CHAPTER 13

Optimus Prime just barely missed being hit by a light blue limo. As he swerved to avoid it he lost control of himself and crashed into a sign. "Sparks," he cursed transforming into standard mode. "Why can't humans pay more attention to their own traffics laws?"

He looked back toward the street, his optics falling onto the limo disappearing down the street. "Slag it!"

Just then his comlink started clicking. He put his finger to the side of his head, activating it. "Yeah?" he said in a not so pleasant voice. The accident, thanks to the carelessness of the limo's driver, had put him in a foul mood. "What?"

"Optimus?" Bulkhead's voice spoke into his audio unit.

"What do you want?" he asked, unable to get the irritation out of his voice, though he knew it was a bad idea.

The other robot seemed to be having a hard time explaining what he wanted because of Optimus tone. It seemed like he thought the Prime was bad at him. "Well, I'm sorry I took so long it's just.."

"It's not you," Optimus finally told him. "I just have had a rotten day."

Reassured that nothing was his fault, Bulkhead manged to say. "Well I uh.. i think I found something."

"You did?" finally some good news.

"Yes, but I think you'd better come here and get a look at it before I do anything."

The Prime sighed. "Okay," he said. "Where are you?"

After Bulkhead gave his location Optimus transformed and moved down the street, completely forgetting about the light blue limo.

Climbing the stairs proved to be a very stupid idea. Lase, who never worked out in her life and was only thin through her family history, was out of breath after climbing two flights. She stopped on the landing and leaned against the railing, panting heavily. "Why do stairs have to be so exhaustive?"

"You could have taken the elevator," Starscream's voice spoke up. He sounded patronizing, like he was her father. "I never wanted to climb the stairs."

"You don't have to climb the stairs," she pointed out, straightening up after catching her breath. "I'm climbing them. You're just a voice attached to those stupid implants." she rested her hand over her right eye which began to throb. "So don't patronize me. I'm doing the best I can."

"Well, to use an earth phrase, you suck."

"Shut up."

"Are you ordering me around?!"

All the implants started hurting again. She cried out and fell onto the floor, wrapping her arms around herself. Stupid stupid me! she thought, clenching her teeth together. I forgot he could do that!

"Stop it!" she pleaded.

"No, I don't think I will."

"Please stop it!"

Begging worked. The pain subsided and she was able to get back up.

"Just remember who's the one in charge here, flesh bag," Starscream's voice whispered in her ear. "As long as you have those parts in you, I can do whatever I want to you. You're not a free person. You're my servant."

"I'm nobody's servant," she growled, grabbing for the railing. Slowly she began to climb again. "I'm not just doing this because you told me to I'm doing this because I want to."

The seeker made no response this time. She continued climbing, realizing that his wasn't any better than her former boss. Professor Fowl was a control freak but Starscream was an even worse control freak. But unlike Fowl, he didn't care the least bit about her nor did he think of her has anything more than a slave.

"No come back this time?" Starscream asked her. "Maybe you are learning something after all."

She continued climbing, ignoring all his attempts to bait her into a confrontation.

Bumblebee did not see the woman when he and Sari entered the building. He looked around, scanning for her energy signature. Because of their encounter on the street the Autobot assumed that the woman was not a human at all but a robot in a human form. Like Sari but not really. More like a Pretender.

Sari on the other hand still thought she was a human being just with powers similar to the girl she'd fought with the night before. That sounded like the most logical explanation.

But Bee wasn't going to change his mind. To him anyone who could shoot plasma energy out of their hands, meant they were a robot. "After all," he argued. "You do it and you're a robot even if you do have some organic components."

Eventually the girl gave up and let him think whatever. "Look why don't we just forget about that?' she asked. "If she's a robot then you should be able to pick up her energy signature. So try it. It will make finding her easier."

Bee, seeing the wisdom in that, did exactly what she suggested. "I am not picking her up," he said after a moment.

"She's in here," Sari assured him. "I know it."

"How do you know?" he questioned.

"I just do," she moved across the waiting room. "Let's just get looking. I don't want her to get away with whatever she's planning."

"Do you even know what she's planning?" he asked her.

"No," she replied. "But from her actions on the street, it can't be good. If she was only coming here to get a job why did she attack us?"

"I don't know," Bee replied. "But what could she possibly accomplish by coming here?"

"I don't know," the girl admitted. "But that's what we're going to find out."

