Yes, people I know you hate me XD But I'd never kill off an important character, I'm not THAT horrible.

Hm… this fanfic is going to take a while to write XD so many things in plan, I've been writing this story for about 4 months now, and I have no idea when I'm going to end it. XD It's going to be a huge-ass story to read. Just because I want to put a lot of stuff in here.

Here's the chapter: (you should listen to 'The Fight Will Be Your Own' here (I know, I'm just obsessed with that piano version), just as an added effect. Or just anything that makes you cry would be a good addition, not that you have to do it.)

AAAAND we're gonna see some Optimus Prime awesomness

"How are you?" Ironhide asked Melissa again.

"Again, I'm fine, I just wanna sleep." She said sleepily. Ironhide still sat on her bed and watched over her. "Can I sleep alone? Like, not with you on my bed?"

He cleared his throat and got up. "I apologize." He secretly wanted her to tell him to come back and sit and talk with her, but those words never came out from her lips. He sighed as he knew that he had to leave the room.

As Melissa was sleeping in her bed, Nicole was by her side. Currently, Bumblebee is attending to her, and Jazz is covering Sam's back. Someone always had to take care of these humans. Maybe the Autobots bit off more than they could chew. Taking care of one human is difficult, don't get me started about taking care of three.

Considering one is badly injured.

Ironhide couldn't stand looking at the female like this. She was in her bed for the past three weeks and she was being fed to.

The holoform disappeared as Ironhide turned on his engine.

"Where are you going?" Sideswipe asked. He and his twin were supposed to stay here, to keep Ironhide in place. As well as take care of Mel, if needed.

"I need… time. I'll be back."

Sideswipe started bitching again, "But you can't leave Sunny and me here, she's your charge and-"

"Shut up, Sideswipe." He cut off the comm. link and rolled out.

He knew exactly where he was going. He was going to a safe place. A happy place. A place he shared with Melissa.

Time passed. A lot of time, to be exact. But Ironhide made it. He rolled up the grasslands and slowly drove to the fallen tree, where he once uprooted it and lay it on the ground, for his Melissa to sit on and admire the sunset.

Only this time, she wasn't there to be with him. Since the three years that they've been together, every year they came here, to spend time. To celebrate. To just… be, with each other.

Ironhide transformed into his normal mode. Frag, even his normal, bipedal form, didn't feel right.

He walked to the uprooted tree. Next to it, was a small recess. A small, grassless patch of land, where he would always sit, admiring the Earth's Sun falling down into the lake.

He sat there and watched the Sun. It was about to set. But it wasn't going to be the same sunset. Every sunset he spent with Mel meant something. This one, was meaningless.

The more Ironhide thought about it, the more questions he had. Was it really meaningless?

It has been another three weeks since the gunshot incident. Or so Ironhide thought. He was losing track of time. He hasn't been recharging for the past half month, he was constantly watching over Melissa, even though she had added protection.

Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and on occasion, Jazz, would come in and keep her company, just so Ironhide could recharge normally.

But he couldn't. It was like he was failing her over and over again. He was seeing her injured in his nightmares. She was going to offline because of him, he knew it. He was letting his guard down. He was letting her down. And he was sick of it.

By the time he finished thinking, the sun had already set and it was night. A cold, dark night. Ironhide looked into the lake. He could almost see Mel splashing his holoform in it, the two of them racing to the shore, diving together…

He took a deep breath. Then he sighed heavily.

It was gone now. There was no way of bringing it all back. He remembered his talk with Optimus Prime. He wasn't of much help either.

"Sometimes you have to let go, Ironhide."

"I'll never give up on her."

"Old friend, you misunderstood me. Letting go, does not mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be. Life belongs to one who accepts things that are hard to let go."

Ironhide knew he would never let go. There was no way, no way in pit, that she was going to tell him some lie to get him off her back. He was burned twice. He was not making the same fragging mistake again. Not for the third time.

"Ironhide, there are things in life we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind, but keep in mind, that letting go isn't the end of the world, it is the beginning of a new life."

"There is no life for me without Melissa."

"You need to know, Ironhide, I have to ask. If our sparks say no, but our minds say yes, then it's time to let go, even if it pains us, but it has to be like that. Do you feel that way?"

Could Optimus had known? He was his leader, and his good friend for a very long time. But he didn't tell him his relationship with the Captain's niece. No, Optimus couldn't have known.

He rested his arms on his knees, but then brought a hand up to his temple. This was getting nowhere. The more he thought about it, the more it pained him. And the more he felt useless, not being able to help her recover.

She wasn't going to take any help at all from him. He stood up from his sitting position.

That wasn't the thing that pained him most. It was the fact that he knew, things wouldn't be the same. That he was back to square 1. She wasn't trusting him. She wasn't letting him near her.

