Lesson in Living

Chapter 11

Author's Note: After ten years, finally, an update. I have not been well for a long time, but I keep coming back to this story. I need to finish it. I WILL finish it. It's only recently that I've felt well enough to write again. Special thanks to Scourge, Crab and Sapphire for helping me get back on track. And now, to the story!

Optimus Prime stood by the computer console and scrolled through the latest reconnaissance reports. It had been almost two months without any sign of Megatron or his commanding officers. The remaining Decepticons had been busy, though. So far the Autobots had caught them playing baseball in a stadium (explosives were involved), running an evil car wash, raiding fuel refineries, and crashing a professional stock car race (literally). There was some evidence that Shockwave was trying to guide efforts to keep them fueled and stocked, but the Decepticons were an unruly lot without their iron-fisted leader. They put up a fight when the Autobots arrived most of the time. Other times they fled after dumping paint all over their enemies. Optimus was still picking green paint chips off his windshield.

It wasn't like Megatron to allow this undisciplined behavior, nor to neglect to show up on the battlefield so long. Aside from some odd energy readings here and there, the Autobots had found nothing amiss. Optimus sighed and closed the report files, staring at his reflection when the monitor in front of him went blank.

"Where are you, Megatron?"

He had no way of knowing. Maybe it was time for another scouting mission.

Leaning against a cottonwood tree in the park, Megatron let out a loud yawn while he watched the scene in front of him. Soundwave had dragged him outside despite his protests. It would have been easier to stare at the ceiling when he had a headache like this. Every sound and movement made the space behind his eyes pound. He'd been warned about the aftereffects of drinking too much and was displeased to find consequences still mattered to him. It did little to improve his mood. Still, watching Soundwave and the twins try to teach Casey how to fight was amusing enough. Today she wore green overalls covering a blue shirt. She had not been happy to find out the shoulder straps gave them a way to grab her if she didn't keep moving.

"I should be at home studying," Casey said again, ignoring the directions Soundwave had given her on a fighting stance, "I appreciate your concerns, but my final exams are next week. I don't have time for this."

"Yeah but, what are you going to do if there's another fight like what we saw at the bar?" asked Frenzy, coming at her from the left.

"I'll get out of the way."

"And if the fight comes to you?" asked Rumble, circling from the right. They did a good job herding her toward Soundwave but they couldn't get too close.

"I'll run away. The best way to win a fight is to not be involved in one."

Frenzy frowned. "That's not very Decepticon-like."

"That's what my brother taught me."

"Yeah, sure, but that won't help you if you're really in trouble." Said Rumble.

"Running is only one strategy," said Soundwave from behind her. He'd been trying to show her how to stand but she kept darting away, not caring for his hands-on approach. She went back and forth in the grass, corralled between them and the park benches. He followed her and tried snagging her wrists. For once he actually sounded annoyed. "Running is also cowardice."

Casey dodged him and put the bench between them, startling the pigeons sitting there. "Why does this matter so much to you? I can take care of myself. Stop chasing me."

Soundwave stopped and folded his impressive arms. "If I truly pursued you, you would not be standing over there."

"Yeah, well, nyah." Casey stuck her tongue out at him. "I don't need to know how to fight because I already know what to do."

"We just want you to be safe, Star." Frenzy scratched the back of his head, puzzled by her defiance. He flanked her along with his brother. They shared twin grins, blocking her from escaping from between the bench and Soundwave.

"Yeah! Look where you are now. How are you gonna run with us cornering you?" asked Rumble, cracking his knuckles for emphasis.

Casey snorted. "You really want to know?"

Rumble traded glances with Frenzy, then shrugged. He offered up his open palms as targets. "Go for it! You can't hurt us."

Casey stepped back. "Okay. Sorry, but—"

Spinning on her toes, she lifted her heel and smashed it down on top of Frenzy's foot. He yelped in pain and staggered backward. Before Rumble could react, she twisted and brought her knee up into his groin. He groaned and went down in a heap, holding himself and hollering in pain.

"What was THAT?" he cried, pitched much higher than usual. "Oh Primus, it hurts! I'm gonna die!"

Casey dusted her hands off. "My brother taught me that too." She eyed Soundwave. "For your information, all human males have that weakness."

His eyebrows went up to hide in his hat. "Noted."

Frenzy helped his brother up, gritting his teeth from pain. "This isn't what we meant and you know it."

"Well, the fight is over. I win with you two down like that. I'm going to go study now."

"No you're not." Megatron pushed himself away from the tree and snapped his fingers. "Soundwave, bring her here."

He easily jumped the park bench and clamped a large hand onto her shoulder. Despite her squirming, Casey was forcibly marched to her least favorite place—immediately in front of Megatron. He'd cast off his black leather jacket and stood there looming in his white tank top and black fingerless gloves. Sunlight filtered through the trees, turning his silver hair white while highlighting the sheer size of the muscles in his shoulders. He leaned down to her face, smirking. She tried backing away but Soundwave wouldn't let her.

"You must think you're so clever to have done that to them, don't you? I think you've gotten too comfortable with us."

