10. Night at the Museum
"YEAH! REK-EK-EK-EK-EK! OW-OW-OW…YEEEEEEAAAAAAH!" Bulkhead sang, Briana pretending to play a guitar.
"I love this song!" Miko cheered as she slid into the passenger seat.
"Miko, I thought you had a history report to do," Bulkhead growled. "Did detention end early?"
"Did for me," she replied smugly as she buckled up. She looked in the mirror and her face went white. "Uh-oh, here comes teacher! And he doesn't look happy!" She hunkered down in the seat. "Step on it, Bulk! PLEASE!"
Before Bulkhead could say another word, Briana got it into gear and hit the gas. Once they were outside of the city limits, Briana let go of the steering wheel and rested against the seat, hands behind her head.
"Miko, I'm supposed to be your guardian," Bulkhead scolded. "Not your getaway car! You can't just cut detention. What if your dad found out?"
"Don't worry about him," Miko sighed. "I think he gave up on me since the pizza incident."
They pulled up into the base. Both girls got out to let Bulkhead transform.
"Miko, listen," Bulkhead sighed. "If you fail high school, then you can't go to…uh…what's the word again?"
"College?" Sierra said from the hangout, pausing in the middle of her card game.
Bulkhead snapped his fingers. "That's the one."
"You sound like those three kids I use to live with," Miko groaned.
"Um, since they were from a different country by your records, wouldn't they have spoken in a different language?" Roadbuster asked from behind.
"People may speak a different language, but it's the same thing they say," Briana told him.
"Because we want the best for you!" Bulkhead protested. "And that means making sure you go to school."
"Uh oh," Jack snickered. "What'd you do?"
Miko shot him a glare.
"Look Miko," Bulkhead said, "Before I became a warrior, I was a laborer. Construction. I can build stuff, I can break stuff, and that's it!"
"I love breaking stuff!" Miko chirped. "I want to be just like you, Bulk!"
"Why would you want to be like me when you could be a…medic like Ratchet or a philanthropist like…not Tony?"
Ratchet didn't even turn from his screen.
"I'm detecting a fresh energon pulse from the nation called Greece," he announced. "An ancient city quite historic I believe."
"Athens?" Adam asked, popping up from the couch.
"Not likely," Ratchet said.
"Ancient Greece, huh? C'mon, Miko. Want to see Greece with me?"
The girl's face lit up and she nodded, the two of them made their way out into the bridge.
"Phooey," Briana said as the groundbridge shut down.
There were squeaky footsteps coming from the hallway.
"Hey, guys," Sierra greeted. "How was the…project?"
Jack turned to find Raf soaked to the bone.
"Just a little sprinkle," the boy grumbled.
"Ah, come on," Vince said as he came in all drenched. "You've got to admit that it was fun."
"It was until it exploded and we got wet," Raf growled.
"You know," Ratchet spoke, "I am trying to concentrate on not losing myself without an incident being caused by a Stark."
"Why does my mom get off scot free?" Vince asked.
"Because the only stupid thing she did was conceiving you with Tony!" Ratchet barked.
"True," Vince mused, one arm crossing his chest and an elbow resting on his hand, finger placed on his cheek.
"You're nuts," Adam credited. "Or evil. I can't tell yet."
/Oh, Doc!/ Roadbuster sang in through the speakers. /We're waiting for a bridge, Doc! Kind of hard to open one with all the pressure from the kids, doesn't it, Doc?/
"Did Cliffjumper or Wheeljack dare you to say that to me?" Ratchet demanded.
/Maybe./
Ratchet grumbled about how Primus hated him before he opened the bridge and let the other Autobots in. Wheeljack whooped as they did.
"I swear to Primus—" Ratchet started.
/Ratch, we need a bridge./ Bulkhead interrupted without knowledge.
Ratchet opened the groundbridge, allowing Bulkhead and Miko to come through it.
"That, was awesome!" Miko announced.
"What was?" Jack asked.
"Bulkhead had a throw down match with a Con, and we found this round ball thing on a stone wall and then Bulkhead broke it, but its fine because I took a picture, but the Con fled before Bulkhead could finish him off," Miko said in one breath.
"Ratch, check this out. Miko, show him the picture," Bulkhead said
Sure enough Miko flipped her cell phone out and showed the picture.
"Looks like an energon harvester," Wheeljack said.
