Counterfeit
Chapter 1: New Beginnings
By: Mooncrossed
Whoo-hoo! After a series of grueling family problems lasting several months long, I'm back! I'd like to thank Writergurl616 for her review (Yeah, Swindle is pretty persistent. Glad you enjoyed the story!), Mikoto-chan92 (Yay, another Simmons fan! This is actually his grandson, Reuben. A little more baby-faced, but with the same charming personality traits.), and to SlipknotGhidorah (Yup, cabby Swindle. I wonder how much cash he's managed to rake in with that little disguise?) This story is the sequel to 'Confidence Game,' but can also be read as a stand alone fiction. I don't own Transformers or Weed-Wacker, and am not making a profit off of any of these products. However, I do own Cassidy, her friends and family, and her two alien house pets. As always, I give full credit to Jesus for my every inspiration. Without him, I wouldn't have any talent at all.
Detroit, the industrial district…
Cassidy woke up drooling. Slowly peeling open one crusted over eyelid, she attempted to ascertain her situation. She was lying on the most heavenly bed in existence! It was so soft, so warm, so mind numbingly inviting… Ignoring an insistent urge to use the bathroom, the brunet snuggled down into her quilted paradise, merely using the slightest shift of neck muscles to relocate her face to a less damp location. Then she frowned.
Something felt… off. It wasn't the position she was in, although, it was pretty annoying to wake up kissing her left knee. Cass was used to sleeping twisted up like a pretzel. Likewise, it wasn't the fact that she didn't have any feeling in one arm, a problem that could easily be solved by lifting her butt. No, it was something else. Halfway between a coherent thought and deep sleep, she contemplated these important issues. At last, sighing, she made a colossal effort… to fall asleep again.
Then the covers tucked themselves in under her chin. Shrieking, she leaped to her feet as if she was spring loaded and stared wide eyed at the thing that had been lying on top of her. There was a ghost in her bed! She swore it was the truth. It was some soul sucking invisible demon in a long flowing black dress with scraggly spiked lace all around the collar. Looking around wildly, she snatched up a stray sneaker with the intent of bludgeoning it to death, only to pause. The neck hole gaped beseechingly as it wriggled it's arms. Slowly slithering off of the mattress, the garment inch-wormed across the concrete floor, scooting its bodice forward, then bunching the skirt up like a colossal bustle. As she stood there, studying this… okay, incredibly pathetic monster, it suddenly occurred to her that she had seen it before.
"Oh, Nicky," she groaned in tired exasperation. "Quit waking me up that way!" Lifting up it's spiky collar like a set of extra long feelers, it peered sightlessly at her, before scooting in her direction. Once it reached her feet, the alien house-pet rubbed up against her legs in a show of affection. Sighing, she scooped up the messy lump of living material, sat back down, and began stroking it's soft black rubbery skin. It bunched and wriggled as it attempted to climb all the way onto her lap. Funny, the first pet she'd always pictured having was a cat or a goldfish.
This was all Swindle's fault. Then again, she could blame everything that had happened to her during the last month and a half on Swindle and his 'employment technique,' in other words, getting kidnapped. They had driven one another absolutely crazy, then he'd ditched her with some of his living inventory. Long black spiky whiskers tickled her chin, and she grinned despite herself. "Well," she muttered to her spooky companion. "To be fair, he didn't exactly mean to leave yah behind."
Curious chirping noises reached her ears, and twisting around she saw a small toothless green face giving her a doggy grin. "Hey, Rover," she mumbled sleepily. Croaking softly, the animal huffed and pulled, until it had wrestled it's way out from under her pillow. Once free, it spread the multiple skin frills along it's back and inhaled air until it was three times bigger. This was the other surprise the Decepticon had left her with. It was a fruppy, at least that's what she called it. Swindle had another name for the creature, but there was no way she'd be able to pronounce it. Besides, it did look sort of like a miniature combination of a frog and a puppy. So, yeah, fruppy. Rover croaked contentedly as she stroked it's scaly hairless head. Yawning wide enough to crack her jaw, she choked at the set of ticklish feelers that drifted into her mouth. "Mmph?"
