A Twin for a Twin
A/N: Special thanks to Saphireblu987, precious92, Nightlightbee, CRAZY little Dragon, LaptopWarrior, Harm Marie, Savior Angel, Carmilla DeWinter, RikuShadow16, Rainspiral, Khalthar, Transformers123124, Ravenhood (for 5 reviews consecutively),and Sideswipe's Mechanic for the reviews! If you happen to be lazy to log in, plz just type in your username, that way if you have any questions I could reply. Thanks to Sianiekins, KiraReaper, Guardian Munny, LunaeShark, and new-species26 for the favs! Thanks to dinawen for the alert! Also thanks to mercva for placing this fic in their C2! If you alerted, fav, and reviewed as well, your name comes out once. I don't mind if you have anything in mind but don't wish to share it with others, so if you're not comfortable in writing a public review, I'm open to have feedback through PM.
Disclaimer: Ideas for the Brother bond between Sam and Optimus belongs to Eowyn77 of Botosphere (Fic: Tie that Binds) and I have permission to use her idea in this fic.
We're over 4000 hits for this fic! Always and ALWAYS my biggest thanks to all readers and reviewers for their awesome support for this fic! Sorry if I have been absent longer than intended, two weeks of exams and a bit of missing plots within this chapter kept me back from posting it. OK, I know a few people are having problems in reading long chapters they think is too long. However, at times if I break up a chapter I feel it doesn't flow as I want it to. So, this time I'm NOT going to tell you how much you will read (grins). You'll be pretty surprised how much you can read. The chapter's longer because we see Steve's POV as well.
About reviews, naturally I don't exactly have time to reply as I'm in college (you'd be surprised how I can cram my time in creating this fic). My deepest apologies. If I do reply you're lucky I'm on my free time spree. So I'll make the replies here and in general. Why is Red Alert a medic instead or the security officer? Well, he is still a security officer, but I'm not letting out any spoilers as it ties into the plot. XP
Note: I'm actually looking for a Beta reader. I need my work to be thoroughly searched. Anyone interested? PM me if you are.
The not so important things about me (you can skip this part if you want and read the chap): I love tinkering around with graphics so a while ago (while I was on a holiday), I've been making two (so far) Mozilla Firefox personas and out of boredom changed my ffnet avatar. If you're interested in a spunky looking 'Bee and Sideswipe persona you can check the link to my gallery (or search my username which is the same through the search engine) in my profile page. If you wear them, great! I have plans making more, but that will have to wait.
Enough of me...
A lengthy chapter for this one!
As per usual...
Enjoy the Ride!
~ Chapter 11: An Unlikely Ally from a Casino, A Bothersome Addition to the Journey ~
Con man Log Entry 3.01:
When Doing a Favor, Weirdness Ensues.
Topeka, Kansas, US.
It's been three days since Kansas City.
Somehow, I finally got over my guilt trip on my lateness that caused me to leave Kansas City without my twin. Well, matters weren't helping out much he was taken away by Sunstreaker's twin Sideswipe. Now that Laserbeak knows that Steve could break the code, I was expecting a 'Con would show up sooner or later. It was a matter of time.
That of course depended on how discreet we stayed out of any curious eyes.
So, what have we have been doing for the last three days?
Like any Con man would do. Travel around the city; get as much info as I can, and knowing who's who around town. The usual vital things that con men are meant to do to stay alive. And Sunstreaker? He was mostly more cautious for the last three days with his scanners on full alert. Not that I blame him though. With Laserbeak showing up, I was certain that it may have triggered him to be angry at the 'Con. He only briefly said that the 'rusty bird' was also responsible for his current state.
Topeka was the capital of Kansas. Nice city, good scenery, and for the con men around here, I can say there were a good couple of marks around to actually start off money collecting. I was actually surprised that Sunstreaker didn't actually comment that I was conning people around with Uncle Albert, Charles, Jonas, Lily, Ash, and Felix.
They were the more of the experienced grifter group in long cons than Keith's but not as famous as Uncle Danny's. The whole state of Kansas was their collecting grounds and I was glad when I came for help, they let me in. As for who's who, Charles is their leader, Uncle Albert is the senior and mentor of the group, Ash's the fixer, with Lily, Felix, and Jonas juggle different jobs from time to time.
In a good way for me as a junior con man, I was learning a lot from them.
As Uncle Albert said to me, "Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do and what nerves let you do."
It was a good chance to actually test out everything I've learned all those years. To say I was thrilled to join in with the real thing made me excited.
So, that particular morning, Charles, Jonas and Felix were doing a planned con on a greedy bar owner. They asked the favor for me to help out, and in turn they said Uncle Albert was willing to make trade-in for me for their group Intel. I was overjoyed to assist them, but… I couldn't help to try and shrug off the feeling something weird was going to come out of it.
The last time I actually did a real favor ended up with me getting kidnapped by an Autobot from what seemed to be a simple paint job, and it continued with doing a cinematic car jump just to get my 'family' out of a police blockade from what seemed to be a simple chase through the streets. To say I wasn't troubled about something weird turning up later on was DEAD WRONG.
Was I jinxed or rewarded in the oddest ways for the favors I've done?
I can't say.
I'll just have to see what happens. First time's a coincidence, second time's lucky, and third time's a charm.
Sunstreaker was actually curious on how on earth our con worked as it had an 'out of the ordinary' name. So, I kind of asked him to change to a different alt-form and park by the road to act as a cover for us and to see how it worked.
Hopefully nothing weird comes out of this.
What con were we doing do you ask?
It was one of the classic cons.
The Pigeon Drop.
~ Sky
Con men and their terminology…
Why did humans use so many slang phrases in the first place?
Sunstreaker was feeling pissed off the human left him out of what the so called 'Pigeon Drop' was all about. The Autobot didn't exactly like being left out of knowing something that others knew. However, after a good decent deal of time living with this certain organic by the name of Skyler, he managed to accept the fact that perhaps things were better left unsaid as he eventually would find out and the he was given the choice to comment on what he saw with freedom. Even when he was back with the Autobots there was time he had to refrain himself from commenting is own thoughts that many consider 'offensive' in silence. He was a soldier in the ranks and he pretty much left the diplomatic or communication stuff to the Prime or Prowl for that matter.
With very small clues to as what the whole meaning to the 'Pigeon Drop', the warrior mech forced himself to think out of the ordinary. The somewhat literal meaning of the pigeon drop was still unfamiliar to him, but Skyler did say that many normal people didn't know what it meant. Of course, when he searched for the words in his datatrax from what he received from Uncle Neil's data Sunstreaker was not happy when the human laughed at him which left him to be even more confused.
First the bot had taken to the word 'pigeon' which his direct result was an organic animal with feathers that could fly also known as Columbidae or were commonly known as the rock pigeon or just 'pigeons'. So he tried a few translations such as dropping a dead pigeon on someone or did the drop have anything to do with 'droppings'? Sunstreaker shuddered on the thought of organic droppings, which made the human laugh at him for it. Surely the con men were better than that. Eventually in the end, Skyler only gave the usual 'you'll see' gesture which left the bot on where he was parking right now.
This made the bot very convinced that while living with his con man charge, he was going to get more of it in the future. However in another sense, he had a first person view how cons worked and even a picture to the nature of greedy humans.
Just as there were bad Cybertronians, humans didn't seem any different. While most humans were genuinely good, there were always the few that were very much like the Decepticons. The warrior wasn't interested on about the whole freedom for all sentient beings kind of thing like his commander. He was more inclined to see how these con men were normal civilians that took arms on people that many consider impossible to touch or defeat in any way.
The young con man was a very independent person when it came to his work. Yet he couldn't help but not leave Skyler unguarded.
It wasn't that Sunstreaker would let the human out of his sights now. The fact that Laserbeak knew who the human's twin was didn't help things. So even for the last three days whenever Skyler was on one of the cons, he'd be following the human around with different alt-forms not too far away. Knowing that he was snooping around and watching the con men, it made Sunstreaker think twice in making sure whether he had used a version of the alt-form rather randomly so he wasn't noticed by the other fleshlings that he was following them. Sunstreaker was grateful for the human to always remind him of wherever he went in the city to keep on scanning different types of cars that suited to his mass for disguises.
Now, back to the main event.
For the last three days was a learning experience for both Skyler and Sunstreaker. Skyler as he was honing his skill as a con man, and the bot was learning on how long con men worked. First and foremost, it wasn't all about the money. It was all about who they were conning and how successful they were at it.
Secondly, team work was highly essential when it came to make the cons worked. Sunstreaker for one had expected some sort of ranking system, but instead it was played more on roles. In some cases it would make the mark convinced that it was just a failed transaction to something so random that the mark had no idea he/she was hit from all sides. Even if Skyler didn't explain the con with the hilariously psychotic weird names, he was happier to explain how the team worked with their roles.
The first role came to the 'Fixer', which the bot already knew was a supplier for everything the team needed to do a con. Then comes in 'the Roper', he/she was the one that lured the mark into the con they were doing and making sure that the mark was under the team's control. Not too far away or behind the Roper was the 'Convincer', who would backup the Roper in making sure that the mark was certain to fall into the con they were doing. Usually while one Convincer is considered enough, there's always another spot for more. Last but not least, is the 'Inside Man' who is the key player that persuades the mark to give them their money.
Sunstreaker was convinced if these con men were willing to join the military, they would make elite infiltrators. He was about to think of something else when on cue, the fleshling by the name of Felix came sauntering in.
So, the scenario of the con men played out. Felix, as Sunstreaker noted from his attire was a security officer for safety deposits who by human terms was responsible for transporting money in cash. From the way he walked as he floated around without coordination obviously showed he was playing the role of a drunk man. Jonas, just beside a window that had a view from inside the back room of the bar was peering at Felix, yet at the very same moment he was getting the bar owner's attention (who happened to be in the room).
Scanning around to see how it was possible to get the mark in the very room, Sunstreaker found out in the room there was a telephone. Well, that explained how the bar owner was there right now as the bot briefly remembered Skyler bought a private cell phone number this morning. As far as the con went, Felix was the bait, and James played the Roper. The fact that this whole incident happened behind an alley way made it easier to pull the con on the mark.
Soon, Felix flopped to ground due to his hangover, dropped the suitcase in a large dust bin. Without realizing he had left the suitcase there, he staggered of into the alleyway. Skyler on cue came in from where Felix had went with a curious glance to see if anything in the street was going on. Simultaneously, Charles walked into the alleyway from Sunstreaker's end.
Once the mark came out of the back door, the con was on.
The Autobot warrior watched attentively as the group made their move in entrapping their prey. His guesses now continue to Jonas and Skyler acting as the convincers with Jonas acting out a more experienced opportunist street thug, and Skyler as a hesitant young man that wanted the money from the suitcase. The suitcase was now opened giving a appealing view of stacks of green dollar bills inside to the mark. Basically that left Charles being the inside man as while he acted he wanted the money as well, his heart rate was stable, and was steering the situation logically to his needs.
It was then Sunstreaker suddenly realized what the 'pigeon drop' was all about.
And it certainly DID NOT have anything to do with dropping dead birds or bird droppings.
