Chapter Nineteen
...
Daylight came, as did warmth, the fire having long gone out during the night. Mira was the first one up, as usual, and made her rounds to the entire group. No one moved or made a sound, thus meaning they all were either still asleep or in stasis, and she paused at the window of the Camaro to see Tessa curled into a small ball in the passenger's seat. The windows were foggy, which implicated Bumblebee had turned the heat on, and Mira smiled.
She found her way to the truck, and stopped. Looking at the massive vehicle before her, she crossed her arms in front of her and gave a light smirk. The truck hardly seemed to be Optimus, it was so flashy and...detailed. She'd always known Optimus for a subtle, very plain-Jane type guy, and this didn't at all seem him. But, desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Yer up a bit early, ain't ya?"
Hound surprised her, and she came about quickly, her boots grinding the grass beneath her feet. Scratching at her disheveled head of messy, now frizzy, curls, she approached the Defense vehicle and stopped before it. "Not really, it's..." she grabbed the phone in her back pocket and checked the time, "...six."
He chuckled, "Ah, well, surprises are surprises I guess," he snorted, "I can remember Optimus havin' to practically drag you out of bed just a few years ago."
She snorted as well, lightly, "Yeah, when I was a teenager. I'm a mom now." she looked to the Bugati. "Things change us, Hound."
Hound chuckled, and his form shook just slightly, as if tossing off the dust and dew, "I suppose yer right. Age is a fickle thing, fer sure."
She smiled at him, "It sure is. Now, let's get these others up, shall we? We have a long road ahead of us, and KSI is waiting. I can't imagine Lockdown is far behind us now."
Hound burst out in a deep, guttural laugh, "Nose to the grindstone, ain't it?" Then he focused his attention to the group and laid on his air horn, piercing the air around them and startling poor Cade and Bryce up off the ground. "OKAY, up 'an addem, sweethearts! Days a'callin'! 'WAKEN UP!" Then, all of his alarms and lights went off in a frantic display of what should've alerted someone to panic, but was just a colorful, cruel way of waking the team up.
The Camaro door opened and out stumbled Tessa, "Good grief," she shot a glare of hatred towards the commando, "It's six AM!"
Mira walked over to her and clapped a hand on her shoulder good-naturedly and winked at her, "Get used of it, sweetheart. They NEVER. STOP."
She groaned. Bumblebee revved the engine behind them and the radio blared to life, "Ooooh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day..." Mira just shook her head at him when Cade and Bryce walked over, groggy and hardly standing. They both were in desperate need of coffee, and looked disheveled.
The Bugati's door slammed back into place, and Mira glanced over her shoulder. Drift's holoform approached them, Merrick in his arms, still sound asleep. This wasn't unusual to Mira-the boy could sleep through the apocalypse. She turned from the group, and approached him, arms open to receive her son.
She watched Drift. He had a look of serenity and peace in his eyes, as well as amazement and...pride. Merrick had grown up without them, a fact she often regretted. She had hoped they would be a sort of family to him; a team of mentors to teach him all that she'd learned. The look of pride and adoration was painted so clearly on his face that she almost wondered briefly for a minute if Drift had once been a father himself-no, she surmised, he hadn't. She could see that in his eyes.
"Thank you," Mira smiled at the holoform, and touched her hands to the boy's face as he lay in Drift's arms, still snoring slightly. He smiled back at her softly, and she gently seized Merrick's wrist, and shook it lightly, calling his name, "Merrick. Merrick, honey, it's time to get up." The boy stirred, then nuzzled his nose into Drift's chest, unwilling to face the day. He lifted an arm up over Drift's shoulder. This surprised the Autobot samurai, and he chuckled, shaking the boy slightly in his arms.
"Your mother is right, young one. It is time to rise and meet the sun. It is a dawn of a new day." Mira cheekily smiled at Drift, as Merrick turned his head to look at her, squinty eyed and frowning. Drift dropped the boy's legs first, and began to set him down, Merrick shifting his weight forward to stand on his feet. Mira ruffled his hair and pulled him into a hug and winked at Drift.
"Say thank you," she said quietly to Merrick. The boy turned and rubbed at his eyes, yawning and stretching his arms above his head. Drift watched the boy gently, and a small smile rested on his lips as if threatening to form.
"Thanks," Merrick said, coming off his yawn.
