A/N: Sooo, sorry for the wait guys...school's been picking up and I've been completely swamped lately. As always, thanks so much for the new faves and follows, especially if you left a review! You're awesome! (also shout out to my sibling SorryInAdvance for nagging me to actually get this chapter out, even though you were super annoying about it...)
Chapter 10:
Watch and Learn
"Here comes chaos!"
-Adam Savage, MythBusters
Within twenty minutes, Ratchet's project was near completion, and the teens were starting to get nervous at the new volcano's…unusual appearance. It was easily twice Raf's size, made completely of metal, and looked extremely ominous. To make matters worse, Ratchet hadn't stopped muttering to himself for the duration of its construction. Most of it was in his native Cybertronian, but there was enough English scattered in there for Billy to get a healthy sense of dread about the end result.
Finally, Raf decided to try talking to the bot, approaching the massive project cautiously.
"Umm," Raf started. "What is it?"
"You'll find out," Ratchet replied, not even sparing the boy a glance as he continued to weld.
"But, Ratchet…shouldn't I be doing the work?" Raf questioned, taking a step closer to the strange contraption.
Billy, who was still working on her report, kept half an eye on the boy from her spot across the room. Something told her that the volcano-like structure Ratchet was making was not exactly built with human compatibility in mind.
"Yip-ep-ep-ep! Don't touch!" Ratchet stopped working long enough to shoo the boy away with an unoccupied hand. "Just watch and learn."
Raf looked back at Billy pleadingly, but she just shrugged and went back to scribbling away in her notebook. She'd helped him preserve his actual volcano. As far as she was concerned, that was as good as he was gonna get with Ratchet going off on this mad scientist power trip. He'd cool down eventually.
Another stream of distracted muttering from said bot had her scooting her containers of bugs even further out of sight.
At least, I hope he will, she winced, trying to keep as still and inconspicuous as possible.
With any luck, as long as Billy didn't draw any attention to herself, the massive nerd (in the most literal sense possible) would forget that there were four humans at the base and leave her project alone.
She really didn't want to find out what Ratchet's idea of 'upgrading' a bunch of cockroaches would be.
"So…" Bulkhead spoke up from his place near the balcony, where Jack and Miko had been watching the medic's progress dejectedly. "We're just gonna go and help Jack and Miko finish their – "
"Without my supervision?" Ratchet cut him off indignantly. "You want them to be right, don't you?"
Bulkhead and Arcee exchanged glances, neither seeming to know how to handle the situation. Eventually, Bulkhead replied to Ratchet with a halfhearted shrug.
"Then watch the master at work!" Ratchet exclaimed, waving the sparking welder as he spoke with a creepy smile adorning his face.
"Control freak," Miko commented, just loud enough for Billy to hear from the other side of the room.
You can say that again, she thought, rolling her eyes and going back to her report.
O*O*O*O*O*O
A few hours later, Ratchet had successfully 'improved' on Raf, Miko, and Jack's projects, Billy's insect experiment having been the only one that managed to escape his tirade. Since it was getting late by then, and Bee and Optimus had yet to return from their mission, she and Raf were taken home by Bulkhead.
"Bye, Raf," Billy called as the boy exited Bulkhead's backseat.
He waved cheerfully and started up the steps to his house, a large cardboard box clutched precariously to his chest. Turns out, Ratchet's giant volcano thing was collapsible, so Raf didn't have to figure out how to carry the massive metal thing though the halls at school. No one was certain what it did, but given the fact that Ratchet had discovered Raf's backup plan and 'took care of it' for him, the kid didn't really have any other options for the fair tomorrow.
Billy had only caught a glimpse of Jack and Miko's projects, but they, like Raf's, were large, metal, and vaguely threatening.
"Billy, you said you live on the next street over?" Bulkhead's voice asked from the dashboard of the car.
"Yeah, just take a right at this stop sign. I live at the end of the first street on the right after the turn," she replied, scooting forward in her seat so she could make out the houses easier.
"This is me," she called as the familiar white house drew into sight.
Bulkhead slowed to a stop outside 'her' house, opening the door so she could climb out easier.
