Transformers Prime: Miami
Chapter 13: The life you save...
Jasper, Nevada.
Verity Carlo looked at all the reports she downloaded, the put up a map of the city of Miami over the poster of some Belgian shriek metal band Miko liked. She had photos of various surveillance pinned up with bits of strings pin from one locale to the other on the map. They represented various incidents and sightings over the six months she had worked on this case.
Somewhere somehow one of Miami's gangs were in cahoots with forces they shouldn't be involved with. Working with Decpticons should rank number one on the long list of bad ideas, and two nights ago ,her fears were confirmed. But on a night where she would have gotten the break she needed in this case, she was here in a sleepy little town in Nevada. She wasn't even in her own body,Due to an accident with a ground bridge . She was in the body of a 15 year old Japanese transfer student , while the student Miko Nakdai, resident Autobot ally and all around pain in the ass was trapped in her body. Least case scenario she would com back to a suspension cause by her, as for the worst case, Verity would rather think about this case.
It was a Tuesday morning of the last week of school for Miko,Jack and Raf. Monday wasn't too bad trying to settle in. The plan was simple for Verity, just keep a low profile and do your best to fill Miko's tiny shoes. Verity was fortunate that the week prior was the week of exams. She would have hated to bombs any final for the poor girl. What Verity chose to do, along with the help of Raf was to access her computer at the Miami police stations and print out all her files connected to her case.
She stood in Miko's room staring at the map. Even though the body wasnt hers, her mind was still there and the police instincts that came with it. With one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand over her mouth she stared at the map replaying and recounting any scenario in her head for any clue she may have overlooked. Most of the contacts associated with the case were dead under mysterious circumstances. She knew better, It was the cons liquidating their assets. She had been up since 4 a.m working. It was at 7 a.m when Miko's cell phone rang.
"Carlo." She answered
"Your suppose to say Miko..." Jack teased.
"is it force of habit or grasping on to my identity..."
Jack chucked " Just pulling your chain. Hey we're outside to take you to school, Bulkhead is off on a mission or else he'd take you.."
"Be out in a sec."
Verity came out to see Jack and Arcee waiting for him. She slung miko's backpack on her back and hopped on to Arcee as she put on a helmet.
As Arcee sped off Verity couldn't help but chuckle, On sunday night out of sheer boredom she read Miko's diary. Most of the entries were written in kanji, but some were written in English. From what she could tell she loved this part of her life, and she seemed to have a small crush on Jack. From what Verity could read off Jack in the couple days she knew him ,He felt the same. Aside for a kiss or two, they hadnt done much as they were still taking it slow. It almost reminded her of her and Hunter. Sure they were two kids caught up in this crazy world of the Autobots. A situation like that can form a strong bond between two people. It was one of Veritys many regrets, Not telling Hunter how she felt about him before he was taken from her.
They pulled up to the school as both kids got off of Arcee. After a quick good bye it was off to Franklin High school. Before long they joined Raf in the cafeteria for a quick snack before the start of class. Jack got her tray and placed the plate of three glazed doughnuts and a carton of milk before her
"Trying to perpetrate a stereo type Darby? " she asked as she started on a doughnut.
"I've always heard cops like doughnuts!" He said as he and raf chuckled.
Verity soon became lost in the conversation of the two boys, it started out about some Decepticon plot and then evolved into back ground noise for her. Then Verity's cop instincts kicked in as out of the corner of her eye a student got her attention. He looked about Raf's age but was slightly a little taller. He had brown disheveled hair and wore a thick black coat. It was the end of May and the temps were rising in nevada. It was little too hot to be wearing a coat like that. He walked quietly to the cafeteria before taking a few packs of muffins and stuffing them in his back pack.
What caught her the most about the kid was his body posture, his look, even the way he walked , all screamed that he didn't want to be here. She kept eyes on him as he exited out of the cafeteria. Every fiber of verity's being told her to go follow the kid.
"I gotta run guys, I think I saw...Elvis..." She said as she got up and left.
She stayed close to the kid but just far enough not to be noticed. He was stopped just beyond the doors of the library by another kid, Verity walked into the library but leaned against the closed door to listen in on their conversation.
