𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 ━ transformers

𝚃𝚆𝙾

Ironhide was pretty sure he scared the life out of Eleanor Cambridge. It was not intentional, not really. He had merely been curious as to if the human was sneaking out; it was the middle of the night, and fleshlings were meant to be recharging during his hour.

But the human was not. She waltzed out of her house and started trekking down the rough terrain fluidly. Ironhide had been thoroughly confused. Cambridge had mentioned nothing about his daughter having a habit to sneak out in the middle of the night.

So, he did what any sensible Autobot with a conscious would do: he used his holoform.

Ratchet was probably going to have his aft for this, seeing as how the holoforms could malfunction at any given time, but he had foreseen no other choice. The human was moving swiftly down the hill, and he would lose her trail quickly should he hesitate any longer.

He disconnected himself from his alt form and appeared beside the truck. Ironhide did not know if he quite enjoyed his holoform. It felt alien, like he was placed inside a tinier, more fragile body-even though his was crafted by his own alloy: trithyllium steel. The feeling did not settle well with him, but he was instructed to guard over the Lennox and Cambridge families (guard duty, terrific) so he pushed through it.

It seemed as though Ironhide underestimated the human's skills for observing. She picked up on his holoform's presence right away. Ironhide had tried to keep his annoyance at bay as she sped up, but his helm ached with the force of it.

The femme starting running, and Ironhide was about to give up this foolish chase but Optimus's words continued to echo in his thought processor.

Protect them as if they were your own family, old friend.

Slaggin' piece of scrap. Prime might be one of the bravest, most courageous soldiers Ironhide has ever fought beside but sometimes that bot could be a real pain in his aft.

He followed the order, nonetheless, perhaps too thoroughly, but Ironhide was nothing if not efficient on the field, and Prime gave him an instruction; he would be fragged if he didn't follow through. Ironhide followed her until it became clear as to where her destination was-something called a grocery store, as Jazz explained once. It seemed as though the femme worked there, or so Colonel Cambridge claimed when Ironhide inquired him later on in the day.

"Yeah, Ellie works at FoodMart," he said. "Reagan said she made her get the job so Ellie would have something to do. Something to keep her busy."

Although Ironhide cared not about some job that a teenage girl had, he couldn't help but feel curious as to why she was straining herself when her legs were already bad. A scan of her body earlier had allowed him to understand that her limbs were aching and her spine groaning. Ironhide believed it unwise for her to work under such conditions, for an accident could occur.

But he remained quiet and allowed Cambridge to talk his audio receptors off. Lennox, too, was in the cabin of his alternate form, and Ironhide had been forced to take them to the very place this Eleanor girl worked. Lennox claimed it was for diapers (whatever those were) for his own sparkling but Ironhide got a suspicion it was for Cambridge's benefit and not his own.

He was none the surprised when Lennox instructed Cambridge to fetch him some of those wretched items. Ironhide idled in the parking lot and let the silence overtake the cabin until Cambridge came storming out, seemingly distressed.

"I got her fired!" the man exclaimed. Ironhide did not understand the term but he figured it meant nothing good.

Lennox sighed. "I told you not to bother her."

"You sent me in there!" Cambridge shouted.

Ironhide grunted. "I fail to see what the problem is here. Did you retrieve the diapers as Lennox asked?"

"Yes." Cambridge threw his head down onto Ironhide's wheel. "But, I got her fired, too! All because I wanted her to talk to- There she is! I'll be right back."

Ironhide wanted to leave. He wanted to be at base with the other Autobots, working on his cannons and not socializing with the humans whom he had no taste for. He blamed Optimus once more.

Eleanor did not want to talk to Cambridge, it seemed. Ironhide's sensors were picking up an enormous amount of anger followed by a smaller, less emphasized emotion of pain. It seemed her work has aided in worsening her legs and back. But Ironhide cared not, and he was grateful when Ratchet called and informed them of a mishap at base. It was an excuse to leave. So, Ironhide started up and drove over to Cambridge, grunting when it seemed as though the man didn't have any desire to get in. It was followed by a honk and Cambridge got in with a frown on his face.

Eleanor was left behind, a raging ball of emotion that Ironhide still had trouble fathoming, and Ironhide finally got to work on his cannons that day.