"Idiot."

Lizzy glanced up from her phone as she heard her father mutter to himself. She looked out the windshield at the car that had just pulled into their lane, and cut them off. Lizzy grinned at her father. She could call him out on many times that he did something stupid while driving. Of course, like most men, he said he was a perfect driver.

"Did you not get the memo, today?" Lizzy signed. "He owns the road today."

Lizzy was mute, she had not spoken since she was three years old. She had asked what had happened, her parents said they would tell her when she was older. All she really knew was that she had a brother, but he was never talked about. He hadn't been spoken of since she was younger. Andrew glanced at his daughter and gave her a withering look.

"I must have missed that memo." He replied.

Lizzy grinned again and turned back to her phone, and finished texting her friend. Then she looked out the passenger window at the passing scenery, and brushed a stray strand of her copper hair away from her face. Sure, Maryland was pretty, but nothing big ever happened there. It wasn't a big state, although Baltimore and Annapolis did get a fair amount of tourism. Nowhere near the amount other cities, like New York. Lizzy could say that she had the Nation's capital in her back yard, and that was kind of cool.

"Where are we going?" Lizzy asked for the sixth time during the ride.

"You'll find out when we get there." Andrew replied.

"You're so cryptic!" Lizzy sighed.

"And you are stubborn."

"I wonder who I get it from."

"Certainly not me."

"Because it's so obviously mom."

"Then it must be your other father."

"Ah, now that explains it."

Lizzy rolled her bright blue eyes playfully. Her eyes were her favorite part of her body. They were a sapphire blue, and around the pupil there was a bright golden ring. One of her friends commented about her eyes, and said it looked like a solar eclipse.

"So, where are we going?" She asked once more.

Andrew sighed and continued driving. Twenty minutes later they arrived in a little parking lot with a large white sign, with red letters, that said "Macrotech." (A/N: I do not recieve any profit from mentioning this company in my story. This is just the place my father and I went to, to get bow hunting supplies). Andrew pulled the large red Dodge Ram, which Lizzy affectionately named "Clifford", into a parking space in front of the store. Lizzy glanced at her father quizzically.

"A bow hunting store?" She asked. "What are we doing here?"

"Looking." Her father replied, glancing at the door. "What does that sign say on the door?"

"It doesn't say anything." Lizzy stated. "You have to read it yourself."

Andrew slapped Lizzy on the back of the head playfully, and rolled his eyes. He walked over to the door, Lizzy trailing behind. The sign said to ring the door bell for entrance. She reached over and rang the bell. An older man, around sixty, looked up and smiled at them. He pushed a button behind the counter and the door unlocked. The building was chilly, so she zipped up her dragon print hoodie. The man behind the counter came around and introduced himself as Roger, he shook Andrew and Lizzy's hands. As her father spoke with the man, Lizzy put her fingers in the back pockets of her jeans and walked around, keeping an ear on their conversation.

"So, what brings you here?" Roger asked.

"My daughter and I recently became interested in archery." Andrew explained.

"Well, you came to the right place to start!" Roger grinned. "What kind of bow were you looking to use?"

"A Recurve." Andrew told him.

"Going old fashioned?" Roger stated. "I fancy the Recurve over the Compound myself."

He walked to the back and riffled around for a few minutes before coming back with three bows. Each was a different size, small, medium, and large. The smallest one and largest one were made of light wood, and the medium one was made of dark wood. Lizzy was immediately drawn to the darkest one, a cherry colour. Roger handed the medium sized one to Andrew and had him test it out.

"This one's a thirty four pound draw." Roger stated.

Andrew felt the grip, then brought it up and drew it back. He was able to bring it back all the way, then he smiled and gave a nod. Lizzy grinned at him, and waited for his verdict.

"I like it." He said, handing it to her.

Lizzy held out her hand and took it. It was heavier than it looked, but only a few pounds. She looked it over; it was nearly as tall her own 5'9" frame. Then she brought it up and prepared to draw it back. She saw Rodger raise an eye brow in doubt.

