Chapter 13 - Halloween

On Wednesday, we were released from school early thanks to some teacher meeting, and Bee took us out to base to meet the Lennox and Epps families. It seemed they were adjusting pretty well, since we pulled up to see Coppertone playing with the kids while Sarah, Will, Epps, Monique and Optimus watched. Sarah was holding Annabelle in her arms. Once in the gate, we climbed out of Bee and he transformed, which had everyone looking at us. I waved, "Hi."

Optimus nodded to us. "Hello Alison, Mikaela, and Miles. How are you?"

"Doing good, Big Guy," Miles said as we walked up to them.

"Hi," Mikaela said. "I'm Mikaela. This is Alison, Miles, and Bumblebee." She pointed to each of us in turn, and I saw Bumblebee go closer to where Copper was.

Will smiled. "Hey there. Guys, I want you to meet my beautiful wife, Sarah," he squeezed the arm that was around her waist, "And the most darling angel to grace the face of the Earth, Annabelle."

"Flatterer," Sarah said. "Sarah Lennox. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Sarah," I said, turning to Monique. "And you must be Mrs. Epps."

"Monique is fine," she said. Sarah and Annabelle looked the same as they did in the movie, but Monique was entirely new to me, since she'd only shown up in the novels. She was a little taller than me, dark skin a few shades lighter than her husband's and bright dark brown eyes. Her black hair was cut to her chin and hung in big, loose curls. She turned to her kids. "Kids, come and meet the company."

The five kids groaned at having to leave the bots, but came over. The oldest three girls all had their hair in braids, and one had bright red streaks in some of hers. The youngest girl looked just like her mama, and then there was little Fred, being carried by one of the older girls. He looked like his daddy, though he still had his baby fat to him. When the kids reached us, Monique took Fred and Epps picked up the littlest girl.

"These are our oldest, Shareeka, Shaniqua, and Sheleeka," Monique pointed to each one, and now closer they could be told apart. Shareeka had a collection of freckles under her right eye, Shaniqua had the red braids, and Sheleeka had a birthmark on the underside of her chin that peeked up. Sheleeka was also the tallest by an inch or so.

"Momma, you make us sound like triplets," Shaniqua rolled her eyes a little.

"I'm the oldest," Shareeka said. "Then Shaniqua, then Sheleeka, with a year between each of us."

"Then it was three years before this one," Epps said, bouncing the youngest girl. "This is Mozambiqua."

"Hi!" The girl said, waving at us. "Are you gonna live here too?"

"We're just visiting for now," I said. "It's wonderful to meet you."

"And then we have Fred," Monique said, looking at her boy. "Say hi, Fred."

"Hi," he said, waving and looking at the three of us. "You're all pretty." He looked dead at Miles when he said it.

Mikaela and I started giggling. "Aww, Miles," Mikaela said, looking to him. "He thinks you're pretty."

"Well I am pretty fabulous." Miles flipped his hair and we laughed.

"We've been introduced, can we go play with Bumblebee and Copper now?" Shaniqua asked.

Monique sighed and shook her head. "Alright, you can go play with the robots now."

"Yes!" The girls ran back to the bots, Mozembiqua following after them. It was cute seeing Bumblebee and Copper with them, though I know what this has to be reminding Copper of.

"So, when's everyone else supposed to show up," Miles asked, and I turned back to us humans.

"The rest of the team will be here after election day," Will said. "It's everyone from Qatar, as well as a few resumes we need you to look over, Alison."

"Oh, thanks." Paperwork, yeah! "So you guys are basically on paid vacation until then?"

"And it is good pay too," Epps said. "Almost three times what we were making from our tour."

"Wow," Mikaela said. "That is sweet." And I agreed. I guess disbanding Sector Seven freed up a lot of change.

"Any plans for Halloween?" I asked.

"No, not really," Monique said. "We were thinking on going back to the old neighborhood, but it's too far to do that."

