I GOT TO SEE TRANSFORMERS DARK OF The MOON! YEAH! It was great! Like, super great! XD And… I will not spoil it for anyone who's not seen it yet. (The plot twists were awesome, though!)
Anyway, just so you don't have to wonder, the new movie is not going to change what I write in this story or the sequel.
Rule 29 belongs to Hummergrey. Check out her awesomely hilarious fic, "If an Autobot do NOT do the following." :D
Chapter 36
Farewell, Liaison
Chromia awoke first among the bots in her household. Onlining her optics, she gazed at her mech, taking in every bit on his pleasing form. It would be nice to start the day with him, but she wasn't going to wake him unless it was necessary. Prowl had been stressed out, and Auri had picked up on his stress to a certain degree, and Ironhide had picked up Auri's concern about Prowl's stress and become stressed out himself. Whatever is was, it had tired the tough mech out quite a bit, and he needed the extra rest.
Chromia smirked as dragged herself off the bed and wandered into the main room. Ironhide could handle Decepticon attacks, ornery younglings, and just about anything that he could use physical force on. When it came to sitting by and watching, though, he was a goner. 'My poor Ironhide…' Chromia thought. 'Oh…!'
She was a little surprised to find Auri still in recharge; she usually was up by now. Chromia nudged her with a finger, but she remained in a deep, peaceful recharge.
'Okay. So, my mech and my little one are soundly in recharge… lonely me,' she thought to herself.
Auri needed her rest as well. Chromia smiled, remembering how Optimus had knocked quietly on the door last night. Once Ironhide had gotten enough armor on to be decent, he'd opened the door to find his leader cradling the little femme against his chest.
"Out like a light, as they say," Optimus had said softly. "She had a wonderful time, though."
Optimus had carried the little femme in and settled her gently on the couch, and she had hardly stirred at all.
Chromia took out a cube of Energon for breakfast but put it back, wanting to breakfast with Ironhide. She took out one of her cannons to check.
Then a pleasant thought came to her head.
The liaison was leaving that day. No more pest.
She smiled, very pleased. That liaison had proved to be a real annoyance. She'd picked up on Auri's irritation many times, and she knew that her little femme-ling was happy that the man was leaving.
"Oh!" Auri roll over and sat up, her optics wide.
"Good morning," Chromia chuckled at her surprise.
"Good morning!" Auri slipped off the couch and stumbled over to her. She picked Auri up when Auri reached her and put the little femme on her lap. Auri cuddled against her. "I wake up slowly…"
"Yes, you do." She said, not minding it at all. She loved it when Auri wanted to cuddle. The little femme seemed to have less of a need for her than she did for Ironhide. So, Chromia held dear the times that Auri spent with her.
After a little while, Auri came fully awake and asked to go early to the office.
Chromia tucked her chin in disapproval as either she or Ironhide had all the other mornings.
"Please?" Auri asked winningly, "You've let me go early all these days that Agent Scales has been here. Just this one last day, and then I'll go in at the usual time." She coaxed.
"Well…"
"Oh, thank-you!" she hugged Chromia tightly.
"I… didn't say yes yet." She protested, laughing as she knew that Auri saw right through her.
"It was a yes tone."
Chromia laughed again and snuggled her, "Alright, you may go early this one last time."
"Thank-you!" She was content. "Will you get me breakfast please? I should go fairly soon."
Chromia nodded, setting her on the table for a moment while she got a cube for Auri. Then she took Auri back onto her lap. Auri cuddled against her and sipped her Energon. Chromia savored the sweet moments with her little femme-ling, but soon the little one scampered off to the big world.
OoOOooOooOOoO
When Auri came in to the office, Prowl was leaning back in his chair as he scanned the news, and a rare, tiny smirk of contentment was visible on his face.
She grinned, delighted to see him so happy. "Good-morning!" she greeted.
"Very good morning." Prowl replied, sitting up straight and resuming his usual formal manner.
"What do we do now?" Auri asked in wonder.
"We clean up the mess Scales made of our files, resort the files, make a plan of how to execute his budget, decide which items we will ignore or override, prepare a full report for Prime, begin…" he paused as Auri's optics seemed to grow very wide. He realized that the full list would probably overwhelm the little femme. "For now we will just do our regular morning routine: reports, website, backups, and filing." He said.
"That sounds good." Auri said, going to her computer.
The phone rang, and Prowl glanced at the ID.
"Scra-! …erm…" Prowl got a hold on his vocal processor about half a second too late. He ducked his head, "I am sorry." He said to Auri.
"It's alright." Auri said, "I understand completely."
The phone kept ringing.
"Are we going to answer?" Auri asked after the fifth ring.
Prowl nodded. He picked up the handset. "Good-morning, Agent Scales." He said, grinding a few gears in his jaw-workings. "Is there some problem?"
Auri anxiously watched Prowl's face as he listened to the liaison, but he kept it devoid of any expression.
