*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.*

The rain pattered lightly against my bedroom window and I smiled in content; the rain always managed to relax me no matter what the situation was. I rolled over in bed and looked at the alarm clock that rested on my bedside table. The time was 6:02 in the morning which meant that I had about two more hours until I was supposed to be at work.

I let out a groan and covered my head with my comforter. My job was one of the best in the world and my boss was one of the coolest guys you could ever meet, but sometimes I needed a break from it all. Walking around all day in heels and dealing with ignorant customers was sometimes a bit overwhelming. Just having the weekends off wasn't cutting it for me, but I needed the money to pay the bills for my apartment and the insurance on my car.

In hopes to get just a little bit more sleep before I needed to get up and get ready for work, I closed my eyes again. I was more than thankful that tomorrow was Wednesday, just one more day to endure until I was off for an entire week. It would give me the chance to take a much needed break. The amount of exhaustion in my system was killing me and I most likely would sleep for the majority of the vacation I had been so kindly granted.

Just as I was about to drift off again, a loud knock sounded on my apartment door. I rolled my eyes in annoyance before hopping out of bed, not bothering to put any pants on. I was currently wearing a t-shirt, a bra, and my underwear. If anything, the person knocking this early already knew me, so it would be fine. If they didn't, well, their reaction to my choice in attire was not my problem.

I ran down the stairs at a considerable pace and onto the first floor of my beautiful apartment. I truly loved this place. It was just for me and honestly I thought it was nicer than my parents' home. It was just like a tiny home to me and everything was very well decorated, all thanks to my mother's, Carly's, and my own expertise in design.

Just as quickly as I had run down the stairs, I pulled the door open, hoping that I could get rid of whoever it was so I could go back to sleep, but the sight of my mother's face and my little sister's face caused me to frown.

"What do you want? It's like six in the morning," I whined. I may have been twenty-one years old, but I was still the same whiny little girl that I was when I was just seventeen. In all honesty, I didn't think that would ever change about me.

"That's a lovely way to greet your mother and sister. But anyway, I need a favor," my mom spoke; she seemed to be in a bit of a rush.

"What can I do for you, Sarah?"

"I need you to look after Anna for the day. The regular babysitter is sick and your dad isn't home, of course," she answered.

The last part of her answer didn't surprise me. My father, who has recently just been promoted to colonel, was now always on secret missions around the world with the Autobots. Currently, he, the NEST team, Optimus, and Ratchet were overseas in Ukraine taking care of yet another "toxic spill", or at least that's what he told me. I knew better than to believe that though. I had found out just eighteen months ago that the Decepticons weren't going anywhere any time soon, so there was really no need for him to lie to me about it.

"I would love to help you, but there's a predicament. I have to go to work," I told my mom.

"Get Ironhide to watch her, please. I have nobody else," she pleaded.

I raised a brow. "I'm almost certain that he's down at base," I informed her.

She gave me a dumb look. "No he's not. He's sitting on your couch," she told me.

I immediately turned around to see Ironhide's holoform sitting on the couch. A small smirk was plastered onto his features as he pretended to look through a fashion magazine all while his feet were propped up onto my coffee table. Normally, at this time in the morning, he would be at the base. I really wasn't sure as to why he was still here, but I couldn't say I didn't mind.

"Well, that was unexpected," I stated as I turned back to my mom.

She glanced down at her watch. "Can he please? I really need to go before I'm late."

I sighed and turned my head again. "Hide," I called.

"Hm?" His eyes never left the magazine.

"Can you watch Annabelle today please?" I inquired.

"I'll take it into consideration," he answered.

I just rolled my eyes and turned back around, pulling Anna through the door and into the apartment. My mom smiled at me.

"Thank you so much. I love you. I'll be back for her later," she chirped as she scurried off. I quickly shut the door and turned around. Hide was still in the same position on the couch and Anna had run off to the kitchen.

"Annabelle," I called after her.

