1.5-Terrible Life Choices(And Other Las Vegas Attractions)-F

[Deleted]

Wash squeezed past him and into the hall.

“Not to worry,” he said. “I’ve already called Agent Fowler to the ’accident’ scene. He and his people should be taking control of it from the police as we speak. He was very interested in getting his hands on suspected MECH personnel. So, no official reprimand for us from the big man today. I think he's pleased enough with our results to overlook how exactly we came about them. Oh, this is a nice house.”

He brushed his hand over the wall and grinned at Blue.

“Rather like that colour,” he said and strolled towards the kitchen, confident and relaxed.

Carly was waiting for them both inside. She stood by the fridge, a bottle of iced tea in hand. She looked uncertainly at Wash when he stepped inside before looking behind him at Bluestreak.

“Good afternoon,” said Wash pleasantly. “Washington Morgan, Department of Homeland Security. Beautiful place you have here. What is it – two beds, two baths? Ooh, granite countertops.”

He made a line to the counter and laid his hands appreciatively on the dark stone. “Oh, this is nice. What is this, Black Impala?”

Carly gawped at him. In his button-down shirt and Bermuda shorts, he did not cut a particularly impressive figure. She looked at Bluestreak with one eyebrow raised, a questioning look on her face.

[Bluestreak]

"Awesome," Bluestreak replied, his avatar sagging a bit in the hall, rocking back on the heels of his cowboy boots. Whew. Hey, it was awesome. Fowler wasn't upset, they had MECH agents in their hands, and hey, no riprimands about smacking into cars in Vegas and causing a scene while trying to help someone they didn't know.

"What --oh, the wall," he echoed, even as Wash sauntered past him.The sharpshooter eyed the paint.

You know, it really was a nice color, but... Bluestreak peeked out the door and then carefully shut it behind them. He threw the deadbolt again, just in case something happened, never hurt to give yourself a few extra seconds. Locks were your friends; he'd learned that from an old patrol he'd been with. Sniping from buildings meant you needed to put everything you could between you and those trying to get up there to stop you.

Then he chuckled and stepped after Wash back into the comfortable kitchen. Light streamed through the doors and pooled warmly on the tile.

He knew he looked as confused as Carly as Wash remarked on the details of her house and watched as the other mech's avatar cheerfully set his hand on the pretty countertop. His voice was easy, light, he gave his name - oh Washington. Well, that wouldn't have worked for him. Blueington. Even he knew that didn't sound right. Blue it was.

At least he'd remember to answer to it.

He smiled at Carly and shook his head at her raised brow. Yeah. Wash at times was so smart it lost him too. Glad to know he wasn't the only one.

"The house stuff you're talking about is way over my head, Wash," he admitted with a laugh. It was accompanied by a hand whoosh over his avatar's hair. "Seriously, I'm afraid the only black Impala I know is a really nice car. Super nice car, I checked out a few of them before I settled on the Datsun. Just fit me better, you know? Liked the handling. I like them though, the Impalas. Sleek looking. Pretty. Great bumper, gorgeous flared fenders..."

Whoops. Mind your manners, Blue.

"Wash, this is Carly," he said quickly with a grin before eagerly gesturing between them in introduction. "Carly, this is my partner, Washington."

"Carly's an engineer for Rolls Royce," he told the other Autobot. "Er, and she's got a pretty good idea about why those creeps thought chasing her down was the way they wanted to spend a day in Vegas."

[Deleted]

Still clutching her bottle of iced tea, Carly edged a little closer to Bluestreak. She watched Wash with wide eyes.

"Yes!" she said. She nodded at Bluestreak. "Yes! Um, what he said. Those jerks who were following me. I was telling Mr, um... I was telling Blue all about them before you got here. They were basically a headhunting attempt gone horribly wrong. They wanted to hire me, and then when I said no I think they sort of wanted to threaten or kill me to keep me quiet, or... are you okay?"

