I only own my OC's!
Labor Day Weekend: Sunday Part 2
We pull off the highway and into a parking lot. I look out the window and squeal. I love Bob Evans! "Yay!"
"Mari?"
"I loves dis pwace!"
"Good." Carrier parks. "Everyone out!"
"This isn't a military maneuver, Prowler."
"I am aware of that, Jazz."
"Then why are ya—ya know what, never min'." We head inside, and take our seats before checking through the menus. When the waitress comes around, Carrier orders turkey for him and Sire, and the children's version for me, while the others order something different. The food arrives quickly, and we eat silently.
After most of us are done, Carrier pulls out his tiny datapad and sets it on the table in front of him with Google Maps up, and a schedule pulled up on the screen. "We will be stopping for snack foods before anything." He waits a moment for a response, which doesn't come. "This is the motel we are staying in." He points to the "Days Inn" label on the Google Maps screen. "We have rented four rooms. Nathan, you and your brothers will be in one, the three of us will have another, Blake and Dustin, you are sharing the third with the twins. James, you and Ryan will have the fourth. We will have an hour to settle in, then some of us will take Mari out for roller skating in town. The rest of you may do what you want with the afternoon. We will meet back at the motel a quarter to six, and we are all going to church. We will go over the rest of the itinerary at the restaurant once church is over."
"All righ', Pete."
Carrier huffs. "Jazz, please. You know I do not like nicknames." He sighs. "If everyone is finished…"
"We're done."
"I think Red's still eatin'."
"Noah is too." Sire glances from Fixit's pretender mode to where I'm staring longingly at the kids' desert menu in front of me. "An' Ah thin' Mari wan's deser'."
"Pwease, Daddy?"
"All right, Mari may have some ice cream, since she will not get a popsicle tonight. Nathan, you have your government issue card, right?"
"Yes, Sir."
"You may go ahead and pay for your meal. The rest of us will join you all outside once we are finished." He turns to me. "Now, what would you like?"
"Reece's sundae!"
"All right." He waves down the waitress and orders my ice cream, which comes out within the minute. I eat it quickly before sliding out of my chair. "Now, we must pay and join the others."
"We'll hafta fin' an ATM somewheres. Ah know they won' take the car' a' the festival."
"I will find one when we get the snacks."
"All righ'."
Carrier (in pretender form) pulls the van into a parking spot outside the Days Inn before boosting me out. We head inside with our luggage and the snack bags, and Carrier checks us in before taking the key cards and joining us off to the side. "Okay. Jazz, we're in 206. We've got a double and two singles Noah, you're with us. Nathan, you and your brothers have 208. It's got a single king in it. James, you and Ryan are in 207 across the hall from us. You have a double. Blake and Dustin, you're in 209 with the twins."
"What about Mari's security?"
"We will have all the doors locked, and they have already agreed to have extra security detail on our rooms."
"What are you not telling us?"
Carrier smirks again before leading us all to the elevator. "Mariposa Prime is going to be in the parade tomorrow Morning, right behind the lead police car."
"WHAT!?"
"Wha' were ya thinkin', Prowler! Ya opene' 'er up ta ge' kidnapped!"
"No one would even attempt a kidnapping if her bodyguard just happens to be her ride."
"You mean me."
Carrier nods. "Yes, Sunstreaker. That is why I requested that you take on the form of a convertible for the parade."
"Wouldn't Sides be better suited for it? They get along better!"
"And Sideswipe will be needed to keep Bluestreak calm with all the loud noises from the parade. Are you willing, or will I need Jazz to handle your duties?"
"I've got it." He turns to me. "But you better not get anything on my finish."
"We will take precautions, Sunstreaker."
"Why he no likes me, Sire?"
"Ah don' know, Li'l One. Ah don' know." We step off the elevator, leaving Sunstreaker staring after us for a moment before he follows a few steps behind.
206
I run in the moment Carrier unlocks the door and bounce on the big bed, while Fixit (in pretender form) simply flops back on one of the little ones. "YAY! I GETTA BE IN DA PAWADE!"
"How is she so full of energy?"
"Quiet down, Little One. There may be people trying to sleep, even this early."
I look up to him sadly. "Wha' if I wan's ge' tandy?"
"Candy?" I glance over to find Sire unpacking my bedtime things, and tucking a few things into my now-empty duffel.
"Dey frows. Human Auntie taked me wast year, an' I gets tandy." He gives me a confused look as one hand moves up to his head. I know logic glitches can give you a really bad headache in pretender mode. "Dey frows from fwoats."
