Sam and I looked at each other once we heard the voice from outside. Wordlessly, we exited the main hangar and the first thing I noticed was that it was much colder and that everything was oddly white and…

It was snowing.

"It's snowing." I said to myself in astonishment, but me talking to myself didn't go unnoticed. My uncle and Sergeant Robert Epps clapped funnily at me. I knew Epps from a long time ago, because he served with Will long before Will went to Qatar. Sometimes he had dinner at Will's house with all the family when we were there on vacation.

I was a talent at pointing out the totally obvious things, which was why I got the claps from the two brothers in arms. I shivered at the sudden change in temperature. It was very cold outside.

Ron came out of nowhere and appeared by my side with my jacket in his hand, that I previously left in the truck. I took it with a quiet thanks and put it on.

"Let's go." Ron said and looked towards the truck which drove towards us on its own. I hid behind Ron again as the surrounding soldiers started to laugh lightly.

"Don't worry, Mel. He's not going to hurt you." My uncle said casually. Now why was that so familiar?

The passenger door opened itself slowly, inviting me inside. I hesitated, but seeing that everybody else was so relaxed, I got in. I kept all my limbs to myself, scared that he would eat me or that the seats would fold on me and squish me. I had a mental debate with myself.

He didn't do that before, so why would he now?

I don't know! I didn't know he was a talking truck before!

He shivered when you bathed him! He honked on his own!

He?

The moment that Ron got in the truck, my conscience and I stopped bickering. It was awfully silent in the truck and I was so nervous. I wanted to turn on the radio, but I restrained myself. Maybe the truck didn't like music? What if it didn't like being touched, or having its buttons pushed?

It finally dawned upon me that the military was hiding sentient cars!

Way to go, Melissa.

The ride was silent all the way back home. I thanked Ron for the ride and wanted to touch the truck, but was just too afraid to. I was too weirded out by all of this so I just left the truck and got in the house.

The first thing I saw was Sarah searching through the newly arrived letters. I greeted her and she smiled at me, handing me a letter. I took the letter and turned it over.

"Who's it from?" I asked her.

"From the driving school." She smiled.

I eyed the letter, feeling nervousness in my chest. What if I failed? What if I was the only one who failed? What if…

The wooden door creaking open caught my attention as Ron got in the house and Sarah went upstairs. He closed the door and came over to me. I hesitantly opened the letter and got the contents out. My hands started to shake lightly. I started getting tenser and a lot more nervous.

It's already done, what else do you want?

"What's going on?" Ron's voice shook me from my fight with myself.

"It's the… For my driver's license. I don't know if I passed or failed." I took the test somewhere before I got attacked by the cop car, and I completely forgot about it till now.

"Open it." He said.

I left the envelope on the table and hesitantly opened the folded contents. I peeked with my one eye and saw some red stamp. I already slumped. The words must have had 'Failure' imprinted on them. I failed and tossed the paper on the table carelessly.

Ron picked it up as I heard paper rustling. I turned around, though what I really wanted to do was rip the paper apart. How could I have failed it? I thought it went much better than I thought…

"You passed." Ron said, eyeing me with confusion. I turned around as my eyes shot up at him, and then stared at the paper in his hand. 'Passed' was written in red.

Holy God!

I started to squeal and jump around the house ecstatically and I started running around like a maniac. I swear he chuckled at my overjoyed behavior.

"I passed!" I jumped and before I knew what I'd done, I hugged Ron.

"Oy." He said as I caught him off guard. Hell, I caught myself off guard.

I immediately let go of him, blushing deeply and bowing my head.

"Oh, um, sorry." I said, stepping back. He didn't do anything, but Sarah came downstairs.

"Mel, I need some groceries from the store, would you be so kind and get them for me?" I nodded and she handed me her money. "What did the driver's school say?"

"I passed." I grinned fully at her, something I haven't done in a long time.

"Fantastic!" She grinned back, giving me a hug. "I'm making you a special cake and you're taking Ron's truck." She said, summing up all she wanted to say. I looked at Ron. I wasn't sure if it was better than Ron went with me, because it's a damn huge truck and I've never driven it. What if I scratch it? I looked at Ron again, who didn't show any interest in coming with me. I bade him goodbye after he handed me the keys to his truck.

