Here are your usual beginning of story notifications: I, nor roudyredd own any of the Transformers characters (though we may have various objects or animals that may hold their names). All of that belong to Hasbro and all the buyers of the names and rights and all that rot. Definitely not us.
This story revolves around OC's. If you don't care for OC's, this is probably not a fic for you.
Scatterblade and Charlie and Nate: belong to roudyredd
Illusory: belongs to me
Others to come.
Event Nine
The being which we meet at first is almost always an illusion of who they wish you to believe they are. Sometimes the real being inside is just a scattered consciousness that needs help pulling themselves together.
Illusory waited a good long while before she crept from her hiding place, quickly determining the most unlikely route for the Autobots to take and setting to it with a speed that would have been lethal to a human. She would arrive in Logan a good amount of time ahead of the mechs that would be following her; long enough to make sure she wouldn't be trapped wherever they met.
Her excitement to be free again brought one more thought forward. Without much hesitation, she accessed the phone number Charlie had given her, and attempted to contact the human.
Charlie tossed in her bed and tried to fall back to sleep one more time. It was Saturday and she was determined to sleep till ten. Her phone rang making her jump and just about fly off her bed. She answered the phone groggily. "Hello?"
"Hello, Charlie. This is Illusory. I apologize for disturbing you, but I thought I might inform you that I am returning to Logan. I wished to let you know that Scatterblade and myself are unharmed," her voice didn't quite hold it's pitch on her last word.
It took her several seconds to respond. "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that but more slowly? I'm not fully awake just yet."
The femme laughed lightly. "This is Illusory," she said somewhat slower. "I am returning to Logan and thought I would let you know."
"Oh, hi! Good to hear from you again. Where have you been?" Her tone shifted quickly from excited to concerned.
"We were...detained," the dark tone to the femme's voice was unmistakeable. "However, that has been taken care of, for the most part, and I will now be residing in Logan, Utah, for the foreseeable future."
"Oh my gosh," she breathed, "I'm so glad you're coming back. Guess I'll see you soon then?" Charlie could not keep a happy grin from her face.
"Yes, I have one more arrangement to see to in the canyon, but I did hope to visit with you for a while before hand." Even as she spoke, the femme was crossing into Utah, her estimated time of arrival would be less than one Earth hour if she maintained her current speed.
"Yeah. Come right over," she said sitting up and already searching for her shoes, "I'll be outside my apartment."
"Very well, I will be there within the hour." She poured on a little more speed, keeping one sensor active for any of the police of the area – though she had no fears of not being able to outrun them, she decided that starting a 'high-speed chase' probably wasn't a good idea.
It wasn't long before the femme pulled into the parking lot outside of Charlie's dorm, heat from her engine coming off in waves.
Charlie saw a car come speeding around the corner, laughing when she recognized her. She stood and made sure no one was around before she hurried to her friend.
Illusory opened her door for the woman. "Hello, Charlie. Good to see you again," she greeted warmly.
Charlie hopped in easily and closed the door behind her. "Good to see you too. Tell me what happened. You've been gone for a long time, and you left without anything more than 'we found more ETs and we'll be back soon.'"
Illusory vented heavily. "The Autobots found us and took us back to their base where they detained Scatterblade and I. A...few things came to pass, there were some complications, but I am making arrangements with them so that I may continue functioning on my own."
"Wow." Charlie chuckled, the wording sounding very vague to her. Still, she understood that not everyone wanted to share everything. Then the fact that Illusory had said 'I' instead of 'we' struck her. "But… if you're here then where is Scatterblade? He still detained?"
"He is with his faction now. Without me there, he is more likely to be welcomed into the fold again. They intend to help him, and as far as I know he will likely remain with them. However, I did request that he accompany them when they come to finalize my contract." The femme sounded a little sad as she spoke.
Charlie slumped down in her seat with disappointment. "Well that sucks. I was gonna be your guys' groupie," she sighed with fake enthusiasm before becoming more serious. "I'm sorry he isn't gonna be around anymore."
