Disclaimer: The only characters that are mine are Jan, Nicki, Lex, Mr. Kiyoshi, Mr.Raiden, Ms. Robinson, and Ms. Botan (even though the last twoonly have small parts). I don't own any generation of Transformers.
A white bullet train had reached it's destination, which was a train station. After the last passenger was unloaded, it drove into the far end of the train yard. The engine detached itself from the rest of the train and spoke, "Midnight Express, transform", changing into a giant robot. Suddenly, he noticed a familiar figure sitting on a long deactivated generator outside of the boundaries of the train yard and went to investigate. It was the same young human girl that he had seen hanging around the area for the past few weeks. She had thick dark blonde hair that came down as far as the bottom of her ears and was tapered in the back. She was wearing a black sleeveless shirt, dark blue jeans, and blue and white tennis shoes. Judging from her height, Midnight surmised she was no more than 16 or 17 years old. When she spotted Midnight, she just gave him an irritated glare. She didn't seem at all surprised, let alone scared, to see a giant robot. Midnight Express noticed that her eyes were blue and her skin was white, not quite as tanned looking as Koji's.
"What do you want?" she asked in a deep-for-a-girl voice that was probably the result of annoyance.
"Oh...um..uh," Midnight stumbled, the minor's hostile attitude caught him off guard. "I..was just..wondering why you come around here so often," he managed to choke out.
"I come here to be alone," she replied with the same tone, "now if you'll excuse me, I need to get going," she hopped off of the generator and walked away with her hands in her pockets.
"Wait," Midnight called after her, "what's your name?"
"It's Lex," she answered.
"Mine's Midnight Express," Midnight called again, but Lex was lost from sight, so he didn't know if she heard him.
It wasn't long before the other members of the Autobot team, including Koji, Dr. Onishi, Jan, and Nicki, 'met' Lex, although Midnight always had to explain who she was. Every once in a while, they would spot her at many different locations in town. Midnight Express and his other two team mates kept seeing her at the train station. Eventually, everybody formed a common opinion about her: she's kind of a jerk. Whenever they tried to strike up a conversation with her, she'd talk in the same gruff manner. Everybody agreed that she didn't want anything to do with them; therefore, they all decided that they weren't going to worry about it anymore. That is everyone, except Midnight Express.
Meanwhile, at a house in a suburban neighborhood, Lex was sulking on the window seat in her room. She looked at her clock and saw it was time to warm up left overs for dinner. That's when the phone rang.
"Hello."
"Hi Lex, it's me," answered a deep male voice.
"Hi Dad."
"I'm just calling to let you know that Ray invited me out to dinner to talk business, so you're going to be on your own for the next hour and a half or so, ok?"
"Ok, 'bye Dad," and she hung up. 'As usual,' she said in her head, and she warmed up some pizza. When Lex went to bed that night, she didn't even bother to change into her pajamas; she just went to bed in her clothes. She didn't even slip under the covers either. As she lay there on her bed, her thoughts drifted to memories from the past two years. While she slowly, but surely, drifted to sleep, she felt tears beginning to form under her eyelids and mentally slapped herself a couple of times. "Get over it," she scolded herself.
Over the next few days, Midnight Express just couldn't stop thinking about Lex. He agreed that she did have a bit of an attitude that was making the others resent her, but he just couldn't shake off the feeling that Lex wasn't the jerk she appeared to be. Was it something in her voice, the tone she used? Or in her eyes that gave him a clue? He didn't know, but now he was determined to find out. So, one night, as he lay in his recharge chamber, he made a vow that whenever he saw her, no matter how much she tried to push him away (and with positive reinforcement) he would try to get her to talk.
The next day, after school, Lex rollerbladed back to her house, grabbed a snack and finished her homework. Then, it was off to karate practice. Along with her usual gear, Lex packed her everyday clothes in her bag since more than likely she would decide to either hang around somewhere or just walk around town afterwards. Lex was a brown belt and the date for her black belt test was coming up soon. Knowing that the black belt test was going to be strenuous and demanding on both the body and mind, Lex was really working on her focus, power, reflexes, endurance, and stamina. The Master Sensei, Sensei Kiyoshi, had been watching Lex train during the past few weeks and was impressed at how dedicated she was and how much she had improved her skills. Yet, he knew the real reason why she was obsessed in her karate, and it made him fearful for her.
As she predicted, Lex did not feel like going home right after practice. After changing into her everyday clothes, she walked over to a donut shop. "Here's your donut and milk, Lex," said the lady at the counter.
"Thanks Miss Botan," Lex replied politely. Lex walked by the train yard on her way home.
"How have things been with you lately?" asked an all too familiar voice as she drank her milk. She turned around, and sure enough, there was Midnight Express.
"Fine, I guess," she replied, and continued walking.
"Wait," Midnight called.
"What do you want, bolt-bucket?"