"Oh." Said Prowl. "Are you sure you left it in Parking-Lot C5? Could you have left it somewh…" he got interrupted. "Ah. Of course, of course." Pause, "Indeed," Pause, "Probably not. Shall we come help you find it?" Auri heard a tinge of sarcasm in Prowl's voice. Then Prowl's optics widened and his door-wings flitted up then down. "We will be there shortly." He said in a flat tone before hanging up.
Auri raised her optic-ridges questioningly as Prowl rose.
"Come." Prowl said. "He cannot find his car."
"Is that our problem?" Auri asked widening her optics.
"He thinks it is." Prowl replied, "Do not ever use sarcastic questions on liaisons, Aurion; it always backfires."
"Yes, sir."
He gave her a second glance. "Are you alright?" he thought she looked slightly sick.
"I am alright." She said, and he took her word for it. They drove to the parking lot.
"It's nowhere to be seen!" Agent Scales yelled by way of greeting. The two bots transformed calmly and surveyed the area.
Cars were sparse in that lot, and nowhere did a red sports-car shine in the early morning sun.
"By method of elimination," Prowl said, "That vehicle over there is yours." He pointed to a car nearby.
The car was the liaison's, but it was not shiny red anymore. On the contrary, it was green. It was money green, and a President's head had been stenciled the hood, while a monument stencil graced the trunk. The doors, too, were detailed, and numbers were done on each fender. Other fine details, scrolling and such, were painted on the trim.
"AIIIIIIIGH! MY CAR!" Agent Scales yelled. "MY CAR!"
Prowl glanced around. By now word had gotten out and some Autobots had gathered, some discreetly, others more openly.
"MY… MY… MY… CAR-! ITS PAINT JOB HAS BEEN RUINED!"
Prowl gazed down at the vehicle. The detailing was quite impressive and extremely artistic.
"MY CAR HAS BEEN RUINED!"
"I do apologize. The prankster will be caught and dealt with." Prowl said, keeping a diplomatic tone.
"THAT DOESN'T HELP MY CAR'S APPEARANCE, PROWL!"
"I suggest having it repainted." Prowl replied calmly. 'Although, it does seem to fit your obsessive personality now.' He thought.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT WILL COST?"
"I'm sure it is well within your personal budget."
"I AM GOING TO SEND The BILL TO NEST BASE!"
"I understand." Prowl replied. "I suggest you leave now; you do not wish to miss your plane."
"YOU ARE GOING TO WISH THIS NEVER HAPPENED!" Agent Scales threatened as he dug for his keys. Prowl knew the threat would fall short. Nobody ever got far when they tried to prosecute for pranking.
Scaled pressed the unlock button on the remote.
The car emitted a very loud, "KA-CHING!" like that of an old cash register.
Agent Scales stiffened, and his face began turning a deeper red.
"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY! DON'T YOU!"
"I think purely along logical lines." Prowl replied, but several bots in the gathering crowd were snickering. Prowl glanced swiftly at Auri, and he was pleased to see that she was keeping a perfectly straight face.
The beet-red liaison climbed into his car – his red face was quite livid beside the green paint-, and inserted the keys into the ignition.
"KA-CHING!"
The snickers increased.
He yelled something and shifted the car into 'drive.'
"KA-CHING!"
More snickers erupted. Prowl turned and gave the bystanders a look that told them to break it up and leave. He glanced at Auri again; she was still serious, but there was something else in her face, something made him think that she was lying when she said she was alright. He was going to talk to her and/or send her to Ratchet when this scene was over.
"KA-CHING!" rang the car again as the liaison stomped on the gas pedal. He sped away toward the exit terminal, and laughter broke out as the 'Bots got a clear view on the car's rear bumper. It was covered with various money bumper stickers.
"Got Money?"
"CAUTION: I'm crazy about money"
"Work harder: we want to spend your money"
"Carpe Per Diem (Seize the lunch money)"
"I'll spend your money better than you"
"Got gas money?"
"Speed costs money. How fast do you wanna go?"
"Enjoy the taxes, you gullible fools!"
Sunny and Sides were nearly falling over each other with laughter; the other 'Bots were only a little better off. Prowl stood, watching the car leave while he wondered which 'Bot had done the painting. He turned, and the Autobots slipped away to get busy before he gave them something to do.
Prowl sighed, and Auri looked up at him. He glanced down at her straight, slightly unwell face. "We are done here now." He told her. She nodded, and then they went back to the office.
"Thank-you for not laughing out there." Prowl said as he held the office door open for Auri to go in first.
"I couldn't laugh out there." Auri replied, "I knew it would just cause more trouble for you if I did." She explained softly.
"I appreciate that." Prowl said then the conversation was over. He paused as he tried to figure out how to bring up her health.
Auri went to her computer, leaving Prowl frowning in indecision.
"Cheer up, Prowl." Prime said, coming in. "It's not that bad, is it?"
Prowl snapped to attention. "It is highly frustrating." He replied, his door-wings twitching up.
Prime leaned on the wall, relaxed and pleasant. "It will be past in a few days." He said. Prowl thought Prime had been aggravatingly relaxed the entire morning.
"Have you heard about the liaison's car?" Prowl asked, beginning to sort the data-pads.
"Yes. I saw pictures of it, too."