"If both you and your daughter are going to use the bow," He said. "I'll see if I can find a lighter draw. Probably a twenty."

Andrew glanced at his daughter when he noticed her scowl. She handed the bow back to him and reached into the shoulder bag, with an Autobot insignia on it, she always carried. She pulled out a scratch pad and pen. Putting them on the counter she started scribbling a sentence down. Roger glanced at Andrew quizzically. He explained that Lizzy couldn't speak, but Lizzy took no notice. She turned around and handed the pad of paper to Roger. He took it and read what she had written.

"I have a twenty-four pound longbow at home right now. It's really easy to draw back."

"Really?" Roger asked with interest. "Alright then. Show me what you've got."

Lizzy took up her stance, angling her body so it was parallel with the bow. Legs spread shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. She brought the bow up with her left hand and grasped the string with the first three fingers of her right. She pulled the string back to full draw with only a little trouble. Roger was thoroughly surprised. He covered it up, but not before Lizzy had the satisfaction of seeing it. She handed the bow back to him and smiled. Roger gave a short nod and hung the bow on a hook.

"How did it feel?" Andrew asked.

"It was a little hard to draw, but not too bad." Lizzy replied.

"Because the two of you are just starting, I'd say a thirty pound draw would be good." Roger said. "I'll see if I have any limbs in the back. The height is alright for you?"

Lizzy and her father said it was fine. Roger nodded, then headed to the back of the store to check on the limbs. Lizzy walked around again, admiring the antlers and deer heads on display. Suddenly, her phone vibrated as it received a text message. She pulled it out and glanced at it. Her friend Jenna had sent it. Lizzy smiled as she read it.

'What are you doin'?' It said.

'Dad and I are looking at bows.'

'Should I be scared?'

'Haha, no.'

'Just makin' sure.'

'Right… what're you doin'?'

'Watching TF:ROTF… guess which part I'm at'

'Shut up!'

'You can't make me! Oh look! Megatron just stabbed Prime in the back!'

'I do hope you know you are evil…'

'I know, but I thought you liked death scenes, you said they were your favorite parts of movies.'

'They are, just gets ANNOYING when you goad me that my fave character dies :P'

'I'm not goading you! Check THAT out! Megatron just blasted Prime in the chest!'

'You DO remember that Megatron was killed off first?'

'Only in the live action films. In the originals one of you 'bots was killed first, then Optimus died.'

'He only died because Megatron is a cheater and Hotrod is a dumbaft.'

'Who said we couldn't use every advantage we had to win?'

'You 'cons ended up losing anyway…'

'I gotta head to work, talk to you when I get there.'

'K, I still think it's stupid that you (technically) get paid to txt.'

'Only 'cuz my boss doesn't ever make me do anything.'

Lizzy grinned once more, and put her phone away. Looking up, she saw her father fiddling with the compound bows. She walked over and watched, he was having trouble drawing one. She held out her hand, and Andrew let her see it. Turning it around, she saw a tag. It read "60 lb." Lizzy showed it to him. Her father blinked.

"Oh." He said.

Lizzy smiled and put the bow back. Just then, Roger came out of the back room. He had taken the bow in the back with him, and now hung it back on the hook. He stepped behind the counter a opened a file drawer. After a minute of searching he brought out some paperwork, and walked back to the counter.

"We don't have any limbs in stock at the moment." He said, scooting the paper forward. "If you fill out this order form, we can get you the right ones."

"Alright." Andrew said, taking a pen and filling the paperwork out. "How long will it take for the order to come in?"

"A few weeks at the most." Roger replied. "I'd say, no more than two weeks. Probably five to seven days."

"That will be fine." Andrew answered.

"What about arrows?" Lizzy asked. "A bow is kind of useless without them."

Her father grinned and repeated what she had signed. Roger ginned as well. He nodded and pointed to a large side room. Lizzy glanced at where he had pointed, it had supplies for bows such as sights and extra strings on one side. On the other was a small archery range with two targets.