"Since Bee's still out, I'm gonna be patrolling between you guys' neighborhood and Miko's, at least until he gets back," the bot explained as Billy stepped out and pulled her backpack onto her shoulders. "I know you don't have a phone, so if anything goes wrong, head to Raf's place, alright? If Bee still isn't back by tomorrow morning, I'll be driving you three to school."
"Sure thing. Thanks, Bulkhead. See you tomorrow, Miko," Billy answered, stepping away from the vehicle to allow Bulkhead to close his door.
She waited till he was clear of the street, like she always did, before setting off towards the drainpipe. When she emerged on the other side, though, she didn't head straight to her little shelter. Though she had made a lot of progress on her report at the base, she still had to finish her conclusion paragraph, and it was too dark out there to see anything in her notebook.
She had a small flashlight stored in her backpack, but she made a point only to only use it during an emergency to avoid having to replace the batteries all the time. Unfinished homework, unfortunately, didn't quite qualify.
"And into town I go," she muttered glumly.
Billy knew it was a risk, especially now that she was on some homicidal alien robots' radar, but she needed this grade. After only a moment of hesitation, she set off in the direction of downtown Jasper.
Before she left home, Billy had loved walking around her neighborhood at night. It was a safe area, occupied mostly by middle-class families and their white picket fences and golden retrievers and 2.5 kids. It was soothing, to just walk with no destination in mind, only you and the sound of your feet hitting the pavement.
But now, she much preferred to stay in her shelter as soon as the sun set. Jasper may have been quiet, but that didn't always mean it was peaceful. Quiet meant boredom. Boredom lead to people doing a lot of stupid and cruel things in their quest for entertainment.
As Billy walked down the street that lead to the center of town, she kept one hand in her pocket, tightly gripping the replacement knife she'd dug out of the garbage a few weeks ago.
The quiet, once a soothing presence, made her more and more wary the longer it lasted.
After what seemed like an eternity, she was there. The blinding fluorescent lights of the fast food sign standing in stark contrast to the inky blackness of the street Billy had arrived from. She quickly settled down outside the joint, pulling out her notebook and getting straight to work, eager to return to her bridge as soon as possible.
It only took Billy half an hour or so to come up with a semi-workable conclusion paragraph, and she was all too happy to call it a night. As she began packing up her stuff again, the roar of engines in the distance froze her in her tracks.
Please don't let it be cons, she thought desperately, just before a flashy red car pulled up on the street next to the fast food joint. The window rolled down, revealing…
Billy groaned internally. It may not be cons, but Vince's company was probably just as bad.
"Hey, freak, what are you doing out here all by your lonesome?" he called, making a show of looking her up and down disdainfully.
"None of your business, asshole," she snarled back, standing abruptly and beginning to walk back down the street. Vince creeped up alongside her as she went, that stupid smirk still adorning his disgusting face.
"Aw, don't be like that! We were just starting to get along, don't you think?" he sneered, leaning out the window a little. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"Like I said," Billy answered slowly, teeth gritted in anger. "None. Of. Your. Fucking. Business. Or is that too hard for your tiny brain to comprehend?"
Vince abruptly put his car in park and got out, slamming the door shut violently. He stalked up to her, attempting to use his height and size to intimidate her. Billy just stared defiantly back at the teen, arms hanging down at her sides in anticipation of a fight.
"What did you say to me?" he demanded. Billy didn't flinch.
"I said, you've got a tiny fucking brain, ass-wipe," she responded calmly. "Do you have a hearing problem, too?"
Vince recoiled, face twisting in anger. He opened his mouth to retort, but Billy decided that she'd had enough. She was tired, she wanted to go to sleep, and she had enough problems without this jerk giving her grief. So, she took half a step closer and kneed him in the balls, following up with a swift right hook.
The bully dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, moaning pathetically into the dirt.
"Now leave me alone, or next time you won't get off so easy," she warned as she stepped over his legs to continue on her way. Vince had to have the last word, though.
"Bitch," he panted from behind her. Billy didn't even turn around. "You fuckin' queer, you just made a huge mistake."
Billy's heart clenched at his insult, though she was well aware that he didn't actually know what he was talking about. All he really had to go on was her short hair and thin patience for dealing with most of the male population of her species. Considering her mostly less-than-stellar experiences with dudes, though, she liked to think she was somewhat justified in her general distaste for the opposite sex, even if she weren't…you know, playing for the other team. Still, his words scared her more than she cared to admit.