I smiled. "Well you are in perfect luck. The community center is holding a big Halloween party on Saturday. They'll have stuff for the kids and the grown ups. " I looked at Optimus. "You bots could come too, with your holoavatars."

Optimus raised a brow. "Are you certain we would be welcome?"

"It's open to anyone who can buy a ticket," Mikaela said. "You guys can just park in the parking lot or a couple streets away, and we can buy your guys' tickets tomorrow at school."

"Will they be able to blend in?" Sarah asked. "I mean, it will be a halloween party, but still…"

Optimus responded by transforming into his alt mode and materializing his holoavatar. And wow! He was kinda hot, in a dad sort of way. He looked about forty, with light brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard, and blue eyes to die for. He was wearing a blue leather jacket with red flames stitched on it, a dark blue shirt underneath it, jeans and work boots. He had the Autobot symbol as a patch on his left shoulder, and a white star burst on the right one. He also wore a set of dog tags, like Bumblebee's. The image was great, and looked like Optimus.

"Our holoavatars are very realistic," he said, running a hand through his hair. There was some minor clipping we could see and he frowned slightly. "Except for hair. That is very hard to reproduce quite right."

"They can even feel things too.," I said, stepping over to Optimus and grabbing his hand so the others could see. I pinched the back of his hand and he winced, pulling free.

"Was that really necessary?"

"I could have punched you, but I didn't think that would be wise for either of us." I smiled cheekily.

"Bumblebee's used his holoavatar to hang out with us after school a lot," Mikaela said. "No one's ever suspected a thing."

"Besides," Miles added. "It'll be a chance to get off base for a while. Have you guys left at all since you got here?"

Optimus definitely looked like he was considering it. "We'll ask the others if they want to go, but I plan to attend."

I smiled. "Fantastic!" I looked to the Epps and Lennoxes. "You too?"

Monique smiled. "I guess I can tell the girls their costumes won't go to waste."

We talked with the other bots and they all agreed that a night out would be fun, and we started discussing costumes. Sarah made sure Mikaela, Miles and I completed our homework, and even helped Miles a bit when he struggled on some math problems. I also managed to shoot a text to Cade, telling him the plan was on.

Thursday, we bought the nineteen tickets for the group. At ten bucks a pop, I made it an even two hundred just so we wouldn't have to deal with change. Mom and Dad were coming to the party, but they'd already bought tickets so I didn't have to worry about them.

Saturday came and we went to base to get ready for the party. I decided to go as a jedi, for which I conveniently had a costume in the closet (and not the cheap store bought one either). Mikaela dressed as a witch, with a knee length black dress, hat, and boots. Miles went the easy route, switching his usual t-shirt with an open Hawaiian shirt and slicked his hair back to look like a surfer.

Will, Sarah and Annabelle did a family costume, Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles Flintstone. Epps and Monique did a couple's costume, Cleopatra and an Egyptian guard. The oldest girls were done up with unicorn horns, glitter paint and all the rest needed for three My Little Pony costumes. I guess I can't blame them, it was their only defining trait in my world, and they looked good. Mozambiqua had a Spidergirl costume, and little Fred had an Air Force uniform, like his daddy's.

The bots of course had the easy costumes, they just had to think them into existence. I promised Bumblebee if he copped out and went as a bumblebee, I would get Mikaela's help and paint him pink for a week. His costume, instead, was a hogwarts student, a Hufflepuff to be exact. Ratchet went as Dr. House, though his holo actually looked like Peter Capaldi. Ironhide was going as Jayne Cobb from Firefly, and damn, he was dead on, with the addition of some scars that were just Ironhide. Coppertone had a cop costume (not the slutty one, thank god) and looked adorable in it. Jazz was a DJ, and he reminded me of someone, but I couldn't place it with his sunglasses covering half his face. Last but not least, Optimus was a Jedi, dressed like Obi Wan in Episode III. I wanted to know who showed him Star Wars, but he was amazing looking, and I declared myself his padawan.

