Archive of Our Own ^beta

   Frankie knew she was smart, and she made no attempts at hiding it. What would be the point? Anybody worth her time wouldn’t be afraid or avoid her just because of how intelligent she was. (There were… a lot of people, not worth her time. Thank Diogenes for Cody, she didn’t know what she would do without him in her grade. It would be a lot lonelier, that was for sure.)

   But even if people knew she was intelligent, a lot of them seemed to forget that. Adults seemed to assume that just because she was young, Frankie would miss things in front of her face. She did not. She thought the Burns family knew her better than this. They hadn’t been this obviously shifty since before Frankie found out about the Rescue Bots. She expected better of them. She expected better of Cody. 

   It was, on some level, amusing for a while. To hear their increasingly stupid excuses to keep her from coming over. ‘ Dad’s on the mainland, so we’re not supposed to have people over.’ A rather lame excuse, given they’ve never stopped her for that before. The Chief was, in fact, on the mainland often nowadays. Actually a lot like he had been before bringing the Rescue Bots over. Frankie took note of that, and then put a pin in it for later.

   And then there was the occasional ‘ Sorry Frankie, I can’t hang out, I have homework.’ Buddy, she had the exact same classes. She knew when he did or didn’t have homework, and anytime she offered to have a homework sesh together, he declined nowadays. Frankie wondered if his math homework was taking a hit without her help… Probably not, he still had Grahm to help. But, occasionally, when she saw his homework in the turn-in bin, it looked like there was a second set of handwriting in the notes helping him. It wasn’t one she recognized. 

   She hadn’t exactly memorized the Burns family’s handwriting, but she kind of had. Chief Burns wrote in cursive, and Graham had rapid fire scribbles that bordered on doctor’s handwriting in terms of illegibility. Kade and Dani didn’t help Cody with his math homework, so they were automatically eliminated from being the new set of handwriting. Besides, Kade wrote in cursive too since he learned from the Chief, and Dani had a bubbly round font for her handwriting. The new set was sketchy and clear, like writing on a blueprint.

   Frankie took note, and made sure to pointedly raise her eyebrow at Cody whenever the opportunity arose. He always cringed and came up with a meaningless distraction.

   And then, the final nail in the coffin that turned their fumbling attempts to keep Frankie away from the firehouse from amusing to just plain annoying. ‘ Sorry, not today.’ ‘Maybe some other time.’ ‘Not right now, I can’t.’ The stupid excuses that weren’t even really excuses. They were just hurtful. Frankie had lost friends this way. Or, at least, found out that those people weren’t friends at all. They just didn’t like her, and wanted her to leave them alone. To stop asking to hang out and spend time, pushing her away until she gave up. Frankie knew that’s not what Cody was doing. But it sure felt like it. It hurt.

   So, if Cody was going to make up stupid excuses Frankie would just have to ignore him. Cody was keeping her away to keep a secret, so if Frankie found out the secret, he wouldn’t have any reason to keep her away. They’d keep being friends. He wouldn’t push her away anymore. So, with that resolve, after school she snuck out to one of the bunker tunnels. Frankie was going to figure this out, come hell or high water. She was kind of nervous to be in the tunnels alone, but she was prepared. 

   She had told her dad where she was going, saying that she was going to use the tunnels to ‘prank’ Cody. Daddy had said that if she didn’t ping him using her phone an hour after she went in, he’d tell the chief what she was doing and to find her. It was only a half hour walk through the path she had outlined and memorized, so she would be in the firehouse long before then.

   In her bag she had a map, several flashlights, five bags of trail mix, a water bottle, and a couple gps trackers, just in case. She was going to figure out what the Burns family was hiding, no matter what.

   It was going pretty well, all things considered. She saw all the landmarks she was supposed to, all the signs indicating she was going the right way. Frankie checked her watch. If her calculations were correct, she should be coming up on the entrance to the bunker in about a minute. She paused. What in the name of Beethoven was that awful noise? It was screechy and mechanical, with the occasional rumble or chirr. Frankie frowned. It sounded… familiar? 

   There was a pause in the noises as she continued her way forward, and then there were more noises. But it had a different undercurrent. It was clearer. More defined. While the previous sounds had slurred together into a cacophony, these were more defined. That was it! Frankie knew when she had heard it before.

   She had asked the Rescue Bots about what their language was like, once. After all, it’d be stupid if they just randomly had English as their first language. Frankie had asked if she could learn it, but Heatwave had just laughed. He had looked at her, and then made noises she couldn’t have a hope of recreating on her own. She was only human, there was no way she could simulate engine noises, clattering metal, subvocal hums, and the honestly painful sounding screeching with her own voice. But as odd as their language was, it was just as fascinating.

   It was so different, and amazingly unique. And there was something about it, beneath the sounds of clashing metal that was like a song or a music box. It was, in its own way, beautiful. 

   Frankie frowned as she approached the exit to the bunker sneakily. Why was the first round of noises she had heard so different that she hadn’t even recognized such a distinctive sound? There were more sounds of the Rescue Bots speaking in their language, occasionally interspersed with the strange almost-but-not-quite Cybertronian.

   Frankie frowned. If this was the Rescue Bots talking to each other in their language, then the one who wasn’t speaking it right probably wasn’t one of them. This must have been what Cody was hiding! She still didn’t know exactly what it was, but this was a push in the right direction at the very least.

