I'm baaaaaack
Well, at least I've started back up into this. Life has changed, immensely, since my last update. Married, 3 kids, I'm literally a truck driver now lol. I recently went back and, somehow, remembered my password to this site. I really think I should get an award for remembering a password from 7 years ago! I recently came back and reread my stories. It charged me up, man. I want to get back into this. So I'll do my best to take up the challenge of continuing my stories.
I hope you enjoy my fic!
Awkward Talk/Laser Tag Walk
It had been a rough morning. Evan had, effectively, been banished back to his sleeping area by Sam until they could figure things out. Things were tense in the Witwicky househould. Evan sat in his makeshift bed, his elbows on his knees, with his hands holding both sides of his face. Josh sat atop his couch/bed watching his friend sit in silence, unsure as to how he should break the ice.
"Hey man," Josh timidly attempted small talk.
"...What?" Evan was sharp in his response, but stayed unmoving.
Josh struggled to find the words he so desperately hoped would ease the heavy tension in the room.
"I uh... I dunno" he gave in quickly, resting his head over the back of the couch.
Ron had felt such uneasiness in his own house that he decided it was time to try and break through it. He walked upstairs and sat down on the other end of the couch. Josh gave him the "I tried" shrug of his shoulders.
"What a crazy morning, eh?" Ron tried to break the tension. Evan just stayed sitting, no response.
Ron gave out a long sigh, "Yep... But you know, this isn't really an usual thing. Kids your age are bound to pull things like this. Cat's no different."
"PEH," Evan responded.
"Well she's not. That girl... She's still learning about what a normal life is. I doubt she knew what kind of consequences came with as much as she probably had to drink. She certainly learned today, though. Eh, I know Sam is distrustful of you two, but she's practically his big sister, so he has a big soft spot for her. They've been through a lot together, so you'll have to excuse him," Ron waved off Sam's behavior towards the boys.
Evan sighed and looked to Ron, "I didn't try to take advantage of her. I helped her get to her room and tried to get her set up to sleep."
"Oh!" Ron put his hands up as if to give the 'it's alright' impression, "Of that, Judy and I have no doubt. She's a tricky kid. We're very sure you hadn't tried anything funny. Besides the fact that Cat doesn't even remember any of those events, I don't think she's upset about any of this either."
Evan was surprised, "She's not?"
"No. I think she's more embarrassed than anything else," Ron laughed, "She's never been drunk, and you gotta think, Cat's barely gotten used to you. She's distrustful, just by nature. Nah, she's just human."
Evan nodded, "Am I allowed out of confinement, now?"
Ron chuckled, "I mean, tread lightly around the kids today, but I don't see why not," with that, Ron got back up and headed downstairs.
"Can we eat now?" Josh was annoyed that he'd also been banished.
Evan's stomach growled, "Yeah, let's go downstairs and face the music."
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"Ugh," Cat sitting at the breakfast table, going back and forth between Gatorade, coffee and dry toast.
"I never, in a million years, thought that this was the kid that I'd be helping to get over a hangover," Judy laughed.
"Really, mom?" Sam asked, annoyed, as he finished up his own breakfast.
"Well, come on, Sam. You're a boy, and a teenager. You were bound to pull this kind of stunt at some point," Judy took her mug of coffee and walked off into the living room.
Sam shook his head and carried on finishing up his cereal while Cat just stayed still, clutching onto her coffee in one hand while covering her eyes with the other. Just when Cat thought that she was getting a moment of peace, she heard Sam ask, "What are YOU doing down here?"
"We were invited down for breakfast," Evan replied with a frown.
"Yeah, dude. We eat too," Josh announced as he went straight the to pile of toast sitting on the counter.
Mikaela walked through the back door, "Good morning!" she beamed.
Sam stood up and slammed his chair into the table, "Yeah, well. Just so you know, Cat likes her eggs unfertilized in the morning."
"SAM," Cat seethed in a low growl.