She poked her head around the island in the center of the room and looked at me, an innocent look on her face. I didn't give in to it though. She was five years old and already too much like me. It was almost impossible to leave her alone without her getting into some sort of trouble. She couldn't be trusted. "Yes?"

"What are you doing?" I asked curiously as I walked over to her.

"I'm going to practice throwing the knives. Daddy told me you started playing with the guns early, so I want to start early too," she smiled. I could hear Ironhide chuckle from the living room.

Aside from acting like me, she also wanted to be like me. She always wanted to fight or do something moderately destructive like I had done when I was younger. To me it was just a little sister thing and hopefully she grew out of it.

"I didn't start as early as you're trying to, though. And I especially don't want you to hurt yourself," I told her as I pushed her little body into the living room.

She frowned. "You're no fun."

"Sorry, kid."

She let out a huff and turned to face me. "And how come you don't get in trouble for not wearing pants, Lea? Mommy smacks me if I run around the house without them," she whined.

I chuckled. "Well, because I'm twenty-one and I'm an adult. I can pretty much do whatever I want," I answered.

"So, Ironhide doesn't smack you for not wearing pants?"

I pursed my lips and he laughed.

"Oh, he does," Ironhide jested from the couch.

Anna gasped and I just let out a sigh before bending down to her level. "Why do you still walk around without pants on if you get in trouble, Lea? That's no fun," she exclaimed rather sadly.

"Look at me, child. I'm going to go get ready for work now, okay? I need you to stay down here with Ironhide," I told her, completely disregarding her question.

She nodded and Ironhide grunted. I stood up quickly and grabbed the magazine from his hand before hitting him on the head with it. He glared at me. "Was that necessary?"

I threw the magazine onto the table. "Yes it was. Watch her please," I pleaded with him.

He glanced at Annabelle before looking back at me. I knew exactly what he was thinking about too. He had basically known Annabelle her whole life, yet he still didn't know how to properly interact with her. He cared for my little sister just as much as he cared for my mom, dad, and Adalyn, but the only thing he knew how to do was watch over her and protect her as he's had to do plenty of times. He couldn't interact with her the same way he could with me or my father, and it was completely understandable; there wasn't really much you could talk about or do with a five year old.

"I assure you that I'll try," he informed me.

Annabelle smiled happily and climbed up onto his lap. I giggled as he tensed up at the sudden proximity.

"You two are adorable," I chirped.

Hide quickly moved her off of his lap and she frowned. The sadness behind her expression literally almost made me want to cry. I pursed my lips before quickly heading back up the stairs and into my bedroom. The time on my clock now read 6:31 in the morning. I now had an hour and a half before I had to head to work.

I quickly ran over to my closet to get a dress to wear. Dylan wasn't too particular on what his employees wore. He's even shown up to work several times in nothing but jeans and a t-shirt, but I felt that dressing like that was far too casual for an establishment as extravagant as Hotchkiss Gould Investments, so I normally wore dresses which was basically what my entire closet was filled with.

After picking out a long sleeve, white body-con dress, I headed into the bathroom to take a quick shower. A good ten minutes was really all I needed to entirely clean my body. I avoided washing my hair though; I had washed it the previous night and I did not need it drying out from excess care.

I hurried to do my makeup but didn't rush so much as to mess myself up. The process took a good half an hour and then I was left to curl a few pieces of my long, blonde hair. The rain had ceased about fifteen minutes ago, so my hair was safe from that catastrophe waiting to happen. Fifteen more minutes passed before I finished. The time was now 7:25, so I hastily changed into my dress and grabbed my black pumps before heading back downstairs.

The sound of the TV flooded into my ears. Ironhide was sitting on the couch with a pained look on his face while Annabelle sat in the floor, gazing up at the television screen in fascination. Dora the Explorer was playing on Nikelodeon and I laughed.

"Having fun?" I asked as I sat down beside Ironhide, leaning my head onto his shoulder.

