Lesson in Living
Chapter Two
By Starath
Author's Note: The adventure continues! It turns out this will be quite an adventure, too. Once again, thanks to Crab, and the G1 Transformers don't belong to me. Enjoy!
Lunch suddenly wasn't so much fun.
Megatron had lapsed into silence with a distant gaze on his face, obviously plotting something. His new "friend" forced herself to eat, every mouthful tasting like cement that solidified in her stomach. She kept watch on the clock above them on the wall. In fifteen minutes she had class. Casey wasn't terribly eager to get there, though, with the ultimately disguised Transformer in tow. Time whittled itself down to one o'clock and after throwing away the inedible contents of her meal she gathered her belongings. She glanced at Megatron, still staring vacantly, and wondered if she could sneak away without him noticing. Carefully she arose from the chair and left him behind, scurrying towards the door. She walked quickly and stiffly, waiting for a furious stomping of boots behind her. By the time she'd reached the threshold there was no indication that he had noticed her departure. She took a look back.
Megatron stood two inches behind her. "Where to now, friend?"
"EEE!" she squeaked and stumbled backwards.
He just grinned.
"Oh for the love of Primus, don't DO that!" she snapped.
He frowned. "Primus? Why would you use that name?"
Casey huffed, straightening her backpack. "I'm such a Transformers geek your phrases are rooted into my vocabulary."
The grin returned. "So I see."
Attempting to regain some sort of dignity, she simply turned and kept walking. Megatron followed close behind.
"So?" he pried.
"Do you know how WEIRD it is to hear your voice coming out of some guy who looks to be only forty years old?"
"What?"
"You sound like an old man, Megs."
It was his turn to huff. "I'm not old. And don't call me that. "
"You are too. WAY older than anybody on this planet, Megs."
"Stop that. I don't see why that has anything to do with the situation now. Tell me, where are we going?"
Casey hiked up the stairs, trying to leave him in the dust, but he stayed just behind her easily.
"To class. I'm a college student attending school. Today is my screenwriting class." She sighed, "…and we have to figure out what to do with you."
"Oh?"
"Well, I'm not sure that my teacher will allow a visitor." She crossed the skyway with the silver-haired shadow at her heels. "We can ask him if you're really interested, but if he says no you're going to have to keep yourself occupied for three and a half hours."
"Nobody refuses me," he assured her, "there should be no reason why I can't participate… and keep an eye on you."
What, do you think I'll try to escape out the window? "Megs, you can't assume you're going to get your way around here. You're just some average guy to everyone in this world, and if you start spouting anything about being a Decepticon war leader they're gunna throw you in the loony bin."
"Loony bin?"
"They'll think you're crazy."
"Oh. I have thought about that, yes."
"Also, we should give you a human name."
Megatron balked. "Never!"
"Would you rather prefer I keep calling you "Megs" in front of people? I can't call you by your real name. It's not normal."
"Hmph." He grunted. "What is yours, then, for reference?"
Casey opened the door to the library, holding it so he could go in first, only he caught the handle and motioned her in ahead of him. Puzzled, she ducked under his arm and headed for a flight of stairs. "It's Casey. Casey Panzer."
He tested the word. "Any suggestions, Casey?"
"How about a famous leader's name: Julius? Alexander? Napoleon? Adolf?" She grinned to herself, thinking of the jokes only a human would know with those names.
"Alexander wasn't that great, Julius was stabbed in the back by a traitor, and I'm taller than Napoleon… And as clever as Adolf was," Megatron rubbed under his nose, "I believe I lack the moustache."
Casey had to stop and stare. "Since when would you know anything about Earth history?"
"My knowledge is not limited to the Cybertronian. "Know thy enemy,"" he quoted, amused by her surprise.
"…Oh. Okay then. Well," She sifted through a myriad of possible names, trying to think of one appropriate for a mighty Decepticon leader. "For irony's sake, how about Frank?"
He leaned on the stair banister, actually baffled. "I fail to see the significance in that one."
Casey giggled, hurrying up the last few stairs to the third floor. "No, but I do." She paused, turning back to him with a triumphant smile. "Michael."
"Michael?" he repeated, scratching his head, and pulled away when he remembered he had hair. He thought for a moment. It sounded distinguished, regal even. "That will do."
"And since it would be creepy to have an older guy following me around, let's add "Uncle" to that, so you're family."
He didn't hide his revulsion. "If you must."
