"You comin' my way, doll?"
Sunny's face burned as the lunch lady followed her and Jayla to the table they were panning on eating at.
"Nellie, she'd not -"
"I'd follow you to the end of the world if you are," Nellie continued.
"Looks like someone has Nellie on her tail," a ruggishly handsome man said to Jayla, who rolled her eyes.
"Come on guys, Eddie's chased after all the guys here. I hear he's chasing after Edward now, you know, from Twilight?"
"You mean Robert Pattinson? And seriously? Eddie is such a nice guy..." Nellie bemoaned.
"Perhaps you two should get together, then," Sunny suggested. "I mean, you might chase after skirts and he after pants, but if he chases after guys while he's married to you, who chases after women, wouldn't it be a good match?"
"Not sure it works that way, doll, but maybe she has a point. The lovely young man is actually one hundred percent gay, and I'm bisexual, so maybe it won't matter."
Nellie stood up with a brilliant smile.
Everyone turned to look at Sunny with a dumbfounded expression.
"If you all start drooling, I'm going to give you Hades in training," Jayla put in with a smile that promised death to everyone who stared.
"Sorry, but who are you?" the ruggishly handsome man asked.
"Riley," Sunny said quickly before Jayla could speak. "Riley Archen. You?"
"Will Lennox." He grinned. "Nice to meet you."
Sunny smiled sarcastically. "It's to be determined if you're nice or not."
Jayla coughed, though it sounded amused.
Will threw her a nasty look.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
Sunny knew instantly what was going on. Or so she thought.
"Are you guys like a couple or something?"
Jayla's water sprayed over Will, who choked on his chicken.
"No," a black guy said with amusement. "I'm Robert Epps. Jayla's half brother."
Sunny got the sense he was nice.
"Oh, okay." Sunny moved her chicken on her plate around a bit. "Who's the guy choking's dad?"
"Apollo. Your dad."
Sunny raised an eyebrow and glanced at Will, who was getting up to leave, Jayla frowning at his retreating self.
"Hm. He's got to be worse than Dad."
"No, Jayla hates your dad's guts. And she hates mortal men because they're dumb. And she hates most demigod and godly men because... Well, there's something about them that doesn't sit well with her. Honorary huntress of Artemis."
He said it casually, like everyone knew.
"Does everyone know?" Sunny asked quietly.
Epps sighed. "Most of the humans are in the know. Some aren't. We're not too obvious about it. But it's the Autobots who're clueless about them."
"Unfortunately, I'm not cleared to know about them," Sunny quickly informed him. He looked embarrassed, but Sunny snorted. "But I guess ya'll should know why I got hit." She took in a deep breath. "I've been in Tartarus learning stuff from Nyx. She's nice. So's Uncle T."
There was a hush as several demigods went quiet all around Sunny, who focused on her food.
"Huh," was all that Jayla said.
"Cool!" Epps smirked. "See, Jayla. She's probably got freaky powers too! You, my literally hot sister, are not alone."
Sunny turned to look at Jayla. "Was he flirting with you?"
Jayla looked mortified.
"I hope not," she said, staring at him disbelievingly. She flicked her finger. Fire like a candlelight appeared. "This is half of my strength. Sadly, I have to keep myself out of water."
Sunny got it. "Natural enemy. Hot water okay?"
"Yeah. I mean, I could take a dip in the freezing water of the ocean, but it freaks me out if I can't use my powers. That's what will happen for a few hours." She shrugged. "It's unfortunate, but it's the way I've lived for years."
Sunny thought that it was a sad existence. But she had a feeling Jayla would not welcome any pity.
"Hey, Sgt. Witwicky! Ratchet's asking to see the girl you dragged from the med bay!" Someone stopped and told that to Jayla, the woman dressed in fatigues and breathing raggedly.
"It's Lennox," Jayla said.
Sunny slammed her head on the table.
"So who did the insisting?" she asked, picking up her head and looking at Sgt. Epps. "Smoocher Boy or Oblivious Girl?"
He looked like he was about to bust a gut.
"Smoocher Boy."
Sunny nodded. "No wonder Sergeant Lennox is such a dummy." Sunny turned to Jayla and patted her head almost patronizingly. "There, there. You'll know soon enough. I, the love Guru, Riley Archen, is here!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jayla said flatly. "He's just a friend."
Sunny nodded, pretending she cared about that. Then she shook her head mournfully.
"And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why best friends should never fall in love. The girl's always in denial. Or oblivious to the attempts of the person who's trying to charm them."
Jayla sighed, looking annoyed. Either she wasn't amused, or she was someone with an odd sense of humor.
"He's not in love with me." She said it firmly. "And even if he was, I don't think I could share those feelings. Let's go to see what Ratchet wants to see you about, Riley."
~:~
They entered the med bay, only to see a metal alien taller than the green one.
The taller one looked at Sunny and knelt. "I am Optimus Prime. And you are?"
Sunny had a feeling that it was his deep voice that made everyone listen. "I'm... Sunshine Riley Archen. I go by Riley, though."
There was a pause.
"You're considered missing to the human police. Have been for two years now."
Two years. It felt like so much longer. More like twenty years. Tartarus was different than the human realm, after all.
"Yeah, I fell into..." She took a deep breath, as if to show how ashamed she was (but it really was just to buy some time). "I fell into drugs and went onto the streets. A nice couple took me in, but pretended I never existed. I was going to go back to living on the streets when I was hit by that car and brought here."
Problem with lying? Her father was the god of truth (among other things). She didn't lie well under pressure. Hopefully, her vital signs kept to the nervous pattern they were probably going through. It was nerve-wracking already to have a giant metal alien in her face, talking to her.
"I apologize for your loss, Miss Archen."
Sunny's breath caught.
"It's fine," she managed to say quietly.
"However you made it here, you are under our protection as of now. There is a chance that Barricade could return. We still have no word why he targeted you specifically." Optimus seemed to be frowning. "Still, precautions must be taken. Sergeant Lennox, please watch over Miss Archen."
Sunny kept her mouth shut, despite wanting to protest.