Disclaimer : Yeah, once again, I own nothing. ... Sadly.
Author's Note : WOW! Another update! And it's not even been a month! Luckily, my lovely co-author and I were able to squeeze some time in for this chapter and work it all out. Plus, I had a long weekend because of snow in my area. It's still on the ground and will probably be there for a while... lovely. But on the bright side, these snow days give me more excuses to write! I hope you enjoy this chapter because it was really fun to write!
Warnings : Myra attempting to strangle Miko with her bare hands, Tipsy!Erica, some mentions of alcohol, and minor foul language.
There was an eerie sense of silence that one would experience in a horror movie after Mirage had gone. Still confused, Bulkhead was trying to comprehend his comrade's outburst but could find no explanation. The rest of the Bots looked quite bewildered.
And that's when the green warrior decided to break the awkward silence. "What just happened?" Bulkhead rumbled.
"Mirage had a meltdown and tried to attack Optimus." Arcee stated bluntly sending a glare towards her commander who was walking towards Ratchet.
Bulkhead was still surprised. He looked at Arcee with a dumfounded look on his face. But the blue femme was simply not amused. "... I don't think I've ever seen him break like that before. Whatever happened between him and Barricade must have caused something."
The blue femme scoffed and folded her arms over her chest. "Or he's just been waiting to explode in our faces and - " Arcee was quickly cut off by a face full of an angry British Autobot. Lunarbolt's optics flashed in anger as she stared down the smaller femme.
"I suggest you keep your comments to yourself, Arcee. And I know for a fact, as does Optimus, that Mirage would rather die than hurt anyone of us... even you." The silver femme spat with a clenched fist.
The blue femme blinked in shock as Luna continued, now starting to poke her in the chest hard. "He's one of the most loyal Autobots you can ever meet. He has been through hell and back and you no right to judge him you bloody dwit!"
"Lunarbolt!" The Prime snapped. The silver femme paused in her rant and turned towards their commander with dark optics. Everyone in the room, including the teens, stared up at the leader, waiting patiently if not anxiously for his response.
The Prime cleared his throat and then said, "For now, it is wise that we leave Mirage to sort out his problems. We all know that he will come for help when he needs it and we will be there to assist. But, until that day comes, we must give him time."
"But he could be a loose cannon, Prime! He tried to attack you!" Arcee protested. "For all we know he could be a Decepticon!"
Just as the word reached his audio receptors, Bluestreak quickly jumped the gun and downright snarled at Arcee. The femme jumped but she was not afraid of the sniper. "My partner is not a Decepticon! He's lost too many good friends, not to mention his entire family to the Cons and Jazz was one of them!" The grey and black mech growled, blue optics darkening.
He clenched his fist and prepared to lunge towards the femme, eager to start a fight but was pulled back by Bumblebee's strong grip. The yellow scout sent the other mech a series of clicks and whirls, as if he was attempting to calm the angry sniper down. Arcee glared daggers at the sniper and prepared to fight him as well but Ratchet kept a strong grip on her shoulder.
"Arcee, Bluestreak, that is enough," Optimus sharply said, looking at the both of his subordinates. "We cannot bicker and accuse others of being something we have no particular evidence of."
"Optimus is right," Ratchet began, glancing sideways to Arcee. "Mirage may be a lot of things, but a Decepticon is surely not one of them."
Knowing that Optimus had given the final say, the team was left in silence. But Arcee was not going to be convinced otherwise. Seeing she was losing this fight, Arcee jerked her shoulder from Ratchet's grip and sent him a dirty look. She simply rolled her optics before storming off in a huff, transforming and speeding out of the base.
As the group of teens, it was obvious that this was definitely not a fun night.
"Well, there goes Jack's ride home." Miko stated as Myra crossed her arms looking broody as she muttered darkly. "And mine just flew over the cuckoo's nest."
Erica glared at the both of them. She looked at the black haired boy sympathetically and patted Jack on the arm who appeared to be upset at the loss of his ride. "It's late; we should all go home and sleep... even if the party was a complete disaster."
"That's a beautiful way to describe my house right now," Myra groaned turning to Miko with an expectant look. "I hope you realize that you're helping me clean that mess up."
"We still have one more day before your parents get back from Vegas. Besides, I'm bushed. Let's go and sleep..." Miko yawned tiredly.
