Ch.3- She knows things…

I looked at Jackie. Figures my friend wouldn't freak out about this. "Yep. That's Ratchet and Bumblebee."

I heard Sam's frantic voice behind me. "WHO THE HECK ARE YOU AND HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THEM AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY'RE ALIENS?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Well, they aren't human."

She turned to the robots. She pointed at Bumblebee. "Bumblebee, right?"

She turned back to Sam. We were all standing outside now. "So you must be Sam." He nodded.

Jackie looked at him seriously. "You're dating that Mikaela girl, right?"

I could feel her eyes boring into me, questioning. I didn't make eye contact. I knew what she was thinking.

She was wondering if I had told him about how we both hated Mikaela. How she was shallow, rude, obnoxious and a skank. How she had been the one who'd pushed me off the swing set in first grade. How she had stolen Jackie's boyfriend by spreading a rumor that she was a whore.

To roll it all in one sentence, we really didn't like Mikaela Banes.

She turned to Ratchet next. "Then you must be- oh my gosh. Ratchet?" She turned to me. "What the heck happened? Holy- Why didn't you tell me?"

I could feel Sam's suspicions rise. "How do you know about all this?"

"I'm not saying anything until you tell me what happened to Cherish!"

Sam scowled. "It wasn't me, if that's what your thinking."

She turned to me. "What happened?"

I shrugged. "Nothing big. I just cut my arm on some barbed wire. It's not important. It hardly hurts anymore."

"Really?" She reached over and tapped my arm. I let out a yelp of pain. She smirked.

"It barely hurts, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "You just have to be right, don't you?"

Sam folded his arms across his chest. "I hate to break up this little funfest, but how the heck do you know about the autobots?"

Jackie looked at him.

"I've been helping Mrs. Lennox babysit Annabelle ever since she was born and Mr. Lennox was in the army. When he got back, he mysteriously brought a new black truck. Does that really sound like something the army would give out? I overhear things. Adults never take me seriously. Sometimes they forget I'm there. So… I know things."

She gestured to the mechs. "So I know about them. I mean, it's kind of hard not to notice when there's a robot sitting outside the window. Not to mention that the car disappeared. The Lennox family took a cab to the airport. So, unless somebody stole old Ironhide, then he must have left. It's not that hard to figure out."

Sam looked flabbergasted. Bumblebee looked impressed. "You found all that out just by listening to conversations?"

Jackie flashed a cheeky grin. "Yep. I'm sorry to say, but Mrs. Lennox isn't very quiet when she whispers."

I smiled. "So, you wanna come in? We just finished breakfast."

Jackie nodded. "Yes. I already ate. So, have you been getting along?"

I smirked. "Yes… but me and Ratchet have had a… dispute about my health."

I knew Ratchet was frowning. Jackie laughed. "He told you what you couldn't do, didn't he."

At my silence she went on, turning to Ratchet. "I thought I'd heard that Ratchet was pretty tough…"

Ratchet scowled at her and Jackie quickly shut up. She turned back to me, very concerned.

"So, are you OK?"

I grimaced. "It depends on who you ask. Sam is sure I'm going to die at a moment's notice. Ratchet thinks it's going to be infected, and I feel fine."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "No offense, but I'm gonna side with Ratchet on this one. Your arm could fall off and you'd say you 'feel fine'."

I put on a mock frown. "Well, thank you, my dear friend Ahslee." I smiled as she winced at the 'uber preppy name' as she called it. "But it's only a flesh would."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "You and your Monty Python…"

Sam's eyes grew wide. "You have a python?"

She turned to him. "Jeez. Monty Python is a British comedy group, not a snake."

Sam looked embarrassed. Jackie looked over to me. "A few fries short of a happy meal?"

I gave Sam a calculating look. Finally I shook my head. "No, his tree just doesn't go all the way to the top branch…"

Sam was livid. "I'm standing right here! I cn here everything you're saying!"

Bumblebee interrupted us. "Hey, Dontcha think Ratchet should take a look at her arm now?"

Jackie nodded. "Definitely."

I glared at her. "No, I swear! I'm fine…" She swatted my arm again.

"Ow! Quit doing that!"

"Quit being stubborn!"

Ratchet looked down on me. "You are not fine, Mrs. Ekstedt. You have suffered signifigant blood loss from a deep laceration that, if unattended, will become infected. You have deep emotional stress, not to mention you fainted. Do NOT tell me you are 'fine'."

His voice had been rising in volume and by the end he was shouting. Bumblebee was standing there as if he thought Ratchet would attack me. Sam and Jackie had matching expressions.

I caved.

"Ok, fine. But how exactly are you gonna help?"

"Go inside. My holo form will meet you there."

I looked at him. I couldn't resist one more jibe. "Ok, but you need to stay low, unless you wanna make a big neon sign that says 'hey! We're alien robots! OVER HERE!'" I shrugged. "You never know who might be walking by…"

I looked pointedly at Jackie. Ratchet rolled his optics before him and Bumblebee transformed into their alt mode. Ratchet was a H2 that had been equipped for rescue missions.

We turned to go. Jackie was the last one in. She seemed to be staring at something. "Well, are you coming?"

She stared at the glass door we'd just walked through. "I just realized something. This door. Why is it here? I mean, there's a solid door right next to it…" She pointed to the wooden door to her right.

"So why's there a glass door here?"

I just laughed at her. "Wow, Jackie. Only you would think of that…"

She frowned. "What? It was a reasonable question."

"You know, it actually was." We turned to the new, slightly amused voice.

Two guys were standing there. One had golden blonde hair, the other had sandy, almost brown shaggy hair. They both had intense blue eyes. The golden haired one had a goofy grin on his face.

Jackie gasped. "Bumblebee? Ratchet? Whoa."

Bumblebee nodded, grin growing. "Yep, in the flesh,er, holo…eh, whatever. So… how do I look?"

He asked the question to both of us, but he was looking at Jackie. He struck a goofy pose.

Jackie laughed. Sam was staring at us like idiots. I guess he'd already seen Bee's holo form.

Ratchet stepped forward. "Come, Miss Ekstedt. I need to examine your arm."

I sighed. "Fine, but my name is Cher."

I followed him to the kitchen. "Sit on the counter."

I did. He started to carefully unwrap the bandage. Even though he was being really gentle, I had to grab the counter in order to keep from screaming. The dried blood had adhered the bandage to my skin.

He paused, looking at me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I said through gritted teeth.

He raised an eyebrow. "Everytime you say that, you are usually lying."

I chuckled grimly. "Yes, ok. It hurts, happy?"

"No, I don't wish you to be in pain, only honest."

"Well it honestly hurts."

He shook his head after sending a warning look to a chuckling Bumblebee.

When he'd gotten the bandage off, Jackie gasped. I looked down.

Big mistake. Ugh. Ok, that was a little worse than yesterday… Ratchet frowned.

"Jackie, I'm going to need some disinfectant and fresh bandages… and Bumblebee, send a message to Prime."

AN_ Ok. Lemme just give ya a lil fun fact. I got Cherish's last name from a guy from my old school who liked transformers before they were cool! I doubt Eli is ever gonna read this, but if you are- sorry for stealing your last name!