"I am as well," she admitted. "How have you been?"
"I've been well. I found myself a job," she said excitedly, "School's been good but there are the slumps."
"Slumps?" The femme questioned. She checked her chronometer, and the time she expected the Autobots to arrive. They would likely follow the posted speed limits, meaning she had quite a bit of time to relax.
"Studying, keeping up on bills, trying to figure out dating and stuff," she sighed prattling them off as if it was a to-do list. "Time just doesn't seem to move fast enough. The long days get hard but I find ways to stay busy. Still, reading can only help you so far. Especially when reading textbooks," she grumbled as if relieved it wasn't happening at the moment.
Illusory hummed amused at the mention of 'long days'; Earth days were so much shorter than Cybertronian days, she couldn't even imagine one being considered 'long'. "Sounds..." Lovely? Wonderful? She would trade her entire world for such troubles? None of those sounded acceptable to the femme, "like you could use some time away," she finished instead, bringing her engine back to life and pulling away from the dorm. "I have some time before I am to meet with the Autobots..." she left the statement open as she drifted toward the exit, giving the human time to decline the offer if she chose.
Charlie's face lit up. "That sounds great!" She chirped buckling herself in, more than eager to enjoy a drive with her alien friend. The concept was still so...amazing; she was riding around in a living alien car.
With a happy growl of her engine, Illusory took off. She kept her speeds to just pushing the limits, not wanting to cause Charlie any harm. "Any place you would like to go?"
The woman had a hard time suppressing the squeal of delight building inside her. Feeling a flush of heat on her face for being so childish she attempted to composed herself before she spoke. "There's a park down on the island," she said pointing toward the lower area south of campus. "Lots of trees and a stream."
The school sat on a mesa just north of the canyon mouth. Where the river flowed out of the canyon was a lower area filled with houses and more of the Cache Valley. It was a crowded area but the slopes just off the highway road were covered in trees.
"Very well." Illusory set her navigation for the indicated area, boosted by the human's squeal of delight, she continued to push the limits as they raced to their destination.
Charlie felt thrust to the back of her seat. Illusory was fast! She'd never thought anything could move this quickly! It might have scared her like roller coasters did, but she was enjoying every bit of it. Somehow, even though she felt the excitement thrum through her, she knew she was safe inside the vehicle.
Once they arrived, Illusory slowed, and found a suitable place to rest. She admired the simplicity of the park. "It is very nice here," she sighed, contented.
Charlie climbed out of the vehicle and took in a deep breath. She loved how crisp the air was here and it did wonders to steady her hammering heart. "I like it a lot. When it snows, this whole area over there is turned into a skating rink!" She excitedly pointed to the grassy field at the corner of the park and then to a small building was directly adjacent to it and seemed very out of place. "That's for the food, hot chocolate and coffee when the rink is open. Also a good place to warm up."
"Hn," Illusory hummed as her holoform came to stand beside the human, observing the described areas. She thought, for the briefest of moments, that she wished she could see this 'skating rink' anomaly that apparently only occurred when there was snow. "That sounds interesting."
Charlie then thought of something,"Have you ever seen snow?"
"No." Illusory had not been on the planet for long, she had seen the passing of a few of this planet's 'seasons', but had yet to encounter snow.
The young woman sighed in pained empathy. "I had never seen snow before I came here. Sure I saw it on the ground when we went up north in Cali but to see it coming down and covering the ground a little bit at a time..." she sighed happily. "It's the best thing I've ever seen."
"I look forward to it then." She did, too. For some reason, the fact that Charlie had found snow so enticing made Illusory want to see it as well.
"The first time I saw snow, I was a little kid all over again," Charlie laughed heartily at the memory. "My roommates thought I was so weird. They were all mad about the snow and I was playing in it without my jacket. Nearly got pneumonia that way!" She sighed sitting down in the grass. "It makes you really slow down and just enjoy being alive. There are so many things I miss because I'm not really looking. I made it a habit this summer to get up early and enjoy the air before it got too hot." She turned her face up toward the sky and stared at the trees surrounding them, just taking in the beauty. "What was your home like?"