Drift bowed slightly, "A pleasure, young Merrick."
He looked up to his mother, and rested his head against her abdomen, "Where are we going now?"
"To uncle Bryce's," she said, "Then we're going to Chicago."
...
They drove away from the plains, into Montana. Bumblebee had taken Bryce and Merrick for the drive, ever the youngster at heart, jamming to light rock music and country favorites most obviously adopted from Bryce's playlist on his phone. Mira could only imagine the chaos inside the muscle car, but swept it from her mind as she realized Merrick was as safe as he could be.
Formation, strangely, found Mira, Cade, Tessa, and Optimus in the back of the group. Crosshairs was before them, Drift the next. They thrummed along, watching the Montana hills and plans span out before them, Optimus and Mira navigating the See-All and bringing up information on KSI. They had found absolutely nothing deep in the files of the company, having traced back to its birth. They seemed clean enough, as did the owner/CEO, Joshua Joyce.
KSI had been born out of the Chicago Wars. They had raised a building on the foundations of a fallen one, Joshua having earned his millions straight of college by developing a handgun that only fired upon reading a handprint programmed into it-the "Safe Arm" he trademarked it.
From there, it was all downhill. Joyce became the number one leading shareholder in the United States and made money faster than he could spend it. He became huge in China, Japan, Russia, and England. His company, now global, was making trillions. In 2004, KSI Technologies outdid Apple, Microsoft, and Sony in their year-end sales. Joyce had become the god of the technology world, and he'd monopolized.
Then, when the Autobots came to earth, he capitalized on their arrival. He began hinting to the public that he was working on his own "Transformers", and would bring the machines to life. After the war in Mission City, Joyce invested 1.6 million dollars alone in the idea "A Safer, Better Transformer", as he quoted. He hired 4,866 new technology experts across the U.S. and erected a new research station in Boston, London, and Hong Kong just on the idea alone. Joyce was the holder of what seemed like all the hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place, and he was scaring off the competition.
Then, shortly after Joyce's former PR representatives, a Mr. Dylan Gould, had been found to be siding with the Decepticons after starting his own business during the Chicago Wars, Joyce's business lost billions that year due to bad publicity. Though, more determined than ever to create a better, safer transformer, he invested his entire company into the idea. Currently, his company was entirely consumed with the idea of transforming robots, according to deeper files Optimus had pulled from the company's record pool. Mira found herself completely enthralled in the research, as did Cade. Tessa read along as well.
Before they had realized what was happening, they were high in the mountains of Montana. Mira had to pause and look at the clock, finding that three hours had trolled by without her even realizing it. Sitting back in the driver's seat of the semi, she furrowed her brow and focused on the enlarged picture of the KSI building, hovering in Chicago.
"So, what's the plan?" Tessa asked from behind them suddenly. This caught all three adults off guard, and Optimus clicked on the radio. Cade and Mira shared a look, and Mira began to re-tie her hair into a pony-tail. She felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket, with an obvious text message alert. She ignored it, reasoning it was Bryce.
"What do you mean?" Cade asked her, "We're stopping at Bryce's to plan our next move and figure out how we're getting to Chicago."
Tessa rolled her eyes, "That's nice and grand, but what are you going to do when you get in there? Just waltz up to this Joyce guy and ask him 'hey, why are you selling under the table to the military?'. I mean, if he's really in deep with this Cemetery Wind, then he's gunna have guards looking for you guys, right?"
"The girl is right," Optimus interjected, "we do need a plan of action. We cannot go into KSI without cover, and we certainly cannot confront Joshua Joyce. This has to be purely reconnaissance."
Mira nodded and brought a leg up underneath her, and leaned against the seat, crossing her arms. Resting her head against the cool upholstery, she sighed, "Right. This is gunna have to take some tact."
They made their way up the mountain in perfect file, Bumblebee leading the way. The road curved and wound its way a like beautiful pathway, consistently going up. The view from their height was amazingly beautiful, Mira could see for miles. Optimus kept tract of the elevation, his transmission consistently working to meet the requirements of the hills and climbs, his wheel ever turning sharply or slightly to round the curves. Mira was not the least bit worried up here, knowing she was in the hands of her friend, who would die before letting them fall. She watched the towering heights with a smile, and then looked to the peaks.
