[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Subterfuge (Javelin, Windshield)

[Javelin]

Week Three Day One

Early evening

The night was unusually hot, especially for Oregon.

The sky had darkened almost completely, just a faint reddish line in the west where the sun had set an hour ago. The sky was still a little more navy than black, but the stars were brilliantly lit, looking like a piece of velvet with diamonds scattered across it.

There was a new moon this night, so the area was not well lit.

Insects buzzed and hummed as they searched for mates and prey. Now and again a night bird called, or flashed overhead, performing their own hunt.

Far from the nearest human settlement, in a clearing in the general area of the Blue Mountains, there was a sudden ripple. A strange echoing sound, and a blue green hue burst across the scene, scattering light among the scrub and stones. Looking like a giant blossom, it opened, yawning out the smell of concrete and metal, warm dry air and a whiff of cleaner.

The insects stopped, the birds fell silent. Now there was only the sound of the car, and the humming portal, still casting it’s light on the area, the scrub, dirt and gravel of the surrounding location.

A moment later, and a sleek blue car drifted out from the center of the blossom, idling quietly in the darkness. The blue green light danced over the blue of the vehicle for a moment, making the car appear lit with St. Elmo’s fire. The car seemed to be motionless for a moment.

After a few minutes, scanner having revealed no humans or settlements nearby, Javelin transformed, sliding upward into a standing position. Her left leg almost seemed to transform a slight half second slower than the rest of her, leaving her standing for a moment in an awkward position.

Blue green optics scanned the area before her for a second, before she turned, looking back towards the flowing portal behind her.

::All good. Let’s go, Windshield.::

[Windshield]

Soon thereafter, a slick black Mustang joined Javelin. Of course, that being no one else but Windshield himself. Before he transformed as well, the Cybertronian in disguise took note of how his companion seemed to favor one leg over the other. Perhaps just a force of habit and nothing to be concerned about. Or maybe it was a clue hinting towards some long-forgotten injury. Of course, he wasn't certain about that conjecture. Still, it'd serve well to remember even minor details such as this for future reference.

Especially considering the circumstances under which the two of them had departed. Usually, buddies came along for patrols. People who worked well together or had chemistry. In other words: clicked together. He had no such thing going on with Javelin. In fact, he barely knew her outside of official meetings. And on the few occasions that they've seen each other, she did not seem the least bit entertained.

He suspected foul play right away. Nobody just dragged the ex-'Con out by his lonesome without having an ulterior motive. Besides, Windshield had a hunch somebody would try to pull something after the incident with Carbine...As if he did not suffer enough.

Indeed, the scars Windshield was left with were nothing pretty. The moment he stood up properly, righting himself from a vehicle into a robot, it became apparent that he did not want to display them in Javelin's presence. No, no. Instead, they were neatly concealed beneath a metal sheet for now. The area was still very sensitive and needed proper protection for the near future.

The only thing one could see were the optics. Mercifully, one of them still glowed with its apricot hue. The other was not as fortunate. Faded and dim, almost invisible in its socket. It'd take time to customize a suitable replacement.

...And now without Ratchet's help, that prospect may be entirely unreachable.

Oh, well, oh, well. It was time to see what that little bluebird wanted from Windshield. To congratulate him on unveiling a dangerous criminal within the Autobot ranks? Ha! As much as the hacker wanted to hope somebody would appreciate his caring efforts, he knew better than to be so optimistic. Rather, he wagered, that Javelin was here to do the complete opposite.

...Truly, there were no creatures as ungrateful as the Autobots.

"Alright, we're here. Now what?" He shrugged, passing Javelin with a posh, elegant gait. Truly, his body language was no fitting for a 'Bot in recovery. One would almost think this forlorn place was a catwalk the way he strutted about.

[Javelin]

Javelin took a close look around where she was, marking the area with her internal systems, making sure she had put a picture of the area into her processor – where she was upon the planet, the location of the Ground Bridge, and any features of the area that instantly stuck out. Needless to say, she checked around for any humans who may be gawking at the bright blue portal and the aliens that just stepped out of it.

A faint narrowing of her optics as Windshield passed her.

“Pay attention to your surroundings,” she said, her voice stern, “This isn’t our base. You’re not safe out here, and you need to be sure there aren’t any humans around.”

Just why she had been asked to take Windshield out on patrol was beyond Javelin. He was no scout, as far as she knew, and she wasn’t certain she knew how to teach anyone how to do it. There was also the added feature that she had to be certain she didn’t actually give anything away regarding where Omega was, or even how they patrol. Despite what Windshield said, as far as Javelin was concerned, once you were a Decepticon, you were always a Decepticon. Committing mass murder wasn’t something someone just grew out of.

