Connection 

Part Two

By: Starath (starathbot@geekgrok.com)

PG 13 (Language)

Author’s Note:  Yay, I finally finished this part!  Took me long enough… This fic is based on real-life events too.  To warn you there’s just a teeny bit of harsh language in this.  But for humor purposes. :P  Oh, and my gym teacher does know about my issue, just not how deeply it runs.  He is helping me with to deal it, but I just need help from someone *else* too lol… To cover the official stuff, Beast Wars and its characters belong to Mainframe Entertainment and Hasbro, I belong to myself, and the answer to life, the universe and everything is really cheese.  *cough* Don’t ask, just read…I don’t own the songs “Home” by Three Days Grace or “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day either. Thank you LDC—again!  I welcome comments too!!  ^_^

Although much snow had melted in the past week, two sets of footprints could still be found beside the house.  One pair was at least three times the size of the other, which had paced a trail right in front of them.  The bigger footprints traveled back into the yard on a path that was disappearing with the melting snow, but the small impact crater still remained, something her parents would surely wonder about come springtime.  She knew what… or rather, who it had come from. Somehow he’d gotten back to his rightful time and place, though.  She wished it wasn’t quite so sudden, but understood he probably didn’t have any control in the matter.  But it was okay.  Now she did her best to use the words he’d given her to deal with her troubles.  So far things were fine and the monsters she battled weren’t as big anymore.  She had Depth Charge to thank for that.  Who knew a real Beast Warrior would be the one to help her?  She still found it hard to believe; yet the proof was right there in the snow:  Her footprints and his.  

            “Christine! We have to go!”

She sighed, hesitant to break her gaze from the backyard where she had last talked to Depth Charge.  But it was Monday morning and she had to get to school.  Picking up her backpack she made her way to her father’s work van and got in.  Her father was already waiting.

            “Staring into the backyard for any particular reason?”  He asked as he drove it down the driveway.  Of course she hadn’t told anyone about her visitor from a week ago.

            “No.”

            About thirty minutes later Christine stepped onto her college campus, yawning loudly.  She had a bad habit of going to bed past midnight on Sunday night and always ended up paying for it the next day.  Since she had an hour before her first class—gym class—she spent some time in the computer lab to play on the Internet and type up assignments at the last moment.  That hour never lasted long enough though, and she rushed out the door and across campus, barely having enough time to change clothes and arrive for role call.  Today the class was going to be working out in the fitness room, a place with treadmills and stationary bicycles and Nautilus weight lifting machines.  Christine didn’t like that room very much; only two weeks ago just thinking about walking into it and seeing people using the machines she couldn’t sent her mind spinning in panicked “I can’t” circles.  Luckily she had gotten used to it and learned not to pay attention to anything other than what she could do. 

            “Hey Christine, after you’re done using the machines we’ll go into the weight room, okay?”

However, her teacher, Steve, was making her go into a new place she absolutely hated.  Smiling pleasantly, she replied, “Yeah, sure.”  If you can find me after I’m done. 

            “Alright, see you then.”  Steve wandered off to talk to other students in the hallway before going into the fitness room.  Christine slowly dragged her feet to the doorway and passed by one of the doors to the gym.  Poking her head in, she saw it was empty.  The urge to run overtook her, and she took off onto the gym floor and ran as hard as she could in an effort to outrun all the frightened thoughts whirling through her head.

I can’t lift weight like the others.  And they’ll see.  I have to be treated specially.  But I can RUN.  Run, run, run.  If he thinks he’s gunna drag me in there, he can think again!  Like a cat into a filled bathtub.  I hate it in there.  Don’t make me go in there!  But he will.  And I won’t be able to do anything!  Absolutely pathetic.  Don’t make me go in there!  Run you fool, run!  I can do something.  I can run, I can—dammit!  Side-ache… but I don’t want to slow down!  At least three laps, come on!  I’ve done only two so far… argh… no…

            The side-ache became too painful for her to keep running, so she didn’t make the third lap.  Breathing hard she came to the gym door and walked down the hall to the fitness room, frustrated with herself. 

It was only two and a half laps!  And you’re winded, idiot!  What happened to the times you could run forever and not get tired?!  Oh well, at least I burned some time.  I’ll take my time with the leg weight machines and hopefully will finish by the end class is.  I do NOT want to go into the free-weight room.  There is no way…

            Out of fourteen weight machines in the fitness room, Christine could use seven.  The other half were for working the both arms at the same time, but since her left side was much weaker than the right; she couldn’t use them even if she tried.  Admitting defeat to something that everyone should be able to do weighed heavily on her mind, but she tried not to think about it and assured herself that no one was watching her every move.  Her classmates were busy focusing on what they could do and chatting with their friends, not watching her.  She finished her workout with fifteen minutes to spare before the end of class.  Quickly scanning the room, she didn’t see her teacher and took the opportunity to lean on the windowsill and gaze outside to daydream.  Before she knew it Steve was beside her.

