HSV. Fort Lennox. Kae Yau's Mother Part 2

[dens_extra_pups]

Continued from here



Delores: That other you showed me pictures of another you's little son.

Esther: ...Other you?

Kae Yau: ... *small frown* When was t'is?

Esther: Other you? *frowns from one girl to the other*

Delores: A few days ago. During the last Backwater run.

Kae Yau: Ah... *to Esther* T'ere's t'is ot'er me as comes from anot'er reality. She's some older 'n I is, 'n does the same stuff Hank does.

Esther: *angry puff on the cigarillo that results in no smoke, her eyes once more flashing* If she's older than you why didn't she keep you?

Delores: Buh?

Kae Yau: *shrug* Dunno.

Delores: *quiet and stern* Maybe her boss told her not to. From what I hear she saved Yau's life.

Esther: *temperamental snort*

Delores: Simmer down. So the people don't start out as little fires. How do they start out?

Esther: *pointed look*

Kae Yau: *quietly, petting Tiny* The orphanage as was tellin' me I was found in an ol' furnace.

Esther: Yeah. Most oldbloods don't survive that long. There's so much human in everyone nowadays... and no one remembers their heritage.

Kae Yau: *much frown, is thinking this over*

Delores: I took care of that. *long drink from her glass*

Esther: *scowls at her* How do ya figure?

Kae Yau: *snort* T'at ad ye placed, right, Delores?

Delores: *shakes her head* Nope. *sets down glass* I told the President.

Esther: *sucks in air and fumbles her drink*

Kae Yau: *startled sound*

Delores: *calmly pulls out her phone and hits the speed dial*

Esther: *glass down and grabs for the phone*

Delores: *slaps hand and puts the phone on speaker* Yeah. You were right. There still might be little flames, but nobody knows.

Esther: *low voiced vituperation as she gets up, ready for war*

President Pratt: //Then the heritage project's going to be a bit more involved than we initially thought.//

Esther: *pauses and absently shushes Alfred's growl* The whatnow?

Delores: Yau's here with me. So's an older ifiri lady who just adopted her.

President Pratt: //Oh? Cool.// *can you just hear the grin in her voice?*

Delores: Esther says there are only three oldbloods, and that nobody else knows they're anything other than human.

Esther: Esther says, "What the *beep* are you talkin' about?"

Kae Yau: *snort*

President Pratt: *heard that, amused snerk* //Delores told me about Yau, and how she didn't know her heritage... and I figured that if she didn't know, then there's probably a lot more people like her who also don't know their heritage, so I'm attempting to organize a genetics mapping project, like the "Human Genome Project" to locate other Ifiri and help them learn about their heritage.//

Esther: *snort* That's what they tell the aliens on the movies to get them into the labs.

President Pratt: //I've seen those sorts of movies. They suck.// *then, quieter* //I'm looking at it from the perspective of someone who was adopted... I spent decades trying to get answers and find out my own heritage. It was a difficult journey, but having an answer was worth the struggle in the end.//

Delores: She also kicked the *butts* of the guys who were trying to kidnap bots for a lab.

Esther: What?

President Pratt: //Yeah... Turns out one of the higher-ranked guys in one of the agencies here was working with a company that wanted to map out the Cybertronian genome. But they were working on a plan to kidnap some of the Autobots.//

Esther: *slowly* Harold Attinger. That guy you publicly humiliated.

President Pratt: //Yup. I also scared the *poop* out of Joshua Joyce, the guy in charge of KSI.// *so much smirk in her voice*

Delores: Has he stopped those big fancy proposals yet?

President Pratt: *dryly* //Nope. I'm about ready to sic my personal bodyguard on him. but then I'd have to sit through her lecturing me.//

Esther: Lecturing for what? *scowl*

Alfred: *wuf!*

President Pratt: //Trying to set her up with a guy.//

Esther: ...What the heck are you talking about?

President Pratt: //My personal bodyguard's last boyfriend is Seymour Simmons' personal aide de camp. She dumped him because he wasn't assertive enough for her.//

Esther: So why would you getting her to make a creep leave you alone make her think you were trying to set her up? *grumpy draw on her smoke*

President Pratt: //Because that's how India thinks.//

Esther: *snort!* *then frowns and looks toward the door as she hears the strains of 'Purple People Eater'*

Kae Yau: *attention going that way, amused snort*

Delores: *snerk*

President Pratt: *deadpan* //My bodyguard is so weird.//

Delores: That's not what we're laughing about, sir. Springer's trolling Shockwave again.

President Pratt: //...// *again with the deadpan* //Springer needs a hobby. Or a furby.//

Delores: What's a Furby?