Mikaela just stood next to Cat, staring at Sam as he left the room, knocking shoulders with Evan passing through the doorframe. Cat groaned in pure embarrassment.
"What uh... What did I miss?" Mikaela looked to Evans eyes, which were as wide as saucers.
"Well..." Evan started, "I'll just... go find a place to bury myself in the backyard now," he turned towards the back door and made a quick exit.
Mikaela sat down next to Cat, seeing her friend was looking as though the blood had just run out of her face, "I'm guessing your night out didn't go quite as planned?"
Josh just laughed as he bit into his second piece of toast, "You ain't heard the half of it!"
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Evan paced around the backyard in a whirlwind of emotions. Life had been normal up until Christmas Eve. He had no idea just how much had changed when he had been attacked by a giant robot alien. And then he laid eyes onher. Was this supposed to happen? Was he doomed to have everything flipped upside down? His memory went back to that night. Cat had taken her jacket off and placed it over him as he laid in shock. He had so many questions! He wanted to know so much about her! ... And now, everything had changed in such a short time. His car was destroyed, his apartment was destroyed, he lost his job and really had no one besides his hollow headed friend, and Cat... Well... She just plain didn't like him... The ONE person that he thought he could connect to was unreachable. Untouchable. She was a crazy, stubborn-ass mule who he just knew had so many secrets that she kept to herself.
Evan sat down at the picnic table behind the garage and let out a huff of exhaustion. If he'd had somewhere to go, he certainly wouldn't have let himself stay where half of the people in the house disliked him...'Wait a second' Evan just remembered something. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and opened it, sliding his thumb in the cash pocket and feeling a thin envelope.
'I forgot about that!' Evan perked up. Just before they had left to pick up Josh's car from the mechanic, he had gone to the bank and withdrawn his secret stash of cash, the last remaining bit he'd had. He took it out of his savings just in case he had to put up any money to pay off the mechanic, but it actually ended up being a cheap fix. It was only about five-hundred dollars, but it would have bought him a bus ticket and a few meals to get somewhere, anywhere than where he was. He'd had an uncle somewhere in Nevada, but he wasn't very close with him and had no idea where he lived. He also had an aunt that lived in Pennsylvania, and he'd just recently spoken to her. She had offered a place for him to stay, but he had declined, on the basis that he knew Josh didn't have anyone to split rent with and wouldn't have survived that way. That, and he didn't want to rely on family to take him in. But it was a long ways from here, and he could probably move in the night without anyone knowing where he'd gone. It would probably have saved him a huge headache, and he could restart a normal life.
Evan slid the envelope back into his wallet and stuffed it into his back pocket. He considered his options for a moment. Should he leave? Should he start anew? Would anyone, besides Josh, even care? Cat certainly didn't enjoy him being around, and he wouldn't be walking on eggshells around those he had to share a space with. And Josh seemed to be okay with living at the Dam. He'd probably find a way to support himself if he had to. He was burning holes through the picnic table as he stared down into it, his mind making plans.
"Good Morning," the tone of Bumblebee was rather flat, but he regarded Evan as he approached.
Evan whirled around, noticing the humanistic hologram approaching him, "Oh... Uh, hey."
Bumblebee sat down at the picnic table across from Evan, "You've only been here a day and you've caused quite a bit of chaos."
Evan rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well send me away then."
Bumblebee gave a short laugh and said, "If only it were that easy."
"It could be, if you'd just let me be on my way," Evan wasn't amused.
"I agree. But the evidence sort of speaks to the otherwise, at the moment," Bumblebee said, honestly, "But where would you go? You haven't the means to take care of yourself, not that it's your fault."
"I have a couple of ideas," Evan looked away.
"To be quite honest, I think putting you and Cat together is a bad idea. The two of you seem to have an equal attraction to trouble, or it's attracted to you. Having both of you out in the open puts everyone around you in danger. We don't know why the Decepticons seem to chase you, and we have two factions who are chasing Cat. I believe the best solution is to separate you both and keep an army nearby," The holo-mech suggested.
