AN: Sorry it took so long to get this up, but I hope the length and density of this chapter makes up for it (it's going on 19 pages, twice as long as the first two!). Again, this little plot bunny was inspired by Ray of Starlight's fic "Twin Times the Fun," and has been written with her knowledge and blessings. Go check out her fic when you're done here. And again, if you want to know what movie-verse Elita looks like (at least in MY corner of the movie-verse), check out BlackSirius' picture at blacksirius./art/UPgrade-Delta-Elita-1-63993775 , but use your imaginations and change the pink armor to dark red.
Also, I'm looking for a beta to bounce these chapters off of, so if there is anyone out there who would like to volunteer, feel free to drop me a line!
Any and all reviews will be loved, constructive criticism will be appreciated, and flames will be laughed off.
And, since I forgot to include it the last couple of times…
Disclaimer: If Transformers were mine, characters like Elita would have gotten a lot more love.
Ch. 3 – Coming to a Decision
10 minutes earlier
"911, what's the nature of your emergency?"
"Send the army before it kills us!"
"I'm sorry sir, what?"
"- friggin' HUGE and big and red and I don't know what the HELL it's doing here-"
"Calm down sir, I'm tracking your location now, please take a breath and tell me what's going on. Is there an intruder in the house?"
"A big ass intruder! But it's not IN the house yet thank god, but I think it wants to come in it kept trying to knock on the windows, it said it wanted my sister…OH MY GOD! AINE!!"
A loud clattering sound as a cordless phone was dropped onto the tile floor, followed by running feet.
"Sir? Sir, please talk to me, what's happening? Is the intruder attacking your sister? Sir?"
The young operator stopped to listen, but all she could hear was the sound of indistinct but definitely panicked shouting, running, a slammed door, and then utter silence.
The operator may not have known exactly what had happened, but her training dictated that, if there was reason to believe there was a genuine emergency, even if she couldn't get the details, she had to put through the call to send at least a police cruiser and ambulance, just in case…
Present
"…Which is why we need to hide, like, right now!"
"Oh dear." Aine said calmly, as the sirens gradually grew in volume. Nolan, still coming down from his earlier freak out, was a bit less understated. He looked up at Elita and demanded "Shouldn't you be running into the woods or the lake or something?!"
"Not quite." With two steps she was on the driveway, and while the oncoming response team wasn't in sight yet, the transformer was painfully obvious to anyone standing within a hundred feet or so.
"What are you-" Nolan started to demand, but Elita was already ahead of him. With a melody of clicks and spins, she crouched down and became an innocent, albeit sweet looking, car again. Nolan shut his mouth, now feeling a little silly for forgetting what Elita had been in the first place.
Just as the last cog slid into place with a click, the police car rounded the corner, with an ambulance at its heels. Nolan and Aine, not sure what else to do, just stood and waited for them, Nolan's brain a-buzzing' with what he was going to tell them. Whatever he picked, it was going to have to give him a legitimate reason for calling 911 when everything was hunky dory now, unless he wanted to spend the next five plus years in a federal prison for prank calling them.
"So let me get this straight," the officer was saying, looking over the notes he had taken as Nolan had talked. "Aine here was outside, throwing away the trash, when a strange man appeared and tried to talk to her. This man was wearing a Halloween mask that resembled a red robot, and he was wearing a red sweatshirt, hence why you were shouting about that over the phone."
"Yes," Nolan nodded once. Currently everyone was in the house, and while the paramedic examined Aine for any injuries, Nolan was sitting next to her on the leather couch like a good little boy as he talked to the officer standing across from him. In the back of his head, Nolan found himself hoping that the officer's shoes wouldn't leave any dirt or black marks on the pristine white carpet. It'd be a pain to clean off if they wanted to hide any and all evidence of this little incident from Richard.
"The man was at least over six feet tall, probably six foot four, but you're not sure about the weight." The officer went on. Nolan nodded again.
"I'm no good at guessing that sort of thing," he added. "But he was pretty broad and muscular."
"You could tell he was muscular while he was wearing a loose sweatshirt?"
"Uh, well, when he tried to get in he had the door rattling pretty hard, so I'm guessing he was pretty strong," Nolan made up on the spot. The officer gave him an odd look before returning to the notepad.
"And while you were calling 911, the intruder managed to get in and was attacking your sister, at which point you dropped the phone to help her. That was when you grabbed the bat and attacked him."
"Yes."
"The operator mentioned she heard a door slam. Do you know what that was?"
"That was probably me slamming the closet door shut."
"There was a potentially dangerous intruder in your house, attacking your sister, you needed a weapon…and you took the time to make sure the door was closed?"
"I just slammed it, I wasn't thinking, it was just habit." Nolan explained, sounding more defensive than he wanted. The bat in question was currently leaning against the couch, and Nolan had no doubt it would find its way to the evidence room before the day was out.