"I just want to talk, that's all."
"What's there to talk about?"
"How about yourself? I want to get to know you better."
"Why do you even care, gear head?"
"Because I do."
However, Lex just finished her milk and tossed the empty carton into a garbage can as she continued on her way home, leaving Midnight 'in the dust'. "As I told ya, Midnight," Rapid Run said as he put a reassuring hand on Midnight's shoulder, "that girl's nothin' but grief."
"I'm not so sure about that Rapid Run," Midnight replied with a shake of his head, "which is why I'm not giving up."
With her black belt test only a few weeks away, Lex started practicing overtime at the dojo. Because of that, Sensei Kiyoshi offered to spend ten minutes after class sparring with her. Since their sparring session looked really impressive, some of the less experienced students stuck around to watch. What made the sparring between the Sensei and Lex so exciting was they were unpredictable. Just when you thought the Sensei had the upper hand with his experience, Lex would make an impressive come back with her agility, cleverness, and reflexes along with her own experience. What some of the students found interesting was, if you looked closely, you would observe that Lex would use either strategies or techniques that were never taught.
"I could've sworn that that stance is one you learn in Wushu."
"Don't you learn how to throw like that in Tae Kwon Do?"
"That strategy looks like Kenpo to me," were some of the comments that the students would make among themselves. They viewed the private sparring sessions as a roller coaster between the two fighters.
"I'm very impressed Lex-San," Sensei Kiyoshi praised, "you have learned how to use maneuvers and techniques that you've never learned in Isshinryu."
"Domo arigato, Sensei," Lex bowed. Sensei Kiyoshi chuckled; he liked it when Lex used some Japanese once in a while.
Later that night, Sensei Kiyoshi was in the living room of his house, which was right behind the dojo, sipping some tea. To him, there was nothing like a good cup of tea after a hard day's work. "You may come in Koji-San," he suddenly said. Outside, the young boy came out of the shadows.
He bowed respectfully to the sensei and, as he knelt, he asked, "How did youknow I was out there, Mr. Kiyoshi?"
"Even though it was faint, I could hear your feet shuffling," Sensei Kiyoshi answered with a grin. Koji scratched the back of his head, a sign of slight embarrassment. "Plus, you always liked to do that 'sneaking-up-on-me' game when you were little." Koji just blushed and chuckled nervously. Personally, Sensei Kiyoshi enjoyed this pastime contest. It kept his senses sharp.
"Well, I've better be going, it's getting late," Koji bowed and headed outside where his bike was parked.
"You and your father are still planning to see our black belt test in three weeks?" the sensei asked.
"You bet, and is it ok if we bring some friends along?" Koji asked as he hopped onto his bike.
"Of course," Sensei Kiyoshi answered, "the more, the better." Koji thanked him and he rode off into the night.
Finally, the day of the test came. Everything was ready, the audience was quietly getting riled up, and the students were doing warm up exercises. Out of all of the students, Lex was the youngest. Sensei Kiyoshi, who was going to be one of the judges, stole a glance at where Koji and his father were. Not only did he notice that there were two other kids, a boy and a girl, with them, he also noticed that the other guests were some giant robots. Sideburn was there because he thought it would be interesting--that is, he did once Koji did some explaining about karate--but, he had an ulterior motive. It gave him the perfect excuse to be excused from patrol, at least for most of the day. Wedge was there with the thought that maybe some variety of martial art styles would make him a better fighter. The Spychangers and Midnight Express were there because they were curious. "Hey guys," Nicki said quietly, "there's Lex."
"Wow," R.E.V. exclaimed, "I didn't know that kid was into karate."
First, they started with katas. Each student had to show that not only did they manage to memorize their present kata correctly, but they also had to demonstrate that they still knew katas they learned through their years of training. Finally, it was Lex's turn. Lex walked up to the center, bowed, and did her thing. She moved and acted like she were really fighting someone, making her katas look very impressive. After she bowed out, she heard someone call, "Hi, Lex." Looking toward her backside, she found the source.
'Just my luck,' she thought unpleasantly, 'it's those robots; I've worked too hard and too long for this, I can't let them distract me.' And with that, she just walked back to her spot, without even a friendly glance toward the Autobot group.
The test went on through the hours. Next was weapons katas where each student demonstrated katas they created on their own with a weapon of their choice. Lex did the sword. After that was self defense against an attacker with a knife. While most students grabbed the arm, and twisted it behind the back, Lex stepped off to the side, and chopped at the knife-hand, making the person drop it. Finally, the time came for sparring. Because there were very few students, the judges decided that after each of the students sparred each other, they would spar a judge. When it was Lex's turn, her judge opponent was a girl with very light brown skin and hair who looked like she had some African descent in her. She went by her last name, Robinson. Sensei Kiyoshi, who volunteered as referee, called, "Ladies, face me, bow." After they bowed to him, he told them to face each other and bow. "Ready," the two fighters touched gloves, "Begin," and the match began.
