"Honestly daddy, my abilities are fine. It's how it always has been since I was put on Buspirone, one vision maybe every other night and that's all. No, levitation or any other weird things." Torryn promised on a Sunday morning as she ate spoonfuls of cereal.
The redhead had been able to sleep until a late eleven o'clock as she was not bombarded with a vision the previous night; something she was very much thankful for. Of course, after she bumped her dosage of Buspirone up by a pill, it was expected the first few weeks that her visions would come very rarely as her body was still getting used to the higher dosage.
"Are you sure?" Torryn blinked as her father's voice came through the Bluetooth of the house, the father and daughter finally speaking to each other for the first time in an entire week.
Gulping down another spoonful of her breakfast, Torryn nodded her head even though she knew her father was unable to see her. Though they had spoken, the two had not seen each other for almost two months. "Yeah, besides, I just bumped the dosage up by a pill, I won't be bombarded by visons for while."
Scott Wilde sighed in a stressed manner at the news, the man pinching the bridge of his nose from his place in his hotel room halfway across the world. "That bad, huh?"
Scott did not want his daughter bumping up dosages of Buspirone as he was well-aware of how addicting it had become for her, but at the same time if her powers were beginning to act out what choice did she have? Sure, Scott worked as an agent for the military and had informed them of his daughter's particular situation, but there was nothing the military could do to help unless Scott allowed them to run multiple tests on her. That would mean that Torryn essentially had to live at a military base, and Scott knew that Torryn wouldn't want that.
There was another option that did not involve Buspirone or the military, an option that Scott tended to talk about quite a bit with Torryn, but Torryn always refused.
Kavemen Academy was a boarding school for young people with "certain" abilities. It was a special institute only known by the government (as they helped protect and fund it) and the people with their own "talents". The school was meant to help train those with abilities beyond that of which was normal.
In complete honesty, Torryn considered it as more of a Wayward home for young folks.
Of course, the headmaster of Kavemen Academy; a man by the name of Daren Travers, had reached out to Scott time after time about Torryn's potential enrollment. The headmaster believed with the correct training and education, Torryn would be able to succeed peacefully in life; and Scott understood this, he really did. However, every time he brought the subject up to Torryn herself, Torryn was not in.
Torryn already hated the fact that she was "different", she did not want to be surrounded by a freakshow so she could be reminded every day about how truly "weird" she was. Therefore, the last thing she wanted was to attend the secretive Kavemen Academy where she would be forced to use her abilities as well as interact with others with oddities themselves. Besides, the aspect of needing to share a room and not to mention the closet size was not appealing in the slightest. Nope, Torryn was fine attending normal school with her friends.
"You know, Daren Travers reached out to me again a few days ago. He thinks you'll really enjoy the school, and I think you should give it a try." Scott explained, knowing his daughter would turn down the offer.
Frowning, Torryn nearly scoffed at the idea. She was already against the idea before, but now with the Autobots and her friends, she would never attend such a boarding school. Not to mention if Torryn remembered correctly, the school was hidden in a remote location somewhere in Alaska.
"Nope, I am good." The teenager refused as she finished her cereal, taking the bowl and putting it in the sink.
Scott growled in frustration from the other end of the phone not understanding why his daughter was so against the idea of going to a school where they could help her. Daren Travers would sure as hell be able to help her more than Scott could ever hope too.
"Torryn, this could be good for you, what if you just tried it and if you don't like it then I will pull you right out?" Her father suggested, Torryn rolling her eyes while walking to the couch.
Taking a seat on the sofa, Torryn propped her legs on the ottoman. "Never going to happen, dad. I told you I'm fine with public school and the online classes. Besides, I've made some really close friends since we've moved to Jasper, I don't want to give them up so soon." As she said that, her mind could not help but flash to images of Jack, Miko, and Raf. However, those images soon turned to her and Smokescreen laughing, the girl smiling as she thought of her newest friend and unbeknownst to her a small blush was spreading across her cheeks.