   Frankie crept to the entrance, and quickly pinged her dad. She needed to focus now, and she’d probably forget to do it later. Frankie crouched and looked around the edge. There was Blades, Chase, Boulder, and Heatwave, all looking at something just out of Frankie’s field of view. She leaned further around the edge, and caught a glimpse of… a person? They were facing away, so Frankie could only see the back of their black-haired head, but they were obviously talking to the bots. Boulder rumbled something, and then the person rumbled back. Obviously it wasn’t as smooth as Boulder, catching in some places where human vocal cords just weren’t made to make those noises, but it was smoother than Frankie would have expected.

   A lot smoother, actually. Almost suspiciously so. Frankie narrowed her eyes. The person shifted, and started turning towards Frankie. Frankie ducked back around the corner and hoped they hadn’t seen her.

   She breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when the conversation she couldn’t understand seemed to continue without hesitation. Frankie tensed back up, however when Chase called, “It is rude to eavesdrop, Francine,”

   Frankie winced, before straightening up and boldly walking out. She wouldn’t give up now! Not when she was so close to answers, and the black haired stranger most certainly had them. She walked up to the small group, glancing over all of them. On closer inspection, the stranger was a scruffy looking teenager. He smiled at Frankie and held out his hand.

   “You must be Frankie, Cody talks about you a lot,” He rasped, before making a face and clearing his throat uncomfortably. 

   Frankie couldn’t help but stand up taller. Cody talked about her to this stranger. It felt good to know he wasn’t leaving her behind (forgetting her). “Yup! Frankie Greene, that’s me. Are you okay?” 

   The stranger smiled crookedly. “Yeah. Human vocal cords just aren’t meant to speak this way,” He rubbed at his throat, “It’d be easier when I don’t look like this, but that’s something to experiment with later,” 

   The Bots shuffled around her, but Frankie was more focused on the challenging look in the stranger’s eyes. Frankie knew what this was about. The signs she had noticed started adding up in her head.

   The Chief disappearing to the mainland with frequency, the new hand writing on Cody’s homework, this stranger being able to, badly, speak the Bots language, and now implying that he wasn’t human. Frankie knew what this was.

   The stranger was a shapeshifting alien! The Chief kept going to the mainland like he did before getting the bots, because he was helping get this new alien settled. And they were able to help with Cody’s homework because he was from a more advanced species. Frankie had connected the dots. Cody was foolish to think he could keep this from her. Frankie was a super-sleuth!

   The shapeshifter was still looking at her, now almost nervously, and Frankie reached out and pumped their hands up and down once. “Always nice to meet someone unique. Griffin Rock can get boring sometimes,”

   He laughed, more of a cackle really, and shook his head. “I’m pretty sure only a native of Griffin Rock would say that. This place is nuts, ”

   Frankie smirked and shrugged. “It’s crazy, but its home,”

   “Can’t it be both?” Boulder interjected, and Frankie looked up, smiling.

   “I guess,” She replied, “It wouldn’t be Griffin Rock if it wasn’t all of those things at once. Crazy and home to all the oddities,” Frankie smirked at the bots. 

   Heatwave rolled his eyes. “Are you here for a reason?”

   “Cody was rather obviously keeping me away. He wasn’t exactly subtle. And now I’m here, so he won’t have to keep me from coming over anymore,” Frankie flipped her hair over her shoulder and smirked. “Now I need to go give him a piece of my mind for thinking he could keep anything from me,” Frankie turned to the shapeshifter and smiled warmly. “It was nice meeting you. And welcome to Griffin Rock!”

   Frankie started flouncing over to the elevator, listening to the conversation behind her as she walked away.

   “I believe you’re forgetting something,” Chase said. A beat of silence. Frankie pressed the button on the elevator.

   “Wait, sh-crap!” The violent exclamation from the newest alien startled Frankie. She turned around to look at the group of extraterrestrials. 

   “Uh, everything okay?” She asked.

   “I forgot to actually introduce myself,” The shapeshifter rubbed at the back of his neck, “Again. My name’s Danny,”

   “We already have one of those,” Frankie teased, and the shapeshifter flashed a sharp toothed smile.

   “I expect I’m going to be hearing a lot of that in the future,” He laughed.

   The elevator doors behind Frankie opened with a small ding.

   “Oh, you will,” Frankie grinned, “Danny 2,”

   The shapeshifter gave a beleaguered sigh and Frankie laughed joyfully as the elevator doors closed.

*************

   It wasn’t often that Woodrow got to call his family. His work took him to a lot of places, and most of them didn’t have cell signal. Today he had signal, but it was patchy. A lot of his brother’s words dropped. Sometimes entire sentences. But Woodrow got by. And anything super important Charlie would emphasise, make sure Woodrow picked up on it anyways.

   So Woodrow was sure it was fine. The last twenty to thirty seconds of the call were silent, but Charlie’s voice had picked right back up… eventually.

   “-and Dani’s been flying on the regular, finally,” Charlie was saying.

   “Oh?” Woodrow asked. There wasn’t a lot that could keep Dani on the ground. But Charlie didn’t sound concerned, only relieved. Dani was probably going stir crazy, driving the rest of the family up the walls while she was confined to the ground.

   “Yes, I’m glad he’s back in the air again,” Huh, he? The call must’ve dropped the beginning of that word again.

   “Not as glad as Dani, I bet,” Woodrow laughed.

   Charlie laughed too, a smile audible in his voice. “I’m glad you’re taking this so well. I wasn’t worried, exactly. I know you better than that Woodrow, but I know you take family matters especially close to heart,”

   Oh. Shit. Oh no. He had missed something. What had he missed when the call cut out? Something to do with the family, something different had happened. They had been talking about Dani. 

   …Charlie had called Dani ‘he’. Oh. Ohhhhh. Woodrow understood now! What Charlie had been saying earlier, when they got cut out. 

