Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! The Transformers are the sole property of Hasbro, and I'm merely a bored person who has nothing better to do with my time…
Note: NO FLAMES PLEASE! I'm always open to constructive criticism/beta offers. But being rude is seriously not cool. If you think my fic is THAT bad, then just stop reading it.
Summary: With the recent wave of crime sweeping Detroit, the Autobots are unable to keep a close optic on Sari. So when a local college student advertises to babysit, they immediately jump at the offer. Little do they know the chaos that will ensue...
Author's Note: Hi everybody! Yes…I'm taking another stab at writing a Transformers: Animated fanfitcion; my first one turned out horribly, so after a few tweakings, I've decided to give it another go. Let me know what you think, your feedback is always appreciated!
Enigma
Six months ago, Detroit was a pleasant, bustling city bursting with activity; throngs of people packed the sidewalks, and everyone seemed to take great pleasure in enjoying the outdoors as thoroughly as possible. But all of this seemed to change with the arrival of the Autobots.
Crime and justice are both situated on a delicate scale: whenever there is an excess of one, the other increases in volume to compensate the difference. With a colossal justice force situated at the edge of the city, the citizens believed that crime wouldn't stand a chance against these new heroes, that a long reign of peace was on the horizon. However, what they received was quite the opposite.
Crooks banded together in an effort to keep their scheme running, eventually creating a large underground crime network, where robberies, murders, and drug deals could be planned in secret. With their operations now safe from the prying eyes of the Detroit Police, the criminals ran rampant; backup had to be called in from different counties, and recruiting was stepped up tenfold. But despite this surge in effort, it wasn't quite enough to counteract the damage being done to the populace.
This meant more work for the Autobots, the kind souls that they were. Shifts became longer and longer, patrols covering more and more ground each day; more often, those unfortunate enough to be on duty would drag themselves into the base covered in dings, dents, and running low on energon, most times too exhausted to even carry on a conversation with their resident human friend, Sari.
"Don't worry, men," Optimus had said wearily after a particularly difficult day. "I'm sure this crime spree'll die down eventually."
But Optimus had been wrong. The crime wave worsened as time went on; thugs seemed to migrate in packs to the city, adding to the already thriving outlaw underground. At one point, Sari wasn't even
allowed outside the base after sundown out of fear for her safety. There were no shifts anymore, because patrolling the city became a full time job; at any given time, one or two of the Autobots were outside the base running surveillance checks around the city…It had become an around-the-clock operation.
Thus far, the Autobots were confident in their ability to be both guardians of Sari, and guardians of Detroit. But one night, she managed to get out of the base after dark; they'd found her playing on the jungle gym in the park by herself, with no less than a dozen criminals –possibly child molesters—watching her intently from behind some thick shrubbery.
It became chillingly clear that there simply wasn't enough time between them to dedicate toward watching Sari. As intelligent as the girl was, no one could be trusted with public safety being as big of an issue as it was; even though she'd proved capable of caring for herself, the Autobots were still wary, and decided to enlist some outside help.
Before Bumblebee had left for his patrol, Optimus had requested that he return with human newspapers. "They contain advertisements of people offering their services for hire," he'd explained, answering the puzzlement of his smallest recruit.
And as promised, Bumblebee returned with dozens of daily papers, dumping them unceremoniously onto the floor of their living room before dragging himself upstairs to his recharge berth. Bulkhead and Prowl swapped out with the yellow scout, heading off into the night without being told, leaving Optimus and Ratchet to sift through the periodicals to find the "Classifieds" sections.
"Aha!" exclaimed the medic, triumphantly holding a couple folded pieces of paper between his fingertips. "Got it!"
With that, their search began. "We're looking for babysitters," muttered Optimus blandly as he skimmed through the narrow columns. "Not live-in nannies or housekeepers…"
After several moments of reading, Ratchet directed the younger bot's attention to a listing he'd found. "Thirty-four-year-old male seeking an easy, part-time job in a house with an unlocked door."