"jeremy they are just going to wail on you after school is out this week!"
"I know..." jeremy said
"You should have just skipped this week, why didn't you tell a teacher about them?"
"It doesn't matter anymore Walt. I'm going to do something about this, nothing matters anymore..."
"What do you mean by that?"
Jeremy didn't finish before the school bell rang. It was the first bell that signify the students had 10 minuets to get to class. She tailed Jeremy through the crowds of kids and decided to try something a little risky. She began to skip forward and race past him, she made sure to pic out the biggest jock in her path as she bumped in to him at full pace.
"hey!" he yelled as Verity was knocked back by him. She made sure to catch herself on Jeremy. She did this so she could feel what was in his coat. Sure enough she felt something hard inside of his coat pocket. Verity Carlo had been on the force too long not to recognize that the kid was packing a gun.
"Watch it shrimp!" the jock yelled.
Verity picked herself up and ran off, But still maintain her tail on the kid. She saw him go to his locker and place his coat in, Locking the padlock he went to class. Verity knew the kid was planning something today. Something that would change a lot of lives.
The last week of class in high school usually meant the teacher out on a video of some sort to keep the class for the hour before they left. All exams were done and really there was nothing left to do but last out the final week of school. The last week of school also meant whatever grudges were festering would be settled till next year. She saw it all over Miami. The last day of school meant a lot of fighting among students. As a beat cop she broke up her share of fights, but also had to tell many a parent that a kid went too far and their "baby" was taken from them. You would be a fool to think bullying only happened in the big cities. The ugly fact was it was everywhere, and there are some kids you could only push so far before they took matters into their own hands.
Verity had three periods till lunch to keep this kid from making the biggest mistake of his life. Luckily Miko had computer science for 2nd period. While the teacher snoozed during the video of "Star Wars" Verity swiped a can of air, excusing herself to the ladies room, she located a janitors closet taking a hammer she slipped it inside her shirt. She had to work quickly, as she found the boys locker.
Carefully scanning her surroundings her saw she was alone in the hallway. Holding the can of air with her shirt, she held it upside down and sprayed the lock , Cans of air were really liquid nitrogen. She used the coolant to freeze the lock . When the can was empty she too the hammer and in one strike she manage to shatter the lock. Scooping up the pieces she opened the locker and reached in the kids coat. She pulled out the gun to see it was a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, and the kid had four extra clips all filled with armor piercing rounds, or as Verity knew them "Cop Killers" .
She didn't take the gun, she wanted to at least give this kid a chance, Staying in the locker she field strip the gun and removed only the firing pin, Reassembling the gun she placed back in the boys coat. As long as she had the pin the gun was nothing more than an expensive paper weight.
She closed the locker, she had hope by seeing the missing lock it would send a message out to the boy that someone was watching. As the period ended she hung around the corner to see if Jeremy got her message. She saw him approach his locker , he paused a bit when he saw the lock was gone, looking around suspiciously he opened the locker and gathered all of his belongings. He whipped his jacket on and checked his pocket to see the gun was still there.
Verity followed him to and found out that they shared the same 3rd period class. She casually took the desk behind him. Watching him as he walked eyes on the floor and he took his seat.
"Hey that's my seat!"Verity looked up to see a girl with black pigtail and horn rim glasses standing over her.
"Not today it is..." Verity said in a tone that immediately spooked the girl.
Again another boring movie was played as the teacher was buried in his newspaper, Verity took the opportunity to scoot her desk so she could get a better view of Jeremy. He was scribbling something down on a sheet of paper as Verity poked him in the back.
"Hey, are you doing ok?" She said in her best Miko voice.
Jeremy looked behind him to see the Japanese exchange student, He was taken back a bit because aside from a few words , they never talked ever.
"uhh yeah, " he said in an annoyed tone "never better..."
"I was just asking cause it looks like you need someone to talk too." She started
he gulped a little " n-no! I'm ok just leave me alone ok."
Verity sighed, he was going to have to drag it out of him.
" I know it can get bad, trust me I do, No problem can ever be fixed with what your planning to do..."
He looked at her sharply " How you know anything!"