There was a long moment of silence, Scott never wanting to force her to go to the school but truly thinking about it. He probably would have if it weren't that Torryn said she was making friends.
When they lived in Seattle, before they moved to Jasper; yes, Torryn had friends, but they were not close nor reliable friends. Even when she was a child; back when her mother was still alive, Torryn had a difficult time making friends. So much so that the girl had a multitude of imaginary friends, something which concerned both her father and mother at the time.
"...We'll talk when I come home on Wednesday." Scott said, not realizing he ruined the surprise he was planning.
Torryn's face lit up, her eyes reflecting childish glee at the news her fathering was returning home in three days time. "You're coming home!" She squealed, Scott almost slapping himself for ruining his own surprise.
Chuckling, her father said. "Yes, I'll be home from Wednesday to Saturday. I know it's not long, but I should get more time off in a few weeks."
Giggling, Torryn nodded her head, happiness consuming her. Her father was finally coming home.
✸✸✸
"C' mon, Smokey!" Torryn cheered while jumping up and down from her spot on the railing, watching as her guardian and Bee raced against each other in the video game. "Win this for us!"
While she and Miko were cheering on Smokescreen, Jack and Bulkhead had been cheering on Bumblebee. Alike to always, Optimus and Ratchet were working on their computers, and Arcee was standing off to the side silently hoping Bumblebee would win the video game race.
Bee suddenly let out a slew of curses in bleeps and whirrs as he crossed the finish line just a second after Smokescreen who immediately began gloating. Torryn laughed loudly, watching as her guardian ran around the base in victory and Bee continued to curse in his own language (not that the humans knew that).
"BUMBLEBEE AND SMOKESCREEN," Both mechs were quick to stop, both of them nervously looking to Ratchet who held a wrench over his helm threateningly.
The rest of Ratchet's scolding went unheard by Torryn as she was far too busy staring at her guardian. She knew that all the Autobots had identical blue optics, but for some reason she felt as though Smokescreen's were prettiest she had ever seen. Even as his wings drooped and he cringed at Ratchet's yelling, Torryn was unable to rip her eyes away from him.
"Yo, earth to Torryn." Torryn jumped, snapping out of it as her eyes moved to Miko who rose a brow while waving a hand in her face.
Feeling her face change to bright pink, Torryn rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sorry, spaced out for a second."
Jack and Miko both glanced at each other then to Smokescreen with a knowing smirk. Raf, oddly enough, was nowhere in the base. Apparently, he was grounded, something which surprised all the humans as Raf was the sweetest person ever.
"Yeah..." Jack trailed off, his tone implying something else which caused Torryn to roll her eyes out of annoyance.
With her hands on her hips, Miko pursed her lips opening her mouth to say something until a loud clap of thunder shook the base. Torryn rose a brow along with the other humans, all of them looking up not expecting rain.
Considering Jasper was the desert, getting rain was a rare case. Not to mention the news channel had spoken nothing of reports of a rain shower earlier that day.
"What was that?"
Torryn turned to look at Smokescreen who was nervously looking around, his body in a fighting stance.
It took a second before Torryn remembered that Smokescreen had not been on Earth for more than two weeks, and in those two weeks, it had been nothing but sunny. Of course, he was not going to know what rain was.
Taking in his confused features, Torryn could not help but giggle at his brave face, the newest recruit looking ready for a Decepticon to burst through the doors. Grumbling, Ratchet shook his helm in an annoyed manner while turning back to his computers.
"What? Scared of a little thunder." Arcee teased while cattily walking by Smokescreen until she was standing next to Jack who smiled warmly at his guardian.
Smokescreen slowly got out of his fighting stance, realizing that none of the others seemed alarmed by the loud sounds and pattering on the roof of the base.
"Thunder?" The young mech said in a questioning tone.
Deciding to help out her guardian, Torryn shook away the thoughts of how cute he looked while confused.
