Chapter One:

Reunion

"I love family reunions. Maybe next year we can pass out samurai swords."

-Doug Solter

The house was massive. Granted, my judgment was a bit skewed considering I lived in a closet sized apartment with the view of a dirty alley in New York City. So in comparison, this two story light blue paneled house with a sprawling back lawn and decorated front looked like a mansion.

I quickly glanced down at myself self-consciously. A worn out light brown leather jacket over an equally worn out red plaid shirt, dark skinny jeans with holes in the knees that weren't there when I originally bought them, and a pair of scuffed up brown boots to complete the hobo trash look I was rocking. My attire alone made me stand out like a sore thumb in this upscale, suburban neighborhood and that didn't even include my various bruises and busted knuckles.

It wasn't as cold down here in the south as it was up north right now, but it was still chilly enough that when I heaved a defeated sigh my breath showed in a fog of warm air. The heavy book bag on my back filled with a week of clothes and essentials weighed me down as much as my rotten spirits did.

What was I even doing here? I hadn't seen or spoken to my older sister in years. Why start now all of a sudden? The urge to pretend like I had never even attempted to visit became more and more appealing with each passing second. I could always act like the mysterious letter and plane ticket from Aubrey had gotten lost in the mail. I'm still not even sure how it had found its way to my apartment in the first place. How the hell had she gotten my address?

The sharp sound of a car horn cut through the air not only making me lose my train of thought, but also making me jump. I whipped around with a confused glare. The taxi driver was glaring holes into my figure as he impatiently held his hand out and over the passenger seat beside him.

"You gonna pay or what?"

"Oh, right." I mumbled and stuffed my hand into my jacket pocket pulling out a bunch of ones and fives to pay. He eagerly took the money and paid no mind to the crumbled and blood splattered condition they were in. The window snapped back up and the car took off down the road. There went my last chance of escape. No going back now.

I took in a deep breath and turned back around to face the monster of a house. Determination began to fill my body and settle in my gut. My hands clenched into fists by my side. I've faced bigger moments than this and survived. I've been in tougher, more dangerous, situations and come out mostly unscathed. This was just another obstacle in my hellish life. I refused to be scared of seeing my sister for crying out loud. At least, I refused to let anyone see it.

Before my mind could go back to pathetically trying to find a way out of this, I pushed forward down the small brick path toward the front porch. Three white steps up onto the wooden porch, four steps to the matching white door, and suddenly my thumb was pressing down on the doorbell. A minute or so passed by where I just awkwardly stood at the door not moving when I heard the sound of running footsteps. They sounded small and light, but my questioning was cut short when the door was yanked open.

My eyes had been focused straight ahead at eye level, but when I didn't see anybody they gradually drifted downwards to land on the small girl who had opened the door. She couldn't have been older than 6 or 7 based on her height. She was a petite thing with dirty blonde hair that fell past her shoulders in loose, natural curls. The little girl wore a light pink dress with small darker pink hearts and a wide grin on her face. Her dark blue eyes looked way too familiar and it was unsettling.

"Hi." She chirped innocently.

It was silent as the girl waited for me to reply to her greeting. After a few more seconds of not finding a response I finally managed to blurt something out, "Um, hi. Is this…I'm looking for Aubrey Williams, do you know-?"

"Mom!" The girl turned her head to yell into the house, "There's a stranger at the door looking for you!"

"Mom?" I choked out in surprise. I knew Aubrey had one kid, a boy who was probably around ten years old now, but where the hell had this girl come from?

She ignored my statement and smiled, "What's your name?"

"I'm- I'm Aj, who are-?"

"Her name is Aj!" She yelled again then snapped her gaze back to me, "She'll be here soon."

The girl sprinted back into the house off to the right leaving the door wide open. Didn't anybody ever teach her about stranger danger? Slowly, I took a step into the house and glanced around. I was in a wooden floored foyer with cream colored walls. There was a staircase against the wall to the left that led to the second floor. Straight ahead was a sliding door that led to the back porch and back lawn. A glass chandelier hung from the high ceiling ahead. It was in the position where someone could've stood on the second floor railing, jumped off, and swung onto the chandelier. To the left was a large, open archway that looked like it led into a dining room with the same floors and the beginnings of a tiled kitchen area. Through the archway to the right, where the girl had run off, was a carpeted area that looked like a living room. I could hear the sound of a TV playing along with small voices.

"Aimee."

My head snapped to the left where a tall, frail woman stood in the archway. Her dirty blonde hair was stick straight at the moment and stopped a little past her shoulders. Her big, dark blue eyes were bright and began to collect tears. She wore a regular t-shirt and jeans, but still managed to look elegant and beautiful. I got the stubborn attitude and competitiveness from our parents, but Aubrey got all the redeeming features.

Aubrey crossed the room and pulled me into a tight hug. Unsure of how to react I just let my hand pat her back occasionally until she let go. Ten years had passed since I last hugged my sister. I had been sixteen, her eighteen, and it had been just as uncomfortable as it was now. She set her hands on my shoulders, she was a good five inches taller than me at 5'8, and smiled, "Look at you. Your hair is so long now."