"I don't want protection, I don't want an army nearby, and at this point I just want to get back to a normal life and be left alone," Evan was already flustered with this new life.
Bumblebee nodded, "I understand. Cat expresses the exact same sentiments, but I think she understands that she's a walking target for a lot of people. If she were to stay in the open, whoever is nearby would be an unintended target also."
Evan looked through the back door and saw Mikaela having a chat with Cat at the breakfast table, "She's a special case. I'm not."
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Josh had left the kitchen to resume life in his couch/bed upstairs. Mikaela had sat next to Cat, looking to her friend for an explanation, "So what happened?"
Cat rubbed the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed, "All I know, is that I was dropped off at the house after going "partying" with Lennox and his crew. The next thing I know, Sam is fighting with our two guests, and uh..." she trailed off.
"Nooooo, you can't leave it there," Mikaela encouraged.
Cat let out a discouraging sigh, "Apparently, Evan had caught me at the door trying to make my way upstairs and uh... 'helped' me get to bed."
"Helped you, so like you were plastered and he was trying to get you into your bed for the night?" Mikaela felt as thought she knew the answer, but wanted Cat to explain herself further.
"Mikaela," Cat started, really unsure of where to go with this conversation, "I want you to keep in mind that I don't have any sort of recall to these events. I'm really just going off of what the others have told me."
Mikaela gave a quick nod, "Okay, and?"
"Sam had apparently gotten up in the middle of the night to ask me something. I think he'd had some weird dreams again. But he found Evan and I... in a slightly compromising situation, to best explain in."
Mikaela was stone for a moment. Did she just hear what she thought she'd just heard? Her mouth went agape.
"You mean you two were like... together?" Mikaela pressed.
"NO -ah," Cat yelled, but her head repaid her by throbbing at the sound of her own voice, "Not quite like that."
Mikaela was silent for only a moment longer before she let out a crazy laugh, "Oh Cat - I'm sorry, I'm laughing at this but," she let a rip of laughter hit her again in the middle of her sentence, "I mean... What's wrong with that??"
Cat opened her bloodshot eyes and looked to her friend, "Are you serious?"
Mikaela laughed, "Well, Cat. I mean, it's not like you meant for that to happen!"
Cat laid her head down on the table, at that moment only wishing she could have just melted into a puddle on the floor, slipped through the cracks of the wood and sunk into the Earth.
Gasp* "Cat! This is great!" Mikaela encouraged.
"And just why is that?!" Cat griped.
"Well, you're learning more about being a human! Believe it or not, this is part of it!" Mikaela smiled, "Oh! Think of it! We could go on double-dates!"
Cat looked up at Mikaela, her sour expression unamused, "You're crazy..." with that Cat stood up, slowly, from the table and wobbled away, up to her room, her friend in tow.
"Aw, come on, Cat!" Mikaela whined.
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Mikaela gently let herself into Sam's room, "Sam?"
"Hey," Sam smiled softly, "I'm sorry, I ignored you downstairs. Last night was crazy."
Mikaela giggled, "So I've heard!"
"Who told you what?" Sam asked.
"Cat explained to me that she and Evan had a little - rendezvous' - so to speak," Mikaela hinted.
"The dude was laying on top of her, Mikaela," Sam added in.
"I talked to both Cat and your mom, Sam. It sounds as if it's just a misunderstanding," she encouraged Sam to take a reasonable approach.
"No, no I SAW it with my own eyes, Kayla," Sam put his foot down, "You didn't see it!"
"Sam, how much did the Autobots say Cat weighs?" Mikaela asked.
"I don't remember, like, 400 some odd pounds?" Sam replied.
"And how many people on this earth, would you say, have the abilities she has?" she pressed, "She's a highly skilled, trained soldier who has an enormous amount of talent with an even bigger record of leaving those who are in her war-path on the verge of death?"