Nina lay in the back of the limo, unable to move. Thanks to those wings her back hurt like crazy. The parts on her back where they came out of still bled periodically and her now ruined coat was covered in it. In the front seat the girl could hear Petra Black's off key humming as if nothing strange had happened.

How can she be so cheerful? the girl wondered. Doesn't she care about anything?

"We're almost there!" Petra sang out joyously from the front. And sure enough, the limo suddenly swerved sharply as if trying to turn on a time, and this was accompanied by the terrible screech of tires. Then, with a sudden jolt, the limo stopped as Petra slammed her foot down on the brakes.

The engine seemed to growl in protest, then shut down. The air was filled with the smell of burning tires. And all that Petra could say was, "I think I've ruined my heel!" And then she swung the door open and got out.

"Hey!" Nina shouted from the floor of the back seat. The jolt had knocked her to the floor. "Don't just walk away! Help me! I can't move!"

"Oh!" Petra exclaimed, turning around and heading back toward the limo. She limped a bit, not because she was hurting but because she'd broken her heel after stomping on the brake pedal. She opened the door, leaned in, and gently grabbed Nina by her underarms. "Come on now," she said, "nice and easy!" She then yanked on the teenager, which got Nina out… but sent both of them crashing to the ground beside the car.

"Ow!" the girl screamed. "Be careful! Don't you think I'm in enough pain already thanks to this little unwanted addition?"

Petra slid herself out from under the girl, who'd landed on top of her when they fell. "You think that's bad? I broke my shoe!" Petra frowned down at her foot, then began to take off her high heels.

"I have freakin razor sharp wings sticking out of my back!" the girl shouted angrily. "And that's not more important than a stupid shoe that you can replace?!" she got onto her hands and knees and glanced back at the wings once more. "I think my problem is higher up on the list of "priority" than a stupid shoe."

Frowning, Petra kicked her shoes away and then stood. "Well, come on maybe I can help you out inside." With that she bent over and grabbed Nina's shoulders, hauling her to her feet. Suddenly, she grinned. "This reminds me a little of Sakura!" With that, she slipped her hands around Nina's waist. "Okay, hold still," she said.

"Who the heck is Sakura?"

"Oh, uh…" Petra hesitated. "No one! Why who is Sakura? I've never even heard of the name Sakura! Have you?" She tightened her arms around Nina's waist.

Nina didn't reply. The woman's rambling had confused her and she didn't have a comeback. Instead she just allowed the woman to lead her away.

Finally they reached the door. Petra freed one arm just long enough to open it and then she brought Nina inside. "Okie-dokie," she said, escorting her near the couch, "Just sit there. And I'll get you some clothes, okay? Maybe Herbert will help me pick out something nice for you!"

"Herbert? Who is-" then she stopped herself, deciding it was wiser just to let her do what she was doing without asking questions about other people. For all she knew 'Herbert" could be an imaginary friend.

Petra walked out of the room and then went into her bedroom. The sounds of rummaging could be heard as she went through the closet. She could also be heard chattering away, as if talking to either herself or to someone else. But no other voices were heard, so it was safe to presume that she was probably talking to herself, or something in her imagination.

Finally she emerged, carrying several different hangers of clothing in each hand, and held them out. "Me and Herbert agreed that these might look best on you!" she announced proudly. "Although… we might have to figure out what to do about those wings first," she mused aloud, then set the clothes down on a nearby chair.

"Well don't look at me," Nina snapped. "I don't know what to do with them either. It's not like I can make them go away at will, you know."

Petra frowned deeply, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Well," she said as a slow, sly smile spread across her features, "I do have an idea. I know someone who can help you." She giggled.

Nina raised an eyebrow and eyed her warily. "Yeah, who?"

Even though it didn't seem possible, Petra's grin simply widened further. It looked like her face was going to split in half. "I'll be right back," she said, turning and heading off down the hall. "I gotta make a phone call!" she called out over her shoulder as she went.

The girl watched her leave the room then sighed and leaned gently back against the couch, in an attempt to not jar her wings. "I guess I don't have any other choice..."

"No!" Prowl sat bolt upright on the examining table.

Ratchet, who'd been looking at the cyber ninja's X-ray scan on the monitor turned to face him. "No what?" he demanded. "I haven't even touched you yet."

"It's not you," the black and gold robot replied, turning his gaze on the medic. His face held a look of urgency. "I just got a really back feeling all of a sudden."