"Yeah, doesn't it rain on Cybertron?"
Smokescreen quickly looked to the girl who had become his favorite human.
"Rain?"
"No," Torryn and Smokescreen both looked to Optimus who looked away from his data pad in order to answer Torryn's question. "It does not rain on Cybertron as there is no water on the planet and liquidized energon is too dense to follow to the hydrologic cycle of Earth."
"Wow," Miko huffed, shaking her head. "A planet with no rain, cool."
Looking away from her female best friend, Torryn turned back to Smokescreen trying to think of the best way to explain rain to him. "Well, rain is— uhm... it's like–oh, how do I explain this?" The girl scratched her head while Smokescreen only watched her eagerly.
An idea suddenly hit Torryn, the redhead grinning. "Smokescreen, can I show you something?"
Smokescreen tilted his helm but nodded his head while holding out his servo for Torryn to step onto. Gently getting onto his servo, Torryn hummed as she was lowered to the ground.
"It's right outside the base." She said as soon as her feet touched the solid ground below her.
"Okay," Smokescreen shrugged while transforming in a mass of metal before he sat in his car mode with his driver's door wide open. "Hop in, red."
"Red?" Torryn scoffed while getting into his alt mode, the door closing behind her.
"Yeah, it's your new nickname, you have one for me after all." Smokescreen explained as he drove out through the tunnel.
Smokescreen and Torryn did not notice everyone in the base had been watching their interaction, even Ratchet and Optimus who turned away from the computers. With a smile gracing his lips, Jack crossed his arms while Miko giggled and Arcee simply smirked.
"Tell me you guys are seeing what I'm seeing?" Miko excitedly spun around.
"What?" Arcee teased, but her tone gave away that she knew exactly what Miko was referring to.
"There's something there that wasn't there before." Jack shook his head looking to where Smokescreen and Torryn exited.
"Did you actually just quote 'Beauty and the Beast'?" Miko snickered causing Jack to blush and glare at his friend.
"Shut up!" He complained, Optimus giving a ghost of a smile as he turned back to his work.
Perhaps giving Smokescreen Torryn as a charge was not such a bad idea.
As Smokescreen drove out through the tunnel with Torryn in his interior, the mech was extremely surprised to not see the usual clear skies or feel the intense desert heat. Instead what the mech was greeted with was a grey setting and many dark clouds looming over the skies. The dry heat which Smokescreen had grown used to over the past two weeks was no longer there, instead, there was a cool humid mist which touched his sensors.
And finally, everything was wet.
Smiling at the rain, Torryn was thrown back into thoughts of when she lived in Seattle, Washington barely six months ago. Back in Seattle, it was always rainy: warm sunny days were limited at her old home.
Tapping Smokescreen's steering wheel, Torryn murmured for him to stop. They did not need to go very far from the base in order for Smokescreen to experience rain for the first time.
Coming to a screeching halt, Smokescreen opened his door allowing her to crawl out. Once she was out, Torryn watched Smokescreen transform, neither worrying about any wandering eyes as no one would be this far in the desert when it was rainy.
Torryn was not expecting it to rain and therefore did not dress for the occasion. Instead, she wore the usual shorts and a tank top. Luckily, she was wearing a pair of durable sandals that would easily dry. The feeling of nostalgia washed over Torryn as she stood in the rain, her mind flashing to memories of green and rain and Washington.
"So?" Torryn looked toward Smokescreen whose body looked shinier than normal from the water drizzling down his form. "This is rain?" The mech was looking toward the clouds, an astonished look in his optic as he had never experienced anything like this.
What a stupendous planet.
"Yep!" Torryn yelled happily, holding her arms out to the heavens as if inviting the rain in for a hug. "Feel the rain, Smokey! Let it engulf you!" She continued to hold her hands up while dancing around on the spot, the water soaking her to the bone, her red hair clinging to her face.
Smokescreen laughed, following Torryn's lead in dancing, loving the way the Earth functioned.