"Thanks, I grew it myself." I replied dryly. My light brown hair was much longer than Aubrey's now and went to about my mid-back. I actually planned to cut it soon, I just hadn't found the opportunity yet.

"Aimee, I-"

"I go by Aj now."

Aubrey let her hands fall to her hips as she chuckled, "Since when?"

"Since I was 18." I couldn't hold back the bitter tone in my voice. Aubrey flinched at my words before reaching out and taking my hand.

"Come on, let's talk."

I let Aubrey drag me through the archway she came through past the dining room into a medium sized kitchen. The light tan tiled floors were spotless and matched the dark wood counters and light marble countertops. The appliances were stainless steel, though you couldn't even see the color silver on the fridge due to all the papers and drawings hanging from the front by magnets. Large windows let in enough sunlight to brighten the entire kitchen and most of the dining room.

Aubrey motioned for me to take a seat at the kitchen island barstool. She noticed that I hadn't taken my bookbag off, but it probably wasn't the only thing she noticed about me. I saw the way her eyes glanced over my healing knuckles and bruised hairline. My lip was still a little busted as well and I'm sure that wasn't lost on her.

"Would you like something to drink? I have water, milk, juice, coffee-?" Aubrey opened the fridge.

I shook my head, "No thanks. Not thirsty."

She let the fridge close before coming over to stand across from where I sat. She leaned against the counter with her hands clasped in front of her. Aubrey gave me another one of her bright smiles, "So how have you been?"

"Less busy than you apparently." I answered, "You have another kid?"

"Twins." Aubrey glanced down at her hands before looking back up softly, "Taylor and Tyler. I wanted to tell you the news, but…getting in touch with you has always been a little hard."

I raised an eyebrow, "You managed to do it this time. How'd you get my address?"

"I…" She paused uncertainly, "I may have hired a private investigator."

"You what?"

"I'm sorry I just needed to get in touch with you Aimee."

"It's Aj." I snapped. This had been a mistake. Why hadn't I just hopped back in the cabbie and run away? Because I wasn't a runner, that's why. I took in a deep breath and moved back to the twins, "How old are they?"

Aubrey looked relieved at the questioned and quickly replied, "They just turned six. Tyler is the older by four minutes."

"Who's their dad?"

My sister blinked and a look of insult passed her features, "They have the same father as Peter."

The sound of laughter carried into the kitchen from across the house. Peter. That was what the oldest kid's name was. I was a bit ashamed to say I had forgotten it, but I never had forgotten his age. How could I considering the last conversation I had with my sister before she up and vanished was about her being prego with the kid.

"Right." I carried the word out, "Mr. Mystery. The one who pays for this huge house and all your living expenses, but won't stick around for you or his kids."

Aubrey shook her head with a defiant look in her eyes, "That isn't fair. You don't know Wes like I do."

"Thank God." I muttered under my breath. Aubrey looked away as her slim fingers clenched around each other. A part of me knew I was being a brat. This was an opportunity to reconnect, but all I was doing was mouthing off sarcastic remarks to her. I couldn't help it though. Sitting across from Aubrey after all this time was bringing up all sorts of bad memories. There had been a time in my life where I would've done literally anything for the woman across from me. Despite being two years younger, I played the role of older sister my entire life. I protected my petite, frail Aubrey from the bullies and the big bad world and what was the thanks I got? Abandonment.

That left a scar much deeper than any of the superficial ones I wore these days.

"Aimee- Aj." Aubrey began, "I'm sorry. Back then-"

I quickly stood up with a shake of my head. The last thing I was interested in was going down a walk on memory lane with her, "This was a mistake. I should go."

"Please, wait." Aubrey threw her arm across the counter and grabbed my wrist. I glanced back at her as her hand tightened around me, "I'm- I'm sick."

That's when I really noticed how much older my sister looked. The exhaustion alone made her look much older than her age of 28. Growing up, she had always been a sickly kid. Aubrey was weaker than the others, always catching colds, which was why I picked up the mantle of protective sister in the first place, the one who was quick to throw fists.

Aubrey opened her mouth and she said another word, but it didn't click in my mind right away. Did she just say cancer? No. No. No. That wasn't supposed to happen. Not to Aubrey. Aubrey was too good, she was too soft and kind hearted for something as destructive and evil as cancer. I was the one with the crappy, going nowhere life. She had something to live for, she had kids for crying out loud, young kids at that. I didn't realize I had been shaking my head until she came around the counter and softly cupped my face.

"Aimee." Aubrey gave a comforting smile, "I've already accepted it."

That didn't set me at ease. Not in the slightest. I pulled away from her with a glare, "Accepted it? You don't accept something like that, Aubrey!"

She chuckled, "Always a fighter."

"How long have you known?"

"About six months now."

"And your…the kids, do they…?"

Her warm smile melted away and a look of heartbreaking concern and pain filled her eyes. Aubrey's answer was soft, "N-No. No they don't."