"About what?"

"About that girl," he replied. "Something tells me that if we don't find her soon bad things will happen."

"You're just being paranoid," Ratchet said, resting his hand in his chest. He gently pushed him back onto the table. "Now lie down and don't move!"

Prowl did what he was told but not without reservations. Didn't Ratchet see how important this way? He didn't have time for repairs. He had to help the others find that girl and quick!

But there was nothing he could do at the moment. If he tried to get away without being repaired he knew the medic would probably knock him out and then restrain him to keep him still. It would be best just to let him do his job and not make things harder.

No matter how I feel.

Petra went out the back door and quickly sat down on the topmost step of her back porch. Then she pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed Fowl's number. Then she simply waited to see if he would answer.

"Hello?" the scientist answered after the third ring.

"Hi Fowl!" Petra greeted in a delighted tone. "How are you doing?"

"I'd be doing better if you didn't call me while I was driving!" she heard a horn blaring then the screech of brakes. "Argh! Move over, you maniac!"

"Oh but I have news you're going to like!" Petra went on cheerfully. "I think I have the thing you're looking for. But if you don't want to talk right now…" She trailed off indicatively, her finger hovering over the "end call" button on her phone.

"Wait what? No don't hang up!" another horn blaring, this time a semi. "I know what way I was going, you moron! I have the right of way! Stay in your own lane!"

Petra smirked, growing more amused. She had decided that she would simply use this situation for her own entertainment, at least for the time-being. It certainly beat being bored around the house, didn't it? And since Fowl had chosen to fire her a few years ago, well… maybe it might be fun to play games with him. And that freaky little teenager was the key to do it.

"Well," Petra went on in a giddy tone, "let's see… she has dark hair, she looks like a teenager, she's got a purple mark on her cheek, and she's got these cool metal wings sticking out of her back. Plus she fired red energy bolts out of her hands a while ago. Does that sound like the thing you're looking for?"

Fowl didn't reply. It seemed like he was giving himself some time to process the information. Finally, after a few minutes of silence he said. "That could be it. I'll be right over. Keep her there until then."

"Oh but I haven't even said where I am!" Petra told him, this time trying to suppress her giggles.

"Well where are you then?" he said impatiently.

"I'm in the middle of the park, right underneath a big maple tree. The girl is a few feet away from me. I have her hidden in the pushes." Petra had to drop her head down and hold the phone away for a moment so she could contain her laughter. Yeah, this was just so much fun! She would send Fowl on a wild goose chase, and then he would no doubt call her back when he didn't find her. Petra loved pranks, and it had been way too long since she'd played one on anybody.

"You are not."

Petra's feeling of good humor died down instantly. Her face fell and her eyes narrowed. "Huh?" she spoke into the phone, sounding puzzled. "But of course I am! I'm in the park!"

"Petra, you should know by now that I am wise to your little pranks," he responded as if talking to a child. "If you were in the park I would hear the sounds of birds, water from the fountain, and children playing. Since I cannot hear any such thing, I know that you are lying."

Scowling at the phone even though there was no way Fowl could see her expression, Petra spat, "Well then where do you think I am?"

"I think you're in a building."

"Close. I'm right outside a building." She grinned. If she could keep him guessing for a little bit, this would still be worth her while.

"Don't get cute."

"I'm going back inside now!" Petra exclaimed. She stood up and noisily stamped her feet across her back porch, opened the door, stepped inside and then slammed it shut. "I'm inside now!"

"Good, now where are you?" he asked again. "And don't lie to me this time."

Petra had thought of another way she could have some more fun. She continued walking down the hallway and back toward the front of the house while speaking loudly into the phone. "Oh why don't you take a guess?" she said cheerfully. "And I'll make some spaghetti for when you get here!"

Instantly he knew where she was. "I'll be right over." then hung up.

She had just walked back into the living room when the connection terminated. "YOU BASTARD!" she yelled. "I WASN'T DONE TALKING TO YOU YET!"

She threw the phone across the room, then threw herself down onto the couch with a heavy sigh… momentarily forgetting that Nina was there.

"Hey! Watch where you're flopping!" Nina shouted, her back screaming with pain. "Did you forget I'm here and ailing?"

Petra moved instantly, scooting herself off the couch and allowing herself to fall on the floor. She landed heavily, in sort of a seated position. She then glanced at Nina, the wheels turning in her head. Maybe it was still possible to have some kind of fun… somehow. "Okay kiddo, listen up," she said, "someone's coming here to see you."