"You trust me to drive your truck?" I asked as I took the keys.

"I don't worry." He said flatly. Okay, I thought this would be a little more special to him, but I guess not. I just gave a short nod and got out of the house and went towards the truck.

It's a sentient being. Shit, I almost forgot.

"Uh, hi Ironhide." I said, moving closely towards it. Or him? Well, it is a living being, so I might be civilized, but I don't know what gender it is. If it has a gender that is. Do cars have genders?

I got in the driver's seat and carefully closed the door. I looked around the truck's outer dimensions. How the hell was I supposed to drive this? It's freaking huge! I adjusted the seat and mirrors in accordance with my height, slid the seatbelt around me and put the key in the key holder and turned the car on.

The engine gave a wonderful, healthy roar as I put it in gear and drove slowly towards the store.

I was so excited, driving for the first time alone. I drove plenty of times with Will next to me on a closed road, practicing driving in a straight line. Will practically taught me how to drive, not a damn driving school. But driving alone was a different thing. It was oddly soothing.

But it was so quiet here. I really wanted to listen to the radio. But maybe I should ask for permission from the truck?

"Do you like music, Ironhide?" I blurted out, feeling like an idiot. Maybe I just imagined everything? Imagined the truck, imagined the robots? But no way, the pain that I felt, how sickeningly bruised, blue and purple my skin was, all the medication and sleep that I had to go through, all of it absolutely denied that even the possibility that it was my imagination. The truck didn't reply to me. Perhaps it didn't like music. I kept my concentration on the road and turned into a street. The truck was surprisingly easy to handle and drive.

I found the grocery store and parked right in front of the entrance on an empty parking spot. Even parking this huge truck was not hard. It was almost as if it was cooperating with me. It was odd. Maybe it was all in my head.

"Ironhide, I'm going to buy some groceries, I just have to ask you something. Do I have to bring the keys with me? Do you need to be… locked?" All this speaking to the truck was so very strange. The truck didn't do anything. I guess it only liked doing things in front of Ron? Maybe the truck was his pet in some sick way. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes." I exited the truck, carefully patting the huge fender. It may seem weird, but if I were a car, I'd like to be petted, honestly.

I got into the grocery store, but didn't know what kind of food to buy. I searched through the money Sarah gave me and found a piece of paper with the list of groceries that I needed to buy. I started checking things off, one by one as I put them in my basket, until I got everything off the list. I stopped at the cash register and paid my debt and got out of the store. Just as I got out, I saw Dean and his fellow, now ex-jocks, hanging around as if high school never ended for them… That's when I noticed something different about him... Is that him smoking and drinking? What happened to the Dean I met for the first time? Where did that fella go?

It's really weird how much you don't know about people no matter the first impression. I walked towards the truck and heard a yell of my name. I knew it was Dean, it didn't take a genius to know he yelled at me.

"Yo, Captain! Come 'ere!" He motioned from a distance around 30 feet, but I didn't go. I had no interest in him whatsoever. "I told you to come here!" His tone became more aggressive. I remembered the first time I met him. He was so nice and he kissed my hand and he… the ass, he kissed my lips!

Fury boiled in my veins and I tried to keep it cool, I really did. That is, until he started coming towards me. I quickly put the plastic bags from the grocery store into the back of the cab and just as I closed the door, Dean slammed me into the adjacent car, pinning my wrists to the cold, silver metal chassis.

"Now, who's going to be a good Captain girlfriend and kiss me?" He smiled evilly.

"What the hell, Dean?!" I yelled at him. "I'm not your girlfriend and-" His alcohol tainted breath met my nose. "And jesus, get sober!" I struggled against his hold, but he was much stronger, obviously.

"Pretty little Captain… I always liked you." He slurred.

"I'm not a Captain, you jerk. You have exactly five seconds to let go of me." I glared at him. His boys crowded around the truck and the silver sedan I was pinned to and I really wanted to scream for help. But would anybody come? There was seemingly no one around.

"Ooh, feeling feisty today, huh?" He mocked as his boys laughed behind him as the perfect backup.

"Five, four, three…" I counted down out loud. I struggled though I couldn't shake him off.

