Learning to drive

The worries of a guardian

it had been four days since they attempted to teach Annabelle to drive, Ironhide was still giving Will the silent treatment. the mech refused to talk to him, activate his holoform, or even lay in bed with him. Will couldn't even get him to start the other day when they needed groceries, Annabelle had to go and get them. the mech had driven her with no problem, but hadn't talked to her. it had both of them worried.

"you don't think I hurt him too bad do you?" Annabelle asks, hesitantly. she glances at her father, who sips his coffee at the other end of the table.

"no I'm sure if we had, Ratchet would've already been here." Will frowns. "I think he's just.... pouting." Will adds.

"pouting? dad seriously. its Ironhide. he's been around since I was 9 months old. I've never seen him pout." Annabelle frowns. Will frowns, thinking a moment.

"I have, just once, but he wasn't quiet for this long though." Will murmurs. "no something else is going on here." Will frowns.

"Sonny is coming to pick me up, I'm supposed to stay at her house tonight. just... try to talk to him..." Annabelle frowns.

"right, tell Sonny I said happy birthday. you girls have fun and call me if you need anything." Will murmurs, getting up from his chair to kiss his daughter on the head, then head upstairs. he showers and changes clothes, before heading back downstairs.

Annabelle is already gone. Will sighs and looks at the door that connects the house to the garage. he hesitantly heads for it, slowly turning the knob.

he walks hesitantly into the garage, closing the door behind him.

"Ironhide." Will says quietly. the mech doesn't move. "we've gotta talk, it'd be easier if you'd answer me." Will adds. again the mech is silent. "fine." Will mutters, heading into the house. he grabs his phone and presses his hot key for Ratchet. it would basically ping the mech like a pager so he could call him. his phone immediately rings a second later.

"William? are you alright?"

"oh I'm fine. somethings up with Ironhide." Will frowns.

"whats wrong, does he need medical attention? did something happen?"

"I'm... i'm not sure. Annabelle and I convinced Ironhide to let her learn to drive with him. that way if anything happened, he could take control back. he's been giving the silent treatment ever since. like he hasn't talked in four days and refuses to drive." Will frowns.

"did something happen? Annabelle hit something?"

"a pothole. pretty hard too." Will frowns. he groans. "I should've called you right after it happened." Will groans.

"don't panic Will. let me talk to him. I'll let you know if I'm heading out there."

"thanks Ratchet." Will murmurs, hanging up. he sits back down to drink his coffee silently. he receives a text from Ratchet about 20 minutes later.

"Ironhide is fine, but he does sound angry. try talking to him."

"angry?" Will frowns. he gets up again, walking back out to the garage. "okay Hide. whats going on? you've been giving me the silent treatment since we tried to teach Annie to drive." Will frowns. Ironhide is still silent. "look what is something that happened? I'm sorry if me or Annie hurt you." Will murmurs. Ironhide is still silent. "are you pouting? did something happen. would you at least talk to me? tell me you're pissed or something?" Will ask, patting his hood. Ironhide immediately pulls back away from him, still silent as ever, but he can feel the bot glaring at him even in his alt form. "okay thats, sort of progress." Will mutters.