

"How did you discover where Optimus had crashed?" she asked, surprising him with the change of subject.

But he didn't want to discuss the war with the Decepticons with her any further so he embraced it–anything to keep from having to tell her just how long this war had been going on, and how many planets they'd failed to keep out of it. "Refined Energon has a specific, distinctive energy signature," he explained. "If it's unshielded, it can be detected even from hundreds of miles away. When we lost Optimus, we started scanning for it. We picked up the readings from the Energon that Optimus lost before you repaired him and we got here as fast as we could."

She chewed on a fingernail. "And it took you a day to get here," she said softly, almost as though to herself. "And you said that you neutralized the Energon spill while I was resting, but that means that it was out there like a beacon for nearly a day and a half. These Decepticons are probably able to pick up on it too, right? When they figure out that I helped save their number one enemy's life, should I be expecting an unpleasant visit?"

Okay, so she hadn't really changed the subject at all. Ironhide decided to just forget his cautious approach and answer normally–besides, it wasn't like he'd been doing a very good job of reassuring her with half-answers until now. "I'm not going to tell you there's no chance of it, but we don't think that's likely. We were looking for him. They're looking for something else. Still, that's part of the reason that we're not leaving just yet. If they do show up, we'll take care of them. You saved our Prime's life, Anna. The least we can do in return is ensure your safety."

She visibly relaxed at this, which made no sense to him until she spoke. "Thank you for not giving me a pretty lie. The truth is always better," she said softly.

"Yeah, well, I don't think I could've fooled you anyway. You're too damn sharp for your own good," he grumbled. "Anyone ever tell you that?"

"All the time," she said with a crooked smile as he exited the highway. She bit her lip and rubbed a hand over her leg in an unconscious nervous tic the nearer they got to her driveway, then winced and stopped. Ironhide's suspicions grew, but she spoke again before he could ask her about whatever injury she was clearly hiding. "You said that Optimus called you to ask where I was. What did you tell him about why I accidentally botnapped you?"

Ironhide chuckled at the description–yeah, he hadn't been expecting to get jolted out of recharge by her jumping in and driving away like all the hounds of hell were at her heels, but it wasn't like she could have really made him go anywhere he didn't want to go. "Nothing." When the hand on her leg curled into a fist and she looked out the window, surprisingly tense, he added, "What do you want me to say?"

She didn't say anything for a long moment. "Something other than the stupid little human got spooked and ran away, maybe," she finally answered.

Ironhide slowed down. He could understand her desire to save face, but he wasn't quite sure what to say to her–he could tell her that he really did think she was very smart, but that wasn't quite the point. She was small and pitifully weak compared to them so he thought she'd actually had pretty good reason to get spooked, but that didn't sound very comforting.

Finally he said, "Okay, look. You know what my main function is? He calls me his weapons tech, but I'm really Prime's bodyguard–and keeping his stubborn, noble chassis safe from threats is a job for ten Autobots, but even getting him to agree to just me was a trick. Anyway, I need to know the area to do my job right. I've got GPS and maps, but none of that helps me spot what's out of the ordinary, or tells me what roads are least likely to be watched by the authorities. I needed to scout. You very kindly offered to help me."

Anna didn't answer right away. She bit her lip again and stared at the scenery rolling by outside. "If that's your job, do you agree with Ratchet that I'm a threat?" she asked quietly.

"No," Ironhide answered without hesitation.

She finally turned away from the window again, her surprise evident. "You didn't even think about it."

"Didn't need to," he said. When she continued to stare, he sighed. "You remember what I just told you my job is? Anna, you saved my Prime when I couldn't. Now me, I'm not the trusting sort, but until you actually do something to change my mind, that's more than enough for me."

And that finally seemed to reassure her. She visibly relaxed and closed her eyes. "About what to tell the others… don't lie," she said after a moment, and when he made a surprised sound, she went on, "You're honest, Ironhide–you don't lie worth a damn. It doesn't come naturally to you. I don't want you to do it just to spare my pride. I'll recover."

If he wasn't already impressed with her, that would've done it. "It's your call. I don't mind." She shook her head and he let it go. "You probably should get some rest," Ironhide said as he turned onto her long driveway, concerned by how pale she was after all this excitement. "I know you said you were worried that we'd leave without saying goodbye, but I promise that's not going to happen."

She smiled a little without opening her eyes. "I'll sleep when I'm dead," she said with a shrug.

Ironhide's engine skipped. "Is your health at risk?" he demanded, speeding up. He didn't care that she and Ratchet didn't get along, she was going to get checked out by the medic right fragging now. "I knew you were limping! What injuries do you have?"

That got her to open her eyes. "Wait, what?" she asked, bouncing as he sped down the uneven dirt driveway. "What do you mean, injuries?"

"You just said you're dying!"

"But–no I didn't!" she protested. Then she groaned. "Oh, Ironhide, no, no, that's not–I'll sleep when I'm dead just means I'll sleep later, that's all. I'm not dying. I'm fine, perfectly fine."