            “Are you done in here?  Ready to go into the weight room?”

I should have ditched when I had the slagging chance!  “Yeah, I’m done.”

            “Good!”  He opened the door and motioned for her to go first. “Let’s see what we can do for you.”

Christine followed him down the hallway, past the doors to the gym, and into the weight room.  The voices of doubt and negativity started screaming over the loud rock music that boomed from a small radio on the floor. She kept a bored and uninterested face as she noticed there were four of her classmates in the room, doing what they could.  Most of her attention was fixed on the songs playing on the radio though, not what her teacher was saying.  He selected a three-pound dumbbell from a huge rack of them sitting against the wall and offered it to her.

            “How good is your grip strength?”

            “Very little, if at all. I’ll be lucky if I don’t drop a weight on my foot.”

            “Okay.  Can your left hand hold this?” 

By habit she took it with her right and transferred it to her left hand, even though she could tell he expected her to take it with her left.  The hand drooped, her wrist unable to hold the small weight up.  You’re pathetic, you know that?!

            “Yeah, it can, but not very well…”

            “Okay, then what I want you to do is resist it as it tries to fall down,” instructed Steve, holding her hand up with a finger.  Slowly he let it drop, and Christine gritted her teeth as she tried to force it to stay up. Her hand drooped again anyway.  Steve made her do it again, and she tried her best to hold the weight up.  She felt the eyes of her classmates on her now, and noticed one of them in particular watching her, who was easily lifting a fifty-pound weight.  Great, just great!  You can’t even do something so simple, and look at her!!  Idiot!   Finally Steve took the weight from her and thought of what to do next.  She took the opportunity to sit on a small seat with a blue squishy cushion.  Her teacher paced back and forth in front of her, talked to one of his students, then said to Christine, 

            “I’ll be right back.”

Thrill.  Leave me alone in here with these people, why don’t you?!  She smiled at him. 

            “Okay.”

Christine found a black speck on the light blue wall and stared at it, unable to stop panicked and angry thoughts from rushing about in her mind. Tears threatened to fall, but she kept her face straight and true emotions masked, swallowing her terror, but worst of all, her pride.

I don’t like it in here.  Get me out of here NOW!  I can’t do anything here.  It’s suffocating.  Let me out out OUT!  I don’t care what I can do here… these people around me, they don’t know what I’m going through!  They just know I’m SPECIAL.  Screw them!  I can’t do what they can. Never will.  I know I cannot expect to be like them right away, but I hate WAITING!  Can’t I do SOMETHING to be proud of NOW?  Let me out out OUT!  Oh great.  No.  I am not.  Going. To. Cry.  I am not a baby anymore. I WILL NOT CRY!  That’d be just what I need, people asking me if I’m okay.  Then I’d have to tell them all this.  They don’t need to know.  I will deal with this myself.

            Despite her need to run from the room, she stayed put on top of the blue squishy seat.  Her dull gaze shifted from the black speck on the wall to the dumbbell rack, where she stared at the smallest weights.  The bigger ones alongside of the other wall made her ill when she looked at them.  On the wall above the dumbbell racks, mirrors reflected images of weight lifting machines used to train the upper body.  She couldn’t look at them either and ignored the mirrors.  Thoughts of defeat and self-anger ran faster in her head, pressing to the breaking point.  But she refused to show any signs of the turmoil she kept leashed within, determined to somehow defeat the negative thoughts that threatened to overtake her.  She tried to remember what Depth Charge had said a week ago in her backyard, but immediately shot down any hopes they created.  Then she realized the song that boomed on the radio seemed strangely appropriate and listened to it, too distracted by her thoughts and the song to see the other people in the room leave.      
        

No matter how hard I try

You’re never satisfied

This is not a home

I think I’m better off alone

You always disappear

Even when you’re here

This is not my home

I think I’m better off alone

Home, home

This house is not a

Home, home

This house is not a

Home, home

… I’m better off alone!

Christine sighed, relieved her negative thoughts quieted a little as she became lost in the lyrics of “Home” by Three Days Grace.  It was a fairly new song and she had taken a liking to it.  She was glad her teacher hadn’t come back yet and turned to stare at the speck on the wall again when a sudden reflection in the mirror beside her made her yelp and fall off the small cushion.  Clambering back onto the seat, she gaped at the owner of the reflection.  He was leaning on the opposite wall with arms crossed over his chest, looking annoyed, as usual.