I sat back down, letting my bag fall to the floor. Aubrey sat down in the stool beside me this time. Words failed me at the moment. I never considered myself a communicative person, but I usually at least had something sarcastic to shoot out, "When do you plan on telling them?" I was answered only with silence and a guilty look, "You do plan on telling them right?"

"That's kind of why I asked you to come."

"What? You want me to tell them the news?" I scoffed, "Hey kids, I'm your long lost aunt Aj. Nice to meet you guys and oh, by the way, your mom has cancer."

Aubrey set her hand on mine, "I don't want to tell them. They've been through so much with their father and I…." She paused, "The doctors said it probably isn't fatal."

"Probably." I repeated in disbelief.

"They caught it early on. I just have to go through the treatments and I should be fine." Aubrey nodded, "I sent you that letter and ticket because…because I don't want them to see me go through that. I was hoping you could watch them while I go through the treatment." I pulled my hand away from hers, but this didn't seem to faze Aubrey who continued, "The treatment should last two months-"

"Watch your kids?" I cried.

"Aimee-"

"I told you its Aj." I replied, not knowing what else to say. She wanted me to watch her kids? Two twin six year olds and a ten year old? I could barely take care of myself. I killed the goldfish I won at the fair last year after two days. There wasn't an earthly way possible I was capable of taking care of living and breathing children.

"Aj, please."

"No you- you're making a huge mistake. You gotta have someone else who could do this. A neighbor or- or- or a family friend or something!"

Aubrey straightened her posture as a look of bewilderment flashed across her features, "Maybe if it was only for a couple days or so but…these are my children, Aj. I don't trust them with anyone else for that long."

"But you trust me?" I cried motioning toward myself with my hands, "You haven't seen me in ten years, Aubrey. Ten years! Listen to me when I say you do not want me to do this."

She reached forward again to grab my hands in a calming motion, "But I know you, little sister. I know the type of person you really are and that's why I know you are the only person who can watch my kids."

I pulled my hands away from her and crossed my arms tightly so she wouldn't be able to grab them again. If she really knew the type of person I was, if she truly understood how much trouble I had gotten myself into, she wouldn't be asking me to do this. I wasn't the babysitting, mom type. I was a walking disaster. A lump formed in my throat, after all these years and this big discovery, I didn't want to lie to my sick sister, but…

"I have school." I blurted trying to find something that would keep me from having to say yes, "My Christmas break only lasts a couple weeks."

Did she already know that I had dropped out of all my classes? That I had lost my scholarship months ago and couldn't afford to continue my last leg of school? That I didn't even have the self-motivation to try for a different career or option? Based on the look of absolute guilt on my sister's face I figured she didn't know that. The private investigator had apparently only tossed her my address and bailed.

"I know." Her voice broke. Aubrey's guilt began to eat me alive. Only she would make me feel guilty about making someone feel guilty, "I know, and I feel horrible for even asking. I know how much school means to you." My eyes broke away from her gaze. It used to mean the world to me. "But like I said…you're the only person I trust and- and I'm desperate."

I sank in my seat. It killed me a little bit to be this close to my sister and not be able to fix anything in her life. I couldn't knock cancer's teeth out with my fist. Life was so much simpler back in the day where her issues were just school bullies, back when we were two peas in a pod. Call it an old habit, but I wanted to make the worry, pain, and desperation disappear again. For that reason alone I knew at that moment that there was no physical way I could say no to her request.

"Mama!"

The sound of a young boy's panicked cries made me jump in my seat and whirl around to face the problem. Whereas I was tense and alert, Aubrey still seemed relaxed and at ease. The look on her face, a small smile peeking through, made me realize that she recognized the fact that this panicked tone wasn't anything serious. Her child wasn't in any danger.

A few seconds later a six year old boy whipped around the corner clutching something to his chest. His dirty blond hair was messy and short. The front strands were pushed up into the air and away from his eyes. He looked a lot like his twin sister obviously, with the same eye color that reminded me of Aubrey. He wore a red t-shirt and jean shorts with mix matched socks.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Aubrey questioned.

The kid paid me no mind as he held the toy clutched to his chest up for his mom to look at. My eyes focused in on a toy robot. It wasn't a small action figure, but rather more of a large model. It had a white and dark gray body with a red and blue stripe going down its chest area. The number four sat on top of the stripes. The toy was a couple inches short of being a foot tall and it was missing its arm.

"Jazz's arm fell off again!" His eyebrows were scrunched up in worry for his toy. Aubrey took the toy from him. He dug an arm out of his pocket and handed that to her as well.

Her attention darted to me with a smile, "Tyler, this is your Auntie Aj. Can you say hi?"

Tyler's eyes widened as he quickly looked to me, "This is your sister?" Aubrey nodded and he immediately looked hopeful, "That means you're a doctor! That's what mama always says!"

I'm pretty positive I felt my heart stop at that moment. She had told them I was trying to be a doctor? How much did she talk about me to them?

An awkward laugh escaped my lips, "Well I uh, I'm not actually a doctor. I don't-"

"Can you fix Jazz!?" He cried. "He needs a medic now and Ratchet is too busy!"