Illusory's frame audibly tensed. "My...home?" There was the soft whirring of electricity as old memories resurfaced. "It was..." she paused again. "I hardly remember anymore. My home does not exist any longer. I was only a youngling when it was destroyed by the war, though I do recall...th' 'bots there were nice. Everyone helped everyone...we were all wanting, but never left ta suffer 'till th' Autobots chased some 'Cons through our quiet lil' valley..." The femme made a grinding sound, almost like a human clearing their throat. "It was a long time ago. It hardly matters anymore."
Charlie was silent for a time, her heart sinking inside of her to hear the tragedy. "You know," she began softly, "there's this old story and lesson that happened a lot during the story. When the people forgot the past things didn't turn out all that well. They would be attacked or a famine would come," Charlie stopped feeling a little awkward hoping this would make sense to her alien friend, "but when they remembered what God did for their fathers and how he helped them in times of trouble they would humble themselves and be helped. It may have been a long time ago but if you can focus on the good part of the memory then I don't think thinking about the bad would be as bad." She laughed at herself. "That didn't make a whole lotta sense to you, did it?"
"Hn," the femme rumbled softly. "It does make a certain type of sense, I suppose. It is simply difficult to remember. This war of theirs has ravaged so much, memories included. To think of my home is to think of another life that I can never have again – to think of friends, and family that I will never see again. There is nothing but pain in those memories, even the best of them." The femme shuddered roughly, making the panels on her alt mode clatter loudly as they shifted about for a moment before settling back into a seamless disguise once more. "I apologize, I do not wish to be so negative."
The woman nodded in sympathy. "I can't imagine what that's like. Well, I probably can if I put my mind to it. Wild imagination," she chuckled but quickly stopped. "Is there a way that you could make a new home? Here on Earth? Start a whole new batch of memories," she smiled up at the holoform still standing beside her. "Good ones?"
"That is what I am hoping for; if the Autobots are willing to allow me that small peace. I am to commit to a contract with them, I will work for them for monetary compensations in which I am allowed to use for my own personal notions. I was considering following through with my previous thoughts of joining your educational system and attempting to create an image of a human femme living a normal life here."
"That'd be great!" Charlie sat up, bubbling with enthusiasm. "I'm glad you guys could come to terms."
"The one thing I can say I admire about the Autobots, they are always willing to cut a good deal, and they will uphold their end of the agreement." Illusory vented, letting the stress leave her frame again. "I have never bound myself to such an open contract though, I am concerned how this may turn out. My contracts used to be one time contact deals; simple, to the point, and over with."
Charlie nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Is it all that bad, though? To at least be able to count them as reliable?" The read head still didn't understand that if one side did good, and the other side did bad, why Illusory didn't consider the side that did good, good? Or if it just something too...alien for her to understand.
"Yes, they are reliable," there was still an edge to Illusory's voice, but that did not change the fact that it was true. "It is just simply difficult for me to..." how was she to say it? Commit to a single faction even though she was not joining them? To not be working both sides of the war for her own benefit? "Settle," she decided was the best word. After all, the contract had yet to be finalized, and as far as she knew nothing was preventing her from continuing business as usual should the opportunity present its self, it just meant that she wouldn't have to work as hard to find a buying Autobot contact. "It may work out for the best in the end," she admitted.
"Glad you could get at least that. I think it'd be neat to meet them," she said laying down on the grass and putting her hands behind her head. "If I was a biology student instead of just wildlife science I'd be trying to figure out anatomy similarities and differences. Heck! I know someone who would love to know that you guys are here."
"Is that so?" Illusory briefly weighed the pros and cons of allowing Charlie to accompany her to the meeting – as her human liaison. It was only fair, wasn't it? She knew very well that other humans would be there, why should she not have one on her side of the negotiations?
