"okay." Will said. Ironhide took him to the wash racks, letting him get undressed. he carried him into the wash racks and turned on the water. he warned the other Autobots that Will was in the wash racks with him because several of them didn't like to come in if humans were in the wash racks with their guardians. Ironhide was careful with him. he'd showered with him in the racks before. "thanks Hide." Will mumbled.

"yup." Ironhide nodded. Ironhide washed himself, then let Will do the same. he was content to stay in the wash as long as Will wanted. sometimes the man just needed to sit in the water for a bit.

"I'm done when you are." Will said after a bit. Ironhide nodded and shut the racks off and went to the dryer. Will hated this part. it didn't hurt, it was just uncomfortable, but it did mean he didn't need a towel. he flinched slightly, pressing back against Ironhide's chestplates. the mech knew he didn't like this part, most of the humans didn't, and used his servo to block most of it from Will, before moving him to a dry spot so he could dry the spot behind Will. Ironhide stepped out and put Will down, letting him grab his clothes and get dressed. "thanks Hide." Will said as Ironhide scooped him back up.

"are you alright?" Ironhide ask. Will nodded and cuddled to him.

"yeah. I'm good. thanks." Will muttered. Ironhide nodded and carried him back to his room.

"are you hungry?" Ironhide ask.

"a little." Will said. Ironhide nodded and took Will to his room. his holoform appeared with a sandwich for Will. Will took it and nibbled it quietly. Ironhide sat on his berth and watched him, smiling slightly. the symbols on his arms were glowing blue as he ate, not full on glowing more like a shimmer. the ones on his neck would glow slightly then it would slowly go down the rest of his body. the symbols were still spreading, soon they'd cover his face and lower legs. his knees down and his head were the only parts of him not covered in the symbols but they were still spreading. Ironhide was watching the symbols and Will ate quietly, trying not to pay attention to the fact Ironhide was staring at him. after a bit though he couldn't ignore it any more, he knew Ironhide knew he was uncomfortable. "can you, can you not stare at them?" Will ask. Ironhide blinked in surprise.

"sorry." he said, sounding slightly shocked. he shook his head and turned away from Will. Will shrugged slightly. "those are still spreading." Ironhide said.

"yeah I know." Will sighed. Ironhide looked over.

"you don't like it?" Ironhide ask.

"no I don't. they're going to cover my face and once I get this energy under control, I won't be able to go out in public anymore. those stupid marks will be everywhere." Will mumbled.

"and?" Ironhide ask.

"people will stare at me. I won't be able to do anything." Will said. Ironhide raised an optic ridge. the symbols bothered him a lot more than he realized.

"if that happens I can always use part of my holoform program to cover it so no one can see them." Ironhide said. Will looked over at him.

"you can do that?" Will ask.

"I can." Ironhide nodded. "or at least I can try." Ironhide said. Will nodded slightly.

"thanks." he mumbled. Ironhide nodded.

"what have you seen of Cybertron?" Ironhide ask.

"a lot of the war. there was a little before, but... it's like... it took it from someone's memories. like it never experience it itself." Will muttered. Ironhide nodded.

"the Allspark was protected from other threats before the war." Ironhide said. Will nodded slightly. Ironhide grabbed Will gently, laying back. he activated his holo of Cybertron. Will put his sandwich down quickly. he didn't want to ruin the wash Ironhide had just had. he looked around, shocked, looking at the hologram before him. he sat cross legged on his guardians chest plates.

"wow... this is before the war?" Will ask. Ironhide nodded, arms behind his head, watching Will.

"mmhmm." he smiled. "it was beautiful. before the war, Autobots weren't designed for war, like the Decepticons were. Autobots were peaceful and Decepticons were warriors, but we all got along. some of my bestfriends were Decepticon's before the war." Ironhide said.

"thats why Decepticons are bigger, isn't it? they're bigger and designed for war, you guys weren't." Will said.

"yes." Ironhide said. Will cuddled him watching as Ironhide played him a few memories. Will smiled slightly. there was a knock and immediately the holo shut off. he turned his head to look at the door. "its open Prime." Ironhide called. the Prime poked his head in.

"just wanted to check on you." he said. "Ratchet said the last scan of Will showed a higher energy reading." he added. Ironhide nodded.

"I've been keeping an eye on it. it's fine." Ironhide assured. "if it gets any higher I'll take him to Ratchet." Ironhide added.

"it's probably because the symbols are spreading again." Will said. Optimus looked at him.

"spreading again?" Optimus ask. Will nodded.

"yeah, they stopped before, but after the Decepticon attack with Bumblebee they started spreading again." Will said. Optimus looked slightly concerned. "soon these stupid things will cover my whole body." Will sighed bitterly. Ironhide ran a finger down Will's back gently, Will was so frustrated and upset.