"..."
"Yeah, exactly. Sam, I know she's a sister to us both, and you're linked to her through the Allspark, but you have GOT to see the bigger picture here!" Mikaela sat at Sam's computer in his chair, "You and I BOTH know that Cat wasn't a victim of anything, last night. Evan's a decent guy... Now if we were talking about Josh, he's a bit... odd... But we're not."
Sam sat on his bed, still reeling, but beginning to see that she was right. Cat's not even as pissed as he thought she'd be, so why was he being so difficult?
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The day had been fairly long. The house stayed quiet while everyone stayed in their own spaces/rooms. The teens had gone out for lunch and returned, Mikaela taking off to go out with her friends. Cat stayed in her room to sleep off her hangover and the two boys stayed in their "room".
Judy had had it.
"Okay, kids! Everyone downstairs, if you please!" she shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
Sam was first to appear from his room, followed by Evan and Josh. Cat was a no-show.
"You too, missy!" Judy added.
"Mom, what's the deal?" Sam was annoyed, at best.
"I'll say when Cat gets her little butt down here!" Judy replied.
Cat appeared at the top of the stairs. She looked half asleep, her eyes still red from her hangover, her hair was fluffed up on one side due to spending her time in bed. She yawned and asked, "What's going on?"
Judy smiled and said, "I've had it with the awkward silence in this house! You kids need to get out and enjoy what's left of this beautiful day!"
Cat reached the bottom of the stairs as Judy finished her speech. Cat groaned and turned to go back upstairs, accidentally hitting shoulders with the taller figure of Evan. She looked up at him to apologize and as soon as it registered to both of them who they were, they jumped back.
Cat stumbled into the stair railing and scrambled to stand up straight and collect herself, "Oh-uh.. Excuse me."
"N-no, totally my fault," Evan stammered an embarrassing response.
They turned away from each other and Cat flew up the stairs before she heard Judy say, "Cat, dear, get yourself ready because I meant you also!"
"The hell are we supposed to do?!" Sam griped.
"I'm sure there's a movie on, somewhere, or maybe you can go to the mall. I don't care! I just think it's about time you guys grouped up and got out of this house!" his mom waved them off, "Besides. Your father and I need a little alone time."
"That's gross, mom, "Sam cringed.
The three boys of the group looked at each other in an 'Oh joy' fashion.
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Luckily, it was a fairly warm, sunny day. There was a movie on that they had all agreed upon, but it wouldn't be until much later. Until then, Josh had another idea about what they should do.
"Laser Tag?" Cat stared up at the sign out in front of the mall sign.
Sam pat Cat on the shoulder and said, "This should be right up your alley."
Cat gave her young friend a raised eyebrow, "So.. the children's game, Tag?"
"But with lasers!!" Josh spoke up as he walked into the lobby.
Cat took a half step back as if she were going to make up some excuse not to go in. The hologram of Bumblebee came up from behind and gave Cat a solid push towards the building, "Give it a chance!" he said with a smile.
"Sooo, "Cat started as she adjusted the vest they put on her, "We run around in the dark... and point these kiddie toy guns at each other and see how many times we can shoot someone from the opposite color team?"
"That's it!" Sam encouraged.
Cat looked at all of the vests everyone in the room was wearing and noticed they all had little grey orbs on the front, back and the top of each gun, "How do we know what team we're on?"
"It's randomized. Once we're about to start, they go by how many of us are in here and randomly choose what numbered vest is what color, "Evan added.
"Then what?" Cat asked.
"Then we go to the side of the room that matches our color and they'll open those doors. We pile into the game zone area and find a spot to hide until they count down to start us off, "Sam explained, "Oh! And if you accidentally shoot someone from your team, your gun is shut off for 10 seconds and your team loses a point."
"Think you got this?" Bumblebee asked with his gear on.