Finally, about an hour into the mountainous drive, they arrived at Bryce's. He had a very wide piece of mountainous land, one that had been excavated by their family many years before. Here Bryce had constructed a beautiful log cabin, along with a attached garage, storage shed, and a huge building which she knew housed Bumblebee. The layout was overlooking a huge valley, filled with an ice-cold creek running through the bottom where various form of wildlife came to drink, and provided Bryce with an adequate selection of game to hunt. He had various trails marked throughout these woods, and traveled them mostly by truck, ATV, snowmobile, or occasionally a dirt-bike, much to her disapproval.
There was plenty of room for the Autobots to park and rest, and park they did. Bumblebee parked directly in front of the house, releasing Bryce and Merrick. The boy scrambled up the porch of the cabin and practically whipped open the screen door, darting inside towards the main, heavy door. Crosshairs reversed to sit next to the attacked garage, and Drift parked on the right side of the shed's main door. Hound hid his hulking form directly beneath two towering evergreen's, and Optimus parked beside Drift. Mira, Tessa, and Cade exited the semi, as did Optimus' holoform, and he signaled the Autobots to do so as well. All of their holoforms appeared, and all eight of them approached the cabin.
Bryce welcomed them. The house was dark and cold, and Mira flicked on the lights. Bryce had no state-issued utilities; he received everything from a Cybertronian generator which ran on a powersource Ratchet had devised himself. It was perpetual, and strong.
The house came to life. Mira rounded the elongated counter-top, which was just right of the main door, lined with hand-carved barstools and littered with paperwork, knives sharpening kits, gun cleaning supplies, and dirty dishes. She gestured for Cade and Tessa to set the bags on the bar stools, and they obliged.
The log cabin was bigger on the inside than it appeared outside. It was spacious, with an open living room directly right of the door, a staircase straight back to the end of the house, and a den right off the kitchen. Bryce slept in the loft which was built into the south-end of the house. Supported with huge oaks, it was sturdy, warm, and fascinatingly well-crafted. The kitchen was hugely spacious as well, with an island and wrap around counter-tops. To the west was the table, oddly designed by their father, a metal fabricator. Build along the wall was a booth-style wooden seat, long enough to seat 10 people. The table was build into the floor, supported with shimmeringly sleek treated oak, and a granite table-top. 10 carved chairs lined (they had a bigger extended family than one would guess).
"Well," Bryce stood in the living room, closing the grate to the fireplace. He brushed the remains of wood from his hands and outstretched his hands, "Make yourselves comfortable. Mi casa, su casa." The fire began to crackle behind him, welcoming them all inside. Merrick appeared suddenly from the den and was all smiles.
"Tessa," Mira interrupted. The girl came into the kitchen, arms wrapped around her abdomen as if she was afraid the house would jump out and grab her from the walls. Mira nodded to the bathroom, which was just off the living room, "Why don't you go and take a shower and get freshened up? I'll see what I can find for clothes. I think you're about Anna's size."
"Anna?" Tessa asked in a breath.
Mira gestured to a picture on the counter-top, "Bryce's wife. She was killed on 9/11," Mira's voice dropped low, "but that's a long story," she busied herself by running water in the sink, determined to get some dishes done before they got down to business. Tessa just stood there, staring at the picture of the young woman, actually much younger than Bryce. A beautiful red-head, she had spiral curls and emerald eyes. "Go on."
"Maybe later. I'd rather stay and help you," she asked quietly, "if that's okay."
Mira gave her a crooked smile, "Then I'll offer it to your Dad first." She did so, and Cade accepted, retiring to the bathroom until he emerged sometime later, refreshed and dressed in the same jeans, but with a green and navy blue flannel shirt borrowed from Bryce, a grey t-shirt beneath that.
He came into the kitchen, where Mira and Tessa were now preparing dinner. The Autobots had retired with Bryce into the computer den, where they began conjuring up information on KSI and running diagnostics, as well as arranging transportation. Mira listened to their voices, Optimus ever calm and steady. Hound was loud and rambunctious, Crosshairs ever the pessimist, and Drift remained silent save for the occasional question.
Mira was finding it hard to concentrate, Cade next to her. He smelled terrifically like...a man. She hadn't smelt a man in a great while, and she found her body had been long since deprived. Mixed with the strong scent of Black Stetson aftershave and grinding sparks (still) he was driving her senses mad. So mad, in fact, she found herself nervous; her hands were shaking and she was blushing like mad.