His companion gaped for a moment, his optics rereading what he'd just heard. "Ah…I don't think that's necessarily safe, Ratchet." He rubbed his temples briefly, trying to get his processors to stop reeling. "He sounds more like a small time crook than a babysitter." The medic grunted in wordless agreement, and turned his gaze back to the paper in his hand; finding nothing of interest, he tossed it to the side, picked up another, and resumed browsing. Not a moment later, Optimus showed him a finding.
"High school senior looking for a part-time babysitting job. Must have big-screen television." After a moment of consideration, he put out, "We have one of those."
"Yes," agreed Ratchet slowly. "But she sounds like she'd be more interested in watching the television than watching Sari."
Both mechs sighed; this was more difficult than they'd expected it to be. Most of the advertisements were anti-crime related, which wasn't completely surprising. Locksmiths, home security companies, double paneled windows for an affordable price…They supposed that parents were doing the smart thing, and not leaving their children home alone with other people, therefore lessening the need for a babysitter altogether.
However, during their internal despair, Ratchet found one last ad.
"Female college student seeks babysitting job to fill in remaining time off campus. Willing to commute, loves children, and is certified in CPR. Will cook/clean if necessary. Will submit to background check/polygraph test upon request. Call for details."
He showed the listing to Optimus, his smile growing increasingly more pronounced the further on he read down the column. Finally, he handed the paper back to the medic.
"I think we've got a winner."
It was a cold, blustery day at the Michigan State University of Detroit; the fallen leaves from the trees swirled around in a colorful torrent, landing in obscure patterns across the well-worn pavement. She pulled at her MSUD school hoodie, trying to keep the chilly draft out of the confines of her thick garment. It'd been a busy two weeks of final review, and she was almost certain she was getting a B+ in her Differential Equations class, much to her ever-increasing dread; a test from the course was clutched firmly in her hand, made slightly bony by the unaccustomed cold weather.
"Damn, I knew I had it right the first time!" she exclaimed to no one, staring at the professor's red scrawling writing in disbelief. "I need to stop doing that!"
Her self-berating rant was cut short as another particularly strong gust of wind threatened to blow her beanie off her freezing head; she instinctively clapped a hand over her hat, waiting out the gust before continuing on down the path to the cafeteria. The thought of her much-awaited lunch compelled her to move faster, having not had time to eat this morning in her mad dash to arrive at school on time.
When she opened the double doors to the food atrium, a breath of warm air wooshed outside to meet her, seeming to engulf her as she stepped into the bustling crowd of fellow students. Keeping up with the flow of traffic, her eyes darted around to the various franchises stationed around the big, open plaza, her gaze first landing on Burger Bot, then Do Jo Jim's Chinese Experience, and finally decided on Charlie's Subs. For once, the line wasn't very long, and after she placed her order, idly fiddled around with her cell phone until the meal was placed on a tray and handed to her with her change.
Finding a quiet spot to dine was a bit of a challenge, but she managed to locate a small table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows; much to her surprise, it even had a wireless internet router stationed at the end of the table. After carefully setting down her tray, she pulled her backpack off her shoulders,
opened the zipper, and rooted around for her laptop and cooling mat before setting them up and turning them on.
While the computer warmed up, she munched contentedly on her sandwich while perusing over her math exam, occasionally making side notes in the margins as she went along, and remembered that she'd unintentionally turned off her phone when she played with it while in line for her food. She jammed her hand in her pocket, extracted her cell phone, and hit the red power button before sipping on her diet soda.
After making sure that her drink was far away from her computer, she turned her attention back to the screen, opening up the word processor to begin an essay for her Abnormal Psychology class…an essay that should have been started a month ago.
"Jeez…I really need to stop procrastinating."
Knowing she was going to need a few sources, she opened her note taking program and looked through last week's file of lectures, finding a particularly interesting discussion they'd had concerning the relationship between prenatal nurturing and the later stages of adult development. Satisfied that she at least had some ground to begin on, she started outlining the topic, creating subtopics and pulling out useful quotes to use for concrete details. But slowly, she began to lose steam, her mind wandering to other pressing matters in her life at the moment.