"Well, yeah," she said oblivious to what the question was really pointed towards. "Of course I don't think it'd be smart to let anyone else in on this. What with the government knowing about you guys too."
"Hn," she agreed. "If you were to meet the others, you would be under the government's scrutiny; if that is something you are willing to deal with, I can arrange it so that you may."
Charlie sat up straight, "Oh. Heh," she laughed, "didn't think about that." She had seen way too many movies about government conspiracies and felt like she could remain out of this and be just fine. The opportunity was great, sure. Who wouldn't want to meet a new species, a new race! but something was stirring in her that she decided to listen to. "Maybe we could put that off. For a little bit at least. School's hard enough. If I have to have MIB chasing me around then I think I'll pass."
Illusory laughed at the reference. "Very well." She settled on her tires, and then sat her holoform beside Charlie. "This is a lovely place." Tilting her head back as if to enjoy the rays of the sun, the femme took a deep breath and let it out. There was something about acting 'human' that appealed to her.
Charlie thought forward in time; to snow then from snow to ice then ice to ice skating. Then she excitedly sat up, an idea coming to her. "I just thought of something really cool. Bear Lake is like an hour away from here through the canyon. Come winter some parts of it actually freezes over. We could totally try to skate on it! I think it would be thick enough to hold you. It should be. There's a ton of water nearly 200 feet out that is like my waist deep. And the water's cold all summer long so it's bound to freeze pretty deep. That would be so much fun to see!" She laughed thinking about the large robot ice skating.
"That sounds...interesting." Ice wasn't foreign to the femme; space had taught her plenty about the frozen liquid, but to actually 'skate' on it was new to her. "When such a time comes, we may have to investigate the opportunity."
"Definitely! It's seriously the funnest thing to just glide around and gather your speed faster and faster! It's one of the only roller-coaster feelings I like," she said rather embarrassed by the fact.
Illusory considered the comparison for a moment before she decided to ask; "What is a roller-coaster?"
"It's a ride that people go on," Charlie said enjoying the fun naivety that came with talking to Illusory. "You get in a cart with a restraining bar, so you don't fall out, and that cart is connected to a whole bunch of other carts. Then the cart is on a track, and that track can go any direction at all. Up, down, up again, corkscrew down, straight up into a loop de loop, then down again in a corkscrew and sometimes one or two times in a row. Depends on the ride. Some people like the thrill that comes with the G. force of it all. I can't stand them," she shivered. "I went on one that was all ups and downs and turns and I was so scared and nervous that when we went down I couldn't breathe. It was fun, I'll admit but I will never go on one of my own free will again. I'm too much of a caution freak. I like being safe and knowing I will be able to continue to breathe when I want to," she chuckled.
"Sounds like some of the roads back on Cybertron," Illusory smiled almost impishly. "Only we didn't have restraining bars, just speed."
Charlie gaped at her, "No way!" She shuddered, imagining roads that were like that. "I used to have dreams that sound like that! I'd be driving and the road would suddenly shoot up and then we'd have to shoot down and jump from the end of the road to the next connecting part! It was so freaky! Had a little anxiety about driving 'cause of that."
Illusory's smile broadened. "Yes, that sounds about right. The city bypasses could get a little tricky like that from time to time. Especially when there was a seeker spire nearby; had to keep the sky clear for landing and take offs.
"Wow," she said trying to imagine all the roads and spires covering the alien home world. "That would have been cool to see," she whispered.
"Very well," Illusory said merrily as her systems geared up. Suddenly before them the scenery vanished, replaced by a vast expanse of intricate towers, roads, lights and 'bots all moving about their business – both in their alt modes, and robot modes. The vantage point from which Illusory was projecting allowed them to look deep down into the depths of the cityscape, endless pathways stretching for as far as was visible. "This is..." Illusory started to tell Charlie that this was Iacon before the final attack that had destroyed even this last visage of a seemingly normal Cybertronian city, but decided that it needn't be ruined by the truth. "A small part of one of Cybertron's great cities."