Raf rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn after the Japanese girl. "Yeah... my mom will be pretty mad if I don't get home soon."
"... Uhm my parents are coming home in three days from Florida, remember?" Myra furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Ohhh... yeah... about that... I knew that there was something I forgot to tell you..." Miko said sheepishly.
Myra froze and slowly turned towards Miko with a dangerous look in her eyes. "What?" She narrowed her eyes at her. The taller teen took a single step forward while Miko took a step back.
"Your parents sent me a text saying that they're coming home early... like tomorrow early."
Myra's eyes widened. Erica face-palmed and groaned softly into her hands knowing, for a fact, that this was going to end very badly for someone. "Oh dear..." The girl slipped off her shoes and handed them to Jack. "Hold my heels."
He wordlessly took them as he watched one of Myra's eyes and hands start to twitch. "Miko," she said quietly. "I'm giving you a three second head start before I start chasing so I can strangle you."
And as if it was on cue, Myra let out a frustrated yell and lunged towards Miko who yelped, running away to hide behind Raf's smaller frame. Erica rushed into action, snatching the darker haired girl by the waist and dragging her backwards, kicking and throwing out Italian curses. "MYRA! Damnit... RESTRAIN YOURSELF! NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO KILL MIKO!"
"WHEN IS A GOOD TIME THEN?!" She snarled trying to claw herself out of her friend's grasp. "I'm going to throw that little impudent puttana off a cliff!"
"Just. Not. At. The. Moment!" The girl managed to say, dodging her friend's flailing arms. She attempted to dodge one but then felt a hand fly into her face and smack her promptly on the nose. With a curse, Erica released Myra and brought both hands to her nose.
"Oww..." The blonde moaned with a whimper.
The dark haired teen instantly cooled off at the sound of her injured friend. She winced. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry, Eri! Are you okay?!"
The girl huffed. "Well, I don't think you broke my nose... luckily." She checked her hands and noticed that there was no blood. Sighing, Erica walked over to Jack and grabbed her shoes from him with a smile. "Thanks for taking care of my babies."
"They're very nice." He charmingly smiled, ignoring Miko who was making a gagging motion.
Raf exchanged glances between the others and asked, "So... can we get going or are we gonna spend the night here? Because last time I checked, Erica's in a dress and we didn't bring any pajamas."
Miko smirked. "Not that Jack cares." The two younger members of the group snickered while Jack threw them both a dark look with flushed cheeks.
Erica snorted and chuckled as Myra had to hide a smirk behind her hand. "And it's a lovely dress that she wore. Pity, Miko couldn't pull it off. She doesn't have the right skin tone." Myra said with a shake of her head.
The said teenager scoffed and rolled her eyes. "As if I want to wear a dress."
Sensing the tension, Erica immediately jumped to intervene with the two bickering teens. "Alright, look, I've been thrown out of a car, chased by a Decepticon, and hit in the nose... I would really like to go home now so let's not start a fight." Erica pleaded.
"Right... right..." Miko turned on her heel. "So… ride..."
The blonde yawned and stood next to Jack. She looped her arm through his and placed her head on his arm. Jack looked down at the blonde, trying his best to hide his blush. "Any bright ideas Myra?" Erica asked, leaning heavily against Jack's shoulder stifling another yawn.
She looked over her shoulder from where she had scooted to the railing, before shrugging. "Not really."
"Maybe we could get a ride from Bee or Blue? I'm sure one of them could help us out." Jack suggested.
"Probably..." Myra leaned against the rail distractedly.
Jack glanced down at Erica whose eyes were sealed shut and was curled into his side. The girl was breathing softly and burying her face into his arm. "Myra... I think she's asleep." He stated bluntly, pointing at Eric with his otherwise unused hand.
The dark haired teen shook her head snorting in surprise. "Wow, she must have been really tired."
"Apparently..." Miko muttered with a roll of her eyes.
Jack grabbed Erica's shoes and handed them to Raf. The dark haired boy carefully lifted the sleeping blonde into his arms, carrying her bridal style, and looked back at Myra.
"Where are you going?" He asked with a quirked brow making her freeze.
"Uhmm... well, that's a good question with an even better answer." Myra pointed out with a grin. Jack frowned. He wasn't too convinced. The darker haired girl huffed and pointed upwards.