"Can I- Jazz?" I blurted in confusion. Most of his sentence had been nonsense to me. Aubrey handed the toy to me and I took it hesitantly. The toy was actually made of metal rather than a cheap plastic. It was probably aluminum or something. My eyebrows furrowed in thought as I gazed at the robot in my hand. A black helmet thing covered the top of its head with a visor over what I assumed were eyes. The thing had a human like face somewhat. Lips. Chin. Nose. I glanced back up at Tyler who was staring at me. "Oh. Jazz."

"Can you fix him? Please?"

Tyler clasped his hands together in a begging motion that matched his pleading eyes. Who knew a kid's eyes could be so big and blue? This wasn't the first time I had seen a look like that though. In that moment he looked just like his mom so many years ago and my heart skipped a beat. My jaw clenched in resolve, "Lemme see what I can do, kid."

Aubrey handed me the toy arm and I took a moment to see how it would fit in. At least it was a cleanish break, the arm socket didn't have any screws or anything. In fact, it looked like the arm should be able to just snap back into place so I did just that. There was a small click as it settled in, but I could tell that it wasn't much of a permanent fix. I glanced down at my bag. Around the strap of my bag was a dark green ribbon I had tied on a couple months back. It wasn't anything significant, I just hadn't felt like getting up to throw away the random ribbon and instead tied it to my bag.

I reached down and pulled it off with ease then began to tie it around the robot like a makeshift sling. To my utter surprise it actually came out looking like an actual sling for the thing's arm. A smile came to my face in victory as I handed the toy back to Tyler, "There we go. Just be careful with it."

He held it in his hands with a look of pleasant surprise written all over his face. It was silent a moment as I uncomfortably sat under both his and his mother's gaze. Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and began to pull me forward calling out that I needed to follow him. My eyes widened in panic as I looked back to Aubrey for a sign or help or something. She just gave me an amused look.

My attention went back to Tyler who was pulling me out of the kitchen and into the living room. I was vaguely aware that Aubrey was following the two of us at a distance.

The living room was just as nice as the kitchen. The ivory colored carpet seemed like a poor idea to have with kids, but I digress. The walls matched the rest of the cream colored walls. On the far wall was a dark wood entertainment dresser with a large TV playing a colorful cartoon and a collection of music and movies. The coffee table that was situated in front of the TV was the same color wood. There was a long couch that sat behind the coffee table, a matching love seat, and a single seat couch as well.

"Not my paint!" Taylor cried out in her best impression of a male voice. She held a golden colored robot in one hand moving it around like it was the one speaking.

"Tay! Tay! Tay!" Tyler let go of my hand and rushed over to where his sister was sitting on the floor surrounded by a wide variety of robotic toys. She paused in her play to look at her twin, "She fixed Jazz!"

"Who? The stranger?" Taylor pointed at me. I should've expected the stranger part. They began to talk quickly and quietly to each other. I glanced over at the couch where an older kid sat. He had light brown hair that was a little longer than his younger brother's. He wore glasses over his gray eyes. This was obviously Aubrey's older kid, Peter. He glanced up from the comic book he was reading to look at me before burying his head back into his book. The title on it was 'Transformers'. Recognition filled my mind at the summer blockbuster that had come out a couple years ago about robots that turned into cars and stuff. A new movie had just come out too hadn't it? I remember it now because I had been invited to go see it in theaters with a close friend, but refused because I hadn't seen any of the ones that came before it.

"Stranger-" Taylor called out bringing my attention back to her.

Aubrey shook her head from behind me and corrected her daughter, "Aunt Aj."

"Aunt Aj." Taylor repeated slowly before continuing, "Can you fix Bumblebee? Starscream hurt him."

I blinked in confusion. Were these just more robot names? What the hell was a starscream? She lifted a yellow and black robot up for me to see. I had gotten lucky with the first robot. What if I couldn't fix this one and they hated me?

"Ummm…" I said dumbly.

"Did you guys finish your homework?" Aubrey asked with a light, scolding tone.

"Yes." Peter answered without looking up while the twins remained silent.

Aubrey put her hands on her hips and looked so much like our mom that I couldn't help but smile. The twins groaned and slowly began to stand up. She smiled, "And put all the bots away. Understood?"

They began to pick up the many toy robots. I chuckled at the sight of the small twins trying to hold them all in their arms. I always thought toys like these were supposed to be small, like fit in your hand small. The biggest one, which was also strangely shaped like a T-Rex of all things, reached a little above my knee.

"Why are they so big?" I asked aloud.

"They're technically collectible items which is why they're also made of metal, but that hasn't stopped them from playing." Aubrey chuckled. She opened her mouth to speak more when her phone began to ring. She pulled it up to her ear quickly, "Hello?" A smile came to her lips as she looked to me, "I have to take this. I'll be right back."

I curiously watched her leave me alone in the living room with the kids. Peter still paid me absolutely no mind, but the twins took this as an opportunity to play a little bit longer. They settled on the floor by my feet again.

"Mama said you're staying with us for a while, right?" Tyler asked innocently.