Charlie gaped at the sight. "Wow. That's incredible. I didn't know you create holograms like that," she added with a laugh. "That is so cool."
"Yeah," Illusory vented softly as the image wavered. "This one is unlike my personal holographic form; it is image only and I cannot hold it for long." Even as she finished her sentence, the image fuzzed, pixilated, and fell apart, returning the scenery of the park.
Charlie nodded her understanding. "Cybertron must have been really different from Earth," she mused.
"Very much so," Illusory agreed. "There are not very many places like Cybertron. Then again, from what I have seen, there are not many places quite like Earth either. In that way, they are very similar."
"I would really like know if there are. There's a belief that I hold with many of my family and religion that there are worlds out there that have people just like us. Many different 'Earths'. We've never heard from any of them," she shrugged, "but its my theory that we're not supposed to yet." She laughed again unsure of herself once more. "That probably sounds stupid."
Illusory smiled as she looked at Charlie. "If seeking other, similar life is stupid, than the Cybertronian race is compiled of nothing but fools."
Charlie smiled back, not feeling as silly now. She looked at the car with a little subdued curiosity. Her world had gotten a lot bigger. A lot of people in her situation would have freaked out and denied the fact that other lifeforms from way beyond their atmosphere were walking around on their planet, but Charlie had always believed that life was out there. Not like George Lucas's Star Wars life, but other peoples just living their lives day after day. How could their universe, the Milky Way be so big and so vast and be home to only one planet with life on it? It just didn't make sense. Now she had proof that other life did exist. It wasn't an overwhelming 'viola! it's there!', more like 'yup, you were right'. It was one of those 'okay, that makes sense!' kind of experiences. It made her curiosity on the subject feel quenched. At least for now. 'Gotta crawl before you can run,' she reminded herself. 'One step at a time.'
"Unfortunately, it is getting close to time for me to meet with the Autobots. I will take you home before I go." She waved back toward her alt mode, indicating Charlie should make her way there before her holoform vanished. "I would like to arrive before them." The sense of, 'so I can find a safe place to hide' hung in her words.
Charlie nodded pulling herself up from the ground and climbing into the vehicle. "Thanks for coming to see me," she said happily starting to feel the languish of the weekend coming back over her.
"It was my pleasure. Hopefully, all goes well and we will see more of each other." Illusory's engine purred to life and she began heading back for Charlie's dorm, though at a much more subdued pace this time.
The young woman noticed this and giggled. "I know now why you guys like to go so fast. The roads on Cybertron allowed for it!" When they arrived at the dorms she wished Illusory luck. "Maybe I'll hear something from my window." she joked.
"Would you prefer that to a communication?" Illusory examined the window Charlie spoke of, it wasn't beyond her to alert the human through the small opening if need be.
"I think I'll be okay," she explained. "It was just a joke. I might fall asleep the minute i hit the pillow. Good luck, be safe."
"Thank you," the femme offered. "Enjoy your recharge." Illusory began pulling away once the human was headed toward her dorm. There was a very small part of Illusory that worried things would go poorly and this was the last time she would see the human. She pushed it off as years of war taking 'bots away for no apparent reason. She had become used to the idea that she never knew who would still be there the next orn.
Illusory observed the area she had chosen for the meeting. It was dense enough to hide all of the 'bots, and thick enough that anyone larger than herself would have trouble negotiating the land in any kind of a hurry. Not only that but she was aware of a cave system where she could likely lose anyone that might pursue her. "This will do," she said to herself. She sent the co-ordinance to Scatterblade so that he could lead the others to the place. ::Be careful coming in, the trees are thick.::
The ride there was long. Annoyingly so since they had decided to stay close to the speed limit humans had instated on their roads.