And so, for the next thirty minutes, that's where you would have been able to find Smokescreen and Torryn. Dancing, hanging out and talking in the rain. They would have stayed out longer if it wasn't for Ratchet comming Smokescreen telling them to come in as Torryn would catch a cold if she was out for too long.
Once Smokescreen zoomed inside with a wet Torryn in his seat, they were both greeted by the sight of Ratchet and Bulkhead talking, Jack was sitting on the armchair, and Miko leaned against the railing. Optimus, Arcee, and Bee were nowhere to be found.
Getting out of Smokescreen, Torryn shook herself off and Smokescreen transformed still gleaming wet. Scooping his charge up, Smokescreen laughed at the small yelp of surprise Torryn gave. Gently, he sat her down on the railing next to Miko, Miko giving the girl a knowing smile, Torryn only rolling her eyes in response.
"Bulk, you need to pull yourself out of this funk," Miko called, leaning against the railing while Bulkhead only scoffed.
It was then Torryn remembered the mech's injured leg.
"You need to regain your strength. The time will come when–" Ratchet tried to explain only for Bulkhead to hotly cut him off.
"When what? When all of you will need an assist? Isn't that what the new guy is for?" The green mech spat, Torryn gaping never having heard Bulkhead quite so sour.
"Hey Bulkhead, I've been thinking..." Everyone turned to see Smokescreen approaching Bulkhead with the Apex Armor in his grasp.
The Apex Armor was a Cybertronian "super suit"; as the humans called it, made to help with the strength and agility of a Cybertronian. Currently, because no one was wearing it, it shrunk and coiled itself into a tight cylinder-like ball.
Torryn shook her head at what Smokescreen was starting, knowing this was not going to end well.
"With your injury and all, you might want to take advantage of the armor I snagged from Starscream. Instant muscle suit!" The young Autobot cheered, holding the armor out for Bulkhead who only glowered at him in return.
Torryn and Miko both cringed from the look Bulkhead was throwing Smokescreen.
"You think I need a crutch?" Bulkhead growled before standing and smacking the coiled armor out of Smokescreen's servos.
The Apex Armor flew through the base soaring right over Torryn and Miko's head; both girls watched in awe as the armor hit a set of Ratchet's computers completely demolishing them. The computers made a series of failing noises before the screens turned black. Ratchet gaped at his now broken equipment, the older mech turning to Bulkhead with a deadly glare.
"Bulkhead!" Ratchet snapped, pointing an accusing servo at him. "I needed that!"
Bulkhead for once did not care, only grunting while limping past the medic. "Out of my way, rookie!" Bulkhead pushed Smokescreen out of the way, the younger mech simply watching Bulkhead walk with astonishment written over his faceplates.
"He can walk!"
Everyone gazed at Bulkhead as he went to the corner of the base, grabbing what Torryn recognized as a large portion of metal squeezed into some sort of deformed ball. Bulkhead immediately began doing arm workouts with the metal ball (which no doubt weighed over a ton), grunting as he did so.
Placing his servos on his hip plates, Smokescreen nodded his head toward Bulkhead with a smile. "Looks like he's fit for duty to me!"
Since Smokescreen had arrived, Bulkhead had been out of duty with the Autobots due to an injury with his legs. Ratchet had still yet to clear Bulkhead and with Smokescreen's arrival, Bulkhead could not help but feel Team Prime was replacing him. Therefore, Bulkhead was now determined to get back into combat as soon as possible, but it seemed until he was completely healed Ratchet would not budge in clearing him.
"You don't even know what you're talking about." Ratchet grumbled in a warp of words that no one else understood.
Miko flashed a thumbs-up toward Smokescreen while Torryn gave him the most believable smile she could (which ended up looking more like a cringe), but Smokescreen seemed to buy it all the same.
"You have got to be kidding, Raf..." Torryn and Miko turned to face Jack who was sitting on the armchair, his phone open next to him on speaker. "You of all people grounded?"
