"Ironhide?!" Chromia stared at him, a mixture of surprised and angry

The silver mech got to his peds hastily, "I came to apologize for the other night…" He shot a strange look at Astrosky, who flashed him the biggest grin.

"How long were you listening?" Chromia said furiously

"Not long." The mechs said at the same time.

"Who's this?" Ironhide jerked his helm at Astrosky.

"Astro, this is Ironhide." Chromia said exasperatedly, "Ironhide, Astrosky."

"I'm dead." Astro informed him cheerily as they shook servos. Ironhide's grip slackened a little.

"Sorry...what?"

"Dead." He bounced on his peds, "Deceased. Offline. No longer of this world." Chromia sat heavily on the berth and Astro patted her shoulder, "Sorry, love, but it's the harsh truth."

"Uhh...okay?" Ironhide just stared at him, "Well...what in Pit are ya doin' here?"

"I came to talk to her." Astro nodded, "Seeing as we've had our chat, I think I'm gonna be moving along."

"Do you have to go?" Chromia said sadly, standing up.

He embraced her lovingly, "The dead can't stay forever, love."

"I wish they could."

Astro released her and turned to Ironhide, who had been glaring at him a little, "Don't give me that look."

"What look?"

Astro imitated 'Hide's scowl perfectly, "This one." Ironhide rolled his optics and Astro continued, "She'll tell you everything; you two have a lot to talk about." He was beginning to fade into a darkish grey in some parts, and he glanced down at himself, realizing this.

"Take care of her for me, will you?" He said softly, his faceplates a mixture of scared and excited.

"Astro?" Chromia whispered sadly.

He was now light grey and parts of him had completely disappeared. His smile was bittersweet when he looked at her, "Love ya, Chromia."

And then he was gone.

Chromia sank onto her berth, breathing deeply and trying to hold back tears, and 'Hide sat next to her, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Are you okay?" He said awkwardly, "I have no idea what in Pit's going on but….he was important to ya. I can tell that much."

"He was my best friend." Chromia said heavily, "Since we were sparklings. We've always been together, and when we were older and were going on missions for the crew of the Avenge, we started dating." She laughed sadly, "He was always such a cocky bastard. Always so sure of himself, flipping around and doing tricks, showing off in the middle of the battlefield. And once, when we were battling a squadron of Decepticons, we were on a planet made of moving cogs and gears. Astro was doing his usual routine, leaping over 'Cons, blasting 'em from behind, and he got caught in one of the gears." Chromia paused to wipe her optics, "I tried to pull him out, but the 'Cons were charging us and our pilot, Roller was pushing me away. He was so scared, 'Hide. He said, 'Please don't leave me.' And I left him. I left him to die alone."

"Oh Chro-mo." Ironhide squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, unsure of what he could possibly say to make her feel better.

"That's not even the worst part." Chromia's shoulders slumped, "Astro showed up because I went on a mission today, with Jazz."

"A mission to do what?" He prodded.

"To find an energon shard." She whispered, "To bring back Smokescreen."

He inhaled sharply, "To bring him….back?"

"Yes."

"Did you find it?" He asked eagerly.

She nodded wearily, stood up and walked to the table where she had set down the energon shard. She lifted it, feeling the smooth glass seem to crackled in her digits, before handing it to Ironhide with a sigh.

The poor mech had to sit down he was so overwhelmed, staring at the shard in his servos. "I can bring him back." He whispered happily. He glanced up at her, smiling, "We can bring him back, Chro-mo!" He noticed her guilty faceplates finally, "What's the matter? Aintcha excited?"

" 'Hide." She said wearily, "There's a reason Optimus hasn't brought Smokescreen back yet. There's a reason the shard is in my quarters."

He just stared at her, "What's the reason?"

"I wasn't going to give it to you." Chromia closed her optics unhappily, "When I found the shard on the mission, I slipped it into my subspace. I lied-" She choked a little, full of shame, "I lied to Jazz, told him I hadn't found anything. And then we returned to base a failure."

"Why?" Ironhide said, in complete disbelief, "Why wouldja do that?'