"Optimus, we have found something," Ratchet called to Optimus.
Optimus approached the terminal and studied the picture.
"Well?" Sierra gulped.
"It is indeed an energon harvester," Optimus confirmed. "A powerful tool created by the ancients to remove raw energon from any source."
"Greek gods knew Autobots?" Raf asked.
"I thought only the Norse gods did." Adam sounded just as confused as Raf did.
"No. The ancients often used the art of a given era to conceal messages," Optimus explained. "This fresco was likely a sigh post indicating a harvester's location hidden somewhere on this planet."
"Uh, Optimus?" Jack started. "If the harvester removes energon from anything and you all have energon pumping inside you—"
"In Decepticon hands the harvester would be a devastating weapon," Optimus finished.
"See! You were a genius to total that painting!" Miko said.
"Miko's not wrong. How can the Cons find the harvester without the fresco?" Arcee added.
"With high speed internet?" Vince snorted. "If you do an image search for Greek god and golden orb this pops up." He then showed an image of a Greek statue holding a rather large golden orb. "It's in the Smithsonian Museum."
"That's the real deal?" Briana asked.
"Contact Agent Fowler," Optimus said.
Ratchet then attempted to contact Agent Fowler. An image of Fowler then popped up on the screen
"You've reached Special Agent William Fowler; I'm currently on an intensive training retreat and unavailable until Tuesday," came the agent's voice.
"I hate talking to machines," Ratchet growled.
"Oh the irony," Cliffjumper snickered.
"Now what?" Sierra asked.
"Without Agent Fowler's direct aid, we will have to confiscate the harvester on our own," Optimus said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, confiscate? As in steal museum property?" Adam asked shocked.
"That sounds illegal," Raf said.
"I do not wish to break human law, but once the Decepticons learn of the harvester's location, they will not hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary," Optimus told them. "We must act covertly."
"Uh, okay, no offense Optimus, but covertly and giant robots don't really go together. Museums are public, and they have guards, and security cameras!" Jack said.
"I don't think it's a wise idea myself," Sierra admitted. "But it probably is our only option." Then she smiled mischievously. "Unless…"
"You want me to run interference with the feds?" Vince didn't sound that excited. "Are you mad? I've never broken into a public place like a museum before."
"But it may be our best option. The longer we debate, the more time we give the Decepticons," Optimus said.
The groundbridge came on and Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee Cliffjumper, and Bulkhead all transformed and went straight through the portal. Now they had to play the waiting game.
Once more, they went to the room they found the semi trailer and carefully drove the scissor lift into the room.
"Jack do you wanna handle the controls?" Sierra asked as she helped Jack up.
"Sure," Jack replied.
/Vincent, Jack, Miko, Sierra, I will have a clear view of you./ came Optimus' voice over the monitors. /Once you secure the harvester I will contact Ratchet to bridge you back to base,/
On cue Ratchet opened the groundbridge and they were ready to go.
"Now since you will bypass all points on normal entry you will not need to worry about setting off the alarm, but take care to avoid any security guards," Ratchet explained.
"You can count on me, mon capitaine," Vince saluted before they went through the vortex and into the museum.
They scanned the room for the harvester. There was a statue of a T-rex and right in center of the room was the Greek statue with the orb.
"Opa," Miko whispered.
"What? Never mind," Jack said.
Optimus flashed his headlights, giving them the clear. Jack nodded in response. With their target in view, he got the scissor lift to go up towards the security camera. Miko got out her cell phone, looked through the camera to get an accurate angle, took a picture and then placed her phone over the camera. With that done they made their way to the statue, the kids struggling to get the thing down.
"Uh, guys?" Sierra spoke suddenly. "What's that sound?"
Jack looked to the right to see something sail through the sky.
"Missile!" Vince shouted as he ducked down.
Optimus quickly transformed and caught it, but it was forcing him backwards towards the museum. He stopped it but without cracking the window first. Then the Autobot leader turned to them and looked forward again. Then this a Decepticon had a rod of electricity with a prod on the end, and rammed it into Optimus' neck, forcing him down.
"Optimus!" Jack shouted as the Decepticon repeated the process.
"Its Cons," Vince said grimly.
"They've got Optimus," Jack added.
"Where are the others?" Sierra growled, slightly annoyed.
"They might be dealing with other Cons; the way we can help is to get this harvester down," Jack said.