The Game Masters initiated the team colors. Everyone looked at the orbs on their vests and guns. Sam, Bumblebee and Josh were blue, which left Cat and Evan on the red team. There were 15 others in the lobby, everyone laughing at their color.
Cat rolled her eyes, wondering how it was that this was her luck. Everyone, then, lined up at their matching doors, Evan giving Cat the room to go ahead of him. She frowned and walked ahead. He was NOT confident that this would go well.
The doors opened, both teams running like mad into their side of the game zone. Cat noted every square inch of the room as she walked through the door. It was quite a large arena. Eighty feet long by sixty feet wide with the back half having an upper deck you can get to via two staircases at each corner. The room had three pylons on each side. There were square blocks in between sides that had doorways cut through them. The upper deck had several cylinders in rows that went from the ceiling to the deck. The room was dark with exception to a few brightly lit spots that had been painted either red or blue and were lit up by the black-lights that were above them on the ceiling.
Everyone ran and hid, Cat made sure she swiftly lost Evan as she found a spot to wait. The counter appeared on television screens all around the top of the arena. Starting at ten, it counted down. Cat felt MORE than prepared. She'd trained for this her whole life, after all.
A buzzer sounded, starting the round. Cat turned and immediately locked onto four targets, taking them out in flash, the scoreboard immediately reflecting her wins. She spun around a pylon and jumped on top of a square block, locking eyes with yet another blue victim. Cat shot them and slid off of her block, winding around the next pylon, checking her surroundings. Her left eye caught was keeping track of the nearest bio-signatures, watching them dodge back and forth until they were close enough to catch them off-guard. She zapped two random blue team members as they traveled past her, immediately running by them as their guns temporarily shut off. Cat hid in a little nook between pylons as her eye tracked a few more bio-signatures.
"The only one I can't track is -" Cat started
"GOTCHA" the blonde form of Bumblebee jumped out. He aimed, but Cat was already on the move and shot him before he had the chance to nab her.
Cat made a dash for the staircase to the upper deck. There were several moving targets she could get up there. Before she could reach the stairs, Bumblebee's gun turned back on as he aimed for her. Before he could shoot, his gun shut off. He looked around and saw Evan aiming at him. Cat turned and saw what had happened. She stopped for a second and gave a smirk to Evan before heading up the stairs. Evan felt a little pressure lift off of him as he continued on his way to find more blue team members.
Cat weaved in between the cylinders, catching one or two people here or there. She got to the upper deck railing and looked to see the score. Blue team 12, Red team 19. As she turned, her gun shut off.
"No way!!" Cat refused to believe she could be targeted as she whirled around to see Sam had aimed from the ground level and actually gotten her. He did a victory dance and ran off.
"Oh, it's ON Sammy-boy, "Cat bee-lined for the staircase at the opposite corner from where she entered the upper deck.
Sliding down the railing, Cat looked for Sam's bio-signature and her eye suddenly lost its signal on everyone around her.
"Huh? Aw, dammit, "Cat looked down at the floor as she backed up in a corner hiding spot.
Evan was having more fun than he had envisioned would happen. He'd shot Josh three times, already and was still proud of himself for getting the hologram of Bee. He saw something moving in a corner spot and took a chance, running towards it, laser gun drawn. He rolled around the corner, preparing to fire when he saw the small form of Cat, kneeling on one knee, gun on the ground, both hands covering her forehead. Her eyes were smashed shut in an expression of pain. It was too loud to make out what she was saying, but she was mumbling something as if she were pleading.
"Cat?" Evan knelt down and gently touched her back to get her attention.
"I-I'm fine... Ugh..." she continued to fight whatever pain was happening.
Evan turned to see if, maybe, Bumblebee or Sam were nearby, "I'll go get Bee," he offered.
"NO! No, no, just... Just hang on, "Cat grabbed his arm to keep him from getting anyone else involved.