   Dani was trans! Seemed he only had nephews now. He wondered why Dani, maybe Danny now, wasn’t telling him her-uh, himself. Was he nervous? Unsure of how Woodrow would react? Well he’d just have to show his nephew there was nothing to fear from Woodrow!

   “Well, you just tell him I’m glad to have him,”

   “I will, Woodrow. I know it’ll mean a lot to him,” Charlie said warmly. 

   Woodrow grinned. Success! There was a staticy chirp on the other end, and then Charlie sighed. “Duty calls,” His brother said.

   “Aw, good luck Charlie. Tell the kids I love them. I’ll try to come around sometime soon!”

   “I will. I love you, Woodrow,”

   “Love you too Charlie,”

   Woodrow’s phone beeped as his brother hung up, and he lowered it with a smile. That was nice. He should amazon order a trans flag or some pride thing for Danny, to show his support. Yeah, that’d be good. He’d do that…

   Just as soon as he managed to find his way out of the actual Amazon forest.

   …And a way down this tree. It was the only way to get cell signal out here! Sue him.

************

   Haley had lived on Griffin Rock her entire life, and knew pretty much everyone on the island. Especially now that she worked as a kindergarten teacher. She got to know all of the parents, the kids, the best friends, the step-parents, the uncles and aunts…

   Well, Haley knew pretty much everyone. So she definitely noticed that she didn’t recognize the skittish teenager on their nature walk. It was originally supposed to be a Burns family outing, but apparently Cody had invited Frankie, and then Kade had invited her, and Dani invited Taylor… So it turned into a Burns family and friends nature hike.

   So it was odd that Haley had never seen them before. The kid was also… concerning. He was notably skittish, shying away from both Haley and Taylor, instead lurking back by Chief Burns’ car. Haley turned to Kade, and he grinned at her. He was surprisingly sweet and dorky… when he pulled his head out of his ass. Haley liked to think of herself as a moderating influence, who kept her boundaries and didn’t put up with him on his bullshit. 

   …Maybe that wasn’t the best standard for a relationship. Haley was working on it with her therapist. That wasn’t the point! She was going to ask Kade about the teenager nervously walking behind the police rescue bot, dogging its heels so close the robot had to maneuver to not step on him on occasion.

   “Kade?” Haley asked.

   “Yeah, Haley?” Kade grinned, swinging their hands where they were held together. See, moments like these were what kept Haley coming back. He could just be so sweet.

   “Who’s the kid with the black hair?” She asked. Kade… looked away from her.

   “He’s, uh. His name is Danny. He’s staying with us for a while. He’s a, uh, cousin. Kind of distant, from the mainland,”

   “Oh,” Haley replied. She felt like there was more that Kade wasn’t telling her. She glanced back at Danny. He glanced in her direction, but immediately averted his eyes when he saw she was looking at him.

   Kade bumped her shoulder and Haley looked back up at him. “Hey, don’t worry. He’s got me looking out for him, and I’m awesome at taking care of people,” He winked and Haley couldn’t help but giggle. God, he could be such a dork!

   About halfway through, Chief Burns called for a stop for lunch. Graham dragged Kade away, pointing at his tablet and talking quietly. It was probably work, Haley noted, given how seriously Kade was taking it. If it was just Graham being, well, Graham, then Kade would probably be blowing his brother off, or just pestering him. Haley looked around.

   Dani and Taylor were being cute and feeding each other bits of their sandwiches. Chief Burns was talking, or maybe scolding, Cody and Frankie. Danny was gnawing idly at his granola bar. 

   Haley walked over to him, and gestured to beside him. “Can I sit here?” She asked. Danny nodded, and shuffled over on the log he was sitting on. “My name’s Haley, what’s yours?” Even if she already knew, it was polite to ask.

   “I’m Danny,” He muttered. He didn’t even look at Haley. He seemed kind of… uncomfortable around her. 

   “It’s nice to meet you,” Haley smiled. Danny just hummed and nodded.

   Haley sipped at her water bottle. Danny was odd. She didn’t expect him to be immediately friendly with her, she was a stranger, but the recalcitrance to even engage was tickling something at the back of her brain. It felt almost familiar.

   Haley considered it, turning the thought over in her head. Danny didn’t like to talk to strangers. In fact, for most of the walk he refused to even be in her or Taylor’s vicinity. And when he did, it was quiet and unobtrusive, refusing to even look anyone in the eyes. 

   Oh. Oh, was that it? Haley remembered where she had seen this before. Alexander, one of her old students, had been one of the quietest students she’d ever had. Since her students were hyperactive five year olds, that was concerning. 

   Alexander was kind, but quiet and didn’t play with any of the other students. They only ever ate the same five dry foods for lunch, and whenever Haley talked to them to try to get them to at least try to play with others, Alexander studiously avoided looking Haley in the eyes.

   She had met with Alexander’s parents, and encouraged them to get Alexander tested for either a social or learning disability. By the time results came back, Alexander had already graduated her class and moved up to first grade. 

   But Alexander’s parents had come in during the new school year, and thanked her for encouraging them to get Alexander tested. The general assessment panel had come back with level two severity autism, which didn’t overall mean much to Haley besides that fact that Alexander had been diagnosed, and now had access to accommodations. 

   Haley got it, now. Danny was autistic or something of that ilk. Haley looked back over to him. He was nibbling the last chunk of his granola bar. He looked content, so Haley simply turned back to her water bottle and continued to drink.

   The sky was bright blue and entirely clear, not a single cloud in sight. The trees rustled softly in the breeze, stark green leaves rustling. Sunlight filtered through the branches, throwing all of the colours into stark relief. It was beautiful. 