Alarmed at the feel of human teeth on it's whiskers, the dress leaped off her lap with a muffled thump and went cart-wheeling off to the other side of the room. Chirping happily, the fruppy hopped down, curling into a little round ball as he fell. The instant after he landed, he uncurled and gave chase. Cassidy had to snicker. Nicky just looked so comical when she was in a hurry. With her sleeves stiffened and her skirt puffed out to ball gown portions, she tumbled and leaped like a giant dysfunctional squirrel. She still had no idea what it's species was called, but she couldn't keep calling it 'Dress' all the time. Something that was alive needed to be named, and Nicky seemed to fit, considering it looked like a possessed ball gown.
Sluggishly climbing out of her bed, she got her first good look at what she'd been laying on. Presented before her eyes was a giant tire with a round mattress in the middle. Experimentally, she pressed her hand into the cotton sheet, and watched the imprint slowly resume it's shape. Foam? A quick investigation revealed that it really was what she suspected: a cut out of foam wedged into an old tractor tire and covered over with an old worn out sheet. It was inventive… in a galling sort of way. She hadn't known before that she was small enough to fit inside a monster-truck tire. "Obviously, I'm never going to get any taller than a Lilliputian," she yawned to herself, "But do they have to rub it in?"
Shrugging off the negative issue as too complicated for first thing in the morning, she stood up slowly and stretched. Good thing she'd slept in yesterdays clothes, because she did not want to waste any time getting dressed. "So, right," she mumbled sleepily, "Where's the bathroom?" The four blank walls of her room held no answers. Only one option was available to her, a door cut into a warehouse sized garage door. Frowning in thought, the brunet put on her sneakers and her portable coffeemaker. Shuffling up to the exit, Cassidy started to open it, only to meet resistance. Another shove made it move two inches. It took twenty more minutes of ramming her shoulder into the dusty surface before it abruptly swung wide making her fall on her face. "Oomph!"
What greeted her instantly watering eyes was disappointing. A corridor stretched on into the distance in either direction, wide enough to drive a truck through with room to spare. It was a concrete floored with cinder-block walls, and it was lit up with enough florescent bulbs to satisfy the entire state of New York! Squinting painfully, Cass looked left. The road stretched ever onward for miles. She looked right, discovering that this view was equally as dismal. Taking a deep breath, she called, "Hello? Is anyone out there?"
Only her echo replied. So, grumbling to herself, she retrieved her coffee maker and mug, because it was too much to ask that her room had an outlet. Then she stepped out into the corridor and warily pushed the door closed. After a moments indecision, she decided to go right. Maybe it was due to a vague memory from the night before, perhaps it was because of her innate sense of direction, but thirty minutes into her trudging journey got her nowhere. She was lost! Miserably, she wondered out loud, "Could this get any worse?" That was when a cramp struck her mid-section with the power of a boxer's punch, providing her with a healthy reminder of a problem of the unmentionable variety. "I had to ask."
Thirty more minutes of walking yielded no results and yelling for an answer was equally futile. Questioning the world at large, she grumbled, "Is this some sort of government psych test?" A rapid calculating glare flickered around her surroundings, searching for camera, hidden or obvious, yet there was nothing. That was when she noticed it. Voices! Well, more like one big booming saxophone, mixed with a screaming electric guitar, and accompanied by beeping and static. She'd been cussed out enough times by Swindle to recognize Cybertronian anywhere. In fact, if she wasn't mistaken, the brunet could swear she recognized a few words. Whatever! As of now, she'd take a room full of Decepticons if it meant she had a toilet all to herself as part of the bargain!
Arriving in the Autobot's Rec-room at break neck speed, Cassidy barely glanced sideways at the décor as she hopped, skipped, and jumped her way into the bathroom. Vaguely recognizing rusted out industrial machinery, a vending machine, several vats of radio-active waste, and a forest of tall trees, she slammed the door shut. 'Aaah…'
Several long minutes passed by in which no other sound emerged. Frankly, Cassidy was a little reluctant to go back out there due to the incessant bright artificial overhead lighting. At last, gearing herself up for a long lonely trek across endless dusty concrete, the brunet reluctantly pushed open the flimsy hollow-wood door. Bright white lights instantly hit her face with stinging force and she ducked, cursing at the pain. Using the coffee maker as a shield over her eyes, she attempted to take in her surroundings. If God was feeling merciful, then somewhere out there a shady oasis was waiting for her to take refuge in. Her brain working at sub-light speeds, she ticked over the items she saw as she practically crawled to the safety of those trees she'd seen earlier. Giant conveyer belt? Check. Old rusted out mechanical assembly arms? Yep, that was there too. Grumpy looking two story tall robot? Um… what?