"When you started hitting the intruder – on the back and shoulders – instead of trying to grab the bat from you or fight back, he chose to flee through the back door where he came in. You chased him outside but didn't pursue him, and Aine here followed you out because she was worried you would be hurt. Neither of you saw any escape vehicle, but instead he seemed to be running down the hill towards Lake Ontario."
"That's what it looked like to me. Maybe he had a buddy waiting for him with the car a little ways down?"
"There aren't any roads down there, beyond hiking and bike trails."
"Well, maybe he had a bike then."
"So you're saying that a strange man biked all the way out to your house, which is virtually in the middle of nowhere, from Rochester, an hour away BY bike…to break into your house while wearing a robot mask?"
"I'm only telling you what I saw!" Nolan snapped. "I'm not this guy's physiologist, how the hell should I know what he was thinking?"
"…Please stand up."
While Nolan tried to recite the alphabet backwards and walk a straight line to prove that, no, he wasn't high and/or delusional that morning, Aine was excused to call Target and inform the manager that Nolan wouldn't be coming in today. As a precaution, she also called the dry cleaners to let them know that there was a chance that Nolan wouldn't be able to work that afternoon either. Both were very understanding, and since Nolan was usually such a reliable employee, they were willing to let the short notice slide at least this once.
Once the officer was satisfied that Nolan was clean, and the paramedic was satisfied that neither of them were hurt nor needed to be hospitalized, everyone started meandering towards the door. Aine and Nolan stood together on the door step to watch them go (Nolan having a mild panic attack every time one of them lingered a bit too long by the dark red car), but the officer waited just a moment longer on the boardwalk.
"Just so you know, we're going to have a cruiser drive by tonight, in case the intruder comes back," he informed them, and while his tone was neutral Nolan suspected he still wasn't completely convinced there was one, or that he had the whole truth. That wasn't what worried him.
"Um, is that really necessary?" Nolan asked, not able to keep a slight tremor of nervousness out of his voice. "I mean, I don't think he'll be coming back after I beat the crap out of him." He tried to offer up a confident, cocky grin, but it came off looking a little painful.
Amazingly, the officer wasn't falling for Nolan's false bravado.
"It's standard procedure," he explained. He gave Nolan a suspicious look. "Unless there's a reason why you don't want it?"
Nolan froze briefly as he tried to come up with a viable answer. "Are you going to tell my dad about this?" he blurted out instead, so loud the officer (and Aine) actually reeled back a little in surprise.
The officer answered, "We won't go out of our way to inform the rest of your family of what happened. I'll leave that to you. Personally, I think you might want to talk to your parents about this before I, or another officer, come back. We might need to speak to you again, or to identify any suspects we might catch."
Nolan nodded, but inside he felt like banging his head on something hard, like the wall. Richard could NOT find out, it would just complicate things even worse. Having a giant alien robot on his driveway was complicating his life enough already, thank you very much. And it was only 8:40 in the morning; it was way too early for all this.
Nolan and Aine let out twin breaths of relief as the police car and ambulance finally disappeared down the long stretch of empty road and around the bend. With all foreign (human) presence gone, it became very quiet and peaceful. For a few seconds, everyone just stayed silent, listening to the wind rustle through the tall pines that surrounded the house, the occasional bird chirping unseen. It was all very peaceful, very soothing, while it lasted.
"I think that went pretty well, altogether," Aine decided brightly. Nolan groaned and combed both hands through hair, to release a small bit of his building stress levels (it was way too early for this).
"I'll believe that if we can get through today without Dad finding out about any of this mess. My god, I think the last hour just took ten years off my life."
The source of the mess spoke up, "Speaking of which, when will your parental units be returning home?"
"At the very earliest? About 5:30," Aine answered, moving closer to Elita. She wasn't sure exactly where to look when talking to a sentient car, so she settled on focusing her attention on the headlights. "Dad likes to go in early so he can finish and get off early, but he usually does his own thing first before he comes home, and he usually doesn't tell us first. He could be home as late as 9:30, though on a weeknight that's leaning toward the extreme. Usually, he's home by about seven, and we plan around that."
"It is still early, so time will not be an issue for now," Elita mused. "Do either of you having pressing matters for today? Nolan, I believe you were leaving for work before we met?"
"Was. Not anymore. Aine called in for me, and my bosses are good people, I'm good for today."
"In that case, might you tell me where I am and how far I am from-" At this point, Elita recited a long series of numbers that left the teens with blank looks.
"Um, as far as Point A, you're on the outskirts of Rochester, New York." Nolan said after a beat. "But I don't speak numeric, so I can't help you with Point B."
"My apologies. The locals call the nearest city 'Tranquility, Nevada.'" Elita clarified. Nolan and Aine's brows shot up.