After we all were ready, I told the bots they all looked amazing

"Course we do, Lil' Lady," Jazz said, tilting his glasses down to look at me. "You expecting anything less?"

I smiled. "No, not really. So who's going with who?"

"Sarah, Annabelle and I are going to ride with Ironhide," Will said. "Monique, Bobby and the kids are gonna take the van," meaning the van that had been bought for when the bots couldn't take people places, just in case someone had to leave early, "and then Bumblebee will take you while the rest drive by themselves."

I looked to Optimus. "Mind a ride along, master?" I gave a small bow to him.

He smiled. "I would welcome one, actually. There was something I wished to ask you about."

Mikaela checked her watch. "If we want to beat traffic, we'll have to leave now. It'll be bad enough when the party's over."

We all went to our designated vehicles and left the base, shutting the gate behind us. Ratchet had sensors set up that would alert us if anyone came near base while we were gone, con or human. I just hoped they worked.

"So," I said once we were underway. "What's you want to talk about?"

"I've been having a feeling that there is much more to you than meets the eye, Alison."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't seem to be simple chance it was your grandfather who discovered Megatron, or you being the descendant to inherit his glasses."

"Oh." I shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. I mean, it's not like my family has some weird Cybertronian thing in our bloodline, my great-grandpa was born before Archibald left for the Arctic."

"Even so, it is not many who would risk their own life the way you did. You had no knowledge of what the AllSpark would do to you."

I shrugged. "I guess I at least thought that I'd buy some time. I mean, it shocked you and Megatron quite a bit."

"Indeed." Optimus smiled. "And now the AllSpark is with us, in a new form."

I smiled back. "Yeah, and she's having a good time up here." I tapped my temple. "I just hope she doesn't get the idea of making sparklings soon. I don't need my laptop turning into a Toshibot."

"I can see how that would not be good."

"Yeah." I thought for a moment, then asked, "What do you think of the Decepticons?"

"What?"

"Like, just the average soldier, the ones who followed orders. What would you do if one came seeming amnesty or a truce?"

Optimus was quiet for a bit, thinking on that. "I would have to judge from the current situation; who is the Decepticon, what was the situation at base, why they were seeking a truce and what they could offer."

"But you wouldn't necessarily reject the offer flat out?" I asked, trying not to seem too eager.

"No. I wouldn't. But I have to look out for all the Autobots and our allies." He looked at me. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just a thought," I said, and it wasn't really a lie. I had been thinking about it, like if N-Sync showed up, or any con not known to be a psycho-nut.

The rest of the drive was spent just chatting and within the hour we reached the high school, where the party was taking place. After parking, we went to the doors, though not before having to tell Ironhide to leave the "prop gun" in the Topkick, and I passed over the tickets. We'd managed to get there at just the right time. The DJ and band were playing in the gym, and people were already dancing and talking. Across the hall, a bunch of classrooms had different games with prizes in them, and there was the kid's party, where we let the girls and Fred loose.

"Okay," Mikaela said, turning to the bots. "The tickets paid for everything in here, so do whatever you want. Just remember to try and blend in. And if you get into any trouble, find one of us. Most importantly, have fun."

I nodded. "You guys have survived a war and finally have a chance to relax. Embrace it." I took Mikaela's hand and smiled. "I know I will." With that said, I pulled Mikaela away from the group and out to the dance floor.

The next couple hours were a blast. Miles and Bee joined Mikaela and I on the floor, and the four of us did what we've done best lately; ignore the haters and act like it's just us. I did the "white-girl-in-a-club" dance, and they all followed my lead. When a slow dance came up, Mikaela and I danced together, and on the next one Bumblebee snagged me.

Around 9:30, I got a text on my phone and pulled it out to see who it was from. Barricade. He sent that his holoavatar had arrived and was waiting by the doors.

"Operation: Cade, Phase One is complete," I said to the others when they looked at me.

"Alright, so who's going to take Ironhide?" Miles asked.

"I'm gonna talk to the Lennoxes real quick," I said. "Bee, you got Copper, Miles, you got Jazz, and 'Kaela, you get Ratchet."

