*I don't own Transformers or anything affiliated with Transformers. I only own my original characters and plots. All rights go to Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg.*

I was rather annoyed at the moment, not to mention very surprised. Mearing had called Carly, Sam, and me into her office and all we had been doing for the past ten minutes is sit and wait as she and her little assistant filed countless amounts of paper work. All I wanted was to go home and go to sleep. Today hadn't exactly gone the way I planned so I wouldn't mind being released to leave. Plus, I didn't exactly want a confrontation with Mearing after the incident back in the hangar. I didn't exactly feel like getting arrested tonight for something as petty as hitting a federal officer.

"Total nightmare file," Mearing said as she waved a yellow note in the air. I groaned and crossed my legs only to have Mearing shoot me a look before finally speaking to us. "So, the investigation is open. We've sent agents to your office and for the time being we're going to send you both home with Autobot protection."

I came home to an Autobot every single night so there was nothing new here.

"Who do I need to speak to to get you guys to understand that I can help? That Lea and I can help? That we can contribute?" Sam retorted.

Brains jumped onto her desk. "Hey, we can all help. Want me to tell you what I know? I can tell you about the solar system and all the fun planets to hang out on," he chimed.

I smiled at him, but Mearing had other plans. She took out a gun and laid it down on her desk in a threatening manner. "Get off my desk please."

Brains mumbled a few words before he jumped down to the floor. Mearing rolled her eyes at the retreating Autobot and I rolled my eyes at her. I was getting so sick of the way she was treating them. I thought I just made this clear half an hour ago. 

"What do you envision for us? We go home, go back to work, make copies? I mean really," Sam said.

Mearing gave him a hard look. "This is a unit for veteran intelligence officers and special forces. It's not for boys who once owned special cars or for mouthy little girls who have fallen in love with big trucks," she countered.

I glared at her. She obviously didn't know who I was, but if she made one more remark she would definitely be finding out. 

"That's a bit harsh, isn't it ma'am?" Carly remarked.

"Don't call me ma'am. I'm not a ma'am."

She sure didn't look like a ma'am either, I'll tell you that. 

"But you're a woman aren't you?" Carly asked quietly.

Mearing just gave her a look and Sam cleared his throat. "Are those yours?" he asked as he pointed to a shelf of medals.

"Yeah. CIA."

I smiled at Sam. It's been months since he got his medal yet he was still so proud of it. It was understandable though. I would be proud of myself too if I got a medal from the president.

"I only ask because I also have a medal. It's from the president."

Mearing didn't seem to care much about this though. She only continued on with the subject at hand. "Yeah. Great. So it's not that complicated right? No one gets to work with the Autobots unless I approve it. You're breaking my chain of command," she told us.

I scoffed and stood up. "Come on, Sam."

He and Carly stood up, as did Mearing. "With all do respect young man, I appreciate what you did; I appreciate what both of you did. But you're not soldiers, you're messengers; you've always been messengers."

Sam frowned and I took a deep breath to keep from pulling out her tongue. She didn't know me and she didn't know Sam. We were both more than that.

"They're heroes," Carly countered.

I just stalked out of the bitch's office. She had no right to say that to us especially when she didn't even know the two of us. I had been trained as a soldier my entire life and the fact that she has the nerve to sit there and call me a messenger makes me more than angry. Sam, on the other hand, may not have had the same training I had, but no other human could have went through what he did and actually survived. Even though I've only been involved in one major Decepticon battle, without the two of us, Mikaela, Leo, and Simmons, everyone on this damn planet would cease to exist.

Right now I was angry, much angrier than I had ever been in my entire life. It was all because of the wicked witch of the west, and that only made me angrier. 

"Lea," Sam's voice called from behind me, ripping me away from my thoughts.

I turned around to see him standing with Ironhide's holoform, Bumblebee's holoform, Carly, and my dad. "What?" I accidentally snapped.

He rolled his eyes and walked up to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Don't let her get to you, please."

I growled. "She's lucky I haven't ripped out her fucking larynx yet. She had no right to say that to us," I spat.  

"I know that, but it is what it is."

I just frowned and turned to face the small, glass display case I managed to stumble upon as I exited Mearing's office. It was full of awards, all of which were issued to Charlotte Mearing, and all of which seemed very breakable at the moment.

"You think I'd get in trouble if I kicked this in? I mean, these heels could do some pretty intense damage if you think about it," I said to Sam. 

"No, I know you would get in trouble for kicking it in. Let's move away from this before you do something you'll regret." Sam placed both hands on my shoulders yet again and began pushing me towards the group of people waiting by the door. 