Her heart hammered in her ears, staring at him so close. The rims around his brown irises glowed red. She swallowed. "Should I try it on you too?"

Chuckling, Megatron straightened and waved Soundwave away. "If you think you c—"

She jerked her knee up. He blocked it and held her with his palm on her forehead. She yelped, forced to plant both feet on the ground. She bobbed and wiggled, held at arm's length while she flailed, trying to reach him. She kicked out and still couldn't touch him.

"No fair no fair!" she yelled, oblivious to the passersby that stopped to stare at this young woman pinwheeling like a cartoon character. The twins stared them down until they left. When Casey wore herself out struggling, Megatron leaned down again, letting go of her head. She came at him with knee raised only to have him step sideways and flick her on the forehead.

"Predictable."

Casey snapped backward as if she'd been struck by a bullet. "OW!" She slapped a hand to the spot, tears welling in her eyes. "That hurt!"

"Imagine how much more it would hurt you if I was trying." He stared her down and briefly she saw him in armor, not flesh. "Cheap tricks and running can only get you so far." His eyes narrowed. "Stand up straight."

Sniffling, she did as she was told.

"Eyes on me. Chin down. Arms up. Elbows tucked in. Left fist forward, right fist by your chin. Don't keep your thumbs inside. Feet apart, stand at an angle. I said, eyes on me!"

"I'm trying to do what you're telling me! There's too much!"

"Listen with your audios, not your mouth." Megatron used the toe of his boot to adjust Casey's feet into proper position. "Lead with your left. Step forward when you swing the right. Keep the opposite by your chin." He smacked one fist into his palm and opened both hands for targets. "Hit me."

Casey looked at him with alarm. "But—"

"Hit me!"

His sharp command jarred her into action. Her fist connected with his palm and a jolt went down her arm as if she'd punched concrete. She hesitated on the second swing.

"Again." He snapped.

She stepped and swung, shying away from hitting him at the last second. The glancing blow still rattled her bones. Megatron scoffed.

"You can do better than that."

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to! How do you know this stuff, anyway?"

"Besides the fact that he's been fighting for millennia?" interrupted Rumble, his voice mostly recovered from his painful injury. "You're learning from Cybertron's best Gladiator."

Casey blinked. "Really?"

Megatron's smirk returned. "My hobby before the war."

"That sounds like even less of a reason to try and hit you…"

"And why not?"

"Because… I'm not strong enough for this, okay?" she dropped her hands. "I'll never be like you. Anybody who saw me doing this would laugh in my face."

"All the better reason for you to learn." Megatron growled, reaching the end of his patience.

"And how would you know?"

His dark eyebrow twitched. "Do you ever think before you open your mouth?"

"Apparently not."

"Starscream already has this habit. I advise that you do not."

At this warning, Casey kept silent.

He paced in front of her, jabbing at the air so fast she could hardly see him move. "Listen: Winning a fight isn't about having raw strength, it's knowing what to do and how to win with what you have." He stopped to face her with hands on his hips. "Ideally, yes, you shouldn't have to fight at all, especially if you have the confidence to stare your opponent down. But life doesn't always give you that option, and you clearly lack the confidence. That's why we are taking the time to do this. All it takes is one strike to win and you might as well know how to make it count."

Casey looked up at him, slack-jawed. The other Decepticons could see a shiver go through her body. Frenzy adjusted his sunglasses and nudged Rumble, jerking his thumb off to the side in the universal "I wanna talk over there" sign.

"Now, eyes on me. Chin down. Fists up, elbows in. Stand at an angle so you present a smaller target." Megatron offered his open hands again, going into a crouch. "Hit me."

"It'll hurt," she whined, doing it all anyway.

"It will hurt more if I hit you first."

She inhaled and took a swing at him. He pushed her back on contact and sent her reeling. She found her balance and tried again. Megatron adjusted his force to keep her on her feet, nodding with each strike.

"Again. Don't hesitate. Faster. Again. Exhale when you swing. Keep your wrist straight." He caught her fist and pushed it back. "Again. Harder."

"This is about as hard as I can go!" Her knuckles smacked into his palm and she took too long with the following swing.

"Don't hesitate!"

A sudden shout from behind ruined Casey's focus. She wasn't ready for Megatron's shove backward and spun to one side. Tangled up in her feet, she went down on her elbows and knees. She twisted to see Frenzy on top of Rumble, pummeling him into the ground.

"You're LYING!" shouted Frenzy, emphasizing each word with his blows. "You're lying you're lying you're LYING!"

Rumble managed to roll hard enough to get out from under his brother. He blocked the incoming punches with his forearms and got his own hits in. "No I'm not!"

"Yes you ARE!" Frenzy pounced on him again and the two Cassetticons went into an all-out brawl. Casey thought she felt the ground shake underneath them. Soundwave intervened just as Rumble landed a shot on Frenzy's jaw, which sent his sunglasses spinning into the grass. He yanked Rumble up by the back of his neck.

"Enough!" he commanded.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Megatron.

Casey scrambled up to put herself between Soundwave and Frenzy, who was coiling to jump on them both to get at his brother.

"Frenzy! What's the matter?"