"Nevada? Yikes, you're way off," Nolan informed her. "That's like, a thousand miles away, and unless you've got rocket boosters in the trunk, you're looking at a pretty hefty road trip."
"Oh…I see." Elita said, sounding the tiniest bit disappointed. She had known it would be difficult, but she hadn't realized just how far off course she was.
Aine, sensing that the general mood was heading south, quickly said, "Hey Elita, what are you anyway? I mean, aside from your name you haven't told us anything about yourself." Nolan looked at her in surprise, realizing that in all the commotion he had forgotten to be curious about Elita's origins as well. Now that his sister mentioned it, the curiosity was starting to eat his brain already. Elita let out a good natured chuckle.
"After all the trouble I have caused you already, it is the least I can do. Would either of you mind if I transformed again? I would feel more comfortable telling you about myself and my history in my true form."
"Don't worry, we won't panic," Aine assured the car with a smile. Nolan was less eager.
"Whoa whoa whoa, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Nolan interrupted. "I mean, what if someone sees you all robot-y?"
"Like who?" Aine asked, waving an arm to indicate the lonely location. "We're miles away from the nearest house, and with all the trees around here it's not like anyone will see her from a distance. I bet that's why Elita came up here in the first place, right?"
"Indeed. After I landed I needed to scan an alt mode, and your dwelling was close, isolated, had several options, and was seemingly empty. It was most ideal for my purposes."
"…Can we at least go in the back, just for my own peace of mind?" Nolan asked. The ladies were willing to comply.
Elita transformed again, and even after the third time it was still taking Nolan's breath away. Aine was covering her mouth with her little hands as she watched the complex yet effortless transformation, enthralled. Once Elita was in robot form again, she started to head around the house, with Aine jogging slightly behind and next to her. From his position behind them both, Nolan compared their heights.
Aine, he knew, was 5'2, and on a human body the lower leg too up about ¼ of a person's height if you excluded the body. Elita's form seemed to follow humans in that respect, or at least close to it, so using Aine as a reference he could better estimate just how tall exactly Elita was. It was a little hard to tell while they were moving, but Aine seemed to only come up to just slightly past Elita's knee. By Nolan's estimation, that would put Elita as being between 21 and 22 feet tall.
Big girl, Nolan thought as he caught up to them.
And so the party moved to the back, with everyone making themselves comfortable on the grass, Elita sitting before the teens with her legs tucked under her, her delicate hands crossed on her lap and her back ramrod straight. Aine wondered if the formal position was out of habit, or out of respect for her hosts. Not wanting to risk embarrassing her or sounding silly, Aine kept quiet.
"Where to begin," Elita said with a thoughtful expression, thrumming the fingers of one hand against the back of the other.
As Elita gathered her thoughts, Nolan took the opportunity to get a good look at her, now that he was clear headed enough to pay attention. Even in robot mode he could see influences of the car she disguised herself with, with the tires here and the headlights there, but for the most part she integrated it so well she maintained a slim, streamlined frame of dark red, silver and occasionally green metals. More than that, something about her, something intangible that Nolan couldn't quite put a finger on, gave her an air of regality. Maybe it was the ornate helm she wore like a crown or the deep yet soothing voice she spoke with, or even just her perfect posture. Whatever it was, it was a quality that, Nolan suspected, made people shut and listen the moment she spoke.
Case in point…
Elita visibly came to a decision and the teenagers perked up in interest as she began. "As I told you, my name is Elita One. I am of a race of autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron, but you may think of us as Autobots for short…"
And so Elita told them a tale of an ancient war older than the human race itself between the Autobots and the Decepticons, a tale of betrayal and sacrifice, of despair and hope, of life and death…and extinction. She told of an ancient race, lost and scattered among the stars, made orphaned by their own war when they made their home world unfit for life, even robotic life. She told them of the Allspark, its power and its place in the war as both a prize and a source of hope, the only thing that could restore life to their desolate world, and held the power to end the war or push it to new heights, depending on which side found it first. She told them how, only recently, the ancient artifact was destroyed when it was used to end the life of the one who began the war in the first place with his endless greed and ambition: Megatron.
Nolan and Aine were in silent agreement that they were very, very happy they wouldn't ever have to meet the guy.
Elita also told them of the leader of the Autobots, the current Prime, who had come to this world before her with a handful of his finest officers (and scout). She talked about how, though he had been unusually young when he became Prime, he had been able to lead them through the worst of the war and bring them to the other side. He inspired genuine loyalty in all his soldiers, and fear tinged with respect in his enemies, and the more Elita spoke of him, the more her human audience found themselves wanting to meet him.