   At the end of the hike, Haley drifted over to Chief Burns. Taylor had already left, something about a work call, and Dani, Kade, and Graham were all huddled together looking at a tablet. Haley wondered if Graham had found something on the hike with his equipment. Maybe, maybe not. It wasn’t Haley’s concern.

   Danny, Cody, and Frankie were over by the Chief’s car, so Haley was clear to talk to the Chief.

   “Hi, Chief,” Haley smiled.

   “Haley,” Chief Burns greeted. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

   “I did. Can I talk to you real quick? It’s about Danny,”

   Chief Burns frowned. “Why? Is something wrong?”

   Haley shook her head. “No, just a few things I noticed,”

   “What is it?” Chief Burns was staring at Haley rather intently. Maybe he had noticed it too?

   “He just has a lot of similarities to one of my previous students. Do you know if he’s ever gotten tested for autism?”

   Chief Burns blinked. “No, I don’t. Can I ask what you noticed?”

   “Ah, well, he just didn’t seem interested in strangers or talking much, and he avoided eye contact too. He could just be shy, but I wanted to ask you, just in case,”

   Chief Burns smiled ruefully, “Yeah, he can be pretty shy. We weren’t entirely sure he’d even agree to this outing, but he did. Do you think he enjoyed himself, at least?”

   Haley glanced over at Danny. He was smiling and gesturing while he talked to Cody and Frankie. Frankie started laughing, and Danny grinned shyly.

   Danny hadn’t particularly seemed to like or care for Haley. He had spent more time with the Chief’s robot than her. But he was smiling and joking around at the end of the hike. The sky was clear, the birds were chirping, and Danny was smiling.

   Haley looked back at Chief Burns and smiled. “I think he did,”

*************

   Ezra Greene was having a great day! Absolutely splendid! He was in his science happy place: original inventions and innovations, discovery, and the potential of getting his hands on new substances. 

   While the previous expedition for energon on Griffin Rock had ended in the known entirety of the energon supply being blown up, hopefully this one would end less destructively and more productively. Ezra very desperately wanted to get his gloves on what the Rescue Bots called unprocessed energon. If there was enough excess, then maybe Ezra could finally get some. 

   He understood why the Rescue Bots rationed their supply so heavily, of course. If their stash from before they went into stasis ran out, they would shut down and eventually go offline. Permanently. Didn’t mean Ezra wasn’t very glad to be part of the group investigating the readings Graham had picked up on the hike Frankie went on last week.

   Ezra pulled over and hopped out of his car to where Graham and Boulder were waiting. “Found anything yet?” Ezra inquired.

   “Not yet. Boulder used his seismic imaging and identified several underground pockets, but we can’t tell if those actually contain anything,” Graham replied.

   “The readings are coming from this area, but it’s too wide spread to tell which one potentially contains energon,” Boulder added.

   “Unless we focus the signal,” Ezra said.

   “But how?” Graham asked.

   “Well,” Came a voice Ezra didn’t recognize, ”We could make an array to focus the energy and once we get a more concentrated reading we can calibrate the sensors,” A dark haired teenager stepped out of the brush and shrugged. “Maybe,”

   “Brilliant idea, Danny!” Graham enthused. “Doc, do you think you could make something for that?”

   Well, if Graham was going to act nonplussed, who was Ezra to kick up a fuss. “Well, I’m not sure. I brought a variety of materials in the back of my jeep, but I’m unsure if I can make exactly what’s needed for this situation,”

   “Um, maybe I could take a look?” Danny kicked at the ground nervously, and Ezra felt his heart melt a little. Oh, how he loved children. 

   “Of course! Come, between the four of us I’m sure we can come up with something,”

   “Ah, just you two. Me and Boulder will take more readings so we have an overall baseline. You two go ahead,” Graham said.

   Danny looked nervously towards the two. “Are you sure?”

   “Absolutely. I want to see what you can do anyways,” Graham smiled, and Danny grinned sheepishly.

   “Come, I believe I have an extra tool kit in the back,” Ezra smiled at the uncertain teenager. With one last glance at Graham, Danny followed Ezra to his jeep. Ezra unlocked the back and pulled open the trunk. “So! I have quite a lot of material as I wasn’t sure what I’d need. Feel free to look around,” 

   Ezra started rummaging. He kept half an eye on Danny, who was carefully poking around. Ezra was no stranger to rolling with the metaphorical punches, but a teenager whom Ezra had never seen before showing up, knowing the secret of the Rescue Bots? It was odd to say the least.

   Ezra ran ideas over in his head, poking each hypothesis before setting each aside. A government worker? Too young, unfeasible. Chief Burns suddenly adopted a teenager from the mainland? Charlie didn’t have a foster license, and adoption was too intensive of a process for Ezra to not have picked up on something. Ezra carefully thought over Graham and Danny’s interaction. Graham had said he wanted to see what Danny could do.

   Was Danny an intern or apprentice of some kind? It made the most sense, why Graham would bring Danny along on this specific project. Danny wouldn’t be out and about on active rescues as a minor, which would also lessen the amount of gossip about him. And if he lived with the Burnses, he wouldn’t often be seen, while also giving him the opportunity to find out the Rescue Bot’s secret.

   Seemed like quite a risk to take, but it wasn’t Ezra’s secret. If the Rescue Bots and the Burns family decided it was an acceptable risk, then, well, Ezra didn’t have a place to comment on it.

   Ezra shook his head and turned back to his work. Hm, he might need to cannibalize a few things in order to get the correct results. Especially the software. Coding was not Ezra’s speciality. There were plenty of sensors that they could hook up to take in information and then show the results. If he took it from the prototype endorphin measuring headphones, and tweaked it slightly… yes, that was feasible. But what to do for the main collection apparatus?