"Cody can help you with your arrow needs." Roger told them. "He's in the side room there."

Andrew thanked Roger, and he and Lizzy stepped into the side room. There were several mounted heads, most were deer, but there were some mountain goats and Pronghorn Sheep. There was a small room built into the back of the side room. Inside was a younger man, around his mid-thirties. He was fixing arrows, and putting fletching on others. Lizzy's father walked over, while she admired the mounted heads.

"Are you Cody?" Andrew asked.

"I am." Cody replied, extending his hand. "How can I help you?"

"We were told you could help us get some arrows." Andrew answered, shaking Cody's hand.

"I can do that. Are you shooting off the Shelf or off the rest?" Cody asked.

"What?" Andrew said, quite confused.

Lizzy tugged on his sleeve, to get his attention. Andrew turned and glanced at his daughter.

"I like shooting off the shelf." She told him.

Andrew nodded, and repeated what Lizzy had said to Cody. To say Cody was a little surprised that Lizzy knew what he had meant was being gentle. Lizzy pursed her lips as he turned to a box of arrows. Just because she was a girl, didn't mean she was oblivious to "masculine" things. Shooting off the shelf was using the ledge built into the bow to hold the arrow, and shooting off the rest was using an attached, usually plastic or metal, shelf that was raised off of the bow shelf.

Cody riffled through the box, but seemed unsatisfied. He told them he would be right back, and went to the front of the store. While he was away, Andrew asked Lizzy when the Shelf and Rest were. She smiled and explained. A minute later, Cody returned with the bow in his hand. He hung it on a hook and went into the small room. He came out with an arrow, the difference between that arrow and all the others was that is had no tip, it was much longer, and had several white markings on it.

"Here." Cody said, handing the bow to Andrew. "See how far you can pull it back."

Andrew took the bow, but handed it to Lizzy. She would probably be using it more than he would, and because she was also using it, she needed to be able to draw it back. Lizzy took it and looked at Cody. He handed her the lined arrow and stepped back. Lizzy drew it back as far as she could, and waited while Cody examined it. He nodded and she released the tension in the bow.

"Alright, you guys will be using thirty inch arrows." Cody said. "I can sell you half a dozen, or a full dozen."

"How much for either?" Andrew asked him.

"The half dozen is thirty-three, and the full dozen is sixty." Cody answered.

"We'll take the full dozen." Lizzy father said.

After they had finished, they went back to the front. Roger was behind the counter, helping another costumer. So Lizzy and her father waited until he was finished. After the man left, they walked up. Andrew went to discuss payment, Lizzy stood nearby and listened. Roger smiled at the two of them.

"Get everything you need?" He asked.

"We did." Andrew replied. "Now we're ready to pay for it."

Lizzy's father paid for the bow. She pulled out her wallet, which was black with a red Autobot insignia on it, and paid for the arrows. Roger informed them that they would probably get a call within the week. Thanking Roger and Cody, who had come to the front, they headed back out to the truck. After they got outside, Lizzy turned to her father and grinned.

"Did you see the looks on their faces when I drew the bow?" She asked.

"I did." Her father replied, with a grin. "That's what they get for doubting you."

They got into the truck and headed back home. Lizzy pulled her ipod from her bag, and put her earbuds in. She turned it on and flipped through her music. Finally deciding on the Transformer's Soundtrack.

A/N: See, I told you the chapters would be longer! I know that Lizzy spoke in the prologue, but death does strange things to you. It will be a little while before the 'Bots and the 'Cons come into the story, but I like unfolding my characters before a bunch of big stuff happens. Now I would love to give a shout out to my lovely readers!

Thank you,
bee_roxs98 and kaaayyytteee for your wonderful reviews!
Forever Dreaming Grace, PunkRockSkaterE, and solpoet for putting my story on your alert list!
and
Autocon Overlord 333, bee_roxs98, grapejuice101, kaaayyytteee, and Ritsuko-Kubel-Kettenkrad for putting my story in your favorites list!