Wash had bent over and put his eye to the countertop. He squinted at it, his hands ghosting over the glossy surface as he checked how level it was. At her question he straightened back up again.

"Yes, sorry about that," he said. He flashed her a brilliant smile. "An engineer for Rolls, you say? What area do you work in?"

"I can't really say," said Carly. She bit her lip. "Well, maybe I could to the DHS, but... right now I'm a mechanical engineer doing work in the defense aerospace sector. And hey, that reminds me."

She frowned and put one hand on her hip, her brow wrinkling. "I was supposed to see some ID here."

Wash blinked at her.

"Of course," he said, and dug a wallet out of his back pocket. He flipped it open and stood beside her to show her a blue and white card. "Here's mine. And here's Blue's, since he left it in my car."

Amused, he flipped to another card. While Carly studied it he looked over her head and winked at Bluestreak.

"Oh, that's too cool," said Carly. She looked up at Bluestreak, her eyes sparkling. "You really work for the DHS? That is so awesome. I don't suppose you guys do protection or anything like that, do you? Because right now my homeland does not feel particularly secure."

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak wasn't sure if he should settle back into the chair or stand, and he certainly wasn't quite sure what was going on with her reaction to Wash. Then again, he wasn't what the heck was up with Wash. He eyed the other mech's avatar as it bent over and eyed the glossy surface and checked it like a buyer on home and garden television. Not a bad channel, but full of shrubs. Human beings seemed to have a fascination with shrubs, that was for sure.

However, whatever she was worried about seemed to smooth out rather quickly when Wash produced identification. Bluestreak couldn't help but lean a bit forward to see what she was looking at- maybe he could read what he was just in case she asked him again in this conversation. Otherwise he'd feel a little caught out.

Sort of like a guy who left his ID in his partner's car. Whoops. He returned the wink with an apologetic bob of his head and a good-natured, easy grin. "Whoops," he countered. "My bad. At least I wasn't pulled over during all this, I guess."

"Yeah," he replied. "We do, uh, it is? Awesome, I mean?"

Bluestreak settled his avatar lean carefully against the counter that Wash had just vacated, unsure about the protocol when it came to the table. So this was a compromise. He shifted his weight over his hip and tucked one long leg and boot behind the other; an unconscious mirror of the way he would have done it as a mech. "Aw, I can't say anyone's called my job awesome in a long time. I mean, it's just- well, it's not an engineering degree."

He was utterly truthful about that statement.

You could teach someone to shoot. In fact, you could probably teach anyone with a minorly functioning relay system to shoot. Given enough time and practice, they could learn to shoot well. He had and he didn't start out with some innate knowledge, some special something. He'd met lots of mechs with better reflexes and bigger guns.

Engineers were like medics, you- had to have talent and that way to think outside of the box. You were a problem solver on so many different levels. Mechanical, physical, mental. Why did that not do what you needed it to do, and how to make it do what you did. Puzzles.. Leaps of logic. Not his shining moment sometimes.

A frown crossed his features though as she said she didn't feel secure. Homes- homes should be secure. Places of safety on some level you could depend on, a place to go back to. It bothered him, and his unease settled into his shoulders, his forearm and then he glanced over at Wash.

"Have to ask Wash about that," he apologized to her. "I honestly -well, not sure what the protocol is, under the circumstances. I just know I don't like them either, and I can't blame you about not feeling safe. Not one bit."

[Deleted]

Carly blushed at Bluestreak's remark about her degree. She lowered her gaze and rolled the bottle between her palms, her cheeks pink.

Wash meanwhile rubbed his chin in thought.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what the regulations state on this either," he said. "She was directly threatened by an organization we recognise as a clear and present danger, which does mean she is entitled to our protection. I'm certain that Agent Fowler would see it that way as well, especially given recent events. Of course, there are, er, other factors at play here we need to consider."

Wash took advantage of the girl's distraction to motion towards the garage with a meaningful jerk of his head.