It didn't escape Aine's notice how, when the topic turned to Optimus Prime, Elita's voice took on a subtle yet definite fond tone, and her expression softened as she revisited her memories of the Autobot leader. When Nolan glanced over to his sister to see how she was absorbing this fantastic tale, he saw her clasping her hands over her chest with a starry-eyed smile on her face.
Nolan, being less perceptive than his romantic sibling, decided he didn't want to know.
When Elita finally finished her long tale, the sun had raised high in the sky, though it hadn't yet come close to its zenith. Nolan checked his watch and was shocked that the three of had been sitting there for nearly two hours. Didn't Elita ever get stiff sitting like that?! Not to mention that Aine was still in her pajama's and hadn't showered yet, though she didn't appear to feel embarrassed about it, assuming she had even remembered.
"So the Autobots are all coming to Earth, now that you can't go back to Cybertron?" Aine asked, shifting her legs around to keep the blood flowing. Elita nodded.
"I was supposed to arrive with my Division, but I had to separate from them to lead off a persistent group of Decepticons. We normally could have fought them off easily, but we had wounded with us, and all were tired from fighting, so I ordered them to move away while I distracted the Decepticons. I had dispatched the last of them when we received the transmission from Prime, about the Allspark and Earth. Since I was closer to Earth than I was to my Division, it was decided that I would continue on ahead, so that I could have Ratchet, Primes CMO, prepare to receive our wounded."
Aine looked mildly uncomfortable when Elita said 'dispatched,' but the female Autobot made no indication she noticed.
"So wait, if you're all coming here...just how many of you guys are there?" Nolan asked. Elita's glowing eyes dimmed in sadness.
"Before the war, our race numbered in the tens of millions. But we lack the ability to replenish our numbers as you humans do, and the war decimated our race. Now, I doubt there are more than two or three thousand Cybertronians left. Our home world itself is now dead."
Nolan felt the pit of his stomach give way as the silence hung heavy between the three of them, and Aine looked a mix between sick and horrified. They almost couldn't comprehend it: a race of millions down to a few thousand at most? It was just unbelievably mind boggling, that level of lost lives...
"But enough of the past." Elita said firmly, all trace of sadness gone as her eyes lit up brightly again. "We need to focus on the present now. I still require assistance if I am to return to my comrades without human detection."
Nolan didn't know if the abrupt change in subject was out of their benefit, Elita's benefit, or out of simple practicality, but he was grateful for it anyways. "Well okay. What else do you need, aside from directions and a map?"
Elita frowned slightly, her fingers drumming on the back of her hand again. The long silence was like a neon sign to Nolan, loudly proclaiming 'You ain't gonna like this!'
"I lack a holoemitter of my own, otherwise I would be able to create the illusion of a human driver, to interact with other humans as need be," Elita began (and Nolan was already getting a bad feeling about the direction this was going). "Even if I did, I fear I do not know enough of your cultural norms and laws to traverse your country safely and quickly. Optimus sent a great deal of information of your world in his transmission, including your languages," (oh, so that was how she learned English) "but it was not all inclusive, and I would rather not rely solely on that."
Ohhhhh boy. Nolan could guess where THIS was going.
"Wait, let me guess," he said, holding a hand up. "You," points to Elita, "want one of us," indicates himself and Aine, "to take you to Nevada?" points west. Elita nodded once.
"While I would appreciate the assistance, I will not push you for it. I understand I ask much of you, and you are both young."
"I'll do it."
Man and machine turned to look at Aine, the latter in light surprise at the ease of her decision, the former like she had sprouted a foot from the top of her head.
"What?" Aine asked. "Elita's asking for help getting to Nevada. I'm offering. Problem solved."
"No it's not!" Nolan cried out, throwing his hands in the air. Bringing them back down, he started ticking off his fingers.
"One: you're under sixteen, thus don't have a license. Ergo, you can't pretend to drive a car cross country. You won't even make it to the next city.
"Two: You're too young to be going off on your own. You're only fourteen years old, remember? Which leads me to
"Three: You've never been away from home before, let alone by yourself (no offense Elita). That's too dangerous for a young girl, even a smart one like you.
"Four: When Dad finds out, he's going to be P.O.'d at epic proportions." Enough said.
Aine opened her mouth to protest, closed it again, and then hesitantly said "Well, okay, if I can't go, then…?"
Nolan knew what she was thinking. "Uh uh. Sorry, I can't pick up and go either. I've got my jobs for one thing, Dad will still be mad if I left instead, and I'm sure as hell not going to leave you alone to deal with him when that happens." Aine's eyes widened fearfully as she remembered. Elita frowned.
"I do not understand." She said. "You fear being alone with your parental units?"