Verity recognized that look in his eye, it was of utter desperation, someone at the end of their rope. Willing to do the unthinkable to solve the unspeakable. She had been on both sides of the gun against that look. She knew many a good cop who gave their life against that kind of demon that had a hold of this boy, She was determined to help him.
She leaned in closer to whisper to him, " I know what's in your coat, that bulge doesn't fool anyone..."
He abruptly got up and left the classroom, As soon as it became clear no one cared he left , Verity followed.
Jeremy ran to the nearest bathroom he could, within a second of entering he saw it was the last place he wanted to be.
"Well Well Well, If it aint the little twerp..." said Tad, his bully.
Tad was a lot bigger than most of the students and he used that size to his advantage. He was cutting class with his two other friends, Chris and Craig. Two stooges that made Beavis and Butthead look like Mensa candidates.
"I was waiting till the last day of school to kick your ass in, but there's no time like the present!" He said as he motioned Chris to block his path.
Jeremy tried to run but was grabbed and thrown back by Chris, Tad grabbed him and laid a punch to his stomach sending the boy to the ground.
"I knew it was a good idea to skip 3rd!" he gloated.
Jeremy stood up and tried to steady himself with the sink, These hoodlums were the ones who tormented him for the past 4 years. They were the reason he dreaded going to school. For some reason it was him they decided to target, and they never let up. Jeremy lost count how much money he lost or how many nice clothes were ripped by them. Going to his parents never helped as his father was insistent he stand up for himself. What his dad obviously didn't know , that if you hit someone they hit back and usually harder.
But today he had enough, Today Jeremy was going to fight back . Even if it cost everything in his life. He swiped his dads handgun and took three clips to school. He was going to take his anger and pain out on everyone. Now he saw he was in a situation where he had to defend himself. Jeremy pulled out the gun and pointed it at Tad . Tad initially flinched, but then stopped as he saw how much the boy was shaking.
"you aint got the guts..." He laughed " Go on I dare you!"
Jeremy breathed as now he had a decision to make.
Closing his eyes he pulled trigger, and nothing.
Tad laughed as he snatched the gun out of his hand " It aint even loaded you little twerp!"
He grabbed Jeremy and held the weapon up to strike him with it.
"Wow! Is that a real gun!" Verity said in a high pitched Japanese schoolgirl voice." You must be a cowboy! Pow!pow!"
They all looked at her like she was crazy, for one thing it was the Japanese exchange student in the boys bathroom.
"Your in the wrong stall Ping Pong! Now get out of here !" tad growled.
Verity got close to Chris and Craig, " It looks like your having fun!"
Verity knew she was in the body of a 15 year old twig of a girl , She knew she couldn't take on all three big boys in an all out fist fight. For one thing, when it comes to fist fights. You have a high risk of breaking the small bones of your fingers if you strike someones skull, And miko had little matchsticks for fingers. That's why Verity loved bathrooms, Lots of hard surfaces.
She turned and punched Chris in the jewels,Hard. He toppled over as she grabbed by the head and smashed his face against the sink. His face exploded against the porcelain as blood sprayed from his face. Craig grabbed Verity from behind as Verity shot her head back smashing the back of her head against his nose. He backed off as she grabbed him and sent him crashing head first into the into the urinals.
Tad let go of Jeremy as Verity now had his full attention, She ducked as he missed his punch and was thrown off balance. She waited until he stood up before she grabbed him by his shirt and dropped to the ground pulling him forward and face first into the stone wall. He crashed to the ground in pain.
Verity stood up and caught her breath " that was fun!" She knew these types of punks all too well, she usually had them for breakfast.
Taking off her back pack she reached in and pulled out a pair of black latex gloves.
"Get out of here Jeremy, trust me you don't want to be here for this next part..."She said putting on the gloves.
"What are you going to do to them?" he asked going toward the door.
"Something so that wont have to lie about if you stay.." She said as he bolted from the bathroom.
Verity had been gathering various things she felt she would need out of habit during the few days she was in Jasper. It was a pain, but you can take the girl out of the cop, but you can't take the cop out of the girl. She pulled out three twist ties and bound the hands of the three hoodlums behind their back. Locking the door of the bathroom she woke up Jeremy by slapping him on the face.
