rodimusunicronus3
G1 Chromia x Ironhide
————

Explosions rung out in the battlefield, clumps of dirt and debris becoming fast-moving projectiles. To most, these were frightening and unnatural.

But to veterans like Ironhide, it was just another battle.

Ironhide made sure that someone kept a close eye on Chromia in case he was separated from her, though he was fully aware of her capabilities on the battlefield. Chromia and himself loved a good fight, especially against some Decepticons who needed to be taught a lesson.

All it took was him looking away for one second to change everything.

———

"Sideswipe! Where the hell is Chromia?" Ironhide shouted above the roar of gunfire and explosions.

The red mech jumped at the sound of Ironhide's voice and whipped around to face the older Autobot, his optics widened slightly. "I don't know! She was just here a second ago with me an' Sunny!" He replied, ducking when an explosion went off.

"Ya mean ya lost her?!" Ironhide snarled, about to strangle Sideswipe when he heard Chromia screaming. His head immediately perked up and he spotted the femme trying to fight off three Decepticons by herself. "Chromia!"

He gripped his gun tightly and charged towards Chromia and the Decepticons, having to jump and duck to avoid being shot. He finally reached her and grabbed one of the Decepticons by the neck, throwing them into a wall and kicking them hard. He growled when he was hit in the jaw, immediately swinging his fist and punching the con back.

Chromia helped him take out the remaining Decepticons, breathing heavily and hunching over slightly. "I could've taken 'em!" She huffed, smiling slightly when she looked up at Ironhide.

Ironhide chuckled, wiping energon from his mouth and looking at Chromia. "Sure, says the one that was screaming 'er head off the whole time." He teased, flicking her helm.

"Incoming! Ironhide, look out!"

Ironhide turned just in time to see a missile flying right towards him and Chromia. His instincts immediately kicked in and he tackled Chromia to the ground, shielding her with his larger frame.

The explosion was massive, shaking the ground and ripping Ironhide away from the blue femme. He groaned, his audio receptors ringing as his vision flickered a bit. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Chromia's limp frame being dragged away by a familiar looking seeker.

-Hours later-

"Ngh... my head.." Ironhide groaned, going to sit up and hissing in pain.

"Easy, Hide. That was quite a beating you took out there." Ratchet murmured, fussing over Ironhide's wounds while the red mech laid on the medberth.

"Where.... where am I..?" Ironhide asked, rubbing his optics and trying to clear his vision. He felt like he got ran over by one of those huge transports back on Cybertron, which was not a good feeling at all.

"The Ark, in my Medbay." Ratchet replied, cleaning up some energon on Ironhide's arm and walking away to fetch something else.

Ironhide huffed, closing his optics for a moment before opening them wide again. "Wait... where's Chromia?!" He exclaimed, sitting upright and ignoring the burning pain of his wounds.

"Ironhide! Lay down, you're going to hurt yourself!" Ratchet scolded, walking back over and gently pushing Ironhide back down.

"No! I need to know where Chromia is! I need to know if she's safe!" Ironhide growled, shoving Ratchet's hand away and sitting back up. He was halfway off the medberth when the medic yanked him back and pinned him against the medberth. "Let me go!"

"Ironhide, I will not allow you to injure yourself more!" Ratchet growled back, keeping a firm hand on Ironhide's shoulder. "I don't know where Chromia is, she disappeared after that missile hit you guys."

"She what?! The Decepticons coulda taken her! We have to go after her!" Ironhide snarled, pushing against Ratchet and trying to get up.

Ratchet sighed, shaking his head. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." He muttered, getting a shot of sedation medicine and injecting it into Ironhide's arm. The red mech's struggles soon ceased and Ratchet sighed, letting go and stepping back. "Stubborn mech..."

-Meanwhile-

"Talk, Autobot!" Starscream spat, holding his hand up and threatening to strike the femme before him.

Chromia snarled and glared at the seeker, showing no fear at all in his presence. "You don't scare me, Screamy. I'll never talk." She muttered, pulling on the cuffs around her wrists.

"Quit being a hero, petty femme. It'll only send you to the scrapheap!" Starscream growled, bringing his hand down and smacking Chromia across the face.

Chromia hissed in pain, feeling energon starting to seep from the gashes on her cheek. Though, she only chuckled as she tilted her head to look back up at Starscream, a grin on her face. "Oh please, I can do this all day."

Starscream's optics narrowed and he hissed lowly, his wings twitching in annoyance. This femme was a piece of work... but he could break her. He would have her begging on her knees in no time.

He just needed to keep Ironhide out of the equation. And that would prove to be no easy task.

-A week later-

As soon as Ratchet cleared him to leave the Medbay, Ironhide was on his pedes and already formulating a plan to get his love back.

"Yes?" Optimus spoke, glancing up when he heard a knock on the door to his office. He was pleasantly surprised when Ironhide stepped into the room, having expected it to be Prowl or someone else. "Ah, glad you are doing well, Ironhide."

"Thank ya, Prime. But that ain't what I came here to talk to ya about." Ironhide replied, walking over to Optimus's desk and standing in front of it with his arms crossed. "It's about Chromia."

Optimus leaned forward on his desk and folded his hands together. "Alright, What is it?" He asked, fully aware of the situation at hand.

"I've got a plan to get 'er back, but I need help." Ironhide said, shifting his weight from pede to pede. "My plan is to trick the cons into opening their doors by triggering the sensors of their base with a decoy. Once we're in, we can get Chromia and use Skyfire to escape."

"And how do you plan on executing this?"

"You know me, Prime. I'll make it up as I go along."

-Later-

Chromia's dull blue gaze traced the edges of her cell for what must've been the 100th time, completely bored out of her mind. The cuts on her cheek still stung, but at least they had stopped bleeding for the most part.

She had been thinking about ways to escape, even trying to pick the lock until Starscream caught her in the act. She almost lost a finger for that, but that didn't stop her from believing. She knew Ironhide was coming for her, she just needed to bide her time.

Her head perked up when her audio receptors picked up a hint of noise, her gaze immediately flicking to the cell door. She sat in silence for a moment, listening carefully. She didn't hear anything, so she relaxed and sighed heavily.

Suddenly, the ground shook with an explosion, making her jump to her pedes and run to the door. She stood up on the tips of her pedes and peered out of the small window, seeing a cloud of dust billowing down the hallway and the dark figures of the guards scrambling around.

A few blue blasts shot out of the cloud followed by yelps of pain, loud thuds soon coming as well. Chromia narrowed her optics, trying to see what was going on. She stiffened in shock when a red mech stepped out of the dust, waving his hand in front of his face and coughing slightly. "Ironhide!" The cry escaped her throat before she even thought about it and she stuck her hands out of the window.

Ironhide immediately looked over at Chromia's cell and his expression lit up. He ran over to the cell door and ignored the panel that would unlock the cell, easily ripping the door off of its hinges and hugging the blue femme close. "Primus... don't ya ever do that to me again, ya hear?" He chuckled, nuzzling her helm gently.

"Haha, I promise I won't. You're such a worrywart, Hide." Chromia snickered, nuzzling Ironhide and pulling her head back a bit. She lightly kissed him on the lips, smiling widely.

"Only 'cause I love ya." Ironhide replied with a smile, pulling her in for another kiss and sighing in relief.

They enjoyed the embrace for a minute more before Ironhide took the cuffs off of her wrists and led her out of the Decepticon base. They all loaded into Skyfire and escaped, heading back to base safe and sound.

1470 words