   “Hey, um, Doctor Greene?” Danny said.

   “Yes, Danny number two?” Ezra smiled. Danny rolled his eyes with the usual teenager aplomb.

   “I knew I’d be hearing more of that joke,” Danny held up a blender. “Can I use this?”

   Ezra blinked. “Ah. I forgot that was in there. That is my old blender, its motor died. I had meant to throw it out before now, I forgot I still had it,”

   “Oh, it's garbage. Right, sorry, shouldn’t have brought it up, sorry to be a bother” Danny shrunk in on himself and his voice got progressively quieter until he was muttering at the end. He seemed so… small. It made something in Ezra’s chest ache.

   “No!” Danny startled. Whoops, was Ezra too loud? Oh well, too late. “Ingenuity is the mother of invention. Or at least one of its mothers. What were you thinking of using it for?” Ezra asked gently.

   “Well, um,” Danny held the blender up like a shield, “I was thinking about its blades. And how it pulls everything in. And while it picks up on everything, some stuff gets pulled in easier while the heavy stuff bounces off. And even when it's all combined, there’s definitely still dominant flavours. So, if we converted the blades to a more energy attaining form,”

   “And allow it to filter out the heavier energies,” Ezra added joyously.

   “We could get something that pulls in and filters out at the same time!” Danny finished.

   “Ingenious!” Ezra enthused. “I would have never thought of that! Sometimes the best answers do lie in the mundane, fantastic idea!”

   Danny blushed a spectacular shade of pink, with some concerning green edges. Was he so shy that praise made him nauseous? That was some serious social anxiety. “Oh. Thanks,”

   “Only credit where credit is due. Now, tell me what you think would be best to get the energies into this device to pick up the readings,”

   Danny beamed.

----------------- 

   “And you’re sure leaving them alone together was a good idea?” Boulder asked softly.

   “It’s fine, buddy. Danny needs to get more used to other people, and Doc’s entirely trustworthy. They’ll be fine,” While Graham felt slightly weird about talking about Danny like he was a feral cat that needed resocializing, it was close enough to the truth that Graham couldn’t fully suppress the thought.

   “That’s not what I was talking about,” Boulder replied. Graham frowned.

   “What do you mean?”

   “His previous guardians were mad scientists, right?”

   Graham shuddered. “Yeah. Yeah they were. But Danny already said he’d be fine meeting with Doc. We quadruple checked,”

   “Still not what I meant,”

   “Then what do you mean?” Graham asked, baffled.

   “I believe it can be summarised with an old earth saying: the apple doesn’t fall far from the bridge,”

   Graham blinked at the nonsensical malaphor. He opened his mouth to ask another question, when they reached the road where they’d left Danny and Doc Greene and he couldn’t draw his focus from… whatever was in front of him.

   “Uh, Doc? Danny?”

   The two turned to Graham with eerie synchrony and asked, “Yes?” 

   Graham repressed a shudder at the manic lights in their eyes. “What do you have there?”

   Danny proudly held up what looked like an electric fly swatter that had all the netting replaced with blender blades made of concentrated energy. “It’s an Energy Synthesizer! The blades pull in the correct ‘weight’ of energy frequency we’re looking for, brushing off anything that isn’t in the correct weight!” Graham had never seen Danny so enthusiastic. Didn’t change that Danny was holding what looked like a revamped medieval torture device.

   “I would prefer it if you were wearing protective gear. Or not handling that at all,” 

   “Oh, don’t worry,” And Graham would absolutely deny the little shriek he let out in the next moment, because Kade could never hear of it, when Danny stuck his entire arm through the middle of the blades. 

   Graham inhaled deeply and let it out. No blood. There was no blood, no screaming, just Danny and Doc Greene looking at him with concern. The energy blades were just that: energy. Danny’s arm passed through them like there was nothing there in the first place. Okay. 

   …Oh thank fuck Dad wasn’t here, he would’ve had a heart attack. Graham just wheezed while Boulder carefully patted his shoulder with a finger. Which was more like shoving him lightly, but it was the intent that mattered. Graham understood what Boulder meant now: Danny was his own breed of insane scientist. At least his capacity for harming others seemed to be limited to giving Graham a fucking stroke.

   “Are you alright, Graham?” Doc asked Graham. Graham gave a shaky thumbs up. 

   “Yeah. We’re good. Perfectly fine, oh holy shit-”

*********

   Huxley Prescott was committed to uncovering the truth, to discovering all the secrets that made their home on Griffin Rock. He investigated and reported, doing his best to be in the heat of the moment. Or directly thereafter. Huxley was always on top of the latest news, and had an investigative eye for the new or interesting. And this? Was interesting.

   An experimental landscaper had gone on the rampage, running amok the town and destroying a local playground. The Burns family and their robots had stopped it, of course, but what was more interesting was the teenager who had evacuated the park. Huxley had arrived on scene just in time to see the bedraggled, dark haired teenager dash into the path of the rampaging landscaper which was bearing down on Mrs. Fritzons’ child. 

   The teenager daringly threw himself to the child, grabbing her and rolling out of the path right before the landscaper crashed its serrated blades into the ground. Huxley had never been more glad of his constantly recording camera. It wasn’t live at the moment, but that would just allow Huxley to present a more polished story. He turned towards it. “Terrifying technology, a trashed playground, and a daring rescue. Let’s see what our mystery rescuer has to say,”

   Huxley strode over to where the teenager was brushing the playground’s mulch off of himself. “What a brave assist young man,” The teenager locked startlingly blue eyes on Huxley. “Who is our mystery savior? What pushed you to risk your life in the face of danger?” Any teenager would be excited to get an exclusive interview, to be praised for their deeds.

