Fowler's Suspicions

(Ch.6)

Inserting a chapter.

This is going to be short. Nothing really to it. Just one of those things I needed to put in. Don't expect too much.

xxx

Casual conversation reverberated the quaint, homey eatery known as Betty's Crock Pot. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner diner, complete with desserts and other guilty pleasures. Those fascinated by the food wishing to brag about snapped photos and posted it online. Waitresses greeted their tables with smiles, hostesses were bubbly, and food was delivered in record time.

A waitress served Selena a hot latte with an assortment of sugar on the side, and a cup of regular coffee to...Agent Fowler? "Um..." Selena blinked bemused, sitting stiffly in a diner's booth. "...how did we get here again?"

"I picked you up and drove you." Fowler replied stoically, never looking up as he inhaled the cupped, fresh brewed aroma.

"That's...not...exactly-" Selena dreadfully hit her forehead to the table, casting her misery - and the awkwardness - to the floor. She was at an absolute loss for words. "Where the Hell did 8am go?"

Flashback

7:49am - School was going to start in about ten minutes. And two lovely ladies were strolling on up the sidewalk. "OH MY GAWD SHE'S ON TIME!" Jack sarcastically guffawed, pushing off the wall lining the steps. Miko rolled her eyes, silently mocking the older boy. Selena giggled at her. Rafael, Indian Style on the wall, stifled a snigger, closing his laptop. "Selena's actually good for you."

"A bottle cork is good for a mouth!" Miko, out of the blue, pulled a handful of corks out of her backpack. "Here! HAVE SOME!"

"Easy, Big Girl." Selena hooked her indifferently by the back collar, yanking her back. "I'll take those." She took the corks and...would figure out what to do with them later. "Now do me a favor today and stay out of detention. It's less fun than you think waiting for you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Miko waved off disinterested. Selena tugged sharply on her ear to get her interested. "OW! OKAY! OKAY!"

"Good." Miko dropped to her knees, cradled her throbbing ear. "See you guys later."

"Bye!" Jack and Rafael waved. Miko hobbled up the stairs, muttering curses. "Oh, Selena!" Rafael ran up to her. "Still up for visiting the new game shop with me?"

"The one selling the Oculus device?"

"UH-HUH!"

"Totally." Selena bumped fists with him.

Flying back to Miko's house would take only five minutes. Less if she raced there. "I think I'll walk there." It was too beautiful a day to fly through it. Crisp, fresh air, sun shining, hardly a cloud in the sky. Selena might fly into that sky, soak up the atmosphere, and dive back for lunch. Then she'll hide herself away and relax for a spell. Yep. Today was looking like it'll be a good day.

"There you are." A gruff voice stopped her in her tracks. She knew that voice. It was tying her stomach in knots. Her spine turned like a stiff board. "Hey there, Selena." Agent Fowler, with the most unnerving grin, waved to her as he walked up. "Hope you're hungry."

"Say...wuh?"

Flashback End

The next thing she knew, she's at a comfortable diner, with the second most uncomfortable person, placing an order for French Toast, Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Eggs, Ham, Bacon, and glasses of orange juice and coffee. And that was just her appetizer. It's often embarrassing. She's self conscious of her some odd number of stomachs. Humans tend to stare. Why is it strange for her, and not for that Bizarre Foods guy or that guy on TV who eats himself drunk?

"Ho, man…" She really wished her food would show up. All she had to do was eat, kill time, and then leave. "Why am I here?"

"You don't believe in breakfast?" Fowler tore four splenda packets, dumping them in his brew.

"Again! Not what I meant!" Selena huffed angrily. Fowler's ability to feign ignorance ruffled her worse than Ratchet's crotchety work style. She stirred her latte, finding the swirling foam relaxing. Suspicions of her are running high. That much is apparent. She believes the Autobots when they say she held previous animosities towards them. The sense to be on her guard flicked like a switch whenever the bots were close. That doesn't happen unless previous hostilities took place. The kids seem okay with her. She's comfortable around them. But Fowler...this whole situation was off. "I'm done beating around the bush. You hate me with every fiber of your miserable being." Fowler's cup stopped at his lips, his brow knitting. Miserable Being? He resented that. Not that he didn't expect any sort of respect from a bloodthirsty killer. "Therefore, you do not simply find me walking, and offer to take me for breakfast."

"It happens." Coffee flowed into his mouth, waking up his sleeping soul.