There was a rustling noise on the other end, then suddenly Raf's voice came through the call. "Big time. I missed placed some homework and blew a couple of tests–" Raf was cut off by Torryn scoffing as her and Miko sat on the sofa across from Jack.
"Translation, you got an A- instead of an A+..." Miko rolled her eyes, everyone knowing her words rang true.
Raf only ignored her, continuing on with his previous point. "I'm probably spending too much time at the base–" Raf began explaining, only to be cut off once more, but this time it was his mother who did it.
"Rafael..." Torryn, Miko, and Jack all cringed at the sound of a thick Spanish accent coming through what they could only assume to be Raf's bedroom door. "I hope you are not on the phone in there." The accented voice called sternly.
"No, mama!" Raf's voice had suddenly morphed into a semi-Spanish accent as he spoke to his mother. Just as fast as the accent was there, it was gone when Raf addressed his friends once more, this time whispering. "Say hi to Bee for me. Until I improve these grades consider me off Team Prime." He sadly said before the call ended.
All the teens sighed before the attention was brought back to Bulkhead who was grunting while still working out with the ball of metal.
"Just when we add someone, we lose another." Miko sighed referring to gaining Torryn but losing Raf.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Raf will be back in no time! You guys know how smart he is!" Torryn said positively just as Ratchet opened the ground bridge allowing Arcee, Optimus, and Bumblebee to come back from recon.
"Hey, Arcee!" Jack greeted his guardian as she and the others transformed.
Arcee smiled at him, her optics slowly drifting to Smokescreen who did an overexcited salute to Optimus, the bigger mech simply nodding back. However, in a matter of seconds, the elevator doors on the other side of the railing from where the teens were standing opened revealing the one and only Agent William Fowler.
Torryn rose a brow remembering when she first met the man a few days prior. The Agent immediately spotted the three teens watching him from across the base, nodding in greeting to them before his attention was brought to Optimus approaching the rails.
"Agent Fowler," The Prime greeted politely, the Agent swiftly nodding back but wasting no time in delving into the issue as to why he was truly here.
"At 16:00 hours a satellite was stolen from a high-security military vault..." Because Torryn's dad was a high-ranking agent, he usually went by the military clock which caused for Torryn to easily understand what the phrase "16:00" translated to for Mountain Standard time; the clock her and everyone in Jasper was on. It would have been 4:00 P.M. yesterday afternoon as it was currently only eleven A.M. today. "Surveillance shows the Decepticon known as Breakdown at the scene."
Torryn's eyes flickered up to the screen which was now playing the video feedback at the military base which the satellite was stolen from. Leaning against the railing, Torryn carelessly hung on her stomach paying no mind to the fact that if she fell, she was roughly falling two stories; a fall which could potentially kill her.
While Miko did not mind Torryn's carelessness, Jack stepped closer fearful she would fall.
"Couldn't be that secure if someone managed to break in!" Torryn hollered from her place, now sitting on the skinny railing, her feet dangerously dangling off.
"I will have you know, young lady, that trying to protect something as fragile as the satellite from a Decepticon is much different than trying to do it from humans--" Agent Fowler turned toward where he heard Torryn's voice coming from gasping when he saw her dangerous position on the railing.
Miko let out a snort at the Agent's panic, Jack cringing while the other Autobots also panicked with Fowler. Optimus in particular allowed his stoic expression to drop, his optics wide as he subconsciously took a step forward with his servo raised. Unfortunately, he was also the boy furthest away from the red-haired teen.
"Smokescreen!" Ratchet yelled for Smokescreen to grab Torryn as he was both the closest Autobot to them as well as Torryn's guardian. Darting forward, Smokescreen grasped Torryn in his servo.
"Gotcha!" He yelled while plopping her back next to Jack and Miko, the redhead rolling her eyes while swatting Smokescreen's prodding finger away.
