Author's Note: And it's been a while! Sorry about that. Have excuses, but that's...no excuse. xP

Anyway, I bring you this shortish filler as I try to decide what coarse I want this story to take. I'm trying to keep it from becoming cliche, so I gotta think outside the box. The last thing I want is an overdone subplot.

I'd like to say thanks to everyone that reviewed. I'd also like to thank those that reinforced the idea that Lyra isn't a Mary-Sue into my head. You guys boosted my confidence. ^^

Chapter 10

Silk Robes and Taco Bell

"And you live here?" Sunstreaker questioned in disgust as he observed the run down two story home in front of him. A few windows were shattered and the wooden porch was rotting in certain areas. The lawn was a dead yellow with patches of dirt scattered around.

Over all, he was not impressed.

"Unfortunately," Lyra stated, unbuckling her seat belt before stepping out of the driver's side of the Lambo. "Stay in the car, No'," she called as she made sure to slam the door.

"Watch it," Sunstreaker growled as he revved the engine loudly. This drew the attention of a few pedestrians, and they started to crowd around the car in awe. Needless to say, Noah was securely locked inside the 'Bot.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Lyra stepped onto the porch of her mother's house. The wood creaked beneath her ominously. The brunette wasn't even able to stop her hands from shaking and work up the nerve to knock before the ancient door was pulled open.

"Mom..." Lyra breathed, gazing wide eyed at the woman. For a moment, she imagined her mother's eyes to be bloodshot, her hair wild, and body vibrating in place. Hell, she half expected her mother to start screaming and calling her a bitch right then and there.

"Oh," her mother stated disdainfully. "You're here already."

Sandra Edgewood was such a pleasant woman.

"Y-yeah," Lyra stuttered. "Er, di-did Dad c-call?"

"Called, texted, emailed," Sandra snorted. "Didn't expect you brats 'til later."

"Sorry," she mumbled quietly, dropping her eyes momentarily before forcing herself to keep them upwards. "Er, so should we just...erm, should we just go to our room?"

"Just keep your shit up there. If I see any of it around the house, I'll ki—who's car is that?"

Lyra followed her mother's gaze hesitantly. She was hoping to every deity willing to listen that she wasn't talking about...well, what d'ya know? She was.

"Th-that's mine," she grumbled nervously, casting anxious glances at the blond woman.

"And where the fuck did you get that?" her mother demanded angrily before a knowing smirk tugged at her chapped lips. "Oh, I get it. That's where you disappeared off to. So who is he?"

"What?" Lyra asked in confusion. Who was who?

"The sugar daddy you whored yourself out to. Ya know, your fuck buddy. The wallet you blew to afford that piece of fine ass."

She nearly choked on the air. Was her mother serious!? "Wh-what? No!" she exclaimed, "it was a gift from my dad! An 'I'm-sorry-I've-been-away-for-so-long' present!"

"Mhmm," Sandra scoffed walking out towards her small scrap pile of a car. "Whatever. I'm going out."

"W-when will you be back?" Lyra questioned.

"Don't know, don't care," she replied vaguely before she got in her car and drove away.

"Right," Lyra sighed, leaning against the wall of the house in exhaustion. She rubbed her face tiredly, resting a moment before she pushed off the wall and approached Sunstreaker and the small crowd of neighbors. "Okay! Nothing to see here!" she declared as she shooed them away. "Don't mess up the paint!" He'll never get off my ass about it.

"This yours, lady?" some thirteen year old wannabe gangster asked her.

"Last time I checked. Now move it," Lyra commanded as she crossed her arms and shot the teen a glare.

"Whatever, bitch," the boy spat before waltzing off.

When everyone had cleared out, she tapped the Lambo's windshield; "Open up, Sunshine." Her only response was an angry rev of the engine. "Do you really wanna do that? I won't save your ass the next time your surrounded by a horde of awestruck humans."

"You're the most infuriating femme Primus ever created," Sunstreaker growled, unlocking the door.

Lyra rolled her eyes and opened the door for herself. "Who knew chivalry was dead for alien robots too?" she asked Noah sarcastically.

Noah giggled quietly as he fiddled with the new iPhone his dad had gotten him as a means of communication. He was playing The Walking Dead at the moment. God, he hated Duck.

"Anyway," she said, leaning down to grab a small knapsack she had kept in the front seat with her, "Mom'll be gone for a while. Let's head on up to our room."

"Okay," he sighed, pouting.

.

Noah was a heavy sleeper. For once in her life, Lyra was glad of that fact as she heard the front door slam open. She was glad of it as her mother's moans and giggles wafted through the thin walls from down the hall. She was glad of it as the cries and yells and pleas for "more! God, give me more!" accompanied the sporadically rhythmic creaks of a spring bed.

Now, if only she herself could fall into such a deep sleep, Lyra thought to herself, forcing her eyes shut. If only she wasn't in this damn house. If only she didn't have to recall a memory—dozens of memories—just like this night.

If only... If only...

.

"Have a nice night?" Lyra arched a brow; since when did her mother care. "I know I did," Sandra cackled, preparing two mugs of coffee.

It was obvious, by way of dress and appearance, that the woman held no shame in her actions or conduct. Her hair, golden locks just a shade or three brighter than her son's sandy ones, was everywhere, at times resembling a plant craving for sunlight as it stuck up at odd intervals. There were very obvious bruises and cuts made by a lover's lips and lustful grips printed upon her pale skin. Her own lips were swollen and broken, as if she had embedded her teeth into them—or someone else had.

The only move Sandra made to shield herself from her blushing daughter's gaze was a short, silk robe that she didn't even bother to tie up.

"Y-yeah," Lyra stammered, "I, uh, I h-heard..."