She squinted up at the behemoth in surprise. Standing there, neat as you please with a giant square mug in his massive fist, was a huge alien robot. Unable to take the strain of looking at the ceiling for too long, she dropped her gaze and blinked the motes from her eyes. That's when she noticed how thick his legs were. There were no feet, or at least, none that she could see. They were just two rusty brown, continuous tree like poles… 'Oh, that's where the forest came from,' she realized with a yawn. This particular robot, unlike Swindle, hadn't said a single word to her. 'And for that alone, I adore him,' she reflected gratefully as she slowly trudging away in her endless search for some welcoming darkness.
Stretching out along the wall was a row of doors, along with wide openings where glass used to reside, most likely stolen or vandalized. Beating a hasty retreat, she ducked into the first of the small rooms. It was water stained, with pealing wood sideboards and trash of various substances all over the floor. Sneezing at the scent of mildew, neglect, and she didn't want to know what else, the brunet squinted into the gloom. Glass crunched beneath her feet as she lifted what she'd thought had been a bookcase from the ground. What met her eyes very obviously wasn't that, it was full of too many cubby holes. So… a mail-sorter, maybe? Setting it back down, she continued her exploration. A desk that looked like it had seen the business end of an axe, the frayed remains of a phone chord still attached to the wall, hundreds of papers with faded leagaleeze printed all over them, and a swivel chair with about half it's rollers missing was what she found. Her nose wrinkled at the pungent odor of rat droppings.
Picking up her trusty coffeemaker, Cass tiptoed her way back into the open, hoping not to incite the wrath of the still silent alien. He was ignoring her and slowly clanking away, grumbling to himself in robot-speak. One eyebrow quirked, before she looked away. Then a smile brightened her features as she came across the one thing she'd never thought she'd find: a kitchen! It was worn out, and more than a little dirty, but still obviously in use. With idle relief, she filled the coffeemaker with water. Then she saw the plug next to it. Wasting no time she hooked it up to the wall and smiled when it instantly began percolating. "Yes! Wake up juice, here I come," she softly cheered to herself. A vented sigh made her cringe and look back. "Oh, yeah, the alien." Resolving to go on stealth mode from now until she got out of alien central, she began searching for fuel of her own, like the mini-fridge over in the corner! That looked promising… if one ignored the yellow stains on the outside.
Almost dreading what she'd discover, she slowly opened the refrigerator door. A gentle dim blue glow bathed her features before she grimaced. 'Yup,' was the brunet's conclusion. 'I didn't want to know.' Stacks of take-out food containers littered every shelf, gradually getting younger as they got toward the top. Boxes at the top might be edible… while the ones on the bottom looked like they'd expired during the previous century. She was just reaching inside to check the contents of the top-most frost-bitten items when something moved. Blackened dust particles shifted and formed, piecing together and reforming into a long tendril of tentacle… Menacingly it reached for her, and yelping, she slammed the door shut. Her heart hammering, blinking in alarm, she tried to rationalized what she'd seen. Maybe it had been a mirage. Or perhaps, it was an illusion brought on by hunger. The question remained, was she crazy enough to look again?
"Right," Cassidy declared in a state of false cheer, wiping her hands on her semi-clean pants. "So, moving on…" She spun around, walking at a fast pace to the only other food option. It was a vending machine! Her false smile faltered slightly as she got a glimpse of the contents. Candy bars and cheese-crackers stood in a nice neat row on the top shelf, the second level sported cupcakes and doughnuts, with the third continuing the pastry options in the form of cookies and packaged cakes. The bottom rows sported a motley selection. Cass had her choice of jerky, bubblegum, or breath-fresheners. Why hadn't she remembered to bring her wallet?