He wiped his chin of blood coming off his split lip and found his face wet. Without his sunglasses, tears flowed freely. He jabbed a finger at them. "He's lying! Tell me he's lying, Star!"

"Lying about what?" she asked gently.

"That… That you're not a Decepticon." His voice cracked. "That you're just a stupid fragging human!"

She held her breath but her face crumpled anyway. She tucked her arms to her stomach and couldn't meet his eyes. Frenzy stepped back, shaking his head.

"No…"

She inhaled. "It's true, I—"

"No no no NO I don't want to HEAR IT!" His cry raised to an insane pitch. "If you're a human then I hate you!"

She clapped both hands over her ears to block out the shriek, but heard him clearly. By the time she opened her eyes he was in the distance, running.

"Frenzy!"

Rumble grabbed her overall strap, bringing her to a halt. His sunglasses were cracked and he had a bloody nose. "Don't, Star. Told ya I'd be first in firing range."

"But I have to—"

"No, you stay here. We'll take care of it. Right, Soundwave?"

He nodded. "Affirmative."

"But what—"

"Just stay here with the Boss." Rumble grinned at her, rubbing his face on his arm. He took off running with Soundwave close behind.

Casey watched them go, breathing hard. Megatron stepped alongside her, rolling his eyes.

"Such immaturity."

She spun away from him. "I don't want to deal with you right now. I need to go study."

"And why not? We're not finished here."

She turned around so fast Megatron wondered how she didn't get dizzy. She marched up to him. "You TOLD me to lie to them."

"Yes? And?"

"Look what's happened!" she shouted, her face wet too. "One of your men just took off! Frenzy is upset because he likes me too much and now he's devastated! Oh, AND, it turns out he hates humans, just like you! Imagine that!"

Megatron leaned down, smirking. "Now you want to hit me."

"Oh my GOD!" Casey grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "I would do more than that to you if I could."

His smirk now had teeth. "Spoken like a true Decepticon."

"What is WITH you?! ARGH!" She swung at his chest, beyond frustrated when he caught it. And the next. And the next. He thrust her backward with a laugh, showing her his open palms as targets again.

"That's it! Harder. Again. Again! Oooh, I almost felt that one!"

"Shut up, shut UP!" Casey came at him as fast as she could, ignoring the pain that rocketed up her arms each time she connected with him. He kept up easily, jolting her in return. She dodged, trying to get at him but he kept her off-balance with his own maneuvers. Finally she kicked out, cracking into his knee and flew in to deliver a right hook to his chin. Megatron snagged her fist and jerked her off her feet. He twisted her around and grabbed her other hand, pinning them both to her waist with her back against his chest. They stood for a moment, Casey blinded by tears. He spoke in her ear.

"Not bad. I knew you had it in you."

She squirmed in his grasp, gasping for breath. "Are we done?"

"We are done." He released her, giving her a pat on the back that made her stagger. "Go attend to your all-important studies."

Casey glared at him, shaking the sting out of her aching hands.

Rumble finished cleaning up his face with the extra fast food napkins Soundwave kept under his hat. He spat some blood onto the sidewalk. He had a faint inkling of where his brother might be but looked up to his commander-disguised-father.

"Which direction did he go?"

Soundwave pointed down the alleyway.

Rumble peered behind his sunglasses. "We already checked there."

He angled his finger toward the roof on the left.

"Oh."

They crossed the street, dodging cars in an effort to save time. Once out of sight from others, Rumble turned to Soundwave.

"I'll go up if you want to follow below."

"Affirmative."

"Give me a boost, then?" Rumble grinned. "Like old times."

With a thin smile, Soundwave caught him when he jumped, using his shoulders as a springboard to send him up. Rumble flew toward the building's brick wall, bounced off it, and pinged off the wall opposite in a zig-zag until he cleared the top. He hit the gravel in a roll and came up covered in tiny rocks and bird refuse. He shook himself off and scanned the air vents dotting the roof.

"Bro? You up here?"

He heard a soft sniffle. "Go 'way."

"After the time it took to find you? Nuh uh." He followed the sound of crying to a shady spot by a heating vent. Frenzy was curled up against it with both knees tucked under his chin. He growled when his brother got too close.

"Hey, I just wanna talk."

"Well I don't."

Rumble plopped down beside him. "Then I'll sit here until you do."

They sat there long enough for the shadows to slant in a different direction. Below in the alleyway, Soundwave leaned on a dumpster, monitoring their emotions, waiting. Frenzy eventually began to fidget and wiggle, unfolding himself from his clenched pose. He let out a long breath.

"How long have you known?"

Rumble took his time answering. "I suspected at the mall."

"And you didn't say anything?"

"Not until I knew for sure. She confirmed it."

"Why didn't she tell us?"

"Dad said Megatron told her to lie."

"So?"

"Do you argue with him?"

Frenzy scoffed and fell silent. Some crows flew overhead, noisily announcing their passage. He squinted at them, not used to the daylight without his sunglasses.

"You could have told me," he blurted, "before… before…"

"Before, what, so you could beat me any sooner?"