"Ah. Thank you for explaining that." He smiles. "You are close enough to the front that you will not miss much, and we will join the others and your Sire as soon as we can."
"You rides wif me?"
"Of course, and so will Sunstreaker."
"Otay." I watch him unpack my suitcase for a moment. "I getta sees the fiwetwucks?"
"Why do you—never mind." He sighs. "Of course you can. Hot Spot has even agreed to drive right behind us to ensure your safety during the parade."
"Oh…" I grin. "Bwue fiwetwuck…"
He turns to me. "Now, how about we get you ready to swim?" He pulls out my red, white, and blue swimsuit before laying a matching—and new—towel and deflated inner tube beside it.
"Yes!"
"Fixit?" The obviously exhausted minicon pops up at his name. "Do you want to go down to the pool, or do you wish to recharge? I know you must be tired."
"I'll go with Mari."
"But you's tired."
"I want to go with you, Mari."
"Otay." I turn to let Carrier help me into my swimsuit—it's a red and white striped one piece swimsuit with a white flower on the left shoulder, navy blue trim, a navy blue waistband, and a white tutu skirt with red trim—then take my new towel and inner tube and head down to the indoor pool.
207
Inferno unlocks the door with their key card and leads Red Alert inside and shuts the door before leading him to the bed. "All right, we're inside. See? Nothing happened. We're safe."
"Those key cards won't keep anyone out in an emergency!"
"They're more likely to keep people out than an old-fashioned metal key, Red. The key cards are specially designed to only work on the doors they're encoded for. They're more secure than you think." Inferno sighs heavily, grateful that he had looked up the key cards beforehand. "Master keys can be stolen—"
"Those cards can be stolen!"
"They'll go through and change the master key overnight if one is lost, Red. They're cautious about things like that. The encryption won't accept the old card anymore." He steps back toward the door with a sigh. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll put the "Do Not Disturb" sign out."
"NO!" Red Alert stands and moves to stop Inferno.
Inferno rushes over to him and wraps him in his arms. "I's all right, Red. Jus' calm down. I'm here."
"I'm sorry…"
"Don' be. I's fine. You're okay. You're not alone."
"Thank you…for being here."
"I'll always be here." He sighs, and glances over to their bags. "I'd better ge' ya crash blanke' ou' 'fore ya need i'."
"Thank you, Inferno."
208
"You feeling any better, Hot Spot?" The mech in question shakes his head and lays back on the king bed for a moment before jolting up and running past them for the bathroom. First Aid sighs. "Well, at least we've got these." He passes a small canister to Groove. A label on the top says "Dramamine" and "Less Drowsy Formula". "Ratchet said they'd help us in pretender form without causing any damage to mine or Spot's sparklings."
"Toss that here." Groove tosses it to Streetwise, who is sitting on a nearby chair. He takes one before tossing it back. "Thanks." He leans forward on his knees.
Aid sets a trash can in front of him just in case, then steps back in time to get his own tablet. "I really shouldn't have put this in the bag." He huffs at himself. "We needed this on the plane."
"Hindsight's always 20-20." Blades pats him on the back. "We'll get through this, Aid. We survived it with you."
"I know." He sighs and flops back on the bed as Hot Spot had been moments before. "I still don't get why Spot couldn't wait until October to solidify his and Silver's bond."
"Did you want to wait, when it came to you and Fireflight?"
"…No…"
"There you go."
"This shared nausea can't be good for my sparkling, though."
The bathroom door opens, and Groove hands a tablet to Hot Spot at the door. "It's not good for his either, Aid."
"Thank you, Groove."
"His isn't making its protoform right now!"
Spot steps over to where Aid is now laying face-down on the bed. "First Aid, it's okay." Aid mumbles something into the pillows, causing Hot Spot to roll him over. "What was that?"
"It's not okay…"
"Aid…" Hot Spot pulls him in and lets him cry into his shoulder. "We'll get through this. We did it once, and I know we can do it again. Just let it out, you'll feel better."
209
Sideswipe runs into the room with his hand clasped around Bluestreak's. "We get the bed by the window!"
"Sides—" Sunstreaker huffs. "Whatever. Smokey?"
"I guess that means we're stuck together, huh?"
"What would Prowl say about that?"
Smokescreen sighs. "Um, that it's natural?"
"That's what you'd say. Prowl hates us."
"He does not, or he wouldn't trust you guys to even drive Mari in the parade. You just really bother him."
