Ironhide did not depart from the base for quite some time after Eleanor punched him. After Cambridge left him to attend to his duties, Ratchet came and chewed into him so vehemently that Ironhide had to replace some of his wiring. Once the medic left, Ironhide decided that he would remain stationary at the base where he could not cause any more havoc to the fleshlings than he already had.

Plus, there were upgrades to be made to himself and other bots, and he had to help Ratchet out with energon runs.

Then, Japan happened.

Those fragging 'Cons could not, for a moment, contain their wicked ways. Earth had been peaceable for some time, but there was always some way for those slag heads to come in and disturb the silence.

Optimus chimed in to Ironhide to pick up the two humans before they disappeared out of the country. Frankly, Ironhide believed it to be incautious to take disposable humans on a mission meant for the tough, metal armor of the Cybertronians, but he figured Prime knew what he was doing when he requested the military's presence.

Ironhide just wished he didn't have to be the unfortunate soul to retrieve them.

"Oh, stop whining," Ratchet chastised like a Creator when Ironhide voiced his complaints to him before he left. "Never in my entire cycle have I seen the fearless Ironhide fall shy because of one fleshy."

Ironhide growled. "I am not fearful of anything. There are just things I wish to never do again, and that is see that dreadful femme again."

"Hmmm." Ratchet hummed, piling his tools and weapons in a compact box. He didn't speak for another klik, then said, "I don't agree with that statement. I had met Eleanor Cambridge, and she was quite lovely, as far as humans go. She is very, very kind to me, even though I had to scold her for punching you, and I did not automatically wish to crush her under my pede. That was nice."

For some reason, that infuriated Ironhide more than the previous statement. Ironhide turned his aft around, grumbling underneath his breath, and walked out of the medical bay, Ratchet's laughing echoing behind him.

He wasn't even irritated, he told himself as he steered towards the Cambridge and Lennox households. There was just a miniscule part of him that found her appreciation toward Ratchet jarring. How dare she show the worst Autobot respect when Ironhide had tried-

He had not. Their first meeting had been a disaster, to say the least. Ironhide had been rude, and Eleanor had been disrespectful out of spite. They had melded together the same way oil and water molded. That was to say they did not-at all.

However, over time, it became better. No longer did they treat each other as enemies, but they acted as though they were headed toward a mutual acquaintanceship built on trust and respect. So, how in the frag did Ratchet end up making a better impression that Ironhide ever did?!

Part of Ironhide wished to ask when he pulled into the drive, tires screeching against the gravel, flicking it up. His holoform was already in place, sitting in the driver's seat so Eleanor wouldn't get suspicious should she chance looking out here. It would be too easy to march into the human's house and demand answers as to why she was kind to Ratchet and not him. Why had he gotten her grief and Ratchet her adoration?

He did none of the sorts. Ironhide's mood was shot, and all he wanted to do was get Japan over with so he could come back to this foster place and finally work on his weapons.

When he returned from the mission, battered and bruised, energon leaking from his pipes, he mulled it over. He mulled it over as he took the humans home, too, and he was going to speak to her about it, but his sensors caught onto the pain she was in, and he only thought about her punching him in the face. Her broken hand.

All his fault.

Ironhide didn't look at her out of guilt. He shooed her blasted vermin away as best as he could without kicking the thing halfway across the ocean, and her eyes pierced into his faux flesh. Though his senses had abated somewhat in his holoform, he felt prickly all over, and that did not calibrate well with him. How dare this body be bested by a young Earthling?

When she exclaimed, "You could at least look at me, you asshole!" Ironhide could have laughed. Never mind the fact that she was glaring daggers at him, he was glad that the spark inside of her had yet to die, that she was not fearful though there were many things to be terrified of, considering she had assaulted Ironhide.

Finally, he met her intense gaze, and when her father tried to halt the exchange, he compelled him to leave them be. Eleanor's rat led the two men into the house, and it left the two of them on the porch, silent.

"I, um." Ironhide hated words. Primus, everything would be easier if he could just speak with his cannons rather than his mouth. Nonetheless, he could almost feel the pain that she was radiating off her, so he asked, "How's your hand?"

"It's alright."

This was difficult. Ironhide had never truly had to apologize for something, and even though he wasn't going to apologize for what he said, he figured he should say something to try and ease the fire in her. But, what. . .

"I won't apologize for punching you."

Ironhide, despite himself, grinned. Granted, it was as atomic as they come, but it was present on his holoform's face. Newfound light shone on Eleanor as he processed the fact that she was not sorry about punching him in the face though it resulted in her fracturing her bones. There had been something weighing in his chest that released as soon as she said those words. It felt. . . nice, almost.

And it was because he was not good with words that he mimicked her statement and said, "Good, because I was not going to apologize for what I said."

After that, it was a matter of understanding Eleanor better, especially when she informed him of just how her brother died-just where he was. Where they were. It did bite, a bit, for her to believe all forms of transportations misleading, but Ironhide understood that human steps were equivalent to those of their babies, so he let it slide. Eleanor allowed the silence to fall into one of serenity.

Ironhide found it very pleasant.