Instead of risking a possibly telling response, she just flipped him the bird and continued walking. All in all, Vince's opinion of her was the least of her worries these days.
O*O*O*O*O*O
"Liam O'Sullivan," a female voice called as the classroom door opened for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon. The boy standing in line in front of Billy, a nervous-looking sophomore she vaguely recognized as one of the drummers in the school band, hefted his project more securely in his arms before stepping forward into the room.
The hallway was mostly empty by now, the line of students waiting to present their projects having dwindled significantly over the last hour or so. For some reason the majority of Jasper's population had last names that started with letters in the beginning of the alphabet, so the only students left now were Billy, a freshman she didn't know the name of, the Randall twins, Kate Soto, and Trevor Vixen at the end of the line.
Jack, Raf, and Miko had already gone and were sitting outside to wait for Bulkhead. None of them were too inclined to hang around in the halls after…well, after Ratchet's projects wreaked so much havoc in the school. Poor Trevor Vixen was still looking a little worse for wear after his incident with Jack's 'motorcycle engine'. Billy could tell that Raf wasn't in the best of moods after his volcano tore a hole in the ceiling of the school, but last she saw, Jack had been doing his best to cheer up the youngest member of their little posse.
"Billy Parker," the same teacher as before called suddenly, stepping aside to let Liam hurry back out into the hall.
That was quick. Billy raised an eyebrow as she stepped forward slowly, watching the sophomore skitter down the hall as fast as he could without outright running. Guess his project didn't go so well either, she shrugged, turning her attention to the teacher standing by the open classroom door.
She offered a quick smile to the older woman but didn't maintain eye contact for long. Her focus was solely on the task at hand as she stepped into the room, placed her finished report on the desk of one of the judges, and stood back to begin her presentation.
It was obvious that, although the panel of judges had been science teachers at some point in their careers, none had a particular fondness for insects of any kind…much less cockroaches, which even Billy had to admit could be a little unnerving. Ms. Earhart, the female judge who had been ferrying students in and out of the classroom all afternoon, looked particularly queasy at the sight of them. When Billy offered to pass around one of her containers to show off her light-blocking technique, the woman looked about ready to faint.
"And that's it," Billy concluded, shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot. "Any, uh, any questions?"
Mr. DeMuir, the judge who had been skimming her report looked up with a tired smile, obviously ready to go home after listening to dozens of nervous teenagers' presentations. And that isn't even taking Ratchet's monstrosities into account, which were received just about as well as Billy had expected.
"No, I think we have all we need, Miss Parker." He glanced to the other judges, who quickly shook their heads in the negative.
"Well, thank you again. Do you, uh, want me to leave these here, or…" she trailed off awkwardly, gesturing to the containers of cockroaches she had been holding throughout her presentation.
"No!" Ms. Earhart's eyes widened fractionally as she hastened to respond. "Just the report is more than sufficient."
Billy almost smirked at the slightly panicked look on the judge's face but caught herself just in time. The lady was helping to decide her grade, after all. She gave a quick nod in their direction, still doing her best to keep her amusement from showing before turning to leave.
"Ah, Miss Parker," the third judge, Mr. Brown - who also happened to be the principal - called out hastily from behind her. Billy paused in her retreat, facing back around curiously. "I almost forgot; we've been trying to get in contact with your folks to set up their college information meeting with your guidance counsellor, but the information we have on record doesn't seem to be up to date. Do you have an alternate phone number we can use to reach them?"
All traces of Billy's previous good humor disappeared. Damn it.
Luckily, she was well-versed in weaseling her way out of situations like this one by now…if she weren't so dead set on becoming a scientist, she could easily make a living as a con artist.
"Oh, I had no idea," Billy replied easily, making sure to keep eye contact with Mr. Brown as she spoke. "The contact info should be up to date, but…I don't think it'd do much good anyway, Mr. Brown. My dad's deployment isn't up till July, and my mom has been swamped at work lately. Plus, with the stress of my dad being gone for this long…"
She trailed off, deliberately breaking eye contact with Mr. Brown for dramatic effect. It wasn't as if her story was completely fake – there had been plenty of times before she left home when her dad's latest deployment had caused a lot of stress on her and her mom, after all. She was just…stretching the truth a bit, that's all.