   But the kid just rolled his shoulders, set his face into a neutral mein, and replied, “No comment,”

   Huxley didn’t allow his smile to waver. He didn’t get a ten week online intensive diploma on journalism just to give up in the face of a slightly stubborn target. “Humble, eh? A great trait for a hero to have. But you deserve recognition for your brave deeds. Tell me, what’s your name?”

   “No comment,” The teenager continued to stonewall. But Huxley would not be deterred!

   “I’m with Griffin Rock news, I’m sure you’ve heard of us?” Well, technically it was just Huxley, but the teen didn’t need to know that.

   “No comment,” The teenager said, through gritted teeth. It seemed Huxley was getting through to him.

   “I’ve never seen you around before, where did you say you were from again?” 

   “Mr. Prescott!” Chief Burns called. Huxley turned towards his voice, and didn’t see the teenager behind him slump in relief.

   The Chief was striding over to Huxley, face sternly set. For some reason, Huxley felt like he was caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to.

   “Can I do something for you, Chief Burns?” Huxley asked. The teenager edged around Huxley before dashing quickly behind the Chief like a human shield. Chief Burns shifted slightly, getting between the teenager and the camera. Huxley’s eyebrow twitched.

   “No. But I will remind you you can’t interview a minor without their legal guardian’s permission,” Huxley did not wince. He had gotten so excited he had forgotten. Usually kids were so excited to get on the news! But instead the Chief had deemed to interfere in what could have been an interesting story. Annoying.

   “My apologies,” Huxley said, “I assumed he was of an age to make those decisions for himself,”

   “Well he’s not. So I’m going to ask you to cease your questions, Mr. Prescott. Find a different story than whatever you were pursuing,” The Chief turned his back on Huxley, and instead started fussing over the teenager. Huxley grit his teeth and backed away slowly. At least he had his footage. “Mr. Prescott,” The Chief called again. Huxley forced a smile.

   “Yes?”

   “It’s also illegal to post footage or images of a minor without their guardian’s permission,” The Chief turned cold, cold eyes on Huxley, and he repressed a flinch. “You are going to delete that footage. If I see it anywhere, I will personally deliver your court summons to you. Am I clear?” Huxley backed up slowly.

   “Crystal,” He drawled. Huxley grabbed his camera and walked away. He started taking shots of the destroyed playground. He was going to get something out of this, no matter what.

   But he wondered. He wondered why the teenager was so good at stonewalling him. Any normal teenager would be over the moon to be interviewed. So it stood to reason that he wasn’t a normal teenager. And the roll he executed was more refined than Huxley would expect. Something was up with that kid. Something that drew the Chief’s attention and protection. That stifled any depiction of the kid in the media. 

   Huxley had also never seen them before. Huxley knew everyone on the island, always on the off chance they became relevant. But Huxley didn’t even know his name, and he so conspicuously kept it to himself.

   Huxley was an investigative journalist at heart, and there was a mystery to be found. What was behind this series of secrets? Where did this stranger come from? Why was he so competent? Why was his existence seemingly such a secret?

   Huxley had an idea. A secret on this scale demonstrated a larger conspiracy behind it. And what was larger than the government? Yes, that was it! The teenager was a government assigned secret agent, raised from birth to be a weapon for the Man. They were here to scout the militarization potential of Griffin Rock and its technology.

   But where did Chief Burns fit into this? Was he the handler? But he had been on Griffin Rock his entire life, how would he get involved? Was he the liaison, being pressured into it with threats to his family? But that wouldn’t explain his protectiveness. 

   There was a deep conspiracy, darkness and corruption at the heart of it. Huxley Prescott would boldly go forward and uncover these lies and secrets! The truth would not be denied!

*********

   When Charlie had introduced Danny to Optimus, he expected a lot of things. Some questions about what place he had in Cybertronian culture as Prime. Maybe asking for stories of planets he’s seen, like he’s done to the Rescue Bots. Or maybe taken it entirely in stride as Danny did with many things.

   What he had not expected was Danny to do a double take and say, “You are so haunted,”

   He expected even less for the normally composed Optimus to do a double take in return and reply, “And you are beyond death’s reach,” Optimus stared at Danny.

   Danny stared at Optimus.

   Charlie was glad the rest of the family was already down in the bunker, ready to embark on the adventure of tunneling to the newfound energon. Hopefully with less cave-ins and explosions, but Charlie wasn’t holding out too much hope. Murphy’s law almost certainly originated on Griffin Rock, because it damn well acted like it.

   The stare off was reaching greater, more awkward heights. Danny’s eyes were glowing green, which signified he was either using his powers, or extremely agitated. Charlie hoped it was the first one, he’d hate for Danny and Optimus to immediately start off on the wrong foot.

   Danny spoke again first. “Would you mind if I rode with you today?”

   “Not at all,” Optimus rumbled. “I’m sure we’ll have an interesting conversation,” Optimus sounded entirely genuine. Charlie resisted the urge to sigh in relief. Whatever they were up to, whatever seeming connection there was between Danny being a half ghost and Optimus apparently being haunted, it didn’t seem like it was hostile. Odd? Yes. Beyond Charlie’s understanding? Also yes. But Charlie had been housing aliens and interdimensional teenagers and his human children for years. They all had one thing in common, and that was even if Charlie didn’t understand them or their interests, it didn’t make them any less valid or important.

   “Well, I suppose that means we’re good to head out?” Charlie asked. The two looked over to him, seemingly just now remembering he was there.

   “Oh, yeah. Shouldn’t keep them waiting anymore, should we,” Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. Optimus inclined his head.