Tessa had left them, retreating to the bathroom now. This left Cade and her alone in the kitchen, Merrick in the living room looking through hunting magazines. Mira quickly turned her back to Cade and dropped some chopped vegetables into a frying pan to prepare for a country stir-fry mix, exhaling a sharp breath as the knife slid across the cutting board with a scrape. Cade began pulling plates for the four of them, after Mira had informed him under her breath that the Autobots couldn't intake human substances, besides alcohol.
Her hands began to flutter, and then she finally tossed the knife onto the counter and turned to face him. Cade, surprised, stopped replacing the silverware and straightened to meet her. They locked eyes a moment and then he asked, "What?"
Opening her mouth the speak, she turned on her heel and picked up the knife and cutting board again, clamping her lips together and rolling her bottom one to bit down on it-hard. It was too soon for her to forget Will, and she looked at the wedding band on her thumb. Oh, Lord, she prayed silently, Don't let this be happening.
Tessa emerged from the shower about thirty minutes later, and food was cooked and ready. Mira set the table, and Cade began to distribute food. Merrick came bolting from the table, him and Tessa squeezing into the back corner of the bench. Mira made her way over to the den and rapped on the door with her knuckles. Grabbing the handle, she pulled it open, to find all of them huddled over Bryce, looking at the computer.
Everyone besides Optimus. He had in his hands a huge book, one of Bryce's many that he possessed. His south wall had been replaced with build-in cedar bookshelves, stacked with informative biographies, war-journals, history books, science texts, and others. Optimus' eyes scanned the pages, an old and worn copy of Strategies of War, his fingers gingerly lifted pages and turning them delicately. The sight almost rocked Mira back on her heels, bringing back vivid images of an Orion Pax that she'd heard of so long ago-an innocent librarian of Cybertron desperate for knowledge.
Bumblebee was the first to see her, and smiled, saluting lightly. She nodded to him, and this caught the attention of others. Optimus slapped the book closed with almost expert practice and replaced it. Bryce gave her a look and she stood in the doorway, somewhat overwhelmed but content, almost. "Supper's ready. If you all wouldn't mind, we're about to say grace."
She left swiftly, and they followed.
It took a few moments to seat everyone, eat place-setting outfitted with a delicate, crystal wineglass which had belonged to Anna's family. The center of the table sported a bowl of the steaming stir-fry, a loaf of bread was sliced and buttered, and four bottles of wine and brandy were perfectly arranged, according to date and class. Merrick had before him a glass of milk, and Tessa had water.
Bryce seated himself across from Mira, who had taken her place, surprisingly, between Cade and Optimus. Tessa had insisted on sitting next to Merrick and promised Mira she'd see that he'd eat all of his vegetables. Once everyone had quieted, Bryce said grace.
Crosshairs was the first to pick up one of the wineglasses. He was a strawberry blond-or at least, almost. He had a light, wavy type of hair which was cut short, but enough to be styled. He had his usual sunglasses atop his head-one blue lens, the other red, as was his signature trademark look in holoform and bi-pedal. Offsetting blue eyes (as they all possessed), a strong jawline with stubble matching his hair color, and an unsual scar running from his hairline, cutting seemingly into his left eye, and down onto his cheekbone. It was hardly noticeable, but present. Crosshairs was strikingly attractive, and he knew it-at least his holoform was. He picked up the glass and ran his pointer finger along the rim, the symbol of the Autobots tattooed on the top of his hand, and an emblem embedded onto a ring on his left ring finger.
"What's this for?" He asked her, shooting her a curiously upset look. She smirked at him and grabbed the nearest bottle of wine. Popping the cork off, she put it to her nose and inhaled the strong, tangy scent of the dark red liquid. A smile painted onto her lips and she stood, reaching over the table and resting the neck of the bottle on the rim of his glass. Tipping it up, the liquid began to run into the glass, and Crosshairs froze as if it were magical science about to end the world.
"Wine," she stated calmly, "I was told that holoforms were allowed fermented alcohol intake only," she shrugged, "and I decided you all deserve some. I stole some from Bryce's stash." She flashed him a style. "That stuff is from France, and it's delicious."