"You think this is gonna work?" Mikaela asked me.

"I never assume my plans will work," I said. "That's why they always do."

We broke, heading for our respective targets. I spotted Will and Sarah in a corner, and made my way over to them. "Will," I said. "I need a huge favor."

"Yeah? What is it, Alison?" he asked me, and Sarah looked curious too.

"I need you to distract Ironhide for, like, the next hour, and keep him away from Optimus."

"He's over with Ratchet getting some snacks," Sarah said. "Amazing they can actually eat with those avatars."

I nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. I need you guys to make sure he stays distracted. Mikaela's gonna start talking medic stuff with Ratchet and Ironhide's gonna wander off."

"Why does he need to be distracted?" Will asked.

"Because I need to introduce Optimus to someone, and if Ironhide finds out who, he's going to go blow them up."

"Who is it, a Decepticon," Sarah said with a slight joking tone.

"Yes."

They stared at me for a moment. "You want Optimus to talk with a Decepticon by himself!?" Will asked.

"I'll be with him, and the con's using his avatar too. I don't know if you remember a cop car following us back at Mission City?" After a moment, he nodded. "That's Barricade. He's an ass, but he's not going to hurt us. Being the last con on Earth, he has the opinion that a truce is the best option for him."

"How do you know about him?" Sarah asked.

"Cause he's been living in Mile's garage for almost a month."

"I thought you promised to reveal the location of any Cons you discovered," Will said.

"Fingers crossed." I showed him. "There is a way for the Autobot-Decepticon conflict to end, and sometimes it takes a simple attempt to extend an olive branch to get the ball rolling."

Will and Sarah looked a little conflicted, then Will sighed. "You're going to do this anyway, we can at least try to help.

I smiled and bounced a little. "Thank you. You go to him, and I'm gonna find Optimus. Where'd you last see him?"

"He was in the hall doing some games with Copper last I saw," Sarah said.

"Thanks." I ran off to find the bot leader sending a text to Barricade to go to a room on the second floor.

I nearly ran right into Optimus as he was walking into the dance hall. "Optimus! Perfect timing. We have some urgent Jedi business to attend to!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him after me, managing to slip past the party staff to get to the stairs.

"Alison, what is it?" Optimus asked worried. "Has something happened?"

"Not yet, but I hope it will be something good when it does." I found the room Barricade had gone to ( Hosney's classroom, ironically) and opened the door.

Barricade was leaning against the windows, still in his cop uniform, still smoking that fake cigarette. He took a drag and looked up. "You sure Ironhide's not gonna bust in here for me, or take off to go after my real form?"

"Will and Sarah are distracting him right now," I said, pulling Optimus in all the way and closing the door. "Optimus, I'm sure you know Barricade, or at least know of him."

Optimus merely blinked for a moment, then narrowed his eyes at Barricade. "What are you doing here, Barricade?"

"Alison invited me," he said, pointing to me with his cigarette. "Figured this would be the best place to meet up, especially to avoid your weapon's specialist."

Optimus turned to me. "You knew his location?"

"He's been living in Miles's garage since Mikaela and I got back from Mission City, and before that he was hanging with Miles out in the park. He's not a threat to us, for now at least." I sat criss-cross on top of one of the desks, in between the two. "Sit, both of you."

Optimus did, but Barricade shook his head. "I'm fine just where I am."

"Okay, so, Optimus, the reason we three are here is because Barricade has decided, being the only con left on the planet besides Scorponok, it would be better to have a truce between himself and the bots than to leave himself open for attack."

Optimus raised a brow. "You wish to have a truce?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" Barricade asked. "Megatron's gone and I don't know of any plans for him to return, so why wait around to be killed?"

"What do you have to offer us for in this truce?"

"I will remain in the area around Tranquility, where you can watch me, and will inform one of your Autobots if I need to or intend to leave. I will not offer Decepticon secrets to you, nor will I reveal Autobot ones to any Decepticons. I will also keep myself out of any conflict that may happen between the two sides." He took a drag from the cigarette. "I will also not harm any humans, here or elsewhere, unless they attack me first."