"I thought Optimus said that we should leave him alone." Raf replied.
Myra threw a look over her shoulder to Raf. "He didn't say humans, now did he?" She fully climbed over the railing facing them. "Plus, I bet the police are still lingering around my house like bloodhounds."
"Then why don't we stay at Erica's?" Miko asked.
She paused and thought about the question for a moment. The dark haired girl nodded and then grinned. "Ya know, that's not a bad idea actually. Good one Miko." The Japanese girl looked at the retreating teen and blinked several times at her.
Jack opened his mouth to stop Myra from leaving but he was beaten to it.
"You're not thinking about going to see Mirage, are you, Myra?" All the teens looked up to see a familiar mech with a frown on his face and arms folded across his broad chest. Miko snorted and muttered, "Busted." Jack sent her a dark look and elbowed her hard in the ribs even with Erica in his arms.
"...maybe?" She hung on the bars precariously. "I feel like I owe him a lot, perhaps an apology too." She sighed and leaned her head on the bar. "Yeah, yeah... I'll beat you to the punch and say it's stupid and possibly dangerous."
Bluestreak shot a sarcastic looking grin. "Good. I'm glad you see reason." His expression darkened. "Now, come on. I'm taking you all home before Optimus decides to nail my aft to the wall." He backed away from the railing and transformed into his alt. mode, propping all four doors open. Miko and Raf headed down the stairs first with Jack trailing behind them with a sleeping beauty in his arms.
Myra stayed where she was at, frowning at the Autobot. "Aren't you worried about him at all? You said so yourself, he's your partner."
"And I know when to give him space. He's done it plenty of times for me as well... it's time I owe the favor." Bluestreak echoed through the radio. Jack finally made it down the stairs and placed Erica in the passenger seat before climbing into the back with Raf and Miko.
She continued frowning at him before giving one last look at the elevator. "Alright, if you're so sure about it."
"I'm positive. I've known Mirage since we were kids... he'll confront us when he's ready. Now c'mon, let's get going." Bluestreak called out.
She hesitantly nodded and climbed back over. "I'll take your word on that." The dark haired teen slid in closing the door behind her.
Knowing that he had won this battle, Bluestreak slowly turned on his engine and began to drive out of the base, heading out of the entrance. He navigated his way through some of the back roads, avoiding any signs of police cars. He drove into Jack's neighborhood before pulling to a stop. Jack said his goodbyes and closed the door behind him. Bluestreak then dropped off Raf at his house and the others watched him sneak in without making any disturbance. Finally, after driving past the street that lead to Myra's house, the Mustang drove into Erica's neighborhood, pulled into her driveway and cut off his engine.
Grumbling, Myra and Miko exited the car and closed their doors. The darker haired girl went over to her friend's side of the car and found the blonde to be sound asleep. Myra's shoulders slumped at the sight of her friend. "And of course my best friend is still asleep." Myra grumbled before grabbing her friend's arm and wrapping it around her neck. "Blue, the door... please?"
Bluestreak wordlessly propped the door open and then activated his holoform startling Myra enough to almost drop Erica. "Damn!" She breathed in Italian before shooting a glare at him.
The infamous black haired boy with the blue streak quietly smirked as he gathered the sleeping girl in his arms, jerking his head toward the door. "I hope you got a key because this would be considered breaking and entering... and I already have one of those on my record." He spoke, moving towards the front door with Miko behind him.
"Yeah, hang on..." Myra jogged past him before jumping over the fence that lead into the backyard. Furious barking was then heard followed by curses and a sharp voice saying "Chance shut it! Here! Get the treat... you bloody maniac!" After that was an excited yip and then silence. A couple seconds later the front door opened, revealing Myra with a broad smile on her lips. "Entrez si vous s'il vous plaît." She greeted in French, making Miko and Bluestreak raise their eyebrows.
"I thought you were Italian?" Miko asked, slightly confused.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah so? I know a lot of languages besides Italian. Not as well but I still know some handy words. I even know how to say 'Take me to your leader' in five different languages!"
"Show off." Miko muttered, stomping into the house.