   “Yes. Let’s,”

---------------------

   “I’ve never met another species with an EM field,” Optimus said, driving behind the Rescue Bots through the tunnels.

   Danny shrugged. “Yeah, the empathy powers are new. But the ghost detection isn’t,”

   “Yes, you said I was haunted?” Danny nodded. He was a little embarrassed that he had just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. At least he was getting a chance to explain himself, and in a slightly more private way. Nobody wants to be told the manner of their haunting in front of an audience. Danny had already learned his lesson in Amity Park.

   “Yeah,” Danny nodded.

   Optimus sighed deeply, and Danny felt like he’d gone wrong somewhere. “We Cybertronians have been at war with each other for eons. I am the leader of the Autobot faction. I am… not as surprised as I could be that I am haunted by the mistakes of my past,” 

   Danny shook his head violently. “No! No, it’s not that kind of haunted, I promise. It’s more of a…” Danny focused on the feeling in his core, the lingering chill that hung over his shoulders. Like someone was watching over him. “It’s benevolent. Like, like being followed by your predecessors, trying to help you on your way,”

   “How-curious. I believe what you’re picking up on is the Matrix of Leadership. I have never heard of lingering sparks being able to sense its influence. But given that I believe is what allowed me to immediately deduce your nature, perhaps it is not that far from the realm of possibility,”

   “What’s the Matrix of Leadership?” Danny asked curiously.

   “It is an artifact said to be made by the original Thirteen Primes, the first of Cybertronian kind made by, to put it in human terms, our god, Primus. It’s said to contain the wisdom of all who have borne it before. Of course wisdom could be more literally interpreted as parts or imprints of my predecessor’s sparks,”

   “It what ?” Danny demanded. Parts? 

   “It does make sense that I would be haunted by my predecessors, as I contain the Matrix same as them,”

   “Oh,” Danny kicked his feet over the edge of the seat. “And, how do you feel about that?”

   Optimus was quiet. “I don’t believe I’ve ever been asked that before. I didn’t have much choice in acceptance of the Matrix. I was chosen, and it simply was,”

   Danny wrinkled his nose. “That sounds… awful,”

   “It is what it is. The Autobots needed a leader, and I was the one there. There were worse choices. I needed to step up,”

   That sounded… awfully familiar. “You were the one with the power to do it, so it had to be you. If you stood by while bad things happened, it’d be your fault for not doing something when you could,”

   Optimus’ EM field brushed out gently, projecting understanding. “Exactly so. You are wise, but I suppose that is to be expected. Harsh experiences lead to harsh wisdom,”

   “Hm. I guess that means you heard that I was a vigilante?”

   “No I did not. That sounds like quite the story,”

   Danny grinned. “I’ll trade you: one story of mine for one of yours?”

   “Agreed,”

--------------------

   “Dad? Are you sure you’re okay? You seem nervous,” Cody asked.

   “I must agree, you are gripping my wheel tighter than usual,” Chase added.

   Charlie relaxed his grip. “Sorry, partner. And no, I’m not nervous,”

   “Are you worried about Danny? He’ll be fine with Optimus,” Cody reassured.

   “I’m not worried. I’m sure they’re fine,” Charlie reassured. No matter what weird energy they had earlier, they were both good people. They’d talk, figure whatever it was out, and it’d be fine. Nothing to worry about, nothing to be nervous about.

   “Are you certain? You seem to be ‘fretting’ in much the same manner as when Cody attempted a date with Francine,”

   Charlie saw Cody bury his face in his hands out of the corner of his eye. “Chase!” His son whined. “It didn’t even work out, you don’t need to bring it up!”

   “I’m not- oh look we’re here,” Charlie stepped on Chase’s brake. Any input Charlie gave was more of a suggestion as it didn’t actually control the Bot, but Chase obligingly slowed down.

   Charlie and Cody stepped out to let Chase transform, and the rest of the family did as well. Optimus rolled to a stop seconds behind them while Cody wandered over to join his siblings.

   Charlie relaxed when Danny hopped out with a broad grin, and even more so when Optimus transformed with a chuckle. An actual laugh. Charlie had never heard Optimus laugh before, and from the looks on the Rescue Bot’s faces they hadn’t either.

   Danny put a hand on Optimus’ leg and said something that Charlie couldn’t quite hear, and Optimus smiled in return.

   Danny trotted over to Charlie, and Optimus joined the Bots who seemed to be putting their heads together on how to best go about clearing their way.

   “I take it it went well?” Charlie asked, putting a hand on Danny’s shoulder.

   Danny smiled, seeming genuinely lighter than Charlie had ever seen him. “We have a common understanding,”

   Charlie glanced over at Optimus. Optimus was smiling, if only faintly, as he talked with the Rescue Bots. For someone normally so stoic, it was a nice thing to see.

   “It seems like a good thing for both of you,” Charlie said.

   Danny looked off to the side. “It’s… lonely. When you’re more myth than person. When you’re held to an unattainable, perfect standard that you never asked for… Savior but never saved,” 

   Charlie carefully adjusted his arm to sling over Danny’s shoulder, pulling him into a side hug. Danny went easily.

   “That’s what teams are for, kiddo. We all support each other. We’re family,” Charlie said. Danny didn’t look reassured, frowning at Optimus with a worried furrow between his brows. “But just because Optimus isn’t on our team specifically doesn’t mean we can’t support him,” Charlie thought for a moment, “And I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you checked in with him through the Rescue Bot’s ship. In fact,” Charlie eyed the easy slant to Optimus’ shoulders, “I think he’d like it,”

   Danny smiled. “I would too. It’s nice to talk to someone who understands,”

   Charlie smiled sadly, “I’m sure it is,”

   He didn’t understand what Danny had been through- he couldn’t. But what he could do was support Danny, in any way he could. And if that meant making sure that Danny could keep up with someone who did understand him, then Charlie would do everything he could to help. That’s what family was for, after all.