"No!" Frenzy shoved him. "Before I got all…." He flapped his hand, blowing a raspberry.

"Spit it out, Bro."

"Before I liked her!" Frenzy shouted, jumping up to kick him.

Rumble threw himself to the side. Frenzy's foot connected with the vent tower and sent it spiraling across the street. "Hey—!"

"You could have TOLD me, but you didn't! It's just like me to be this stupid, falling for a human! And you didn't DO anything!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Rumble threw up his hands. "You don't listen when you're on about something!"

"Yes I do!"

"And would you have believed me? Not thinking I was jealous or something?"

Frenzy glared at him, blinking and disgusted to find his eyes wet again.

"Why's it such a bad thing anyway if she's human?" demanded Rumble, "it doesn't change anything!"

"Yes it DOES!" screeched Frenzy. "Of course you don't understand, cos nobody will! It's all one big cosmic joke!" He sped off, running toward the roof ledge.

"Wait, Bro—"

He jumped. Rumble ran to the ledge and looked down. Frenzy was already out across the street. Rumble gulped and took the leap. His feet stung when he hit the asphalt and he wobbled, surprised that he hadn't broken something. He bolted after his brother. Soundwave's heavy footfall came after him. They broke into the sunlight and spotted Frenzy almost a block away.

"Take the alleyway parallel," commanded Soundwave, "I will pursue directly behind."

Rumble nodded and sped up, bouncing over the hood of a car as it screeched to a halt. Ignoring the irate driver, he ran full-tilt down the next alleyway and came out directly behind Frenzy.

"Bro—wait up—!"

"Quit following me!" Frenzy changed course.

"I can and I will! I'm tough, I can take anything you throw at me—" He skidded to stop when Frenzy grabbed the back bumper of a car. "Except that! Put that down!"

Frenzy whipped the car at him. He caught it, scrunching up his eyes shut in anticipation of impact. The car door buckled under his hands while his shoes dug craters into the concrete for leverage. His back brushed the windowsill of a storefront while the tires spun above the sidewalk. Rumble opened his eyes and let out a loud exhale. He tried to put the car back into its parking spot with as much nonchalance as he could, patting the roof awkwardly. He twisted to look at the store behind him—the window display was stuffed with comic books and Transformers toys.

"Glad I could use my powers for good. Phew."

He scanned the street for Frenzy, who was long gone.

"Slag!" He dented the car's trunk and kicked the curb. Soundwave appeared alongside him, glaring at anyone who witnessed what his sons had done. They scattered.

"I don't know where he's at, Boss, sorry."

Soundwave tilted his head, seeking the signature only he could feel. "This way."

Frenzy didn't stop running until he'd made it to the park again. The trees and benches became a blur and he didn't see anything else at first. Then he stopped just short of colliding with a little old lady carrying some fabric shopping bags. Too late to go around her, he did a frantic hop-skip and fell face-first into the cobblestones. For a moment he laid there and wondered how many times he was going to taste dirt today.

"Are you all right, young man?"

His gaze flicked to the face of the old woman, who looked familiar for some reason. He pushed himself up and sat, fresh blood dripping from his already busted lip.

"I've seen better days," he managed.

"I would certainly say so." Her eyes got lost in a worried smile. "You're one of Casey's boys, aren't you?"

He flinched. "Yeah, but—"

"Are you on your way home? I'm Mrs. Peony. I live on the first floor, if you want to walk with me. You look like you need a friend."

Frenzy started to protest until he felt Soundwave and Rumble's presence nearby. Anything to get away from them! Couldn't they take a clue? He got to his feet. "Yeah, sure."

Mrs. Peony adjusted her shopping bags. "Now, which one are you?"

Frenzy glanced over his shoulder and made a rude gesture out of her view. "Um, Jake."

"Well then Um Jake, would you like some tea and cookies after we get you cleaned up?"

Down the path, Soundwave frowned and folded his arms. Rumble watched his brother go, mirroring the pose. "What's he talking to her for?"

Soundwave shrugged. "Subjects are out of audio range."

"Want me to follow them?"

"Affirmative. Stay out of sight." Soundwave checked his watch. "I will be at work. Report when you have noteworthy information."

"You got it."

Frenzy wasn't sure how this happened. One moment he was pummeling his brother into the ground, the next he was sitting in this old lady's house listening her putter around in the bathroom nearby. He sat on a rickety chair with a bundle of ice on his mouth, examining his surroundings. Dusty cabinets lined the walls, full of spotless dishes that hadn't been touched for a decade. Framed pictures of smiling children lined every flat surface in between creepy ceramic cats. He sniffed and sneezed on the scent of ripe bananas and old flowers. It felt like the barbershop from the other day—time was different here. A red teapot sat next to the stove, wearing its very own knit sweater. A huge toolbox sat on the kitchen table by his elbow, obscuring the delicate fabric of a round doily, yellowed with age. The only sound besides Mrs. Peony's constant chatter was the ticking of a cat-shaped clock with twitching pupils and a swinging tail. He could swear it was staring at him. Suddenly a poofy grey cat appeared on the table with a mrrrp. The persian had the face of a grumpy British man intent on sniffing his eyebrow. Frenzy smiled.