"It's just a cover. And just so you know, that means I'm your niece. Now," Casey indicated a series of couches and chairs in front of her classroom. "Uncle Mike, you can crash here to take a nap. My classroom is right here. I swear this is the only door leading in and out of the place. I can't leave without you knowing."
He crossed his arms. "No."
"No..? Meg—Uncle Miiiike!"
"We will speak to your teacher first."
"You'll be bored to tears in there."
"Ah, but it would be better than bored out here, where I can't watch you," he revealed a set of perfect teeth in a not-so-pleasant smile.
"There's no reason why you can't sit out here," she cried, disregarding the fact that arguing with Megatron was most likely futile.
"Do not think you can persuade me, girl." He warned, "I can be VERY stubborn."
A new voice broke into the conversation. "Hey Casey!"
They looked up to see a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and black rimmed glasses came hurrying towards them carrying a briefcase. She visibly sagged. "Hi Mr. Benson."
"Ready for class?" he asked.
"Um, actually…" she glanced at Megatron and trailed off a moment too long. He took the chance, giving a bright smile and offered a hand for a shake.
"Ah, Mr. Benson, my niece Casey was just telling me of your class. I'm visiting her for the day and I'm afraid I have nothing else to do, may I sit in on the session?"
Mr. Benson took the proffered hand. "I don't see why not. The room is kind of tight but I'm sure we can find a seat for you, Mr. Panzer, I'm guessing?"
"Excellent!" Megatron opened the door for the teacher and shook his head. "And yes, but you can just call me Michael. I don't mind."
Casey sighed and wished she knew how to become invisible. When Megatron gave her a smug grin over his shoulder, she wished even harder.
To say that she was uncomfortable during class would have been a gross understatement. She was downright nervous for the entire time— all three and a half hours of it. No matter what she did she couldn't focus. Scribbling in her notebook was the next best thing. Beside her Megatron sat like a model student and even participated in the class discussions. Did he HAVE to sit next to me?? She mentally grumbled more than once, constantly shifting her chair several centimeters to the left. Sitting so close made her acutely aware of how big Megatron was. Her initial impressions had assumed it was his gun-metal grey jacket that gave that illusion, but as class went on the room became warmer, he removed his jacket, ending any assumptions whatsoever. He must have caught her bug-eyed expression because he grinned after giving a casual shrug.
Casey scooted her chair further to the left.
He even smelled funny. Not that she went around smelling people, but she couldn't help noticing. It took her twenty minutes to realize the odor was like gun powder.
At the end of class Casey ditched the room scarcely before the teacher had said goodbye to everyone. Megatron was the last to leave, taking his time to shake Mr. Benson's hand again, politely thanking him for allowing the opportunity to sit in on the class. Mr. Benson said he was glad to meet him, and that Casey was lucky to have such an engaging uncle. Megatron laughed at the thought and searched her out in the lobby. If she had heard that she would have died on the spot. Instead he found her pacing in furious little circles.
"I don't ever ever ever EVER want to sit next to you again!!!"
Megatron threw the jacket over his shoulders, snaking his arms through the sleeves. "Why?" he sneered, "do I disgust you?"
"Noooooo!" Casey stomped her foot and commenced a fit of flailing. "It was just plain CREEPY, okay? I know who you really are, but no one else does, which is odd in of itself, but there you were sitting in class RIGHT next to me…." She let out a weird sound of aggravation. "It was just plain creepy. That's all I can say. You're supposed to be somewhere fighting a war, not being the teacher's pet! And good grief you could look like you could bust a baseball bat barehanded with the way you're built. Oh, and did you know you smell funny?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Is this what they meant when they described a "spazz attack" earlier?"
"Exactly!" Casey dropped her arms. "I have no idea why that was such a hard concept for you. I bet Starscream does it all the time."
"You humans use strange words." The irritatingly arrogant smile returned. "If I didn't know better, Casey, I'd think you were uncomfortable around me."
"Well DUH! What on Earth gave you THAT idea??"
"Are all human females so overdramatic?"
"No. Just the crazy ones." Casey pinched her eyes shut, breathing slowly in a forced effort to calm down. "And before you ask, yes I am crazy. Any normal girl wouldn't be in this situation."
Megatron crossed his arms, grinning so arrogantly she really, REALLY wished he'd just go away. When she opened her eyes he was still standing there. So much for that.
"Anyway, I need to start some research for the assignment Mr. Benson gave us, but otherwise I'm done for the day. And NO, you may NOT follow me home. That's the last thing I need. So, from here on out you're on your own."
"What's your point?"