Just as she was contemplating a fight with the refrigerator slime for the least ancient leftovers, a small pig-tailed whirlwind raced into the room. Upon skating into the kitchen, however, the red-head stopped up short. There was the new kid… what's her name? Oh, yeah! Cassidy. It was the most awesome thing in the world to have another kid on the base, and she was kind of annoyed with the guys for not waking her up when the teenager had unexpectedly arrived. Well… granted, the other girl wasn't really a kid, she was a teenager. Still, she'd take what she could get!
Since she was still unobserved, Sari studied the brunet closely. Frazzled green streaked hair that looked like it had been hit by a Weed-Wacker stood up on the seventeen year old girl's head in a way that had to be accidental. At least… she hoped it wasn't deliberate. The biggest surprise were the jeans. Gazing at those ripped up monstrosities, the nine-year old made a face. Pants were no longer 'in,' dresses were! All five of the fashion magazines she subscribed to said so. Yet, as she stared at the girl in front of her, she got the distinct impression that this particular teenager didn't care.
Abruptly realizing that the person in question was staring at her like a zombie, she pasted on a fake grin. "Hi," she chirped, skating back a few feet. "I'm Sari!" No reply, except for a silent blink. "I- I mean Sarita! My dad wanted me to have a name that fits in here as well as in India, and Sarita is another version of Sarah and means 'sacred' in Hindi, and shutting up now." Sari stuttered to a halt, panting slightly and feeling acutely embarrassed. The teenager blinked again, before slowly turning away again.
"Great," Sari fumed to herself in Hindi, as she skated up to the vending machine on the other side of the room. "Only ten minutes into the conversation, and I've already made a bad impression. This is all Dad's fault. If he'd just let me go to school like a normal kid, I wouldn't sound like such a dork! But nooo, it's too dangerous, Sari. Snort! Yeah, right! Instead, I had to be taught by the stupid Tutor-Bot." Slamming her key (which was a strange blend of alien and human technology) into the slot, she viciously twisted it. Instantly, food poured out of the device almost bowling her over.
In the middle of the twenty-second century, life was pretty much the same. People still drove cars, they enjoyed reading books, and they continued to stare at the television set every evening. There were only two key differences. One: androids had been invented, or as her dad preferred to call them, Automatons. They picked up garbage, sold products on the street corners, and did basic chores for whoever had the cash to buy them. Unfortunately, they were also purchased by the well to do as private tutors. Since her dad was one of the richest millionaires in America, a leading inventor of androids, and residing in the robotics capital of the world, he had to have one. She grimaced, knowing she was more used to the little silver humanoid robots than she was to people!
The other major change on the world scene, was that the aliens had landed. There were moments when Sari had a hard time believing it. It sounded like something out of a comic book or an action movie, but it was true. In fact, now that her dad had mysteriously vanished during the last major battle, she was living with them. She was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she almost missed the other girls answer.
"Morning," the brunet mumbled, resting her aching head against the cool plaster wall. The insanely bright light had given her a headache that only coffee could cure. 'Note to self,' Cass silently moaned to herself. 'Invest in sunglasses.' Most of the scrawny red-headed kid's words had washed by without being understood, but Cass had gotten the gist and replied in kind. Now she stared at the coffee-maker with a single minded intensity that most teenagers devoted to their cell-phones. 'I could find the electric panel. Then I could turn every single light in this place off with the flick a switch. Hey, it's a worthwhile goal! And if anybody tries to turn it back on, I'll punch them in the nose!' Indulging in her newly invented violent fantasy, it took her a moment to realize that the younger kid was talking to her again. Peering back blearily, she inquired, "What?"
"Yeesh! You don't listen very often, do you," Sari complained, her hands on her hips. Then she switched gears. "So, as I was saying, Bumblebee has this really cool video game system. We're in the middle of this competition with cave creatures… and you're welcome to join in…" She trailed off at the glazed over expression on her companion's face. "Riiight, so I'll just let you get back to your own thing."
Recognizing the flood of words surrounding her, but not really comprehending their meaning, Cassidy blinked sleepily. It briefly occurred to her that it was awfully weird to encounter another human at alien central, even if she did seem familiar. This thought, like so many others, flitted away like fireflies around a campfire. One word was overwhelming her thoughts with growing insistence: COFFEE. With a sense of timing that was akin to magic, the coffeemaker went off. She dove on the life-giving substance like a starving woman. The red-head wrinkled her nose at the teenager's behavior, before deciding to ignore her. If she wanted to be rude, then it was her loss!