After giving that short verbal reply, she started forward on foot, keeping a watchful look around her.

“You know we were assigned a patrol session. So, we’ll patrol. Basically we’re looking for anything out of the ordinary, any sign of Decepticon activity, as well as keeping a sensor out for any energon we might come across.”

Passing by Windshield, she peered up over a slightly rocky outcrop. About thirty or so meters from where they stood, the main highway passed, a large four lane blacktop. Although black was being generous. It was more grey, faded from use and sun, with the occasional crack running the length of it.

At the moment, it was empty. She nodded to herself. Good, it wasn’t a heavy traffic area.

[Windshield]

Javelin's words nearly lulled Windshield to sleep. The whole stern attitude thing, all that talking down to like he was some sort of idiot that didn't know his aft from his foot. And did she really need to explain the modus operandi of a scouting mission? Was that how low she thought of him?

Oh, well.

The more people underestimated him, the better. There was more room to surprise people and if not, Windshield could simply kick back and relax, living up to their delightfully average impressions of him. Suited him just fine. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. This assignment just reeked of lies and treachery. Perhaps it was the Decepticon in him telling Windshield to expect a wrong at every turn...Or maybe he was simply not comfortable being alone with an unfriendly Autobot.

Primus knows he had plenty of reasons, too.

"Yeah, yeah. I know how patrols work," he scoffed and crossed his arms defensively. It was then that Javelin walked by him to check out the faded asphalt in the distance. At that, Windshield's torso tilted slightly to remain facing her. This was a good opportunity to make small talk but he didn't know where to start with an Autobot that clearly disliked him. And so, Windshield relegated himself to simply following her around a few paces behind.

[Javelin]

Looking back from the road, she studied Windshield in silence for a moment, before turning.

Her own arms crossed, she made certain neither of them were visible from the road before speaking.

“Oh really? Well then, guess we can just go back to the base, hmm? No sense me wasting my time out here. I have other things to be doing.”

So saying, she started walking past him, as if intending to go right back to where the Ground Bridge had vanished, seemingly getting ready to call it up again.

After several steps, Javelin swung about on her good leg, one hand on her hip, the other arm hanging loosely at her side.

“But, seeing as you’re so well versed on the subject, why don’t you go ahead and tell me all about it. Hmm? How it’s done, when, what rotation? What to look for, what things to be aware of while patrolling. What the primary and secondary goals are? Oh, and how to handle things going south, as they invariably do.”

Green-blue optics were focused intently on Windshield.

[Windshield]

Windshield scoffed and turned up his proverbial nose. He did not seem to care enough for Javelin to bother with a proper answer.

"For Primus's sake, just relay the route to me so I can pretend you aren't here."

Windshield's arms judgmentally fell from their crossed position and onto his hips. Then he leaned in closer towards Javelin with a narrowed gaze as if to suggest that she should stop playing around and get her move on.

Frankly, he did not care to be tested by someone he assumed was just a jumpy bigot. It was more important to get the job done. The sooner they secured the area or found any irregularities, the sooner this nightmare patrol could end.

[Javelin]

Javelin made a mock look of surprise and hurt.

“Ahh, but that’s not how this works. You see, part of this little exercise is to prove that you can work with others. If you want to be an Autobot, you have to show you can play nice.”

She folded her arms behind her back, rocking back slightly on her peds, “So, seeing you can’t answer my questions, I’ll answer them for you.

For starters, it’s at least two to a patrol again. Thanks to M.E.C.H, the buddy system is back in place. So don’t go anywhere on your own. That’s a big no no.”

Javelin pushed away from the rock she had been leaning against, and started walking away from the road, leading them out towards an area of flatland, scrubby, with a few trees here and there.

“Our rotation, at the moment, is every Autobot at least once a week. It does split into differences now and then, and anyone can be called up more as needed. And of course, it depends on each person’s alt mode. Jets are going to find it a little harder to patrol areas near human settlements than grounders are.”

Here she paused, and turned back, looking at him curiously, “Did you Cons have patrols to look for energon deposits, or does the Nemesis have a scanner? That must be so much more convenient.”

[Windshield]

"You aren't exactly making the cooperation aspect of this easy on me. And I think you realize that, don't you?" Windshield sighed, defeated, leaning back into his original pose as the arms, previously pressed tightly against his hips, dropped back to the sides of his body. All this theater was avoidable if only this one Autobot did not play coy with him. But frustrating as it was, he had to agree on a single point. It was necessary. They had to play nice—or to be more precise—he had to play nice even if Javelin did not want to reciprocate.