My lips formed a frown, "Um. Yeah, probably."

"Yay! Doctor aunt Aj, sit down!" Taylor tugged on my hand.

I slowly sat down in front of the twins, "You can just call me Aj. It's less of a mouthful."

"You can call me Taylor or Tay or Starlight." She beamed and I could feel my eyebrows rise in confusion.

"Starlight?" I asked, "Is that on your birth certificate?"

Taylor giggled, "It's my designanon, silly."

"Designation, Taylor." Peter corrected his sister without even looking up from his comic book.

Taylor nodded, "Mama came up with it for when we play!"

"Mine is Lightspeed." Tyler announced proudly. I chuckled to myself. These kids were kind of cute. Man, did I miss the days where I could just play make believe with my sister and not have to worry about anything else. I reached forward and picked up the toy closest to me. It was taller than the one with the broken arm that I fixed and slimmer. It was bright, cherry red with a couple accents of white here and there on its legs and arms. It also wore a black helmet thing but this one had no visor. Instead it had two solid, light blue eyes. On its chest was the black robot insignia face thing that was always on the movie posters. I couldn't remember if it was the good guy one or bad guy one though. Blue eyes were good guys right? Maybe I should've seen those stupid movies, it'd make befriending the kids much easier.

"That's Sideswipe." Taylor scooted over so she was sitting on my right and Tyler moved so he was on my left. "He's an autobot."

Tyler picked up the toy Taylor had been playing with when I walked in. It looked an awful lot like the red one except it had more metal pieces around its shoulders and a yellow vent looking things coming out of the side of its helmet, "This is his twin, Sunstreaker. They're front liners which means they fight a lot and they used to be gladiators. Right, Pete?"

"Yupp." Came Peter's not so enthusiastic reply.

"Twin, gladiator robots-" I began.

Tyler shook his head, "Mechs. Twin, gladiator mechs."

"Right." I nodded as if I had any idea what that meant. I set the red one down, "So are they y'all's favorite then? Since they're twins too?"

"No." Taylor shook her head, "My favorite is Bumblebee."

I watched her pick back up the yellow and black one. This one had doors coming out of its back making it look like it had wings. I remembered what she had said about Bumblebee needing fixing, "He's broken?"

Taylor turned the toy around to show how one of the doors sticking out of its back was loose and nearly falling off. This looked much easier to fix though. In fact, it looked like the screw was just loose or something.

"Looks like an easy fix, honey." I voiced nonchalantly. Her little face lit up in excitement and I couldn't help but smile back at her.

"My favorite is Bluestreak!" Tyler said firmly holding up a toy for me to look at. It was a collection of red, dark gray, and light gray colors with the only blue being his eyes. He had the same symbol on his chest and doors on his back like Bumblebee.

"He isn't blue." I thought aloud.

"Well, duh. Pete says they call him Bluestreak because he likes talking and he does it a lot." Tyler blurted.

I nodded, "I see why he's your favorite."

Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Peter smiling, but when I looked over to him the smile was gone. Tyler continued on, "Blue's my favorite because he's a sharpshooter and I think that's so cool."

"Who's your favorite, Peter?" I asked trying to drag the kid into the conversation. He glanced up at the sound of his name, but the look on his face told me he didn't plan on answering my question.

Taylor didn't notice her older brother's glare and answered for him happily, "Pete likes Wheeljack."

That answer didn't hold much weight in my mind since I had no idea who the hell Wheeljack was and Aubrey came back into the room before the twins could point out the toy.

"Sorry about that." Aubrey walked back in. She noticed the twins and their shared 'deer in the headlights' look. "Guys."

"Sorry!" They chirped together and began to pick up all the toys again at a faster pace. Tyler shifted all the ones he held to his right hand and then picked up one with a noticeable life line on its forearm. He shoved it into my hands without warning, "You should hang onto Ratchet for us."

Ratchet. Wasn't that name tossed into a conversation earlier? I glanced down at the bulky white and red robot. When I looked up to Aubrey she wore a growing smile so I just looked back to Tyler, "Why are you giving me…Ratchet?"

"Because he's the CMO." Tyler replied in a 'duh' tone, "I cant remember what that stands for, but it means he fixes all the other bots just like you fixed Jazz."

"Well, I mean-"

Taylor grinned, "Keep a good eye on him! The team needs him."

"Thanks." I nodded with the toy still in my hand, "Good luck with your homework. Lightspeed, Starlight."

The twins noticeably beamed at me calling them by their robot nicknames and it made me lightly laugh to myself. They turned and took off for the stairs in the foyer to head to what I assumed would be their rooms.

"Hey, Pete." Aubrey called out making the give her his attention, "Do me a favor and help them out, please?"

He nodded and closed his comic book before walking off in the same direction. I watched him go with my arms crossed tightly across my chest. "He doesn't like me much. Not that I blame him."

She shook her head and set a hand on my shoulder, "Peter just takes a little to warm up to new people. By the end of the week he'll adore you." I held back a scoff of disbelief and tried to hand her the toy the twins had given me. Aubrey held her hands up, "Oh, no. They trusted you with Ratchet, not me."