The black truck suddenly blared musing through the speakers. "…in three, two, one… Oh, it's the final countdown!" Dean and I both looked at the truck confusedly. Why did it start playing music when the key was in my pocket?

"Zero." I said and just as I tried to roughly shove him off me, something happened. The truck opened its door and a man came out from the driver's side.

"Ron?" I said in disbelief. Where the hell did he come from?!

"What is the meaning of this?" He yelled at Dean, who's face paled at the sight of him. His jocks backed down, scrambling away from Ron's big and aggressive figure. Dean let me go in no time.

"Uh… hi." Dean nervously said, freezing in front of Ron as his forehead started sweating. I shoved his hands off from me. Dean didn't even notice it.

Ron grabbed Dean by the collar and lifted him off the ground. Dean's knees were shaking mid air. "If you ever come near her again…" He threatened with a growl, glaring hard into Dean's frightened eyes.

"N-Never again!" Dean gulped as droplets of his sweat dropped on his shirt and he lifted his hands up in the air in surrender.

"Get out of here, you little runt!" He barked and shoved him to the ground, causing Dean to fall unceremoniously. He stood frozen on the ground, staring at Ron as if he saw the devil. The truck suddenly revved its engine and came considerably closer to Dean, as Dean scattered. He and his jocks finally vanished. I stood there, mouth open agape and brain trying to comprehend.

What the hell just happened?

Recap: I was driving, bought the groceries, Dean pinned me, Ron appeared out of nowhere, and… how'd he get here anyway?

"Ron, what are you doing here? Where the hell did you come from?" I stared at him. He shrugged me off completely. He could be so incredibly annoying at times. And I was pretty sure he didn't come with me.

"Let's just go home." He said gruffly as I sighed and got in the truck. I patted the dashboard of the truck as Ron, for the first time ever, got into the passenger's seat. "Thanks for the 'countdown', Ironhide." I said to the truck. Again, it didn't seem to want to respond too often.

I turned to Ron with a warm smile. There was something so odd, so soothing when a strong man protected you and put himself in front of you. A kind of feathery bubble of warmth formed in my chest, and a bubble in stomach too, making me excited. "And thank you for shoving him away, Ron. Though, I think Ironhide scared him for good."

He nodded and we drove home peacefully. Although I could almost feel the truck driving on its own, the way the steering wheel stood still, but I refused to say that. I enjoyed being in the truck with Ron. I felt so protected, like warmth was surrounding me, making me worry about almost nothing.

We got home and I got the bags from the back and got in the house. I gave Sarah the bags and saw that Will was home, too, sitting peacefully on the couch in the living room. I waved at him from the kitchen, but he motioned me to come forward. I did as he wanted me to.

"What is this, I heard someone harassed you in front of the grocery store?" Will gave me a look. Ron must have told him. Feelings of anger immediately rose up and I wanted to kill Ron. When did he even get a chance to tell him? He was in the truck with me the whole time and not once did he talk to somebody other than me. Besides, what now, Ron's gonna go tell the whole town that I was harassed?

"It's that jerk, Dean. I knew him from high school. There… He did something and he thinks that we are… And then Ron came and..." Will waved me off and sighed. I really didn't want to tell Will anything in particular. It would be better if I could just lie to him and this whole thing would go away.

He looked at me sternly. "Tell me what happened or I'll get a better version of it from Ron."

Please not from Ron. "Okay, you want the whole story? Fine. But, you're not going to like it." I said, getting tired of this. Best would be if I just got it over with. "On the day I got attacked by the freaky red-eyed cop, something happened before that." He looked at me, and I sat down beside him on the family couch. "I don't think it was on the same day, but one time, Ron had to pick me up from school. I was waiting in front of the school, Dean came out and started nicknaming me 'Captain', and calling me that in front of the whole school." Will had a very serious look on his face and, oddly enough, I was less nervous while talking to him about this. "He started getting closer and closer to me, and I wanted to get away, but his jocks were pumping him up and the whole school was watching us, so I had nowhere to go."

"Did he hurt you?" He seriously inquired.

"No. Not physically. And then, all of a sudden he jabbed his… his…" I sighed. Better now than never. I finished blatantly. "He jabbed his tongue into my mouth." I said with disgust, looking away. Sure, there was a better way to put it, but the direct approach was most effective.