"They," he first and foremost corrected Javelin when they reached the patchy, sparse area, "They use a combination of scanning and scouting. Surely you do not think that an energon mine is established simply by locating its general coordinates?"

He approached one of the more sturdy-looking trees and propped himself against it. The wood croaked beneath the weight of his frame but did not give in.

"Oh, no, no, no. It takes much more than that, darling. Somebody needs to survey the terrain, analyze the cost-benefit ratio, determine where to start quarrying. Not just every lump of energon that pops up on the monitor is worth pursuing, y'know."

Windshield emerged from the bows of the tree and approached closer to Javelin again, making sure they stuck close by in case she decided to continue throughout the wilds.

"But I'm sure you already knew all of this since you're so smart."

If she did, the question would have been redundant. So either Javelin was playing with him, or she did not know all that much about Decepticon procedures. If the latter were the case, this would hopefully remind her why Windshield was handy to have around. He wasn't just some tag-along token redeemed sidekick.

[Javelin]

Javelin watched Windshield as he moved, blue-green optics taking in every motion, every movement. His act of non-nonchalance, the way he moved his arms as he spoke. Either attempting to appear relaxed and with a one-up attitude, or else he was insanely comfortable being alone with someone who was, until somewhat recently, an enemy.

She made no mention of the “they” remark, letting it wash over her, making no sign she even heard it.

“That seems like a lot of work,” Javelin replied, now starting to walk away again from the highway behind them, moving more into the scrubby landscape. Farther in, one could see trees starting to grow more numerous, a thicking of an actual forest. In between them and the forest lay a line of thick power lines and their towers, marching off to vanish in the distance.

“Seems hard to imagine the ‘Cons going through all that for energon. I would have figured Megatron would have just ordered you to hop on down and tear it out with your fingertips, carry it back to him personally. All that you just described seems terribly.....organized.” Her tone was light, mocking.

She stepped around the large stump of a tree, jutting from the ground, still moving forward.
“Oh, I don’t know a lot about any of that. I know how it’s mined. I had a lot of friends who used to be miners back before everything went insane.”

Javelin glanced at him from the corner of her optic, “So. You’ve been warned about M.E.C.H, right? Not going off on your own, all that? And why? I’m pretty sure Red Alert and Optimus would have given you decent warning about them.”

[Windshield]

"Well, it is organized. Otherwise, it'd kinda suck. But hey, since we're the ones stealing mines from under Megatron's eyebrows—in no small part thanks to my contributions—we don't have to worry about any of that hogwash."

Claiming credit for the recent capture of a Decepticon mine was not Windshield's intention. At least it didn't seem to be from his tone. There was no arrogance or smugness but an air of confidence.

Windshield knew that his information on the inner workings of the Decepticon armada was valuable. He was merely stating one of the many ways in which he could be useful. And he did so to soothe Javelin's apparent disdain for him. Failing that, it should at least remind her that he was an asset regardless of her grudges and that she shouldn't try anything stupid.

"Yes, I'm familiar with MECH, and I should probably tell you that Optimus charged me with researching their activity. But you're the textbook Autobot here, so you obviously knew that too already."

Windshield replied—this time truly with a smug air—and followed Javelin further. Every time she stared back, it felt like she was stabbing him with her optics, and so he wanted to keep up with her, thus avoiding her accusatory glances.

"After what they've done to Ratchet, I've been trying to find new intel but came out empty. Ironically, a day before scrap hit the fan for the old doctor, me, Prowl, and Wheeljack were in pursuit of a possible lead."

He shrugged wistfully.

"But some Cons decided to crash the party. The rest wasn't pretty."

[Javelin]

Hearing about a possible lead seemed to grab her attention, and she looked over at him as they continued to walk.

The little traffic that travelled the highway now falling more and more distant behind them seemed to fade into the past. Unless you knew where to look, one could stand where the Cybertronians were standing and not even know there was a highway just over the ridge. It was like a completely different country from that by the road.

“A lead? Really?”

She was silent for a few more minutes, now leading them underneath the power lines, their shadows falling over them as they walked. Here and there dust was kicked up by their peds as they moved. Any trees that attempted to grow near the towers were continually cut back, keeping them accessible by vehicles.

“It’s bad,” she spoke cautiously, “What happened to Ratchet. Not like him to go out on his own in the first place. He was usually the one always reminding us we had to go in pairs or a group. I can’t help but wonder if he....”

Her words died off for a moment, and she shook her head, coming back to the present. Her voice changed.

“Yeah...Cons will do that. Cons love to crash things. And they love to cause trouble. Whenever and where ever they can. It’s like they can’t help themselves.”