"it's alright Will." Ironhide assured.

"hardly." Will muttered. Ironhide frowned slightly, meeting Optimus' gaze. the Prime looked worried. "still can't go home." Will muttered. Ironhide looked at Optimus, coming him quietly. the Prime nodded and left the room. Ironhide gently wrapped his hand around his charge, sitting up carefully. he brought Will up to his face.

"would you like to go for a drive? Ratchet thinks he has something to block your energy enough I can take you to your house for a few hours. not long but it should help." Ironhide said. Will smiled slightly.

"really?" he ask. Ironhide nodded, getting up and putting Will on his shoulder.

"of course. come on." Ironhide said. he headed for the medbay, letting Ratchet know they were on their way. they walked into the medbay, Ratchet was waiting.

"hey. I'm not sure how well it's actually going to work." Ratchet said.

"why?" Will ask.

"because your protoform is probably going to activate." Ratchet said. Will nodded slightly as Ratchets holoform activated, an object in hand. Will watched him get closer.

"what is it?" Will ask.

"its a device to keep your energy levels down." Ratchet said. he walked closer but Wills protoform activated.

"shit." Will muttered. "stop that." Will hissed. he forced the protoform away, but it just returned again. "no I don't want this stupid protoform." Will hissed, shutting it off again. he struggled with the protoform the whole time Ratchet did what he had to do, but the moment Ratchets hands moved away the protoform took over and Will seemed slightly exhausted. "fine. it wins." Will mumbled. Ironhide scooped him up gently as Ratchet shut his holoform off.

"take him and let him get some rest." Ratchet said. Ironhide nodded and took Will back to his room.

*a few days later*

once the symbols took over Wills body, he had better control of the energy and his powers. he didn't know how to use them properly but he had a little control of them. at the moment Will and Ironhide were out on the field.

"alright Will. we're going to work on your powers." Ironhide said. Will nodded slightly, seeming nervous. Optimus had been pushing him to get these under control since Will accidently hurt a couple people the other day.

"what if I hurt you?" Will ask.

"I'll be fine." Ironhide assured. Will nodded slightly and swallowed. "alright I know you can do a shield, so form a shield." Ironhide said. Will nodded and looked at his hands, focusing on the Allspark energy that coursed through him. his hands started glowing and he put them out in front of him, visualizing the shield. Ironhide watched him closely. suddenly a blast of energy blew from his hands and threw Will backwards with a yelp. Ironhide's optic ridges shot up in surprise. "Will are you alright?" Ironhide ask, walking over quickly.

"I'm good." he groaned getting up.

"okay thats something we'll need to work on." Ironhide grumbled. "can you make yourself float? I'm just trying to get a feel for what you can do." Ironhide said. Will nodded slightly focusing. he floated up off the ground a little, before slamming back down and sending a wave of energy at Ironhide. it sent the large mech straight up into the air. "shit!" Ironhide shouted, landing on his aft. Will scrambled back.

"oops." he muttered. Ironhide stood back up and shook his head.

"okay. uh... alright. can you... hit targets? not me preferably." Ironhide said. Will frowned slightly and looked at the targets.

"I can try." Will said. Ironhide stepped back.

"Ironhide hows the training going?" Optimus ask. Ironhide put an arm out silently to stop him from getting any closer. Will stared at the targets, his hand glowing brighter and brighter. a ball of energy forming. he pulled back and threw it at the target. it immediately hit the target and bounced off.

"shit!" Will shouted ducking out of the way. Ironhide was quick to move, but Optimus was not and the blast hit the Prime in the leg knocking him over. Will blushed darkly and chuckled nervously.

"hi Optimus." Will said hesitantly.

"he's trying." Ironhide said.

"I see." Optimus muttered, getting up.

"hey I hit the target!" Will glared.

"it bounced off." Ironhide said. Will frowned at him.

"try metal targets." Optimus said, pointing at the melted plastic target. "I don't think the plastic can handle the energy." he added. Ironhide looked up and nodded slightly, walking off. he returned a minute later with a metal chair from the human rec room.

"hit the target." Ironhide said. Will looked at the chair and nodded, pulling back and throwing a ball of energy at it hard. immediately the chair flew backwards with the force and Ironhide smirked. "alright. now we're getting somewhere." he smirked. Will cheered and grinned.

"yes!" he smirked proudly. he turned to look at the two behind him only to find them staring down range. Will turned back and the chair was slowly making its way back to them in a glowing blue orb. "huh..." Will said, tilting his head curiously. "am I doing that?" Will ask.

"I think so." Ironhide said. the blue orb expanded and suddenly the chair went flying into the air.

"oops." Will sighed.