I only scoffed, the thought of tonight's events only making me angrier than I was. "You train your whole life to be a soldier only to be called a messenger. Mearing probably hasn't been through half the shit I've been through," I growled as I shoved past the three men in front of me.

I made a move to head out the door, but was pulled back and turned to face my dad.

"You need to calm down before you do something you'll regret," he scolded me.

I rolled my eyes and yanked my hand free. "All I'm trying to do is go home before I do something I'll regret. I'll see you guys later," I said as I grabbed Ironhide's hand. Without waiting for a response, I pulled him out the door with me and into the warm night air.

"Lea," Ironhide started.

"Hm?"

"Why were you even here tonight?" he inquired.

I grunted and opened up the passenger's door to his alternate mode. I climbed in quickly and closed it before he got in on the driver's side. He immediately pulled off of the base grounds.

"I was here because when I went to see Sam at work, a Decepticon showed up and chased Sam and I through the building."

He growled. "Was it one you recognized?"

"No. This one was like a bird."

"Laserbeak," he stated.

I scoffed. What an excellent name...

"I thought everything was working its way back to being normal again. I was obviously wrong about that," I mumbled.

"Don't give up hope just yet, Lea."

"It's too late, Hide. There's none left to give up. As long as the Decepticons exist, my life will always be nothing but pure torture. I'm sick of all this fighting. I'm sick of Starscream always trying to tear my life away from me just for his benefits. I wish he would just give it a rest," I said softly, leaning my now aching head against the window.

Ironhide sighed. "I swear that I won't let anything happen to you, Azalea."

"I know you won't or I know that you'll at least try. Nothing is definite," I remarked.

He just grunted and pulled into my complex's parking garage. He parked beside my car and I attempted to open the door to get out, but I couldn't. I turned around in my seat to see Ironhide's holoform leaning against his door, staring at me with a bored look on his face. 

"Are you gonna let me out so I can go to sleep or do I need to break your window with my shoe?" I asked. My aggravation from tonight still had yet to falter, and I highly doubted it would until I woke up in the morning. 

"Go ahead and try, you won't get very far."

I rolled my eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"I want for you to calm yourself, Azalea. I know Mearing aggravates you--she aggravates all of us--but you can't continue to lash out at her like you did tonight, no matter how angry she makes you," he told me. 

I groaned and threw my head back against the seat. "What's the big deal? I was defending the Autobots! Does that not mean anything to you?"

"It does, but I don't want you getting in trouble because of her. I would be forced to intervene, and Optimus's orders are still very much in effect," he replied. 

"You wouldn't have to intervene though."

"That's where you're wrong, Lea. There are only two beings on this planet who know how to control you and your attitude, and that's your father and I," he told me. 

I scoffed. "Yeah right. I can control my own self."

"And that's exactly why your father had to remove you from the room after your outburst. Had he not, one of Mearing's guards would have been forced to do it, and you know how I feel about that," he retorted, causing me to frown. "You're just lucky I wasn't sent to deal with you. We all know just how afraid you are of me."

I chuckled and looked at him. "You're sure about that?"

"Very."

I smirked. "Guts over fear, Hide. Now let me out." 

I heard a click and wasted no time in opening the door to get out. I was still exceptionally angry because of what happened earlier and not to mention I was exhausted from the day's activities. If I didn't collapse before we got to the room, I would be surprised.

"You look absolutely horrible," Ironhide baited.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "I'm exhausted. Today has done nothing but stress me out."

Before I knew it, I was being lifted. I let out a squeal and held on tightly to Ironhide's shoulders. He laughed at me. "I don't need you collapsing on me," he stated.

"You think I'm scared of you, yet you don't give me a reason to be scared of you," I chuckled. 

He laughed. "I was mostly joking. Why would I want the one I love the most to live in fear of me? It's quite a twisted logic if you ask me."

I smiled and snuggled into his side. "Can you just promise me something, Hide?"

"What might that be?" he asked.

"No matter what happens in the next few days or even weeks, just please promise me that you won't leave me."

He scoffed playfully. "What kind of promise is that? You know I'd never think of leaving you in a million years, let alone a few days or weeks. Seems to me that you really do need a good night's sleep," he laughed.

I playfully rolled my eyes at him. If my life could just stay this way forever, I'd be perfectly okay. I just felt that wasn't going to be the case here soon enough.

*Please vote and comment. It'd mean so much to me. I wanna know what you guys think.*