She made her weird noise of aggravation again. He nearly laughed at her. During class he'd learned it was easy to annoy her with teasing.
"You know damn well what I mean. So, do you have a plan or should I leave your sorry butt now?"
He wasn't at all sorry, but he had to momentarily admire a girl who would talk to him that way. "Actually, I was considering returning to the point at which I came into your accursed world."
"Really? Where was that?" Frustration forgotten, she swapped expressions for one of interest.
"If you're curious, come with me."
She backed up even though they were already ten feet apart. "Ooooh no. I'm not THAT curious, and like hell I'd follow you anywhere."
"Tsk, Casey, that isn't the way to talk to your new friend," chided Megatron.
"Speak for yourself." She threw her backpack further to the left to relieve the weight off her right shoulder, stepping further away from him.
"It's not far," he said patiently, "You can see it from the window of your classroom."
Casey started a rapid-fire of flailing hand gestures. "Look, I know you hate humans but I can assure you we are far from stupid. I'm not following you anywhere because you could very well kidnap me for all I know."
He actually looked hurt. "What makes you think I'd do that?"
"You're Megatron. DUH. I'm an asset to you. But you're a big boy Megs, I'm sure you can take care of yourself."
He gave her a long hard look, and after a moment Casey worried that he might try to jump her. The threat that he was faster and stronger than a normal human was still fresh in her mind. She refused to look away from his red-brown eyes even though she desperately wanted to look around for anyone who could give her help. Finally he blinked, shrugging.
"Very well. This is where I part with you then, Casey, though I'm sure we will meet again." He turned and walked away, his heavy boots making an ominous sound on the tile.
Geez I hope not. I like you better on TV. She sucked in a deep breath, relieved. "Good luck, Megatron. Hope you get home."
He waved over his shoulder and disappeared down the stairs.
Casey waited a full fifteen minutes on the third floor before she ventured downstairs. Each step was a cautious one, and on the second floor landing she scanned the first floor lobby below her. Megatron was nowhere to be seen. At the bottom of the stairs she took another look around, carefully examining the rows of library books for any trace of silver hair poking above the shelves. Nothing. Was he really gone? Casey scanned the room for any other hiding places that might be used. The security guard at the front desk caught her attention and reported that her "friend" had left the building ten minutes ago. She thanked him and nearly skipped to an empty computer. Gone! He's really gone!
"Relief" wasn't a strong enough word for what she felt. It was downright liberation. Megatron had that commanding, almost overpowering aura to him, nothing Casey was particularly comfortable with. Sure, he was human, but he still thought he was in charge and that was enough to make him dangerous. And yet… there had been a thrill to the whole experience too. After all, who in this world could say they stood next to the mighty Megatron? And actually fooled him? Granted, it was for only about 20 minutes, but still. She had him convinced she was a Decepticon too, and briefly she lived the fantasy of actually being one. Although she couldn't go around bragging about it Casey still felt the magic of it. The day felt like a product of her imagination. She could wake up and find it was all a dream. If this was it was a far too real, spooky one.
Conscience nagged at the back of her mind, though. She tried ignoring it as she did her research for the next paper she had to write. Setting a Decepticon loose in the city alone may not have been the best thing to do. He could get himself in trouble, hurt, or worse. There was a lot he couldn't possibly know about being human. Uneasiness crept up the back of her throat. Casey beat it back down by reassuring herself that Megatron could take care of himself. And if worse came to worse he would find somebody else to bother. She momentarily pitied the poor fool he might come across. It certainly wouldn't be her again.
After an hour of Internet research and notes she gathered everything up to stuff into her backpack. Time to go home. It was only four blocks away and it was a beautiful day out. It would be a nice to walk home, and she'd given Megatron plenty of time to get lost in the streets of St. Paul. But secretly she hoped he made it to wherever he wanted to go and went home. She imagined the other Decepticons in a panic, only to have him return and surprise them all. That would've been a sight to see.
The sun shimmered overhead, lifting Casey's spirits. Late spring was a pleasant time of year, when everything had turned green and flowered. She arrived at an intersection and waited for the signal telling her it was safe to cross the street. Bouncing on her heels she watched the cars whiz by and giggled at a funny bumper sticker that read "Tailgate me and I'll flick a booger in your windshield."
As usual it took too long for the crosswalk signal to change. A large hand clamped itself on her shoulder.
"Casey!"
She yelped and spun around. Megatron's eyes glittered in the sun. He was all smiles.
"Come to be with me after all, hmm?"
