Chapter Twenty: Crystal Goes to School
As they rode back home from the base, Crystal looked out of her father's back seat and smiled as kids played on a playground at the elementary school. "What's that, Daddy? It looks like fun!" She said to him with a broad smile. Jack returned the smile and said, "That's school, where you go to learn and make friends." He said with a smile. Crystal giggled. "When can I go to school?" She asked. Jack could feel Arcee's apprehension. It will do her good to get out and meet kids her own cognitive level. Jack told Arcee. If the 'cons attack her at school… Jack glared at his Sparkmate through their link. We can teach her self-defense techniques before she goes. He said to her as his emotions went back down quickly. Arcee, we made a promise ourselves to protect her until she could defend herself. It's time to let her out. He said with a calm look. Arcee grudgingly agreed.
Back at the house, Crystal was a ball of energy. "Crystal, could you come in the living room for a minute?" The girl looked up as her Dad called, smiled, and walked into the living room. A woman was standing by Jack. She had blue hair and a stony expression. This made Crystal uncomfortable, but she didn't let it show. Then, the woman threw a punch at Crystal. The little girl, who looked to be about five, caught the punch and Judo flipped her over onto her back. The woman was quick to recover, but it was Crystal's turn to go on the offensive. Seemingly on instinct, the girl was able to read her opponent and counter accordingly. Finally, Crystal wrapped her legs around the woman in a Sleeper Hold. Crystal was fairly sure the person would pass out quickly. When the woman vanished completely instead, Crystal realized who she had fought and looked up at her Dad with a pained expression. Jack knelt by his daughter and pulled her into a tight hug. "Mommy's ok. I promise. We just wanted test you." He told her. "Why?" She asked as she looked into his eyes. "Mommy and Daddy won't be able to protect you at school. We had to know if you could defend yourself." Jack explained. The girl instantly brightened at hearing about school. "Does this mean I can go?!" She asked with a grin. As Jack nodded, his daughter jumped up and hugged him. They toppled over as momentum pushed them to the ground. Both got up laughing. In the back of Jack's mind, he thought, Now the fun part, getting Fowler to pull strings.
A few minutes later, Fowler got the call. "By Uncle Sam's star-spangled shorts! You want me to do what?" It took most of Jack's concentration not to yell at the man. "With Crystal's unique situation, I can't register her for class without rousing suspicion." He said calmly. Fowler seemed to think it over for a minute. Then, he said, "I'm going to get you on payroll as a field agent with the Autobots…and I'll have the necessary paperwork pushed through to get her in school." "Thank you, Agent Fowler." Fowler seemed to smile, even over the comm. "Now, I won't be the only one taking heat from General Brice." Fowler said. Jack shivered at that last statement and cut the connection.
Arcee noticed Jack's tension and sighed. "Fowler tricked you." She mumbled. "Not exactly, I do need the money to take care of Crystal, but he seemed to enjoy the idea of me getting an earful from top brass entirely too much." Jack said calmly. "I just hope the General doesn't over react and try to lock up Crystal in some secret base." That thought made Energon boil in both of them. "He wouldn't dare." Arcee said with a calm anger. "The Team cares for her too much, and upsetting them would be like opening a gate for the 'cons." Arcee said calmly. "You're coming with me tomorrow when I meet him, right?" Jack asked her nervously. "I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, I think Crystal should go with us." Jack gave her a confused look. "We can get General Brice's intentions by watching his reaction to her." Arcee explained. Jack nodded and smiled. "We're supposed to meet him at 0600 tomorrow." Jack said with a sigh. "It will be a long day." Arcee said as she went into stasis. After eating and getting both of them ready for bed, Jack tucked Crystal in and kissed her forehead. "Be ready. We have an early day tomorrow." He told her before he went to sleep himself.
When they woke up, everyone in the Darby household was busy. After about fifteen minutes, Arcee, Jack, and Crystal were in their way to rendezvous with Agent Fowler at Omega One. Once there, Jack with Crystal in his arms and Arcee hesitantly walked through a Groundbridge set to the predetermined destination. On the other side of the Groundbridge, a slew of men greeted them with guns at the ready. "Scrap!" Arcee growled as her blasters hummed to life. General Brice walked out of the mass of soldiers with a disturbing smile as the soldiers parted in front of him like The Red Sea. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. This is for my own protection." Arcee disengaged her blasters and glared hard at the general. I don't like him. She thought to Jack. Watch your back while around him. Jack looked at her in acknowledgement. I will. He told her as he looked down at his daughter and marched up to the general. Brice eyed her with an unhealthy amount of interest. "Arcee, watch Crystal. The general and I need to talk." Jack said with a hint of anger in his voice. Arcee nodded understandingly. If this goes to scrap… Jack smiled and kissed her. You'll be the first one I call. He told her as he glared at Brice.