Just then the alarm went off as the Knockout was thrown into the museum. Quickly Vince turned and carefully picked up the sphere and hoisted it back into the lift.
"Come on time to make our exit guys," Miko announced. She then hopped out of the lift and ran ahead. Vince followed behind.
They didn't get far enough when a pair of hands grabbed the hem of their shirt/jacket.
"Hey!" Miko protested.
"Let us go!" Vince demanded.
"No, you two are coming with me," a rough voice bellowed as he escorted them down the hall. "You two are in serious trouble here!" Then he whispered in Vince's ear, "And you three have a lot of explaining to do."
Vince froze up. "What? How do you..."
A security guard rounded the corner in time. "What's going on here?"
"Excuse me, sir," the man behind said. "I happen to be working here. And I just caught these kids prowling around in the halls."
"What?" The guard looked at the kids. "You two are not suppose to be here."
"Exactly!" the other guard shouted. "Why didn't you stop them?"
"I-I didn't know they were here," the guard stammered.
"Didn't know? Isn't it your job to know?"
Miko frowned. This sounded familiar.
"Well yes, but—"
"Then I guess I'll just have to tell Mr. Flabberguest about this."
"Who's Mr. Flabberguest?"
"Man! What else do you not know? Get out of here! You're discharged until dawn."
"Yessir."
"Wait! I'll need your keys."
"What for?"
"What do you think?"
Realizing it, the guard gave the other one his keys and took off.
"Alright, let's get going," the guard behind them said.
"That is not good," Sierra whimpered, watching as a dark figure grab the two and pull them down the hall.
The door behind them open.
"Hello?"
Both she and Jack attempted to move closer, but the figure ducked down and they stopped.
"It's Soundwave!" Jack gasped.
They couldn't do anything but watch as Soundwave grabbed the harvester and took off.
"No!" Jack shouted. "First Miko and Vince get caught, now this? Let's just go save them."
"We can't go in and get them, we'd all be in the scrap. We need to rendezvous with the others," Sierra grumbled as she went through the door.
"What, we're just gonna leave them?" Jack said as he followed her out.
"We'll get someone to take care of it. I feel bad for leaving her too, but it'll be fine in the end; trust me," Sierra told him.
They came around the front and saw all the Autobots except.
"Cons have the Harvester!" Jack informed them.
"And security has both Vince and Miko!" Sierra added.
"What? I'm going in after them," Bulkhead growled, but Optimus stopped him.
"Bulkhead. Miko may be detained, but she and Vince are safe from harm," Optimus said. "Ratchet, reopen the arrival coordinates."
The man threw them in the room and shut the door behind him.
"Oi, buddy," Vince piped up. "I want a laywer, the Justice Department, someone from SHIELD. You gotta believe us when I'm telling you that your museum has an object that can bring harm, alright? We're just trying to protect the world. Not from a bunch of pansies in skin tight suits, but from aliens that want to use it to take over the world."
"Yeah, you think I don't know that?"
Vince and Miko looked back up at the guard. He wasn't really dressed like he was security. He had a hooded jacket over his shirt. He pulled his hood down to reveal a middle age man with sandy blonde hair with blue eyes and plopped down in the chair before setting his feet on the desk.
"So," Clint Barton started, his eyes twinkling with mischief and glee, "any peculiar reason why you guys took off to begin with?"
Miko had never seen Vince pale so much before.
"You are in trouble," Miko said in a sing-song voice.
"Shut up."
"Let's go rumble in a jungle!" Roadbuster declared as he and Cliffjumper transformed and drove through the vortex, with Arcee and Bumblebee at a set of different coordinates.
"Bulkhead. It is best that you remain here," Optimus told the former Wrecker.
"So I can break Miko out of the museum?" Bulkhead asked hopefully.
"So you can help Ratchet and Wheeljack. You may be Miko's guardian, but she requires human assistance. Agent Fowler remains her best option," Dad told him before he himself transformed and exited through the groundbridge.
Bulkhead's mouth dropped. To Jack, it was priceless.
"Still no answer," Raf informed him.
"Fowler's lounging around some poolside cabana!" Bulkhead growled, then threw his fist down on one of Ratchet's tools.
"BULKHEAD! I NEEDED THAT!" Ratchet yelled.