As the girls fought, they exchanged blows every now and then. The blows were minor, scratches and bruises. However, halfway through the match, Robinson would pull a move that would change all that. Once she managed to get onto Lex's backside, she chambered her leg, and prepared to do a crescent kick. But Lex turned around and didn't have the time toblock or duck; she was hit on the side of the head, full force. It caused her to spin in the air, and she landed shoulder on end. Everybody was taken aback at what they saw. "Man," said Mirage, "now that's gotta hurt". After calling 'time', Robinson trotted over to Lex.
"Are you alright Lex-San? I'm so sorry, that wasn't meant to happen".
"Yeah," Lex acknowledged with a thumb's up and a grin, "I'm ok, and apology accepted."
"Wheph," Koji sighed, "that was exciting, huh Sideburn?"
"Heh heh, yeah," the robot agreed a bit nervously.
"Lex-San," called Sensei Kiyoshi, "are you able to continue?"
"Yes sensei," she replied. However, as she got up with the aid of her right arm, an incredible pain exploded in her shoulder. She yelped and clutched it.
The audience's concern returned, "She must have landed on her shoulder wrong," Wedge guessed.
"Robinson, guide Lex-San to where she can get her injury treated," Sensei Kiyoshi called, but Lex said, "No, sensei". With surprise written on everyone's faces, Lex managed to struggle herself up, still clutching her shoulder.
"I wish to continue this match until my time is up," she requested between her teeth.
"Lex-San, that is probably not a very wise decision. For all we know your shoulder could be broken, or even worse, dislocated. If you continue this match, you risk further injury."
"I know sensei, but I'm sure I can take it. I have just two minutes left."
"Lex-San, what do you hope to prove or gain by continuing this match when you're in such tender condition?"
"Sensei, you warned us that a black belt test would be nothing like all of the other belt tests we've been through. It would be difficult and demanding both on the body and mind. It would push the students to their absolute limit, if not beyond. Therefore, I knew there might be risk of injury involved. Plus, you've always told us that if we got badly hurt in a real fight, there would be no time-outs; our attackers would just use our weakened state to their advantage. So, if we didn't want to get killed, we'd have to keep fighting as best as we could, no matter how much it hurt."
The onlookers and even the other students listened with wonder. They could hardly believe that Lex wanted to go through with the test, despite her injury.
"But Lex-San, this is not a life or death situation."
"I know sensei, but how am I going to be able to do it if I don't condition myself?"
Sensei Kiyoshi thought for a moment, then smiled to himself. It was clear to him now that his student only wanted to practice what her teacher preached and what she was taught.
"Alright Lex-San, if you're absolutely sure this is what you want, I will let you continue. However, if your condition worsens, I will have you escorted to a hospital, even if I have to hog tie you and drag you there myself."
"Domo arigato, sensei," Lex bowed. She turned to Robinson and said, "Don't falter just because I'm hurt, just bring it on." Robinson nodded and the match continued.
Once, Lex tried to throw a punch. It hit its mark, but it just made her shoulder hurt. 'Guess using this arm for anything is out of the question,' she said to herself. The spectators, especially the students, watched in awe; even with one usable arm, Lex was still an incredible sight. 'Man,' Wedge thought, 'I hope I'll be able to have that kind of spirit when the time comes.' The spell was finally broken when the timer went off. As Lex was led to a nearby clinic, the audience applauded.
That same day, the time had come to name off those students who earned their black belts. Lex was sitting amongst the students with her arm in a sling. Her mind was stirring with a negative thought. 'I probably didn't earn it because of the hit I took from Robinson, along with my shoulder' she said to herself.
But, that analysis was immediately proved false when she heard someone call, "Raiden, Lex". She perked her head up and saw Robinson, holding a black belt, looking right ather. "Come Lex-San," Robinson coaxed, " come claim your black belt, you've earned it." She looked to Sensei Kiyoshi, who, with a smile on his face, nodded. And so, on that day, Lex managed to earn her black belt after all.
As everyone helped put things away, Lex said, "Sensei, I don't understand why I earned my black belt."
"Because you did very well Lex-San, besides, I thought it was what you wanted."
"It's just that I thought I would've gotten marked down for that hit I took from Robinson."
"You expect too much of yourself Lex-San, you punish yourself when you make even the simplest of mistakes. Remember, there are times when being a perfectionist can be a good thing, and other times, it can be a bad thing."
"Hai, sensei."
"Although, the real reason how you've earned your black belt today Lex-San is because even when your body was tired and hurt, your spirit was still full of energy to continue. That proved your spirit's that of a true competitor."
That night, for the first time in two weeks, Mr. Raiden was able to come home for dinner after work. "Hi Lex, I'm home," he called as he headed to his office.