It took Will a bit of time to catch on. I honestly felt embarrassed about talking about this. The last person I ever thought I'd say how my first kiss went was Will. "He… kissed you? What's wrong about that?" He asked. He saw the deadly look on my face, indication I was beyond furious.

"Because it was my first kiss, for God's sake! It wasn't like the one I wanted it to be, oh so romantic and loving, like in the movies! This fool had to come in and ruin it all! And I even thought he was nice at the beginning!" I started yelling as small tears formed in my eyes from how hurt I was because of it.

I was so naive. Ron was right.

"I'm sorry, Mel. I didn't know what happened." Will said calmly, wrapping me up in a hug. "If anything, things in real life aren't exactly like in the movies."

"No." I wiped my eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have burst out like that. It's just that I get… a little carried away sometimes. I don't know what's it called, but it's like a flaw, I guess. Got me hurt many times." I looked at my wet fingers and dried them on my jeans.

"Well, it can be also a trait. I know exactly which one it is. You're trigger-happy." He said it as if it was a good thing. "Don't worry about it, if Dean gives you any more trouble, Ron's your guardian, so don't hesitate to talk to him." He smiled, glancing at the window where we both noticed how heavily it snowed tonight. "In any case, if things get more serious, we'll get the police involved. But I believe that with Ron around you, Dean won't bother you anymore."

"I hope so." I said as a yawn accompanied the ending of my sentence. I thanked my uncle for the talk and went upstairs to change into my PJs. I was going through my phone for a while, then tried to read a random book, but I couldn't tire myself out enough to go to sleep. As I was lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling pensively, an odd thought crossed my mind. Why didn't Will have a garage? I mean, if it's hailing or something, the cars should be protected by some kind of shelter.

I stood up from my warm bed and looked out through the window of my room. The roof of the black truck was covered in snow. Perhaps trying to understand the truck would help kill the time. I put my robe on and took a blanket from my closet. I had a spare one and, for once, I intended to use it. I briefly checked my phone for the time where I saw that it was half past midnight.

As I arrived downstairs, I put the robe over my head and leaped from the house straight onto the driveway. Not wanting to get a cold, I hurried up to the truck. The blanket started slipping from my arms and began to drag along the ground, and I accidently stepped on the blanket. Gravity pulled me down as I fell to the ground like a child, spilling myself all over the gravel with an 'oof' and an 'ow'. They weren't loud enough to wake Sarah and Will, thankfully, but were more than enough to wake up Ironhide.

The truck turned its engine on and its headlights along with it, casting light on me. My knees and palms stung as I lightly scraped them.

Why was I such a clumsy ass?

"Ah, shit." I muttered to myself as I picked myself up, taking the blanket with me.

"Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?" The radio sang softly as the windows rolled down a bit.

"I just wanted to…" The blanket started dragging along the ground again so I struggled to pick it up completely in my arms. "I wanted to cover you, so you wouldn't be cold." I blushed upon saying that. I also had no clue why. Maybe because it was stupid to talk to the truck and expect it to understand.

The passenger door clicked open. It was an invitation. But I couldn't.

"No, Ironhide. I can't sleep… in… you." Wow, that sounded so weird.

"It's not the first time, look on back to our past, baby." The radio replied to me. I started chuckling because he was right. But the 'baby' thing was so funny. I started approaching the truck with the blanket, but it backed away slightly from me.

"It's okay, it's just a blanket. It'll keep you warm." I cooed. Surely it's better than just sitting and freezing in the cold?

"But I don't need it!" The radio replied through a rap song by Eminem that I immediately recognized. I wasn't a rap lover, but there were a couple of his songs that I knew by heart from a long time ago.

I sang along to the lyrics, changing them a little as I sang. "Take a little piece and beat it, before you wake-" I thought for a second. "Will and Sarah up!" I laughed heartily at the ridiculousness of the situation. I swear that the truck chuckled, or at least did something close to it, and came closer to me, as if it was finally warming up to me. I didn't feel terrified, or even frightened in the slightest way. What I felt was pure good fun in a way I've never experienced before.