Scatterblade tried hard to keep himself focused but he was getting rather nervous for Illusory. He wanted her to be okay but the only way she would be was by herself. He had grown accustomed to thinking of her as a comrade; as a friend. Now they were on their way to figure out how well this arrangement was going to work out and most likely to part ways.
He was glad that it had only been Prime and Jazz coming along, he didn't want there to be any misunderstandings. He had already lied to the 'bots once and he hoped that would be where it stayed. One lie, not a whole slew of them.
When Scatterblade caught the transmission Illusory sent him, he almost swerved as it brought his attention back to the road. His holoform nodded and he contacted the Prime. ::She's given us co-ordinates. She's says the area is really thick with trees.::
Optimus acknowledged the co-ordinates and the warning alike. ::We should arrive shortly,:: he advised to all in their group.
::Ah'm gonna go ahead, check things out, Prime.:: Jazz sped forward to scout out the area.
Scatterblade was eager to see the forest again. The canyon was a pretty place and the town had been quite...quaint? was that the word? He chuckled quietly.
He had picked up a lot of the words that humans used. Slag came easier as his time on the planet lengthened. He could have gone without the beginnings of his journey but that was in the past. The 'Cons hadn't found him yet, though he knew they might sooner or later. He just hoped it was later. Much later.
Pushing those thoughts from his processor he could see the beginnings of the canyon up ahead of them. They would have to go through this canyon then the town to reach the canyon that Illusory had met him in. It was still about twenty minutes away but they had essentially arrived.
Jazz scanned the area quickly, noting the tactical advantage that a smaller 'bot like Illusory would have here – not that it would be very difficult for him either, being close to her size – but it spoke clearly of her suspicions of them. 'She still don't trust us,' he thought to himself. ::All looks clear Prime.::
::Very well, let us move in.::
Illusory could hear them coming, her systems set into a familiar rhythm of anxiety and confidence. It was just like old times, being prepared for anything while dealing information. The only thing different now was that she was looking to set herself for something more long term than a one time commitment.
Jazz waited for the others to catch up before he slid from the road into the forest to reach their destination.
Scatterblade entered the road after the Prime, keeping close to the larger mech, but his focus was more set to searching for Illusory.
Jazz was the first to spot the femme lingering among the trees. She stood stiff, prepared to run in an instant if she felt the need, but also looking firm in her position. She wasn't about to be bullied around.
He transformed and walked the last of the distance between them. "Hey, Lu, how ya doin'?"
"I am well enough now that I am free from Autobot 'hospitality'." The statement came out slightly more harsh than she had intended, but Illusory couldn't say that it wasn't the way she had felt.
Optimus heard the comment, and could not help but to feel a little ashamed for the way the femme had been treated under their care. The excuse, they had her best interest at spark, probably would never be good enough to excuse the stress caused to her. "I apologize," he offered instead. "Though I cannot say that our actions could have been different in any other situation."
"That is...comforting..." the sarcasm in the femme's voice was thick.
Scatterblade couldn't blame her for the way she was acting. It still stung that she wouldn't trust the Autobots, but he felt he at least understood where she was standing. He offered a small smile to her from where he stood near a tree.
Illusory's expression softened somewhat as she looked at Scatterblade. At least there was one Autobot she trusted. "Let us get on with this. You know the terms of my contract. My fees will apply to an acceptable conversion of energon value to a monetary value." She rambled off the foundation of all of her terms and conditions to the agreement of the contract they were to set up, taking several breems to make herself very clear, so there were no questions.
"Wow...are you sure she's not in government?" Rob asked as the femme went on, sounding very much like the fine print of a very twisted contract.
The younger mech chuckled some at Rob's comment. Illusory was good. She knew how to talk, that was for sure. She knew how to make sure she was very clear. He just hoped that this display wouldn't be interpreted as 'I know more than you' to the others.
Once Illusory finished, Optimus and Jazz considered the conditions carefully. Optimus consented for Jazz to be the one to negotiate, considering he knew the femme and had conducted business with her before.