After check from an English thesaurus from his database, he found a result that made the term 'pigeon drop' more sense. Apparently, pigeon was another word for 'sucker' or a person who was easily fooled or unguarded. So if it was rephrased it would be the 'sucker drop'. As the con progressed the bot soon understood how it worked. One drops a large sum of money in front of the mark and see to how he reacts. If he/she is greedy, the con men would convince the mark they could share the bounty on one condition. All who witnessed the event pay a decent amount of money in cash to keep their share, and the money would be kept with a lawyer for 6 weeks. If no one claims it by then, the money is split to everyone according to the deal.
Now Sunstreaker realized why con men hold their first rule of the con about 'you can't cheat on an honest man' so highly.
Simply because these type of cons don't and will never work on honest people.
The closest person Sunny thought of was Big Boss, Pit, imagining the Prime being conned was near the impossible.
Thanks to the planned scenario, the con went smoothly for Skyler's group. Sunstreaker was highly impressed at the control they had over the situation and the mark. From the beginning it was clear that the marks was not interested at first but the change in emotions to curiosity, to confirming the situation, and finally to the point where he couldn't hold his giddiness over the money because of greed made him eventually fall for the con. Of course, Sunstreaker knew by the time they got the money, the con men would never be heard from again. Even if they did exchange cell phone numbers, it was easy enough to throw the numbers away or sell it to a different person. In the end, all the con men parted ways to meet up at their apartment with their mark's money.
Skyler had deliberately stayed on the street in front of Sunstreaker, but after being given a miscall through his cell phone that the coast was clear and that his uncles weren't around he approached the bot's alt-form and got in.
"Enjoyed the show?" Skyler asked as he was clearly happy the con was successful.
"Hmm, you con men make it look like it was child's play," the Autobot commented. "That mark you conned on probably had greed that could rival a Decepticon." Sunstreaker then pointed out, "I don't see why you people have funny names for cons. So from all of this, Pigeon Drop means the Sucker Drop, no?"
"Yeah, it does," Skyler replied as he was driving. "We call them as 'Con Jargons' or slang for con artists, it's a way for us to know whether a person is a con man or not and a way to communicate without getting unwanted attention. Don't worry Sunstreaker, with you seeing us work nearly everyday, you'll know most of them in no time."
"Hmph, it's not like I got anything else to do either than to watch out for 'Cons," Sunstreaker snorted. He would have been bored ages ago of course. It wasn't like the fleshlings around town provided good entertainment or any useful information. "So with this done means they're letting you into their group Intel, right?"
The con man nodded, "Yup. So far we know that the clean-up party for the military left Kansas City yesterday. So, that it's a good time as any to do some research and follow some leads without having authorities around the area."
As they halted at the traffic lights, Sunstreaker asked, "You think we can get 'Con information from them?"
Skyler was silent at first but answered the bot truthfully, "I can't say, Sunstreaker. We might find just about anything. Who knows? We'll have to see what they've got."
Hopefully nothing weird comes out of this favor.
A young man sat with a tired and bored expression in an interrogation room.
I HATE government officials.
The 21 year old dark brown spiky haired hacker with cobalt eyes was still feeling slightly woozy after being knocked out for about nearly two days. To say Steve Knight was feeling better off not trapped inside a burning building with two fighting gigantic robots was not exactly true. So he had eventually woken up to find he was on a military base with not much of a clue how he got there. While the staff were actually kind to him, Steve was fairly certain at one point he would be questioned. Yet he did not at all be expected to be dragged away and questioned by what seemed to be a liaison that screamed he came from the 'not-so-good' part of the government side.
"Do you remember how to break the codes for the simulation?"
Steve deliberately shifted his eyes to the upper right naturally, "Only parts of it. I managed to luckily break it because I was under pressure."
A lie.
He knew every bit of the code.
Yet for all con artists it was always a necessity to lie. Plus it was the most basic knowledge to a con man on how to con a mark. All you needed to do was to know how and when to divert and manage your lies with control of body language to make whatever that came out of your mouth to be called 'the truth'. It came with the job, and not everybody had the knack to do it with grace and style. Especially, when it came to being questioned by government officials or authorities where there was a huge risk involved of the offense charges. He was highly aware that the man in front of him was testing if he was lying throughout the normal questions since the beginning such as name, age, date of birth, and so on so forth.
Although he was tired, Steve was calm as ever.
For what Steve concluded, this man was looking at his body language, especially his eyes what seemed to be for the last half an hour. It was simple math to the young man. When a person is right handed, to know whether they were lying always came to where their eyes shifted when they answered. When a person answers with their eyes shifting to the upper left was a lie (as they're visually constructing something), eyes shifting to the upper right meant you were remembering something, and always keep eye contact when you lie. For left handed people it was vice versa, and for the ambidextrous it was heaven to lie with the questioner would have difficulties in finding the truth although it was always a norm to stick to the right handed theory.
Since he was lying, all he had to do was to switch his body language around at the appropriate time and places.
Feeling thankful that Uncle Robert had drilled the main things to reply during questioning through his thick skull numerous times was enough to make Steve feel not threatened.
Not that the con man cared what the government official wanted. Steve knew that Director Theodore Galloway was very intent in getting his hands on him as he was the real hacker that managed to get into a government server and avoid of getting caught for a good 2 months or so. Being a con man had its advantages, especially spotting out very greedy people from a crowd. The young man was very convinced of smelling this guy from miles away and when it came to Galloway, it was like going into a room filled with thick choking gas. The greed was coming off of him in waves.
At times, even Steve was rather freaked out with the look in the other person's hungry eyes that were on him although he did manage to keep a straight tired face.
And here he thought he'd seen a lot of greedy people from his prior training with his uncles and his twin.
Man, this guy is a pig!
"What do you make out of those codes?"
This time Steve frowned as his eyes went up to the right again, "Um… I can't remember. I was- kinda out of it after the goon beat me to a pulp."
Another lie, he NEVER forgot something if it happened in front of him whether he saw or only heard it. But there were hints here and there that it was the truth.
Galloway shifted slightly but he forced a smile thinking he had somehow fooled the young man of his attentions, "Son, what hand do you write with?"
"Right," Steve said this time truthfully as he put up his right hand up in the process.
Seeing as he was not really getting any real answers he needed or wanted out from the hacker the liaison walked over to the hacker and said, "Are you very certain that you broke those codes by accident?"
This time Steve looked at Galloway in the eyes, "Look, people's lives were at stake there, okay? I had to do something and try somehow we all made it out alive, and it turned out to be trial and error." When Director Galloway shifted back Steve couldn't help but notice there was a neatly folded letter in his inner suit pocket. Must be something important. His con man mind was prodding his head that it was something he should have a go of nabbing it.
Of course there was still another thing that bothered the con man, especially how this liaison didn't seem to be all that concerned about showing off the sling on his left arm. What did this injury have to do with the liaison and him?
Very peculiar.
"What is your opinion on the silver robot you saw with large blades?" Galloway said with an edgy voice to it.
Say what?
This of course made Steve raised an eyebrow at the statement. He wasn't exactly expecting that question coming. A memory flashed in his mind how Skyler who had a knack to spot out details had always reminded him that lying came with spotting out things that should not belong there, were indicators to be careful. With the sudden shift in the man's demeanor, Steve took Skyler's advice it was time to head into neutral territory. It's a known method that neutrality helps in making lies believable. Add in a bit of true confusion and it was even more difficult to spot out which was a lie or not. So this time his eyes looked straight forward to the liaison with frown.
The young man's response was plain confusion, "Can you rephrase that? I don't get what you're asking."
There was a sudden pause from the liaison. His eyes shifted to the upper left, which made the younger man aware he was plotting something. "How do you feel about the silver robot showing himself in front of you?"
Ooh, he's asking for details.
It was a clear indicator that the man was not too fond of whoever these robots were. Considering this questioning was taped there was a like-hood chance that he could use it to enforce the opposite party with charges based on what Steve said. I'm going to have to walk lightly on this. Steve made a mental note to make the enemy's friend his friend; but he would have to look into it later on. To important matters and to keep up with the neutrality facade, it was best to stick to general answers with only tiny bits of detail.
"He kind of scared the crap out of me at first, but he saved my life from the robot bird with red optics," Steve shrugged. On the inside he was aware that it was the robot that indeed separated him from his twin, but he wasn't going to mope about it. On the other hand he wouldn't be alive at this point if the robot didn't come at the right time. "I don't know who he is either, yet I do owe him my life."
To the trained eye, Galloway's face clearly showed disappointment before in a flash it was a stoic face again. Steve inwardly smirked as he successfully hit a nerve. The young man was very tempted to push more buttons on the liaison but stopped himself as perhaps getting support from the opposite party first was a better idea than making the liaison his enemy straight away. He had yet to know what all this robot business was all about and why were they were looking for the 'furta duo' so desperately.
Steve had suspicions on a kind of new technology, but could humans really build such things as robots with feelings? Even if the meeting with the silver robot was brief, Steve could recall the memory very accurately that he sensed the robot was worried for him when the battle started.
Too confused to what was really going on, he sighed and decided to bail out of the questioning with a bit of leverage. "Am I done?" Steve said as he put on a more tired face. "I do have an appointment with the doctor for my checkup, you know. And he did say I needed more rest."
Director Galloway did a double-take as he looked to his watch. "You're dismissed for now," he said stiffly, clearly unhappy that his time was up.
Crap, more questioning later. But at least he was out of the hot seat for now.
As the liaison gave the cue to open the door, Steve tiredly walked to the door. There was a person guarding the door but he was looking the other way. Seeing a chance to do something just in-between the door and hidden from the view of security cameras, the young con man tilted in a dizzy state towards the liaison.
Panicking, Galloway caught the young man from falling with only a hand, "Are you alright? Tim, help me with him!"
Steve stood up again with the help of the guard, "Sorry, I haven't really been able to rest well."
"Take him to the medical wing," Galloway said seeing as this job was for someone else. "I'll see you sometime again when you're cleared fit and healthy for more questioning, Steve."
"This way kid," the guard said guiding the young man towards the medical wing.
Steve just nodded without anything to say, keeping a low profile for the time being. On the inside he was satisfied he got what he wanted. Neatly tucked in his brown jacket he had been wearing all this time was the paper he nicked from the liaison.
Too bad the liaison didn't know what hit him.
A while later at the apartment…
Charles' con man group didn't have an Intel room like Uncle Neil did back in Memphis, however they had three laptops and were well informed of the area of Topeka and the Kansas State itself. The time Skyler got back, the apartment was empty with the exception of Uncle Albert who welcomed him at the front door. Charles, Jonas and Felix were said to be cashing in the cash they got this morning. As for Ash and Lily were on a recon job with another mark they were planning to target soon.
That left Skyler and Uncle Albert to catch up with both life and con artist Intel.
Even in his old age (68 years old), Uncle Albert from Skyler's view the last three days with him, didn't seem to have faltered in his con skills as they were ever sharp and controlled. His wife may have died years ago, but he was happy being any adoptive Uncle or even grandparent to many con artist families that were good terms with him. He was willing to share his con wisdom with the younger ones, which made him one of Skyler's favorite uncles. To receive praise from the elder con man was difficult, but with Skyler's recent work in Charles group con made it a good persuasion tool for the old man to agree and let Skyler into their group Intel.