"Hi kitty." He offered his hand for pets. The cat found this acceptable and flopped down to show his belly.

Mrs. Peony came back with an armful of supplies, dumping them onto the table. "I see you've met Fluffy. Don't worry dear, he won't hurt anything, but he might judge you."

Frenzy stroked Fluffy's fur and immediately felt better. "Like my cat back home." Although Ravage would disagree with the "his cat" part, he was indeed very judgmental. He sighed. How was Ravage doing without them for so long?

"That's an awfully big sigh for such a young man." Mrs. Peony dragged another chair in front of Frenzy and picked up a damp washcloth. "Let's see your lip, then."

He'd tried to refuse earlier and somehow the ice pack and medical supplies still appeared. He put the ice in his lap and looked away as she dabbed at his face. She moved deliberately, as if every motion pained her. How old was she? "Old" was an odd concept to him. He and his kind lived for millions of years, but no one gets "old" during a war—except Kup, as far as he knew—and yet this human seemed older than he would ever be.

"You couldn't have gotten this by just parking yourself on the ground. You have bruises too." She commented, wiping blood off his chin and shirt collar.

He grumbled. "My brother and I got into a fight."

"Oh? Is that why you're solo today?"

He grunted. "Yeah."

"Any particular reason why, if you want to talk about it?" she set the washcloth aside and struggled with a little white square. She tore it open. "This is going to sting."

He jumped when the pad touched his injury. "OW!"

"Sorry, dear. Be brave. It's almost over."

He grumbled again, distracting himself with petting her cat. "My bro's tryin' to mess with my head. I didn't want to believe him, but it's true anyway, and I… got mad." He slouched in his chair. "See.. there's this girl I like, okay? He said she had a secret, so he told me the truth. I lost it. She never told me either and now I can't like her anymore."

"Oh my, sounds complicated." She prepared a big bandage. "For your jaw, over the scape. Hold still." She pasted it on with the experience of someone yielding band-aids for a lifetime. She adjusted her glasses. "Who says you can't like her?"

"Cos it's the one reason why I can't. Cos she's not like us. Which sucks, cos she's real nice. She takes care of me and Bro and Dad cos that's the kind of person she is. I've never seen it before. She didn't have to, especially when she got trouble from the Boss and all. She's like Dad, only more fun to hug. It's not fair."

Mrs. Peony sighed. "I don't know what this girl's secret is, Jake, but I don't think it's a reason not to like her just because she's different. Maybe that's a reason to like her more."

"It's… a good thing she's different?" he blinked, confused.

"Why not? Everybody's different. You and your brother are identical on the outside, but obviously you think differently on the inside. That's okay."

His shoulders slumped. "Yeah…. I fly off the handle a lot easier than he does though, and I said some mean things. It's my fault we're both beat up."

"You could always apologize."

"Yeah, um. That's not so simple."

"Why not?" On the stove, the tea kettle piped its song of boiling water. Mrs. Peony carefully got up and filled the red tea pot, swirling a dented tea ball in the hot water. She set two aged cups with their saucers on the table with shaky hands. "There will be mint tea in a few minutes. Always good for calming the mind and body. Would you like some honey with it?"

"Um, sure?" Frenzy didn't know what honey was, but he knew better than to ask. "And I've never been so good with words. It's not the way we were taught."

She offered him the honey jar. The spoon slid to one side inside the gooey contents. "That can change."

He took the jar, unsure of what to do, so he dumped some honey into his cup. It took forever to get there. He picked up his cup to shorten the distance, only to find his fingers were too big to fit through the handle. He tried to be gentle anyway. "Yeah, I guess."

"And since you're not so good with words, would you like to bring your friends some cookies later? I brought some ingredients home to bake today."

He brightened. "What kind?"

"Cinnamon and sugar. Nice and simple."

"Oh man!" He noticed Fluffy had shoved his head under his palm, purring. He stroked the cat from head to tail. "Yeah! What can I do to help? Do you need this for tools?" He nudged the toolbox.

Mrs. Peony laughed, looking up from her shopping bags. "Goodness, no. I couldn't lift that to put it away when the sink was dripping, so it's been there for quite some time. Might as well be a permanent fixture."

"I can put it away for you." He hefted it easily. "Where should it go?"

"I'll show you, then you need to wash your hands."

"Yes ma'am!"

Casey yawned and stretched, padding out of her bedroom. She rubbed her eyes to put them back into focus. Staring at textbooks any longer would make her cross-eyed. Her cat, Ravage, followed her with his own stretch and cavernous yawn, weaving between her feet. She smiled and reached down to scratch his back, giggling when his rising rear end made him stand on tip-toe. She winced and flexed her hands, checking them over. Her knuckles were still red.

"Awesome. More pain meds for me. But first, lunch."

She busied herself with collecting ingredients from the fridge, lining them up on the counter: raw hamburger, onion, tomato, seasonings. She opened the cupboard door and pulled out two boxes of Hamburger Helper, then went to grab the skillet out from under the repaired counter. When she stood up, she came face-to-face with Starscream, who was leaning on the short wall with chin in hand, smirking.