"Mmph, oh, thank God," Cassidy mumbled, surrounded in coffee fumes. Her mouth had been scalded, but at least her brain was functioning again. She needed breakfast, or something close to it. And since she didn't want anything the vending machine had to offer, she needed to go shopping. This required escaping the warehouse, figuring out where she was in relation to the surrounding city, and locating the nearest corner store. Glancing outside at a room that rivaled the size of your average amusement park, she tried to guess where the exit might be. Taking another fortifying sip of burning hot java, she began, "Um, Sarita?"
"Huh? Oh, nobody calls me that. It's Sari." The nine-year old paused in the midst of her own plotted escape. If Optimus found out she'd broken the vending machine again, she was going to be in deep trouble. Therefore, the only method of avoiding punishment was vacating the area and destroying the evidence. Hoisting her now full knapsack over her shoulders, she skated to the entryway, noting with relief that Ratchet was still gone. She grinned deviously, not noticing the telltale trail of chocolate bars she was leaving behind through a tear in the satchel. 'No-one will ever know about this,' she grinned, only to abruptly frown as she remembered that there was still one witness… Turning, she eyed the new kid suspiciously. Was Cassidy the kind of girl that would rat her out, or the type that could keep a secret?
A little more awake now, Cass filled another mug. She was well aware of the kid's suspicious expression, not that she cared. As far as the brunet was concerned, she planned to be long gone before the week was out. "Hey, Sari," she began. "Where is the exit to this place? I can't remember where it is."
Looking up from stuffing her face full of chocolate, the younger girl tried to clear her throat. This was a task that she quickly discovered was next to impossible. Instead, Sari vaguely pointed toward the left half of the room and garbled something unintelligible. Then she concentrated on chewing. It was a lot of work erasing a crime, but the red-head was determined to finish the job. Digging into her knap-sack, she handed off a few of the less desirable candies, both to be neighborly, and to pass the blame if she got caught.
At the sticky mass of 'used-to-be-food' that was offered her way, she rolled her eyes. "Um, no thanks…" She was about to ask exactly where in Detroit this place was located, when a squeal of tires on concrete interrupted her. Racing around the corner was a small bright yellow compact car without a driver. Cassidy warily backed off as a huge metal arm grew out of the car door, sprouting claws as it went, and scooped up the giggling red-head. In seconds, with a lot of rapid twisting and flipping around, the rice-rocket was suddenly a huge, armor clad robot with bright glowing electric blue eyes.
Slightly shuddering, Cassidy was struck with not so pleasant memories of when Swindle had done the same thing… twice. Bastard. She firmly refused to acknowledge that one of those times had been catching her from a killer fall off of a six story apartment building. Blinking back to reality, she watched the Cybertronian gently bounce the nine-year old, all while talking a mile a minute. Abruptly, the robot froze and scanned the brunet from head to toe. Her spine stiffened at that familiar skitter of electricity racing along her skin and inwardly grimaced at the abrupt metallic taste of her teeth fillings. Cass had no idea why they kept doing that, she just hated it. "Hey," Bumblebee exclaimed cheerfully. "You must be Cassie! I'm Bumblebee, but everybody calls me 'Bee! Do you like video games, I've got the biggest collection in Detroit. The game shop owner told me so last month when I went to buy Crash-course Two!"
"Woah, wait a minute," the brunet interrupted, "I'd really appreciate it if yah didn't call me 'Cassie.' It's Cassidy, or if yah have to use a nickname, Cass is fine, just no Cassie." The name Cassie brought to mind an adorable little child-star, with curly blond hair, and a pastel pink dress. Ugh! Ever since Cass and Cassie (the boy and girl twin siblings) had hit the movie screens, America had been enthralled. Every family began naming at least one of their kids 'Cassidy' because they were just SO cute. It didn't help that the pair were now just as successful as adults on the acting circuit as they had been as child-stars. Now Cassie was the golden haired darling of Hollywood, and her brother, Cass, or Ceejay as he preferred to be called, was the rock-star heart-throb of MTV.