With four laptops (including Skyler's own) and two cups of tea, they both looked into recent events, of targeted marks, who recently stole what, and news coming from institutions, universities, and even the black market. To Skyler's prediction, there wasn't really any odd Intel that would lead something that screamed Decepticon so far. Just as he was going to dismiss the idea of finding 'out-of-the-ordinary' Intel, his uncle clicked his fingers as he remembered something.
"Ah! Skyler, would you happen to know what grifter family gatherings are?"
The younger paused a moment as he tried to remember. "I heard from Uncle Danny they're large gatherings of big and infamous con families in a poker tournament as a trade Intel event between con artists," Skyler said from the top of his head.
"Correct!" the elder said brightly. "It happens that there's one in Topeka at the Black Clover Hotel & Casino tonight. If you're not busy tonight, I wish for you to accompany me there."
Skyler blinked but he froze in place like a statue, "Me? What about Charles and the others?"
"Well," the other said with a light tone, "Charles and the others are on a job tonight. I've also got a recommendation from Rusty you have a gift for poker. So, we all agreed that if you succeeded in helping pulling off a pigeon drop you'll be invited as a 'Caldwell'."
At this point Skyler couldn't even BELIEVE what he was hearing. Totally and utterly speechless, he never expected getting that sort of praise from Uncle Rusty either. These types of gatherings were for the famous and notorious con artists. He wasn't surprised if Uncle Danny and the crew or even Uncle Albert were invited as they were respected by many. Even his own Uncle and with his cousin had been to these sort of gatherings. It seemed too good to be true if he was invited tonight.
"Are you sure about this, Uncle Albert?" Skyler asked hesitant. "I'm only 21, and I haven't even joined in any large heists yet!"
Uncle Albert only smiled, "You still have talent, boy. The only way to prove it is through opportunity. I trust you can hold yourself well. But tell me, I heard you now can speak a few languages like your father, Taylor."
"A couple, but mostly Mandarin," Skyler shrugged. With people like Uncle Yen and Phing who often would go back to their native language in their con family groups it was a compulsory. Heck, his own dad was so fluent at many languages he at times severed as translator for Uncle Danny and Uncle Rusty to work with foreign con artists. He pretty much made sure his children spoke at least five. Skyler didn't like it at first when he was young he was forced to learn, but now he was thankful for it. "Why do you ask?"
"There's a special event hosted by the owner of the casino for poker players. His name is 'White Eagle', he's a native American, a influential casino mogul who's a former con man. In a good way for us, he's a donator for many heists around this state. To all the participants of the poker tournament, he's given an alphabetic letter to everyone and whoever guesses it correctly wins a 'special' prize that isn't part of the main winnings," Albert explained the details.
The younger man looked skeptic, "How does he expect the poker players to take their guess? A sequence through cards?"
Albert shook his head, "Simple. All seats are labeled with individual words. To guess, you simply sit on what you think the alphabetical letter means. Everyone thinks it's a chance of a 'happy-go-lucky jackpot."
Skyler chuckled at that, "Well, that sounds pretty fun for a free side prize. I'm in. May I see the alphabet letter?"
"Of course," Albert said as he took out a piece of paper from his pocket.
When the first time Skyler saw it, he was sure it wasn't any alphabetical letter he'd seen in the world's languages. However the style and distinct form somehow rang a bell in Skyler's mind he had seen it recently.
Scratch that.
He saw it yesterday!
It was Cybertronian.
WHAT THE HELL?
Seeing his adopted nephew's reaction Albert asked, "Do you know this language?"
It was unwise to lie at the more experienced con artist, so Skyler switched to a diversion of 'condensed truth'. "…Yeah. I've seen it, but I got no ideas what it means. It's an ancient language I heard some institution was studying but I forgot its name."
Thankfully, the elder didn't start asking questions.
Way to go Skyler.
Well, blaming it on NEST and saying it was older than the Earth wasn't totally wrong or a lie.
"It's fine, Skyler. It would be nice to have a better chance at guessing for the special prize. Who knows you might guess correctly. But to other things! Let's get to the regulations for players."
Still looking at the letter warily in his hand, he had to admit in taking a crash course of the Cybertronian language was a good idea. Sunstreaker was hesitant at first at teaching the human, but after Skyler persuaded the bot he needed to know how the Cybertronian language worked with its encryption for codes. In the end, the Autobot agreed as long it was used against Soundwave, he was fine with it. Skyler wasn't happy that the previous recording of the hack they did on Soundwave didn't had any sufficient leads as to why Soundwave backed off and couldn't get into NEST. He only knew it worked, and he was annoyed he still hadn't found or figured out HOW it worked in such a way to scare off the Decepticon Intel Officer.
He needed to speed things up if he wanted to make the recordings into something useful.
But first, he definitely needed to hunt down or know who let this sort of information out. It was too dangerous to be left alone and a danger to let it run wild in the con man world.
So that morning till noon he discussed with his uncle about the preparations with tuxedos, and how disguises were not allowed during the event. After all the explaining finished, Uncle Albert departed to make arrangements. The moment his Uncle was out of the house, Skyler face palmed his head with a large sigh.
GREAT.
Just what I need, more weirdness to keep me occupied.
Third time's a charm it is.
I might as well expect weird things coming for every favor I do.
He went down to the garage to discuss this finding with the mech.
Resting on the benches of the military mess hall, Steve rubbed his temples as he slowly tried to digest everything in.
He SERIOUSLY needed a time-out.
What a way to start the morning.
Interrogation with the liaison, getting a medical check-up, sudden meeting with alien robots… what next?
Having a photographic memory had its perks and at times he wished that he couldn't recall some memories so vividly that it was bothering him to the part he felt overwhelmed. Not to mention the sheer size of the leader of the party that lead the group of what seemed to be huge 'Gundam'-like beings. Being amongst them was like being a tiny bug that was just as easily he could be stepped on. He finally met a couple of the robots that were in fact Autonomous Robotic Organisms or they called themselves the Autobots.
To a normal person, being out of the range of the huge 'mechs' was enough to calm their hearts. But to someone like Steve, he found it rather difficult in getting used to the feeling. It was harder for him to shrug off or forget the feeling and he needed more time to get used to it as he would remember the feeling amongst the bots without even trying.
Add in the information that he and his twin Skyler defended their military division called NEST from their opposing alien war faction in the hacker war managed to make Steve feel dizzy enough that he wished it was some sort of dream. While the hacker kept the secret that he was RecordatioFurtaCorona2, the news that these 'Decepticons' were responsible for the death of his parents and his younger sister made him think twice.
Revenge sounded like a good idea, but he couldn't let the part of being attached to the government was a good idea. Since now he was in the hands of the government, he wasn't sure how his twin Skyler was going to find him. Steve was sure that if Skyler was on the run, then it was going to be hard to catch him as he had plenty of family contacts to keep him safe.
The young man was also aware that his twin was regretting over him being taken by the government. On the day he woke up into the land of the conscious, there was a lingering feeling of immense regret that wasn't his. Skyler had always pushed himself pretty hard when it came to the safety or the happiness of his younger siblings. The loss of Scarlet was probably the worst for the elder twin, that during and even after the funeral Steve at times couldn't help but feel the sadness of his twin nearly all the time. This time it was no different, but as much as it came, it soon vanished as if his twin was accepting it, and was moving on to other things.
He didn't understand what was going on with his twin, yet Steve felt that Skyler wasn't going to give up so easily.
What have we gotten ourselves into, Skyler?
Steve let his head fall down on the table as he breathed out a long sigh.
Not too far away, but still in the military mess hall for humans, Sergeant Epps, Major Lennox, and a holoform of Jazz watched the young hacker with sympathetic faces.
"Man, I feel sorry for the kid," Epps said. "He gets kidnapped by criminals who want his skills, now his life depends on the protection of the Autobots because Laserbeak saw him."
Major Lennox sighed, "Plus we have a certain liaison breathing down our necks since he's presumed to be able to crack Cybertronian encryption. He may be at the wrong place at the wrong time, but the search for the real hackers is still going on from the Pentagon."
Jazz looked at the hacker with interest, "He's very young, only a year older than Sam. I'll be surprised if the real hackers who defeated Soundwave would be as young as him."
"Kids these days are a lot smarter than you think," the Major reminded. "Some of them learn much faster than the previous generation. I heard that even some of the Intel agencies are starting recruitment just after high school graduations for the really talented ones."
Epps nodded to that, "Can't argue with that, man. But don't you think it's kind of ironic that the kid had an identical twin and he's separated from his elder brother just like Sideswipe? Sides didn't take it well about bringing the kid here."
"What did 'Swipe say about it?" Jazz quickly asked as he was worried for his friend.
"That during the interrogations the thugs that were trying to coax him threatened they go after the elder twin," Epps said. "Sides heard that the elder twin was looking for Steve, said that he was last heard being spotted in Jonesborough, Tennessee."
Lennox blinked, "You mean the twin was heading to Kansas City?"
"Yeah, but there hasn't been any reports of him missing or of him reporting to the police about Steve," the sergeant confirmed.
Jazz shook his head with sympathy, "That's pretty fragged up. Sides is blaming himself in letting this happen to another twin." While the first lieutenant of the Autobots did not mention to the major or the sergeant about how Sideswipe's bond had reacted during the mission, Jazz knew that Steve's separation was another added weight on the younger twin warrior bot.
"Anyway we could try and fix this?" Will asked.
The Autobot in holoform shook his head, "There's nothing that can stop the pain of loss with a spark bond. But… maybe if you help Steve out it may do some good on Sides."
"I leave you guys for a while and we've got new problem," a familiar voice came from behind them.
They all turned to find a familiar face that made them all smile.
"Well, if it isn't Sam! Came at the right time!" Jazz welcomed the boy.
The major and sergeant nodded as they knew of his arrival.
"So what's the situation? I was only told that we got a hacker on our hands," Sam said. "Did I miss anything?" He was tired from his trip, but he was an ambassador to the Autobots.
"You got the memo from Optimus about Sideswipe?" Epps asked.
Sam nodded, "Yeah."
"Then we're good to go," Epps said as he dragged Sam to the hacker.
Will looked Jazz, "Where's Bumblebee?"
Jazz was silent for a moment as he was looking over the comm.. He answered, "He's reporting to Optimus right now, the twins and Leo are on their way here. Said about patching things up first before they arrive."
The Major nodded as his attention was back to the human Prime, Epps, and the hacker.
Hearing footsteps towards his table, Steve sat up as looked upon his visitors.
He nodded in greeting, "Sergeant Epps." And then he looked at the brunette probably just a year younger than him.
The newcomer took out his hand, "I'm Sam-"
"Sam Witwicky, the boy that was believed to be scammed over by a hacker and made as world man-hunt scam," Steve stated as he shook Sam's hand. "But now I'm here I suppose the Decepticons were after you last year."
Sam's face slightly winced in embarassment at the revelation of last year's events, but nodded "There you go, you know me." Although he was genuinely surprised that the hacker in front of him said his name right.
Steve only shrugged, "What hacker doesn't? Especially after they had sent the CIA after you. So, what brings you here? Are you apart of this too?"
Epps this time was the one that did the main intros, "Sam's the official ambassador to the Autobots."