"Hello."

She shrieked and dropped the skillet with a clang! She grasped at her chest, wheezing. "Jesus Christ Starscream, don't DO that!"

"Do what?" he asked, eyes wide and innocent.

"Teleporting into the—you know what, I don't care. Where have you been?"

"The roof." He shrugged. "Or with Silvia."

She hissed between her teeth, slapping the skillet onto the stove. "I warned you about her."

"It's fine."

"Why'd you pop in, anyway?"

"Can I not choose to grace you with my handsome visage?" He framed it, smirking wider. "Miss me?"

She stared at him. "No really. Why are you here."

His face fell and he leaned on his elbows. "Silvia's at work."

"And why—"

"I'm hungry."

"Ah." A cutting board clattered to the countertop and she split open the package of hamburger to throw into the skillet. "Well, you're in luck. Pick one." She gestured to the boxes with her knife and went about dicing the onion. She had a hard time holding it still, grumbling.

He poked the box with wavy noodles and cheesy sauce. "That one." He noticed her struggling and frowned. "Is your grip malfunctioning?"

"My hands hurt." She dumped the onion onto the hamburger. "Megatron decided I needed to learn how to punch him. Aaaand things cook faster when you turn the stove on."

Starscream raised a dark eyebrow. "And how did that go?"

"About as well as you suspect. All it did was piss me off, especially after…" She blew a stray hair out of her view, clumsily breaking up the hamburger with her spoon. She tried to peel back the lid on the can of tomatoes but couldn't, and slammed it down. "I just don't get him."

"Very few do." He stepped around the wall and opened the can for her. She went still when he handed it over, and for a moment only the sizzling of beef could be heard.

Casey took it but wouldn't look at him. She drew in a shaky breath. "Starscream, there's something I should tell you."

"Oh?"

"I'm… not a Decepticon. I'm just a human. Megatron lied when you guys got here to make sure you'd cooperate. He told me to keep it up. Frenzy found out today and beat the crap out of Rumble for telling him, then took off. I've already been yelled at once today and I'd rather just get the second time out of the way."

Starscream noticed her flinch when he moved, so he went back to the short wall and stretched himself out against the support pillar in the corner with his hands behind his head. He eyed her while she nervously jabbed at the browning meat. He shrugged.

"I already knew that."

She froze, dropping her spoon. "You do? Since when? How?"

"I have my ways." He brushed back his black hair, giving her a smug look. "It wasn't that difficult. Anyway, you shouldn't worry about what others think of you."

"Easy for you to say." She emptied the tomato can into the skillet and read the box's directions before opening it. "You're actually someone important. I'm just…" she sighed. "I know I'm the one helping you guys but I feel like a burden. I can't do anything right. I upset Frenzy, I argue with Megatron—"

"Well don't." Starscream interrupted her, his voice sharp. "Feel like a burden, I mean. No one can be right all the time. There will always be someone to confirm that for you if you go looking for it. Don't do it. It's not worth it. Your value exists whether or not you see it."

Casey paused to look at him, in his fight jacket and handsome angelic face, and suddenly saw someone much older than she would ever be. He met her eyes and for a moment she saw them glow.

"Thanks, Screamer."

"That—I'll have you know, is something only certain people get to call me."

She nodded and returned to her cooking. "Right."

They said nothing more while Casey finished making their meal. She split it up into two bowls and handed one to Starscream. She was about to head back into her room for more studying when her front door rattled under a loud knock-knock. She set her food down and glanced back at the kitchen.

"Hey Starsc—"

He was gone.

"Of course. Eat and run." She snatched the bowl just before Ravage could stick his face into it. "No, this is not yours!"

Knock-knock.

"Ugh, I'm coming!" She hurried down the hall and checked the peephole. She swallowed nervously and popped the door lock, swinging the door open.

"Hi Frenzy."

The teenaged Cassetticon looked so young without his sunglasses hiding his face. He blinked at her with hands tucked behind his back. "Hi Star."

She let the awkward silence go as long as she could stand it. "Did you need something? Soundwave isn't here."

"No, I know." He shuffled foot to foot. "Can I come in?"

"If you want." She nudged Ravage out of the way with her bunny slipper and stepped back. She realized she was still holding her lunch and found a place for it out of the cat's reach.

Frenzy winced when he bit his lip and kept his distance from her. Another awkward silence stretched out until he cleared his throat.

"Star, I…."

She waited.

"I made these for you." He thrust a bag of misshapen cookies at her. "Well, um, Mrs. Peony downstairs made them. I… made them a mess."

She tilted her head but didn't move. So that's where he must have gotten the band-aids from. "Okay?"

Ravage stood up on his hindpaws to sniff the bag for evidence of another cat. Frenzy held them up higher. "Not now, Ravage!"

Despite herself, Casey giggled.

He gave up trying to thwart the black cat's curious paws, only to have Ravage climb up his pants, claw up his shoulders and try to reach the bag from there. "Ow! Fraggit, you're making me screw up!" He adjusted the cat and shoved the bag in his face. "See? It's cookies! They're not for you!"

