A/N: So this is a surprise long chapter that's 2,500 words long. This was originally chapters 80-90, but I decided to prove a point to the PM flamers that keep telling me that the reason I'm writing this drabble is because I'm not capable of writing this in normal sized chapters. I could easily make this a 'normal sized' story, but I don't want to. Condensing larger chapters like this one into just a couple hundred words is a challenge that I like taking on. It does not mean that I'm unable to write large chapters.
If there is anybody else that doubts my capabilities as a writer, then please find somebody else to bore. I'm not amused by poorly written hate mail, and telling me how to write my stories is mildly annoying at best.
Now, let it be known that I will NOT be changing the way I write this story. After this chapter, it will return to being just a drabble with occasional SLIGHTLY longer chapters. Unless I suddenly get the insane urge to write another chapter like this, don't be expecting another one. Don't ask or tell me to do it, because I won't. I've been quite civil so far, and I've been having a lot of fun with my readers that actually appreciate my work, so don't bother me with questions that have been answered before.
Just in case I didn't make myself clear on some things, I'll explain them again.
1) This is a drabble story. That means 100 word chapters. I even put that in the story's description, so I think that I made this fact perfectly clear.
2) I do NOT have a set update schedule. Everything is completely and totally spontaneous and is done at MY convenience. I have a life outside of Fanfictions, so I can't spend every waking moment writing stories that bring me absolutely no income. If I suddenly don't update for a couple of days, please go to my profile page for an explanation.
3) I will NOT just skip building up the story in favor of jumping straight into the romance. I find that annoying since in reality, you don't see a transforming robot and go "OMG marry me!" No. Just no. I won't do it.
4) I haven't said this before, but I'll make it clear now. I DO NOT WRITE LEMONS/EXPLICIT SCENES. They don't move my plot along, and this is a T rated story. So no sex scenes for the horny teenagers. Just awkward references.
Another thing is that tomorrow is the start of National Novel Writing Month (see my profile for a link to more info), and since I'm participating, I can about guarantee that you'll only be getting one chapter per day for the entire month. This sucks, but SORRY.
On a lighter note, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers: Wheeliefan101, TFPKO Fan Girl, Tinyterror, kittycatcalamity, Auzurii, Raphaelplusmikey, Sounder'sFemme, Guest (1 and 2? Or was that the same person?), Everon Prime, Princess Emeralds, vividim, Lunar Mist, Shadow Lugia of Orre, Trunksymia, and PurpleNinja! You are all so awesome!
And thanks to everybody who has read up to this point! I'll just go cry my rainbow tears of love now...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 8D
Response to Anonymous Reviewers:
PurpleNinja: Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad that you like the story thus far! And don't worry, they'll be meeting very soon. ;D
Warnings: Mild Language
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime, just the random OCs and plot rainbows I barf out.
Chapter Eighty: A Big Fat Chapter
Marian bit her lip as she peeked out the back door, staring at Optimus as he sat in her back yard with Honey perched on his palm as she animatedly dug through her chest of rocks and precious stones that she had been collecting for the past few years. The seven-year old girl located a stone and pulled it out, holding the vibrant purple object up for the metallic giant to see before she leapt into an explanation as to what it was and where she had gotten it. She couldn't tell if the Autobot was actually interested, or if he had one hell-of-a poker face, but he knew exactly what to say to make the girl beam happily and practically dive into the large chest in search of something else. Honey never jumped right in when it came to liking strangers! She had only met this robot yesterday, and she was already treating him like she had known him forever!
"This is an Amethyst! Marian bought it for me while she was traveling, and this is a Citrine and this is a Smokey Quartz and this is a Lapis Lazuli and this is a Sodalite!" She exclaimed, lifting each rock without missing a beat before she jumped to the next explanation, "Marian also got them for me! Oh! And this is a chunk of lava!"
Marian stepped around the door so that she was on the back porch then pressed her back against the wall and slowly slid to the floor before dropping her head in her hands. The giant aliens just had to pick her out of all the humans to watch the kids that were stuck to them like glue, didn't they? She was working so hard on trying to make Honey's life somewhat normal after their mother had passed away, and things were just starting to get better! Her artwork was selling better, and she was starting to pay off the debt that was left behind from funeral costs and house payments. Honey was coping well, and after the family had split apart, they were starting to patch their lives back together, but then stupid ol' Steve had to come along and throw their lives back into chaos!
"Goddamn it, Steve." She muttered into her hands.
"And who might 'Steve' be, Ms. Padauk?" Optimus' voice snapped her out of her gradually darkening thoughts and she lifted her head to see that both Honey and the mech were now staring at her.
"Nobody."