"Right." I sighed and let my hand drop to my side, "Guess I'll be keeping an eye on the big ass collector item slash toy."

Aubrey glanced at the toy with a warm smile, "Wes sent a few of them to Peter before the twins were born. Peter just fell in love with them. Then he just kept sending more and more and now the twins adore them too."

For a second, I completely understood. I knew what it was like to latch onto something and hold onto it. For Peter, this was all he had of his absentee father. The hatred I had for this Wes guy just seemed to grow every day. The only sound in the room was that Disney cartoon playing on TV until I finally found the nerve to speak up, "What type of cancer is it?"

"Breast cancer." Aubrey answered softly. I bobbed my head up and down but dropped my gaze so it was on the toy in my hand again. My mind was still reeling at the fact that Aubrey had talked about me to the kids at all. If she had known that I had given up on the doctor option in my life would she have told them that too? "Can I show you something?"

My eyes locked onto hers and I nodded again. She led me into the foyer and then up to the second story where the kids had just run off to. The hallway on the second floor was wood with pictures hanging on the cream walls. Aubrey motioned down to the left of the hall, "The kid's rooms are on the right. The twins share and Peter has his own, but they all share a conjoining bathroom. My room is across from theirs." I glanced down there at the three shut doors. Aubrey led me down to the right of the hallway, "The first door is a bathroom with a shower. The second is our gym and office, and then the door across from them is your room."

I opened my mouth to question why Aubrey would have a gym in her house. It didn't make much sense considering my sister wasn't exactly know to be the physical activity type, but my mind quickly jumped to the topic of me having my own room. Had she set up a room for me?

"My room?"

"It used to be storage, but I fixed it up so you could stay here. If you decided to watch the kids or if you just wanted to…you know, visit." Aubrey shrugged, but the sadness in her tone made me want to punch myself in the face. I pushed the door open and stepped in while she stood in the doorway nervously.

The room was medium in size and matched the rest of the house wall and floor wise. There was a double sized bed pushed up against the wall in the far left corner with a light blue bedspread and a thick, white comforter on top. There was a dresser against the wall in the far right corner and a matching dark wood nightstand by the bedside. I assumed the door to the left was a small closet. To my immediate right was a small desk and to my immediate left was a huge pile of cardboard boxes and random junk.

"After dad died we lost all our stuff, remember? Turns out they got moved to storage and after I…after I got this place. They sent it all to me." Aubrey explained.

I took a step toward it and peeked at all the box labels and items that were already pulled out. My eyes landed on a familiar light blue item resting between two rather large stacks, "No way." I carefully pushed the first stack to the side to reveal the item more. A light blue and white softball bat lay on the floor. Next to it, in an open box, was a volleyball, two yearbooks, and a few other items from my high school years.

"You were always so good at sports." Aubrey chuckled, "I know you could've gotten a softball or volleyball scholarship if you kept playing."

Her words made me turn around and ignore the items. I didn't want to think about sports or why I had stopped playing altogether, "I'll watch the kids."

"You- You will?"

"Yeah, but-"

Aubrey didn't let me finish. She rushed across the room and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. This is what I missed. I missed Aubrey's hugs, I missed her in my life, and it felt so good to be in this nice house talking to her again, but I couldn't. I couldn't just hug her back and let things go back to the way they were. I slowly pulled myself away from her.

"Aubrey, I'll watch them, but this doesn't…doesn't change anything." I said carefully, "I love you. I realize that even after all these years of being so…so angry at you, I still loved you. You're my sister and I…" I stopped myself and shook my head, "I'll always love you. I'll always be here to help you and support you as best I can, but we can't be what we used to be. We'll never be that level of close again."

"Aimee." Aubrey breathed.

"Mom died and my heart broke." I bit my lip, "Then it was just the three of us and things slowly got better again. I didn't feel whole, but I felt not so broken. Then dad was gone. He just disappeared and left us on our own and it killed me on the inside." I shook my head, "You were the only person in the world I trusted and you abandoned me. Wes showed up, you turned 18, and then it was just me. Me alone in that stupid foster home for two years."

Tears built up in Aubrey's eyes. I could see her regret, her pain and remorse, "I'm so sorry. I had to. You don't understand."

"I don't." I agreed, "I don't understand how you could ditch me after everything."

"I want to fix this. I want to fix us."

I sighed as my thoughts drifted to her sickness. If I left things unsaid I could never live with myself, but in my mind I knew the end game to this. Aubrey was going to get better. I knew it in my heart and soul that she'd beat this. "Consider us fixed. It's all in the past, forget about it. Just know that I can't…I can't give you my trust again."

"I understand." She replied after a moment.

"So, now what?"

Aubrey wiped a stray tear away as I averted my gaze, "Well, my flight leaves late tomorrow morning-"

"Tomorrow morning?" I blurted in surprise, "What if I had shown up late? What if I hadn't shown up at all?"

Despite the sad look lingering in her eyes, Aubrey chuckled, "I know my little sister. Come here."