"Just Dad. Mom's not around anymore." Nolan clarified, with an air of finality. Their family dynamics wasn't something he wanted to discuss with anyone, let alone someone he just met (especially one that was a recently landed alien). Elita was tactful enough not to pursue her line of questioning, though she was clearly confused and now radiated palpable concern. Nolan shifted in his seat uncomfortably, part of him a little grateful that she cared, most of him hoping she would just let it go.
"What if we both go?"
Again, Aine was treated to the double stare, with the same expressions. "Okay, that's starting to get a little annoying," she complained lightly, crossing her arms in mock irritation. "Seriously, this way we can help Elita, and no one has to deal with Dad alone. We can take a Greyhound bus to get back or something, and so long as we pay for our own food and tickets, and get back before school starts at the end of August, Dad won't have any reason to stay mad. By the time we get back, I'm sure he'll have calmed down…somewhat. Or better yet, we can tell him that we're, I don't know, going on at brother-sister bonding camping trip, so he won't freak out too bad about us disappearing. I mean, barring unforeseen circumstances, we'll only be gone for a week tops, right?"
Nolan wanted to argue, tell Aine it was a Bad Idea. Not just a bad idea, a Bad Idea, with capital letters. He wanted to say it wasn't that simple, they couldn't just go ahead and go, but right then he couldn't even summon the energy to try. It had been a trying morning to say the least, and he'd had to jump through more hoops and absorb more all at once than Aine did. All at once, he just felt incredibly, mentally exhausted. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.
"Just…Aine, Elita, just let me think a little, okay? This has been a crazy morning; I need to let it all sink in a little more." Nolan lowered his hands and looked up at the Cybertronian. "Elita, you don't have to go right this minute, do you?"
"The sooner the better, but I do not need to leave immediately, no."
"So you can hang around a little while longer, right? At least long enough for me to wrap my mind around all this?"
Elita smiled warmly down at him. "Take as much time as you need, Nolan O'Connell."
"Thanks. I'll uh, I'll be in my room in case, y'know, you need anything. Oh and it's just Nolan. You don't need to tag on the family name when you're talking to humans."
As Nolan picked himself up and waddled into the house (since his legs had been falling asleep on him, the traitors), he could hear his sister, rather than follow him inside to get around to her shower and a change of clothes, strike up another conversation with their 'guest.'
"So, if you're Elita One, does that mean there's an Elita Two?"
Nearly another two hours later, Nolan was still sprawled on his bed, currently face down in his pillow (coming up for air as need be, of course). Through the open window he could catch snippets of Aine and Elita's conversation, mostly now dominated by the formers lighter, youthful tone, with the latter's deeper, smoother voice cutting in occasionally with a question or a comment. That was unusual, because usually when Aine was in a conversation with anyone other than Nolan, she'd listen quietly and let the other person talk as much as they liked about whatever they liked, never mind whether she was interested in that subject or knew anything about it.
Nolan's room was across from Aine's, so while hers looked out onto the street and driveway, his conveniently looked out to the yard and the lake. The last time he peeked out his window to check up on the two, Elita had relaxed her pose into a cross legged position, hands back to support her while Aine was perched on her knee, her hands moving with the story she was animatedly telling Elita. Even in a more casual position, Elita still exuded grace and sophistication, her dark red and silver frame gleaming in the sun. Her posture, he had noticed wryly, was still perfect, down to the ramrod straight back – did she used to be Auto-Royalty or something? It would just figure: not only did he have an alien robot in his back yard, he had an alien robot warrior princess in his yard! It was almost enough to make him laugh.
As for Aine, even from where he was he could see how she was practically glowing with the personal and genuine attention she was receiving from her exotic audience. While Nolan wanted to be happy that she was happy, it left him with a feeling in his chest that he couldn't quite put a finger on. It wasn't a positive one, that much he knew.
Nolan rolled over onto his back, draping one arm across his eyes as the other spilled over the side of his bed, his mind still going through the same well worn circles it had been going through for the last hour, just as Aine's had a mere few hours ago.
On one hand, he had an alien robot hanging out in his backyard asking for his help. Other than being completely insane and coming straight out of a sci-fi movie worthy of Spielberg himself, in the real world it was also asking for trouble. He's seen the movies; he could probably come up with a dozen different scenarios of what could go wrong in one sitting. Besides, what he said before still held true: he couldn't just up and leave, he had his jobs, and he had to think about what was best for Aine (which he was pretty sure didn't include going on an impromptu road trip with an alien car and no idea of what they were really getting into).
On the other hand, he had an alien robot hanging out in his backyard asking for his help. The thought of letting Elita go just like that, with the distinct possibility of never hearing from her or seeing her again, was already tying his stomach into knots. This was easily the most amazing thing to ever happen in his life, probably will be for his entire life. No matter how logical he tried to be about it, a part of him was screaming at him to not let it pass him by like this. He, very simply, probably selfishly, didn't want to just let her leave his life as abruptly as she entered it.