"Stop it," She complained while the young Autobot only snickered, taking a few steps away keeping a side optic on his charge while also listening to the issue at hand. "I was fine, people!" Torryn threw her hands up in exasperation.
Deciding to just ignore it, for now, everyone went back to the conversation at hand, Ratchet throwing the girl one last warning glare.
"Haven't seen Breakdown in a while." Bulkhead was the one to comment.
With a look of confusion, Torryn leaned toward Miko. "Who's Breakdown?" She whispered.
Miko leaned back, mumbling the answer softly so she and the others could still hear what was going on. "Breakdown is Bulkhead's archenemy, I don't know for sure, but I think they were both wreckers back on Cybertron."
While Torryn wanted to know exactly what a "wrecker" is, she figured it better to wait until another time to ask Miko about it.
"It looks like Breakdown entered the base in vehicle mode with someone behind the wheel." Fowler pointed out as the image of Breakdown in his truck mode approaching a guarded gate appeared on the screen.
Torryn rose a brow, taking note as to how the truck was a similar size to Bulkhead.
"A Decepticon paired with a human?" Ratchet asked with disbelief coloring his tone, Decepticons would never in a million years pair up with humans.
"Yep, and I have a hunch who. The satellite stolen was Project Damocles..."
"Invented by Cylas." Optimus Prime finished Agent Fowler's sentence.
Leaning toward Jack this time, Torryn asked yet another question. "And Cylas is...?"
"Really bad terrorist, when Cylas is involved nothing is ever good." He explained.
"I guess the former Agent Bishop wanted it back," Fowler said.
"Cylas also used to work for the U.S. military, and we thought he was dead up until now," Jack added to Torryn who nodded at the new information.
Bumblebee suddenly let out a series of chirps and whirrs, Arcee taking it upon herself to translate to the humans what the yellow mech had said. "We thought he was paste."
"So did I." Fowler shrugged, Ratchet taking this moment to jump in.
"Agent Fower, even if Cylas is alive are you suggesting that Cylas has allied MECH with the Decepticons? I highly doubt that Megatron would even entertain such an idea." Ratchet scoffed finding the theory preposterous.
"Why not?" Everyone in the room looked at Jack. "The human-bot alliance works for us." He shrugged, Miko and Torryn nodding along in agreeance.
"Most of the time." Arcee piped while shaking her helm.
"Listen," Fowler got the attention once again, motioning to the screen now showing blueprints on the satellite Damocles. "Damocles is no ordinary weapon. It's a particle beam cannon so powerful it can slice up the Pentagon like a birthday cake, or give everyone on mount Rushmore a mohawk, all from a satellite in orbit."
Torryn scoffed loudly drawing the attention to her as she addressed Agent Fowler. "Remind me why a weapon this powerful was just leisurely hanging around a mundane military base? Or hell, why does the U.S. even own a weapon like this in the first place? Was the H-bomb not enough?" She cleverly snipped, Agent Fowler pinching the bridge of his nose at this obstinate teenager.
"Ms. Wilde, this is classified information, the fact that I am even allowing you in here to listen is--" Torryn simply waved off the agent, a vicious smile playing at her lips.
If Torryn was one thing, it was inquisitive. She was also extremely clever when putting two-and-two together, so it was not hard for her to figure why the U.S. was holding onto a satellite this powerful.
"Tell me, Agent, which country is it that we're planning on going to war with?"
And like that the entire atmosphere of the room changed, Agent Fowler glaring daggers toward the teen. Slowly, Optimus Prime allowed his optics to flicker back and forth between the two, noticing Fowler's sudden nervousness.
"Torryn Wilde if you--"
"Is it Russia, I bet it's Russia. Or maybe North Korea, or China, or what about Venezuela? I heard we haven't been on the best of terms with them lately--"
"WILDE!" Agent Fowler screeched the girl's last name in an authoritative voice. "I swear by God's green Earth if you don't cooperate--"
Torryn suddenly gasped, her eyes shining in amusement from winding up the officer. "Don't tell me..." She shook her head, covering her mouth in mock shock. "It's all of them!"