"Hell freezes and serves snowcones first!" Fowler stonewalled by sipping his coffee for a few extra seconds. Selena crossed her arm, having no intention of letting him off the hook. His expression was casual. Body language rigid. He's definitely up to something. "The Autobots know you ambushed me?"

"Are you honestly insinuating I need their permission?" He scoffed, losing patience with her disrespect.

"That's a no if ever I heard one."

"What are you trying to get at, Selena?"

"Just that you have a vendetta, Fowler, and it has to do with that bandaged arm you're trying not to cradle." She shot a hard glance at Fowler's gun arm. He hid it at his side.

As many recall, Fowler sustained a devastating bullet wound not too long ago at a government Arctic Base. Tempers flaring high, he prematurely - and idiotically - pulled the trigger on Selena. The end result: Selena panicked and caused the bullet to fire out the back. A through and through wound incapacitated Fowler. Being the proud man he is, he kept his distance for the two weeks sporting a sling, and now wears a brace easily hidden beneath his work clothes. Rumor has it he's on desk duty until his arm is at least 70% on the mend. After some rehab, it'll be a matter of him keeping up the treatment to be healed. But the emotional scar dealt by Selena will always linger.

"Either spit it out, or you end up paying for uneaten food." She directed Fowler's attention to the trays of food being wheeled to them on a cart. A dry lump in his throat sank like a rock in his stomach. His wallet wasn't big enough for that. Least of all to not have it be eaten. "What's up?"

"Fine." Fowler shoved the coffee aside. He waited for the food to be set and the waitress to leave before getting down to business. Mentioning Jarrah's death was on the top of his list. However Ratchet forewarned her emotional state was balanced a thin line. Being told he and his team were killed because of her might cause the diner to be leveled. Hell, she'll probably just level it for kicks. Fowler wasn't buying it. The second he mentions the Cons and what they did to Jarrah's team, she more than probably do to him what she did to Custer. Lure him into a false sense of security, and begin a deadly game. "Halloween. Tell me about it."

"An Irish folklore of a holiday dedicated to warding off evil spirits." She shrugged indifferently.

"Now who's feeding a shovel load of malarkey?" He snapped back. Selena giggled impishly. It was too easy to pass up. While she wanted to play with him longer, she wanted out of there more. "Go from after you left the base. What happened."

"Let me think…" Selena took a bite out of ham, thinking back three days ago. "We stopped at Raf's house to get his costume, then went to Jack's to get his, and finally headed for the festival."

"Who was driving?"

"Bulkhead." She twisted a finger in her ear. "He and Miko nearly made us deaf with that metal music." This wasn't idle chitchat. Fowler was searching for something. What, remained a mystery. "He dropped us off at the festival and tried to find a place to park. He was a mile in the opposite direction when I went to go look for him." Selena got ahead of the tale, knowing what Fowler was going to ask. She allowed him to ask his next question so he can have his moment.

"Why would you go looking for him?" He asked with an edge in his voice.

"We were winning prizes left and right. Too many to carry the entire night."

Fowler stuffed three pieces of pancakes in his mouth. Selena dug into her eggs and french toast, savoring the syrup covered delicacies. He's well aware of the events on Halloween. Her story was checking out. Though he can't elude the nagging sense in the back of his head. there are discrepancies he had yet to address. Discrepancies leading to that chase taking her and the bots outside the city.

"There was a chase to save Rafael and Miko. Do you remember that?"

"How could I ever forget?" Selena was amazed he'd ask her that. "They were snatched by Decepticons while trying to use the restroom."

"I was told you were already aware of the Decepticon's presence." He remarked snidely. Selena's fingers curled in her glass as she drank some juice. "How would they have been kidnapped if you knew about them?"

"I wasn't aware of anything!" Selena snapped with sarcastic air quotes. How did she not see that one coming? She set the juice aside before she threw it at him. "It was just a feeling I couldn't explain. That feeling ended up being spot on."

"What feeling might that have been?" Fowler maintained his skepticism. After being shot at, beaten down, blown up - Fowler's far from buying Selena sustained amnesia from a knock to the head. It was too out there, regardless if she's a female Magneto.

"The sigil on the grill." She dug in her pocket, showing Fowler the charm on a choker she values. "It's the same as this charm Ratchet made for me."

"That Ratchet made? Is that what they told you?" He scoffed incredulously.

"Why? Is that not right?"