            “Depth Charge!  How did you…?” 

The Maximal shrugged.  “Magic.”

            “My teacher could come back any minute, you know!” she cried, suddenly very grateful for the booming rock music.  It may be giving her a headache, but it also drowned out Depth Charge’s low deep voice.

            “What do you care?  You weren’t listening to him anyway.”

            “That’s not the point!  Anyone could come in here!  And the doorway is right in front of you!”

            “So?” 

His indifference irritated her.  She really didn’t need his attitude right now.

            “What do you want?”  She growled.

            “You were in my head.  Again.  I thought we’d patched this up.”

            “Well, it just got ripped open.  Sorry for bothering you.  You can go away now.”

He gave her an ‘as if THAT’S going to get rid of me’ look.  “Don’t you remember what I told you?”

            “Well yeah.  I don’t think I could ever forget anything a ten-foot robot told me.”

            “Then why are you still so worked up?”

            “Just to be annoying.  I really like your company, that’s all.” 

            “Good.  I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Sa-lag!  “Depth Charge, people are gunna freak out if they see you!”

            “What’s your point?”

            “Depth Charge!”

            “I’m not leaving.  Deal with it.” 

            “ARGH!”  Christine buried her face in her hands in frustration, “You’re a pain the in neck, ya know that?!”

            “One of my many talents.  I’m good at being a pain in the ass too.”

            “Oh geez!”  He must have learned some swear words from me! Terrific! “Depth Chaaaaarge!”  She pleaded, trying to shoo him away with her hands, “You gotta go before people see you! Talk to me later, at home or something! Go on, git!”

            “Girl, I said I’m not leaving.”  Depth Charge glared at her.  “Now, about your prob—”

Christine’s teacher walked in just then, and the Maximal panicked and bolted to find some sort of hiding place.  Instead, he tripped over a bench and landed on his face.  He scrambled upright just as the teacher saw him.  Steve smiled but didn’t say a word as he started to talk to his student.  Bewildered, Depth Charge watched them and then saw his own reflection in the mirror.  He smirked.  How convenient. 

“We’ve run out of time for today,” said Steve, “I’ll figure out something for you to work into your workout by Wednesday, okay?”

I’d love to see you try to drag me in here again.  “Alright—”

If he doesn’t, *I* will.

Christine nearly choked, but recovered and smiled at her teacher.  “Yeah, I’ll see you on Wednesday for class.” 

He patted her on the back, “Alright,” looked directly at Depth Charge, didn’t say a thing, and left the room.  The teenager spun around on her seat.

            “Would you kindly stay out of my head?!”

            “Why should I?  You’re in mine.”

            “Yeah, but not on purpose!” 

            “Your point…?”

            “Depth Chaaaarge!”  ARGH!  Talking to him is like talking to a rock!  He doesn’t listen!  She sighed angrily, pressing her temper down.  Rising from the blue cushiony seat, she gave him a sidelong glance and smiled slyly.  Without another word she bolted out the door and into the hall, leaving the large Maximal trapped in the small weight room.

            “Hey!  Where are you going?!”  He called over the still-booming rock music. 

            “Into the gym to run!”  Sucker.  Glancing over her shoulder she saw him glaring at her in the doorway he couldn’t fit through.   Turning on her heel she sped into the gym and laughed maniacally as she sprinted by three guys playing basketball and started one of three laps.  Confident she had ditched him; she focused on running alongside the walls as fast as she could.  As she turned to go past the guys playing basketball, she skidded to a stop so quickly she almost tripped over her own feet.  Depth Charge was leaning on the wall underneath the basketball hoop with arms crossed, looking smug. 

            “How--?!”  She panted, staring in disbelief.  

            “Magic.  Better get moving kid, you have two more laps to go.”

            “But--!”  None of the guys playing basketball seemed to notice the Transformer who was almost as tall as the hoop was.  She tried to regain her breath and managed to ask, “How could they miss you?!”

            “It’s their problem, not mine.  Now, those laps…?”

            “Yeah, right!”

            “You aren’t leaving until they are complete.  Get moving.”

            “Who are YOU to tell ME what to do?!”  Christine snapped, hands on her hips.  “I’m not going to run just because you say so!  Think again, buddy bot—Oh geez!  Alright, I’m going!” 

As soon as Depth Charge took a step from the wall in her direction she was off like a shot.  He settled against the wall again with a dark chuckle.