"But all said, I think an arrangement can be made," he said. "Er, Carly, was it? Would you be willing to enter our protection program in exchange for providing information on the company that approached you?"

Carly looked up at that.

"Well, yes - I mean - yes?" she said. She reached back and shakily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I mean, I'd like to help. But going into protection... it's a big move, I'd have to tell my boss and figure out what to do with my job. And my parents - wait. Did you say you already know about the guys who went after me today? They're part of an organization? What kind of an organization are we talking about here?"

She looked at Bluestreak as she said it, her eyes wide.

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak glanced over at Wash, concerned at that. Wash knew so much more than he did about the way things were done here. What Agent Fowler would be able to do and what he couldn't. The fact of it was... well, Carly wasn't safe at this point at all. Not that she was safe with MECH breathing down her neck and oh, forcing her off the road, but MECH would figure out really quick they'd been thwarted really quickly. Now, they might think that the humans were the ones involved but he doubted it. Wouldn't take them long.

At Wash's gesture, he frowned and shook his head. Yeah, other factors. Like the fact that the two of us just caused a rather dramatic moment down in Vegas and put them into government custody.

It was one of those moments where Bluestreak was glad that he could hold two conversations at once. Usually one of them was with himself, but hey, for once he was actually talking to someone who answered. Wait, he did that too.

"Do- do we have a protection program?" he asked Wash over their comm. Concern touched every word. "The human kids at the base, are they in one, I guess I never asked...? I guess they can't be, they go home."

There was a pause. An actual pause, as he was gathering his thoughts into one quiet question.

Warm light from the windows pooled across the hardwood floor. The house was quiet and clean. In the garage, the Datsun's headlamps flickered as he focused on that faithful scooter, tucked neatly in the corner. This place was hers. Earned. Cared for.

"I feel bad, Wash," the sharpshooter said finally, and his speech slowed down, careful and distinct. He settled himself a little more on the counter, his avatar's fingertips spread across the glossy stone.

"Like - her whole life? Her job, her family... this house? We can't let that happen. It's not right."

Bluestreak looked over at Carly. Her fingers were shaking, he watched her tuck that stray strand of hair behind her ear to steady herself. Without thinking, he levered himself up a bit and offered to take the bottle out of her hand. "You okay?" he asked her quietly, and then looked at her apologetically.

"Not a good one," he admitted. "Organization, I mean. Yeah, I- I just wanted to hear what you had to say first before I came to any conclusion. I was just kind of hoping you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, nothing more, and these weren't the same company Wash is talking about, you know?"

"But they're pretty dangerous. Hey though, Wash can explain a lot more than I can," he told her. "He's been working on this situation for a while. Maybe sit down? There might be more he'll be able to get from your story than I did."

[Deleted]

"Yes, come sit down," said Carly.

She hurriedly gestured at the table again, motioning for them to each take a chair. As Wash strolled behind her he opened up his commline.

"We do have a protection program, yep," he said. "Ish. The children and Mrs Darby are all under Agent Fowler's protection, and ours by extension, but since their enemies were only Decepticons up to this point no one saw the need to offer them the usual human protection services, which would have included relocating them to a safehouse and altering their identities. The Decepticons cannot personally come after them at school or at home, not without revealing themselves, so Fowler didn't see the need to go to such extremes as uprooting their entire lives."

He cast a wry sidelong look at Bluestreak.

"The thing is, MECH is forcing us to reexamine how we look after our human allies. They can come after them in a way the Decepticons can't - that is, anywhere. So with this young lady here..."

Wash sighed over the comm line.

"We may need to think up a whole new strategy that is a little more involved than simply having her guarded by giant robots."

Carly pulled back a third chair and offered it to Wash. The pale haired man smiled at her and sank into it.

"Thank you," he said. "And Blue is right. These are dangerous people. And they're very interested in advanced technology, which is likely why you were targeted by them."

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak settled into the chair and began to shift his shoulders before he realized he really didn't have to. How could he keep forgetting that? Because when you spent a long time learning to carefully sit in chairs so that you didn't slam a door into them, it wasn't easy to put aside just like that.