"Hi Dad," she called back as she was making dinner. Mr. Raiden didn't notice Lex's sling until they sat down.
"Whoa, what happened to your shoulder?"
"Black belt test."
"Are you ok?"
"I'll live."
Meanwhile, back at Autobot HQ, the Autobots that were at the test were sharing what they observed of Lex to their comrades. They all found it interesting that a girl like Lex was at all involved in something like that. "You never told us that Lex was into karate, Midnight," X-Brawn spoke up.
"I never knew," Midnight claimed, "in fact she never told me."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised," said W.A.R.S, "everytime we try to get that girl to talk about herself or even talk to her at all, she just pushes us away."
"Yeah," Nicki agreed, "it's like she treats us as if we're her enemies or something."
During the remainder of the month, Koji, Nicki, and, sometimes, even Jan began to discover that Lex either was involved in or did things that they never would've suspected she was involved with. One day, as he walked by the park, Koji spied some big kids picking on a kid about his age. He was about to go find an adult when he spotted Lex heading right toward them, her shoulder was completely healed by this time.
"Hey," she called, "leave him alone."
"Stay out of this kid, it's none of your business," said the boy who appeared to be the leader.
"I live around here pal, and anything and everything that goes on around here is my business," Lex replied, she wasn't going to let up that easily.
"Ya got a problem wit' dis girly?" said a fat kid who thought he was looking very intimidating to Lex.
"What do you think?" she challenged, "In fact, why don't you overgrown punks just leave him alone?" That got to them real good. When the leader turned to face Lex with a menacing look in his eyes, she could immediately tell that these boys were not used to being challenged.
"What did you say?" the leader said threateningly.
"I said, leave . . him . . alone," she replied, "Overgrown punks," the little kid squeaked.
"Well now," the leader said in a taunting tone as he and his gang approached Lex, "it looks I'm going to have to teach you some mannners." Lex just stood her ground with a straight expression on her face and took their taunting for a little bit. Then suddenly, she grabbed his middle finger and pulled it back, forcing him to cry out in pain. This took his gang by surprise.
"I guess this just goes to show you that some kids just don't learn," Lex retorted, and she pushed him to the side, letting go of his finger in the process. The other boy managed to get over his shock and charged. His arm was way back, preparing for an upcoming punch. Lex simply stepped to the side as he threw his punch, his own momentum causing him to nearly lose his balance and double over. Lex, meanwhile, grabbed his belt and the collar of his jacket so that her arms were in a crossed fashion, and used what was left of his momentum to flip him onto his back. Now, it was big and ugly's turn. He noticed that Lex was standing right in front of a tree and charged, planning to use his weight to crush her between himself and the tree. However, Lex once again just stepped to the side at the last minute, and let her opponent use his own force against him.
"Gotta work on da brakes," he groaned as he fell to the ground. Lex stood perfectly still after that, then gave her attacker a sharp elbow in the gut. The leader tried to gain the element of surprise by approaching Lex from behind, without success. "C'mon man," one of his lackeys said as helped his leader up, "let's get outta here, she's dangerous," and they ran off. After taking a moment to grin to herself, Lex walked over to the kid and helped dust him off.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"No prob'."
"Do you think they'll be back?"
"Nah, they know next time I won't be so soft on them, so, they won't be coming back."
"You call that 'soft'?"
After that, the kid and Lex went their separate ways, while all of this time, Koji had been watching from a distance. There was something he didn't understand about all of this. Based on what he thought he knew about Lex, he never thought she was the type who would come to a kid's rescue when they were being picked on by bullies.
However, the surprises didn't stop there. Koji once caught Lex at her hang-out near the train yard. He could barely hear some music which Lex looked like she was dancing to. At another time, Jan saw her practicing some gymnastics moves at a playground. Nicki spied her queitly singing to herself. Nicki had to admit, Lex had a nice voice. Finally, as Nicki and Koji were visiting the local animal shelter one day, they spotted Lex in another room playing with a kitten. They suspected that she was a volunteer there. They noticed that she seemed to enjoy being with the little feline.
The Autobots couldn't believe what the kids were telling them what they were finding out about Lex. "Karate, dancing, gymnastics, volunteering at the animal shelter, and standing up for bullied kids; very interesting," Heavy Load mused. He found it very intriguing that a kid with Lex's attitude could actually be involved in such positive activities.
Suddenly, Tai popped up beside him, "Maybe this means that there's a lot more to Lex than she's led us to believe."
"You just might have something there, Tai," Midnight thought aloud. He just remembered that just the other day, he had found an article on the Internet that talked about human development when an individual experiences traumatic events during a stage that humans called adolescence, which Lex seemed to be in. In some cases, when teenagers are subjected to a traumatic occurrence, it caused them to turn into a different kind of person. The metamorphosis was usually the result of bottled up emotions. The kid either believes no one will understand their pain or they just don't want to talk out their feelings, and the bottled up emotions end up mutilating the person from the inside out. They end up turning into someone that their friends and family don't even recognize. 'That has to be it,' Midnight thought, 'that has to be why she's so hostile.'