Ironhide braked a little harder than he normally would have in front of her house, engine revving angrily. He didn't much appreciate being scared like that. "That is a fragging morbid thing to say," he growled at her. "If you don't rest when you're sick or injured, you die sooner. Why would you say a thing like that? You might as well say I want to hurry up and die!"

Anna opened her mouth, then closed it again as though this question had never occurred to her. "I don't know," she said. "It's just a human expression. I've never really given it any thought."

He grunted, not entirely reassured, but when she opened the door, he didn't protest her getting out. He did, however, send Ratchet a private com as she went into her house. ::Don't get huffy, but I want you to examine the human. I think there might be something wrong with her.::

::… and you're going to make this worth my time, how?:: Ratchet replied and yeah, he was huffy, all right. ::I'm busy with Optimus. Let her see a human medic.::

And Ironhide thought about telling him I'll let Prime know you were plotting to lock up his new friend if you don't, but he didn't. Instead he said, ::I can sense from here that he's out like a light again and you're not that busy. But I could just tell Optimus my concerns and let him make it an order if that makes you happier.:: He could very nearly hear the medic's sigh. Before Ratchet could come up with a new protest, Ironhide said, ::Look, I know you don't like her, but she won't be the first patient you've had that you don't like, so suck it up, buttercup. I'm worried.::

::Who said I don't like her?:: Ratchet commed back, and now he'd moved beyond huffy and crossed the border into cranky.

Ironhide transformed back to robot mode and rolled his eyes. ::Ratchet, I think there are Decepticons you like more than this human.:: he said dryly.

Ratchet came out of the barn and walked over, and yeah, his fists were planted on his hips and his legendary scowl was at least at half-power. ::Being worried because Optimus is severely wounded and we're dependant on the hospitality of an alien who has no reason to be loyal to us doesn't mean I don't like her,:: he said, and Ironhide raised an eyebrow at him. ::I'm sure she's no more offensive than any other organic life form,:: he added, and Ironhide started to snap back when he realized the medic was teasing him with that.

"Very funny," he said when the medic stopped beside him and looked around for her. Ironhide hesitated, then said, "She's not going to be real thrilled to see you. Can you try to be a little less terrifying? Call it a personal favor."

"I don't think I owe you a favor," Ratchet said, giving him the full benefit of his glare. "And I haven't done anything to that creature to make her terri–"

"She heard you talking to Jazz," Ironhide interrupted, and the medic fell silent. He glanced down the driveway as though remembering how fast she'd sped off and then groaned.

"Slag," Ratchet muttered.

"Yeah," Ironhide agreed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ratchet sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Don't look at me like that, Ironhide. Prime nearly died here and I don't want him exerting himself in any way until the repairs have settled. If the Decepticons get word of his condition and attack now… damn it, 'Hide, the three of us aren't enough to protect him and you know he wouldn't stay out of it. Just moving around that much could do the kind of damage to him that I can't fix. I'd keep him down for a week if I thought I could manage it, but we don't have that kind of time and he doesn't have that kind of patience, especially not now that we're so close to the Cube. I've given him a transfusion of repair nanites and all the systems boosters he can handle, but we need at least a day for him to be still and quiet before we can even think about continuing our mission. My only concern is making sure that he gets it. So yeah, I talked to Jazz about keeping the human contained to make sure that she doesn't say anything that could get back to the wrong ears, but if she'd stuck around, she'd have heard Jazz convincing me to talk to her about why it's so important for her to keep her mouth shut instead. I have no plans to do a damn thing to her and she's got nothing to fear from me, all right?"

"All right."

They both turned at the voice. Anna was standing in her doorway–neither of them had noticed her arrival. She looked steadily up at Ratchet and Ironhide saw no trace of her earlier fear. "I understand. I won't say anything to anyone."

The medic glanced at Ironhide, then knelt down to get closer to her level. "Just that easy, huh?"

Anna shrugged. "I wasn't planning on saying anything anyway, Ratchet," she told him, straightening and stepping outside again. When he didn't answer, she explained. "First of all, I already told Optimus that I wouldn't report him to the authorities unless he gave me a reason to do so. And secondly, you might not fully appreciate this, but my job with those primitive Earth robots means that I access classified information and tech every single day. I know how to keep my mouth shut." Then she smiled. "Anyway, if I started telling people stories of giant alien robots falling from the sky, I'm not going to be taken seriously. I'd be more likely to get locked away for a psych eval than to cause any problems for you." She looked at their faces and sighed. "Optimus has an internet connection in his head so I'm assuming y'all do too. Do a quick news search for aliens and you'll get an idea of the kind of reception people who report alien contact tend to receive. Even if I didn't care what happens to Optimus, I'm not eager to go through that. I've got plenty of reasons to keep quiet and so far you haven't given me any not to."