She left the room. A sigh escaped my lips as I glanced at the desk. The thought of leaving the toy here crossed my mind, but I decided to bring it with me just in case the kids popped up again and wanted it back. I followed her out of the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen where my bag still sat on the floor ribbonless.

"Is that really all you brought?" She questioned.

I shrugged, "I didn't know it was going to be a two month trip."

Aubrey pulled out a folder from a counter drawer and set it down on the island in front of me. I set the toy down on the table top and picked up the folder curiously.

"Inside there's a list of all the numbers you might need. They still have school for another two weeks before their Christmas break begins. I'm leaving the car for you, keys are hanging by the garage door." Aubrey explained, "Taylor has dance lessons every Thursday but they won't start again until after Christmas. There's a map in there too that shows where the school is and-"

"I know where everything is." I interrupted her, "Maybe it slipped your mind, but this isn't just your hometown. I was born and raised here too. I can't believe that after ditching this place at 18 you came back to settle down."

Aubrey just shrugged, "Summerbrooke, Alabama will always be home. It's where my best memories are." The same went for me which is the exact reason why I picked a college in upstate New York and fled like the devil was on my heels when I turned 18. I wanted to get as far from here as physically possible. I would've moved to China if the possibility had been open. "You know, I think some girls from your graduating class live in the neighborhood a few streets down."

I made the mental note to avoid exploring the area a few streets down from here. The last thing I wanted, or needed, was to run into an old high school classmate who had settled down here.

"Anything else I need to know?"

"Nothing comes to mind." She replied. I picked up my bag and slung one strap over my shoulder with the folder tucked under my arm. Aubrey smiled, "Tonight I wanted to go out and eat with the kids. Would you like to come?"

I quickly shook my head, and this time I wasn't saying no just for my own selfish reasons, "Go out with your kids. Have a good night with them, I'll get settled here."

Aubrey seemed to understand that I was giving her one last normal night out with her kids before she left. She gave me a thankful nod before I turned on my heel and went to leave the room.

"Wait", She called out making me turn, "Don't forget Ratchet."

I raised my eyebrows, "Right. Can't forget the doc bot."

With a sigh I picked up the toy and continued on my way back to my new room. The entire time I had been in this house so far, my mind had been focused on seeing Aubrey and her new illness. I hadn't even let my mind wander to the fact that I was back home in Alabama. The stress that came with that thought process made me roll my eyes and force it out of my mind. I stepped into the room, but came to a halting stop when I noticed Taylor sitting on the desk chair swinging her legs with a toy in her lap.

"Umm hi?"

She beamed at me and jumped off the chair, "Finally! I was wondering where you and Ratchet went."

"What's up, kid?" I questioned and let my book bag fall to the floor. Taylor took the yellow and black robot in her hands and set him on my desk in a seated position.

"Bumblebee needs to be fixed so I brought him to the med bay for you and Ratchet to fix him."

"The…med bay?" I questioned and walked over to the desk. I set the folder down by the seated Bumblebee. Talking to these kids made me realize I was gonna have to google some transformers information before I lost my freaking mind.

Taylor nodded as Aubrey called for her kids to come downstairs, "This is the med bay now. You and Ratchet share. Bye Bee!"

The little girl ran by me, ignoring my looks of confusion, and took off down the hall. I lifted the red and white toy in my hand, "Hear that, Ratchet? We're sharing."

I scoffed at myself before tossing the toy onto the desk. If I was going to actually stay here for the next two months, I'd have to clear up a few things back in New York. I sat down at the desk and used my foot to pull my book bag towards me and then began to dig through the thing for my cellphone. The bulky pre-paid slip phone from Walmart was nearly dead, but it had enough life in it for me to make one call. At least I hoped it did. My mind sent up silent prayers for the thing not to die while I typed the phone number in from memory.

It rang three times before a husky, exhausted voice answered, "What?"

"Kyle", I chuckled, "Did you just wake up?"

"I had a fight last night. Didn't end well."

Worry instantly flooded my systems at the thought of an injured Kyle, "What? Are you ok?"

"Peachy. It'd be better if my favorite doctor didn't up and leave the state though."

I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my seat, "I'm not a doctor."

"Close enough." Kyle grumbled. I could picture him lying in his small bed with messy, ruffled blond hair and his green eyes closed. The fact I didn't want to picture was the injuries and bruises he was probably sporting now.

"Actually, my lack of a degree means I am not a doctor nor am I even close to being one." I replied. He mumbled something over the line again sleepily, "Listen, I need to ask a couple favors from you. Two actually. First, I need you to go to my apartment and pack up all my stuff. Well, not all, but like I need my clothes and anything essential you might see. Pack it all up and then send it to me. The address is-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Kyle sounded more awake now, "Send you stuff? I thought you would be back by this weekend?"

"Change of plans." I glanced around the room.

There was a pause before Kyle spoke up again, "Aj, boss is not going to like that. You're scheduled this Saturday for the arena. He already gave you your loan!"

"I know! I know." I sighed, "That's my second favor. I need you to return the 20k to him."

"He gave you 20k for that fight?" Kyle asked in surprise.

