Sarah entered the house to relative silence. Since that wasn't actually normal, concern raced through her mind, while she imagined all sorts of serious problems. She moved in to the house quickly, but came to a sudden halt when she spotted both girls sitting quietly at the dining room table apparently coloring. Even though both girls had their backs to her, she could still see the box of crayons laying on the table next to Annabelle. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath of relief upon seeing that there was nothing wrong.
"Mommy! Me an Stephy is coloring lots of pwetty pictures!" Annabelle squealed excitedly when she turned around after hearing her.
"Really? Mind if I take a look?" Will asked as he walked over to the table.
Both Sarah and her husband walked over to the table and saw what was going on. Annabelle wasn't actually inside the lines of the picture, and only one of the colors were even close to being correct but still, it was clear that Annabelle was enjoying herself immensely.
Then Sarah looked over at Stephanie and saw that she was also coloring! There were several patches of various colors strewn about the page, but they were small patches. She couldn't help but wonder at that one, because she knew that Stephanie was blind, so the question was… why would she even agree to something like this?
"Stephanie… what are you doing?" Sarah asked in disbelief being unable to restrain her curiosity any longer.
"Coloring. Belle says it's a picture of a frog on a lily pad in the middle of the water. So that's what I'm doing." Stephanie answered with a shrug.
"Now you gots to color the flower." Annabelle instructed happily.
"Okay, what color?" Stephanie replied quickly as she held out her hand.
Sarah watched as her daughter handed the girl a new crayon, and then moved her hand to where the flower was. She watched in disbelief as the girl started coloring a small patch of about one square inch. A glance at the table showed her that this wasn't the first picture done that way. More than a dozen pictures were scattered around on the table. Most had obviously been completed by Annabelle, but several were signed with Stephanie's name.
"So what do you think? Mrs… Sarah?" Stephanie corrected herself quickly. "Should I have put my name on any of them?"
Sarah heard Will choke back a laugh, and glared over at him while he struggled to contain his laughter. She was about to make a tactful answer of her own when she was beaten to it.
"That good huh?" Stephanie said with a laugh of her own. "I have no idea what they look like, but at least I tried." She added good naturedly.
"They pwetty Stephy!" Annabelle promptly protested hotly.
"Well since I can't see it, I'll have to take your word for it Belle. That's why I signed every one of them!" Stephanie said with a smile as she turned her head in Annabelle's direction.
When Sarah tried to give her the money at the door Stephanie just had to refuse. "Nah! You keep it. I don't really know what to do with it. Besides, today was the best time I've had in years. We didn't eat the sandwiches, because she said she wasn't hungry every time I asked her, but we did drink the juice pouches."
"Stephanie… are you sure? You don't have a whole lot to your name right now, and you kept watch over Annabelle for four hours, and I want you to know that I appreciate that. So are you really sure that you won't let me pay you for your help?" Sarah said reasonably.
"I'm sure. You took me to Wal-Mart and bought me a bunch of clothes and stuff. You didn't have to do that, but you did… so I can at least watch over Annabelle to say thanks." Stephanie argued nicely.
"First of all Stephanie… that was Prowl's money that I spent at the store, not mine. So all I really did was take you there and help you pick out some of the stuff you needed." Sarah began.
"Still, you didn't have to. Besides, Belle's fun. She reminds me a lot of my little sister." Stephanie interrupted. "Even her voice is the same." She added almost under her breath.
"Well… if you're sure. But next time, you're getting paid; understand?" Sarah returned firmly.
"Okay." Stephanie agreed reluctantly. "Is Jazz or Prowl here, so I can go back to their home now?"
"Jazz is away from the base for a while, but Prowl can come pick you up shortly if you want to wait for him. I can take you to meet with him, or to their quarters, if you like." Chromia said as she studied the girl who had been supervising Annabelle.
"And who are you?" The girl demanded in a very suspicious tone as she turned around.
"My designation or name… is Chromia. I am…"
"You're one of the Autobots like Jazz and Prowl! Mrs. Lennox told me about you while she was having breakfast with me, Jazz, and Prowl this morning. She said you aren't a grump like Humbug! My name's Stephanie, but you can call me Steph if you want." Stephanie exclaimed brightly as she interrupted the bot in her excitement.