Prowl heard the smile in Prime's tone and turned to frown at him.
"Rule twenty-nine has broken." Prowl protested reprovingly.
"Rule twenty-nine," said Prime, looking it up, "'A Government Liaison is not to be harassed, threatened, or targeted for pranks in any way.'" He looked at Prowl with a smile. "At least it was broken with style and creativity." He chuckled.
"Prime!" Prowl's door-wings twitched up very high. Prime needed to get serious! Really!
"I would apologize, Prowl, but I find it too humorous." Prime answered.
"The fact that a rule has been broken is not humorous, however."
"True…" Prime admitted. Prowl stiffened and narrowed his optics. Prime had been unaccounted for last evening for quite some time after bringing Auri and Bee back from the Northlands.
"Prime." Prowl said, "Please tell me truthfully that you did not execute this prank."
Prime chuckled and laughed. Then he sobered down to just a smile. "No, I did not 'execute' this prank, Prowl. Although, I must be flattered that you suspected me."
Prowl didn't believe in flattery. "Well, you were somewhere else last night."
"Elita knows where I was last night." Prime said meaningfully. Prowl shut up right then, but Prime detected a stifled giggle from Auri's part of the room. "It did occur to me, though," Prime said, "That you have quite a bit of motive."
"I? Prank a liaison?" Prowl was aghast.
"Oh, Prime." Auri said, coming over and going to Prowl. "Don't tease poor Prowl." She said as she put a protective hand on the commander. "He has enough to deal with already." She sounded like she was going to get very upset and cry if he teased any farther.
"Easy, Auri. It's alright." Prime told her gently, slightly startled by her vehemence.
Auri nodded her head, composed herself, and moved on. "I have updated the website." She said to Prowl, "Now what would you have me do?"
"Go through the security footage and find out who painted the liaison's car."
"Yes, sir." Her door-wings dipped a little lower, and she returned to the computer.
Prime and Prowl discussed the restrictions that the updated budget had replaced on the use of the land-bridge for a while, and then Prime left.
"Prowl?" Auri said, "The security footage has been tampered with; it just plays the same hour over through the time of the prank…" she trailed off, sounding a little uncertain.
"Oh. This was well thought out." Prowl frowned. "Alright, then, Aurion. List the Autobots, and then remove from the list the ones that were on missions, on watch, in the brig, etc.; use the method of elimination."
"Yes, sir." She stared at the computer for a moment then went to work slowly.
"Are you unwell, Auri? Answer me truthfully, please." Prowl said.
"I am perfectly well." She gave him a slightly exasperated look. "I am fine. I would be in Med-Bay if I wasn't fine, you know Ratchet and my guardians." She added with a smile.
"Yes, I do indeed." he said, letting it go.
She was fine, the liaison was gone, and the files were going to go smoothly with her extra help. Prowl was quite content with the situation.
He sneaked a peek at the twin's supposedly secret webpage on the NEST intranet. They had no idea that he knew about the site. All the pranks went up on that site, the twins' pranks as well as the pranks of others. Everybody on the site had usernames and could comment on various pranks or vote on them.
The liaison's car was on the front page.
"The AWESOMEST paint-a-liaison's-car prank YET!" was the caption. Then the description went on. "A yet unknown artist showed amazing skill and finesse in painting the irritating Budget Liaison's car with money details. The remote receptor and other key components of the car were also rigged to emit a loud "KA-CHING" whenever the liaison attempted to access them. As a finishing touch, the prankist covered the vehicle's luxurious backside with various money-themed bumper-stickers."
Prowl scrolled down and read the comments.
"AWESOME XD LOL! Amazing!" ~Ultraprankus
"I was literally rotflol-ing out there! That dude totally had it coming, and bot did he get it! His face was RED! XD!" ~Smooth1
"A piece of genius that I would have LOVED to been a part of! Nice Job!" ~Smoother1
"OH, yeah! Major like here! (We need a 'like' button, seriously)" ~Xman
"Brilliant! :)" ~OptimusPrime:P
"Sweet stuff! That's a nice lil prank there!" ~LOLtunes
"Excellent, if I do say so!" ~FineTunedCar
"Hahaha! Don't forget to check out the video if you weren't able to see it in person! [link]" ~UnseenXpertTrixter26
"Oh, wow! This is great! 8D" ~IcanSting2
"Nice one!" ~SweetSharpShooter
"Ha!" ~SweetSharpShootersMech
Prowl glanced up to make sure Auri was still busy. She was.
MysteryMechC'sU signed in and left a comment.
"Nice execution: you made a statement with style regarding the liaison's obsessiveness."
MysteryMechC'sU signed out quickly.
Prowl went back to work. He had a whole lot to do. And Prime was still threatening to make him take a day off.
And Prime carries out his threats, y'know! ;) That day off is coming up soon. Meanwhile, don't forget that I'm on deviantART now. I just added a new picture that goes with Chapter 34 of this story. It's got Auri, Bee, Ratchet, and Ironhide and Chromia in it. Check it out, and let me know what you think. :)
http: / cairistona. deviantart. com/art/ Gallantry-s-Reward- 216794619