Ep 1 - Yakkity Sax (Open!)

[Deleted]

((OOC: Set after Why did it have to be mud thread.))

Miko found that if she sat in the desk on the far side of the classroom, she could look outside and watch the distant flats and not actually pay attention to the work she was supposed to be doing. Detention was punishment, all right, but it was doing wonders for her imagination. Already her attention was less on the algebra and more on the hawk circling in the clear sky.

She wasn't much of a nature person but with Bulkhead, she was starting to appreciate things she'd not really paid much attention to before. Before she'd have seen the hawk and thought "big deal" but now she thought "what was it hunting?" Small things like that was what her friend had taught her. This thinking outside the box business.

Wish I could think myself outside of this classroom. With a sigh, she shoved the paper away from her hand and dug around for her phone in her pocket. Ten more minutes and she was free to leave. Maybe she could go pester Jack at his job and con a milkshake off of him. Providing she could get a ride.

After school detention was stupid anyway. And she sure as slag wasn't calling her busy body exchange parents. With the slyness of a ferret slipping into a hen house, Miko texted Raf asking him politely (ordering) to get someone to pick her up from the Autobot base. Anyone would do, even that twitchy guy.

...Actually, scratch that. She would rather walk than have to endure one more lecture from Red Alert. Right as she got a answering ping back, the bell chimed the end of her sentence and she rocketed out of the classroom. Her algebra homework left lying on the floor in her wake. Now all she had to do was make it to the pickup point and she was home free!

[Deleted]

Pick up Miko.

Rook was a big fan of instinct. You worked in solitude long enough, you got used to listening to that tiny, whispering voice that told you secrets, drew your optic to hidden sights. Call it your spark, your pump, the itching under your plating, whatever you wanted, that little voice was hardly ever wrong.

And it was currently shouting at him. Really, really loudly.

Miko was... Primus, Rook didn't even know what to say. Granted, his interactions with the kid had been as limited as one could make them when stuck on the same planet, in the same building, with the same company. Shadow-work didn't lend itself to carrying tiny squishlings about, no matter how often she asked. But there was enough in the logs to make a mech recoil from the data alone. Things just... happened around Miko, far more than in the presence of any other organic 'Bot acquaintance. There were words to describe that kind of critter, half of them not polite. Rook was partial to something that very closely translated to 'karma-bomb'.

'Karma-bomb', however, was not a good excuse for getting out of something so seemingly mellow as the command to go pick up Miss Detention (Yet Again) from school. In fact, karma-bomb was rarely if ever a good excuse for anything until after the fact.

Well, it got him out of the base and on the road. In, out, gone and back, really, how bad could it really be?

Thus the Aero found himself driving down the nondescript streets of little nondescript Jasper, listening to something on the trance spectrum simply for the soothing vibrations it put out through his speakers. He rather liked the town; unlike most of the Autobot everyday, Jasper was quiet, peaceful, hardly anything ever happened there. Must say something about me, that I'd take dull over what I've got any day of the week.

A traffic light stopped him two blocks down from the school. His instructions were to circle around to a designated pick-up area. In preemptive courtesy to his future passenger, Rook dropped the music's volume to something less brutally window-rattling, and fiddled around until he found some classic rock.

In and out, gone and back, no mess, no fuss.

He really rather wished his little inner voice would stop screaming...

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Miko didn't mind walking. Or hiking. All forms of activity were fun when there was something to see or somewhere to be. Unfortunately gym class didn't appeal to her 'delicate senses' so she usually opted out. Which is generally what led to detention. There were only so many times she could stuff her gym clothes in a random location to claim she'd lost them before the teachers caught on.

Walking to the pick up point wasn't that bad even if it was nearly half a mile away. Bee and Arcee would drive all the way up to the school doors if they wanted but, as June had pointed out, there were only so many times fancy, differentcars could arrive to pick the children up before someone started to get suspicious. Miko didn't bother telling her that her father owned more than three luxury cars that sat in a garage unused.

She hummed a song that she'd forgotten the lyrics too. Recently she'd gotten into a more relaxed group called Dark Tranquility. Normally she scoffed the 'lighter' metal groups but she couldn't ignore what had to be one of the bigger pioneers in the delicate field of melodic death metal. Try saying that ten times fast.

A shadow glided over her and she turned, looking up to the bright sky to spot a vulture spiraling downward to perch on a scraggly tree. Without really thinking the action through, she whipped open her phone and snapped a picture. Vulture in a dead tree. Now that was metal. What wasn't so metal was the vehicle sitting in the shade facing her. ...well, no, wait that was metal. But not metal metal.

"I need to find a new word." She picked up her pace and headed for the pickup spot without trying to make it too obvious that there was an enemy nearby watching her. Which meant she was entirely obvious to the point that a mime would think her too overblown.