"Alright, those sound fair," he said before giving his own terms and conditions, his sounding even more twisted than Illusory's, leaving obvious openings for things yet to be foreseen.
The banter went back and forth quickly, the femme and the mech both well versed in the give and take way of informational contracts, and knowing how to get the better end of the deal. The humans were left reeling from the sheer complexity of it all, and how quickly it shifted back and forth. It seemed Optimus was a little taken aback himself as he listened, though none of the terms seemed out of the boundaries of what he was willing to accept, or what he understood the human governments to be willing to accept.
"I will choose my contact, none other will substitute," Illusory stated firmly.
"That's fine, but ya gotta accept ta haven uh human contact as well, since it's them you'll be workin' with mostly," Jazz countered.
Illusory paused at this, her processor turning this new bit into her plans. "Very well."
"Good!" Jazz looked pleased as their contest of wills came to an end. "Contract set," he stated firmly.
"Contract accepted," she agreed, extending her hand palm up to which Jazz laid his own hand palm down in a mutual agreement of terms accepted.
"So...we're going to get all that in writing...right?" Will asked dazedly.
"Of course," Illusory agreed, her optics shifting to the small humans in the group.
Scatterblade was glad this had gone smoothly, albeit very confusingly, but at least Jazz knew what Illusory was talking about and that seemed to be all that mattered. He had to chuckled at Will's question. Even he didn't know how they were going to get all that in a reasonably sized document for the humans.
"Who's yer contact?" Jazz asked.
Illusory studied the group carefully, she started to say something and then paused as if someone had said something to her. A moment of wariness and distrust crossed her faceplates before they set into something like understanding. "You," she stated rather calmly.
The mech nodded. "An, yer human contact?"
She looked over the two humans present and pointed at one of them randomly. "That one will do, I suppose."
"Flattering," Rob commented.
Illusory canted her head slightly, as if in apology. "I do not know very many of your kind, please excuse my impersonal address."
"Yeah, I guess," Rob waved dismissively.
For a second Scatterblade had thought of Charlie but then went against it. She was just a student. She didn't understand the politics of the situation. Things seemed to be winding down from the black mech's point of view but he hoped he didn't have to leave all too quickly either.
"Then all is settled?" Optimus looked to the femme to see if there was anything further she had to say.
"Not quite," Jazz was the one to speak up. "Ah don't know 'bout you Boss, but Ah don't really feel all that easy leavin' uh lone femme on her own out here, its kinda far from base in case somethin' happened, ya know?"
"I do not require your protection," Illusory snapped.
"Nah, course ya don't!" Jazz's optics slid easily from the femme to the others in the group. "But if yer gonna be our informant, ya deserve some kinda good will offer on our side, right?"
Optimus nodded in agreement, though he wasn't entirely sure what Jazz was getting at.
"Ah think she should have uh partner." The smirk on the saboteur's face easily conveyed what he was really intending to say.
"What?" Illusory would have sounded indignant if there hadn't been the slight amount of hope to her voice.
"If everyone finds it agreeable, Ah think Scatterblade should stay with our contact, ta make sure she stays safe."
Scatterblade had been leaning against the tree his arms folded in front of him. He shifted some and nearly lost his leverage on the tree. He stood up his arms falling from their place. He hid his surprise; at least the surprise on his faceplates, a small grin formed as his way of agreement to this suggestion.
Optimus took in the hopeful looks of both Illusory and Scatterblade, and the conspiratorial look on Jazz's faceplates and knew that he had never truly had an option in this. "I think that can be arranged. However, we must not forget that Scatterblade still has an appointment with Ratchet. His spark signature must be corrected before I can consent to allowing him such a mission."
Illusory nodded, the smile on her face not fading any with this news. She could wait, if it meant that she would have a friend at her side that she knew she could trust, she would wait forever. "I will be fine on my own...until Scatterblade can be cleared."