"You need help!" Evan was trying to understand what was happening.
"What's going on?" the form of Sam approached.
Evan turned and stood up, facing the teen, "Cat-"
"GOT YOU!" Cat yelled as she shot her gun at Sam, disabling his laser gun.
Sam was defeated and smiled, "You tricked me!"
"Aha! We.. sure did!" Cat nudged Evan.
"Y-yeah, I think" Evan was more confused than ever.
The buzzer sounded, ending the game.
Blue team - 16
Red Team - 24
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After Laser Tag, the group still had time before the movie, and opted for ice cream.
They left the Camaro to rest in a lot in the park and walked across the street to a nearby parlor. Bee chose not to participate in this event, and Mikaela met the group up.
Josh and the two teens were standing in a long line for ice cream. Evan sat at a round table covered by an umbrella. Cat sat across from him, her normal scowl on her face.
The air was thick. Evan had questions and Cat knew it.
"So, "Evan started, "You mind telling me what that was all about?"
Cat sighed, "I do mind, actually."
"Oh, okay, "Evan gave a small nod.
Cat felt as though he were being sarcastic, "Yeah?"
Evan shrugged, "Sure."
Cat squinted her eyes at Evan with a distrustful mind, "Okay, then."
"Okay, "Evan replied, "I'll just ask Bee about it later."
Cat gave a small, fake laugh, "Ohhh, you don't want to do that."
"No?" he inquired, "Well maybe he'd want to know."
Cat had had just about enough of these shenanigans.
"All right, fine, "she didn't want to chance it.
Evan didn't say a word, listening closely.
"A few weeks ago, I started getting these migraines. They'll just hit, instantly, out of nowhere, shutting off my left optic... And then I hear... her..." Cat trailed off.
"Who?" Evan asked.
"It's Five. I know it's her. This was her optical unit. I hear her voice, experience her memories, relive moments both good and awful and I can't stop it, "Cat finished.
"Is that why you're working so hard to relearn your Alchemy?" Evan asked.
Cat was shocked, to say the least. Evan had put it all together without her having to go into those details, "That's very good... Yes, that's why I'm really looking back to Alchemy. I'm hoping to find some answers, and maybe break my hold over her."
"Why do you think she's doing this?" Evan.
Cat looked up to the sky, zoning out into the bright blue abyss. Evan watched her for a moment. He felt an "other worldly" feel to her; as though she could see lightyears into space, watching the gears of the universe turn.
"I think something big is on the horizon. I think Five knows something I don't and is trying to prepare me for whatever is coming my way, "Cat said softly.
The two sat in silence for just a moment. Evan could see the others returning to the table. Before they got too close he said, "Your secret is safe with me."
Cat looked to Evan with a look of being unsure, but softly smiled, "Thanks."
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The Witwicky househould was quiet. It was a little after midnight and everyone was asleep. Everyone except Evan, who laid in his makeshift bed and thought about the days' events. Starting out, Evan had been so frustrated that he had started to plan his escape. He thought about his last bit of money, and how he could, still, easily leave.
But Cat. Although he hadn't had very many good interactions with her, he felt a little more calm and was beginning to see a different side of her. He'd thought of her angered face as a little girl in the shadows of her cell. That pain was still very evident. He could see that perhaps she had carried it for so long that the pain had become the walls that surrounded her. She hid behind thick walls of stone to keep anyone from seeing that she, herself, was a human at the heart of it all; and that fact made her feel weak.
Evan turned to his side in his bed. He saw Josh sleeping comfortably. Josh had no idea just how lucky he was. He carried no burdens more than the average human. Evan realized that he only carried a slight amount more than the others did. But no one human, more than Cat, shouldered the weight of world.
After so much thought, Evan had decided to stay. It would be an uphill battle, for sure. But he felt as though he would stay, mainly, to maybe help shoulder some of Cat's burdens.
And with that, Evan joined the rest of the household in slumber.