President Pratt: //... One of the most annoying and evil toys ever created.//

Delores: Sir, I think Springer's annoying and evil on his own.

President Pratt: //At least he's not acting like Hot Rod.//

Delores: Oh, he plays just as good a hen-pecked husband as Hot Rod does.

President Pratt: //...Since when is Hot Rod married?//

Kae Yau: *Snort!* 'E ain't yet. Panacea sure bosses him 'round t'ough!

Esther: *looks away from the door, humour coming to her eyes at the sass in Yau's voice*

President Pratt: //...Who's kid is Panacea?//

Delores: Ratchet's daughter. From some old flame or something. She's Optimus' niece too.

President Pratt: //...Huh. She must be a real pistol if she's keeping Hot Rod in line.//

Delores: *glances at Kae Yau, and then quickly relates the basics of the day Hot Rod woke from medical stasis with a rotten pumpkin stuffed in his mouth*

Kae Yau: *hand over mouth, much snickering*

President Pratt: //Ewwww. Poor guy.//

Esther: They let her get away with *beep* like that? *scowling again*

Kae Yau: Ye don't know Hot Rod. 'E's a stunned stupid *bleep*.

Delores: He deserved it. It finally made him stop and think about all the stupid crap he's been doing since he got here.

President Pratt: //Some of which he pulled when he was supposed to be helping out around here.//

Delores: Trust me, Esther. He needs a tough hand. *startles and then laughs as the music cuts off with a squawk*

Arcee: *drags her husband past the door by the audio receiver*

Kae Yau: *excuse her while she cracks up*

President Pratt: //... Do I want to know?//

Delores: *snaps and sends a photo*

Esther: *watches those huge bots go past the door, blinks for a long moment, and then pulls the cigarillo out of her mouth and face palms*

Alfred: o.0?

President Pratt: *cackling once the photo loads*

Kae Yau: *once she's calmer* Aye. T'at happens.

Delores: *holds her phone away from her as a small dog starts barking with great authority*

President Pratt: //Cody, down.//

Delores: Whoa, what was that?

Alfred: *disapproving expression*

Tiny: o.0 *doggies are weird*

President Pratt: //That'd be my dog.//

Delores: What'd he flip out for?

President Pratt: //'Cause India taught him to.// *pause* //And 'cause I lost track of time.//

Delores: ...He's cryin'.

President Pratt: //Yeah, and he's tryin' ta get the phone, too... I need to go eat.//

Delores: o.0 Okay. Thank you for your time, sir. Have a good supper.

President Pratt: //I'll let you know how things go. Later, taters.// *hangs up*

Delores: *presses the button and shoves her phone into her pocket as her eyes go to Kae Yau* Is there anything else you need to know?

Esther: *sharp eyes go from the black-haired girl to the pink-haired one as a very slight smile twitches the corners of her mouth*

Kae Yau: *thinking* Nah...

Delores: Okay. *eyes flick toward the door* Brace yourself, chica.

Kae Yau: ... *braces*

Hank: *bounds joyfully into the courtyard, only to stop short and wince back as a blue-haired fury charges up to him*

Esther: *drink on the table, little dog on the floor, and now she's up in the big man's face* What do you think you're doing, hooking up with a girl this young?

Hank: *blinks and looks down at her wonderingly* What am I thinking? That I am the most pathetically grateful man in the world. *shudders slightly and runs a hand over his short brown hair as he looks at the floor* *quietly* And I still think me dreaming, and I dread the waking.

Esther: *blinking, all the wind taken from her sails. She makes no move to stop him as he turns toward the door*

Delores: *hand over her mouth as her eyes glimmer*

Kae Yau: *on her feet and moving to hug Hank*

Hank: *gasps as she grabs him but stops. Hangs his head as he tries not to cry*

Kae Yau: *much hug*

Delores: *quietly and sternly to to Esther* This was all Yau's idea. She had to back Hank in the corner, but she wouldn't listen to any refusal. So your fancy ideas about age differences? Stuff 'em.

Esther: *lips pressed in a thin line as she watches the couple*

Delores: I mean it. *glances toward her friends, then reaches to touch the old lady's arm* Come on. I'll take you to a guest suite.

Esther: *small nod* Alright.

Delores: *pats Hank as she leads the old lady and her little dog past him and Kae Yau. Will bring Esther to the suite that the Secretary of Defence uses and where the President once slept*

Ophi: *meets Delores and Esther at the suite*

Esther: *finds that she herself had no protective fury to match that of the two Latinas who are her new daughter's best friends. The realization cheers her up from the sadness of talking to Hank, and she spends the rest of the afternoon and evening resting, smoking dried chili flakes, and watching the Nature Channel*


((Written with random_xtras))