"Oh, you did, did you?" her mother asked, winking slyly; "Sound familiar, I bet."

The innuendo went completely over the brunette's head. "I don't know what you mean," she replied uncomfortably, keeping her eyes away from the older woman as the loose robe flashed a little too much. "Erm, who's the coffee for?"

"Oh, you heard 'im last night," Sandra smirked, sashaying out of the kitchen and disappearing up the stairs.

Lyra gripped the counter tightly as she struggled to breathe. Why did she feel so suffocated all of a sudden?

"Ooh! Can we get Taco Bell?" Noah exclaimed a few weeks later. His scrawny legs swung back and forth excitedly, though he was careful not to accidentally hit the Lambo's upholstery. That sure hadn't gone over well the first time it happened.

"Again?" Lyra groaned, her head falling back against the head rest of the driver's seat in exasperation. They had been frequenting the joint for the past week after school got out while their appointed guardian patrolled the perimeter. The brunette hadn't exactly seen how that was guarding them since they had no way of communicating with each other should anything happen, but she didn't really care. The less she saw of the rust bucket, the better.

Nevertheless, Lyra stuck her key in the ignition, attempting to start the vehicle as her left hand rested lightly on the steering wheel.

"Hey," the 'Bot warned, jerking the wheel out of her grip, "I'm not one of your stupid 'cars'. I don't need to be controlled by a fleshy."

"Jeez, sorry," she scowled, crossing her arms as the Cybertronian peeled out of the local elementary school's parking lot. He was speeding—again—and weaving in and out of cars, trying to get to their location as quickly as possible.

"So, what exactly is a Taco Bell?"

You've got to be kidding me, she thought in exasperation.

"Mexican!" Noah beamed, pausing his attempts to slay zombies long enough to let out a dreamy sigh and drool up a river.

"Gross, No'," his sister scowled, her nose scrunching up in disgust. But he was already too absorbed in his phone and the wonders of Apple technology to acknowledge her.

"You organics are disgusting," Sunstreaker cringed, dropping down lower on his wheels for a brief moment.

"And you robots are cold," Lyra deadpanned, her mind recalling a very chilling sensation she had experienced a few days prior that involved being forced to bathe a surprisingly ticklish Autobot.

Never.

Again.

"You humans are stupid."

"You Cybertronians are dense."

"You humans are clingy."

"You Cybertronians are so obtuse!"

"Humans are slimy!"

"Robots are pathetic!"

"Well, at least we don't go scrambling to destroy everything we get our hands on!"

"At least we don't have to rent out another species' planet!"

"..."

"..."

"'Kaela, mommy and daddy are fighting again~"

Lyra's head snapped over to Noah who was gripping onto his phone desperately. He pulled a devastated frown and was wiping at his eyes dramatically, swiping at fake tears as his sister's eyes burned harshly into his forehead. Her face slowly reddening...

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING MOMMY AND DADDY!?" Sunstreaker and Lyra snarled simultaneously. To each other, they shouted, "YOU'D BE LUCKY TO EVEN BE ASSOCIATED WITH ME! STOP THAT! NOW!"

"..."

"..."

"All I wanted was Taco Bell~!" Noah cried, sniffing into the phone as Mikaela cooed and comforted him.

The siblings ended up staying out for several hours. Noah was oblivious to the time as Lyra offered to take him to different places consistently. One time it was the park, the next it was an old arcade. Then, a toy store, and, now, a movie theater. Anything, really, to avoid going home. Her mother hadn't come home last night. Who knew if she was probably there by now? Or, worse—what if she had brought another "friend" home?

Sunstreaker, having no knowledge of the typical customs of humans, thought nothing of it for a while. Did organics always spend such extensive periods about town? He had no idea. Thus, he reluctantly spent the time in the parking lot on a website called 'wikipedia'.

Sorting through the gold mine of information took a while. Some pages would seem promising only to be completely useless. Others were...interesting, for lack of better word. It turns out that the video feed he had intercepted prior to his unexpected landing on the planet Earth was a topic considered relatively taboo in civilized conversation.

It was, he summed up, gross.

Besides that, Sunstreaker learned that it was perfectly normal for a human female, particularly those in their teen ages, to spend abundant hours out and about. Though, he noticed, it said nothing about hauling their younger brother around. It only mentioned this behavior being common among friends. If anything, siblings were considered obnoxious and irritating.

Please, Sunstreaker thought in irritation, all humans are irritating.

Thoughts of his eldest charge came to mind, and he felt the urge to smash his windshield with a very blunt hammer.

That girl...she was so vexing! In all honesty, Sunstreaker had never wanted to brutally maim another being more in his life before. He didn't even know why he was protecting her. Really, what was the Boss Bot thinking? Putting him on Guardian duty? That was like saying that Primus was nothing compared to Starscream.

In other words, completely laughable!

Sunstreaker was much too skilled for such a thing. He should've been with Prime, or even the Hatchet. Anything but watching those two pathetic human infants like some loyal little dog.

Actually, he should've been with Sideswipe.

His brother had been separated from him in action. He was alright, he knew, just MIA at the moment.

Still, though, guardian!? The only people he guarded was him, himself, and Sideswipe.

That's it.

There was no "Lyra and Noah" nonsense.

Nuh uh.

No way.

Author's Note: So, I tried to make it a bit more light-hearted towards the end since the beginning was...I don't know, angsty? Bleh.

I hope you liked it, even if it was a filler.

Let me know if you want anything specific to happen. I'm debating whether or not to do the classic "turned-on-by-car-wash" thing later on. Though I'm not really sure that's something that would happen in this story. Lyra's socially naive, so...she'd probably be oblivious to it all.