[Deleted]

Idling next to the curb and waiting for his passenger, Rook was trying to find some musical middle ground that wouldn't have Miko fiddling with the radio the moment she hopped in. Her tastes in music were, ah, not of the soothing variety, at all. While the spook could appreciate the need for shrieking electric guitars and percussive cacophony, his tolerance for it was as limited as Miko's was boundless.

In the end he settled for something where the bodies were hitting the ground and something had to give - Primus knew what; probably the singer's voice. It wasn't great, but the undertones rattled pleasantly against his frame and he could try and ignore the rest of it.

A door clicked unlocked when he saw his quarry approaching at last. "Taking your time," he murmured to himself; he would have expected Miko to be racing pell-mell for escape, honestly. Well, live and learn.

As she got herself in, he offered, "Didn't forget anything important back there, I hope? Seatbelt, please."

[Deleted]

Miko figured out one downside to knowing wickedly cool robots...trying to figure out how to open the doors of several exotic, weird vehicles. Most of the time the Bots just negated the need by flinging the door open. But all it took was one of them whacking Raff right off of his feet to consider the action a little more dangerous than usual. Spoil sports.

"Yeah, I forgot my homework where I left it." On purpose. On the floor where it belonged. Which was not what she was going to tell him. What she did have to say was way more exciting. She reached forward to turn the radio dial down. "I'm being watched! How cool is that? You going to get him?"

She stared at the steering wheel with wide, excited eyes and practically bled manic delight into his seats.

[Deleted]

"Yeah, I forgot my homework where I left it."

Rook blew a low, quiet sigh through the AC vents. "Seriously? Isn't that the kind of thing that lands you in detention to begin with?" The door clicked locked and the Aero pulled away from the curb sedately. Some part of him was grateful she'd dropped the volume to something that didn't require further shouting to communicate.

Miko wasn't... bad, per se. She was so full of energy it was like watching a spinning minicon on racing-grade energon - it could be entertaining, until you realized it wasn't going to stop any time soon. There were days when it was tiring just watching her activities, and how Bulkhead kept up with her was beyond him.

And then there were days when Rook had to wonder how, if she was a typical example of the race, had humans managed to hang around for so long. Boundless energy, utmost curiosity and an apparent lack of self-preservation didn't really seem like a good mix conducive to--

Wait, what?

The spook braked a little more sharply than he'd meant at a stop sign, and it was only ingrained instinct that had him pull forward sedately at the designated area speed. Inwardly he was kicking himself for losing focus. You never lost focus, no matter how simple the job seemed.

"What did you say? Who? Where?"

[Deleted]

Adults seemed to have this ability to completely not hear what a younger, smarter person was telling them. This seemed to be a trait shared by every species, or at least by the Autobots and humans. Miko could drone on and on to Ratchet and he'd hear and process every other word. It was no wonder he was cranky with her all the time. He didn't listen to vital, key, very important information she was imparting on him. Apparently the same could be said for this guy.

"Wow, slow to the uptake there." She winced at the bite of the seat belt into her chest. "Maybe you shouldn't think and drive at the same time. And I said I was being watched. Clearly I am very important...that or it is a slow day for the Deceptipunks."

She liked to think it was the former over the later.

[Deleted]

It was entirely possible that another mech, and most human adults, would have taken the time to doubt Miko's words. She was young and she had definitely presented herself as the kind that spoke before she thought, all qualities that gave ample room to believe her mistaken.

Rook preferred paranoia. And paranoia said to always believe the worst of a situation, which was to believe that yes, she had been followed and yes, by a Decepticon. It was not her job to prove her assumptions right, it was his to prove them wrong. If possible.

Active scans were out of the question; they'd sell him out, and if the game was passive so far it behooved the well-being of the squishy on his passenger seat that it remain so. Passive scans were risky; the 'Con might have a sensor to the ground himself, and catch a whiff of them.

Most of what he could have done, Rook realized with resigned irritation, was negated by the fact that he had a human inside him. Bulkhead might be used to working around Miko; the fact the big guy was somehow capable of that feat never failed to impress the spook. Rook, however, was nowhere near as familiar with combat workarounds pertaining the locals.

Flat out, all he could do was subtly shift his mirrors and take in his surroundings in the most physical of senses. The tail in question was good, but not good enough.

"There he is." The spook's voice had gone a little cool and distant, but he was quick to remind himself that he had a passenger who needed protection, likely in more ways than one. "The reason's moot; the action's problem enough." The Aero sedately took another turn, heading away from suburbia and certainly not en route to the base. "Can't do anything that wouldn't jostle you, Miko, and I mean that in the physically harmful kind of way. Unless you have a better idea, we'll just see where we can take this guy. See if he actually knows who and what he's following."

