A couple days later...

It was mid-afternoon and the Lennox family was out in their small corn patch, inspecting the rows for ripe ears. Will had baby Annabelle strapped to his chest in a soft baby sling. Every now and again when her father would stop the little girl would seize a corn leaf in her chubby fist and bring it to her mouth for inspection.

"No, Annabelle." Will smiled, removing the soggy leaf from his daughter's mouth, "We don't eat the green part."

She started a little fuss but was quickly distracted by the groaning mechanical whir of Ironhide as he shifted his feet nearby. Through the tassels and stalks Annabelle could see the humongous Autobot towering above, nearly blotting out the afternoon sun. Her blue eyes locked on him and wouldn't deviate.

Ironhide stood on the outskirts of the corn patch. He wasn't about to wreck anymore of Mrs. Lennox's plants. The weapon's specialist wasn't sure why humans valued the flowers but this "corn" he could somewhat get. It was used for their nourishment. Another oddity of their species—taking organic material into their bodies to be processed as chemical energy. It too seemed rather inefficient.

"Looks like someone is watching you." Captain Lennox mentioned.

In an instant, Ironhide's cannons spun over his forearms, whirring and glowing at the ready.

"WHERE?" he boomed, searching for a threat.

The Captain threw up his hands in shock, "Whoa! Whoa! Easy there! I meant Annabelle."

Ironhide hissed hollowly in his cannons and returned them to their passive position, "Oh. Why is she watching me?"

Seeing the guardian relax Will smiled, "Well for one, you're really big and make a lot of noise. That gets her attention."

"Hmm." he grunted.

Will touched his daughter's nose, procuring a small giggle, "Would you like to meet her?"

Ironhide shifted on his intricate feet, "Perhaps another time."

The man raised a skeptical brow at him, "You're not afraid of a baby are you?"

Instantly the black Autobot's optic shutters shadowed his eyes, "Absolutely not."

Will was about to insist further when—

"Oh no!" Sara exclaimed somewhere in the corn.

Ironhide's cannons whirred, clicking into place. A threat?

Will waved a hand at him, "Geez! Will you put those things away! What's wrong Sara?"

Her voice was frustrated, "Those raccoons! They're stealing us blind!"

The blonde woman appeared in the same row as Will showing him the bare ear of corn and the shredded stalks of other casualties further down.

Will shook his head, "Crap. Those things are eating it faster than we can pick it."

Tossing the devastated ear away Sara threw up her hands, "I guess we should buy some traps or start picking it earlier." She growled, "OH. Those things make me so mad."

Ironhide scanned for the word "raccoon" and produced several images of the mammalian. Scientific name Procyon lotor, about 60-90 cm long, range in weight from 3-16 kg, quadrapedal, stocky body, ringed tail, dark facial markings resembling a mask. He stored that in his memory for later.

Later that night...

Will spit the remainder of his mouthwash into the sink, giving his mouth a quick swipe with a towel. He peered out of the bathroom door seeing his wife hover over little Annie's cradle before settling into bed.

"She is beautiful isn't she?" Sara whispered, not wishing to wake the tiny dreamer.

Smiling in agreement, Will flicked off the bathroom light, "Well she came from great stock." Both parents watched their baby sleep, noting her lips were moving in a nursing motion.

Finally Will said, "When do you think we should introduce her to Ironhide?"

Sara sighed heavily, a bit of worry lacing her face, "I don't know Will. I know he'd never intentionally hurt her it's just...he's so big and she's so small."

"Yeah, I've been thinking that too. But I trust him." he laughed briefly, "I think he's just as worried as we are."

Sara laughed quietly, "Perhaps. Well let's get to bed before we wake her."

With a gentle peck to Sara's cheek, Will crawled into bed tenderly he wrapping an arm around his wife's chest to cuddle her. She smiled.

"This is nice." she crooned.

"You know I thought about this the whole time I was away." Will whispered, "Sometimes I'd hold your picture and hug my jacket, pretending it was you."

Sara leaned her head back to look into his eyes, "You're a hopeless romantic."

He gave her a sweet, loving kiss, caressing her face.

Suddenly, a blindening strobe of light flashed outside followed by a deafening [BOOM!

The whole house shook and Annabelle awoke with a squall of fright. Sara cried out and rushed over to the crib to comfort her terrified daughter while Will leaped from the bed to peer out the window. That flash was so familiar. The last time he saw a flash like that it was...in the Qatar assault. Will's heart raced up his chest, threatening to choke him.