"GET HER OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW, OR I SWEAR I WILL TAKE YOU INTO FEDERAL CUSTODY--!" Torryn was unable to hear the rest of Agent Fowler's angry rambling because Optimus Prime had turned to Jack.
"Take her into the back room, now." He said it in a low-authoritative voice, Jack nodding while quickly grasping Torryn's arm and pulling her away.
Miko thankfully stayed out here as Optimus did not trust the two together unsupervised; especially with what just went down. Smokescreen watched his charge and Jack leave with a large sum of concern, wondering if he should join them but quickly opted against it as without a holoform he would not even be able to get to the back room.
As Optimus watched them go, as much as he tried to ignore it, he could not stop himself from considering how much truth rang in the girl's words. Torryn actually had a good point, why would the U.S. have allowed this weapon to be created without the purpose of using it? It was then that Optimus finally realized despite her many layers, Torryn was much more intelligent than she was letting on.
✸✸✸
Torryn and Jack sat in the backroom in silence for a total of fifteen minutes before Miko and Fowler came marching in. Jack perked up, Torryn only smiling condescendingly toward the Agent.
With a breath, Fowler closed the door behind him, keeping his gaze locked with Torryn's. "Young lady, you are a lot more clever than you put on, and the government can appreciate someone with your intelligence. However, accusing the military of using the weapon for warfare; no matter how correct you may be, especially in front of the Autobots, is not the ideal way to go! If you are to be working with Team Prime, you and I need to be able to work with each other, not against, is that understood?" Agent Fowler placed his hands on his hips.
Rolling her eyes, Torryn huffed. "Yes sir, it is understood!" She mockingly saluted the guy, deciding to just give in.
Miko and Jack flashed each other a look of surprise because normally Torryn would not have given in but rather have given some sort of smart-ass answer like "suck my balls" instead. Perhaps being around the Autobots was actually giving her a positive influence?
"Good, now if you have any questions, I encourage you to come to ask me personally next time rather than make me blow a gasket while calling the U.S. out in front of everyone."
Torryn snickered at the man's words while nodding her head. "Of course."
"Now, considering Raf is the only one who can hack into Project Damocles, Ratchet has ordered us to pay our small friend a visit."
That was how Torryn Wilde, Miko Nakadai, Jack Darby, and Agent William Fowler ended up in the bedroom of the one and only Rafael.
"I'm in but I can't reach the targeting systems, too many firewalls," Raf explained while furiously typing on his laptop.
Though Torryn was smart, she was no genius like Rafael. However, she was relatively adept when it came to certain technological things such as firewalls. After all, she was able to create a system built up of so many firewalls that no one would be able to track her cellphone. Perhaps not smart if she got kidnapped but smart in case someone like Soundwave was ever trying to find her via phone.
"Have you tried breaking the firewalls down by going in through the 'backway'." Everyone gave Torryn a look of shock and confusion, the girl only shrugging while Raf shook himself out of it.
"Good idea, that's probably the only way I'm getting in but it'll take too long," Rafael growled in frustration, knowing that fifteen minutes would be way too long.
A sudden thought popped into Torryn's head as she smiled. "What if you hack into the satellite and take it down from there. Then the codes the Decepticons are trying to get will do them no good." Though Torryn would never be able to hack into any satellite, she knew Rafael would have no trouble.
"Two steps ahead of you, Torryn. I'm hacking into the navigation sub-routine now, that satellite is coming down." He playfully smirked to the older girl who ruffled his hair teasingly.
"Ahh, not the hair!" Raf cried while fixing his hair.
"Hey, which way is the bathroom?" Fowler questioned, Jack, Miko, and Torryn turning to look at him incredulously.