The hacker looked at Sam silently, as both of them took a seat at the table in front of him. He said, "Okay, I never saw that one coming-" he then breathed a heave. "But, you guys really have a knack to blow my brains at this point. So, let's cut to the chase and get this over with in one day. I've already been explained the hacker war that the furta duo hackers somehow managed to block a Decepticon Intel officer from your servers here at NEST. Since I'm here, I'm pretty inclined that you guys want something from me."
"Is it possible for you to crack the codes of the hack like how those furto duo did?" Sam asked. "It would mean a lot to the Autobots if you can somehow help them."
It was that question again, Steve looked at both of them warily, "Didn't your liaison told you he asked that question already? Or am I getting the feeling you're not exactly on the same side? He didn't want to sound rather mean, but Steve was going to make sure just how many sides there were around the place.
Epps' face of course had darken to a degree, "He's not really on our side, some parliament guys sent him in to keep an eye on us since the Autobots were not willing to share any tech to the government."
Steve could ask the reason why, but it was best to be silent for now. Maybe these intelligent beings saw just how greedy certain humans were when it came to making weapons. "Well, I don't like him either to tell you guys the truth. But- As you probably know I've only partially broken the codes to what the real hackers did, the hack the goons force me to do is only a tip of the iceberg."
"It's still better than nothing, Steve," Epps voiced in. "With your help we could protect and save more lives. The NEST severs are a lifeline for Intel and communications all over the world. We're sorry to drag you into this kid, but when the Decepticon Laserbeak was trying to get you, you've been marked as a threat to them. They'll most like hunt you down till you die."
The con man fidgeted his fingers of his fist, "Alright, if I did help you guys, how is it going to work?"
"Optimus and I are working on that," Sam said smiling. "He personally wanted you to make your own decision. If you wish to help, we'll see what we can do to keep your place as a civilian."
Again the table was silent, until Epps said, "Kid, if it's alright, your family's database didn't show up on the military files. Why is that?"
"My uncle's a government agent," Steve said truthfully. "His ID and family IDs are hidden to protect the whole family as he does some dangerous stuff. That's all I can tell you since I don't have clearance."
Epps and Sam were both surprised at the information but both nodded in acceptance.
"Does he know you've been missing for over a month?" Sam asked.
Steve shrugged, "Doubt it, last time I heard from him he was on a mission or something."
"And your parents kid? Aren't they worried about you missing for a long time?" Epps added.
The hacker looked down as he somewhat felt miserable every time a person would asked that question. "They're in no position to worry about me," he said with a bitter response.
"Home family problems?" Sam questioned softly.
Steve shook his head, "No. Both my parents and younger sister were killed what was thought to be a terrorist attack that was really an alien battle in Mission City three years ago."
Learning this, Sam regretted asking the last question. Even Epps wasn't sure how they were going to persuade the hacker to help them when this person was actually a victim for one of the families that died from one of their battles. The table was silent again as the situation ended up a stalemate.
Thinking it was better not to divulge back to the past, the con man chose to divert a few things for the moment. "So, back to macro. If I agree to help you guys, is it possible I can ask something in turn?"
"Depends on what you're asking kiddo," the sergeant replied.
"Would you happen to know where my twin brother Skyler is?" Steve asked with a serious tone. "Last time I heard, he was looking for me."
Sam looked at Sergeant Epps for an answer.
Epps shook his head, "Since you came here we haven't heard of any news related to him yet. All we know about him that he quit from his job in Louisiana and was seen by a few folks in Jonesborough traveling to Kansas City."
The news made the hacker feel grim that his twin was missing. He desperately wanted to meet Skyler right now or at least contact him that he was alright. Feeling rather foolish heading into a wildfire of doing recon without his twin that lead him into all this mess, Steve decided he needed to make amends. For now, it was probably better to work with these people and maybe somehow in the process or after the whole thing was over, he could find Skyler.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do to help. But, in turn can you try to find my twin or somehow contact him? I just want to make him sure that I'm OK. It's all I can ask," Steve said.
"We'll make arrangements," Sam said as he quickly set out a cell phone to text the Autobot commander and brother Prime things were better now. However, from Steve's body language, he knew the other was leaving something hanging, "Any other questions can we help you with?"
Steve's eyes shifted as he tried to remember, "I'm not sure about this, but is it possible to meet the mech that took me here?"
Epps of course was curious at the question, "Why would you want to request that?"
"He did save my life from a Decepticon. I owe him," Steve truthfully said as when he met some of the Autobots the one that saved him was missing. "I'd be stupid enough not to thank him somehow."
It was a rule for con men to always somehow to make it up to someone that helped you in turn.
Sam noted how Steve had mentioned the mech with 'he' and not 'it' as many people do when the first time people meet with the Autobots. "Sideswipe's at the med bay, I'll try to put together a meeting if you like."
The sergeant looked at the human Prime with 'are you sure' glance, which in turn Sam muttered 'Optimus' from his lips. Yes, Epps was aware that somehow the boy that was now a Prime had a connection to the Autobot leader, yet, he couldn't really see where this was going. From this however, there was an assumption that the Autobot commander was planning something.
"You sure it's alright? He isn't hurt from fighting the Decepticon when he rescued me, is he?"
Sam shook his head and chuckled, "No, he's probably one of the best warriors the Autobots have, tough as nails. He just has an 'illness' of being away too long from family."
Feeling that it was an interesting matter, Steve asked, "Who's he missing? So these… uh, Cybertronians have families?"
Seeing that this was an opportunity to persuade Steve to willingly the better side of the Autobots, Sam made no hesitation to explain that Cybertronians weren't so much different than humans in a way, although he stressed that the bots had a deep bond between them that was connected to their sparks. He briefly told that Sideswipe had been separated from his twin brother for a long time that surprised Steve immensely. Well, it wasn't everyday that someone would tell you that even aliens had twins as well. The fact that Sideswipe had been following and even resisting the crime syndicate during the time he was tied up at the abandoned industry area of the main base made Steve feel guiltier.
Sideswipe had seen his torture, which meant he knows that he took him knowing that Skyler was looking for him.
It made Steve think and shudder. How would he feel if he was forced to kidnap a twin when his own twin was missing? That must have felt horrible.
Not to mention being separated for hundreds of years, he'd only been separated from Skyler for a month and he was complaining.
Now, Steve was more than eager to do something for the mech.
"So, the offer I can meet with Sideswipe still stands?" Steve asked again.
Sam smiled at that, "You're up to it?"
"Sure," Steve agreed. "When can we meet up with him?"
"Optimus says in a few minutes, it's quite a distance to the Autobot Hanger from here. So if we go now, it's a leisure ride," Sam replied as he looked to the text message on his cell.
"Good, but give me minute. I need to get something," Steve said as he walked towards the canteen cashier.
Seeing the Major waved him to come over, the sergeant walked over to him.
Speaking in a low voice, Will asked Epps was going on, "Looks like he asked you guys for something. What did he ask?"
Uncomfortably Epps replied, "He said he wanted to meet Sideswipe."
"Huh?" Will gaped, but quickly straightened himself out. "And you're letting him?"
"Sam kind of explained Sideswipe's situation, censored version of it," the sergeant shrugged. "The hacker kid agrees he wants to help out."
"Let me get Ironhide and Ratchet with us for this meeting. I just hope Sam knows what he's doing," Will Lennox said.
"Let's just pray everything goes smoothly," Epps patted his war buddy on the back. "I really want Sides back on his wheels again, who knows the hacker kid could help out."
Meanwhile at the canteen cashier…
"Do you happen to have a nearly empty lighter?" Steve asked the canteen cashier. He then added, "And a spare ashtray if you got one."
"It's Cybertronian no doubt," Sunstreaker said uneasily.
"Sunstreaker?" Skyler asked quietly as he was curious to see the symbol in the picture bothered the bot greatly.
"It means All-Spark."
"Huh?" Skyler gasped bewildered. "Whoa! Wait a sec- Out of all the words or vocab in your language this lead I got from the casino means All-Spark?"
Sunstreaker grumbled, "That's one thing I want to know! The idea of some fleshling who owns a casino knows about this is disturbing!" He added, "It's not that all humans are meant to know about Cybertronians. Not to mention you said it yourself that the person who organized the event has tight circles that only correspond to con artists."
Skyler nodded at that, "Which means the government have no idea of such an existence. Those who got invites are from the big, if not infamous grifter families, which pretty much clears it up it isn't public knowledge."
"But why a poker tournament?" the bot said out loud.
The young man shrugged, "Because it's a game that's all about control of greed and tradition?" He then explained, "We do have rules of no back stabbing when it comes to the authorities, to never engage in a fight, keep to our own affairs, and to never target the same mark unless it's a joint con. So the poker game just servers as a media for healthy rivalry."
"That still doesn't explain whoever the Cybertronian is wants to do with a group of con men," Sunny said with a huff.
"Well, one way to find out Sunstreaker," Skyler said as he held the letter of the All-Spark, "We accept the invitation and investigate.
The Autobot was rather bitter, "I don't like this where this is going. If the other bot proves hostile there's no way of helping you without tearing the building down."
"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," the con man cringed at the thought of it. There had to be some sort of explanation to what was happening. "Are there any other factions to your war either than the Autobots or the Decepticons?"
"None. But there are Neutrals. However, they're hard to find and there's very few of them or they may have died out. If they did come to Earth then there's a chance they would be here on Earth undetected by the warring factions. Yet they usually prefer to keep to themselves."
Skyler raised an eyebrow of the new info on Neutrals, but the fact this one was giving out an important letter of the 'All-Spark' just didn't quite fit in the facts. Even so it was still a likely chance. If it were an Autobot, the government would know and the con men wouldn't be anywhere near to that sort of gathering that had anything to do with the government. Plus the Decepticons would never want to associate themselves with the humans as equals.
The Autobot warrior looked at the young man with apprehension, "You still want to check this out, do you, human?"
The con man sighed, "It is the first and the best lead we got in three days, Sunstreaker. The fact I CAN'T avoid the invitation since Uncle Albert signed me up as a 'Caldwell'. I'll be royally screwed with my uncles and aunts if I don't go or deny the invitation."
Sunstreaker groaned as he rolled his optics at the so-called 'grifter family traditions'. He was aware that Skyler was staking his con man's family name in the event, and to one as young as Skyler it was considered a great deal of honor to be invited to these sorts of events. However, Sunstreaker wasn't too keen on letting the human facing a Cybertronian alone, not when the other bot could be an enemy instead. He wasn't going to risk losing the only human he trusted to fight with and his only guide to his twin Sideswipe. On the other hand, what the human did have a point that this was grudgingly the best lead they could get in three days, even if it had nothing to do with the 'Cons or his own faction.
"Alright, we go in," the bot said with a sigh.
"Good! Now we're talking! How about-"
"BUT," Sunny interjected quickly. "You WILL plan escape routes, and I WILL KNOW EVERY ONE OF THEM," he stressed.
There was a sigh from the human, "Fine, you win this time, mech." Skyler was now sure that the bot hadn't forgiven him the last time when they hunted down a 'Con he planned behind Sunstreaker's back. "Let's get to those plans right now as the event is tonight."