"Would you kill a human if they did attack you?" Optimus's eyes narrowed.

"I'd try not to, but you know how squishy they are." Barricade shrugged. "I can't promise one or two won't die, but I won't intended it to happen."

"I think those are reasonable terms," I spoke up. I should know, I helped make them. It wasn't turning him full Autobot, but I didn't expect him to. At least not this soon, maybe in a few years or more.

Optimus pondered for a couple minutes. "Would you defend Alison should any Decepticons attack her, or would you stand aside."

Barricade raised a brow and thought. Finally he said, "I would do what I could to keep the both of us safe from harm."

Optimus frowned a little, but we could tell this was the best we'd get from him. "I accept the terms of this truce. May I ask where your physical body is at the moment?"

"I am currently on the other side of Tranquility, hiding in case this fell through and you sent Ironhide after me." With that, the holo disappeared and it was just me and Optimus in the room.

I smiled and looked to him, hopping off the desk. "I think that went well, don't you?"

He stood and looked sternly at me. "Alison, do you realize how dangerous it was to be near him and not let any of us know?"

"Bumblebee knew, but I made him swear not to tell." I tried to look as innocent as possible. "Besides, like he'd really hurt the bearer of the AllSpark."

"You do not realize what the Decepticons are capable of."

"I have the full knowledge of your history in my head," I said. "I think I know what they can do."

"You may know, but you do not realize."

I met his eyes briefly. They were stern, with a hint of disappointment. But they were also sad. A sad that turned them a darker blue than his true color, one that spoke depths. They reminded me that, while Optimus was still rather young for a Cybertronian, he had seen and experienced so much. I had to look away.

"Well, now that that's done, let's get back downstairs," I said, trying to bounce back. "The night is young, the party's in full swing, and it'd be a shame to miss it."

Optimus watched me for a moment, then rolled his shoulders and smiled slightly. "You're right. Let's enjoy ourselves tonight." The while we can was implied, but I heard it.

Optimus and I returned downstairs just as they were starting the Thriller Dance. I dragged him in with me and he did pretty good for a first timer. Ratchet and Mikaela found us shortly after and us girls left the bots to their own devices. We played some of the games, then Bee and Miles joined us back in the gym and we danced the night away. Mikaela and I did the slow dances, though Bee and Miles managed to snag one each from us. The boys even did an exaggerated dance together, which was hilarious.

It was midnight when the party wound down and we regrouped to head back to base. Mom and Dad had found the adults and Mom, Sarah and Monique were chatting up a storm, agreeing to meet up and continue talking later on. We left in the same groups we'd arrived in, except I rode with Mikaela and Bumblebee.

The Epps kids all crashed out in the van and we helped carry them into their rooms. I heard Optimus tell the bots that they'd have a meeting in the morning. He'd already told me about it and had earnestly suggested I attend. I think he wanted me to take responsibility, which I would, it was my idea.

Once the kids were in bed, us adults also hit the sack, since we were all pooped out. I would have just fallen onto the bed after taking off my robes and boots, but Mikaela encouraged me to change into my pjs while she did the same. Then we got under the covers and cuddled together.

"You were a beautiful witch," I told her.

"And you were a gorgeous jedi." She smiled and nuzzled my face. I nuzzled back and tangled my legs with hers. I gave her nose a kiss and pulled her to me so her head kinda tucked under my chin.

"I love you," I said as I closed my eyes.

"Love you too," I heard her say before we both drifted off to sleep.

Okay, fair warning, next chapter is being a pain to write, so it might take a bit longer to come out. I am also doing Camp NaNoWriMo for a different story, so I am focusing on that over this one and that will delay the chapter a bit. Thanks for being patient with me, and for now enjoy this turn of events. The poll is up if haven't voted yet. If you don't vote on the poll, it's not an official vote, so go do it!