He sighed sadly. He couldn't tell her anything about his real self. It would be repeating the events of three years ago. The untrusting, wary, young Mel.

He looked to the side. It was all his fault, he wasn't there to stop the events. He wasn't there for her.

Suddenly, something fell into the lake. Ironhide triggered his cannons and turned on his sensors. Nothing. He looked around, but nothing. Maybe he was just imagining things. As he bent down to transform and head back, he saw something blue in the lake.

To humans it would be an unnatural color of blue liquid, glowing in the dark in the lake, but Ironhide knew exactly what this was. He brought his hand up to his face. He brushed his optic and cheek plates. The watery blue liquid spread on the inside of his palm.

This… this was a tear.

In millenias, Ironhide hadn't let a tear escape his optics, but now…

How was this possible? Ironhide thought to himself. He wasn't a sparkling, sparklings cry, not weapons specialists.

Ironhide checked the lubricant level in his optics. Yes, this was most certainly a tear. Oh Ironhide, you're growing weak. He scolded himself. Before anything else left his optics, he transformed into the orca black Earth vehicle. His paint merged with the night. He silently rolled off the grasslands and headed back on the road. Back to the dorm.

He couldn't believe that he let a tear out.

It only showed him how much he cared for her, how much he still does.

But now, he thought, why did Primus make him suffer? He destroyed Decepticons. He helped innocents and disposed of the guilty. He fought with honor, he taught others about honor.

But what did he do to deserve this? What did he ever do to Primus?

This is all slag.

XxXxXxXxX

Since I was shot, two months have passed. Most of the time, I just slept, watched TV and ate. On occasion I would talk to Ironhide, trying to get my 'memories' back or whatever. I always felt like he was trying to restrain himself from telling me something.

Today, I got out of bed. I hadn't walked much. Usually, like today for example, Nicole would help me get up. But, she couldn't take my whole weight, so she had that Sunstreaker guy carry me.

Always, and I mean, always, when Ironhide would see Sunstreaker, or Sideswipe, carrying me into the living room, he'd shoot him a glare. A real, bad-ass glare.

And truth be told, I liked being carried. It was fun. It was great, having muscular men carrying you all the time. But it was weird for me, since I didn't know much about them. They never told me what they did for a living, where they lived, what cars they drove, nothing personal.

And I was curious. Nicole would start talking about something she and her boyfriend Bee, whom I hadn't met yet, would do, but then she'd just fall silent and drop the topic. I'd ask why, but she would say that 'Optimus said not to tell', or, 'it doesn't matter'. I was sick of it!

So Nicole did call Sunstreaker. Only that his identical twin showed up. I could only tell them apart by their clothes. One had a golden and the other had a silver jacket. Facial features were the same, their bodies were the same height, they were just identical.

And then there was that personality difference. Sideswipe had a happy-go-lucky attitude, while Sunstreaker was the more mature one and rarely ever smiled. But damn, he was possessive as hell. Me this, me that, this is mine, that is mine…

And nobody would tell me where I met these people. I almost thought it was a government secret, but that was impossible. First of all, why would I know government secret people? It's stupid.

Sideswipe came to my bed and offered his arms to me. "Need a hand?"

I shook my head. "No."

"No?" I would usually say yes, but I wanted to 'man up' and start walking like a normal human being.

"No."

"But Hatchet said to take it easy, and Ironhi-"

"Look, I can't use you guys, and I don't want to. You have lives of your own and probably have more important business than to watch over a girl."

"But you were shot. Three times."

"I know." Except for the fact that I wasn't really sure who shot me, nor why the police wasn't here, nor why they didn't interrogate me, or take me downtown to question me. Nobody came. Maybe I wasn't shot?

But then why did I have wounds? Nobody wants to tell me the real truth! I growled because of the irritation, earning a weird look from Sideswipe. "Where's your brother anyway? I thought Nicole called him and not you?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

Another question rose up in my head. All of these people were exceptionally god-like. Beautiful blue eyes, tall and handsome, gorgeous smiles… What did I do before the gunshots?

Having amnesia sucks. It gives me headaches.

"Sunny? He's out patrolling."

That's peculiar. "Patrolling?" he froze.

"Er… yeah. Or something."

"Something…? Like what?" I questioned him. I was sitting on my bed as I tried to get up. I put my knuckles on the end of the bed and tried to lift my butt up. My arms were weak, my legs were weak, I think I might just have muscle atrophy.

I put my brave face on and got up suddenly, and stood for about five seconds. "Hey, you managed to get up-" Sideswipe started, but my legs decided to give out. I started to fall backwards, so I spread my arms in front of me, trying to catch Sideswipe.

Miraculously, I've recovered fully during these past two months. All I needed to do now, was to start walking and running again.

As I was in free fall, with my arms spread in front of me, Sideswipe had great reflexes and caught me. I couldn't pull back, so my arms hurt a lot. I let out a screech, a painful one at that, and had him fall on me.