"Just my point, Smokey—not to mention I ran after Mari for calling me Sunny before you got here. So what would he say about our brothers sharing a berth as teens?"
"He'd forbid it, but I'm the adult of the room, and I say it's fine. Blue has yet to have his first ovulation, so it's safe, and besides, we both know they're already dating."
"True." Sunstreaker sighs heavily. "How am I going to find a yellow convertible Lamborghini in this backwater town anyway?"
"Where did you find that term anyway?"
"Internet."
"See if you can find one on the internet."
"And just download the specs to my frame! Good idea, Smokey!"
"Thanks, Sunstreaker.
Skating Rink
Carrier and Sire lead me in, with Uncle Smokescreen and Uncle Bluestreak behind us with Fixit. I skip over to where they've got the skate counter and stand on my tippy-toes to see over the counter. "Can I help you?"
"We need a size 13 in kids." They roll them over to us. "I need a size 9 in mens."
"An' Ah need size 10."
They roll the other two pairs over to us. "Marianne?" I'm staring into the glass cabinet at the skates for sale—they're too big for me—but I like them anyway. "Mari. Come on. We need to get your skates on."
I follow them, and watch Uncle Smokescreen and Uncle Bluestreak get their skates as they slip on a pair of white socks before pushing the skates onto my feet. I'm wearing a white tank top with an American flag graphic and "LAND OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE", a blue tutu with a white star print and red waistband and hem, and white cropped leggings. I'd worn white sandals here, but now I'm wearing the ugly brown skates. Oh well, at least I get to skate. I've got blue bows with red and white stars in the ends of my braids, too.
"I need mens' 7."
"Size 10 please."
"All righ', go on. We'll be ou' with ya in a momen'."
"Fixie?"
"He's no' skatin', Sweets."
"Aww!"
"It is not safe, Marianne. He will watch our things while we skate. Now go on and have fun, Sweetheart."
"M'kay!" I giggle and shuffle-roll my way to the wooden floor. Since I'm in ice skating, this shouldn't be too hard, and I'm not as afraid to fall as the other kids my age are. I take off rolling around the floor, and giggle when I hit my behind before getting back up.
Papa rolls over behind me and smiles down at me. "Ya okay, Mari?"
"Fine, Papa!" I get back to my feet before smiling back at him. "I'm good!"
5:45 PM
Carrier skates over to me and sighs before crouching in front of me and stopping me. "Marianne, it is time to leave."
"I don' wanna."
"I know, Sweetheart, but we must. We are going to church tonight, and we have already stayed longer than we should have."
"Okay…" I follow him to the benches and wait for him to take off my skates and socks before slipping into my sandals and fastening the Velcro straps on the tops.
We pull up in front of the motel and pick up the Protectobots, Red Alert, Inferno, and the twins, then head for a large church building. "Primus, do ya thin' Mari's gonna be able to handle this?"
"She handles ours quite well, Jazz, and it is by no means small." He glances back to the others. "Everyone out." We head inside together, and Carrier leads me into the bathroom, carrying my travel duffle—it says "Marianne" rather than "Mariposa". Once we're in the big stall, he unzips the bag and helps me out of my clothes before helping me into a white dress with an azure blue and white heart print, white rickrack trimmed hem, and short and slightly darker blue puffed sleeves and matching peter pan collar with dark blue tights and a dark blue sweater. He takes out the blue star print bows, and replaces them with azure blue bows with glitter hearts in the centers.
We step out into the entry. I reach up nervously and take Carrier's hand. "Where Wed goes?"
"Ryan and James are going to stay away from the crowd for Ryan's security. We are going into the sanctuary with your Papa, Blake, and Dustin. Nathan and his brothers are in there, too, and so are the twins."
"Otay…"
"Are you okay?"
"Scawed."
"What are you scared of, Sweetheart? They are just people."
"I knows… But I's still scawed."
He crouches in front of me. "You know you can tell me anything, Little One."
"He no' gonna gets me here? Gwammy goes church…"
"Ah." He picks me up with a soft sigh. "He will not get you here. We chose a contemporary church tonight for just that reason."
"Oh…" I smile at him. "So I's safe."
"Yes." We inch into a row in the back. "All right now, you have to be quiet." A band starts playing—electric guitars, keyboards, and a drummer.
"Jazz? This is quite a bit louder than Mari is used to."
"I's 'kay, Daddy." I smile and sing along with the song, still in Carrier's arms. Once the singing ends, he sits with me in his lap.
"Wake up, Sweetheart."
"Hmmm?" I blink up at him. "Hi."