Later that night, Midnight payed a visit to the only other people who might know Lex better than he did. He tried going to Lex's house earlier, but no one was home, so he went to the next most reliable source-Sensei Kiyoshi. He found the sensei in his living room in his house, sipping his tea. As gently as he could, he knocked on the door. When the sensei answered the door, he was intrigued to find an Autobot. He recognized this Autobot from the black belt test.
"Sensei Kiyoshi, I presume?"
"Correct, how may help you, sir?"
"I need information."
"Meet me in the garden, my friend."
Sensei Kiyoshi had Midnight meet him in the garden because it was the only place on his property that was big enough for the extra large robot. While the sensei sat on a bench, Midnight was just as comfortable sitting on the ground.
"Now, what sort of information do you need?"
"I need information on one of your students, Lex Raiden. Specifically, why she's so hostile towards others, except you, of course."
"Perhaps, you'll understand the situation better if I start from the beginning."
And so, Sensei Kiyoshi explained Lex's story to Midnight Express. Two years ago, Lex's mother died in a fatal car crash. It was a hard blow on both Lex and her father. At first, Lex went through the normal cycle of grieving. She didn't eat much, she didn't go to school for a week, and she wasn't quite ready to talk out her feelings yet. She just wanted to be left alone with her grief. Then, after three weeks of solitude, Lex was ready to talk. She tried to talk to the only other person she trusted and knew her mother as well as she did--her Dad. Only there was one problem. Shortly after his wife died, Mr. Raiden was hardly ever around. He started putting in extra hours at work, going to more meetings than usual, and when he was home, he'd claim he still had some stuff to do, and didn't have time to talk. And so, Lex was once again left alone with her grief. However, through time, the grief turned into anger. Lex started being hostile because she was angry at her father, and, to a certain extent, started focusing that anger on others. But, old habits or routines die hard; Lex just didn't have the heart to forget about her volunteer work at the animal shelter, dancing, gymnastics, and karate. Plus, she always had a reputation for giving bullies of every size and age a taste of their own medicine, in some form or fashion.
"And that's Lex-San's sad, but true, story," Sensei Kiyoshi finished.
Midnight let out a long sigh, "Poor girl, she loses her mother and her father only makes the whole thing worse by not being there when she needs him."
"Yes, and I believe that's the reason why Lex-San seems to try to avoid going home for as long as she can."
"What do you mean, sensei?"
"Whenever she's not at home, school, the animal shelter, or karate, I've seen her in many places around town, most of the time right outside the train station. I believe she believes her father couldn't care less if he came home from work and found out she wasn't there."
"Let's hope that never comes to pass. Thank you for your help, sensei."
"Glad to be of help. What's the next step of your plan?"
"To talk to Lex to let her know she can trust me, and I'll do my best to understand her."
"Good luck; Lex-San can be a tough egg to crack."
"Maybe, but I've got to try," and with that, Midnight transformed to train mode and rolled back to Autobot HQ. It was late, so he'd have to wait until the next day to look for Lex.
The next day was very dreary. The sky was covered with thick gray clouds that threatened rain which started pouring heavily around early evening. By that time, there was not one soul out walking on the sidewalk. That is not one, except Lex. Lex was wearing a grey fleece, hooded sweatshirt she brought with her and forgot to bring an umbrella when she went out for her aimless walk. Despite how wet she was getting, she didn't pay it any mind.
Elsewhere, Koji was in his house talking to his friends via com-link.
"Sorry Sideburn, but it looks like you won't be looking for any red sports cars tonight."
"Oh well, tomorrow's another day."
"Man, whoever came up with the word 'tempest' to describe a night like this had the right idea. All we're missing is thunder, lightning, and reports about tidal waves."
"Tell me about it, I won't be surprised if this storm doesn't let up for a whole week."
That's when the doorbell rang.
"Hey Sideburn, there's somebody at the door, I'm going to have to call you back."
"Talk to 'ya later, Koji."
When Koji answered the door, there was a man with black hair who had a worried look on his face. "Excuse me son, but have you seen my daughter anywhere around town today?" he asked as he held up a picture. Koji nearly gasped when he saw the girl in the picture--it was Lex.
"I'm sorry sir, but I haven't seen your daughter all day," he answered.
"Well, if you happen to see her," he said as he reached into his pocket, "here's a number where you can call me," and he handed Koji a business card.
"Sure," was all Koji could say as the man ran back to his car. Heading back into his room, Koji called Optimus Prime.