Anna had been a wine-taster, her parents owning a vineyard in Maryland. Her father was the CEO of a wine company which went overseas, mostly to France, Italy, and Spain. He brought back select wines for Anna every Christmas, and she'd kept them all in a cedar cabinet in the living room, hand carved by her great-grandfather with grapevines embedded deep into the wood. It was Bryce's most cherished artifact.
Crosshairs lifted the wine to his lips, and hesitated. He shot a look to Optimus, who nodded. Crosshairs sipped the drink, then removed the glass from his lips and sat a moment before replying. He nodded and looked at the glass, then lifted the bottle of wine and began to read the label. Satisfied, he replaced the bottle and seemed to relax. "Good stuff," he shrugged.
Dinner began.
It lasted well into the evening, until the food was gone. The Autobot's settled into their surroundings and relaxed, finally surmising that human alcohol wasn't as bad as they had previously imagined. Each helped themselves into a glass of wine of brandy, and then the evening really began. Mira was surprised how much they could talk nonchalantly about unserious topics.
Hound regailed them with stories of the Golden Ages and the Anciet Wars, one after the other, for at least an hour. He had taken a likening to a deep, strong wine, and he helped himself to more than half of the bottle. He was sitting directly across from Merrick and had the boys full, utmost undivided attention; lost were the realizations of war and humanity knocking at their door. He was telling an obviously funny tale about Warpath, a hero left on Cybertron, and the end of the story had everyone at the table laughing, or in Optimus' case, smiling.
Drift, sitting directly between Crosshairs and Hound, started on a proverb learned from his master back on Cybertron. It was a tale of wisdom, to remember to look behind you at the fallen but not to take them with you. It was cleverly entertaining, and this threw him and Hound into an argument about wise tales and wisdom truths. Finally, Crosshairs had to stand and grabbed a shoulder of each holoform, and pulled them away from each other.
"That's enough of that!" He hollered good-naturedly, "Would both you frag heads just agree to disagree and we can write off the next 16 eons of you two's friggin' arguments," this made Bumblebee, who was seated beside Bryce, begin to snicker from his place. Drift just gave Crosshairs a sour look, and waved him off, and Hound furrowed his brow and grabbed Crosshairs' wrist and pulled him into his face.
"One more wise-aft remark of yours and I'll cram your spoiler up your aft."
Crosshairs sputtered a laugh.
"Hey! That's enough!" Mira pointed a finger at the two of them, "No more swearing in front of my son."
Merrick tossed her a look, "Mom…."
She gave him a warning look, "Say one more word, Merrick Elijah."
Crosshairs seated himself and gestured to Merrick with his glass. "Listen to your ma, kid," he nodded to Mira, "she ain't kiddin."
"You," Mira plucked the glass from him, "Have obviously had enough." Mira hadn't thought about the Autobots getting hammered; she hadn't even known that was possible. But, by Crosshairs' obviously over-sarcastic mouth, she realized it was entirely possible. Seating herself again, the table was a commotion of "oooooooh, you got it now, 'Cross" and other jibes. She all tossed them a look and then glanced at Optimus.
"Back me up here would you?" she laughed lightly, notcing Optimus had hardly said a word all evening, much less spoken. He had taken to brandy, which made her a bit nervous—brandy was a strong drink that men with troubles and concerns ran to, and it wasn't an easy one to come off of. She swallowed thickly when he gave his Autobots a stern, commandeering look.
They silenced.
Bryce rose at the awkwardness of the situation and headed back into the kitchen, with the last of the dirty dishes. Cade did the same, and as they were sliding the dirty plates into the sink, the phone on the wall rang to life with a shriek.
Everyone froze. It became eerily quiet, until Bryce reached for the phone and pressed it to his ear. Clicking on speaker, Mira rose and started collecting the empty wine bottles, and Tessa rose to assist. They listened.
"Yo, Bryce, what's happenin' my man?"
Bryce gave a look to Mira, "Not much, Tommy," he said quietly, seriously. "I was wondering if you were still in the flying business."
"Wonderin'? Bruddah, you know I still fly high! Whattya need?"
A sigh of relief from Bryce, "I was in the need for a C4-I need to haul some cars and trucks into Chicago for a display," this made the man on the other line burst into a laugh, "I picked up some work from a friend of mine. You still got a C4?"
"Sure thing!"
He was quiet a moment before Mira nodded to him, "And you still fly off the charts?"