Either way, it all came down to what was best for Aine. Whatever he thought of Elita, his sister was his first priority. Either they both stayed, or they both went. Those where their only options.
"Dammit, what am I supposed to do?" he groaned to the empty room. "No way Dad's gonna give his permission to let up go on a fake camping trip or whatever, so if we go we'll have to sneak off to do it. So even if it all goes great and we don't get so much as a speeding ticket, and take the first bus home or whatever, after we get back Dad is going to be pissed beyond all reason. Probably beat the crap out of me or kick me out of the house, or both. He might even take it out on Aine this time; this'll be the closest to a real act of defiance she's ever shown."
The thought of Richard laying a hand on his sister was enough to sicken and enrage him, and he slammed a fist on the mattress in frustration. "Dammit, the problem with going is that sooner or later we'll have to come back. It's not like we can STAY in Nevada forever!"
Hold up.
Nolan sat straight up as his epiphany washed over him. If the only problem with going was coming back, then…
"We won't come back," he whispered.
Yes, yes, maybe they could do that. He'd been working his butt off for, what, two and a half years now? Saving every penny he could, just so he could have a nest egg for when he moved out after high school and take Aine with him. But he had always feared that, even if he got that far, Richard would come banging at his door and guilt Aine into coming back. And she, being the dutiful daughter she is, eventually would.
But if they went with Elita, Richard wouldn't be able to track them down (no trail, right?), and he'd never think to look so far out west. And once they got there, Nolan could get a job, several jobs if he had to, and Aine could enroll and finish high school there. He was turning eighteen in September, next month, so he'd be a legal adult. He wouldn't be able to finish high school, but he could live with that. Maybe he could get his diploma at a later date, after Aine was taken care of. It could work, it could work, it could –
"It'll never work!" Nolan exclaimed in frustration, falling back on the bed again. "It'll work just fine, up until Dad accuses me of kidnapping my own sister and sics the feds on my ass. Dammit, I'm right back where I started!" He rolled over on his side, his self anger bleeding away. "I can't do that. I've got to do what's best for Aine, and I'm pretty sure up and moving to Nevada like this isn't quite it."
But was staying there any better?
Nolan laid there quietly for a few seconds, his mind going back in time to nearly five years ago. Finally he got up, and headed straight for his book case on the far wall. On the top shelf, to the far left, was a well-worn paperback entitled Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. When he was in the fifth grade, his school had held a book sale to raise money for something or other, and his mother had bought this particular one for him. It had become his favorite book as a kid.
Carefully, almost reverently, he eased the worn book from its niche, and let it fall open naturally in his hands. As always, it opened in the very middle and, as always, tucked between the darkened and slightly torn pages that marked any beloved book, was a folded piece of paper and a photograph. Opening the paper as carefully as if it were made of delicate lace, he traced the well worn fold lines as his eyes followed the delicate writing, though he knew it by heart after reading them hundreds of times.
Nolan,
By the time you find this, I hope you have come to understand that I'm not coming back. I'm so sorry to leave you like this love, but I just can't stay any more. I'm tired sweetie, I'm just so, so tired, and I can't do this anymore. I don't have anything left to give. I pray that someday, you'll be able to forgive me.
Take care of Aine for me. She needs you more than ever now.
I love you,
Mom
Nolan closed his eyes as memories bubbled up. He had been 13, Aine 9. Christmas was coming, and they had made plans to visits Mom's family out of state for the first time in two years. They had all been so excited, and Mom had been happier and more energetic than she had been in months, a welcome and comforting change to the increasingly listless, tired woman she had been before. But a few days before they were to leave, Richard came down with a bad cold, and felt so miserable he didn't want to go anywhere. And if Richard didn't want to go, then no one got to go. Nolan had overheard his mother pleading with Richard to at least try, that she'll do all the driving while he rested, that she missed her family and wanted to see them, but Richard wouldn't hear it. It was all about what was convenient for him and him alone. After that, all the energy seemed to drain out of her. Christmas day came quietly, and in the depressed and bleak mood set by the irritable Richard and their listless mother, no one could summon the energy to be cheery about it. That night, after everyone was in bed, their mother walked out the door and never came back.
Nolan wouldn't find the note in his book until four days later. He never told another soul about it, not even his sister, though he tried to several times. But every time he resolved to share it with her, his throat would close up and choke the words. So it remained his and his alone, to this day.
Nolan opened his eyes and looked at the second hidden item, the photograph. He remembered when it was taken. He had been nine years old, Aine six. It was summer, and they were taking a vacation in California, spending most of their time by the beach because Mother loved the ocean so much. Richard had been more accommodating back then, nicer to them, even laughed and played with them. He had taken this picture of the other three members of the family, laying out in towels as Aine played in the sand and Nolan was covered in sunscreen, looking adorably (he could admit now) disgruntled as his mother only laughed, her face practically glowing.