He frowned at her, then slowly began to lower Honey to the ground despite her protests, "I believe you said that you had schoolwork to finish."
Amber eyes went wide before glancing over at Marian in a panic, and a lift of the brow was all the girl needed to shove her rocks back in the chest so she could run back inside, "I forgot!" She grabbed the medium sized chest, stumbling slightly from the weight of it, and she dropped it at Marian's side before charging inside while calling over her shoulder, "Don't let Miko steal my rocks!"
"I don't want your dumb rocks!" The miffed teen hollered from the kitchen.
Shaking his head, the mech slowly placed his servo in front of her, palm up, "Is there something that you wished to discuss with me?"
The woman carefully eyed his hand before noisily puffing out a sigh and getting to her feet, "If you drop me, I'm going to punch you."
"Duly noted."
She glared up at him when she heard the 'hidden' amusement in his voice, but she stepped onto his palm while using his thumb to help her keep her balance. Slowly, he lifted her up so that they were face to face, and he noticed that the movement had made her grimace while her eyes flickered to the ground worriedly. The Autobot used this as a chance to quickly examine her battered face, noticing that the square patch of gauze that was on her right cheek the day before had been switched out for a smaller and fresher piece. The bruise on her forehead traveled down to the bridge of her nose, and splotches of black and blue surrounded the gauze, making it look far worse than it actually was.
Optimus guiltily looked away. Could the incident have been avoided if they had informed her about the existence of the Autobots and Decepticons? He could have assigned one of his soldiers to watch over them, but he didn't think that the Decepticons would catch on so quickly so he ignored that possibility in their desperation to find Energon. Marian's suspicion of them was understandable and he suspected that were he in her position, he would feel the same. He was to blame for her injuries and-
"For a gargantuan alien 'Metal Gear' wannabe, you sure do have human expressions." The woman he was staring at said dryly, "Still mad that I want nothing to do with you? Or is there something on my face?" She touched her gauze in mock horror, "Oh crap- there is!" He shuttered his optics and turned his head away from her making her give him a confused look. "What? You act like you're upset that I don't like you." Silence. "Oh shit, you're one of those big teddy bears, aren't you?"
"It was not my intention to allow you to be harmed, nor did I want you to become a part of our war; no matter how miniscule your involvement."
"Er... Yeah." She patted his thumb awkwardly, "Crap happens. Um, I guess you're not so bad if you can listen to Honey talk about rocks for over an hour?" Rubbing the back of her neck, the artist jumped to another subject, "Listen, I need to go some places and I need a lift. Not to mention I have to get Jack from work here in a bit, so-"
"Road trip!" A sudden exclamation from the porch made both of them turn to see Miko standing outside with an exceptionally large grin on her face, "I knew you'd warm up to the bots! Just wait till me and Bulk take you dune smashing! Or 'Con hunting! Did you know that Bulkhead was a Wrecker? The Wreckers are a group of kick-butt Autobots that can never lose!"
Looking back to Optimus – who was still giving her a 'kicked-puppy' look, Marian shrugged, "I guess I'll trust you; for now." She pointed to her eyes with her index and pinky fingers, them whipped her hand around so that they were pointed at him, "But I'm watching you! And this is only until I get my Bug back! You got that, big guy?"
Taking what he could get, he nodded gravely, "Understood."
It's Love?
"Alright, I'll bite. Why are we here?" Jack piped up as he swatted at a rather large mosquito.
Shortly after Marian had 'befriended' (for lack of a better word) Optimus, she had tromped inside to start packing up a picnic basket while Miko had pranced around, shooting off questions faster than she could keep up. The teen's shouts about a road trip had drawn the attention of the younger children, who had been quietly doing their homework, and eventually she had three hyper kids getting under her feet as she tried to herd them towards the Semi sitting in the driveway. Once she had tossed them inside and climbed into the driver's seat, they set off to 'KO Burgers' so that they could rescue Jack from his 'Decepticon manager' – or so Miko claimed. The entire time, Honey was slapping at the Japanese girl whenever she decided to aggravate the seven year old by poking her in the ribs, and Raf would try to keep a full-blown cat fight from occurring.
Once they arrived at the fast food joint, Jack was promptly placed in between the two girls and Optimus began to drive the opposite direction of the house by Marian's instruction. Thus, ten minutes later, they were all standing at the base of a mountain while the artist happily began to look around while whistling a cheerful tune as she dug items out of her gray messenger bag. After scanning the area for signs of human life, the mech transformed and stood to his full height so that he could keep an optic out for any threats. Honey was the only non-adult that seemed to know what was going on and she planted herself on a flat boulder, clutching the picnic basket full of food.