"I am not familiar with anyone named 'Humbug'. May I ask who or what that is?" Chromia asked cautiously.
"That's what I'm calling Ratchet. He wants to be grumpy and act like a Humbug, I'm gonna call him Humbug, and I already told him that too!" Stephanie exclaimed.
Chromia couldn't help but laugh. She knew that Stephanie didn't know any of the bots all that well, but the fact that she was now going to call Ratchet by a descriptive title rather than his actual designation was somewhat funny. Then, once she had looked the term up on the human's internet, she was laughing even harder.
"I think I will leave that one between you and Ratchet. I have already seen how irate he can get when he's addressed by something other than his name, so I strongly advise against doing that again." Chromia said still chuckling.
"Well, I told him that I was gonna call him that, and I did call him that too!" Stephanie declared firmly.
Chromia was surprised by that declaration. Most of those who chose to insult the Medic by calling him something other than his name, weren't willing to brag about it afterwards because of the rather formidable retaliation from said Medic. In fact, most only did so in a fit of anger, because the Medic usually responded with a wrench.
"Well Stephanie, let me tell you that Ratchet is very irritable and easily angered, and calling him something other than his name will really make him angry." Chromia warned.
"Maybe… but he shouldn't have ticked me off like he did. So he started it." Stephanie proclaimed sourly.
William Lennox had watched in silence as the girl encountered Chromia for the first time. He saw when Stephanie was first offered the ride, which was somewhat rare for Chromia. Because while she wasn't as arrogant as Mirage, or as vain and prejudiced as Sunstreaker, she was simply… picky about the people she chose to allow in her alt mode. But as soon as the offer had been made, Stephanie had gone from smiling to highly suspicious, and more than a bit hostile. Suddenly the girl's entire attitude had changed upon learning who she was speaking to.
It seemed to Will, that Chromia rather liked the girl, which was another mark in her favor as far as he was concerned. He considered his wife to be an excellent judge of character, and she liked the girl, so that was a big mark right there. Then, there was the way that Annabelle also liked the girl. He knew that his daughter was only five years old, but Annabelle was already able to determine who she could trust and who she couldn't. The bots were an excellent example of that. Even though she had the most contact with Hide, Chromia, and Ratchet, she sometimes interacted with Optimus, Elita, Arcee, Bee, and even Prowl. She laughed at Ratchet's grouchiness, because she thought he was funny in the way that he was always grumpy, but she trusted each of them without any questions. She had never once interacted with Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, or Mirage because she wanted nothing to do with them.
Will thought that it was strange, because while Annabelle had basically grown up with the bots, there were some that she wanted nothing to do with. Then there was the way that she seemed to have latched on to this Stephanie. He knew that he didn't know much about her, and that alone bothered him. He'd have to find out if Sarah knew anything.
"Hey Stephy! You come back amowwow?" Annabelle called out loudly from the doorway.
Will turned to look at his daughter and saw the hopeful expression on her face. He could easily see that she was excited by the prospect.
"I'd like that Belle, but you'll have to ask your mom and dad, so they can talk to Prowl about it." Stephanie called out as she got in the sapphire blue Cadillac Escalade.
Will watched as Chromia drove off with Stephanie in the passenger seat talking animatedly and smiling brightly. Later that night, as they were getting ready for bed, he asked his wife about her.
"Her story isn't at all a pleasant one Will. What information I have is from both Stephanie herself, and what she's told Prowl. What she remembers is that one minuet; she's at home celebrating her birthday, and leaning over to blow out the candles… the next, she's waking up in the hospital severely injured, blind, and being told that her mother, father, and little sister are dead with no explanation of why. Prowl says that Stephanie's burns are the result of a plasma shot hitting something else and her getting caught in the splash damage. She was rendered permanently blind by the near miss searing her retinas. Other kids stole what little she had while at a foster home, and made some very cruel jokes about how she could be hurt or killed by sliding something at her feet while she was preparing to go down some stairs. That's why she ran away from there and has been living in the sewers ever since." Sarah told him candidly.
"Okay… so how does Prowl know that it was a plasma shot that did a number on her?" Will asked skeptically.