Nolan lingered on her face, and not for the first time was struck by how much Aine took after her, something that became more and more apparent as she grew older. In face and form, she was her mother's dead ringer. But more than just a physical resemblance, she had inherited their mother's personality, her generous spirit and desire to please others and seek other's happiness before her own, and her ability to accept others whole heartedly without prejudice. That she was currently shooting the breeze with a giant alien robot was testament to that.
Richard was already greedily taking everything his sister could give and still demanding more. How much longer could little Aine last before she had nothing left and was crushed too?
"Hey!"
Aine and Elita looked up at Nolan from his window, their discussion of parkways and driveways put on hold.
"I changed my mind. Aine and I will both go with you."
"Really? You want to come?" Aine couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice, and even Elita looked pleased. Nolan nodded.
"But we should probably leave ASAP, by tonight if we can, before Dad gets back. Aine, get dressed and start packing. Assume it'll take…uh, two weeks. The round trip probably won't actually be that long, but better to be prepared."
Aine squeaked and slid off of Elita's knees, hurrying into the house. Nolan watched her from his vantage point.
"I appreciate this Nolan, but I do not believe it would be wise to leave before your father returns home," Elita's voice broke through Nolan's reverie. He looked at her, now standing with her arms crossed, with an expression of faint disapproval. Nolan shrugged.
"Easier this way," he explained. "I'll leave him a note so he doesn't report us missing or whatever, it'll be fine. This way, I won't have to argue with him about whether we can go or not, when it's not really an option."
"Your sudden departure will require more than a simple note," Elita insisted as she moved a little closer to the window. "Speaking of which, I must admit to curiosity as to what changed your mind. Why are you so eager to leave so quickly?"
Nolan didn't think 'I'm planning to drop out of high school and use you to run away from home' was going to fly too well. Somehow, he didn't think she'd approve.
"Aine's the kind of person who wants to help everyone, and frets about it when she can't," Nolan said instead. "If I said no, we have to stay, she'd worry and fret about you for the rest of her life or until you dropped a line, whichever happened first. At least this way she'll have peace of mind, and we can get out of the house before summer ends. Besides," he added with a grin, "how many people get to go on a road trip with a bona fide alien? This is just too cool to pass up." It was the truth, as far as it went, he just omitted that it had not been a part of his decision making process.
"As for the short notice…" he continued, "well, I'm the kinda guy who likes to follow through on his decisions quickly. If I decide I'm gonna do something, I go ahead and do it, no dilly dallying. Besides, you said you wanted to meet up with the other Autobots as soon as you could, right?"
"True. But we need not leave before you have a chance to speak with your father."
Nolan fought of an irritated frown. "Look, it's not a big deal, and I REALLY don't want to have that conversation with him. It'll be…ugly and no fun at all."
"Regardless, I feel I must insist you speak with him. He deserves to know what you are doing and that you'll be back, and to be told this to his face rather than on a piece of paper."
"Tell my dad I'm helping an alien robot?"
Elita gave him a look, and he had the urge to shrink back, already regretting his smart ass comment. He also realized that he wasn't going to win a battle of wills against a soldier who was at least several million years old.
"If I promise to talk to Dad tonight, will it make you happy?" he asked.
"This is not about me, Nolan. This is about your father. Even if you cannot tell him the truth about me, he deserves a proper parting."
You wouldn't be this concerned about his feelings if you knew what he was really like, Nolan thought bitterly, but he held his tongue. She had no way of knowing better, and he could tough it out one more night if it meant his, and Aine's, ultimate freedom.
"Right then, I'll wait until he gets home and let him know that Aine and I are going on a camping trip with some friends who happen to own a really nice car. But before that, could you take me to the bank? We're gonna need some cash, and since I don't know when exactly Dad will be back, I need to withdraw the money before it closes."
Elita gave him a long look, and then uncrossed her arms. "Nolan," she said gently, "is there anything you are not telling me?"
Nolan felt his heart skip a beat. "Uh, no. Why?"
"I get the feeling there is more to this than you are telling me."
Nolan shook his head, silently cursing the alien's perception. How is it, after only a handful of hours of human interaction, Elita had already learned how to read humans so well?!
"Look, it's nothing you need to worry about, okay? If I think of anything that you need to know, I'll say it, alright?"
Elita was silent a moment, then nodded her head once in acquisition. "Very well. I shall respect your privacy."
Nolan restrained the urge to breathe out to heavily in relief. "Thanks. Now, about that bank trip…?"
10:45 pm, the previous night, in Tranquility, Nevada
"Optimus, I think you'd better take a look at this."
