"of course. I'll be fine. I see you managed to get Jazz off the couch." Optimus smiled.

"yeah he just needed a hug." Will smiled slightly. Jazz nodded at Ironhide, who gave him a slight smile.

"alright, we'll be sleeping in here. the couches are 'pull out beds' according to a few human soldiers." Optimus said. Will nodded slightly.

"why don't we grab the projector and watch a few movies?" Jazz ask. Ironhide frowned, his voice sounded as though the usually bouncy mech had been crying.

"yeah okay, let me go get Bumblebee and Sam." Will said.

"I'll go with you." Jazz said. Will nodded at him and walked out with him. the grabebd thr projector and their friends and headed back to Optimus' office. Will hooked everything up.

"alright do we want a horror movie, a comedy, a mystery, or an action movie?" Will ask. it was quiet and Will looked between them.

"lets watch a comedy." Sam said. Will nodded and started a movie. he helped Ironhide pull the pull out bed out of the couch they'd been sleeping on, watching the others do the same. he sat beside his guardian, he looked so tired. Will sighed and looked at the others. Sam was laying back, Bumblebee basically in his lap clinging to him and Sam was running his fingers through the scouts hair. Will looked over to the other couch. Jazz was curled up, his back to the Prime, clutching his mp3 and staring at the screen. Optimus was sitting beside him, hand on Jazz's side, trying to comfort him. Ironhide sigh slumping over against Will tiredly. Will shifted some, but wrapped an arm around Ironhide's shoulders, holding him gently. Ironhide sighed slightly and watched the movie.

"hey." Sideswipes holoform called walking over to them. they looked up. "he's out of surgery. he's gonna be okay." Sideswipe smiled at them.

"good." Will smiled, squeezing Ironhide's shoulders. he mumbled and held onto Will. "I'm sure Ironhide would be excited if he wasn't asleep." Will smiled slightly, playing with his hair gently. Ironhide mumbled and curled up.

"I'm sure he would be, but it's better he sleeps." Optimus said. Sideswipe nodded and smiled.

"just wanted to let you guys know." he said, leaving. Will shifted and yawned, laying down the best he could with Ironhide clinging to him.

*next morning*

Will shifted slightly and knew something was wrong. Ironhide was not on the bed with him, but someone else was. he opened his eyes.

"Hide?" Will mumbled.

"nope, Sam." Sam smiled looking up from his cell phone.

"where's Hide?" Will ask sitting up tiredly.

"with Bee." Sam replied, pointing over to the couch he'd been sleeping on. "he... he needed Ironhide last night. we swapped and you never even noticed." Sam smiled. Will looked over and sure enough his guardian was holding the scout tightly as they both slept. "he seemed a little grumpy and groggy when I woke him up, but when I explained Bumblebee was sobbing about Ratchet, he got up pretty quickly." Sam added. Will nodded and got up.

"alright. any update?" Will ask.

"he woke up a few hours ago." Sam said.

"good." Will nodded and stretched. Ironhide shifted and grumbled opening his eye's. Bumblebee rubbed his eye's and cuddled Ironhide slightly

"hey Bee." Sam smiled over at him. the scout smiled slightly.

"Ratchet woke up." Will smiled. Bumblebee immediately brightened but Ironhide growled lowly and grumbled.

"I thought you'd be excited." Sam said to Ironhide. Ironhide growled. "whats wrong with him?" Sam ask Will, who chuckled.

"nothing. I've spoiled him to morning coffee." Will stretched and smiled at Ironhide. "c'mon you big grump. lets go get you a cup of coffee." Will said. Ironhide glared at him but got up anyway and followed him sluggishly to the human rec room. Will smiled and handed him a cup of coffee. he took it and took a sip, yawning. "better?" Will ask. Ironhide nodded slightly.

"yes. can we go see Ratchet?" Ironhide ask.

"yeah. I'm sure Wheeljack would let you in." Will smiled, nodding towards the medbay. they headed that way. "how did Bumblebee like being cuddled to death?" Will teased. Ironhide glared at him.

"he needed it." Ironhide said. Will nodded.

"yeah thats what Sam said." Will frowned. they got to the medbay and Ironhide seemed a little shaken, like he wasn't ready to walk in this time. Will watched him a moment, about to say something when he pushed the door open and walked in. he smiled and followed him.

"Wheeljack?" Ironhide ask.

"he's sleepin'." a mumbled and tired voice called quietly. Ironhide perked up and looked up. he and Will immediately made a motion to climb up onto the berth and see him.

"hang on guys." Red Alert said scooping them up and putting them on the berth.

"thanks Red." Ironhide nodded. he walked over to Ratchet, who was laying on a smaller human hospital bed. he didn't look so hot, but he waved at them the best he could. "geez Ratchet. what happened?" he ask. Ratchet shot him a dirty look.

"shut up." Ratchet ask. Ironhide smiled slightly at him.

"how ya feel grump?" Ironhide ask.

"nothing right now." Ratchet mumbled. "Wheeljack made sure of that." Ratchet chuckled tiredly. Ironhide smiled.