[Deleted]

"Can't do anything that wouldn't jostle you, Miko, and I mean that in the physically harmful kind of way. Unless you have a better idea, we'll just see where we can take this guy. See if he actually knows who and what he's following."

She groaned and resisted the urge to cross her arms. That was childish and she wasn't a child. But Rook was so..so...tame! This playing it safe was straight up boring. There was an easy solution right here they could do. Rook could smash the Con into paste, simple as that! Not take him on a trip around town!

"The creep isn't here to go on a tour, Rook. No one would want to see the greater sights of Jasper." At the moment she couldn't decide which she was more disappointed in: the Con stalker or the lying town itself. They were both ranking pretty steady with one another.

"You know, if Bulk was here he'd..." She trailed off thinking of exactly what he would do. They were near a suburb, in the outer edge of the town, surrounded by people and Miko was there. With a mental frowny face, Miko realized exactly what Bulkhead would do. Drat! "Ah...that is..."

[Deleted]

"You know, if Bulk was here he'd...

Rook could have answered that half-a-thought in a dozen different ways; he found it infinitely amusing that he didn't have to. Many things could be said of Miko and her partnership, but if there was one thing Bulkhead seemed to have gotten into her was honesty when it came to the big mech.

A low, wry chuckle sounded from the spook. "Didn't think so."

Which didn't solve their problem any. "Taking him down's easy, Miko. It's the rest of the fallout that's the problem." There were times, like the current, when Rook partially understood why Bulkhead and Miko had fallen in with each other so smoothly: human or not, there was a very... Wrecker kind of thinking behind the kid's oh-so-innocent and chipper appearance: to get the job done and damn the consequences.

Rook, on the other hand, was used to trying to cover as many potential variables around him as he could. Every house and parked car was a liability; every corner could hide another local on their way out to somewhere - home, store, friend's, health. Engaging the 'Con in the middle of Jasper, where the school nestled, was as close to unlikely as it got.

"So, while a plan actually comes up, we drive. I can at least try and lose him in traffic, first. He hasn't attacked yet, so it's a fair bet that going offensive is not the primary plan." Which meant he could take a corner and head, paradoxically, deeper into Jasper, seeking out busier streets. "Bulk's always saying you're good at thinking outside the box. Any ideas of your own?"

[Deleted]

"I told you my idea." She shifted in the seat, glancing in the rearview mirror at the would-be enemy. "Buuut, if June found out we had recklessly engaged in combat with civilians around, we'd be burnt toast."

Out of all of the authority figures at the base, Jack's mom had risen in the top to be the scariest threat. Not even Megatron could quite do the "mom look" as well as Mrs Darby. That woman had a patent on stern, unforgiving looks. Ratchet was a close second but his just seemed off somehow. Possibly because he didn't have the power to command a human being to stay into their room until they were twenty-one.

Miko screwed up her face, trying to think outside the box as Bulk had so helpfully recommended. Problem was, she was a doer, not a thinker. It was easier to attack rather than try and play tag-waitaminute!

"...you familiar with the game hide and seek?"

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Rook, honestly, didn't know what to think of the fact a human maternal presence, one not even blood-related to Miko, had the power to check her far more roundly than the very real, very present potential consequences of her actions. Material damage or civilian casualties? Pshaw. Prime's sure disapproval of either? Whatever.

Mrs. Darby's judgment? Behold the human would-be Wrecker dutifully behave.

Then again he probably shouldn't be questioning the luck of it; he was busy as it was trying to figure out where he could lose their tail without endangering anyone...

"...you familiar with the game hide and seek?"

Rook's quiet engine idled at another stop sign for just a moment, the music from the speakers dropping a few notches. Leave it to the kid...

Just like that, his mental perspective went through a radical shift. He'd been analyzing the streets from ground level, measuring traffic, counting traffic lights, trying to get out of heavily inhabited zones; he'd been planning for a flat-out run to somewhere, anywhere, where his speed and agility, even in alt-mode, would let him leave his tail behind. It hadn't occurred to him (yet, he conceded to his nonexistent pride), that he didn't have to.

His inner perception shifted. Satellite views, bird's-eye cameras and weather tower information were hunted down and overlaid, giving him the beginnings of a vast overview of not-so-vast Jasper. The town wasn't big, but it was big enough when you started thinking about optical obstacles, cul-de-sacs, dead-ends, blind spots.

He didn't even have to be on his feet to play this game. "I like the way you think. Let's throw a bit of Hot Potato in there and it sounds like a good way to pass an afternoon. I can play decoy if we can find you another ride." And if our friend back there decides to do things the hard way, you'll have a getaway while I take the 'joy' out of his afternoon joyride.