"Mhmmmm…"
The group breathed a sigh of relief, and Bryce picked up the handset and walked into the den to make arrangements. They were in, and off the charts into Chicago. Tessa and Mira quickly began cleaning the kitchen, the Autobots still seated around the table. They began to confer about KSI again, leaving Mira, Cade, and Tessa in the kitchen.
Mira's hands began to tremble again, this time not because of Cade. She was realizing the days that laid ahead of them. Lockdown was right behind them, she was sure, and KSI was dealing under the table, providing weapons to Cemetery Wind-weapons which were developed enough and strong enough to hurt her family. Unfocused, she dropped a plate back into the sink again, this time it colliding with the ceramic. It clattered, and this quieted the entire house. Picking it up again, she began to think about Ratchet and the Wreckers, as well as Ironhide and Jazz, who lay broken but not forgotten at the bottom of the Laurenchian Abyss.
Then, a shocking question came into her mind, one that made her spin around with soapy hands and a plate at hand to grab the attention of Optimus. He had pushed his chair it slightly, had an arm draped around the back of her empty one, and was in conversation with Crosshairs. He must've felt her staring, because he glanced at her and then fully gave her his attention. "Miriam?" He asked, gently. His face had a look of concern now and he leaned forward, arms on the table now. "Are you alright?" This made the entire group look over at her.
"What happened to Ratchet and the Wreckers' bodies?" she asked bluntly. This made the air thick was question, and everyone was silent, even Merrick. They all were still, looking at her, until she unknowingly released the plate which hit the ground with a shattering scream and broke into cracked pieces. Mira cleared the kitchen in two strides and stood at the head of the table now, hands on the table-top, locking eyes with Optimus Prime, who was reading her every move, and every thought.
"Mira—"
She put up a hand to quiet him, "Listen to me. What happened to their bodies? I know choppers took them away, but to where? We released Ironhide and Jazz and the others into the ocean," she began gesturing with her hands and pacing now, "but what of Ratchet and Sentinel and Megatron? The others? Where are they?"
Optimus just stared at her, "I don't understand what you are asking, Mira."
"Optimus," she almost whined in frustration, "what is Cemetery Wind doing with the bodies? I can bet they aren't dispersing them into the ocean, because the public would know about it, right? Where are they taking them? Think about it!"
There was silence in the group a moment. Cade and Tessa came back to the group some time later and seated themselves again, "You don't think they're selling them to KSI, do you?" Crosshairs suddenly asked. This had the entire group gripped now, and he looked up at her, "What?"
Mira's face lit up, "You're brilliant!" she grabbed the dry dishtowel from her shoulder and whipped it onto the table. "Absolutely brilliant, Crosshairs!" Excitedly, she grabbed his face in her hand and planted a kiss on his cheeks so quickly she hadn't even realized she'd done it. Hurrying to the den, she burst through the door and grabbed Bryce's laptop, removing the Shield from around her neck.
The group just stared at Crosshairs, shocked. His mouth had dropped open and was still open until she returned. Quickly sliding into the chair next to Optimus, she wrapped her palm around the Shield and situated her thumb over top the end, and closed her eyes. "Voice recognition," she ordered.
"Voice authenticated."
She then hovered the Shield beside the laptop, and it scanned the USB port and transformed itself into the appropriate device. Injecting it into the computer, she waited for it to fully optimize the machine before giving the order for the Shield to break the firewall and hack into the mainframe computer of KSI, pulling the deepest files. It did so and began configuring. Noticing the entire table staring at her, she furrowed her brow and shot a look to Crosshairs, as if he'd turned into a monster. "What?"
"Did you just…? Do you…?" Cade asked from across the table, utterly astounded. Tessa looked horrified and Merrick had frozen in place. She sighed and closed her eyes, then waved the comment off.
"Oh please. I was excited." She glared at Crosshairs, who had a smirk, "Don't flatter yourself." He just chuckled now, and she shook her head, glancing at the computer. It was going to take a while to extract everything she had requested, and she looked towards the bathroom. Optimus was just staring at her, as if she'd turned into a Cybertronian herself. "Once this authenticates the files, see what you can find. I'm going to shower, and then it'll be time to get on the road to Tommy's." She got up from the table and left them, vanishing into the bathroom and closing the door solidly behind her.