The latter was spoken intentionally, her blue green optics fixing on Windshield’s face once more.

Here she stopped, beneath the power lines, her arms crossed. She looked as if she were going to lean back against one of the towers, an almost bemused look to her face.

“Kind of like what you pulled with Carbine.”

[Windshield]

Windshield stopped dead in his tracks.

Well, well, write that under sudden and hasty conclusions.

After drawing a momentarily shocked expression, he chuckled, raised an index finger, and waved it with the casualness of a friend who was saying: "Ya got me there, buddy." Then, just as quickly, his face grimaced into a grim frown, the appearance of which was almost as unexpected as Javelin's words.

"You weren't there, and if you saw what he did to me, you wouldn't be saying that."

He answered calmly, power lines swaying in the gentle nighttime breeze above them.

"Carbine is an aggressive lunatic. Just because other people couldn't see that, or worse, ignored it until now, it doesn't make me a villain for exposing him."

A momentary pause. Windshield double-checked the environment just to be sure they were alone.

And since they were...he continued:

"He was bound to hurt one of you sooner or later. For all it's worth, I'm glad Prime's got him locked up now. If he can't control himself, he deserves it."

How dare she? They should be thanking him for exposing a dangerous and volatile outlaw within the Autobot ranks. Instead, Javelin phrased that like it was a bad thing. Perhaps something ought to happen to her before she gets too nosy, Windshield thought.

[Javelin]

She tilted her head, watched as Windshield responded to her verbal attack. She was pleased to see she had startled him, even if for a moment. Knowing she had gotten first blood, per se, was enjoyable to her, and showed her that he wasn’t unflappable. Of course he covered it up within seconds, yes. But he gave himself away in that briefest of seconds.

She looked bemused when he wagged a finger at her. Oh he was smooth, she could give him that.

Javelin carefully leaned back against one of the powerline towers, making sure she was only in connection with the concrete base the tower was set into. She didn’t want to come into contact with the actual metal parts. She wasn’t sure how it would react to Cybertronian living metal. It was carrying a pretty high amperage, and she didn’t want to mess with that.

“I don’t have to have been there,” she replied, “And I got a good idea of what he did. If you think I’m going to be sorry for you, you are gravely mistaken.”

A smile came to her face, cold and cynical.

“’Aggressive lunatic’? Coming from a Con – any Con - is rich. I’m not sure what you base your comparison on. Megatron? The one who decided to start sucking on Dark Energon? Shockwave, maybe? The one who thinks up fun little ditties like sicknesses that rust you away while you watch?”

Her smile widened.

“What makes you think any of us are any better?”

A pause.

“What makes you think I’m any better?”

Here Javelin pushed off from the concrete support of the tower, and started walking towards Windshield, that cold, disturbing smile still on her face.

“Maybe I’m even worse than Carbine, but I just hide it better. Have you ever thought of that? Maybe some of things I’m guilty of would make him look like a sparkling just awakened, the only thing is, I know how to smile and bow my head and say “Yes Sir” and “No Sir” all nice and polite.”

She stopped several feet from Windshield now, keeping a nice little distance between them. Was it for her? Or him? Her smile had vanished.

“Don’t think you’re fooling anyone, Windshield. Once a ‘Con, always a ‘Con. Carbine didn’t unload on you because you cracked a stupid joke. He’s not that unstable. I may not know why he hit you, but you are no innocent in this story.”

Here she stood, watching him intently, the powerlines overhead casting shadows on her frame, long black stripes seeming to divide her form into pieces.

[Windshield]

"Ah, yes. Here we go with the profiling again, fantastic," he began and let out a sound part-way between a condescending chuckle and a frustrated sigh. No matter how well he made his point, no matter how he put it, there would always be somebody to see him and his former comrades as nothing but the badges they wore.

There were always ten deluded fools for every Shockwave, a hundred innocent soldiers sent to their deaths for every Starscream. Billions of people hoping for a better future, dead, for every Megatron. But nobody writes history archives about the common people whose greatest achievement was dying.

Those are the people Javelin conveniently chose to omit for the sake of—what precisely? Intimidation? Strengthening her point? Convincing Windshield? Making her ignorance plain?

But that did not even begin to cover the expression. The selfsame smile Windshield's face conveyed many times in the past. The kind of smile that smiled but did not feel or touched the Spark which remained remote. Disassociation, a mask. There was the real Javelin. At that very moment, Windshield saw her for what she was. Perhaps it was the night's shroud that helped him think away such features as color or body shape, but right there and then, it felt like looking into a mirror.

If only she could see through his optics...

Then he shook his head.

She stopped moving, she stopped smiling. Why? Was that significant?