So while Skyler was doodling on the whiteboard of pointing out the exits of the casino and hotel, Sunstreaker was still feeling uncertain for tonight. He had no idea where this was going to lead, but there wasn't really much of a choice. It was better they knew whoever was behind it first than a bunch of Decepticons.
His mind soon drifted to Sideswipe on how he was doing. The warrior bot had a feeling after the whole chaos of pushing into their twin bond he was most likely being hit with a wrench from the grumpy Autobot CMO. Hopefully his twin was doing better than him. If Steve was the type of person Skyler said he was, then perhaps his twin was in for a surprise.
Besides, Sunstreaker was confident con men had tricks up their sleeves no matter where they go.
Even under the watchful eyes of the authorities.
Sideswipe was nervous.
He silently cursed himself why he was actually afraid on meeting a single scrawny human, but he couldn't really get over the fact he blamed himself for separating a twin from the other. The fact that both the weapons specialist and the CMO was here to see out the events so he didn't do anything rash didn't calm down the warrior bot at all.
And…Why did they have to let the meeting in the Med Bay for all places? Couldn't they have chosen the main hanger instead?
Yes, he did have problems that his spark needing to be looked at frequently now by the medic. However, why couldn't the humans could have arranged a better place than THIS?
Come to mention it, he wasn't even allowed to use his holoform.
Glitching idiotic requests.
The younger warrior bot twin stood on his wheels as he tried to get used to the feeling of standing after Ratchet patched him up, although there was still traces of the dents the humans caused on him plus an addition from the medic's wrench. He did not care. It would probably need another day or two to heal again, and it didn't bother him the slightest. Looking around, he ignored the loud conversation that was going on between Ironhide and Major Will Lennox. Even if Will had meant to speak quietly it wasn't that the warrior bot couldn't hear them, there was briefly a conversation about the liaison losing his prosecution letter and searching for it. In a way, Sideswipe hoped it was lost for good or not found. The sentence of being taken off duty was not appealing to the warrior. Sides never really liked the 'aft hole, as the liaison came in with provocative words when he was at the point of his worst from missing his twin's spark. While his leader ended up apologizing, Sideswipe never forgave the human called Galloway.
He couldn't really think that if Sunstreaker was here, the man could have died instantly if his twin was in the same situation.
Stupid law of not hurting 'certain' annoying humans.
Sideswipe wasn't interested of other humans; he just wanted to get rid of the liaison who kept on bugging the Autobots and NEST as a whole.
Hearing footsteps his attention was caught at the group of humans heading his way.
Steve walked in calmly as the mech that saved his life came into view. Although he did not have an ability to forget, seeing him now personally was different. Seeing that this was an important step that perhaps could determine which way Steve would connect with the Cybertronians and NEST, he revised everything he needed to do. He had to connect himself with the bot somehow and in some way.
Epps stood near Will, Ratchet, and Ironhide as Steve and Sam walked to where Sideswipe was standing.
Sam walked over to Sideswipe, "Sideswipe, this is Steve. He said he wanted to talk to you. Steve, meet Sideswipe."
As Steve nodded in respect, Sideswipe stood without any reaction.
Worried, Sam wanted to interfere, but as the hacker held his had up he stopped.
"If it's alright with you," Steve asked, "Can we have a moment?"
The human Prime was hesitant at first, but it then end he nodded, "Okay, if you need anything we'll be at the back."
As Sam left, there was an uncomfortable silence between the bot and the hacker.
Knowing that it was his cue, Steve started first, "I guess this is our first meeting in three days." The bot still stood there silently as he continued, "I want to thank you for saving my life. I'm indebted to you."
Still the bot did not reply, but his body language was nervous.
"What's wrong?" the hacker asked.
Sideswipe felt uneasy and went to the point, "Aren't you mad at me from separating you from your twin?"
Steve sighed, "I'll be lying if I said no- But- You saved my life at the right time. If you weren't there I'd be dead or worse at the mercy of the Decepticons." He bit his lip, "So, it's not a matter of just owing you my life, yet-"
"And yet what?" the warrior asked.
The hacker said it out with a smile, "I won't blame you about taking me away from Skyler. On the contrary, I want thank you for taking me because that way I still have a chance to reunite with Skyler."
In that instant, Sideswipe was surprised how that statement gave him a relief of letting a burden he'd been carrying for three days. He still frowned, "And what of your twin?
At that moment Steve's face looked pained. "I kind of felt he was regretting for me, when I woke up. Even so, Skyler somehow moved past those feelings, not that he doesn't care. It's more like he's trying harder. He… hasn't given up on me yet," Steve said with a rather vulnerable voice but with reverence, "So as long as he's looking for me, I'll believe in him."
Sideswipe pondered over the fact how Steve had said how he 'felt' his twin. Could human twins have bonds just like Cybertronian twins? He had briefly read a few articles while he was resting in the med bay after Ratchet patched him up. However, in the way Steve had said he believed in his twin painfully reminded Sides of himself. He had kept on believing that Sunstreaker would somehow show up one day, but there had been no sign of him.
"Even if there's hardly a chance he could get to you?" Sideswipe in a bitter tone. "Without knowing any information on him whatsoever?"
Taking in what the bot was feeling Steve said, "Missing your twin does eat your heart I suppose. You probably know it more than I do."
Sides glanced at the others who were at back behind the med bay area. They gave him uncomfortable glimpses, and or were faking coughs. He rolled his optics as he would have to deal with them later.
"…Still, Skyler would probably call me an idiot if I gave up."
The bot frowned, "Why would he do that?"
Steve replied, "Well, he'd probably go through worse things than I would. I'm pretty much here and waiting, it's not really fair on him if he suddenly show up after so long searching and found out I just gave up on him."
Of what the human said in that moment surprised Sideswipe. Have I even thought how Sunny would feel if I gave up? He shifted in regret that he now felt somewhat selfish.
The hacker looked at the bot wondering if he managed to get in. He had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy. Then, he thought another alternative way. Perhaps it was better to pay back the bot somehow for saving his life. Hopefully this would work.
"Sideswipe?"
"What?"
"Since you saved my life, is there a way I could repay you?" Steve offered.
Sideswipe snorted, "It's not like you can bring my twin Sunstreaker here."
"That I can't do, but… I'll do what I can," the young man persisted. "I've agreed in helping what I can with the codes with your faction, but I'd want to do something at least for you personally."
Sides shook his head, "There isn't really anything you could do for me at the moment I'm afraid." However he caught the human smiling mischievously instead.
"Then let me help you in advance," Steve said confidently. "You know Galloway, right?"
That question sure took Sideswipe's attention immediately, "Yes." There was already venom towards the man in his answer but he didn't care.
"Let's just say- I don't really like him. And possibly from the way he was interrogating and questioning me a few hours ago, he doesn't like you," the hacker said. "He somehow pulled out a way so he could put you off duty today, right?"
"How do you know?" the bot asked suspiciously.
Smoothly from his pocket, Steve took out a letter which Galloway had been searching for, "He dropped this."
Sideswipe looked at the prosecution letter with disgust, but then his optics widen as the young man scrunched it into a ball, took out an ashtray from his other jacket pocket and with a lighter lit the paper aflame. The Autobot was confused, "Why? You could get in trouble for-"
"I'm already in trouble for just being a hacker," Steve interrupted. "I don't know how you or why you attacked him, but I don't think he's a very likable person either. So between you, me, and everyone who's watching this…" Steve gave a wave to the others as he signaled them a finger to his lips. "It's our secret, which means you'll be still on duty for a while longer."
This of course made the bot smile, "You're a troublemaker aren't you?"
"Comes with the job task of being a hacker." Steve shrugged. And a con man, but he wasn't going to tell them unless it was absolutely necessary.
"How long will it take for the blasted human can make a new letter?" Sides asked feeling better that his other worry was now burning to ashes.
This time the hacker laughed openly, "Since it's got the president's signature, can't be gone through email so forth and has to be original… pretty much until the president finishes his tour visiting around Europe and Asia all together which is in three months, give or take. It may take even longer, since the old buzzard lost it himself."
Unexpectedly Sideswipe managed to smile wider, "You're a really odd human covering for the mess I did."
"Nah, it's the mess that Galloway got you into," Steve denied. "It's the least I could do to pay you back somehow. Not that I haven't been in trouble before. I've gotten more than enough times in trouble with Skyler."
Interested, Sideswipe inquired, "Do human twins like to play pranks?"
"Yeah," Steve said, "I pretty much think it's universal in a way. How about Cybertronian twins?"
Over at the back of the med bay the group who watched over the two younger set of twins talking now casually were surprised and as well glad that their warrior bot was now in a better mood. The whole group now consisted of Ironhide who was watching amusedly at how this human was able to ease up Sides, Ratchet who was breathing a relief that his patient would be improving, Jazz and Bumblebee approving of the hacker, and finally Epps, Will and Sam who were talking amongst each other.
Sergeant Epps of course grinned widely, "You what, I have to say I really like the kid. He's got a lot of guts to burn that piece of paper like that with style." He looked to his two companions, "I vote he's part of our little 'hate-the-liaison' club. What do you guys say?"
"Decent kid," Will nodded even though he wasn't sure how the hacker got the paper in his hands. "We'll just leave Galloway to search a little longer until he gives up. Since Galloway lost it, it means we don't have paper work to do for his mess. It seems you've got your cut work out for you, Sam." He then looked to the ambassador, "So why did Optimus suggested for Steve to meet Sideswipe anyway?"
Sam smiled at the major, "He said the only other person that would understand his pain was another separated twin. Optimus mentioned that some bonds are created because you share the same fate. Ironically, Steve and Sideswipe are in the same position."
"Well, that's good," Major Lennox huffed. "Although at times, some Autobot and human partners aren't really that much of a help."
This time Sam's face was confused, "And who are we talking about?"
"Oh God!" Epps laughed. "You don't mean the 'talking duo'? Hah! That is one epic partnership!"
Will squeezed the bridge of his nose, "Don't remind me!"
The human Prime gave a questionable gaze to the sergeant, "The talking duo?"
"Bluestreak and Fig! Can you believe that?" Epps exclaimed. "Man, if you want to get near those two you just got to prepare a Spanish dictionary or some translation tool. They could go on for hours in Spanish!"
The Major scratched his head in frustration, "You know what Sam, I think I really need some help in convincing Optimus we need to persuade Bluestreak to keep talking in English and not Spanish for overall communications. If not, those two are going to drive me nuts!"
This caused Sam to laugh, "Alright, I suppose we can meet Optimus right now." He looked towards the two twins conversing with each other, "I think we should leave them for a while longer."
Sergeant Robert Epps agreed to that, "Yeah. Well, you two go without me. Sides is apart of my team. I'll watch over them. So go on, you two go and meet with Big Buddha."
"See ya later," Lennox left as he took the Autobot ambassador with him and respectfully Ironhide and Bumblebee leaving with their charges.
On the other side of the med bay…
"What's your twin like?" The hacker asked out of curiosity.
Sideswipe shuttered his optics at the blunt question yet replied anyway, "Arrogant at times, has a huge ego; he's skilled, ruthless when it comes to enemies, but he's willing to do anything when it comes to me, even stay in the med bay although he hates it.