"Ah," he said to Wash over the comm, glad that this for now was a private way to discuss things. It had saved him with the ability to ask for identification. He honestly hadn't ever thought about the kids or Mrs Darby outside of the base; they just- well, they were there, and that's all there was to it. Wash's comments made sense though, that this situation was not the same. Decepticons were one thing - even they knew better than to be out in the open.

MECH didn't care. They could be anyone, hide as anyone, do anything, and...

"So what do we do?" he asked Wash. "I mean, sure, we can stay here and trade off guarding her but we really can't do anything if they show up and that puts us at risk too, I can't get into a firefight in her garage, seriously. There's only so much that they can explain away to a gas leak and mass hallucinations before we end up on a news reel and that would totally... talk about MECH getting allies really quickly, that's the way to do it. Maybe that's what they want, somehow, who knows. Whatever the reason, that's oh so out."

A pause. "I dunno, we take her back with us? Like to Fowler, maybe he'll..."

Bluestreak trailed off and settled his arms on the table, then glanced down at the glass of Coke, still sitting there fizzing. He watched a few bubbles pop, gathering his thoughts before he looked over at Carly again.

"Yeah. Your degree and your skills are the sort of things they're after now," he told her after a moment.

[Deleted]

Wash nodded to Bluestreak.

"That's exactly it," he said. "Someone with your background would be a very attractive prospect for them. Knowledge in engineering, computer science and programming, and robotics is of particular interest to them. Hence their persistence in seeking you out."

Over the commline his voice echoed his spoken words.

"No, we certainly can't afford to put her on a twenty-four watch," said Wash. "That would require an Autobot - a solitary Autobot - being on station here around the clock. But speaking of Agent Fowler..."

Wash laced his fingers together and leaned forward onto the table, resting his weight on his forearms.

"But as I said, we can offer you protection," he said. "Would you be willing to speak to one of our superiors? His name is Agent William Fowler, of the US Special Forces. He's currently on the scene of the 'accident' with our friends in the black cars, but I can give him a call and have him rendezvous with you here at your home to speak with you of the protection program. He's a good man, highly trained and experienced in his line of work. You wouldn't be the first he's taken under protection, believe me. I'm certain he would be very glad to offer assistance to you."

Carly nodded, slowly. She seemed in a daze as she slowly rolled the bottle between her hands.

"Yes, I - I mean, yes, I'd be willing to speak with him," she said. "Do you think that would be the best thing to do? I mean, this is all kind of new to me. I can safely say this is the first time I've been, you know, stalked before. Or whatever it was they were doing."

She laughed, but her gaze was nervous as she gave Bluestreak a questioning look.

[Bluestreak]

Why does she keep looking at me, Bluestreak thought to himself. His processor was whirring frantically and in the silence of the garage the Datsun flattened down nearly to the floor.

I wish I could give her an answer, she's looking at me like I have them, but I sure don't have any good answers, and if I open my mouth I'm just going to sound like I have no idea what I'm talking about which she's going to pick up on and then it's totally going to blow our cover and I'm going to have to say something. What- what would I say? I mean, I guess I could start with oh, you have a lovely garage, I'd park here any time you'd let me, wow.

That's polite, that'll work, that makes me sound less like a complete idiot and only a small minor I have no idea what I'm talking about idiot. Argh.

Wash was talking, at least, and Bluestreak could follow that. His friend was right, he'd pinpointed what the issue was right away. Carly was valuable to MECH, and no, under the circumstances they couldn't just leave one Autobot out here to guard her...

"I know," he apologized to her after she finished speaking. A sigh, he wrapped his fingers around the glass of Coke she'd poured for him, and gathered his thoughts.

All he wanted to do was fix it, fix something. Maybe if they hadn't interfered, MECH would have warned her not to talk and simply been on their way. Maybe he was living in that derpy bubble that so many accused him of.