Rook kept that to himself, again planning for the worst and hoping for... well, the worst, too, but that was just his way. Instead of making his endlessly sedate way out of Jasper, the Aero flicked on a blinker and headed further into the busier sections of town. "Got any preferences or am I calling in favors?"

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"I like the way you think. Let's throw a bit of Hot Potato in there and it sounds like a good way to pass an afternoon. I can play decoy if we can find you another ride."

"Um, duh? I'm great." Miko had no small illusions about herself. She was a military fox! ...well, ok, maybe not quite a fox. More like one of those slinky creatures that they made fur coats out of. Weasel? Or was it ferrets? She made a mental note to ask Raf next time she saw him. He always had useless trivia like that for her.

"Got any preferences or am I calling in favors?"

"Not Red Alert!" The words came out almost by reflex by now. Rating up there with such sound advice as 'don't tell June' and 'don't let Optimus catch you doing that.' Because all three of those dreaded things ended in a solid, horrible lecture. She'd had so many of them, she'd almost rather take on a Con by herself. As if that would happen anytime. Pft.

"Sorry, dude. But we got so many newbies that I can't keep up with them." She knew Arcee would be busy with Jack. She wasn't sure what they got up to, but she was certain it wasn't helping Jack's social life. She wasn't sure why he was even interested in trying to ask some girl out when so much cool stuff was going on in this boring state. Finally! Some action and he was worrying over that red-headed girl from school.

[Deleted]

"Not Red Alert!"

Rook tried. He really did try to feel guilty about it, given the immediacy of Miko's refusal. Pit, he did his best to stay out of the Sec. Chief's path, himself, just because, well...

Red was Red. The guy overseeing security is usually never on good terms with the guy bypassing that security to get out of base when his wheels got itchy (and sometimes, just to see if he could. Which wasn't often anymore. Dude was good.)

.... Nope. Not even a smidgeon of guilt. Because, again, Red was Red. If anyone could get the kid off Rook's hands and safely back to base, it'd be the gentleman who thought safety involved twenty cameras all aimed at the same door.

"Modesty itself, you are", he murmured to himself, nothing but an undertone below the music. He turned and took one of the faster, busier roads towards the commercial center of Jasper, running a quick search for underground parking lots, and his voice rose. "Me? Call Red? Miko, really. Who do you think you're talking to?"

And he was already on the comm. pinging the mech he surely would never ever call? Him? Never.

Hey, Red Alert? Now, don't go jumping to conclusions, because I didn't do anything. Inwardly, Rook added a very silent 'yet'. Either Miko or I picked up a passive tail, and I can't shake it off without... the obvious issue. Need a pass-along for Miko so I can take this guy somewhere private.

[Deleted]

Red Alert was not ashamed to admit that he generally expected the worst. There was nothing wrong with that, as far as he was concerned. He firmly believed that preparing oneself for the worst case scenario was just sensible planning, not excessive worrying, despite how many people tried to argue against him on that point.

That being said, when Rook commed him (unexpectedly, out of the blue), he immediately did what the mech told him not to and jumped to conclusions. Partly because when mecha prefaced their calls with disclaimers that everything was okay, that usually meant that everything was not, in fact, okay, and partly because mecha rarely ever commed him unless slag was hitting the fan. There was simply an unspoken rule that he was not to be bothered with personal messages, as he reserved his comm.line for emergency transmissions and matters of business. Seeing as he was in the business of preventing slag from hitting the fan and performing damage control in the event slag hit the fan anyway, the former and the latter usually blended together.

So, it was little wonder he was expecting Rook’s message to reveal some sort of terrible even had or was about to occur. He wasn’t wrong, exactly, either. That passive tail of Rook’s might not stay passive for long, and while Red Alert was (relatively) certain the mech could hold his own against the average vehicon, he was considerably less confident in Miko’s ability to stay out of harm’s way while she was stuck in the middle of it all. The little human femme seemed oblivious to the fact she was made of flesh not steel, and if things turned violent between Rook and that Decepticon…

Red Alert most certainly did NOT want her to discover how fragile she truly was the hard way. Primus forbid she wound up injured, or worse, whether because of the actions of the Decepticon following her and Rook, or her own eagerness to throw caution to the wind in an effort to assist her considerably more sturdy companion.

Hence why he didn’t even bother passing Rook’s message along to someone else, to do the job in his stead. He simply dropped the dataslate he was pouring over onto his desk, stood abruptly from his seat, and briskly made his way out of the door of his office and into the hall.

::I’ll be there in a few kliks. Do not engage the mech until I get there. Avoid confrontation at all cost::

Unspoken, but obvious: Do not risk harm to Miko or any of the surrounding humans by letting the passive tail get the chance to become offensive.