Ravage sniffed, sprayed him with a generous feline sneeze, and jumped down. Frenzy rolled his shoulders and shyly looked at Casey. "Anyway, I wanted to say…. Sorry. I don't hate you. I was mad."

"Is it so bad that I'm human?" she asked softly. "It doesn't make anything different. I'm still me."

"No but… it is different. But not. Ugh. I'm not so good with words…"

"Frenzy, if you poofed to your real self right now, I'd freak out, sure, but you'd still be the same person you are now and act the same, right?"

"Yeah, I know, It's just…" He felt his eyes water again. "I like you. A lot. You're so nice. To find out you're human, it just… it hurt. Cos then I shouldn't like you anymore."

"Why not?"

"Cos… Cos of stupid reasons." He blurted, then stomped up to her. "Look, can we just be okay? I don't wanna be mad anymore. I know you for you and that's what matters." He shoved the swaying bag at her. "Do you want a cookie or not?"

She let out a pent-up breath. Whoever had made him a teenager got it right. But awkward or not, he was trying. She put her hand on her hip. "I'll have a cookie on one condition."

He looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"You need to give me a hug." She opened her arms. "Or else—ooof!"

He thumped into her and nuzzled against her chest, holding her so tight she could hardly breathe. "They're cinnamon sugar cookies," he mumbled against her shirt, shaking in an effort not to cry. "Like our candle."

She smiled and ruffled his hair. "Sounds great."

"And don't you tell my brother about this," he grumbled.

She laughed. "I won't, I promise."

That evening Casey found herself at Josie's Night Club again. It might have been because of a grumpy Cassetticon boy dragging her out of her apartment. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

"You've been studying for hours!" He had said, with a firm grasp on her hand, blushing furiously. "It's not going to kill you to take a break!"

She waved to Soundwave at his usual post by the entrance. She spotted Megatron at the bar and Starscream tailing Silvia, insisting he needed more pretzel sticks. She paused by Megatron long enough for him to notice her.

"Here to learn more fighting skills from me?" he asked, his eyes sparkling from too much drink. She glanced at his half-empty glass and wrinkled her nose. Whiskey again.

"Ha, no." She pointed to the pool tables in the far corner, where Rumble was playing by himself. Frenzy wove between the tables to get there, but not as fast as he usually did.

Rumble felt his brother approaching before he saw him and decided his solo pool game was more interesting. He leaned belly-down on the table to line up a shot for the blue number two ball. He struck the cue ball, sending it spinning with a crack! against his target. The number two ball whirled toward the corner pocket, bounced off the green bumper, and stopped halfway down the table. He dropped down to the floor.

"Scrap."

He went after the striped 15 ball next while Frenzy fidgeted next to the table.

"Hi Bro."

Clack-clack! 15 ball, side pocket.

"Havin' fun?"

Rumble bounced the rubber end of the pool stick against his shoe. "Dunno. Can't see well through cracked glasses."

Frenzy flinched and patted the top of his head by habit, coming up empty. "I'd give you mine, but I lost them."

"Don't bother." Rumble pulled something from his back pocket and threw it at him.

Frenzy caught it, surprised. His black sunglasses reflected the overhead lamp light back at him. "Hey, thanks!"

"Yer welcome, glitchhead."

"Haha… yeah… you're not wrong. But, um, hey, I talked to Star and we're good now. I'm not mad anymore."

"Good for you."

"Can… we be good too?"

Rumble exhaled and let his shoulders drop. He jabbed his brother in the chest. "Next time, I'm not going easy on you. Listen when I tell ya somethin' you need to hear, you got it?"

Frenzy nodded. "Uh huh."

"An' next time you chuck a car at me, I'm gonna make you eat it, tailpipe and all."

"Okay okay. No throwing cars. I'm surprised no one noticed."

"They did. You weren't paying attention."

"Oh man! That would have been hilarious." Frenzy put his glasses back on and chose a pool stick from off the rack. "Can I play?"

"Only if you promise not to hit me with the ball again."

"Don't stand in the way of my shot, then!"

Rumble frowned hard enough for his eyebrows to disappear under his sunglasses. He took up his pool stick like a sword. "You know what? Get over here."

Across the room, Casey finished her grape soda and sighed with relief. "Now they're sword fighting. But at least it's not all-out fighting."

Megatron turned back to the counter, rolling his eyes. "Decepticons sort things out in their own ways."

"Nah, I think this is just two boys bonding with playful violence."

He snorted. "Same thing."

Friday nights at the bar got started with karaoke on stage. Casey absentmindedly flipped through the song list binder when she landed on a page that got her attention. She interrupted Rumble and Frenzy's pool game to show them, pointing with happy squeaks Soundwave heard from the front door. He switched places with his coworker Flint so he could observe what the three of them were so excited about. They spoke to the karaoke DJ and impatiently waited their turn, practically vibrating with glee. Soundwave allowed himself a small smile. Casey and his boys were on good terms again. She even let Frenzy hug her more than once without complaint.

"What are you so happy about?" asked Megatron, sliding beside him. He hadn't been pleased when Soundwave told the bartender not to serve him any more alcohol. Megatron crunched down hard on ice cubes instead.