"Prowl knows that's the case because Stephanie's scarring contains a residual energy pattern that human technology can't detect or duplicate. He can't tell if it was caused by fire from a Bot or Con, because it's too old, but he did say that if it was a Bot, there were only two present who had a cannon with enough power to do that. Those two are Optimus and Ironhide." Sarah answered in a sad tone.
Sarah really didn't like the facts that Prowl had pointed out to her, because she happened to be very fond of both of the bots in question. The problem was; Prowl wasn't going to rule out any possibilities. That meant both Optimus and Ironhide were suspected culprits until they were cleared by the memory logs.
"What about the Cons? Did any of them have the firepower to do that kind of damage?" Will asked getting interested in spite of the subject matter.
"According to Prowl… all of them except Barricade." Sarah answered heavily.
"There were four of 'em that made it downtown. That's a lot of suspects." Will said softly as he sighed in frustration.
"I know, Will. I know. But Prowl isn't going to just let this one go. He said straight out that whoever is guilty needs to make restitution to Stephanie, because that is the way their laws work." Sarah said quietly.
Since neither Jazz nor Prowl were anywhere close at hand, Chromia took Stephanie to the Rec Room. She had to admit that she rather liked talking with Stephanie who was curious about her, and asked all sorts of questions… including more than a few that were highly personal in nature. She wasn't about to explain that yes… Cybertronians could reproduce and have babies or sparklings, nor was she going to explain any details about it.
"If you are unable to see, then how do you intend to go over the menu?" Chromia asked interestedly.
"Well, Prowl gave me the categories yesterday, and let me pick what kind of food I wanted from that, but since I know what I want this will be easy." Stephanie replied quickly.
"Okay then. You tell me what you want, and I'll place the order." Chromia said with a smile.
"I want a tuna sandwich, and a small bowl of beef vegetable soup with lots and lots of crackers. A bucket of milk and a cup of coffee to drink." Stephanie answered brightly with a big smile.
Chromia had to reset her processors when she heard the order, but she relayed it exactly as it had been phrased, she also added a cube of heated energon for herself since she wasn't going to be rude by not consuming something.
It wasn't even five minuets before the KP soldier was bringing their order to them.
Chromia saw the soldier look at her, and then at Stephanie before looking around to see the rest of the room empty.
"Okay, I brought a thirty-two ounce glass of milk, but if you really meant a bucket, I can go find one and bring it." He said doubtfully.
"That's fine! I can always get another one right?" Stephanie asked quickly.
"U… ye… su… sure." The soldier stammered as he shook his head before setting the order down and leaving.
The first thing Stephanie did was feel out the location of the large glass of milk, before sliding it closer to her. She leaned forward, tipped the glass towards her, and started gulping down the ice cold milk as fast as she could without getting a headache. After a total of ten swallows, she set the glass back down and let out a very contented sigh.
"Now that… is good!" Stephanie said while licking the white mustache off her upper lip.
Chromia couldn't help but laugh. The way the human girl had looked, it was like a very small sparkling diving into a very large cube of energon. The issue on the other servo, was that the girl looked as if she were thoroughly pleased with her order.
"Well at least I can make you laugh. Getting Prowl to laugh hasn't worked out so far." Stephanie said glumly.
Chromia spluttered and nearly choked on the energon that she'd started to sip. "You're trying to get Prowl to laugh? Be sure and let me know if you ever make it happen!"
"Okay, but I have to tell you… so far, he's a real stick in the mud! I haven't gotten him to laugh at any of my jokes yet. And I thought I did some good ones too!" Stephanie said with a frown as she started crumbling her crackers into her soup.
Chromia observed this with interest, because although she'd been on Earth for over a year, she had not seen anyone do something like this before. "What are you doing? I thought you wanted to eat those?"
"I'm going to eat this too! Haven't you ever seen someone crush their crackers in their soup before?" Stephanie asked without pausing in her actions.
"No, I can't say that I have. Is that a common practice?" Chromia asked.
"Sure!" Stephanie answered quickly before frowning in thought. "At least… I think it is. I've never heard of anyone who didn't crush their crackers in their soup. I do that same thing with chili too, but then I also like lots of shredded cheese and some onions in it too. Fritos are great in chili! Add a ton of Fritos, a bunch of cheese, and some onions and you have Frito Pie! And that is some good stuff!" She added brightly while smiling.