"I'm sorry, Carly. I really am. It's all new and sudden, and that sort of one moment you're coming home and the next everything changes. I've been there and done that and it just- I understand. I do. I promise."

Which was absolute truth to him. He did. One minute you were on a bridge and the next moment you were in rubble, and all you could do was---

"Keep going," he thought to himself. It took him a second to realize it had been his outside voice. Immediately he shook his head and lifted a hand, mirroring the gesture with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I mean, that didn't come out right, was thinking, all you can do is keep going sometimes but that sounds pretty trite, I guess, ugh. As for the situation..."

"Yeah," he told her. "I mean I think it's the safest thing to do. I wish I could promise you it was the best thing, but I just know it's the safest thing. Agent Fowler's a good guy. Wash is right. If anyone can keep you and the things you care about safe, he's the one who can. I trust him, he knows the situation more than anyone else on the planet."

Well, that was human. Not the thing to say, Blue.

[Deleted]

Carly smiled at him.

"I thought it came out just right," she said softly. "It's a nice way to put it."

Then she sobered a little and nodded her head. She drew in a breath and sat up straight in her chair. Her expression changed into something a little more determined.

"And I'll do it," she said. "Meet with this Agent Fowler, I mean. Because... eff those guys. Seriously. I don't want them harassing me, I don't want them harassing my family or my friends or anybody at my workplace. And I definitely don't want to be followed again. That was not cool. If I can help you catch those guys and shut them down, then this protection thing will be worth any inconvenience."

For a moment something flickered behind her eyes, a shrewd look. Then she set the bottle down against the table, crack. The ice in the Coke glasses clinked.

"But um, that said, I don't suppose I could get a contact number for you two, could I?" she said. She looked at Wash before directing her attention back to Bluestreak, her blue eyes wide. "I mean... Agent Fowler sounds nice and all, but I'm not exactly used to deal with, you know... Special Forces guys. But you both have been really nice to me and you seem pretty down to earth and oh god, I must sound so stupid right now."

She groaned and put her face in her hands, her ears red.

Meanwhile, Wash was studying her with a puzzled, squint-eyed look. He blinked, looked at Carly, then at Bluestreak. He looked back to Carly again. At Bluestreak.

His eyes widened. Slowly, an incredulous grin spread across his face.

"I don't mind giving you my contact number," he said. He spoke in a tone of suppressed glee. "We were your initial contacts, after all. It makes sense we should keep in touch with you, help you acclimate to this difficult situation. I'll give you Blue's number too, while I'm at it. Do you have a piece of paper and a pen handy? Blue, you don't mind, right?"

"Hang on, lemme get something." Carly jumped to her feet and scurried over to the fridge.

[Bluestreak]

In the garage, the sharpshooter had been twisting his tires nervously back and forth. When she agreed to the plan, the Datsun puffed out a long sigh of air from under the hood. A little bit of road dust flickered up and into the warm beams of light streaming through the window.

Honestly, he'd been terribly worried that Carly would balk, or say no, or turn away from their offer, and he wouldn't have blamed her one bit. It was a lot to ask of anyone and yet..

The young woman's determination and the bottle against the table brought a smile to his face. He slumped a bit in relief in the chair, the long legs of his avatar stretching out in front of him under the table. He shifted one foot over the other, the same way he did as a mech. Okay, settled. Not safe, but settled. Fowler would come in, he knew the workings of the human world better than anyone (not that Wash wasn't pretty darn good, sorry Wash...)

Under the circumstances, this was a good thing. MECH didn't have an engineer that had an interest in robotics and a lot of serious, practical knowledge under her hood. Belt. Some clothing item, whoops.

"Oh no, not stupid, that's not-" he started to say. Bluestreak had a bunch of words he was going to add onto that but then Wash totally distracted him out of his thoughts. Carly was eyeing him too, and he blinked twice. "Huh?"