"Sure thing Cassie," Bumblebee answered without really paying attention, and he was off on another verbal tangent. "Boy, you sure did sleep a long time. Almost as long as that grumpy 'Bot Ratchet! But you're nothing like him, I can tell! So, what are you doing? I just got off duty and can't wait to take over the television for that horror movie marathon coming up in a couple of hours!"
'Ah, hah,' Cass realized with an inward grimace. 'I've found a matched pair. Despite all the odds and all the light-years separating them, two chatterboxes have found each other!' Was there sarcasm present? Why, no! Of course not! Containing her usual early morning ire with a healthy swallow of coffee, she considered the nine year old on the other side of the room. Sari was talking a mile a minute and stuffing candy by the handful into her mouth. Bee was nodding enthusiastically and answering back just as quickly. She also had no clue what they were saying. It sounded vaguely like English, but at this point in the morning, it could have been Martian and she wouldn't know. 'Maybe the kid's just on a constant sugar high and the robot is getting dragged along for the ride? It's possible, right?'
"I was wondering," she interrupted. "Is there supposed to be a monster in the refrigerator? Because, if that's normal, I want out of here." Pausing in the midst of their conversation, the pair gave her an incredulous look. She helplessly shrugged, taking a sip of much needed java. The big yellow robot still didn't look as if he believed her, so she gestured at the refrigerator. "It's a food emporium petting zoo. Don't believe me? Look for yourself."
Rolling his optics, Bumblebee turned and approached the small unassuming white box. He extended one metal claw from a previously blunt fingertip and carefully hooked the refrigerators handle. Not wanting to get within range because she hated getting inoculation shots, Cassidy retreated, tugging Sari with her. Blue light bathed the Autobot's features as he peered inside. "I knew it! There isn't anything in here," Bee declared haughtily after a brief surface scan. "Obviously, someone was trying to trick- gaah!" With sudden fury, a solid black mass of gunk hit his face plates at two-hundred miles an hour. Loosing his balance at the unexpected attack of mold, he fell back on his aft with a screech.
"Bumblebee," Sari shouted in alarm. Proving it's capacity for higher intelligence, it crawled off of it's robotic victim and began oozing and forming tendrils in their direction. Letting out an ear piercing shriek, Sari threw her hands up in the air and began running around in circles. Cass merely glanced around as she looked for something painfully heavy to bludgeon it with. They were saved from death by foodstuffs when a loud electric filled blast hit the living gunk hard enough to leave a crater. Debris, mostly of a wet nature, spattered over everything.
Blinking away the sting of too much bright light in one sitting, Cassidy gradually looked up. A large craggy face squinted disapprovingly into their low cubby hole of a kitchenette. It was the rust colored robot. His glare, if possible, became even nastier as he retracted the electro-blaster back into his arm. "If you younglings are through disturbing what's left of the morning with all this needless panicking," he began with exaggerated politeness. His mocking smile vanished, but the glare remained. "I'd like to get on with my day." Using a low level force-field, he gathered up a fist sized sample of putrid smelling cooked slime. Then, standing up straight, he turned and walked away with steady forceful strides, a moving mountain.
Pausing in the midst of spitting out another gob of fried attack mold, Bumblebee yelled, "But Ratchet, what about me?"
"You three can clean up the organic's kitchen," Ratchet replied without looking back. "After all, you did used to clear debris off of space bridges. Now leave me alone!" The base shuddered as the automatic doors closed, making everyone cringe.
"And that's why yah never complain about a problem," Cass absently informed the Autobot. "Chances are, you'll be assigned to fix it." Gazing around herself at the surrounding mess of stench ridden hot slime, the brunet sighed. Ignoring the yellow robot's literal dirty look, she made her way back to the snack machine and pouted. It looked even more unappetizing than before… maybe because of the infestation of sentient slime crawling around the chocolate-nut bars. "Is this all there is to eat around here?"
Hopping over steaming scum puddles, Sari came to stand by her side. Together, the pair watched the wriggling black tentacle under glass with a sort of mesmerized fascination. "We usually just go off to Burger-Bot and get food there," she absently replied, her big brown eyes slowly tracking the creatures movements.