"Funny," Steve laughed at the bot's description. "That sort of sounds like my twin, Skyler."
"Really?" Sideswipe asked curiously.
In Topeka, a sound of a grunt from a yellow Lamborghini car and a human 'hachoo!' was heard in the car basement of a hotel.
Skyler wiped his nose with a tissue but couldn't help think why the bot reacted the same time when he was sneezing. Yet everything was confirmed when the bot started talking.
"I have a feeling Sides is talking about me," he said slightly miffed at the reaction of his air vents.
His partner in crime shook his head, "Not only you. I think Steve is as well." Skyler then came up with a conclusion, "You don't think they got acquainted with each other do you, Sunstreaker?"
"It's possible since they're on the same base," the bot shrugged. "So, most likely."
Oh, the irony.
The human sighed, "Let's just hope it's for the better."
The bot in turn only snorted without much care.
Skyler waved it off, as they had more important problems to worry about. He straightened his bow-tie on his tuxedo for the poker game. "It may take the whole night, Sunstreaker. You'll be alright waiting for that long?"
"As long as you now and again send signals that you're fine, I'll wait here," Sunstreaker replied. "If not, let's just expect half of the building will be torn down."
"Sunstreaker, you don't want to do that," Skyler reminded the bot about blowing their cover.
The bot uttered, "Get going then, human. Don't tempt me to tear it down right now."
Skyler opened the door and close it behind as he walked over to the lift entrance. "Geez, I'm going, I'm going. Grumpy mech," the human muttered under his breath.
"I heard that!" Sunstreaker said behind him.
The atmosphere of the room was amazing.
From people of the famous, large and infamous con families, it was even difficult for Skyler to hold himself from doing his own recon there. There were probably a few he actually knew in the crowd while the rest seemed alien to him. Yet, what probably made the room feel different from normal casinos was the fact the room emitted with an aura of mind games and trickery.
After Skyler met up with Uncle Albert in the lobby, he decided it was a wise decision to stick with his uncle during the event to avoid trouble. He still wanted to keep a low profile, even if his uncle ended up introducing him to other various con families who were his regular contacts that earn him a couple of stares that he was a 'Caldwell'. Not that the younger con man was surprised, but it was enough for Skyler to feel peer pressure around him. Still, this occasion was a good time as any to build up more links for his journey ahead.
At this sort of gathering, it was a MUST to build up social links that could determine future heists and cons.
Skyler definitely wasted no time getting to know as many people as he could as much time allowed him to before the poker tournament started. In the process, he scouted the poker tables that were going to be used in the tournament in hopes he could find the word 'All-Spark' or at least equivalent to it. Calmly, he looked around and found the area was off limits for now. Well, at least the owner was kind enough to put up a notice board of the positions of the tables and individual words according to each table. There were five poker tables which meant there were 40 players in total, each table hosting 8 players. With that many players most likely everyone was going for the slaughter of large bets, mental manipulation, and cut throat techniques.
It was clear that being merciful didn't exist in the tournament.
Not when these sorts of gatherings were rare and only lasted one night.
Looking at the notice board, Skyler scanned quickly through the list of words according to each corresponding seat. In time, he found the word 'Spark' on table four as the eighth player. His gaze then moved towards the table as he found out that players would eventually move towards the fourth table which happened to be situated in the middle of the room.
That certainly was not a coincidence.
It brought many suspicions to the younger con man, and he still wasn't sure if there was a Cybertronian in the room as most of them were giant size. Even the femmes were roughly motorcycle equivalent in size. The best guess was probably the slot machines as they were the only things that was computerized (save for the card shufflers) out of all the other casino games in the room that served as entertainment for the non-competitors.
Just minutes after, the tournament was started with participants being requested to take their seats. Predictably, as Skyler sat down on the seat with the word 'Spark' on it, he saw most of the Chinese con artists avoiding his table. It wasn't surprising as they believed that the number four was bad luck as the sound of the number four in Mandarin was similar to the sound of the word 'death'. For the logical players, they tended to look for easy prey or people who they think they have a chance with. As for the more experienced players, they all went to table one to get into a decent fight.
Skyler breathed out to calm down as it was going to start soon and sent a signal through a comm. button that was inside his tux suit pocket the tournament was about to start. As for Uncle Albert, he was watching him from the bar across the room toasting to him for good luck.
Finally, the poker tournament of the Con Artists began.
To the younger con man it was an event that kept him on his toes. At first he made a couple of mistakes that cost him a lot of poker chips, but eventually he made a comeback. These players weren't the type of people Skyler faced before, save for Uncle Rusty and Uncle Danny. There was no room to slack off.
Round after round more players were eliminated until the last table in the middle of the room was left. Skyler was at the point where he wasn't wearing his bow-tie anymore feeling the temperature had risen from the game. He was now ranked 7th on the table that clearly were filled with seasoned con artists.
He was thankful that there was a 30 minute break before the final stage, so he took his time to signal the bot he was still fine (and NOT tear the building down), washed his face in the washroom, and joined up with his uncle for a drink. This time however, he actually got a great deal of attention on his status being 7th and he was only 21 years of age plus a 'Caldwell' was the talk of the bar. Skyler had to keep his modesty in check, even if inwardly he was like a kid high on sugar. Plus he was still on the look out for any Cybertronian activity.
For now there were still none.
Maybe it'll show up when the prizes are announced.
Thirty minutes went by so quickly Skyler was back in his seat at the table with the rest of the players. This time though, all eight players were shocked to see the dealer was the casino owner himself.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, you're the best con artists of this poker tournament tonight. This is the finals, so give it your all and let's see the best con artist when it comes to poker! Let the trickery begin!"
To say the final round was a struggle was an understatement. It was war. The small blind and big blind rose up so quickly the the ranks began to jumble, that in one case the 2nd ranked player plummeted down to 8th because he got careless. Skyler was barely holding on to 5th-6th place. He was glad that he played the finals carefully as 3 players got kick out of the game simultaneously thanks to the 1st rank player. The the another 2 players, got busted by the 2nd rank.
Unlucky and out-skilled, Skyler in the end had to force himself back as he too got busted out of the game, reaching third place.
At first it was a disappointment, but with an unexpected applause and praise from the other con men around him that he was glad he gave the tournament his best shot. Especially when he came to Uncle Albert's side of the bar, he was tackled with hugs from all sides from Charles' crew in congratulations.
"I thought you guys couldn't make it," Skyler breathed out with laughter.
"Not after Alby said you got to the top 8 players," Lily laughed. She added, "That would go against the family code, family always supports family."
Charles on the other hand gave a fond thump on the back on the younger con man, "You did us proud, Skyler. I bet you anything if Danny and Rusty or even Robert hears this they'll be wanting you into a heist sooner than you think."
The younger one motioned, "Uncle Danny and Uncle Rusty, maybe. As for Uncle Robert it'll take some more time to convince him. It took Linus 3 major heists before he said it was OK."
Ash this time pipped in, "We'll be willing to vouch for you. Plus I heard a lil' rumor you helped out with Keith's group and jumped over a police blockade with that Lambo of yours."
The others gaped to the point where Jonas gagged on his drink.
"Say what?" Felix exclaimed. "So that Lambo stunt person in Springfield was you?"
Embarrassed and red in the face, Skyler only managed a small voice, "Err… Yeah."
It wasn't like he was going to say the car was a sentient alien robot.
Heck no.
Uncle Albert only chuckled in amusement, "Impressive and daring, Skyler. You have my support!" He then looked to the bar tender, "Wine for seven please!"
"Well, kid, thanks to you we got lots of people coming to us to spread our reach here in Kansas," Jonas added further as he wiped himself off from his previous drink with tissue. "Bet your father, Taylor, would be proud of you kid. If he was here he'd be bragging about you for weeks! Ah, the loud bloke, I really do miss him."
"Toast to Skyler, and our prayers he'll follow up into the big heists and be as notorious as his grifter family!" Charles said with his wine glass in the air.
"Cheers!" they all said together and clink their glasses together.
It was probably the best night that Skyler had ever experienced in his whole life. Well, who wouldn't be when you did your family proud, and got 3.5 million dollars as a poker tournament prize? After the harsh things he went through the days before, it seemed that the journey was all worthwhile. But out of all of this, he would always think back to the grumpy mech that was waiting for him back in the basement parking lot. If it weren't for Sunstreaker, he possibly wouldn't be on this wild journey in the first place. It was more of a real inspiration and motivation for the younger con man on helping the bot to find out what was wrong with his spark, kick Soundwave's ass, and reunite with their twins.
He waited patiently in a private casino room sitting on the poker table to get his winnings. As a matter a fact, he was called in here because he had won the 'special' prize.
No surprise there.
His poker winnings were instantly sent through his recent bank accounts he opened, about five hundred thousand dollars he requested to be sent to Charles' con family member account. He owed them for getting the invitation and for sheltering him here in Topeka.
Back to the main problem.
Where was this Cybertronian? Or had it been a Cybertronian in the first place?
Skyler couldn't help but feel nervous as he waited for the casino owner.
"Click."
The young man blinked and looked around.
What was that?
"Click. Click. Click."
This time Skyler turn to the table to the source but there was nothing there.
"Click. Click."
Then he looked at the 'Shuffle Royal' automatic card shuffler.
It moved.
Expecting something from it, Skyler slowly stood up and backed away.
With whirring small gears and clattering the card shuffler transformed into a small bot that was at height of a toddler with blue optics. The little bot looked at Skyler with interest and chirped.
"Hi!"
Skyler stared at it dumb folded. Was this the Cybertronian that he and Sunstreaker were worried about all this time?
It sounded… like a kid.
The con man was rather confused as to how to reply to the little bot as he was still not sure about the bot considered as an ally. Unlike Sunstreaker who tended to be calm this one seemed to be fidgeting a lot, as it chirped, twitter, and still had his optics on him with curiosity sniffing the air as it started to walk towards him.
Feeling wary of the small bot, Skyler took a step back.
What he didn't expect, that the little bot made a mad dash to him, and tackled him to the ground.
"Oomph!"
"Smell same!" the little bot said as it twittered frantically as it found something important to him. "Smell same!"
Skyler gave a wave on his right leg but with no avail, the small mech was latched to his leg with a vice grip. He then frowned at the bots words.
I smell the same?
I thought I was wearing cologne.
As he sat up, he gave another wave to get the little bot off but it didn't budge. Instead it was giggling frantically like his leg was something so familiar to it. Skyler eased down as the little bot did nothing to try and hurt him. Still, the younger con man was questioning on what on earth was going on.
"Skyler," the hotel owner came into the room with a smile on his face. "It seems you've met the little one."
"Mr. Wambleeska," Skyler nodded in respect but still had a plain expression of confusion. "Little one?" It then dawned on him that the casino owner knew of the little bot.
"White Eagle is fine," Wambleeska said gently as he took a seat on the floor with Skyler not really bothered at all. "Although it's expected someone who's Taylor's son would know a bit of many languages, including the Sioux. Although I did not expect you could decipher the letter correctly, and by the looks of my small companion, he seems to approve of you."
"Sorry, sir," the younger con man said bluntly as he looked to his right leg. "I still don't know what the heck is going on."
This time White Eagle looked at Skyler with amusement, "I'm not sure either, although perhaps if we traded stories we can see eye to eye."