"of course he did. it's Wheeljack." Ironhide chuckled. Ratchet smiled slightly, but Ironhide could see it didn't reach his distant eye's. he wasn't completely there mentally at the moment due to the medicine. he groaned lowly when he shifted. "don't move too much Ratch." Ironhide said. Ratchet mumbled and winced, his eye's closing as he did so.

"c'mon Hide. let him sleep." Will murmured. Ironhide nodded and left with him. they walked quietly down the hall for a moment before Will found himself slammed again the wall. he sighed slightly getting used to this. "words Ironhide. use your words." Will said, keeping his wrist out of the way. he looked at Ironhide but instead of anger, like he normally saw mixed with something else when this happened, he sorrow. "hey you okay?" Will ask. Ironhide looked like he was about to break down and was struggling to keep it in. Will hugged him gently. his guardians face was in his shoulder, trying to get a hold of himself. he's silent but Will can hear him struggling to get his breathing under control. "hey, you don't have to struggle so hard to stay in control, it's okay to lose control occasionally. it's okay. Ratchet is gonna be okay." Will said quietly.

"humans and their stupid uncontrolable emotions." Ironhide muttered. Will let the man hold onto him until he managed to get control of himself and stepped back.

"you good?" Will ask.

"yeah I'm fine." Ironhide hissed. "did I hurt your arm?" he muttered.

"no its fine." Will assured. Ironhide nodded slightly but couldn't seem to look at Will. "why don't you go out on the range for a bit?" Will ask. Ironhide nodded and walked off silently.

"he loves you." a voice said behind Will. the soldier turned to see Jazz standing behind him.

"huh?" Will ask.

"Ironhide. he loves you. he doesn't let himself get like that around just anyone. I've only ever seen him show real emotion to Optimus and Ratchet. he loves you man." Jazz said.

"nah. he's just having a hard time. Ironhide is my best friend Jazz." Will rolled his eye's. the man chuckled at him.

"yeah sure." Jazz chuckled and walked off. Will rolled his eye's again and headed to the rec room. Ironhide couldn't love him... could he? Will shook his head. he sat on the couch and waited for Ironhide to come back and wishing they could go home.

*a few hours later*

after checking on Ratchet again, and finding him loopier than before with Wheeljack sitting over him, Will and Ironhide went into Ironhide's room. the weapons specialist wanted to see how Will normally saw his room. he looked around.

"wow you guys are small." Ironhide muttered. Will shot him a dirty look.

"We can't all be 60 foot tall Ironhide." Will glared. Ironhide shrugged. they looked around for a bit before Will sighed. Ironhide looked over.

"whats up?" he ask.

"hmm? nothing." Will replied, rubbing his wrist.

"your wrist okay?" Ironhide ask.

"yeah. I just need some ice or something." Will murmured.

"lets go get you some." Ironhide said. he turned to leave but he noticed Will watching him, almost curiously. "what?" he ask.

"nothing. just waiting for you to randomly slam me against the wall." Will shrugged. Ironhide huffed and headed for the door, but Will could see a slight pink tint to his cheeks. Will followed him holding his wrist. Ironhide looked back at him, a guilty look on his face. "stupid wrist is swelling." Will muttered, taking his brace off with a hiss.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." Ironhide said.

"it's okay. Ratchet told me your strength was surprising." Will shrugged. Ironhide frowned slightly but nodded. they headed to the human rec room and got Will some ice, sitting on the couch. he iced his wrist for a bit before Ironhide realized how late it was and they headed to Optimus' office to sleep. the other were already asleep when they got their so they curled up and did the same.

*a few hours later*

Will woke to rough shaking and he sat up, rubbing his eye's tiredly. he noticed only Sam and Jazz were on the other two beds.

"huh?" Will muttered. he looked over and Ironhide was standing beside the bed. he nodded for Will to follow him. Will looked confused, but followed him. he was silent as he led the man towards the medbay. when they got to the medbay Optimus, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee were waiting for them. "whats up guys?" Will ask thoroughly confused.

"we're going to announce that Ratchet is dead. we want to keep everyone at your place." Optimus said. they explained all the little details to Will, who was utterly confused. they wanted to claim Ratchet was dead, hide all the human Autobots at his house, and hope the Decepticons left them alone? they wanted to secretly move the human Autobots to Wills house just in case they wanted to attack and kill Optimus and didn't feel safe leaving him on base? Will was okay with that he guessed.

"alright when do we leave?" Will ask.

"immediately." Optimus said.

*Will's house*

Will was surprised to see his garage had clearly been built onto. the truck he'd barrowed was still parked in there but there was room for Wheeljack to park and more than enough space for a few people to stay in it. Bumblebee, Sam, Optimus, and Jazz would all be staying in the garage according to Optimus. Will, Ironhide, Ratchet, and Wheeljack would all be staying in the house. it had all been discussed already. they got everyone moved in quickly. Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Hound, Brawn, and Hot Rod would be patrolling regularly.