************

   Evan didn’t need to talk a lot to know a good plan when he heard one. And this? Was a good plan.

   Using a nice bit of tech they stole, Myles took control of Griffin Rock’s local windmill farm. Myles would switch the blades from just moving with the wind to making the wind. With all the mills working at once, gale force winds would tear over Griffin Rock, putting a shelter in place command into effect. The people would have to hide out, and the Rescue Team wouldn’t be able to do much of anything. 

   Well, even if they did try, which they would because they were annoyingly persistent, they’d focus on Myles. Leaving Evan to traverse some of the larger sewer system tunnels, pop up into connected shops, and grab every valuable thing he could find.

   Evan snickered as he snatched another pair of earrings from a jewelry display case. He was so lucky that this place’s basement connected to the sewer tunnels. The place was empty, the only sound was the wind blowing furiously outside.

   “Hey,” A masculine voice said from behind Evan. He whirled around to see a tired teenager slouching against a stand. “I would put those back if I were you,” Shit. The kid must’ve been walking by when the shelter in place went into effect, and ducked into the nearest store. Evan was lucky that the owner had been on lunch break, leaving it empty. Or so he had thought.

   Evan signed a quick fuck you.

   The teen signed back, put that bag down. Evan blinked before rolling his eyes and sticking up his middle finger. Evan turned around to grab more valuables, but was grabbed by his shoulder and forcefully turned around.

   Evan snarled and batted the hand off his shoulder. This kid didn’t know what he was doing.  The kid snarled back. And was that an actual growl? What the fuck was in Griffin Rock’s water supply to make them all so crazy? First the Rescue Team and their robots, now this kid. God, at this point the only reason Evan and his brother even bothered with this crazy island was because they had some of the best tech around. And the usual amount of valuables ripe for stealing.

   Evan gripped the bag in his hand, and swung it at the kid’s head. The kid ducked and skipped backwards. Evan gritted his teeth. The teenager needed to go away, or just leave Evan alone. But he didn’t look like he’d back down. Evan started backing away, but the kid just followed, sharp blue eyes narrowed.

   Shit. Better to lose the loot than lose his freedom. And he wasn’t about to actually fist fight a teenager. Better to be arrested for robbery than assault. Evan threw the bag at the kid and spun on his heel, dashing to the back of the store and the entrance to its basement.

   A harsh impact to his back sent Evan sprawling to the floor. His arms were wrenched behind his back. 

   “I hope you aren’t deaf or hard of hearing so you can hear me say stay down ,” The teenager on his back growled.

   Evan slammed his head back, and the kid yelped. Evan bucked off the kid’s grip and rolled to the side, grabbing at the kid's arms. The kid wrapped his legs around Evan’ torso and flipped them, ending up on top. The teen’s nose was bleeding furiously, and Evan screwed up his face as blood dribbled down onto his shirt.

   “I know, it’s gross. Give up so we can be done, yeah?” The teenager gritted out pushing at Evan’ arms to pin them down. Evan kicked up, but the teen just pinned him down further. 

   Evan threw his head forward, trying to headbutt the kid again, but the kid just leaned back.

   “Not gonna get me twice,” He said, grinning ferally with blood stained teeth. What was wrong with this kid? This kind of tenacity was absurd! 

   “This is Griffin Rock Police! Come out with your hands up!” The voice of the police chief came over what sounded like his car’s sound system. Evan hadn’t even noticed the sound of the wind outside subsiding. Shit, did that mean Myles had been caught?

   Evan looked at the teenager. The teen looked at him. His eyes narrowed dangerously. Evan went limp. The teen cautiously loosened his grip, but Evan didn’t try to fight back. Where Myles went, he went. And he didn’t think this crazy, feral teenager would let Evan escape anyways. 

   The teen got off of Evan, and Evan stood up slowly, wincing at the various bruises he could feel forming. Again, what the fuck was in Griffin Rock’s water supply?

   Evan put up his hands, and the teenager grabbed him firmly by the back of his hoodie. Evan walked to the front of the store, and slowly pushed open the door with one hand. 

   The Chief looked at him, and his eyes widened. Evan probably looked a sight, bruised and a little bloody. Then the Chief looked over Evan’s shoulder and his eyes grew even wider. “Danny?!” 

   “Hey. Swear I didn’t mean to, trouble just finds me,” The teenager, Danny, said over Evan’s shoulder. The Chief glanced between the two of them and sighed deeply.

   “I don’t doubt it. Police bot, transform,” The Chief’s robot transformed into a car. He stepped forward and grabbed Evan’s arm firmly, and Evan felt Danny let go of his hood. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say,” Evan tuned out the usual Miranda Rights spiel that he had heard over a dozen times. His hands were cuffed, and he was tucked into the back seat of the car.

   Evan sighed and scowled. Caught again. The stupid Burns family, they always got in the way. And, apparently this random teenager. Evan glared out the window.

   He couldn’t hear anything, but he could see that the Chief was fussing over Danny and his bloody nose. Danny swatted away the Chief’s hands, and the Chief pulled back before offering a handkerchief. The teenager smiled, and the Chief ruffled his hair.

   Oh. So not a random teenager. Evan sighed and relaxed back into the seat, nursing a burgeoning headache. Honestly at this point, he had lost count of how many people were part of the ‘Burns Family of Heroes’. Evan snorted and looked back out the window. Danny was grinning proudly while the Chief had a hand on his shoulder. 

   Evan moved his mental count up one.