"Hey, I know what we could do," Bumblebee exclaimed loudly enough to make every organic in the room flinch… Yes, even the slime creature. He dropped the towel sized cleaning rag that he'd been half-heartedly using to clean up a tiny patch of black gunk on the floor. His vocals dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, the yellow Autobot continued, "Let's go to Burger-Bot!"
"All right," Sari squealed in a typical little kid fashion, doing a celebration dance around patches of cooked mold. Bumblebee transformed into a small yellow car and Sari leaped into his driver's seat without any hesitation. That's when they looked at Cassidy. She stood there, coffee mug in hand, and a distrustful look on her face. The nine year old blinked in confusion before glancing down at an equally mystified lit dashboard. "Well, come on," the red-head at last prompted.
"Yeah," Bee agreed. "I don't mind if you sit shotgun." To their surprise, the seventeen year old took a broad step back at that announcement.
Cassidy was experiencing a dilemma. She was hungry, but was she hungry enough to do that? Eying the vehicle in front of her, she was again reminded of car seats that bunched and flexed like muscles, and seatbelts that writhed and slapped. Swindle had not been a kind host. Besides, the concept of sitting 'inside' of another being was more than a little disgusting. Then there was the location they were heading toward…. At the thought of being subjected to another one of those greasy, flavorless, calorie laden burgers, she felt her stomach turn. Clutching her coffee mug, she at last blurted out, "I'd rather not."
"Aw, come on," the yellow car whined. "I'll bet you're hungry. We could go out and be back before Ratchet even realizes it."
"Please," Sari pleaded giving her big puppy eyes.
Hesitantly, Cass began, "Well, I am hungry…" She watched both car and human brighten at the thought that she was caving in, before she dropped the clincher. "But I'm not hungry for Burger-Bot meals."
"Whaaat," Sari wailed as if she'd just said something blasphemous. "Why not?" Even the car looked mystified now. What was wrong with going to Burger-Bot? It had robots! That alone was enough of a selling point for her.
"Because I got to have that three meals a day, if I was lucky, while I was a 'guest' of Swindle's," Cassidy solemnly informed them. Every argument the car and rider were gearing up to unleash left them at that exact moment. She gave them a moment longer to contemplate that grim reminder of her introduction to the Cybertronian species, before continuing. "Beyond that," Cass shrugged. "The grocery store?"
"What's that," Bumblebee asked in clueless wonder.
"Eww! I don't want to go there," the nine year old complained. "They've got vegetables all over the place!"
"Well, where Sari doesn't want to go, I don't either," the robot turned compact car exclaimed. He straighten up, somehow appeared taller, much to Cassidy's disbelief. She quirked an eyebrow, before smirking.
"Sari," the brunet casually began. "Do you like pancakes?"
Deep brown eyes widened and a hopeful look flashed for a brief instant across the pig-tailed girl's face. Then her resolve hardened. Shaking her head stubbornly, she looked away saying, "Nope!"
"That's too bad," Cass answered. "Because I was planning on cooking some. And of course, I'd buy syrup to drizzle over the top, and orange juice to drink alongside it…" By now, she had the rapt attention of every hyper active brain cell in Sari's head. "Oh, well. Sigh… I guess I'll eat a candy-bar instead."
"Wait," Sari yelped.
"Don't listen to her, Sari," the sentient car warned with a low engine growl. "She's trying to trick us into working." He jerked back on his wheels in surprise when he realized Cassidy was suddenly at his side.
"Bumbles, wouldn't yah love to be able to make a meal for the kid with a minimum of effort?" She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Yah wouldn't even have to pause your video-game." The brunet grinned when the small yellow 'Bot's threatening engine growl became a hesitant purr. As she watched the pair fall into a contemplative silence, Cass smugly mused, 'This is just way too easy.'
Glancing down at her massive robotic friend's dashboard, the red-head contemplated this new plan. Bumblebee's lights twinkled softly back. Finally, the yellow Autobot answered for both of them. "Okay, you've convinced us," he hesitantly agreed. "We'll visit this 'Gross-airy' store, but if we don't like it, we're taking off!" Sari, her arms crossed over her yellow go-go dress, nodded once in firm agreement with this pronouncement.