"What?" Raf exclaimed while turning in his chair. "No! If my mom sees you--" Raf was not able to finish his sentence as Agent Fowler leisurely held out his hands.
"Relax, I trained in covert ops."
Jumping from his seat, Rafael stubbornly shook his head. "I don't care if you were trained by a ninja, my mom has eyes on the back of your head."
Miko and Torryn clutched each other while laughing as quietly as they could, Torryn's mouth wide with amusement from how sassy her young friend was. Fowler rose a brow at the young boy, Jack simply watching his two female friends fall to the ground in hilarity.
Eventually, Agent Fowler was able to convince Raf, the young boy swearing if he was caught it would be Fowler doing the explaining. Torryn had taken it upon herself to time him, Miko sitting next to her on Raf's bed as they watched the timer go through the seconds.
"Holy crap! You went to the bathroom in less than forty-five seconds?" Torryn exclaimed when Fowler arrived less than a minute later.
"Wow, guys really do pee fast." Miko murmured causing Torryn to nod along in agreement.
"Uhm, Raf please tell me you're the one moving the satellite?" Jack pleaded as he watched the satellite target move across the country, Torryn and Miko leaping from the bed and standing next to Raf who sat at his desk chair.
Rafael gulped shaking his head in an affirmative no. It was barely two seconds later when the satellite stopped moving, it's intended target being exactly where all five humans currently stood, Rafael's home.
"Well, shit..." Torryn's face fell as Miko clutched her arm fearfully, Jack taking her arm in his.
It was a clear indication of how close the quartet of friends actually was.
With no hesitation, Raf quickly hacked into the satellite not wanting to die today. "Full thruster burn!" He quickly pressed a button causing the satellite to move, and effectively miss the intended target.
Not that the teens knew it, but tomorrow morning they would be aware that the satellite ended up hitting one of the two K.O. Burgers in town. Unfortunately, it was not Jack's K.O. Burger so he would still be forced to go to work, and because the other was now gone, his would all the busier.
Letting out a huff of relief, Raf smiled. "We're good, the satellite's down."
"Woohoo!" Miko exclaimed fist-pumping the air while Jack and Torryn high-fived in victory.
However, the excited mood ended abruptly when a sharp knock came for Rafael's door.
"Rafael Jorge Gonzales Esquivel..." Torryn gaped at his mother shouting Raf's full name.
"That's your full name!" She said in shock, Raf rolling his eyes while delivering a small slap to her abdomen.
Torryn only snickered at the small slap, everyone panicking when the heard Rafael's mom's next sentence. Immediately when the door began opening, Raf tossed everyone book, the five quickly sitting in a circle to make it look as though they were studying.
"What is going on in here?" A pretty Mexican woman opened the door, her hair thrown back in a ponytail as she sternly addressed her son.
However, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of all the people sitting in her son's room.
"Study group," Raf shrugged nonchalantly as the woman pursed her lips in disbelief.
"Hello, Mrs. Esquivel." Everyone other than Raf said at the same to time with polite yet nervous smiles.
Eyeing the Agent for a second Mrs. Esquivel wrote him off as a tutor, nodding her head at her son. "Very well, your brothers and sister will be home in thirty-minutes for dinner, so this study group must be over by then." She gave them all a pointed look before closing the door, not even bothering to offer for them to stay for dinner.
To be fair, Mrs. Esquivel had a total of four sons including Raf and one daughter, adding herself and her husband that was already seven people for dinner, there was no way she had enough in order to add four more people to that list. Perhaps if it was only one friend (maybe two) she would allow them to stay, but four was simply too much.
And so, shortly after, they all were ground-bridged back to base (other than Raf who was still grounded). When they got there, the other Autobots had already returned from the successful mission.
"Hey, Smokey!" Torryn greeted while stepping out of the ground-bridge her charge waving back excitedly while transforming.
Considering they all had school tomorrow, Optimus decided it was time for them to go home.
"Any chance I can get your address yet, red?"
"Not a chance, Smokey."