"Most dangerous animal in the world... is a woman with a smile on her face sitting in silence."

"It seems that she over-exerted herself," Ratchet said, scanning the girl's unconscious body that hadn't been moved from Ironhide's servo, "There's nothing wrong with her physically, I can't say anything about her mental state, however."

Ironhide ignored the glare the medic shot him, "She'll be fine, right?" He asked the medic, too worried over the precious human in his servos to be bothered with the orange medic.

Ratchet huffed, "She would've been fine if you hadn't-!"

Optimus interrupted the medic, "Ratchet," he said in a warning voice, his blue optics glancing between the orange mech and the black mech.

The medic huffed, a scowl on his faceplates as Ironhide rolled his optics at the orange and white mech.

"Soooo, what happened?" Miko asked, confuzzled.

Raf's light brown eyes twinkled with worry from next to the girl, "Is Leona going to be okay?"

Ratchet groaned and rolled his optics at the humans.

"So what the hell am I going to tell my supervisors?" Agent Fowler cut in, "That a missing girl is connected to M.E.C.H.? That the missing girl is also one of the most dangerous humans on this planet?"

Ironhide's optics hardened instantly, "Leona wouldn't hurt anyone," he snapped through gritted derma.

Agent Fowler looked unimpressed, "Not according to the evidence," he snapped back at the mech.

Ironhide growled under his breath, about to lung at the human while going to activate his holoform, but the faint groan from the human girl in his servo.

Immediately all eyes, and optics, were back on the girl.... whose form had shifted into a large cat.

Ironhide was unfazed as he immediately attempted to calm down the lioness, but the rest of Team Prime weren't. Even if four of the other five Autobots had already seen the girl shift back from her lioness form.

"What the f-"

Jack slapped a hand over Miko's mouth to keep her from saying anything inappropriate in front of Raf who was just gaping at where the girl he looked up to had been previously, now a lioness in her place.

"Okay, someone had got to start explaining things around here," Fowler only barely managed to say, his own eyes wide as he stared at the golden-tawny large cat in the weapon specialist's servo.

"No kidding," Jack muttered under his breath, wiping his hand on his jeans after Miko had so rudely licked it. Said girl was grinning trumpiantly as she made sure that Raf was in between her and Jack.

The golden lioness blinked at all of them innocently.

After all, she was innocent.

❀

Ironhide had managed to convince Leona to return to her human form so she could verbally speak with them, not that he couldn't understand some of the signals that she would give them, but just to make it easier for the others.

(And himself, but he wasn't going to tell the others that.)

Leona was currently frowning as Ironhide forced her to stand with the other humans. She preferred to be in some sort of contact with the black metal giant than to be alone on the ground with the humans.

She didn't understand why she felt more comfortable with someone that wasn't even her own species than "her species". But the looks the black mech kept sending her, lead her to believe that they must've been close before she lost her memories.

She didn't know how right she was.

"'Hide!"

The holoform turned around from where he was cooking dinner for them, something he had to learn since Leona couldn't cook for shit.

"What, Leona?" Ironhide grumbled, "Couldn't it wait?"

"Nooooooooo.......?" Leona trailed off uncertainty, sitting down at the dining table.

Ironhide scowled, rolling his eyes as he stirred the pasta, "Go on then," he sighed.

Leona smiled happily, "Can you help me with my homework?"

"That was it?" Ironhide asked her, turning back to the pasta, rolling his eyes again at her.

Leona poked her tongue out at the holoform's back, "I saw that," he told her, a grin tugging at his lips as she groaned.

Leona pouted, "Please, 'hide?" she didn't whine. Nope, not at all.

Ironhide chuckled as he turned around to face her yet again, "Give me a few more minutes to finish dinner off," he promised her.

"Thanks, 'hide!" Leona grinned, and she did something that surprised the holoform, pressing a fleeting peck on his cheek in thanks before bolting off back to her room.

Ironhide stood there, dumbstruck for a few moments before the boiling of the pasta behind him made him come back to his senses, hurrying to fix the food before it was ruined. Muddled thoughts spinning around in his processor as, for some reason, his cheeks flamed a light crimson.

Here's Chapter Three!

oooooooooh, someone had a crush!
(And yes, I will be exploring a few things that Leona and 'Hide did while with M.E.C.H.)
(No, Leona doesn't actually remember this(yet).)

Sorry for not updating my fics as often as I(and you guys) would like. My life's been a little.... hard? Sure let's go with that. But I promise you guys, I am working on more chapters!

Hope you enjoyed!
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