Skyler wondered whether it was wise or not to tell about Sunstreaker, but he didn't want to come out empty handed either.
"Ah that look," White Eagle said as he smiled. "A look of the better and honest con man. Danny, Rusty, Robert, and Taylor have always had the most interesting group of con men. If it would be more comfortable for you, you can start asking questions and I shall proceed. We trade stories, and I promise you whatever we have talked tonight will be part of the code, this secret we bring to the grave."
Seeing that everything part of the code was intact Skyler nodded to the Native American casino owner.
He began his story in Mission City, being knocked by an unknown large force of the explosions. White Eagle explained how he had lost his wife in the event, and soon after the whole area was deserted he came upon the little bot hiding in a dumpster, shivering. At first he was intent on giving it to the clean up crew, but how the small bot had an affection for him, White Eagle realized the bot was sentient, not just an AI. It was living, but it was still a child. Ever since, he had taken the small bot under his wing and cared for the bot.
Yet White Eagle did have suspicions that the Mission City event had something to do with his kind, he searched through a few links but the Indian man was aware the links had somehow all lead to the government. Skyler then understood why his search had ended there, as too many people who sided with con men it wasn't an easy task in covering up a trail back to the con families, not when he was a casino mogul. So, he used an alternative way which was through the links of con men in hope that perhaps he would let this bot to live with his kind.
"I have only called on a tournament like this one before, but the little one did not approve of the person who guessed it. He knew that it was by chance."
The younger con man blinked again as he looked at the small bot, "Doesn't 'he' have a name?"
"No," the other shook his head. "It wouldn't be proper for me to name him. Names are very important. I think you are aware of our traditions."
"Yes," the con man understood. "But- Well- How come he said I smell the same?"
White Eagle noted that with curiosity instead of an answer, "I'm not sure, but he has many times proven to have a good sense of smell. Perhaps you carry a scent that he's very familiar with."
Skyler realized it.
A Cybertronian scent. Of course!
He had been driving with Sunstreaker and been with him all the time. Now everything made sense!
"Perhaps a trade of story?" White eagle inclined.
The con man nodded, "Is there away to get him off my leg?"
The older man chuckled, and from his pocket he took out a deck of cards. Instantly, the little bot's attention went to the cards.
"Ooh! Play? Play? Play?" The bot said with excitement.
"Just shuffle," White Eagle said gently as he give the bot the deck of cards.
It was very amusing to the con man to see the small bot so expertly shuffle the cards with its metallic fingers so happily and playfully he couldn't help himself smile.
"He's very fond of card games, including gambling ones." White Eagle said. "But to more pressing matters, I think I would like an explanation to how you have a similar scent to him."
Skyler shrugged uneasily, "Well, it might be hard to explain… but… I'm actually traveling with one of his kind. I found the letter you sent out as a poker tournament and it was translated as the All-Spark." He then looked to the elder man for a reaction.
"Then his kind exists?" the other asked.
"Yeah, a couple actually," Skyler said scratching his head.
"Is the one traveling with you here?"
"No, but he agreed to wait for me," the con man said as he gave another signal to the warrior bot he was still safe and sound from the button inside his suit pocket. "White Eagle- may I ask- what do you plan to do when you meet his kind?"
White Eagle only said, "Give him back for them to care for of course." However he noted that the boy in front of him frowned, indicating something was wrong. "Is there a problem?"
Skyler then briefly explained that there was a war in his kind that the race was separated into two factions, and that their war now continued here on Earth. The con man also explained they were robotic organisms from Cybertron, how the All-Spark had landed to Earth and the battle that happened in Mission City as well as the recent events of Egypt. He then voiced out his thoughts of feeling rather guilty if he took the small bot with him it was certain he was going to be exposed to the war.
Thinking on more for the little bot's care the Native American asked, "Is it possible for the little one to meet with your friend?"
Skyler was silent. Was Sunstreaker going to expect a bot that was probably a toddler or a kid? He definitely didn't know how the larger mech would react. But it was certainly worth a shot, and to go all this way to find about the bot was well worth it, even it posed no leads to the Decepticons.
"I think I can persuade him to come," Skyler said and added, "Would you happen to have a private parking lot? I need to get my car first. Preferably no surveillance in the area."
"I'll let you have permission and come to the private area of the hotel of my residence," White Eagle said with agreement. "I understand this meeting should be done with utmost secrecy."
"Alright, I'll see you at your place."
But just as about Skyler was about to leave, the little bot wailed and gripped his leg again, "Don't go! Don't go!"
White Eagle had to calm down the bot for a good 15 minutes before he was sure Skyler wasn't going to leave for good. Once the small one settled down, the con man jogged off to the elevators and made his way to Sunstreaker. On the other hand, Skyler was feeling guilty about what if they did leave the small guy behind. It wasn't like he was going on a leisure ride to get to the Autobots, Decepticons were most likely be behind their tracks once Steve was known to be the real hacker, and who knows what the human authorities would think of the kid bot. Even so, Skyler had a feeling that it was right to let the bot with the other Cybertronians as they knew what was best for him.
Man, Sunstreaker is totally going to freak out when he hears this.
And freak out the warrior bot did.
He nearly drove over a human if Skyler had not forced to hit the brakes in time.
Skyler's first heart attack of the month.
Lovely.
He was glad enough that he wasn't even sued for it.
Skyler had to make sure the bot was not in panic mode and explain everything the best he could before Sunstreaker (with heavy reluctance) drove to the casino owner's private parking lot. Once they were parked in the middle of the area, Skyler got out. However from the way the bot was reacting, the young con man pretty much saw the bot was nervous.
"Sunstreaker? Are you alright?"
The bot grumbled, "Of course I'm not! It's been ages since there was a sparkling! All of them died when the Youth Sector was destroyed. The last sparkling was Bumblebee. Pit, how did it all come to this?"
"I'm pretty confused as you are, mech," Skyler voiced in, "but White Eagle was kind enough to take care of the small guy. I'm kind of against him coming since we're on a dangerous journey here, but I think the small guy would be better off with us on our way to the Autobots too."
Sunstreaker raised a question, "And what makes you thing he's better off with us?"
"Think about it, Sunstreaker," Skyler said. "He could have gotten to anyone's hand, and you probably know as I have how humans can be greedy. The little guy could have gotten into the hands of scientists and become a lab experiment. Plus, what White Eagle did in letting out a letter in Cybertronian was dangerous. What if the wrong people got their hands on it? We're lucky we actually found out about this before things got ugly."
Sunny couldn't agree with his partner more, especially about being treated as a lab experiment. He wouldn't want any small bot to go through such things.
"Does he have a designation?"
Skyler shook his head at the Lambo, "Nope. Native Americans have high respects when it comes to naming. I think White Eagle was waiting until he found a Cybertronian to name the small guy. He only called the little bot 'Little One."
"Well that's creative," Sunstreaker remarked sarcastically. "But- Are you sure you want a sparkling with us?"
The con man shrugged, "I don't know. We've gone this far in knowing him, and the little guy never let go of me until White Eagle requested nicely because I carried your scent."
The warrior bot was silent.
"You're freaking out are you, mech?"
Another rumble came from the yellow Lambo, "How can I NOT? It's been thousands of years since I've taken care of sparkling! Ugh. You and your luck, human! Next time, maybe you should deny a favor if it keeps coming to these sort of situations."
"Come on, Sunstreaker," Skyler rolled his eyes. "You enjoyed scaring the bejezus out of me when you jumped over the police blockade back in Springfield."
"And you nearly gave me a spark attack when I thought you were dead shot down by the 'Con," the bot shot back.
Skyler put his hands up in defeat, "Fine, fair enough. It's not my fault things just show up and turn weird when I help another person. I'll try and help, Sunstreaker, but that means I'm going to have a crash course on 'Taking care of Sparklings 101'."
"Not like I have a choice on that matter," Sunstreaker growled. "I'll be lucky enough to have my servos intact until the end of this crazier ever getting journey."
"Ease up, mech. First impressions are important, especially when it comes to kids," Skyler reminded.
Trying to get his mind to calm down the warrior bot asked, "What's his alt-form?"
"A casino sized automatic card shuffler. When he's in bi-pedal, his height reaches up to my thigh."
"Very small."
The con man shrugged, "He's just about three years old."
"Hmph."
When Sunstreaker was utterly silent, Skyler gazed back at the door as White Eagle was carrying the small bot in his alt-mode, a 'Shuffle Royal' automatic shuffler. Once he was placed down, the small bot wasted no time transforming and went to hugging Skyler's leg again making the human mildly surprised.
I think I better get used to this.
The twitter and chirping of excitement was heard from the small bot again. At one point Skyler heard bits of Cybertronian and at times the little bot would switch to English and a couple of other languages randomly. Its optics shuttered with enthusiasm as he kept on looking at Skyler.
Meanwhile, behind Skyler just a few feet away, Sunstreaker was still trying to process how this Sparkling existed. He managed to scan the small bot without alerting his presence. At least the small bot was healthy and its hyper attitude was a sign that it was happy. However the warrior bot was reluctant and rather confused how he was going to approach the small bot. Sunstreaker noted the human who had taken care of the little bot was somewhat wise looking, and older.
"Where's your friend?" White Eagle asked looking around.
Oh boy, here it comes.
Skyler sighed, "He's already here."
White Eagle's head shifted to the side in question.
"Sunstreaker, you think you can get the little one's attention?" Skyler asked.
Then there was a sound of booms and clicks which startled White Eagle. The small bot of course stopped fidgeting on Skyler's leg and its attention was on the Lamborghini car that Skyler had parked in behind him. In reply, he chirped to the other as if questioning who. When there was another respond from the car, the small bot's thrill burst and walked over to the other man, tugging him to come closer.
"White! Meet Sun! Meet Sun!"
White Eagle staring at the car felt rather cautious. Was the bot hiding inside the car? He gave a look to the con man, "Is he hiding?"
Skyler shook his head, "No, Sunstreaker is the whole car."
On cue, Sunstreaker rolled over to them, "I don't hide, human."
There was a gasp from the older man at first then it was covered quickly as he regained his composure. "I'm White Eagle."
"Sunstreaker."
"I wish not to intrude," the man asked, "But, is it alright for me to see your real form?"
The warrior bot made no warning as gears whirred and parts shifted until he towered over both the humans and the small bot. The small bot of course was jumping up and down seeing his large companion in his real form. Skyler, already used to Sunstreaker's size only smiled as the casino owner slightly paled as the warrior bot's immense size and of course he was armed with two large double blades. Compared to the one he raised this one was by no doubt had reach maturity.
Sunstreaker without a doubt knew the human caretaker was intimidated by his size and his weapons. He snorted, "Well, aren't we going to discuss about the sparkling?"
"O-Of course," the casino owner stuttered.
The larger bot rolled his eyes. Maybe heeding to Skyler's advice of staying in alt-form was a better idea. Now it was harder to communicate.
Seeing it was a good time to interfere and break the ice, Skyler asked, "I know you both are weary of each other but… don't you think the little guy needs a name? I'm not really looking forward to only calling him small one or the little guy all the time."
His of course, sprang the sparkling exhilaration to another level, "Ooh! Name! Name! Awesome name!"