A light smattering of laughter spread across the group, none of them being fooled by the femme's tone. Not even the humans were diluted into believing that this was truly an act of gaining leverage on the Autobot's part.
Scatterblade nodded at the reminder. It was the only way to be safe. He joined in the laughter thankful for a moment to just let his relief flow. Jazz was alright is his book. The mech had been from the moment he met him, but now it was undeniable.
::Charlie will be happy to know you will be back,:: Illusory told the mech over a personal com.
Scatterblade grinned, happy to know he would be able to get to know the human more. The stress of this whole meeting was slowly dissipating and it felt great.
"Well then," Optimus interrupted the laughter, "I suppose that this concludes our current mission out here." He turned to Illusory and smiled, "I hope this will be the beginning of a good relationship."
"Hn," a dark look passed over the femme's face. "If you had been hoping for a good relationship, you should have made a better first impression...Prime." She tipped her head slightly in recognition of his attempt to show her some kindness, but the darkness on her face would not leave.
An audio clip ran through Scatterblade's processor at the look at the femme's face. It was a bit from one of Charlie's movies; 'Good feeling's gone.' Marlin from Finding Nemo shared his current sentiments.
The Prime's expression showed his regret, but he made no attempt to reconcile, knowing it would only make things worse at this point.
"I will be on my way now, I have personal arrangements to see to." The femme turned to Scatterblade, the shadow on her face fled instantly. "I look forward to when you will join me here." Over a personal link with the mech, she offered a few more words. ::Be safe.::
He nodded to her. "Definitely," he said answering both questions at the same time. He couldn't keep the smile from his faceplates.
With a last glance over the group, Illusory turned and left them.
"Ah, Lu," Jazz mused as he watched her go, "never changes."
Scatterblade glanced from her retreating form to Jazz. "How did you meet Illusory?" He had wanted to ask about their familiarity before, but the time had just never been right. Now might not have been either but things had simmered down and he thought it might be his best opportunity. The fact that Jazz kept calling her by a nickname and acted like he'd known her all his life intrigued Scatterblade; surely that wasn't the type of relationship built on informational trade deals, was it?
"Femme an' Ah've crossed paths uh time or two," he gave Scatterblade a half grin. "Got uh lotta good info from that one..." there was obviously more to the story, but Jazz was just as obviously not going to share it publicly.
Scatterblade nodded, acknowledging now wasn't the place.
Their way back to base was again very long, but it was less stressful knowing that Illusory would be safe and that after everything was alright with his spark signature again, he could join her. It kind of disappointed him that his time with the Autobots would be so short though.
He had gotten to meet his idol, Ironhide; despite the disappointment he felt toward the large weapons specialist, he couldn't help but to be proud that he had met the mech. Pit, he had met Optimus Prime, for Primus's sake.
The thought of it had made his processor fritz a few times; it hadn't seem real. When he settled into recharge, he half expected to online back on the ship with his teammates, searching for their rendezvous point. Of course, he couldn't be sure if that was just wishful thinking; that everything that had happened had been just some dream, or something. He quickly shut down those memory files before they could be opened further. He didn't want to remember.
Instead he thought back to everything he had seen of the valley he had stayed in with Illusory. It had several towns in it running from the south of the valley to the north and east, and west running the width from mountain to mountain. He'd only had the opportunity to explore Logan and North Logan. At first he really hadn't noticed a difference between towns. Just a sign marking the separation.
He was really interested in seeing how the people interacted with one another. After all the time he had spent learning about them during his capture, he couldn't help but to want to know more about them on a more personal level. Whether he would find similarities between them and his own kind or not he was curious all the same.
What he craved even more than that was to get to know Illusory better. He hadn't dismissed her little shift in language and it intrigued him. The way her entire speech pattern changed; from prim and proper to something more relaxed and flowing. Sure it had a strange inflection, but it was more than enough to catch his audios and his processor. Was it due to the place she was originally from? How she was raised? He had no idea, and he really wanted to know. He would get to know.