Prime had every Autobot who could handle the stormy conditions, including himself, out on the streets. With the combination of Koji's report of Lex gone missing and news reports of the storm getting worse, he too was worried about Lex. During all of this time, Midnight Express explained Lex's story to his friends. "Boy," Sideburn mused, "that kid's been through a lot more than we thought."
"Yeah," Wedge agreed over the com-link, "first her Mom dies, then her Dad just makes the whole thing worse for his daughter."
"If that kid did run away," W.A.R.S cut in, "I don't really blame blame her, under the circumstances." Meanwhile, in another part of town, Hotshot was continuing his part of the search when he spotted a car on the side of the road. Then, a man started waving his arms and calling out.
"I might not be able to do much for his car," he said to himself, "but at least I can give him a ride to a dry place." He stopped right in front of the man.
The human looked into the car, expecting to find a driver; but when he didn't, he was nearly flabergasted. Suddenly, the car opened its door all by itself, and he heard a voice say, "Hop in." Unsure of what to do, the man just stood there; that is he did until the door pushed him in and closed. "Don't forget to buckle up," the voice spoke again. The passenger wasn't sure about it before, but now he was convinced that the voice was coming from the car itself.
"Who are you and where are you taking me?" he asked. A computer that he didn't notice before switched on and there was a robot with a light greyish-silver head and mouthplate with a blue optic band.
"Name's Hotshot, I'm only taking you to a place where you can get dried off. I've already contacted a friend of mine to come pick up your car."
"Say, you're one of those Autobots I've heard about, aren't you?"
"Yep, and you're Mr. Raiden, I presume."
"How did you know?"
"A human friend of ours, whom you've made contact with earlier tonight, described you to us and you fit the description."
"Look, I really do appreciate your help, but I've got a daughter to find."
"We know. In fact, that's why we're out in this storm. Why don't you tell me what happened?"
Mr. Raiden came home from work to find a note from his daughter. 'Went for a walk' was all it said. Mr. Raiden just assumed that his daughter would be back soon, so he went straight to work at his computer. When it started raining, he suspected that Lex would be coming through the door any minute. However, when the rainfall got worse and the news began reporting something about a storm, he put on his raincoat and went looking for her. Unfortunately, he didn't know the first place to look for her, so he started stopping at as many houses and stores as he could in hopes of finding someone who might be able to give him a clue to her whereabouts. So far, he had no luck. In his haste to find Lex, he totally forgot about his car's fuel supply.
"Do you think your daughter ran away?"
"I don't know."
"Were a lot of her belongings gone?"
"I don't know, I never went into her room to see."
A moment of silence, then Mr. Raiden spoke again, "I just don't understand why she didn't come home as soon as it started raining."
"I do," said Hotshot, "It's because she's mad at you."
"Why would she be mad? I'm always there for her."
"No you're not, you're always at work. You see Mr. Raiden, after your wife died, you didn't let yourself get involved in anything but your job. Everytime your daughter tried to talk to you, you'd push her aside with the excuse that you had too much stuff to do. So you see Mr. Raiden, if you weren't so unnecessarily engrossed in your job, you wouldn't have this problem. You only have yourself to blame for all of this."
Hotshot said all of that with a stern tone, to make sure it got into Mr. Raiden's head. What Hotshot pointed out made Mr. Raiden hang his head in shame; the robot was right, and he knew it. These two long years, his child was all alone with her grief, and he didn't even notice because he was too busy dealing with his the only way he knew--his job. Work was the only place where he could take his mind off of his suffering, for he found that whenever he let his mind drift to the memories of his beloved wife, it just tore him apart that she was no longer there.
Hotshot took Mr. Raiden to Autobot HQ. As much as he wanted to, Mr. Raiden knew he couldn't help in the search for his daughter. After he got as much of himself dried off as he could, Mr. Raiden sat on the floor sullenly with his back leaning on the wall. He had his knees pulled up to his chest, and all he could think about was his daughter. He had already lost his wife, he couldn't afford to lose Lex.
All of this time, Lex was sitting on top of a large garbage can in an alley somewhere in town, looking at her feet. By now, she was drenched from the rain. As much as she tried to push them out of her mind, the only thoughts that were going through her head were those of her Dad. She kept remembering the kind of man he once was. Her father was the kind of guy that one would describe as a family man. He would rather spend his time with his family than do anything else. 'But it's different now,' she thought, 'he's changed, he no longer cares about anything.' This was getting to be too much; she hopped off the garbage, and just ran. Suddenly, she tripped on something and fell. As she caught herself, a stinging hurt on her knee made her hiss in pain. She took a look and saw that her jeans were torn and her knee was slightly bleeding. Then, Lex just couldn't hold back the tears any more. It wasn't from the pain of the wound that did it, it was the memory of how things used to be, things that would never be again.
Back at Autobot HQ, Mr. Raiden still hadn't moved from his spot. In fact, he barely even moved at all. A lot of things were going through his head, things that were related to his daughter: Was she ok? Will the Autobots find her? Will she forgive him? Was it possible they could set things right? 'Please, have my daughter be safely returned to me,' he prayed. If anything happened to his daughter, he would never forgive himself.