Javelin's rant faded into the background as Windshield focused on her movement instead. Did she expect a fight? Perhaps she thought to make her dear new friend angry enough to strike first? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Using Windshield's own tricks on him. Shameful.

No, she seemed smarter than that. And for now, he would play along.

"So you wanted to tell me that you are a grade-A loon and a bigot. Figures. But I can't figure out for the love of me why—Why do you care about Carbine? Aren't you jaded and apathetic enough to laugh at his plight instead? Smart enough to not stick out your head where it might get chopped off?"

He tapped the bottom of his chin, optics narrowed.

"Optimus doesn't strike me as the sort who'd be too pleased about what you just said. Why risk revealing yourself? For all you know, I could be recording our little chit-chat, and you'd be in the brig with Carbine as soon as dawn breaks...Unless you think you can—No?!"

He furrowed his eyebrows and smiled with a pout. Most of the gesture was neatly concealed behind his faceplate, but the general idea shouldn't be lost on Javelin. Mockery.

"You don't really think you can kill me and get away with it, do you? I mean, I've seen people try. Some got quite close...But there's a reason I'm out here, alive, kicking, maybe a bit scuffed, but enjoying every moment, while so many others are pushing up lugnuts."

Perhaps Windshield was wrong, maybe Javelin was just all bark and no bite. But if he even so much as registered the intent, that would change the game completely. Such people were no longer curiosities or mild inconveniences, they were a threat.

[Javelin]

Ah, the smile returned. That cold, almost disassociated smile.

“Someone who wears someone else’s face has no business deciding who’s a loon and who’s not.”

Here Javelin shifted her weight slightly, resting her own hands on her hips, her ice cold optics attempting to pierce Windshield’s frame, as if the cold in them alone could dig down to where his spark resided, and destroy it.

“As for why I care about Carbine, that’s neither here nor there. You’re a con. He’s not. It’s pretty much that simple, to be honest. You willingly threw your lot in with a maniac who threw a tantrum because the Matrix didn’t choose him, so he went out and killed people who had nothing to do with any of it. You don’t get to decide who’s a good person and who’s not. You don’t get to make that call. You backed a lunatic. That’s all I need to know.”

She seemed to pause as she rolled her helm slightly – just stretching, or loosening herself up? Still smiling.

“As for recording me...well....that’s not very Autobot-ish, now, is it? Aren’t you supposed to be putting all that Decepticon nonsense behind you? Prove you can be trusted? We Autobots don’t go around secretly recording each other, you know.

It would be a shame if that’s what you showed to Optimus. That you were obviously untrustworthy, sneaking around, secretly recording everything we say and do.....like a spy.

A Decepticon spy. How very suspicious.....”

Javelin paused. She neither advanced nor retreated, just remained still in what was possibly Windshield’s personal space. Whether or not she was, was beside the point. She wasn’t close enough to attack, wasn’t within reaching distance....but was still rather close. Almost intruding.

Her smile vanished.

“As for still being alive, well.....with M.E.C.H. around there are a lot of ways a pretend Autobot could go missing. Just vanish off the surface of the planet. Never to be seen again.”

Here Javelin slowly, languidly raised an arm, lightly letting her very fingertips graze the soft curve of the tip of the bow she was wearing on her back, as if lovingly brushing off a little dust, or even caressing it.

“You’d be surprised how easy it can be for someone who spent years crawling around in the forests of alien planets to just make someone....dissappear.”

The blue scout looked down from the bow, making eye contact with Windshield again.

“Watch your back, Windshield. You’re safe in that little bolthole you have, but once you’re outside you’re in my element. I could be behind any boulder, any tree, just waiting for a chance. I’m damned good with my bow – I can promise you you wouldn’t hear a thing until my arrow pierced the back of your head and shattered that second face you’re wearing.

If I hear of you harming any Autobot, in any manner, you will wish you hadn’t been sparked. Any little trick, any little ruse, any little “oopsie” that causes potential harm to any Autobot, and I will snuff your spark like a human’s campfire.”

Her voice and tone dropped deep, her face lowering slightly so she was sort of peering up at him. Shadows seemed to play over her face, her blue green optics burning like propane flame.

“And leave Carbine alone.”

There was a pause, and then she straightened suddenly, the shadows seeming to have left her face, a wide, cheery smile on her face. She threw her arms out wide.

“But hey! If you’re on the up and up, you have nothing to worry about, right? If you’re all true blue to the Autobot cause, and you wanna fit in with us all peachy keen, then everything is hunky dory! You have no worries!”

Javelin cocked a thumb over her shoulder towards the highway again, “Shall we?”