"We can free Miko, if we just return the Harvester to the museum," Bulkhead said.
"So the punks can steal it all over again?" Wheeljack pointed out.
"So how are we going to help Miko and Vince?" Jack asked.
"By getting this replica to the museum," Ratchet explained, holding up a half made copy. "The construction of which would be going a lot faster if Bulkhead hadn't just mangled my frame welder!"
"We're already trespassers and thieves; why not add forgery to the list?" Briana sighed.
"Agh, I wish I had never took Miko to the..." Bulkhead's optics wavered in realizaton. "The painting of the harvester is not the only thing we found at the ruins."
"I'm sorry?" Ratchet asked, confused.
"Starscream's not dumb. No matter what kind of tool his has, he's going to take the easy route," Bulkhead explained.
"So he'll go to the energon that has already been dug up," Adam added.
"Exactly. Ratchet, groundbridge me there. I'll get that harvester back," Bulkhead said.
"We should contact Optimus first," Sierra advised.
"What, and let Starscream drain the energon dry? There's no time, we have to act now," Bulkhead retaliated.
"Fine," Ratchet sighed before activating the groundbridge.
Bulkhead ran through it at high speed.
"I will contact Optimus anyway. Bulkhead may require back up," Ratchet said before contacting him through a personal.
The next day…
"And of course there's the whole principle of Deus ex Machina," Miko concluded. "Uh the god from the machine?"
Vince and Clint were bored out of their minds.
"It's that part in Greek story telling where some character shows up out of the blue to make everything alright..."
"Oh, my god! Do you ever shut up!" Clint burst.
The next thing they knew, Vince was in Miko's arms. Miko and Vince looked at each other. The boy gave her a wolfish grin. Not amused, she dropped him and he hit the floor with a dull thud. She was ready to retort as a loud knocking pounded on the door.
"Clinton," Fowler said as he came in. "Good to see you again."
"Well, look who shows up after sixteen years of absence," Clint said. "Found a coverup?"
Fowler looked at the screen. The kids followed his gaze and sure enough, the replica was there.
"Huh, I'll be," Clint said. "Alright, you two can go now."
"Yes!" Vince cheered.
"But you still have a lot of explaining."
Vince pouted and got up. "Will do, sir."
"Almost forgot," Fowler said as he pulled out a familiar object. "You dropped your cell."
Miko nearly squealed as she took.
"Good, she has her phone back," Vince stated. "Now can we go home?"
"Hmm," Clint thought carefully. "I took a quinjet here. Wanna ride to wherever you two came from?"
"QUINJET!" Miko screeched as she bolted out of the room.
"I'll admit, that girl is smart under pressure," Vince stated as the men followed her down the hall. "Guess now she's excited to do her report with Autobot interaction."
"Yeah, not sure that'll help her in college," Clint said.
Vince snorted. "Knowing how weird she is, she's probably got it all planned out."
"That won't do," Sierra mumbled to herself as she polished the Glock17 handgun in her hand. She set it down next to the other crafted weapons on the table before picking up another gun. "Ratchet, are you sure all of these guns are unloaded?"
"Do you want me to check?" Jack offered.
"Sure," Sierra shrugged. "See what the Hatchet has to say for that."
"Hatchet?" Adam snickered.
"Remind me to kill Vince for that," Ratchet snarled under his breath.
Adam just shook his head.
"You guys, what if Agent Fowler doesn't get them out in time?" Raf asked.
"It's Fowler," Briana said. "I heard about the countless times my dad and a few others would get caught and he busted them out without so much as a few suspicious thoughts from feds. He'll get them out in no time."
On que, the proximity sensors blared to life. Ratchet sighed and looked to see who it was. "Fowler."
"Whoopee," Adam cheered with not much enthusiasm.
"You're telling me."
The elevator pinged open and Miko skipped out of there with a huge grin. Vince just sulked out.
"What happened?" Raf asked.
"SIERRA NATALIE BARTON!"
Sierra's eyes shrunk and all of the color faded from her face.
"I would like a word with you." The voice sounded like this was going to be fun.
"Uh-oh," Briana whispered. "Here comes Papa Bear."
This chapter was more fun to write than I thought it would be with Clint being in here. And ironically (no pun intended) I am the only kid in my family who didn't say Captain America is my favorite Avenger. He is second, Iron Man is first.
Well, hope you had fun. R&R