With his curiosity getting over his fear White Eagle was interested to know how these beings have their names. "How do Cybertronians earn their name?"
Skyler also looked at the bot in question as he never actually asked that question before.
"By their personality and function mostly," Sunstreaker said. "Although there are a few bots who have name because of what they can do or an ability that makes them distinctive."
Skyler then went through the names he knew of the Autobots out loud. From Ironhide for a weapons specialist, Ratchet a medic, Bumblebee a scout, to even the ones he remember Sunstreaker briefly mentioned such as Wheeljack as a Scientist and Mirage as a sniper. All in all, each of them were very fitting names. In exception to Mudflap and Skids really, but Skyler kept his mouth shut on those two as he had no idea.
Skyler then looked at the little bot, "Well, he doesn't seem to be the warrior type, so we'll be skipping anything that stands as 'tough'."
"The little one isn't related to any animal I can think of," the casino owner added.
Sunstreaker noted more on the small bot's characteristics, "We'll settle for personality then." The Autobot's gaze shifted to the hotel owner. "What's the little bot like?"
White Eagle then listed off the things he had experienced with the small bot. One, it seemed to have a very endless amount of energy, liked to play jokes that he could be impish at time, and had a love for playing card games. Gambling wasn't something alien to the small bot but the casino owner mentioned the small bot had a lucky streak when he was up to it. The older man also explained how the small bot liked puzzles and had an affinity to like all sorts or music to the point he viewed Michael Jackson as his idol. Skyler was not surprised as the alt-form it chose was a card shuffler, but he couldn't help but feel amused and stifle a chuckle about a small bot having Michael Jackson for an idol.
Oh God, the world has gone nuts.
White Eagle suggested the name 'Shuffle' but Sunstreaker was against it as it sounded like a Decepticon.
The con man thought of 'lucky streak' but that was a little too cliché. He then thought of how some Autobots combined two words to make a name.
"How about Flipluck?" Skyler suggested.
The other two looked at him for an explanation.
"Well, he has a flippant nature, like cards, likes to gamble, is an expert in shuffling cards which is another way of flipping cards, and a lucky little guy," Skyler listed off.
Unexpectedly, the bot jumped and ended latching behind Skyler's shoulders in a hug, "Love it! Love it! Love it!" The young con man only laughed as he tried to balance himself so he wouldn't fall with extra weight on his back.
White Eagle nodded and smiled at this, "Fitting and he approves it."
Sunstreaker huffed, "At least it doesn't sound like a 'Con. I'm fine with it." He personally didn't really care what the small bot's name was ever going to be as long it sounded more like an Autobot name. Now that the human caretaker was calmer, the bot asked, "Do you know who his creators are?"
"His parents?" the casino owner rephrased which replied with a dull yes from the bot. "Hmm, he only mentions the All-Spark being his parent."
Skyler raised a brow at that and asked the Autobot, "Is that actually possible?"
"The All-Spark is the giver of all life on our planet. There are bots who are sparked from the All-Spark itself, as long there's a protoform," Sunstreaker said. The Autobot had suspicions on why the sparkling's form and metal was in fact composed of Cybertronian elements than elements on this planet. Yet, he kept it to himself. Perhaps he'll have to look into that later.
More confident now and thinking for the best he could do for the bot and his so-called new caretakers White Eagle looked at both of them. "So, I expect you two can take care of him?"
Sunstreaker and Skyler looked at each other.
"We're heading towards the other Autobots eventually," Skyler shrugged. "We probably need a fill in the stuff that he needs."
"Don't get ahead of yourself Skyler, I know what he needs," Sunstreaker cut it in, "The problem is how to get what he needs."
"I think I can be a little help for that," the casino owner volunteered.
Skyler raised the question, "What do you have in mind?"
Two hours later…
Back at the apartment, Skyler was at the garage just making sure that Flipluck was getting comfortable with them. After all, he did have to part with his previous caretaker and the fact both he and Sunstreaker were his official new caretakers, they had to teach the sparkling about a few rules and so forth. The con man was actually surprised when White Eagle offered him his best and closest contacts when it came to the sparkling's well being. At this rate, he was pretty sure that the government probably couldn't get their hands on him so easily without a fight.
Then there was a new thing Skyler had learned that night about.
Energon.
All this time, he was not aware that Sunstreaker needed energon to survive which made him guilty for the mech.
Sunstreaker waved it off was he didn't like the gasoline that humans had in particular, but since there was a sparkling now, he'd have to convert it in energon to make sure the sparkling was healthy. Even so, he was surprised that the smaller mech could actually do it for himself when he was given a large can of oil. The warrior bot wasn't sure how the sparkling knew but he figured it had something to do with the All-Spark leaving or giving him more knowledge than a normal sparkling for the age of only three measly years. Assuming it had something to do with the hazardous conditions of the human world, maybe it wasn't so odd that this sparkling had his survival instincts being pushed to the max.
The warrior bot was now not exactly happy being degraded to an equivalent of a sparkling sitter which the human out right laughed at him for it. The human was lucky enough to take care of shelter preparations and so forth which the bot could not do. Sunstreaker was actually surprised how Skyler had made his current con family believe he won an official casino card shuffler (which was in a way the truth) and managed to get them all stay upstairs counting the money Skyler gave them to split amongst them.
Now with a sparkling on their journey, the bot grudgingly didn't want to know what else lied ahead.
Suddenly, he felt a tapping of metal fingers on his alt-form.
"Can I sleep inside?" the small bot chirped pointing into the bot's interior.
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"NO."
Flipluck then sulked and his optics glowed with a light blue hue and shuttered very gently as he pouted at the taller and large mech.
Sunstreaker growled.
The small bot whimpered.
Still, the larger bot gave no answer.
Flipluck started to cry...
"Scrap!" Sunny muttered. "Fine! You can sleep in my interior." He grudgingly opened the door.
"Yeah!" Flipluck jumped jittery as his facade disappeared in an instant.
The con man of course gaped. Did I just see a Cybertronian version of the 'puppy-eyes' pout?
Not to mention the mech had actually felt for it!
Skyler had to actually close his mouth with both of his hands to stop the laughter that was threatening to pour out, but he miserably failed.
"NOT a WORD!" Sunstreaker warned the human about not to tell any of this to the other bots. "Stop laughing at me, Skyler!"
"Sorry, Sunstreaker, I couldn't help it," Skyler laughed out crying into tears and holding onto his stomach. He then breathed out catching his breath. He put his hands in front of him as a sign of peace and surrender although he was still smiling a Cheshire Cat grin, "My lips are sealed, mech."
Sunstreaker turned back to Flipluck who was also laughing at him, "It's ONLY for tonight."
"Aww," the sparkling moaned. He looked to Skyler for a defense but the human apologized with an 'I can't do anything for you' look.
The little bot then scrambled into Sunstreaker's interior as he held to the car door frame.
"Watch the paint job!"
Skyler couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head in amusement.
A warrior bot, a con man, and… a sparkling?
Man, I think this journey's insanity level went to its peak.
He then suddenly remembered a saying that goes, 'Life is a story written by God's finger.'
Too bad when it comes to my life, God got too creative.
Yet Skyler was certain that it was an unforgettable one.
Leaving Sunstreaker becoming the victim of being a 'sparkling sitter', Skyler headed up upstairs to get some long earned sleep.
Autobot Mission Log Entry 3.01:
Annoying Con Artist Traditions, I am NOT a Sparkling Sitter!
Topeka, Kansas, US.
Con men seriously have too much creativity for their own good.
Just when people or anyone think it's impossible to pull of something, they make things work wonders. Weird jargon, manipulating other's people greed, and even to the point of having some insane traditions of poker tournaments. In many cases in the past, I probably couldn't care less of those small things that happened around me. Truthfully, I was dead bored in waiting for Skyler to get Intel and hoping for some sort of sign that would lead to Soundwave.
After what happened three days ago, I couldn't help but feel that Sideswipe would end up as a target whether it was all about the spark tamperment or not. I soon realized with the fact that it was Sides that took Steve, he later be responsible for the human's twin and that meant Soundwave will eventually target him. To say I was worried was true enough, and I was hoping for any sort of sign of a Cybertronian to at least to pop up in Skyler's search for Intel.
What I didn't expect was to have my hopes backfire on me.
Of what seemed to be a large event of a con artist poker tournament gathering, the casino owner sends out invites with the letter of the All-Spark. I was wary enough to actually have thoughts I was going to face a Neutral or a hiding Decepticon.
Heh, all that worrying wasn't even worth it!
Like everything happening wasn't enough…
Pop comes out a sparkling!
ARGH!
THAT'S IT!
This journey is TOO INSANE!
As much as I really just want to break my circuits and throw them in a heap of junk, I had to keep up my dignity.
At least what was left of it.
I was traveling with a human who now I considered a brother, I change my alt-form time to time with a different color, and now I've been degraded... to a sparkling sitter.
Great fun, eh?
FUN MY 'AFT!
Scrap, what is Skyler thinking of anyway? The Pit I know what's going on inside his puny little head.
Nevertheless, it was really awkward how I couldn't get mad at him for it, even when he laughed at me over and over again today. I guess I was happy to see him better off than he had been the last three days after he had been separated from his twin. He was mostly gloomy at times, despite the successful cons he did; it wasn't enough to get rid of his forced smile he was acting out in front of the others. I suppose he really needed a break from it all, some fun to wash out the sorrow, even if it lasted a night.
Flipluck (as Skyler named him) was a very smart little bot for a sparkling, I had ideas that perhaps some of the All-Spark's knowledge was inside him yet there were still a lot of things I don't know about him. He pretty much had a flippant character just like Skyler said, but to tell you the truth, I still can't imagine just how he'll turn up to be as a mech. Pit, the ones that were taking care of him was a warrior bot and a con man! Not your so 'good education' people for youngsters. Ugh, I hope when I get back to the Autobots Ironhide won't shoot me to bits about that part.
So that night while the sparkling was finally asleep in my interior, I checked back in my datatrax for the lessons I've learned while 'Bee was a sparkling. Especially the parts of dealing temper tantrums when it came to difficult sparklings.
Pit, I better work on my immunity for the 'sparkly glowing optics tactic'. I definitely don't want a sparkling with leverage on me.
The fact that Skyler was in this one didn't help at all.
A sparkling learning how to blackmail?
That was WAY too dangerous.
That's NOT going to happen.
~ Sunny
TBC…
When Steve mentions his uncle is a government agent, yes, Robert Caldwell/Knight (Linus's father) is in fact a FBI Agent in Ocean's 13.
I own my lil' sparkling OC Flipluck (said separately as Flip luck) by the way. Poor 'Streaker, it's like I can't torture him enough. lol.
What has Flipluck have to do with the con man and Autobot warrior duo?
Steve meets Sideswipe, the Autbots, NEST, and bumps into our 'not-so-fav' liaison...
Skyler's still stuck on figuring out how his hacking worked against Soundwave...
Sunstreaker is now stuck with a sparkling to take care of...
What will happen?
We'll find out in the next chapter...
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See you all in the next chapter!
NOTE: Well done if you have read this chapter! You have just read 19k+ words (not including Au notes)! XD LOL.
