Tinman

Guilt Trip

A month later...

Ironhide sat in the driveway in his Topkick form to disguise himself from the mailman who drove to the house every day around 11:00 in the morning. The Lennox's had no neighbors less than four miles away so Ironhide rarely had to hide himself—except when the mailman came. The old Autobot set his internal clock to the arrival of that scrawny mustachioed man, making sure he was always disguised for his arrival.

The first time the mailman came to the house Ironhide thought the human was a spy of some kind. So in his truck form he aggressively followed the man around, seeing where he was stationed at. He must've scared the man since he picked up speed, weaving erratically down the dirt road to avoid the Topkick. Ironhide eventually gave up his pursuit and returned home. Captain Lennox scolded him of course and explained it was the mailman's job to bring them the mail and he wasn't a spy. Ever since that day the khaki short-wearing man gave the Topkick a wary glance if it was in the driveway.

Soon the man drove away and Captain Lennox came out to retrieve any mail.

"Mornin', Ironhide," he called cheerfully.

Ironhide merely rumbled his engine in greeting.

Right behind Lennox trotted Annabelle. Her honey blonde hair bounced with curls as she clutched a small stuffed kitty in her hand. Over the past couple months Ironhide observed that the walking practice had paid off and now the little girl was running around at remarkable speeds for one so small. She fell sometimes, but her locomotion was definitely improved. The young one was also talking more, saying small phrases and identifying things in her high pitched voice.

She followed her daddy to the mailbox but then noticed Ironhide's truck form sitting in the driveway. Quickly, she dashed over to his front bumper, patting it.

"Wake up, Iwonhide." she chirped, missing the hard 'r' sound in his name and replacing it with an easier pronounced 'w'. Inwardly Ironhide cringed at the mispronunciation, but reminded himself of the child's inexperience with the language.

For some reason when Annabelle saw Ironhide in his truck form she assumed he was asleep and would do anything she could to wake him. Of course, Ironhide wasn't asleep but he couldn't explain that to the little girl so she would understand. Besides, it would ruin his ploy to simply ignore her. Ironhide reasoned that if he could successfully ignore the child then there was no chance he could inadvertently hurt her. So he played hard to get, hoping she would lose interest and find something else to do.

But, Annabelle was quite enamored with the gigantic Autobot and would persistently pester him until he bent to her will. The quirk irritated Ironhide to no end because the toddler always won the battle—but NOT today. He was going to stay in his truck form until she left him alone or she aged into an adult. Either way, he was determined to win this battle of wills.

Annabelle tapped his bumper again, "Iwonhide, wake up!"

He didn't move a piston.

Frowning she toddled over to the driver's door and banged on it, "Wake up Iwonhide."

Not a sound.

Biting her lip, Annabelle put down her stuffed kitty and pushed against his front tire in a futile effort to budge him.

"Wake up," she whined.

Ugh, how he hated that sound.

Finally, Will called, "Leave Ironhide alone honey."

Thank Primus.

But the child refused to give up. Stubbornly she banged on Ironhide's bumper again with an open palm then stomped her foot