"Alright, fine, you win, I don't feel like arguing." The radio finished and I started putting the blanket over the truck. I got the roof covered first and then the hood. The rest of the blanket couldn't cover the rear half of the trunk, but this was good enough. It may have butt-freeze by the end of night, but at least not brain-freeze. Because I started feeling really cold outside, I took the open invitation, but instead went to the back of the truck. Moved my way onto the truck bed, almost starting to shake from the cold weather that I was exposed to. I brought my knees to my chest and put my arms around them, forming a fetal position and then, the heating turned on, full blast.

I didn't know trucks could be thoughtful. Or that they could know when a person was cold.

"Thanks, Ironhide." I said as the truck turned its engine off, but continued to blow heat into the cabin, letting me unfold from my fetal position and lie down properly on the bed. I slept through the whole night, like a little lamb.

Dream

I was in a club at some kind of party. I was in a short black dress adorned with glitter that reflected every time the spotlight shined on me, my legs were long with heels and my face looked almost model-like with the full makeup. I felt very… beautiful. All of a sudden, the club and the party disappeared and I found myself alone in a dark alley. Just as I started to walk, I heard unfamiliar sounds behind me.

The next thing I felt was cold. As I turned around to see where the odd sounds were coming from, I saw two unfamiliar men in dark sweats looking at me, and a cumbersome feeling came over me. I knew that I needed to get away from this potential danger. I started speed walking on heels away from them, and before I knew it, I was literally jogging in heels. It didn't even feel like I was wearing heels. However, the two men in black sweats came running after me. I picked up the pace, feeling excited, but for all the wrong reasons. I ran in the direction I thought I was towards the parking lot, where I hoped to find someone to help me. Instead I found a dead-end and it started raining, on top of everything.

My ears began buzzing, as if the weather was changing too quickly, and soon they also started hurting because of unknown pressure, I sooner than I realized, my dress and I were soaked. The two men came closer and pinned me to the wall against the dead-end of the street. When I looked at them and my heartbeat rose to my throat, they had… un-human eyes. I couldn't even see the color, I just knew they weren't human.

Déjà vu?

As one man pinned my hands on the wall and the other my feet, a third man came in. He had a sickening smile on his face. The precipitations just kept coming heavier and heavier. A thunder cracked above my head as I jumped from the fear and let out a scream. I started fearing for my life.

"Help!" I screamed. No one answered. Who could I call for help? "No! Let me go! Ron, help me!"

Nothing. Where was the guy when you needed him? Suddenly, the screeching of tires could be heard and with it, the rev a big and aggressive engine. I saw a huge black object in front of me, with narrow headlights, pointing them straight at us. I immediately knew this was Ironhide.

"Ironhide!" I squealed. Suddenly the truck came closer and revved his engine in fury. The men were losing their grip on my arms and legs, but I couldn't fight them off. They were too strong and had me pinned. Out of the truck, the strong figure of a buff and pissed off man came into view, though he was shadowed. Just as a lightning appeared on the sky in this goddamned storm, I immediately recognized the man.

Ron!

He ran over to the men, taking one by the collar and throwing him behind his back. He then punched the second one in the face and knocked him out. The third one ran away like devil was on his tail. I looked at Ron with tearful eyes. He had a soft look on his face. I took his head in my hands. He did the same to me, only this time, he made the first move.

He came down and kissed me. Like the first time we did. Softly, gently, yet firmly.

"Ron… you came for me." I muttered through short breaths. He smiled.

"Wake up…" A voice in my head resounded. I don't think so! I looked into his eyes and he had a grin on his face, like he was truly happy he kissed me. I wished this moment would never end. "Wake up." The voice was getting clearer. Ron carefully let go of me, but held my hand. I felt all the butterflies in my stomach. My lips tingled. "Wake up, frag-nabbit!"

Ironhide's POV

She shouldn't have come to… cover me with a blanket. It was unnecessary, but I thought better than to argue with her so late at night. On top of this, she didn't take too well the introduction of cars as sentient beings, so I decided it was best if I took it slow with her.

After she fell on the ground around midnight, because she was not careful and stepped on the same blanket she was carrying, I commed Ratchet to come and check her injuries in the morning, because they were not life threatening. She did basically just spill herself over the gravel for no reason. Humans and their clumsiness.

It was very early in the morning when Captain Lennox walked over to my alt form.