"I dunno what you guys do in that base after hours." Fowler shrugged his hands, pretending not to care. "If Ratchet made it, he made it. Simple as that." Selena pouted her lips. This dance of half assed answers was growing old real quick. She nullified her annoyance with eggs. Sipping his coffee, Fowler grumbled inaudibly in apprehension of the lie told to Selena. This is the first time he's seen the accessory, but he knows Ratchet didn't make it. Just like he's sure Selena's reaction to an obscure Vehicle Con wasn't a feeling. "Keep going. What cued you in that something was off?"

"Again, I don't know." Selena shut him down. "Why are you even asking?! Can't you be appreciative that the kids are safe?" Why is she snapping? He's just trying to get a feel for what happened. Doing his job. It annoyed her beyond rational thought. Being questioned as if she's the reason Miko and Rafael were in danger. Huh? Weird. Why doesn't that sound strange? Guilt clenched her neck.

Fowler noticed her discomfort. "Who says I don't appreciate it? I'm just covering my bases." He sugarcoated. He needed Selena to lower her guard. She buttons her lip now and he won't get the answers he's looking for. "After all, the Decepticon you killed recognized you, didn't he?" Selena's aghast reaction confirmed what he heard. She was second from asking him how he knew. That's when she remembered something important: Optimus is a stickler for protocol. He reports to Fowler whenever they engage the enemy. "Had you not contacted Ratchet when you did, I'd have to send a unit to break the bad news to the parents."

"Then why are we even here?" Selena quizzed, fed up with the hidden accusations.

"To have breakfast and mingle." Fowler sipped his coffee and released a pleased ahh.

Selena's nails dug in the table. She's lost count on how many times he's lied to her in just...43 minutes. He was far from here to mingle. He's digging for something. Possibly proof Selena's amnesia is fake. "Agent Fowler, you'll have to mingle to your mind's figments." Fowler was taken aback by the proclamation. She slipped out of the booth, stabbed an affronted glare in his core. "I don't know what you're trying to prove, but do it on your own time." With that said she turned on her heels and left Fowler to his breakfast. That's when the waitress came back and showed him the bill. Fowler would need the heimlich from choking on hashbrowns.

xxx

Selena stormed down the street, practically causing an earthquake with every step. Thankfully, when she passed places up, the shaking came to a rolling stop. People still came bolting out the doors in a panic, wondering loudly if anyone else felt that. Selena was just so infuriated by Fowler that she inadvertently tied a stop sign into a pretzel, and turned a sewer lid into a toothpick.

"How is it that the most inferior and youngest of a species are the most aggravating?" The answer was in the question. She's just to rankled to notice. Youngers are always the ones to test your patience to the breaking point. Fowler though. He rubbed her in a way she can't contemplate. His...entire person just...her blood is literally boiling that she didn't lodge a fork in his throat. "Why do I hate this man so much?" She roared. She threw herself around a corner. A hard surface rebound her off her feet. "OW! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She pressed a palm over her ashame eyes. "My fault…"

"Oh, no worries, Dear." A gravelly, baritone voice crooned. A gloved hand extended to her. "I should mind where I am standing." A white haired man, scars marring his face, apologized. Selena graciously accepted the hand, dusting herself off as she climbed to her feet. "Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine. Thank you." She smiled at the intimidating man. The man's animated gasp and widening eyes petrified her. He was in utter disbelief. This deep eyes scaling her figure head to toe. Janice and Greg reacted a very similar way when they first met her. This man...was a little different. Almost scary. Might be because of the dark clothes and trenchcoat. "I get that a lot." The man shook out of his daze. Selena pinched her hair. "Believe it or not, it's real. So are the eyes." Were they still red she'd be able to enjoy the joke.

"Oh! Yes, I know. I mean-" The man was tripping over his tongue. He was circling the drain trying to recover. "Have we...met before?"

There's that ice Selena felt at her spine. Again, could be because of how he's dressed. After Fowler, anyone not dressed like they came from Forever 21 raised red flags. "I don't think so. Why?"

"It's just…" The man touched his chin, leaning in close. Selena edged back. "You look like someone I know." She's in an iceberg. Please don't let him be another one. "No. Perhaps I am wrong. Forgive me." He held a hand to her, "My name is Silas. I am a resident nearby."

"I'm Selena." Selena shook his hand firmly. "It was nice meeting you, Silas."

"Likewise, Selena. I hope our paths cross again."

"My fingers are crossed." Selena crossed, continuing on her way.

Silas watched Selena until she crossed the street and disappeared down an adjacent street. The hair was the same. But the eyes. And reaction to him. A wolfish smirk stretched his lips. "How interesting…" He purred.

See. Short, sweet, and I can move on.