"Hmm…I wonder if anyone's seen my ad yet."
Shaking her head, she took another sip of her soda, cracked her knuckles, and dove back into her outline, determined to at least accomplish something that day.
Time passed by rapidly; she was vaguely aware that the busboy had asked if she'd like her tray to be taken away, and picked up her soda mechanically before nodding. A few friends dropped by to check up on her, but left after they found she wasn't about to take a break from her writing, taking her empty soda cup and replacing it with an energy drink on their way out. Though too focused to say so, she greatly appreciated the extra caffeine.
"Because I'm definitely gonna need it if I'm going to finish this essay on time."
At last, the end of the outline was near; the sun was beginning to set outside, and inside the cafeteria, the night-class crowd were making their way inside to catch a bit of dinner during the break between their courses. Her fingers were stiff, her wrists ached, but she was satisfied that she had a beautiful preparation for her essay. All she had to do now was pull the sentences from the outline and set them in essay format-
Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt.
She jumped as her cell phone vibrated unexpectedly in her pocket, jarring her out of her zombie-like state induced from deep concentration; not one to be slowed down, she flipped open her phone, pinned
it between her shoulder and ear, answering it," Hello?", while saving her document and cleaning up her materials.
"Ummm…yes, I'm answering the advertisement placed in the newspaper classifieds. It said to call this number for details on a babysitter?"
"Well, I suppose this can take my full attention."
Putting down her cooling pad, she smiled, and replied,"Yeah, this is the right number." Pulling her beanie down over her ears, she asked, "Were you interested in hiring a babysitter?"
"Yes, actually." The voice paused for several moments before questioning," Would you like the job?"
"Yes! Yes! YES!"
"That sounds great." She just barely managed to keep her cool, and asked for the time and place she should be for her interview. After receiving both pieces of information, she thanked the caller, promised to be at his home in due time, but nearly forgot one other thing. "Who should I ask for?"
"Ask for Optimus. I'll be waiting for your arrival."
After a moment, she hung up her phone, vaguely aware of her new task, and finished packing up her laptop and cooling pad. After slinging her bag back over her shoulder, taking one last look around to ensure that she hadn't forgotten anything, and waving goodbye to several friends, she headed out into the cold once more, shivering as her cheeks came into contact with the nippy air. While on her way to her car, thoughts about her impending job interview plagued her mind…
"What If he tries to mug me? What if this is all just a plan to attack me?" Unconsciously, she touched the miniature can of pepper spray attached to her keychain. "Well, if he tries anything, I'll be ready."
Once again, shifts had been swapped back at the Autobot base; this time, however, Optimus had remained behind to interview the new potential babysitter. With him was Bulkhead, Prowl having felt too tired to remain awake for such an unimportant matter, who was eager to spend a little extra time with the Boss-Bot.
"So…when should she be here?" he asked inquisitively, shifting his gaze out the nearby window once again.
"Soon, Bulkhead. She's coming."
The two bots sat in silence for a little while longer before the unmistakable sound of a car approaching could be heard outside the base. The driver appeared to be checking to see if they had the correct address, and seeing that they did, they pulled into the long driveway, parking their car neatly next to one of the entrances. The faint "thud" of a car door opening and closing echoed around the empty front courtyard, followed by the crunching of fallen leaves as they made their way to the hangar entrance.
"Hello?" called a feminine voice, echoing in the cavernous hallway. "Hello?" After a short pause, the girl continued," I'm here to see Optimus for a job interview."
"Yes…come in," responded the Autobot leader, smiling when the young woman peeked her head out from around the corner, gasping at the sight of the two enormous mechs before her. "I'm Optimus Prime, and this is my friend, Bulkhead," he gestured to the larger green mech. Noticing her apprehension, he informed her, "It's alright…we're not going to harm you."