He grunted and wrapped an arm around me. "This is absolute torture. Is this what children her age do everyday?"

"Basically. It could be worse though. She could be dressing you up and painting your face with makeup. This will keep her occupied," I tried to assure him.

He only grunted again. "I wish you didn't wear such revealing clothing to your place of work," he exclaimed as he pulled on the hem of my dress before trailing his fingers up and down the length of my thigh.

"It's not that revealing, actually. It's almost down to my knees," I defended.

He scoffed. "I just hope I don't have to hurt anybody because of it."

I smiled at him before pecking him on the lips. "If you remember correctly, I can take care of myself," I teased him as I jumped up from the couch.

It was nearing time for me to head out. Ironhide stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. I smiled and hugged him back. There was truly nothing compared to being wrapped in his arms. His arms, mechanical or not, were my safe place; they were my comfort and they always would be.

"Why aren't you down at the base like you normally are?" I asked him.

He pulled away from me. "I didn't particularly feel like dealing with Mearing today. She never fails to worsen my mood," he replied sourly.

I rolled my eyes at the mention of her name.

Charlotte Mearing was the new devil in town. She was the United State's Director of National Intelligence and a very unpleasant person to be around. I had only had the displeasure of meeting her once while I was down at the base, and from the get-go I despised her. She was also far more threatening than Galloway and that was to be expected; a common housefly was ten times more threatening than Sir Needle Dick. He was a malicious and confrontational being while Mearing was an impatient, tyrannical wench. She demanded that everything be done according to her and her only and she also felt she was above everyone else. The fact that I got all of that just from a fifteen minute Autobot visitation was incredibly upsetting. I just hoped she knew not to cross me. She may have been the Director of National Intelligence, but I didn't care about the title she held at all. I had made one federal officer aware of this a long time ago and I most definitely wasn't afraid to do it again.

"I don't like her," I stated.

"There's not many of us that do."

I looked at the clock and sighed before turning back to Hide. "I have to go. I'll see the both of you at four," I told him.

He smiled at me and kissed my lips. "I love you," he told me.

"I love you."

He walked back over to the couch and sat down. I looked to Annabelle who was still in the floor and called her over. She wasted no time in getting up.

"Are you leaving, Lea?"

I nodded and bent down to her level as best as I could in this dress. "Can you be good for Ironhide for me, please?" I asked her. She frowned and nodded. There was a hidden emotion in her eyes that I couldn't quite decipher, but I simply disregarded it and smiled at her. "I love you, kid."

She hugged my neck and I wrapped a single arm around her body. "I love you, Lea."

I released her and stood back up. She ran back over to her spot in the floor and I turned around to grab my keys, my jacket, and my purse. After getting myself together, I headed out the door and straight for the elevator. I waited inside for about two minutes before finally heading out to my car which was a sleek black 2012 Mercedes CLS550.

Normally I would have been driving Braelynn's Cobalt, but Adalyn had it for the time being. After going to sleep one night, I woke up from a very special dream with the thought that Adalyn would be in desperate need of a car. Since I was moving down to DC and because Adalyn was still going to school, she would need to get around town somehow since I wouldn't be there to drive her around anymore. Braelynn's parents were perfectly okay with me letting her use it and since my job allowed me to easily pay for my own car, I didn't have a problem with it at all.

The sight in front of me ripped me away from my thoughts. I groaned and rolled my eyes as I saw how close Ironhide had parked to me. He always did this to me and it was nothing short of annoying. The driver of a car should not have to get in her vehicle from the passenger's side.

"You slagging asshole," I grumbled as I walked over to the passenger's side.

The sound of a deep chuckle could be heard as I unlocked the car. I frowned and opened up the passenger's side door before getting in. I closed the door and climbed over to the driver's seat. As soon as I was situated, I was ready to go. It wasn't long after I started the car that I was cruising down the busy Washington streets.

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