"Good morning, Ironhide. Say, you wouldn't know where Mel is, would you? I checked in her room and she's not in there." He scratched his head as I opened my back door, where a small female human was sleeping, perfectly content. "Oh, well that explains it."

As if on cue, Ratchet came to the driveway and his holoform appeared, exiting his alt and walking over to Captain Lennox and my alt. I decided to summon up my own holoform next to Will and Ratchet.

"What is it, Ironhide? What's wrong with Melissa?" Ratchet said flatly.

"There's something wrong with her?" Will sounded befuddled, looking from Ratchet to me.

I answered Will. "She fell on her knees yesterday and she may be slightly injured. Ratchet should check them when she wakes up." I said as Ratchet nodded.

Suddenly, Mel started moving inside the back of my cab, still deep in her sleep.

On a completely different note, I was constantly trying to understand human customs, but I always seemed to be missing something. Their customs weren't so different from our own, if we disregarded the size of humans. But most of it was a grey zone, where reactions depended on numbers of independent factors, like emotions, timing, intentions and perceptions of said intentions. Sometimes it was too complicated to make the best decision, which is why Melissa and I argued, more often than not.

Whenever I thought about our arguments, I couldn't help but think back on our bad argument where she stormed out of my alt mode. The night when I didn't even want to think about her. This tiny female human made me angry, so quickly and so easily. But that night when Barricade attacked her and she almost died because of my absence… I couldn't forgive myself. I was planning on ripping Barricade's spark out the moment I saw him. Which brought me to the thought of Mel again.

When I came to rescue her and handed Barricade's aft back to him, she said she didn't hate me anymore, but this… kissing, was it a part of human customs as a form of thanks? Nobody seemed to mention it, so I didn't bring it up. I've seen Will and Sarah kiss before, but they're sparkmates. I wasn't sparkmated, nor was Mel, or at least not to my knowledge.

Whatever the custom meant, it made my spark flutter oddly. I only felt this kind of fluttering when I was with Chromia, millenias ago. Could this mean something?

Mel started jostling uncomfortably in her sleep and started sweating very quickly. I felt disgusted at her ruining my interior with her bodily fluids, but I didn't feel at ease either. The first thing I noticed was how her heartrate jumped up for no reason. What was with her?

"Help!" She shrieked in her sleep, which made Ratchet, Will and I flinch. "No! Let me go! Ron, help me!" Mel screamed, stirring in her sleep. All of us stared at her. Just as I brought my look up, I saw Ratchet and Will staring at me. I stared at them and then at Mel. She had a frown on her face as sweat slid from her forehead onto the sides of her head.

She started kicking and bashing with her hands everywhere.

"Heart rate is drastically increasing." Ratchet commented. "Hold her limbs, tightly. We don't want her getting hurt."

"She's having a nightmare." Will gasped in sorrow. "Can we wake her up?"

"Best to let it pass on its own." Ratchet suggested.

"Ironhide!" Mel's voice echoed through my cab. My spark skipped a beat and seemed to fall down to my tanks at the same time. She was in trouble and I could not help her. I hated being helpless.

"Well, slag it, help her!" Ratchet yelled at me.

"Frag me if I know how!" I barked as Mel started fussing more. Ratchet and Will pinned her arms and legs on the seat. She could hurt herself without really knowing it. I came close to her and she suddenly opened her eyes. I jerked back, but then she closed them again.

Primus, humans were petrifying.

She began to calm down and stop kicking and bashing with her arms and legs. She had a smile on her face now.

"Ron… You came for me." She softly said through closed eyes. I felt Ratchet and Will's scanning me with their eyes. In truth, I was just as confused as them.

"Heart rate is stable. Let her go, men." Ratchet said as we let go of her hands and legs. She was smiling in her sleep. Whatever she was dreaming, I'm guessing she liked it a lot.

"At least she's calmed down." Will wiped his forehead and sighed out.

"Wake up." I said. She didn't, but her smile ebbed away as I said that. "Wake up." I was losing my patience by the astro-second. "Wake up, frag-nabbit!"

And when she did, all hell broke loose.

Songs: Final Countdown - Europe

Complicated – Avril Lavigne

Got Your Back – T.I. ft. Keri Hilson

My Mom - Eminem