"Me?" instantly the girl's eyes filled with fear and the urge to run overcame her. She looked toward the door. "I don't want to see anybody."

"Then what do you want to do?" Petra asked, cocking her head to one side.

"I want to get out of here," the girl stated, getting to her feet. "I knew this was a bad idea."

Petra began to consider her options. In all seriousness, this was no longer funny, nor was it any fun anymore. In fact, it was getting the point where she would have to choose which side she wanted to be on. Either she had to keep the girl here for Fowl, or help the girl out.

"Well," she said, stalling so she would have some time to think, "um… if you're going outside we need to do something about those wings, you know."

Nina froze. For a moment she'd forgotten about that. She couldn't exactly go anywhere in her current state. "You're right," she consented.

Professor Andrew Fowl in his hurry did an illegal U-turn, ignoring the sound of blaring horns of protest. Let those fools complain, he was in a hurry. Soon they would all see his genius and U-turns would be the last things on their minds.

That is unless Miss Black messes up and loses it again, he thought driving down the street and speeds far beyond legal. Somehow I get the feeling that she will ruin this. She's always messing things up it's almost like she was born with bad luck. I bet she smashed a lot of mirrors in her early years.

Optimus Prime reached Bulkhead's location almost half an hour after he'd contacted him. As he pulled onto the street he saw the larger Autobot leaning down and peeking into the window of a building. "What is is, Bulkhead?" he questioned as he returned to standard mode.

The green robot didn't even look up. Instead he pointed into the building, his bright blue optics focused on whatever it was that currently held his interest. "Get a load of that."

The Prime joined him in front of the building, which looked like it hadn't been used in years, and squatted down so he could see inside. What he saw made his optics grow wide in shock. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

"I believe so," Bulkhead replied, looking at him.

Optimus looked back inside, frowning. "What is Starscream's body doing here?" he asked.

The bigger robot shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said. "But if I had to make an assumption I'd say this is where it was taken after that thing that happened after Megatron was defeated."

"Prowl did say the body was gone when he went looking for it," Optimus replied, thoughtfully. "But I still don't understand why anybody would want it. What do they intend to do with it?"

Bulkhead had no answer. He was just as confused as his friend was. "But now that we found it, what are we going to do with it?" he asked. "We can't just let it stay in there, you know. I mean I know its just a Decepicon but..."

Optimus frowned. "Right now it's safe where it is," he told him. "We can always come back and get it later. At the moment we have another problem to deal with."

"The girl."

"Yes," Optimus replied. "That girl with the strange cellular structure." he paused for a moment, thinking to himself. "I don't know why but something tells me that these two things are connected somehow, we just don't know why or how yet." he looked at Bulkhead. "You stay here and if anyone comes here and stops, contact me."

"Right away boss-bot," Bulkhead said saluting.

Optimus went back into vehicle mode. "Be sure to hide yourself!" he called back before taking off down the street. I'm starting to get a look at the bigger picture now. Something tells me that that girl is somehow involved with this. But how? and why can't we find her?

Lase reached the desired floor ten minutes later. She paused on the landing, staring through the tiny window that allowed her to see inside, allowing herself a moment to catch her breath. The hall looked clear, nobody seemed to be there.

"What are you waiting for?" Starscream demanded. "Get moving!"

She could feel pressure on her shoulders as if he had his hands on them and was shoving her forward. "You don't have to be so pushy," she growled, resting her hand on the door knob. "I'm going."

But just as she was about to open the door she saw something that made her stop. At that moment the elevator door opened and two figures stepped out. A large black and yellow robot and a girl in an orange and yellow dress. The woman paused then ducked down out of sight. "Drat," she cursed. "Not them again."

"What now?"

"Did you not see the girl and her autobot friend?" Lase demanded. "I'm not going in there if they're here."

"Why not?" he asked. "Let me take care of them."

"And attract unwanted attention?" she demanded. "Forget it. We're just going to have to think of another way."

"You think of another way and while you're doing that I think I'll get a short recharge."

Sure, she thought, rolling her eyes. Leave it all up to me.

A/N

Still co-writing a bit. I never intended it when I started but Miss Black's in a lot of chapters and tends to steal the spotlight. XD Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Petra is funny, even if she is somewhat of an attention hog.