"Marian's working." The girl stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'll just be a few minutes." The woman hummed as she quickly set off towards the trees that were scattered around the base of the slope, "Stay here with Optimus until I get back. There's a bunch of snacks and drinks in the basket if you're hungry."
"Are you sure it is wise to go by yourself?" Bright blue optics focused on the woman as she paused once she entered the treeline.
"Walking around can't possibly be worse than driving in New York." She quipped cheerily, "I'll be within screaming distance if a mountain lion tries to eat me."
He was prepared to protest, but Miko snickered, "She's kidding boss bot."
This made Marian grin as she excitedly trekked through the woods, clutching a sketch book and a pencil in one hand while her cellphone was in the other, prepared to take a picture at a moment's notice. It had been a while since she had painted any woodland creatures, so if she spotted one, she would have to snap a quick picture to use as a reference since they would probably bolt the moment they saw her. And these trees would look great accenting the mountain! The rough bark could help bring a more natural look to the painting she was envisioning in her mind, and the grayed-browns would contrast nicely with the bright, burnt sienna of the rocks around her.
Pushing through the the thicket, she came to the surprisingly short end of the wooded area and glanced over her shoulder to see if she could see Optimus' towering frame. Satisfied that she could see the back of his royal blue helm, she returned her attention to the sudden slope before her and she flipped open her sketch book, pressing her pencil to the paper. Now that she was closer to the mountain, she could see all of the intricate detail that she could use to her advantage so that she could provide a suitable amount of texture to what appeared to be smooth rocks from a distance. She could alter a few things to better suit her imagination, but-
"Frag!"
The voice made her thoughts stop dead, and her head slowly lifted, allowing her to spot a good sized crevice in the mountain side, though what caught her attention wasn't the fact that she had never painted a cavern before. No, a voice had emitted from that crack, and she was pretty sure that her startled eyes had caught a glimpse of alizarin crimson ducking back inside. What the Hell was that?
"Of course Prime would be here!" The voice spoke up again, hissing venomously, and she saw a helm peek back out, vibrant red optics narrowed in the direction of Optimus and the children. "With my luck, he probably picked up the Energon signal as well. What to do, what to do..."
She blinked stupidly at the red mech as he tapped his chin thoughtfully, and she slowly shoved her sketch book into her bag, not quite sure as to what she should do in this situation. Was this an Autobot or a Decepticon? How the Hell was she supposed to be able to tell the difference?! They all looked the same to her! Optimus never explained that one to her. As quietly as she could muster, she lifted her phone and took a picture of the mech with the intention of making a break for it and showing it to the Autobot to let him decide if it was a good bot or a bad bot. The moment she took the picture, the mech snapped his attention to her and she squeaked pathetically at being zoomed in on instantly.
Really? Really?! Could her luck be any worse?
They stared at one another for several long, mind numbing moments before he gave a smirk and crooked his finger at her to gesture her forward. The artist gave him a deadpan look, clearly stating without words that there was no way that she was going near him. Did she look suicidal? She barely trusted Optimus, so what made this moron think he was any better? She took a deliberate step in the opposite direction, frowning at him the entire time. When he saw that she wasn't moving towards him, his smirk turned into a sneer of contempt, and the hand that had previously been beckoning her forward began to shift, altering itself into something that looked very much like a canon from a Sci-Fi movie.
"Come. Here." He whispered dangerously, and Marian found that she had troubles swallowing after hearing the threat that were laced within the two words. "Now!"
Shit. This was all she needed to add to her list of 'Things That Stressed Her Out Recently'. It could go right under Steve. She gulped with difficulty, shakily taking a step forward when the canon seemed to hum silently to life. Did Optimus not see that crazy red robot pointing a gun-that-was-once-his-hand-thing at her?! She'd be sure to give him crap for this once she figured out how to get away without getting blown to pieces. Honestly, she wasn't even a mile away and he couldn't keep stuff like this from happening. How in the world did those kids tolerate this? Maybe it was just because she was older and didn't enjoy life-threatening excitement like the younger generations did.
"Marian! Are you almost done over here? Because there's a monster truck marathon on TV that I really don't want to miss." The mech instantly aimed his weapon at Miko the moment she stepped out of the trees, but she took one glance at him and screamed at the top of her lungs, "'CON!"
Shrieking as the mech began to charge up a shot, Marian sprinted towards Miko, who boldly (stupidly) stood her ground while glaring at the Decepticon. With a grunt, she tackled the girl to the ground as a heated ball of plasma shot over their heads, effectively destroying the trees that had been directly behind her.
"Are you crazy?!" The irate woman shook the teen violently as booming footsteps rapidly approached them.