Mr. Brown's face paled at that, and the other two teachers quickly looked down to the table they were sitting at, obviously uncomfortable with the sudden awkward turn the conversation had taken.
"I, uh, I see. You know what, I'm sure we'll figure something out." Mr. Brown added hastily, practically tripping over his words in his haste to steer clear of the imminent faux pas. "You just thank your dad for his service when he gets back. I don't want to put any more stress on your family."
Billy did her best not to pump her fist in victory, instead arranging her expression into what she hoped was a sad-but-thankful smile.
"Thanks so much, Mr. Brown," she said quietly, subtly starting to inch her way toward the door.
Ms. Earhart, finally looking up from the table now that the awkward conversation was over, stood quickly and made her way to the door to summon the next student. Billy was all too happy to trail after the woman, her shoulders sagging tiredly as she went.
This con artist stuff was hard work.
O*O*O*O*O*O
Based on Raf's disheartened expression as he left the aftermath of his science project for the fire department to deal with, Billy had fully expected to spend the remainder of the day cheering the kid up. But she slid into the backseat of Bulkhead's alt mode to find that Miko was…already on it. She spent the entire ride back to base describing her project's spectacular failure, from the tiny twitch in the corner of Ms. Earhart's left eye when she walked through the door to the exasperated arrival of the fire department for the third time that day. As it turned out, Miko's talent at distraction was actually useful for something other than getting on Ratchet's nerves, and by the time they pulled into the hangar, Raf's mood was visibly improved.
"Thanks," Billy whispered to Miko as they exited Bulkhead's alt mode. Miko just smirked and waved off the acknowledgement, skipping off toward the bottom of the stairs with her backpack swinging loosely from her hand.
Billy and Raf followed Miko's lead, giving Bulkhead enough room to transform and step aside to let Jack and Arcee pass.
Ratchet, who had been deep in conversation with Optimus and Bumblebee on the other side of the room, stepped closer to the group of humans excitedly as Jack dismounted and pulled his helmet off before joining the others by the stairway.
"Well?" he asked apprehensively. "How were my – uh, our projects received?"
The three humans unfortunate enough to have been subjected to the wrath of Ratchet's scientific prowess exchanged glances.
"Well…" Raf started slowly, scuffing his shoes against the ground. Billy had to look away to keep her amused expression hidden as the three launched into the brief explanations of what had happened.
"My, uh, my volcano blew a hole in the ceiling of the school," Raf finally said, wincing a little as he raised his eyes to meet Ratchet's expectant face. "The judges said that it was a hazard to the community and had to call the fire department to take care of it…after giving me an automatic D. They said the only reason I didn't get an F was because of my…creative spirit."
"And my, uh…engine…ended up going AWOL for a bit," Jack added, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "…After it punched a hole in three classroom walls and gave a kid an asthma attack. They had to call the cops and the fire department to get it under control."
"Yeah, Cybertron didn't go over too well with the judges either," Miko added. "Especially once the string snapped and the planet put a huge dent in the classroom floor. The fire department was not happy to get called in for the third time…but I got some great pictures of them chasing down Jack's engine of doom!"
A little snort of laughter escaped Billy's mouth before she could quell it, and she quickly pretended to cough to cover it up.
"Well, my cockroaches did great, if anyone's wondering," she said weakly. Bumblebee gave her a thumbs-up from behind Ratchet's back.
The medic himself seemed completely shocked, and a little insulted, that his inventions did so poorly.
"Well, on our planet, you would have been awarded the highest honors!" he sputtered angrily before stalking off, muttering to himself all the way.
"I guess these guys would have been wise to stray from Ratchet's path," Bumblebee chuckled, watching the medic's angry retreat.
"Indeed, Bumblebee," Optimus replied, seeming amused.
Jack, Billy, Miko, and Raf were only able to hold out for a few seconds before smiles creeped across their faces and they began laughing at the scene. As the four of them continued on their way up to the balcony, their laughter slowly dying down to the occasional chuckle, Billy's smile remained solidly in place.
For the first time in a long time, she was happy right where she was.