Ironhide glanced at Ratchet and saw that he hadn't thought of that either. They weren't used to being on worlds that hadn't yet discovered the existence of other life in the galaxy. "All I want is to make sure Optimus has the time he needs to heal," Ratchet told her. "I want my Prime back on his feet in good working order. That's my only goal."

"All right," Anna said again. "Then we have no problem here." She turned and closed the door behind her, then started walking toward the barn.

Ratchet was frowning before she'd taken more than three steps and Ironhide knew he'd seen the same limp he had. "Hold still, human," he said, abruptly stepping in front of her. Anna froze, looking up at him with a resurgence of anxiety in her eyes, but the medic didn't notice. He drew his scanner and swept it over her before she could so much as protest.

Anna yelped. "The hell did you just do to me?" she demanded, rubbing her arms and dancing in place like she'd been doused in icy water.

"Scanned you," Ratchet answered distractedly as he stared at the readout. His frown deepened and he knelt down in front of her again. "Ironhide's right. You are injured. Let me see."

She sent Ironhide a scathing look. "I told you, I'm fine!"

Ironhide spread his hands apologetically. "I know what a limp looks like," he told her, and she gave him a scowl that would've put Ratchet's to shame.

Then she turned back to Ratchet and glared up at him. "All right, you want to be nosy? Fine," she snapped, and shoved up one sleeve before lifting the hem of her shirt to show her abdomen. Purple bruises showed in both places, and Ironhide remembered her rubbing her hip and leg and guessed that they were probably bruised, too. "Happy now?" she spat, jerking her clothes back in place.

Ironhide shook his head and Ratchet didn't look particularly happy, either. He was pretty sure that the medic had recognized the shape of Prime's fingers, too. "I could–" Ratchet began.

But Anna cut him off. "You could what? They're just bruises. They'll get better on their on in a few days, and you know what? They're nothing compared to staring into the barrel of Jazz's gun," she told them in a low hiss. "Optimus didn't mean to hurt me, so don't you say a word to him about this, either one of you. You got that? All it would do is make him feel guilty and I'm really damn glad he did what he did. I'm keeping secrets for you and you can damn well keep one for me in return."

"Understood," Ironhide said and Anna nodded sharply at him, but she wasn't done with Ratchet yet.

"And don't you ever scan me again without asking first," she told him, rubbing her arms again. "That's really rude and it feels bizarre."

Ratchet actually grinned. "Look at you, laying down the law," he chuckled. Her glare sharpened again and he held up one hand. "Easy there, scary human. I want to scan you one more time to make sure you have no broken bones. May I have your permission, please?" he asked with excessive politeness.

Anna rolled her eyes at his tone. "Nothing's broken."

"Oh, so you know more than the medic now, do you?" Ratchet shot back.

She raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked, I'm not a robot. What do you know about how I work?"

"Clearly not a damn thing," Ironhide muttered, and didn't bother to hide his grin when Ratchet sent him an unimpressed look.

"You aren't the first organic I've ever encountered," Ratchet told her. "Nor the first I've treated. I'll agree not to tell Optimus about your injuries if you let me make sure that they're not severe. It's the best deal you're gonna get," he added when she hesitated. Finally she sighed and nodded, and Ratchet waved the scanner over her again.

Even though she was expecting it this time, Anna still shuddered. "God, that's just… ugh," she said, shaking herself as the energy wave passed over her. Then her face changed. "How does that work? Can I take a look at that thing?"

Ratchet looked at the readout and then snapped it closed. "No broken bones," he said, stashing the scanner back into his subspace. "And no, you can't have a look at it. The Tyrest Accord, remember? I'm actually looking out for you, believe it or not," he added when she started to protest.

She sighed. "Yeah, I know, I know," she grumbled, starting to walk toward the barn again.

Ironhide and Ratchet fell in beside her. "And on that note, you can't take anything you've learned back to your NASA," the medic told her.

"Yeah, figured that out already, thanks," she said, still clearly cranky at not getting to examine Ratchet's scanner. "I don't want to be on an interstellar hit list. But I'm curious by nature and this is really hard for me. It's like being shown the most interesting toy ever and then getting told I can't play with it."

"Sorry," Ironhide said, feeling bad for her. "Our tech and your tech have to stay separate."

"I know," she sighed again. "But can't you guys, I dunno, adopt me or something? I don't want to be Jazz's pet, but how about you make me an honorary Autobot so I can play with all your cool gadgets?"

Ratchet shuddered at the very thought. "Primus forbid," he whispered to Ironhide. "Can you imagine if we really did keep her around?"

"Yeah, Optimus might actually remember that he knows how to laugh," Ironhide replied dryly. "What a horrible fate. However would the Autobots cope with a cheerful leader?" When Ratchet sent him a quelling look, he grinned. "We can't all be as grumpy as you, Ratchet. You'd lose your unique charm."

"Just so you know, I'm taking notes for the next time you're wounded," Ratchet returned, and Ironhide just laughed.