Okay not really on me, but his arms released mine and his palms stood next to my head. I dared to open my one eye, and saw him looking at me with a smirk on his face. "Hi." I chuckled.

"You-" he touched my nose with his finger. "need to be more careful. Don't hesitate to call me, Sunny or 'Hide. We're here for ya." He winked at me.

Was he flirting with me? He was acting like I was his best friend or something, but I don't know. These actions were kind of sudden for me. Too sudden, to be honest.

"What happened? Why is she screaming?" Ironhide bolted into the room. We'll this is bad.

His friend is on top of his charge. Or maybe it isn't really bad?

"Sideswipe, get off her right now." he said through his teeth. It sounded like a growl, combined with his voice. I got slight chills. Sideswipe got off and walked past him. Ironhide was staring at him, sending him ice-cold glares.

I turned around, so I was laying on my stomach, my elbows on the bed. "You know, you don't have to be so overprotective." I noted.

"It's a part of my programming."

His what? "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Maybe I just heard something wrong. Who knows. Patrolling, programming, who knows what else am I going to hear today.

"How are you feeling?" he sat on my bed.

"Same as I did yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that… you don't really have to ask me that every single day. If I have an issue, I know who I'm going to whine to." I explained it to him once and for all. Imagine being asked 'how are you' every single day for the past two months. It's exhausting, it's boring and it's sickening. Trust me.

"As you always did." He looked to the ground, as if he was reliving a moment in his head. He was like that for a couple of minutes.

I pushed him a bit, "Hello, Earth to Ironhide." He blinked twice and then looked at me. "You were kind of lost in your thoughts there."

"I apologize."

I sighed. "Again with the apologizing." I rolled my eyes. He would always apologize and bore me to death. "Are all guardians this boring? Can I trade guardians?" I pursed my lips. His façade was on the end of falling apart, but he sustained it.

"Do you wish for another guardian?" he looked at me with those bright blue eyes.

Blue eyes aren't really that common, but when you see them, you just want to stand there and look at them all the time. How was I supposed to say a damn thing when he is looking at me like that.

He was expecting an answer. Right, yes. "Uh…" I said dumbly. Think Mel, think! What was the question again?

"I'll take that as a no." he said.

It's my time to ask the questions. "Hey, can I ask you something?" I entwined my fingers and put them under my chin.

"Of course. Ask away." He openly said, turning his chest towards me.

"What do you do for a living? Where do I know you from? And what car do you drive? Where did you come from? Why-"

"Stop." He said. I stopped. "You don't need the answer to any of those questions." I don't? Of course I do! He could be a rapist in disguise that tricked my Uncle into thinking he was my guardian!

"What? Of course I do! I can't be living with a rapist!"

Once realizing what I had said, I shut my mouth and put a hand over it. My eyes widened in shock. He calmly blinked in response. "You're confusing. Why are you so confusing?"

"I'm confusing? I'm a woman! Why are you so weird?" this guy, is so not my guardian.

Nicole interrupted us, she just came out of nowhere. "Hey there. I see you were trying to get up. Ironhide made a beeline here when he heard you scream. Is everything okay? The whole dorm could hear you."

Was I really that loud? "Everything's fine." I smiled.

"Okay." She nodded and got out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Look, I'm hungry and I'm gonna walk to the kitchen, but I'm gonna need your help."

He got up quickly. I envied him for being able to walk. I rolled on my back and somehow managed to get into a sitting position. I spread my hands up, waiting for him to go across the room to pull me up. "Oh, and I don't want you to carry me. I want to walk." I repeated.

"I've carried you for the past few years numerous times. This will make no difference." He took my hands with his and started to pull me up. He managed to get me up, but I held onto his shoulder just in case. He tried to, literally, sweep me off my feet, but I interrupted him.

"I want to walk. And walk I shall." I gave him a stern look.

He rolled his eyes. "If you must. But, I don't want you straining yourself."

"Do you think I care?" I held onto his shoulder as he slowly walked me out of my room. "Nicole, anything for breakfast?" I called for her.

"I can make you a sandwich, if you'd like?"

"Thanks."

My legs started to hurt and I couldn't even hold onto Ironhide anymore.

Just as my knees started to bend, Ironhide moved with lightning speed and put my arm around his shoulders and his hand on the side of my waist. I stiffened and glanced at him. He looked quite calm performing the action. Like he'd done it already hundreds of times.

I hate it when people leave me in the dark. When they won't tell me anything.

But I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. No one, is going to keep secrets from me. Not when I'm at stake.

Ooh, Mel's a bit headstrong.

Wonder how this is going to go XD

And just another thing, the reason why Mel is asking so many questions at once, it's a sort of 'aftermath', if you could call it that way. She's incredibly curious.