Outside, Midnight Express was searching on foot for Lex. He had already searched the dojo and the train station, he even checked her house in case she came home while her father was gone. Now, for some strange reason, he kept getting this urge to go back to the train station. When he got there, he found Sideburn and Koji were there also. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked.
"We thought we might find Lex here," Koji replied.
"Have you had any luck?" asked Sideburn.
"No, how about you?"
"Nada."
Suddenly, Koji caught something in the corner of his eye, " Hey, what's that?" The robots turned to see a figure sitting on a deactivated generator.
"It's Lex," Midnight gasped. Lex was lost in her thoughts again when she heard heavy footsteps coming her way. "Hey," she heard the familiar voice say.
'Oh no,' she said to herself, 'not him again,' she looked up, and sure enough, there was the mostly blue and white robot she had found to be nothing but a pain.
"Why don't we get under some cover, and get you dried off. You look like you've been out here for hours."
"You really don't know when to quit, do you?"
"Let me just say I know when to get out of the rain."
Reluctantly, Lex hopped off of the generator, and walked to where Sideburn and Koji were with Midnight Express right behind her. She sat against a pillar without even saying a word. Koji took out a blanket from his backpack. He brought it, figuring that by the time they found Lex, she'd need it. When he wrapped it around her, she didn't even move or glance at him. It wasn't until he took a seat onto Sideburn's waist that Lex grabbed pieces of blanket, cocooned herself in it as best as she could, and glanced at him. Despite how hostile her expression looked, Koji believed that the glance was her silent way of saying 'thank you'. "What happened to your leg?" asked Sideburn. He was the first to notice Lex's bleeding knee.
"I fell," she simply replied, not even bothering to meet his gaze.
Midnight Express knelt down to get a closer look, "It doesn't look serious, but we should clean it and put on a bandage to keep it from getting infected." Koji poured water onto the wound from a water bottle, and used a piece of cloth to cover it. It would have to do until Tai could take a look at it.
"Well," he said when he was done, "we'd might as well head back to headquarters."
"Why there?" Lex said with a quizzical expression on her face.
"'Cause it's a better place to get out of the cold and rain than it is here," answered Sideburn.
"Plus," Midnight joined in, "that's where your father is."
"Oh boy," Lex replied unceremoniously. It was now obvious to the group that Lex was not at all interested in coming, even if it meant a good chance to get out of the rain and cold. Then, Midnight had an idea.
"Sideburn, why don't you go ahead and take Koji home. Lex and I need to talk alone." Sideburn and Koji nodded, Sideburn transformed, Koji hopped in, and the two headed out. Once they were out of sight, Midnight turned back to Lex. "I hear you're into gymnastics and like to volunteer at the animal shelter," he said, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Yeah," Lex simply replied.
"How long?"
"The gymanstics I've done since I was nine. The volunteering, since I was fourteen."
"I hear you're pretty good at your gymnastics."
"I was once on my school's demo team."
"I have to admit, volunteering at the animal shelter isn't exactly something I thought I would hear of you being involved in."
"Hanging out with the animals cools me off. They have all of the love in the world to give."
"Another thing I never thought I'd hear that you're involved in is protecting kids from bullies. Why?"
Lex finally stopped staring at the ground and faced Midnight. She didn't know where he got all of this information, but she didn't care. She had to admit, it was kind of nice to have someone to talk to. Even though it was faint and barely noticeable, Midnight saw, tugging at the corner of her mouth, was a smile. It wasn't just a friendly smile, it was a mischievous kind of friendly smile. However, as fast as it had come, it disappeared and she lowered her head.
"Let me just say I don't like it when overgrown punks don't pick on someone their own size."
Midnight believed now was the time for the kill. It was time for the counseling to begin.
"You feel like you have nowhere to go, don't you?"
"Look, my Mom died in a car accident two years ago and my Dad doesn't care a thing about me, ok?"
"Somehow, I doubt that's true."
"Why?"
"Because, first of all, all fathers care for their children, though some of them have peculiar ways of showing it."
"What do you know about fathers? You don't even have one."
Midnight knew Lex had a point. Like all Autobots, he was built off of the assembly line and given life by the Allspark, Vector Sigma. He had a creator who, in a cosmic sense, functioned like both of his parents. But, he guessed to Lex that didn't count as actually having a mother and a father.
"I might not have an actual 'father', but I see human fathers all of the time. Once in a while, they'll talk to their friends about their children. Sometimes they'll talk about their accomplishments, how proud of them they are, or a certain trip they and their children have planned for the weekend."
When Lex didn't reply, he continued on.
"Second, your father really does care about you because he's been looking for you."
Lex perked up and turned her head up to face him. She had a surprised look on her face.