He squinted in the dark night, noting a few small fires in the trees and near the corn patch. All of a sudden a small shadowy form scurried from the corn patch and was making a B-line across the farm yard. It looked like a raccoon. Before the creature could make it across the front drive a wave of purplish white fire flew across the ground from the corn field and engulfed the hapless creature with a resounding [BOOM! When the light died there was nothing but a scorch mark on the ground.

Will cussed quietly and then saw the rotating blue glow of Ironhide's cannons looming from the darkness. His blue optics glowed brightly as he made a slow circle of the farm yard.

Barely able to contain his outrage, Will ran down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out the front door.

He shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran up to Ironhide, "HEY!"

The hulking Autobot turned around, assuming an attentive stance.

Will was out of breath as he made a wide sweeping gesture of the farm yard, "Wha—WHAT the HELL do you think you're DOING Ironhide?"

Ironhide surveyed the property. "I terminated nine 'raccoons' from your nourishment field. The infestation is contained."

The man stuttered, not believing how casual Ironhide seemed about the incident.

"Wh—WHY?"

Ironhide's optics narrowed, his plated face seeming to scrunch with confusion, "You did not want the termination?"

Will kept gesturing to the small dying fires, "W—Well yeah but..."

"Then what is the malfunction?" Ironhide asked, clearly perplexed.

Finally the man exploded, "You scared us to DEATH Ironhide! HOLY SHIT, you don't take care of a raccoon problem with a CANNON!"

Ironhide's mechanisms whirred with discomfort at the man's outburst. He thought he'd done a fine job dealing with the infestation.

He made a gesture toward the corn field to defend his case, "I used a very contained plasma burst only meant to target the vermin invaders. Your 'corn' is undamaged."

Will gripped his hair for a moment, "Don't you think that's overkill?"

The bot looked at each of his cannons thoughtfully, "No. Not really."

"Well the point is you scared us all. Geez." Will leaned back to sit on the pile of unfinished fence wood as he wiped the sweat off of his face. Ironhide remained silent, not sure what else to say. Captain Lennox was clearly upset with him and his methods.

Finally Will stood up, "Look, Ironhide. I appreciate what you tried to do. Just keep the cannons under wraps unless a Decepticon is involved. Ok?"

The black Autobot sighed deeply, "Very well."

With that Will retreated into the house leaving Ironhide alone. From inside the house the Autobot could hear the distress cries of Annabelle and his spark fluctuated. He must've scared the little one with the loud noise.

"Primus..." he grumbled.

Not in any particular hurry he walked down the dirt road a ways and sat near a solid oak tree. He stroked the side of his left cannon and internally calibrated his right. A deep rumbling hiss escaped him.

"Why is this so hard?" he wondered to himself.

He'd lived for centuries knowing exactly what to do in any combat situation but... he couldn't harmoniously guard a small human family.

"Primus, Bumblebee can guard his charge without all this complication and he's just a youngling," Ironhide groused.

All of a sudden Optimus's voice rumbled through his internal communicator, "Ironhide?"

"Ironhide here," he said perking his head.

Optimus asked, "How goes your assignment old friend?"

The gears in Ironhide's jaw ground together a moment, "Not well."

"Is the Lennox family alright?" Optimus sounded concerned.

Ironhide glanced back at the house, "The Lennox family is physically undamaged."

"Then what's wrong?"

Ironhide tapped his fingers against his leg, debating whether he should admit his short comings to his superior. On the other hand, maybe it would open Optimus's optics that he wasn't the right bot for this job.

"Optimus, I'm not the right bot for this assignment. I just don't understand these humans." the black Autobot grumbled.

Optimus chuckled lightly, "It's only been four days Ironhide. You can't expect to know everything about humans in that short span."

"I know that!" Ironhide barked, "It's just everything I do—I just can't do anything right."

"I've never known you to turn down an assignment." Optimus mentioned, a hint of reproach in his voice.

The black Autobot narrowed his optics, glaring at the sky. "Optimus, isn't there some OTHER assignment I can have?"

Optimus's voice became commanding yet encouraging, "Give it more time Ironhide. You're just out of your element, but I know you can do this. You've never let us down before."

Ironhide closed his optics, "Yes sir. I will not let you down. Ironhide out."