"Did you have a nice nap?" I nod. "Good. We need to get you changed and get to the van. We are going to get supper and talk about where we are going after this."
"Otay."
He carries me into the bathroom and helps me into a red, white, and blue chevron striped sleeveless maxi dress with frills on the neck and hem and my white sandals, tucking my dress into the duffel. He then leads me out into the parking lot before helping me into the van. "All right. Everyone in?" He waits for the chorus of "yes" before pulling out of the parking lot and going to Ponderosa.
We all pile out and head into the restaurant, getting a table in the banquet area—which is closed off for us—so we can have our meeting while we're eating. Most of us, including me, just get a buffet dinner, so we get our plates before starting to eat. Sire had gotten me three chicken wings, carrots, and mashed potatoes all covered with brown gravy, and some macaroni and cheese, and I had gotten fruit punch to drink.
I'm still eating—a little bowl of ice cream with chocolate chips on top—when Carrier pulls out the human-sized tablet and pulls up a schedule. "All right. We are taking Mariposa to the balloon glow and fireworks show tonight, so I want to make sure we have security set up around her."
Red Alert nods. "Mari will have the best security we can give, Prowl."
"Now, the parade will start at 8 tomorrow, so we need to have Mariposa at the starting point by 7:45. Sunstreaker, have you adjusted your vehicle mode?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good." Carrier smiles. "Sunstreaker and I will be in the parade with her. Here is the route." He shows us a map on the tablet. "Hot Spot, you are set to come behind us for extra security, as well as to keep Mariposa calm. Jazz, you will be in charge of the others. Try to find a place near the end of the parade route—" He points to a place on the map—right across the street from a museum and a bank from two different angles, and just down the street from a comic book store. "Right here would be ideal. It is located a block away from the fire department, which would allow Hot Spot maximum cover to park behind us so he can watch the rest of us."
"What about me?"
"Your vehicle mode is too obvious. You would go into the pretender form and come back with the rest of us." Carrier sighs. "After the parade—this will be around noon—we will have a picnic lunch from a restaurant, then we will return to the festival to peruse the sale stands, and maybe buy some souveniers, before we take Mariposa to the rides. Smokescreen, you may play some games at this time, if they have them, but do not go overboard with them. I may even take Mariposa on a helicopter ride if they are still doing them. If not…"
"I'll give her one if they aren't doing them anymore!"
"Thank you, Blades." Carrier smiles. "We do not have to leave until five, because our flight does not leave until six. We have a three hour time difference, as you noticed before, so we will be back in time for the fireworks on base."
"And your contingencies?"
"Are prepared, Red Alert. I will not bring them up unless they are necessary, as we have a very scared little femmeling with us. Any other questions?" Everyone shakes their head. "Meeting adjorned."
We pull into the park and get settled on a red, white, and blue star-print quilt. We're in the front row, so we have a great view. Carrier sets a pair of sound-proof earmuffs over my ears before releasing me to clamber into Hot Spot's lap for the show. "Ah'm glad we decided ta do this for her, Prowler."
"I am too. It is good for her to be away from home, and she needs to know that she will not be in danger with us around."
"Daddy, look…"
Carrier turns to look where I'm pointing—they're blowing up the balloons now, and I can see the fire glowing. "It is beautiful, My Little One."
"Yeah…" I turn back to watch the fiery light show. It doesn't take them long to have the balloons filled, and they set off the first of the fireworks. I watch in awe at the spectacular bursts of color as they fill the sky, without my usual fears from the loud explosions, my yellow pacifier in my mouth as I watch.
11:00 PM, third POV
"Nathan, is she—"
"Sound asleep, Peter." He stands with the little pretender-form femmeling. "I'll carry her to the van."
"Thank you."
Motel Room
"Mari, Sweetspark, you need to wake up for me, for just a little bit, okay?"
"M'kay…" I blink up at him. "Why?"
"We need to get you into the bathtub. You need to get clean before tomorrow morning."
"Otay…" I let Carrier undress me before climbing into the warm water in the tub. With my usual strawberry soaps, he washes my hair and body, then lifts me out with a white strawberry towel. He combs my hair out before putting it up in tight foam curlers, and uses the motel hair dryer on it to dry it a bit. Once he's done with my hair, he helps me into a pull-up with butterflies on it, followed by a light blue long sleeved pajama top with a dark blue star on the left shoulder and dark blue star print pajama pants. He tucks me into one of the single beds. Fixit's already asleep in the one by the window, and Sire's lounging on the double. I'm asleep within seconds.