Appearing fully from behind the corner, she waved up at the two of them. "I'm Kayla." Cocking her head to the side, she continued, "It's nice to meet you." A thought suddenly occurred to her, causing her small smile to turn into worry. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to stare! It's just that I've never-"
"Met an Autobot before?" asked Bulkhead with a chuckle.
"Well, not in person…just on television." She stood beside their feet, gazing up at them in wonder. "Holy crap, you guys are tall."
"Ummm…thank you."
Optimus stared at the young woman, taking in her appearance. She was small, probably by human standards as well, wearing a pair of faded blue jeans, an oversized school sweatshirt, and a pair of well-used Converses; her hair was tucked underneath a black beanie, and the backpack on her shoulders had definitely seen better days. Kayla's face looked kind, olive skin smooth with youth, and bore a pair of large blue-green eyes. Eyes that were probably taking him in as well.
After a long moment of silence, she finally sat herself on Sari's beanbag chair, crossed her legs, and let her bag drop softly to the floor. "So…" she gazed expectantly up at her employers. "When do I work?"
"Daily, if possible." Optimus grimaced as a look of surprise flashed across her face. "Or whenever you can. I mean, you don't really-"
"No…that's alright." The two mechs exchanged a puzzled look. "I mean, I'm trying to write a paper for my Abnormal Psychology class; the course itself shouldn't last much longer, but I've sort of…procrastinated."
"You could do your paper here," offered Bulkhead, gesturing around the base. "There's plenty of places for you to work."
She eyed her laptop momentarily. "Well, I suppose I could-"
"And the entire base is outfitted with wireless internet," pointed out Optimus. "So you can do your research here as well."
After another moment of contemplation, she hedged," I suppose I have met the quota for the number of classes that I need to attend…" Her interviewers could sense that something else was coming, and remained silent as encouragement to continue. "The only problem is that I'm lacking a really solid
topic." She gestured to her backpack. "I mean, sure…I've got an okay topic. But I wanted to find something groundbreaking, to conduct some really wild study that could even get published, and I-" she froze, her facial expression a mixture between shocked and amazed as she gazed first at her bag, then at the Autobots, who'd thought she'd had an internal glitch. "Wait a second…" Kayla leaped from the beanbag chair, strode over to Optimus, and placed her hand on his massive foot. "What if I wrote my research paper on you guys?"
"On Autobots?" questioned the leader of said faction. He contemplated the possibility for a moment, his smile abruptly turning into a frown. "But what if the research was somehow leaked to the Decepticons?"
"It wouldn't," she reassured him. "This information would be used for academic purposes only."
Bulkhead decided to put his two cents in as well. "It'll be fun, Boss-Bot! We'll have a bit of new company around here to liven things up a bit…"
"And that could be my payment in return for watching…erm?" Kayla looked to Optimus for help.
"Sari." He explained with a smile. "She's the child you'd be looking after."
No one said another word, all glancing anxiously between one and the other; a silent question was now being posed, and needed a response before someone spontaneously combusted from the sheer tension in the room.
Finally, after what seemed to be eons, Optimus turned to Kayla with a smile. "I don't see why not. You're hired."
"Yes!" cheered both Bulkhead and Kayla. "Oh man, this is gonna rock!"
Already emboldened by her new subjects, the small human began spouting off all of her newfound excitement, eagerly pacing back and forth across the large expanse of the living room floor.
"I mean, we're talking about a real 'mover and shaker' paper here; I'm going to be the first human to study Transformer Psychology! It's historic, for god's sake! Oh man…I can't wait to tell my professor…"
The two mechs exchanged amused glances as Kayla continued to rave, her excitement growing with each passing second.
Little did they realize that this would begin a world of Pit for a fellow Autobot, as they unsuspectingly continued to smile…
Author's Note: Well…that's it for the first chappie, guys! Feedback is welcome; tell me what you think!
I need some inspiration to keep on writing this fic!