Bluestreak shook his head and went inside, stiffening when Chance began to sniff at his legs. The Border Collie then began to growl at him, baring his teeth, revealing a clean set of pearly whites. Myra snickered at the holoform's predicament as he inched slowly away from Chance's snarling form. Chuckling nervously, he holoform quickly made his way around the dog and headed up the stairs to Erica's room. He gently placed the girl on the bed, hoping not to wake her but to his dismay, she shifted and yawned. Blinking, Erica sat up on her bed and rubbed her eyes tiredly. When she realized that she was in her room, she locked eyes with Bluestreak's human-like ones.
"What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?"
"He carried you inside, dummy." Myra piped up from behind him leaning on the doorjamb with her arms crossed.
"Not helping, Myra!" The two in the room shouted at her.
"Ugh, alright, sorry. I'll leave you two lovebirds alone then." She turned to leave, back the way she had come from and walked out the door dodging the high-heel thrown by Erica without missing a beat.
Erica huffed and sat up on the bed, legs crossed. She looked up at Bluestreak who bent over and picked up her shoe. With a 'hmph', the holoform tossed back the heel which Erica easily caught. The blonde examined her shoe before taking off the other heel and threw both into her open closet. They landed with a heavy thump!
Bluestreak ran a hand through his dark hair. "I should - you know, probably get going and leave you three... so... uhm - yeah... Right." The holoform turned to make his leave with an awkward blush on his cheeks.
"Or you could stay." Erica suggested quietly from her spot on the bed.
The boy paused. "Stay? As in the area? Like local vicinity? Or like the house? Or... in the room?" Bluestreak looked over his shoulder a little confused by her request.
Erica shrugged, her blue eyes meeting his. "I guess, if you want, you could stay in my room... with me." The girl bit her lip. She slowly stood up from the bed and sauntered her way over to where Bluestreak was standing.
He turned around. "Erica? Are you… alright? You don't seem..." The holoform paused and watched as the blonde swayed on the balls of her feet. He cleared his throat and finished, "Yourself."
The blonde let out a high-pitched giggle, slapping her hand on his arm. "I'm perfectly fine! Why are you so worried about me, dear ole Blue?" Erica spoke with a glint in her eyes.
He blinked a little at her looking down at the hand that was on his arm. Okay something was not right. Last time they talked she hated his guts, but now she's asking him to stay? Gently removing her hand, the holoform let out a nervous laugh as he backed up a little. "Erica, you're acting very strange." More so than usual... "Did you drink anything at the party that you shouldn't have?"
Erica quirked a blonde brow at the boy and scoffed, "It was just a tiny sip. How much harm could a drink to do a girl?" The blonde remarked. She appeared to be offended by his questioning; but that wasn't going to stop her. Erica took a step around Bluestreak, pulled her door closed and pressed her back up against the door. The blonde smirked, blocking Bluestreak's only exit... or he could try for the window again.
After all, it worked out so well last time.
He carefully backed up again, this time for the window. The holoform mused on her words before replying. "A tiny sip of what exactly?" Though he thought he already knew as to what. From what he read it wasn't uncommon for high school parties to have their drinks spiked with something alcoholic. And apparently someone might have done it at the party earlier this evening...
The girl noticed the way Bluestreak was backing away and then laughed shaking her head. "I wouldn't go for the window, if I were you..." The blonde replied in a sing-song voice. She pushed her body away from the door, clasped her hands behind her back and strode towards Bluestreak.
He stopped and focused his eyes on her. It was obvious already. The holoform sent the blonde a nervous smile and took a step back, his knees smacking into the window sill. He looked down to see that it was furnished with two pillows and a small blanket.
Bluestreak slowly turned back to the girl who was even closer than before. "Erica - I - uhm - uhm... heh... I - I believe you're drunk. Or close to it. Whichever you prefer..." He stuttered as the blush crawled its way to his neck.
"Pssh! I'm not drunk! Maybe a bit tipsy, but certainly not drunk, at least not terribly drunk you know?" Erica replied with a wave of her hand. She finally made her way up towards Bluestreak and ran a hand up his arm with a sigh. The holoform swallowed thickly as the girl drew patterns on his bicep.
"I always wondered if that's why my mom gave me up... that she was a drunk who couldn't care less about her infant daughter. Hearing her stupid kid screaming in the middle of night during a thunderstorm but she just kept going back to the bottle..." Erica murmured sadly. She glanced up at Bluetreak and snaked her hand to cup the back of his neck. The holoform visibly swallowed, his mouth going dry.