Casey sputtered like a whoopee cushion. "NO," she said, and tried to pull away from him but he wouldn't let go. He started leading her around the corner.
"That's too bad, but I'm sure I can change your mind. See? What a coincidence, I'm going your way too."
"You're squeezing too hard," she whined, looking frantically around for anybody nearby.
He loosened his grip only slightly. "I found a few friends I'd like you to meet."
Casey spotted the small group of men standing just ahead of them in the grass beside the sidewalk. "Oh no," she moaned, "There are more?"
He nodded, still smiling. "I appear not to be the only one misplaced here."
Casey tried to think of some way to turn back, an excuse, an escape plan, faking a seizure, anything to get away from Megatron, but every step took her closer to his "friends". He stayed directly behind her with a firm hand on her shoulder. Her heart pounded above the noise of the cars tearing down the street. For a moment she considered throwing herself in traffic. Maybe a skull fracture would be better than this. Megatron's thumb dug into her shoulder blade as if knowing her thoughts. Swallowing, she inspected the four men standing ahead. They straightened up like a small rank of soldiers. Well, these guys were soldiers, she reminded herself.
The young man standing at the front of the group looked most displeased at Megatron's return. He wore boots like his leader's, but slimmer, his jeans covering the tops. He wore a big black jacket that looked like it belonged on a fighter pilot, not this tall lean man. More than once he brushed dark hair out of a perfectly angelic face marred by a smirk. Starscream, she decided. He could make girls swoon with a face like that. If only they knew who this handsome man was, they would run the other way.
The man behind Starscream looked older and was built like a brick. Casey suspected that if the guy so much as sneezed he would roll an SUV. He wore a stoic expression that would make the world's toughest bar bouncer cry and spill his guts. Curiously a ratty baseball cap, turned backwards, was on his head. It was all too easy to imagine a shaved head under that thing, but light hair poked out from underneath. Dark sunglasses shielded his eyes. Soundwave? She guessed, but didn't pay attention to him long.
Standing on either side of the behemoth two identical teenagers watched Casey and Megatron's approach with twin grins of mischief. They looked like the Blues Brothers gone punk, complete with black shades, baggy jeans and everything that simply screamed trouble. One was built a little heavier than the other. But other than that their shirt colors were the only difference between them. Glancing back at Soundwave she realized the twins resembled him. Rumble and Frenzy, Casey found herself smiling, though I have no idea which one is which as usual. They stood there like tough guys but Casey found them too short to be intimidating. Soundwave and Starscream were another matter. She tried to come in behind Megatron, but the hand on her shoulder wouldn't allow it. Starscream's frigid blue eyes studied her.
"So, you must be the one Megatron mentioned," he said without preamble. "Although amazingly enough the rest of us made it this far without any help." He directed his sneer at Megatron.
"Oh shut it Starscream." The Decepticon leader snapped, threatening to backhand him.
The two men began a harsh stare-down. Casey took the opportunity to step away from Megatron just in case. A tense heartbeat passed and Starscream broke the stare and glanced her way again. "Starflight, right?"
"At your service." She nodded, and instantly regretted her choice of words. "…Figuratively speaking."
"Of course." He smiled a smile that only promised destruction. "I must say it's a rare thing to find a female Decepticon. I haven't met one in stellarcycles."
Casey grinned feebly, nodding automatically, but looked to Megatron, confused. He hasn't told them I'm human? Why? His expression was indifferent and gave her no hint.
"Soundwave, have you located any others yet?"
"Negative." Droned the large man, as if completely bored with the world. "My remaining abilities have not detected any energy signatures."
"Hmmm. We may be the only ones here, then."
Casey took another cautious step away from Megatron and gained a good look at the group. They looked normal enough but there was an atmosphere of power and danger around them. It made it hard to breathe. She considered turning and running like hell down the street. She didn't belong here, even if she did know who they were. What could she possibly do? Obviously they weren't going away anytime soon. One Transformer-made-human was enough to deal with, now there were five altogether. And guess who they would want help from? Ooooh no. My life is crazy enough. And why couldn't I have been a fan of something more harmless, like Carebears? She looked over them again. Megatron was still talking to Soundwave while Starscream was occupied with making snide remarks. For the moment she was forgotten. She decided a quiet retreat was the best thing to do. Giving them a wide berth she stepped back onto the sidewalk behind Megatron, ready to bolt. No one noticed… almost. Twin shadows appeared on either side of hers.
"Hey baby, where you goin'?"
"Yeah, we haven't had the chance to talk yet!"