            “That’s the spirit, kid!  Keep running!”

            Eventually another side-ache speared into Christine’s side and she had to slow down while completing the third lap.  Not necessarily by choice did she end up finishing in front of Depth Charge.  Breathing hard, she walked in circles to attempt to slow her heart rate down.  He watched her for a moment, then asked:

            “Why do you run?”

            “Because… I… CAN,” she panted in reply, “I can’t lift weights or use half of the weight-lifting machines.  But I can run.  And it doesn’t matter that I’m not faster than anybody else.”

            “Why?”

            “Just… because.  Because I like to run to begin with.”

            “To out-run your troubles, perhaps?”

Yes.  That’s what I try to do.  “No.  Because no matter where I run or how fast, they would always be there when I slowed down.”

            “Mmm-Hmm.”  I heard that.

Good for you.  She glared at him, fighting back the urge to cry.  She was still angry at herself for not being able to do anything other than stare at a black speck on the wall. 

            “You aren’t going to be able to run before you can crawl, as you’re attempting to do, kid.”

            “I know that!”  Christine’s mask of calm wavered, and she punched the concrete wall in frustration and pressed her head against it, shaking as she contained defeat mixed with sorrow and self-anger.  She didn’t want to talk to him anymore.  He kept shoving her problems in her face and demanding she do something other than run. 

I know that!  But I’m allowed to have hopes, aren’t I?

Not if they are so high they set you up for defeat, Depth Charge answered in her mind, you’re going to have to start small first.

But I don’t wanna!  I want something to be proud of NOW!

He sighed, shaking his head.  “You can walk, can’t you?  You can breathe, can you not?  At least you have both hands to begin with.  And you have heart.  Some people go through most of their lives without one.”

She pushed herself away from the wall and met his optics with a questioning gaze.  He turned away, breaking the link between them.  She reached out to touch his large hand.

            “Depth Char— ”

He snapped it away, snarling.  “Don’t—” Catching himself, he lowered his voice, facing her to wave a finger.  “Don’t touch the chrome, kid.”

            “Oh…okay.  Sorry.”  Christine stared at the ground.  “I won’t.”

            “Hey guys!”  Steve approached them from the gym door, grinning.  Christine’s eyes shot up in panic.  He CAN see you!  Depth Charge calmly waved at the teacher.

            “Hello.”

            “I saw you in the weight room earlier.  Are you a new student here, or…?”  Steve stood beside him as if there was nothing odd about talking to a ten-foot Transformer.  Christine couldn’t believe it and gurgled in surprise when Depth Charge put an arm over her shoulder.

            “No, I’m just one of Christine’s friends from out of town.  She told me she was having some difficulties with her gym class, so I came to help.”  He glanced at her.  Isn’t that right?!

            “Uh… uh… Yeah!”  She grinned nervously, “Yeah!  I know him.  He’s from WAY out of town.”

“Oh, okay, I see!”  Steve offered a hand for a handshake.  “I’m glad to see that she’ll have a friend around to help, uh…?”

“Name’s Daniel Charger.”  Depth Charge took his hand and somehow didn’t crush it.  “And you’re Christine’s teacher?”

“Yep!  I gotta get to my next class though, if you’ll excuse me.  Nice to meet you, Daniel.”

“Pleasure’s all mine.  See you around.”

“Yeah, see ya!”  Steve rushed out the door and hurried down the hall.

            Christine was able to stand up straight again when the weight of Depth Charge’s arm left her shoulders.  She backed away from him, completely baffled.  In the corner of the gym, the three guys continued playing basketball.  The only sounds echoing off the walls were the squeak of sneakers and the smack of the basketball as it bounced off the floor.  She had thought that maybe she was the only one who could see him, but what just happened was slagging ridiculous!  Depth Charge watched her watch him, amused by her confusion.  Scratching her head, she paced back and forth in front of him, trying to puzzle out the mystery.  The gym floor was shiny and reflected off the lights from the ceiling, so she couldn’t stare at it for long and instead focused on her reflection in the floor. She suddenly stopped, fixed on a discovery.  Depth Charge’s reflection didn’t block as much light as it should since he was so big.  In fact, it was just like hers, human shaped….  From the reflection she could see a rather tall broad-shouldered young man with light hair and dark eyes, wearing baggy jeans and a black t-shirt. 

            “What--?!” 

Depth Charge grinned—which was kind of scary since he didn’t have a mouth—and asked, “Is there a problem?”

            “What… how… how… how can you look like a human?!”  She demanded, staring up at him.  In the time it took her to blink, she was staring at the boy who was just a reflection a moment ago.  