"My contact number?" Bluestreak echoed. "Wha? Do I have one that-- oh, I do, that's right, sorry, still trying to get things settled in, Wash. Gosh no, heck no, aw no, why would I mind that? Absolutely. I totally understand, acclimating and I'd love to keep in touch, I mean, er, just kinda make sure you're doing okay, that's okay with you...?"

He inclined his head at Wash. "Well, if Agent Fowler says it's all right. I don't know the protocol."

[Deleted]

Wash waved it aside.

"Agent Fowler won't mind," he said, grinning. "So long as we continue to follow the strict non-disclosure policies set in place for, er, sensitive subjects."

"And what Agent Fowler doesn't know won't hurt him," he added over the comm. "Providing we don’t abuse the privilege we are capable of acting on our own discretion, without filtering all of our interactions among human society through him first. Also, you're going to need an email address. So this nice young lady can get in touch with you if she has any lingering concerns about all of this. Don’t worry. I'll help you set one up. With relish."

Carly trotted back to the table with her cell phone in hand.

"Okay, Mr Morgan, fire away," she said as she sat back down on her chair.

With great aplomb, Wash rattled off his own cell phone number. Where the hell had he gotten that from. Carly dutifully typed it into her contact list and then eagerly turned to Bluestreak.

"And yours?" she said.

"I'll text you with his contact info," said Wash. "I left it on my other phone, and we're both terrible with numbers. I promise."

Carly looked crestfallen, but only for a heartbeat. Then she shook it off and laughed.

"All right, that would be nice, thank you," she said. She looked between them earnestly. "Seriously, thank you both. You guys are kind of my heroes right now, like holy crap."

[Bluestreak]

Bluestreak nodded. "Aw, thanks," he said gratefully. "I don't know the first bit about setting up an email, I'm afraid. Well not one here on Earth I guess I could figure it out if given enough time but hey, if you could do that, that would be nice, and yeah, she's super nice, isn't she? Do you know she's into something called biomimetrics - I had no idea what that was but now I do, and I guess I'm supposed to go look up something called bigdog. I'll do it when I get back to base, it sounds interesting, and aw, good, no no, I don't want to abuse it, he works hard enough dealing with the human side of things... and these creeps on top of it, but..."

He looked back up as Carly came back to the table, his chatter trailing off over their connection. He'd sat back up and was comfortably resting his arms on the table.

"Aw, shoot, I just got my new number," the sharpshooter admitted. "Have still been getting the swing of it around here, I admit it. Wash has got it though, so he'll make sure I'll get it, he's great about that sort of thing. Also remembering my ID when I forget it in his car. Thank you very much about that, that's sort of embarrassing, glad I didn't get pulled over, whew, but..."

"No forgetting, Wash!" he laughed. "Aw, nah, no, but aw, thanks. Seriously, I'm just glad you're okay. Right place at the right time, so glad about that, and well- hey, you're absolutely welcome."

His smile was bright and cheerful as he met her gaze, open and honest. Then he leaned back in his chair, feeling it scrape on the tiles a bit. Quickly he caught himself before he could scuff up her nice floor.

[Deleted]

"Bigd- biomemetics?" Wash sounded bemused. "I have no idea what either are. Sounds like something we should look up when we get back, for sure. Speaking of which..."

His avatar cleared it's throat.

"And on that note, we should likely be going," he said. He pushed back his chair and stood, brushing his shirt down as he did so. He smiled at the girl. "We have your address, and so Agent Fowler should be around shortly. I'll call him from my car. Be sure to ask for identification when he arrives. It's a good habit to get into when faced with any agent of the law or government official."

Carly looked up from her cell, her eyes wide.

"I'm glad I thought of it, then," she said. She stood also, and hastily stuck her phone in her back pocket when Wash reached over the table to shake her hand. "It was nice meeting you, Mr Morgan. And you, Blue."

She smiled at his name. This time the tension was gone from her gaze as she held out her hand to him.

"It was nice meeting you too," she said. "Thank you so much for the rescue today. I owe you so much."