Baby…? Casey twitched, embarrassment warring with annoyance. She'd never been called that her entire life. Luckily she was fairly tall for a girl, so Rumble and Frenzy didn't have a size advantage over her. At least in height.
"The name's Starflight," she said, "Don't call me "baby"."
One of them came around in front of her, grinning. "Why not? It fits. Ease off the throttle girl, we just want to talk."
"I'm sure you do… Whichever one you are."
They traded mischievous smiles. The beefy one beside her with fists like sledgehammers pointed to himself. "I'm Rumble."
Casey glanced at him. Blue shirt. Hooray for color coordination. She faced the one blocking her path. He wore a black shirt. "That makes you Frenzy."
She expected a sneer, a snicker, or a nasty joke, but instead he tipped up his glasses, revealing amber hazel eyes. He winked. "Got it, baby."
She cringed. "Don't call me that, please."
"Why not?"
"I don't like it. So stop."
"Why should I? Can you make me?"
Casey glared at him. "Want to feel a full semester's worth of books on your head?" She readied her backpack to prove the point. Frenzy wilted a fraction.
"I've been hit by worse. So, uh, come here often?"
She could only stare at him. "I live here."
"…Oh. I was, uh, just checking…"
Rumble snorted, eyeing his brother. "You're an idiot. She's not interested in you."
"It's a valid inquiry!" Frenzy shot back. "And besides, how would you know?"
"I can tell."
"You wouldn't know if Prime was standing on your head, slag-for-brains!"
Rumble clenched up his fists. "What was that? C'mere you!"
Casey squeaked in surprise as Frenzy dodged around her and took Rumble down onto the pavement. She watched in disbelief as the two of them began an all-out fistfight that might as well have had the cartoony cloud of dust and written sound effects. She jumped back onto the grass to get out of their way. They nearly rolled into the street but changed directions just in time to avoid falling off the sidewalk. There was no blood flying but plenty of curses. By now the other Decepticons had noticed the fight. Megatron sighed and hid his face in a hand. Suddenly one of them yelped.
"Daaaaaad! He's hitting me!" The complainer then landed a few punches of his own.
Dad…? Casey mouthed, and giggled. Soundwave made an exasperated noise.
"Cease your fighting!" He ordered.
It took awhile but the teenagers stopped and separated, dusting themselves off. Frenzy hissed in pain when he brushed a scraped elbow.
"Great! Look what you did!"
"Well, you deserved it!" Rumble retrieved his sunglasses from the ground and put them back on, covering brown eyes. He crossed his arms and scowled at his brother, returning to Soundwave's side. There he stuck out his tongue. Cursing in Cybertronian, Frenzy inspected his elbow. It was a light scrape but still stung like crazy. When he noticed Casey watching him he shoved his hands in his pockets and acted "cool".
"Are you okay?"
"Fine, just fine. No thanks to some," he shot a venomous glare at Rumble, who pointedly ignored him. Casey smiled and shook her head.
"You have to be more careful as a human, Frenzy. Your body is a lot more vulnerable and mortal. You two almost fell into the street. If you had you would have been killed. There are no quick repairs if any of you get hurt."
He kicked at a pebble and missed. "Yeah, well, it's not my fault he's a jerk."
"The point remains." Megatron was suddenly beside Casey. She jumped and tried to get away, only the hand appeared on her shoulder again. "As Starflight said, we must be careful while human. We cannot afford to become injured, especially since we won't know how to care for ourselves. But lucky for us, we know someone who does."
Casey felt everyone's eyes fall on her and gulped. They were grinning. Except Soundwave. But he still looked smug. It was bad when Decepticons were smiling. Or smug. It could mean many things: Were they pleased? Amused? Plotting her demise? All of the above? She didn't want to know.
"Well, it's been fun guys, but I really ought to be going home now!" She twisted a bit in Megatron's grasp but he pulled her back and shoved her into Frenzy. He laughed and caught her in a mock imitation of a hug.
"Hey Boss, can we take her home? She's a funny gal!"
"Maybe." Megatron watched her wiggle away from Frenzy only to be caught again. Her face lit up with fear and embarrassment. "But in the meantime, I'm sure Starflight won't mind sharing her home with us. He leaned down to hold her chin. "Will you…?"
She snapped her chin away and tried to kick him. He easily blocked it while the others cruelly laughed. After some struggling she gave up; Frenzy was too strong for her.
"Like I have a choice?"
To be continued…
Oh dear, what will happen now? Please tell me what you think!