"Really?"
"Really, and he's very worried about you."
"Well, he had a funny way of showing that he cared that much."
"I don't mean to sound scolding or anything, but didn't it ever occur to you that your father's always trying to keep himself occupied by work was his way of grieving?"
Lex just couldn't take it any more. All of this time, she was fighting back tears but, once again, they won the battle. Midnight could see the tears on the corner of her eye.
"It's ok, you can tell me."
"I miss my Mom very much. In fact, there's barely even a day that I don't think about her. A few days after she passed away, I just didn't feel I could focus on school or anything like that, so I was given permission to stay home for a week. When I finally calmed down a bit and was ready to talk to my Dad about it, he was already spending too much time on work. He was never around anymore. It drove me crazy to be all alone with my grief, so I guess I decided that it was better to be angry at my Dad and just about everything else then to feel sorry for myself."
As Midnight listened, his very first suspicions about Lex were now proven facts. Deep inside the shell of uncaring and hostility was a person who was alone and hurt. A person who wanted somebody who would be willing to help her heal by listening to her talk out her feelings. While Lex let her tears flow, Midnight cupped his hand around her and gently guided her upper body towards his lower hip. This foreign, yet familiar, action made Lex feel a little better. It had been so long since she received a hug. She cuddled up closer to him, and he gently caressed her side and back. Lex felt like a great weight was lifted off her chest, it was so relieving. It was nice to have someone to confide in. 'Maybe he's not so bad after all,' she thought to herself.
"Now then," Midnight said with a smile, "what do you say we go see your father?"
"Yeah, sure," Lex replied as she got up. Midnight could tell by the tone she used that Lex was not quite out of the woods yet; her attitude was still there, but it was diminishing. He didn't mind it though, he understood that the attitude had been her way of life for the past two years; and when something becomes apart of your way of life, it's not that easy to dismiss. Transforming into train mode, and letting Lex get inside, Midnight used the Space Bridge to get to Autobot headquarters.
"Already sounds like we can expect good changes from you."
"Tell me about it, I'm tired of being angry all of the time."
Midnight noticed something else in the tone Lex used, it wasn't as gruff-sounding as it usually was. It sounded as if it was between the gruff tone and her normal tone.
Back at HQ, Mr. Raiden was at his little spot on the floor, his eyes drooping. He was about to doze off when he heard someone call, "Dad." He looked, and there was Lex running towards him as she let the blanket drop from her body.
"Lex?" he called back and embraced his daughter in his arms. As Mr. Raiden asked her where she had been and explained that he was worried sick about her, Lex noticed that his face was a little more pink than usual, an indication to her that he was crying earlier.
"Are you alright? Are you ok Lex?"
"It's ok Dad, really, I'm ok"
"What about your leg?" Midnight asked as he pointed. Both Lex and her father looked at the piece of cloth wrapped around her knee.
"Oh, I guess I forgot about that," Lex said with a small embarrassed smile.
"Does it hurt?" Mr. Raiden asked, and Lex shook her head. Suddenly, a floating mechanical ring appeared, and underneath it, a young looking woman in a pink and white uniform and boots materialized.
"Still, we should take a look at it," she insisted in a high, squeaky computerized voice.
"Who are you?" Lex couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, sorry, I'm called Tai," Tai introduced herself, "you must be Lex Raiden, you've become very popular around here."
"Is your name short for something?" Mr. Raiden asked as Tai started scanning Lex's knee.
"Affirmitive," Tai replied, "it's short for 'tactical artificial intelligence'."
"Makes perfect sense, well, thanks," Lex said after Tai was done and extended her hand to shake Tai's. However, her hand ended up going right through Tai's lower arm and she pulled back with a startled expression.
"Sorry," Midnight apologized, "I guess I should have warned you, that form you see in front of you is just a hologram." Lex took another good look and saw that Tai did look a little transparent.
"You see," Tai started to explian with a friendly smile, "I'm actually a program in the base's main computer, this form is just a little something for you to identify me with."
Lex nodded, "Could've fooled me."
"Come on kiddo, let's go home, we've had a rough night," Mr. Raiden said with a smile, and Lex nodded. Midnight and Tai watched them as they headed to where their car was stored.
"Think they'll be ok now, Midnight?"
"Uh-huh, I'm sure they'll be able to work things out."
Meanwhile, back at their house, Lex and her Dad were sipping some cocoa. "So," Mr. Raiden said a little nervously, "how'd you like to do something tomorrow?"
Lex perked and looked at her Dad, "You serious?"
"Absolutely, although I'm not sure how I'm going to explain my absence to work."
"You could call in sick."
Mr. Raiden chuckled.
"Oh no thank you, I'm not going to go that far."
After eyeing each other for a moment, they burst out laughing. It was the first good laugh and meaningful talk they've shared in a long, long time.