"Let's get one thing straight: My daughter WILL NOT be locked up in some base for monsters to experiment on!" The general laughed. "Who's going to stop me? You?" Jack's rage hit new levels of fury. He slammed Brice on the ground and glared at him with his foot on the general's chest. "Touch my daughter, and you'll lose your head. Get me?" He said as his eyes glowed with anger. "Yes…" The general squeaked out. "Good boy, glad we could come to an understanding." Jack growled as he let the general up. Brice actually looked scared as Jack's eyes continued to burn into the general. "I'll accept any orders you give me, but my family comes first, General." Jack told him before he calmed down. "Understood…" Jack glared at him. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get my daughter to her first day of school." Jack said as he walked away. "Come on, Arcee," Jack said calmly. "We have to get Crystal to her first day of school." Jack said with a smile. "Ratchet, bridge us out, please." The bridge opened. Jack and Arcee walked through with mild fear. As soon as the portal closed, the general started laughing. "Have MECH on standby. This is commander Silas. Subject One is on the move. Stay on her."
At Omega One, Arcee and Jack were getting Crystal ready. "Have fun, honey, but keep your optics open." Jack warned as he and Arcee took her to school at Jasper Elementary. I will." Crystal said calmly. "Don't worry." Jack could see her form flickering slightly. "Remember," he told her. "If you get scared, close your eyes and take some deep breaths." Arcee smiled. "If you notice anyone strange around you, hold a finger to your right ear and talk like I taught you, Uncle Ratchet will tell us. Then, Mommy and/or Daddy will come." The girl nodded at her mother with a smile and walked into the school calmly. Arcee watched her daughter walk into the school. Then, she and Jack both rode away as fear plagued Arcee's processor. Jack could feel Arcee's fear and tried to calm her. "Don't worry. We taught Crystal well. She will be fine." Jack said as he tried to soothe his Sparkmate's fears
As the doors closed behind her, Crystal looked around and smiled as a pleasant-looking woman walked up to her and asked, "Are you Crystal Darby?" The girl smiled and nodded at the kind woman without a word. "Follow me please. I'll take you to your teacher." Crystal got an uneasy feeling as she followed the kind lady to her teacher's room. The room was brightly colored and had a calendar on the far wall. Crystal noticed that the 8th was red while the rest of the numbers were black. She then checked the date against her chronometer like Jack taught her and found it to be accurate. There was a clock in a chair that rested on the left wall, but it looked strange. That was when Crystal realized the clock was to teach kids her apparent age how to tell time. The clock was currently set to either 0755 or 1955 hours. Crystal couldn't tell morning or evening because the clock wasn't that detailed. She smiled and laughed aloud at the idea. This caught the rest of the class, including the teacher, off guard. She looked up at Crystal with kind eyes. "Hello, I'm Ms. Allen." The teacher said. "Join us, please." Ms. Allen patted an empty space on the rug next to her. "We were just introducing ourselves. What's your name?" Crystal sat down slowly and crossed her legs while the rest of the kids were sitting on their knees or in chairs. "Mi llamo Crystal Darby." The teacher was taken aback by this. The shock on Ms. Allen's face told Crystal she had messed up. "I'm sorry, Ms. Allen. My family speaks multiple languages." This made the teacher smile with pleasant surprise and earned Crystal dirty looks from her classmates. "My name is Crystal Darby." She translated with a small smile. "Teacher's pet," one student growled in a whisper.
The rest of the day went on without a problem until a group of bullies, led by one of her classmates, cornered her on her way out of the school. "So, you're the smart one?" The gang leader growled. "My name isn't Velma." Crystal quipped as the reference flew strait over the bullies' heads and brought a smile to Crystal's face at their cluelessness. She sighed, shook her head, and turned to walk away as one of the boys punched her in the face. That was all Crystal needed. The young hybrid dodged all of the incoming punches with honed reflexes until a coach walled by and pinned the bullies to the wall. "Are you alright, miss?" Crystal nodded at the coach and smiled, but inwardly, she was angry. Those punks better be glad I can't blow my cover. Crystal thought as she walked out of the out of her first day of school to see her Dad waiting for her. He smiled at her and hugged her tightly. "How was your first day?" She let out a long sigh. "Some kids tried to beat me up for being smart." Jack's face reddened with anger at hearing that. "The coach saw the fight and put the boys in their place, though." Jack smiled, relieved.
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