"Isn't it obvious?" She scrubbed her faceplates with her servos and sat down with a resigned sigh, "I was going to be selfish. I was going to bring back Astro instead."

He made a strangled sound in his throat and Chromia caught optics with him, "I'm so sorry 'Hide. So, so sorry. I was being selfish and stupid, and I don't think I could have ever gone through with it. I couldn't do that to you, or to Smokescreen."

Ironhide shook his helm, kind of shocked, but then glanced at her. He could see in those sapphire optics, how clouded they were, that she felt terrible, and he sighed and put a servos on top of hers, "I forgive ya. You almost did somethin' really wrong, but in the end ya did the right thing, and I'm just happy ya did."

" 'Hide…"

"I wasn't done." He narrowed his optics, "You still owe me an explanation."

She looked confused, "I thought I just-"

"Not about that." He waved his servo, "Ya still haven't told me why ya won't even think about goin' on a date with me. I gotta feeling it's got somethin' to do with that fruitcake, Astro. You still, ya know...together?"

"Primus no!" Chromia's faceplates warmed, "Honestly, I don't think we would be dating even if he was alive right now. We're too different, and I know way too many personal things about him, since we were friends. I don't even know why in Pit we were dating in the first place."

"So what is it then?"

"It's just-" She sighed, shoulders slumping, "I don't want to get too close to you. I guess I'm afraid I'll lose you, like I lost him. And I can't go through that again."

"Ah, Chro-mo." He grinned reassuringly, "Ya ain't gonna lose me. I'm a tough mech; I don' go down easy. Yer stuck with me."

"No one ever plans to go offline 'Hide." She said sadly.

"So what, yer just gonna be alone yer whole life?"

"Maybe." She said uncertainly, "Unless the war ends…"

"The war's been goin' on since before we were created." Ironhide sighed, "And I suspect it'll still be goin' on long after we're gone. But that don' mean you can't be happy and live yer life. And if I die like yer worried about," He shrugged, "You know I'll see you again someday, just like you'll see Astro." He wrapped his servos around one of hers, "Please, Chro-mo? Just consider it. All I ask."

She pondered for a moment, and then a mischievous smile crept to her faceplates, "Okay. I've considered it."

"That was fast." 'Hide said miserably, thinking she had decided she still didn't like him, "What didja decide?"

She grinned and yanked 'Hide forward with the servos still holding hers, planting a kiss firmly across his lips.

"Mmm!...Chromia." He sighed delightedly, kissing her back. When they finally broke apart, he was practically gasping for air, "After all that...ya just...decided...why not?"

"I've wasted too much damn time trying to stay away from you 'Hide." She smirked, tracing the line from his jaw to his neck, "I suppose we'll need to make up for lost time."

"Alright." He chuckled happily, "Hey."

"What?"

"You still gotta give Prime this thing." He hefted the shard in his servo, "Explain what happened. Make things right."

"Not looking forward to it." She sighed and motioned to him, "Come on. You can at least walk me there."

They began walking towards the Prime's office, a journey that seemed too short as Chromia dreaded Optimus' reaction with every step. Finally, they reached his door and Chromia stared at it uncertainly.

"Primus...I can't do this."

"You can and you will." 'Hide said firmly, "But if it makes you feel better…"

"What?"

"As a reward for tellin' the truth." Ironhide bowed mockingly, "I'll take ya on a date. I'll even be romantic, if ya want me to."

"You being romantic." Chromia teased, "Now this I gotta see."

"Is that a yes?"

She smiled a little, "I'm looking forward to it." She gave his servo a little squeeze before knocking on the door and stepping inside.

He watched her go, optics shining with happiness, and when the door was shut, he strolled away, saying excitedly to himself, "I'm takin' Chromia on a date!" He couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that that beautiful, headstrong femme was finally all his.

Ironhide knew she was a handful and she had her own baggage(they both did). But despite this, despite the war, despite the gloom that seemed to hang around the base now, he couldn't help but feel that everything was right.

A/N And its finally done! Like I said, I wasn't as invested in this story, but I'm glad I got to wrap this up in a nice way. Let me know what you guys think of the whole thing, and stay tuned for my next Ratchet and Moonracer fic!