"You know how it works, Kyle. He gave me 20k to bet on myself. If I win I get to keep 10%, if I lose I fall even further into debt." I shifted nervously, "Kyle, I really need you to get him that 20k. I'm already so far in debt to boss. If I lose that 20k he'll have my head."

Kyle sighed on the other end, "You know I have your back, Aj. I'll get him the money. Where is it?"

"Duffel bag under my bed."

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"Two months." I answered, "I'll text you the address I'm at so you can send me my stuff.

"Sure. I'll get on that now." Kyle replied, "Is everything ok?"

"I…I don't know. I'll talk to you later."

"Later."

The line disconnected and I opened a new text to send Kyle the address. Kyle Osborne. He was the one good thing I had going for me at the moment. He was best friend and probably the greatest guy on the planet. Not to mention he was easy on the eyes. He was the one who introduced me to boss and got me started in the New York fighting ring. If it wasn't for him I'd probably be living on the streets.

The text sent so I dug out my phone charger and plugged it in. A confirmation from Kyle was received by my phone, but I had my attention elsewhere. The yellow and black toy was staring me down from the desk. All it needed was a screw tightened. I pulled out my bathroom bag and found my nail clippers. Attached to the nail clippers was a nail file that would be perfect for the small screw. I knew it would work because this was the same nail filed I used to tighten the small screw on my sunglasses.

It literally only took a minute before the door wing thing on the toy's back was as good as new. Based on the way I saw the kids playing with the toys though, I was sure this wouldn't be the last time I fixed one or two of them up. I tossed the nail file onto my desk and walked out of my room with Bumblebee in hand.

The house was quiet already so I assumed they had already left. Down the hall, the twin's room door was already open so I just walked over and stepped in. The room was obviously split between a girl and a boy and it was decorated almost in a stereotypical function. The left had a twin sized bed with rocket ship bedsheets and was surrounded by a mess of lego blocks, toy cars, and little army men. To the right was a twin sized bed with Disney princess sheets and surrounded by coloring books and barbie dolls. I chuckled and glanced over at the window against the far wall and the door on the right side of the room. I assumed that was the adjoining bathroom door.

Sitting on Tyler's bed was the same toy he had called his favorite. It was the one that wasn't actually blue, but had the word blue in his name. The thing sat against the pillow and I was surprised to see it was the only visible transformer toy in the room. Where had they put all the others? I set Bumblebee down on Taylor's bed just like the other was on Tyler's and then left the room. My set path was to my own room, but I couldn't help but pause outside of Peter's room. Curiosity got the better of me and I pushed the door open to peek in.

The room was smaller than the twins, but it was perfect sized for a ten year old boy. His bed was pushed against the wall in the center of the room under a window. He too had a desk with books on it, there was a math book open to a random page. To my left was a small wooden shelf where all the transformers stood. I let a low whistle out as I studied one that looked like Tyler's favorite except its doors read 'POLICE' on them. So it turned into a police car? It stood next to the one with I fixed with a sling. What was that one's name? I should've been paying more attention, I knew it had something to do with music. My eyes continued to trace over the room until I turned around and jumped, "Shit."

Eye level with me was another one of those toy robots, but this one wasn't fun looking in the slightest. Its gun metal gray body looked menacing, and its face was twisted into a sneer while its red eyes looked angry. This toy along with a few others with red eyes were kept in a glass case and looked to be in slightly better shape than the toys I saw today. I wondered why these were kept separate from the others. The wooden shelf had all the blue eyed ones whereas this glass case tower stored all the scary red eyed ones.

Without much thought I opened the case and pulled out the one I had come eye level with. However, the moment I picked it up the leg fell out of its socket. My eyes widened, but I remained calm. This wasn't an issue. I could fix this creepy toy before Peter and the others came back and everything would be ok. No need to panic.

"What are you doing?" I spun around to see Peter glaring at me. Ok, now I could panic.

"Shi-oot. Shoot." I blurted. "Um, what are you doing here?"

"This is my room. What are you doing here?" His eyes landed on the legless toy in my hand, "Other than breaking my stuff."

I glanced down at my hands, "I can fix that."

"Don't bother." He pulled the robot body and leg from my hands and stuck it back into the case before closing the door.

"You didn't go with your mom?"

"She forgot her wallet." Peter replied and held up the small clutch, "I ran in to get it for her."

"Right." I nodded, "Good. Well, I'll just…leave."

I quickly exited the room and Peter came out behind me closing the door behind himself. Awkwardly, I gave him a tight smile before rushing toward my room. It would be my luck to get caught by the kid as I snooped in his room. Honestly, I was such an idiot. Peter called out to me making me stop and look back at him.

"I don't like you, and I don't want you to stay."

After stating his piece, the boy walked down the stairs leaving me in the hallway alone. I let my face fall into my hands and a groan come from my throat. This was going to be a long two months.

A/N: So, first impressions? This is my first TF fanfiction so if I'm screwing anything up please let me know. Kay? Thanks. I'll post the second part depending on if you guys end up liking it so far.