Soundwave gestured. "They're going on stage."

"Oh?" Starscream appeared as he always did, at the worst time and with a smirk. "You reek of drink, leader."

Soundwave held Megatron back without looking at him. He glared at Starscream. "Not now."

The first notes of a sharp steel guitar cut off Starscream's reply. Up on stage, Casey stood between the twins with their microphones. Technically they didn't need the lyrics because they had memorized the song the first time they heard it, back when they watched the Blues Brothers movie weeks before. Rumble went into goofy dance steps while Frenzy led the vocals:

"Come on—

Baby, don't you wanna go?

Oh, come on—

Baby, don't you wanna go?

Back to that same old place

Sweet home, Chicago."

Casey's voice shook but the twins harmonized with her. By the end of the song she'd stopped shaking and clapped with everybody at the performance from the "real" Blues Brothers. Frenzy jumped off stage and offered to catch Casey if she followed. Rumble didn't give her the chance and shoved her into his brother's arms. He laughed and spun her in a circle while she squealed to be put down.

Later that night, Megatron made himself comfortable on the couch. Soundwave had insisted he go home with the twins and Casey, possibly to keep him from strangling Starscream. Casey left him a glass of water on the coffee table.

"Make sure you drink this tonight."

Megatron didn't have the energy to glare, but his dark eyebrows furrowed. "I'll be fine."

"Not with the hangovers you've had," she said, staying out of his reach. She jolted when Frenzy collided with her back, squeezing hard.

"Goodnight Star," he said against her nightshirt.

She squirmed so she could turn and hug him in return. "Goodnight Frenzy." She glanced at the lump in the beanbag chair, half-hidden under a blanket. "Goodnight Rumble."

"G'night," he said with a lazy wave. "See you tomorrow."

She smiled, looking over the sleepy Decepticons. Eventually Frenzy let her go and she collected Ravage on her shoulder to take him back to her room. Frenzy watched the door shut and waited for the light under the door to go out.

"Hey Boss, I gotta tell ya somethin'."

Megatron opened one eye. "It can wait."

"No, Boss, seriously."

He sat up. "Report."

"Someone was trying to follow us home tonight."

"I noticed."

"Yeah, we figured, but Casey didn't. They were eyeing her at the bar too, after our song. I don't think she should be going anywhere by herself for a while."

"Your concern is noted." Megatron yawned. "But I'm the one who does the thinking."

"Sure, Boss."

Frenzy turned off the lamp and climbed into his beanbag chair. He set his sunglasses aside and tugged the blanket up around him. Yellow car headlights washed over the walls and ceiling, briefly brightening the dark room. He tried to track them, counting the cars as they went by. His eyelids soon became too heavy to keep open, and he fell asleep.

It was well after two in the morning when a hoarse shout woke Casey with a start. She came awake as if struck by lightning. She hurried out to the living room, nearly tripping over her cat. Soundwave stood over two empty bean bag chairs with a crumpled blanket in his hands.

"What is it, Soundwave?"

He looked at her with sunglasses skewed, panic in his eyes.

"Where are they?" he demanded, shaking. "Where are my boys?"

Thunk. Thunk thunk thunk.

Something prodded at Frenzy's head relentlessly, like a chisel trying to break into his brain case. He brought his hand up to shove the offending object away. It squawked and hammered at him harder.

"Ow! Stoppit!"

He sat up and his joints creaked. He held his head in both hands and groaned, then froze. Smooth. No hair. His optics blinked fully online, lighting up his red visor. He checked himself over. Red. Black. Boxy. Metal. No clothes. No blanket. No beanbag chair. Beside him, Laserbeak squawked again and hopped around his feet.

"Holy—Bro—! Are you—?"

Rumble couldn't get up because Ravage was sitting on his chest. "Right here."

Frenzy scrambled upright, nearly tipping over in the process. He flailed his arms to keep balance while Laserbeak watched. He was heavier now. The way he'd always been. "We're back!"

"Uh huh."

"How?"

Frantic pinging came from Laserbeak as he impatiently circled the twins. Never mind THAT! said the Casssetticon without spoken words, where have you two BEEN?

Ravage growled in agreement, sniffing Rumble over. Why do you smell like human food?

"Shoo, Ravage." Frenzy waved the panther aside and offered a hand to his brother, now clad in white, purple and blue. "Easy. Test your gyros."

Rumble found his stability after a moment. They stared at each other, blinking in confusion.

And Soundwave? Asked Laserbeak, bouncing. Where is Soundwave?

"He's… uh. Wait. We fell asleep, then…" Rumble said, hesitant.

"Then what?" Frenzy rubbed the sore spot Laserbeak had tapped onto his helmet.

"I dunno. I'm just glad to be home." Rumble's face broke into a grin, but it faded when he realized something.

They looked around the emptiness of Soundwave's dark quarters, sharing the same thought.

"We didn't get to say goodbye," said Frenzy quietly.

To be continued!

(And yes, I now the color controversy of the Twins… The source material here is the G1 cartoon, nothing else. For now…)