Cass quirked a genuine half smile at the pair. "Fair enough," she agreed. "Well, let's go." With that, she turned and began a casual walk back toward her room.
"Um, Cassidy," Sari began with a hesitant query. "Hellooo? The exit's that way? And Bumblebee is right over here?"
"Exactly," the car cheerfully agreed as he popped open a door on his passenger side. "Don't you want a ride, Cassie? I can get us there a whole lot faster than anything you can do!"
Grimacing at the repetition of that most hated nickname, she reflected, 'Oh, yeah, he's humble.' Turning around, she schooled her features into the bland pleasant expression she reserved for hated teachers and school bullies… right before she'd prank them into oblivion. "Bumble's," she began. "After being trapped in a car for seventy-eight hours straight, I can most definitely tell yah, no way! Besides, I need my wallet, and I can easily get to the nearest market on foot. Bet I beat yah to the store with time to spare, too."
"Hah, don't make me laugh," the yellow Autobot sneered. He transformed, transferring his human charge to his shoulder plates with ease, before following after her. You organics move slower than fifteen year old motor oil! What are you going to do? Fly?"
"As if," the brunet drawled, continuing her casual escape from the warehouse that never ends and praying for a cloudy day. Her eyes were killing her. "It just so happens, I'm an expert on this town. I know every shortcut Detroit owns."
"Guys," Sari whined pitifully. "Does it matter how we get there? I'm getting hungry!" No-one listened as the argument continued all the way to Cassidy's room, then on out the door. It became even more heated at the crosswalk while they waited for the signal to change, and turned violent when Bumblebee grabbed Cass and attempted to carry her. None of them noticed the small yellow taxi-cab patiently waiting for the trio to cross. Neither did they happen to realize that there was a very similar little yellow vehicle parked in the grocery store parking lot while they shopped. And they most certainly didn't even look sideways at that familiar car that was parked in a convenient alleyway nearby the base. How could they? They were too busy being lectured about responsibility by Prowl, who had finally caught up with them and was escorting the unfortunate trio back to base. Not until the door had closed, did the driverless cab turn over it's engine and coast away.
In an undisclosed location of the city…
Within the dark recesses of a long abandoned warehouse, a bright light crackled. Swindle shut off his welder and paused a moment to assess his work. It was tiny, positively miniscule in his massive metal servos. Obviously, it was more suited for an organic creature. He held the device up even as he boosted the glow to his purple optics. It was a fancy gold wrist-watch, polished to a fine gleam. Reaching out a long sharp claw, he carefully tapped the buttons until it displayed the time: 12:46 AM.
He had observed Cassidy for a week now. During that time, the Decepticon had come to the conclusion that she had to be the most well guarded organic in history. An exasperated sigh gusted through his vents. In order to pull off his next business deal, he needed an organic that was familiar with his own kind, and preferably also living with them. One had been discounted immediately. That fleshling was the personal 'pet' of Megatron, and if there was anything that old warlord hated, it was one of his possessions getting stolen. Luckily, there were two other options living with the Autobots, a small hyper fleshling named Sarita 'Sari' Sumdac, and his former associate Cassidy Jane Nulte.
At last setting aside his invention, the sales-mech lifted his arms in a long luxurious stretch. Swindle was small by Cybertronian standards, with a yellow and black checkered paint job decorating his armor. The word 'Taxi' stood out in bold relief like a tattoo upon both shoulders. He really had to change his alt-mode again.
A heated sigh huffed out of his vents as his stiffened joints finally found relief after nine hours of grueling microscopic work. Unfortunately, Plan A was scrapped. Swindle couldn't just snatch either femme off the street like he wanted to. That left the second option. With a brilliant flicker, his purple cat-like optics opened and peered into the darkness. There was a shuffle of movement, followed by hesitant steps, until a small organic stepped into the dim light. He was young, perhaps only seventeen at the oldest, wearing a rumpled zoot-suit and patent leather shoes. Bending down, the teenager carefully picked up the wristwatch from the dusty ground, latched it on, and gave the robot in front of him an appraising look. After polishing a pair of stylish sunglasses, he slipped them on, and smirked.