"If that's the case, then why aren't you eating that now?" Asked a new voice.
Stephanie recognized that voice instantly. "Humbug! I didn't hear you come in. When'd you get here?"
"I just entered, but I did hear you tell Chromia about the chili and the Frito Pie, so why aren't you eating one of those items instead? Because it certainly sounds as if you enjoy them." Ratchet answered.
"I do enjoy those! But I think chili will be a little too rich and spicy for me right now. I have to get used to eating again first." Stephanie answered quickly.
Chromia stared at the human girl in surprise. As far as she understood things, humans could not survive for too long without proper sustenance… so why had the girl not been eating?
"You make a very good argument for not eating such things yet. I also notice that you have a smaller portion than you did yesterday… is there a reason for that?" Ratchet observed.
"Yeah! It's not like I can go jogging or something so I'm cutting back some, so I don't get wider than I am tall. There's no way I'm gonna let myself get fat!" Stephanie replied quickly.
"I take it that you have never been on a treadmill then?" Ratchet asked.
"I've seen those, but I've never been on one." Stephanie said before she really thought about it. "Do you really think I could use one? Where would I even find one of those?"
"There are several here on the base. It can be arranged for you to visit the exercise room and gymnasium… there is also a swimming pool and a hot tub if you are interested." Ratchet allowed with his optics narrowed at the girl. Ratchet wasn't an idiot by any stretch of the imagination, and it seemed that Stephanie, actually did care about her health, and did what she was able to do as far as maintaining her current level of health such as it was. Not only was she blind, but with almost no use of her left arm, and restricted mobility in her torso, she had to be careful in what exercises she did.
"Well, it's not like I can go swimming, since I can't use my left arm to swim with, but the hot tub sounds great! What other kinds of exercise stuff do you think I could use?" Stephanie asked with a smile before taking a bite of her soup.
Chromia remained silent while the two were discussing health issues. She had known Ratchet far too long not to know what he was like when interrupted in such matters. That was not something she planned on doing. What did concern her though were the few comments she had picked up on. Why did Stephanie need to become accustomed to eating again? Why was her left arm unusable? Curiosity prompted her to scan the girl, and when she did her mouth dropped open in shock. At some point in the past, she had been hit by a blast from a plasma cannon. Given the rather limited area of damage, it could only have been the splash damage, but still. She could see from her scan that Stephanie was severely underweight, and somewhat malnourished, and it was obvious that this is what was being discussed by the CMO.
"I would suggest and exercise bike and a stair climbing machine in addition to the treadmill. Granted, those will only build your legs and endurance, but your mobility poses some problems in that area." Ratchet said with a grin. He just could not believe that someone was actually asking him for advice on their medical condition, and that was something that truly warmed his spark.
"Is that stuff in the exercise room too?" Stephanie asked before stuffing her mouth with more of the soup that was actually rather chunky because of all the crackers in it.
"Yes it is, and I will make certain that Jazz or Prowl take you to the exercise room at least twice each week." Ratchet replied quickly.
Stephanie frowned at that, and she shot a really nasty glare in the direction that Humbug's voice was coming from before taking another gulp of her milk. Once she swallowed she again turned her head towards Humbug. "Keep dreaming Humbug! I'm going everyday if I have to find out how to get there by walking. It's one thing to get fat because you can't do anything, but I can still do stuff, and I will!"
Ratchet recoiled as if he'd been struck. Now he thought that he understood why Stephanie was always so angry at him. With her body in the condition that it was, she had to take as much care as she possibly could with her health. It was bad enough that she was severely limited in what types of physical activity she could do, but add in the environment that she'd been living in, and it was enough to make his processors short out.
"If you plan to exercise everyday, then you need to limit yourself to no more than half an hour. Use the stair climber first, then the treadmill, and the bike last… understand?" ratchet stipulated firmly.
"Now there's a gripe that makes sense Humbug! If you're gonna do nothing but gripe me out all the time, you need to at least make sure it's a gripe you can use!" Stephanie replied with a smirk.
Chromia could no longer help it, she burst out laughing hard and loud! Part of what made the situation so funny was that Stephanie had yet to call Ratchet by his proper name. The other part was that this little human was giving even better than she was getting! Ratchet was being beaten at his own game.