Tilting her head to the side, Erica blinked several times before whispering, "Maybe it was just too irresistible." And with that said, the blonde surged forward and pressed her lips onto Bluestreak's. The holoform's eyes widened in shock but he slowly closed them, his hands betraying his brain and reaching out for Erica's waist. The blonde who had instigated the kiss, grinned and wrapped both arms around the holoform's neck.
It wasn't long before the kiss broke and Erica was leaning in for more but Bluestreak knew that he had to stop her before things got out of hand.
Bluestreak awkwardly pushed the blonde away who frowned in return. "Erica, Erica stop." He gently kept her at arm's length trying to stop her from approaching him. "It's been a long day and you should go to sleep."
Erica crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed. "Sleep? Sleep?! But we were having so much fun... weren't we, Blue?" The blonde pouted, as if she was a five-year old.
"You're not yourself, alright? You're drunk." Bluestreak patiently remarked.
The blonde threw her head back in laughter. "Oh, so this is when you're actually going to act all gentleman? Come on, don't be such a wuss! I know you liked that kiss because you kissed me back, you damn bastard." The girl snapped angrily.
Bluestreak's mouth dropped, dumfounded. Erica smirked as the holoform appeared to be have slapped before his eyes hardened. "Well, what would you have done?!" He blurted out while advancing towards her. "You took me by surprise, Erica! How do you think I was going to react?!"
"And say if I was to kiss you again, would you stay or jump out the window and run away like last time, you coward?" Erica remarked bitterly. She glared daggers at the holoform and waited for his answer.
Bluestreak stared back. Honestly he didn't know what he would do. For once he was just clueless on what he could say to her. The holoform kept eye contact with her before sighing and shaking his head. He gently pushed past her opening the bedroom door.
He paused in his stride before looking at the blonde's back. With a nod, he murmured, "Good night, Erica." and left the door ajar for Chance.
Feeling hurt and tears stinging her eyes, Erica sniffed and wiped pathetically at her nose. The girl wiped away some of the stray tears and walked over to her unmade bed. She unceremoniously flopped onto her bed and curled into a ball, burying her face into her pillows. After a few moments, the muffled sobs erupted from the teen who clutched onto her pillows, staining her tears with them. It wasn't long before Chance traveled his way upstairs and walked into Erica's room. He found the girl, now asleep, and jumped on the bed. The Border Collie nestled himself by the girl's side and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, lounging across on the couch in the living room, Myra had a Kindle in her hand and a pair of green buds in her ears. Her foot twitched every now and then to a beat of some tune she was listening to. She didn't know where Miko was, and she didn't care. Blue and Erica were upstairs doing... whatever they were doing and she didn't care about that either.
Grumbling about a certain blonde girl, Bluestreak stomped his way down the stairs and towards the door. His hands were flying away in various gestures and muttering some Cybertronian curses.
Frowning, Myra paused her iPod right in the middle of P!nk and looked over to see Miko curled up on the loveseat, snoring lightly. Listening for a few minutes, she popped her head over the back of the couch surprised to see Bluestreak. "... Blue?"
"I hope you realize that your friend is drunk, decided to kiss me, and is now probably passed out on her bed... You're welcome." The holoform stated with a dry laugh.
She mulled over his words before shooting up off the couch, stomping angrily. "I KNEW IT! Someone spiked the damn drinks! I just knew that punch tasted funky! They used rum!"
Bluestreak rolled his eyes and began to ramble his way out of the house, "Look, I'm gonna go back to base and check up on the others. Don't do anything stupid. Call me if you run into any Cons. And also..." He paused with his hand on the door frame. He smacked it lightly before regaining his voice. "Just - uh, make sure Erica's okay."
She paused in her grumbling to give him a stiff nod. The dark haired teen then went back to muttering darkly about the fate of a particular exchange student. Myra then froze turning around realizing he had said something else. "Wait did you say she - " But he was already gone.
Myra's shoulders slumped in defeat. "...kissed you?"
A/N: Hope you readers have a great week... minus school and snow in certain parts of the world. Thank you for taking time to read and drop a review! More reviews = more chapter updates! :) Also, thought it would be fun to drop a little kiss between Blue and Erica... besides, they're adorable together! Well, don't forget to leave a review and look for the next chapter!