"huh? What? Whats going on! Untie me!" he demanded.
"Tad, you and I are going to have a chat" Verity said as she reassembled the gun with the firing pin back in. She cocked the gun and tapped it against his forehead.
"you've been a bad bad boy..." She said as she stuck the gun in the book bag and fired the gun through a jacket that inside of it. The jacket muzzled the sound of the gun just enough so it sounded like a book falling. The bulled shredded through the bag and embedded itself in the wall next to the urinal.
"This gun here is evidence in an accessory to murder, You see that bullet in the wall? It connects it to a robbery here in Jasper and in Florida."She said completely bullshitting him, She flipped him over to get a good view of his hands.
She took apart the pistol and held the barrel in her gloved hand .
"Now, any good lawyer can disprove fingerprints on a gun, that's the first thing they teach in law school!, But try to disprove fingerprints inside the gun assembly. There's not a jury in the world who wont send you away for life." She said as she covered his prints all over the barrel and reassemble the gun.
Taking out a plastic baggie she dropped the gun in the bag and sealed it. "This is a forensic's wet dream..." she said waiving it in front of him.
'Whu-Whu what do you want!" he said shaking.
She slapped him lightly across the cheek. "Look at me cause im only saying this once. You will leave that boy and his family alone , you will leave me and my friends alone, if you so much as breath wrong a threatening glance or even a mean spirited Christmas card, this piece of evidence will get sent to a detective who will hunt you down with the fire of a thousand suns, And Florida extradites. Think i'm bluffing , Roll the dice and see..."
Tad started to whimper, and sniffle. Verity got out her pocket knife and cut the boys loose.
"Play nice now boys..." She said as she exited the boys bathroom and smirked ,Yeah, she was THAT kind of cop!
She went out to find Jeremy was outside not far away.
"I have to know...did you kill them?" He asked
she paused before she finally answered " No, But believe me they will not bother you anymore, and if they do , I have an aunt in Miami, trust me on this," She said as she scribbled her cell number on a piece of paper with the name Verity Carlo " She will handle it"
Jeremy's eyes began to water, "When I held that gun and pulled the trigger I realized I would have done it. I was going to walk into the cafeteria at lunch and just start shooting, I didn't care who died." He wiped his face " I see now, Oh God im so stupid!" He buried his face in his hands.
Verity hugged him " No your not, you just felt there were no options, but you always have a choice. If you cant get help from your parents or teachers find someone who WILL care!, they are there believe me."
She hugged him tighter " it gets better, it gets better..."
She let go and left him "Hey what about my gun?" he asked
She turned and smiled at him " Ah, it's my gun now, finders keepers..."
He nodded, he didn't think he could stop her even if he tried.
The lunch bell rang as Verity made her way to the cafeteria, she opened the door and stopped as she looked to see Raf and Jack sitting at the first table in having lunch. She blinked as her mouth hung open. Had Jeremy gone through with the shooting, Raf and Jack would have been the first to get shot.
She smiled as she joined the two boys for lunch, during their meal Jack got a call from Arcee, "Really? that's great! I'll tell her and we'll see you after school!"
Jack looked at Verity excitedly, " Arce just said that Ratchet and Perceptor just fixed the ground bridges and they may have come up with a way to switch you back!"
"Call Arcee! Ask for a ground bridge out,We're going now!" She said as she picked them up by their arms.
"Waoh! Wait schools still on!" Raf complained.
"it's time you boys learned the fine art of cutting class!" Verity grinned.
A/N : This was a side chapter I wanted to throw in It wasn't really important to the story, but we are coming close to the end of school, and yes this is the time most school fights are done. Bullying is a sore subject to me and I wanted to raise awareness. If you are being bullied or know someone who is, Please please tell SOMEONE. It does not have to happen, It is not a part of life and it sure as hell isn't SCHOOL SPIRIT! Stand up and show intolerance for this kind of behavior. And if you are a bully, Stop. You hurt far more than you think.
Ok soapbox over, We will head back into the main plot next story as I'm switching Verity and miko back. In a most hilarious way!