Optimus looked up from the monitor he had been examining himself, currently displaying a map of the surrounding desert. Currently the Autobots were making their home in an old military air base out in the desert, about an hour and a half drive away from Tranquility, where Sam and Mikaela were. It wasn't the greatest of bases they'd had, but it was the best the government could come up with on short notice while keeping the existence of NBE's a secret from the general public. In the months following the Mission City attack, they had greatly improved their abode, and had begun plans on expansion in anticipation for any other Cybertronians that answered Optimus' call. The Prime had been doing just that actually, when his Chief Medical Officer spoke up.
"What is it Ratchet?" he asked, lumbering over to where the Topkick was. The smaller autobot looked up at his commander with an expression of cautious confusion.
"Scanners picked up two unknown pods entering the atmosphere, one landing in Lake Ontario, the other closer to the national border but in the same area."
Optimus reared his head back slightly in surprise. These new arrivals would be the first to answer the call to Earth, and should have been a cause of celebration. And yet…
"Unknown, you said?"
Ironhide nodded. "They didn't hail us, and the scanners couldn't pick up their transponder codes. We have no way of knowing who it is, or even which faction they're from. The only reason the scanners picked them up at all was because the computer was on the lookout of large bodies entering the atmosphere over the North American continent."
The lack of transponder codes was the true surprise. Each Cybertronian had a unique code, as integral to their systems as a fingerprint was to a human. Since the source of said code was located in each Cybertronian's CPU, they were even harder and more dangerous to get rid of. Since it was difficult to perfectly replicate another's codes, they were used to confirm and identify allies, and were seen as a safety precaution. More than that though, they were viewed as something personal and private to each Cybertronian, and while they could be masked to hide one's presence (a skill every spy developed) to have them removed was seen as an act of violation a step or two above invading another's very spark, and not something most would willingly do.
But a pod traveling through space had no way to completely mask their code; it simply wasn't possible in such a situation. The only other explanation as to why their transponders were silent, were if they had had their codes removed. The thought of such a procedure, or head injury that could do the same, was sickening to most.
Sickening to Autobots at least. The Decepticons, in attempts to make their spies harder to detect, have been known to be less scrupulous.
"What are we going to do about this Prime?" Ratchet asked. "If they are Decepticons, they are a threat to any humans they come across. We cannot ignore this." Prime frowned for a moment in thought.
"We do not know for certain that they are Decepticons. Wait until morning; give them a chance to send a message. They could be damaged, or simply too drained to do it immediately. If they do not make contact by then, I will choose two mechs to go out at meet them, starting with whichever is closest. We cannot do much else until we know for certain whether they be Autobot or Decepticon. Perhaps then we can discover why they are lacking transponder codes."
"Do you think it's wise to wait? They could harm the local humans between now and then."
"To do so would involve revealing themselves, and they will not risk gaining the attention of the military."
At the same time, in New York state, near the Canadian border
In the quiet stillness of the night, in the middle of a forest, was a smoking crater surrounded by broken trees and small fires, held in check only by the ground left moist from the rainfall earlier that day. A young wolf, curious, fear gone now that nothing else seemed to be happening, cautiously approached the pit. Suddenly, a huge, clawed, metal hand reached over the edge, and grabbed the poor creature around the neck.
The wolf tried to fight back, squirming and growling and trying to bite, but it was all in vain. The giant would not relinquish his hold.
With a mighty heave he lifted his body out of the crater, a fearsome red eyed giant. He distastefully eyed the doomed, struggling creature in his hand, and as he recalled his lost quarry, he closed his hand around the flesh creature. The more he thought, the angrier he got, and the tighter he squeezed.
So close, he had been so close, and his quarry slipped away from him at the last moment. Slag it, she managed to elude him even when she didn't know she was being tailed! But there wouldn't be any more slip ups from here on out, oh no. No matter how cleverly she hid, he would track her down, no matter what.
"I'm not letting you get away this time, Elita One," he growled, and he felt the little flesh creature's ribs and spine snap and crack in his hand, organic liquids dripping between his fingers.
xxxxx
AN: if anyone's wondering why I made Elita so tall, it'll be explained in the next chapter when I reveal what kind of car she transforms into. I wanted to put it here, but I couldn't find an appropriate place to do it. If you're wondering what the deal is with Elita's transponder codes, well, all will be revealed in due time.
Nolan is 3 ½ years older than Aine, just so ya'll know.
Also, while Ratchet is noticing the planet fall close to 11, recall that they're in a different time zone than Elita and the kids. So for the O'Connells, she landed a little before 9.
BTW, I'm allowing anonymous reviews now (I hadn't even realized I had them disabled before 0.0). I know I'm opening myself up to flames and spammers, but I don't feel good about excluding certain readers. Plus, I'm something of a review junkie. hint, hint
Also, does anyone know how to put in those line breaks? I'm getting tired of just using x's.
See you next time!