            “I’d tell you,” he smiled genuinely this time and winked at her, “but it’s magic.”

Two days later Christine was in gym class again, but there was no sign of Depth Charge—human, robot, or otherwise.  That was fine with her; she’d already had enough weirdness in the past two weeks to last a lifetime.  Plus she had been very careful to keep her thoughts positive and not near anything that might make the Maximal show up again.  Today her teacher had everyone doing circuit training.  They were supposed to run two laps, work out in the fitness room or free-weight room, run two more laps, and switch rooms. Supposedly she was going to work with Steve in the weight room, but after finishing in the fitness room, she was not going to remind him.  Instead she ran several laps in the gym to burn time, proud of getting herself out of having to go into that horrible room again.  A basketball lay abandoned in the middle of the gym so she decided to make use of it after running her laps.  She was a pretty good shot most of the time and tossed the ball at the hoop for awhile, listening to the music that poured out of the gym speakers.  It was one of her favorite songs, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day.

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
and I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone…

            Christine sang softly with the song, getting lost in its music.  She always felt like she did walk alone, but most of the time she never minded it.  She had no problems with standing alone without anybody around her; save for a few select people she called friends.  To her it was a test of independence and strength, which was why she hated having to ask for help or discovering she couldn’t do something by herself.  It bruised her pride and ego because she was proud of being able to stand alone without the help of others.  The only problem was that she was also so stubborn to do things alone that it sometimes prevented her from asking for help.  Her strong will often got in the way of the need for guidance and companionship.  Hence the need for someone who was even more stubborn than her…

            The basketball bounced off the backboard of the hoop and sailed back to her, but she missed catching it and had to scamper halfway across the gym before she could grab it. A few of her classmates running their laps shook their heads as she scolded the ball for running away from her.

            “You do realize you sound like an idiot talking to a ball, don’t you?”

Christine spun around to see a human-Depth Charge approaching her.  Aw CRAP!

            “Y-yeah, but I don’t care.  It needed to be scolded for running away.”  She tipped her chin up.  “And I have every right to sound like an idiot if I want to.”

Depth Charge eyed her strangely, then shrugged.  “Well, I can’t deny you that…”

She grinned at him.  “Yep!  So what’re you here for, Danny?”

He cringed at the cutie-sounding nickname for the human name he’d given himself two days before.  “It’s Daniel when I’m human.  Or DC.  Not ‘Danny.’”

            “Yeah yeah…” Christine stepped around him to get closer to the basketball hoop and took aim.  “Same question.  I’ve been a good girl.  Haven’t had any bad thoughts at all.”

            “You’re supposed to be in the weight room.”  It was a statement, not a question.

The ball missed the hoop completely and thudded against the wall.  She was careful not to meet his eyes as she went after it.

            “Your point…?”

            “You know my point.  Running away won’t solve the problem.”

            “I’m not running.  I’m playing basketball.  Besides, Steve’s busy with other students.  I’m not going to bother him.”

            “If you don’t, I will.”

            “You’ll have to hold a gun to my head to get me to go in there again.”

            “Really?  I just happen to h—”

            “NO!”  Christine momentarily forgot who she was really talking to.  “Forget I said that!”

            “Then I’ll have to pick you up and carry you in there.”

            “You wouldn’t dare.”

Depth Charge raised an eyebrow.  “Bet?”

            “I’m not worried.  You wouldn’t—HEY!”  She screeched and dropped the basketball when he picked her up with one arm around her waist.  “DC—Daniel—Oh, to hell with your fake name!  Depth Charge!  Put me down!! PUT ME DOWN!”

            True to his word, Depth Charge carried her into the weight room.  Christine made a show of kicking and screaming at him but he didn’t seem to mind.  The pair made such a fuss once in the weight room that half Christine’s classmates popped their heads in to watch. It was an interesting confrontation that most of the students at the college would know about before the day’s end.  As far as she was concerned she could die of embarrassment then and there.  When things settled down and she stopped trying to escape Depth Charge they spent the rest of the class period working on how to strengthen and use her left hand. 

            Fridays were lecture days instead of gym periods for Christine’s health class, so she didn’t see Depth Charge again until Monday morning.  Not that she wanted to see him.  She made a point of ignoring him as he came in through the gym doors with hands in his pockets, seemingly at ease with the world in an irritatingly arrogant way.  She also noticed with annoyance that a few of her classmates talked to him about what happened last week.  He was a practical celebrity for dealing with the “feisty girl” in their class.  And he seemed so smug about it!  Dorkbot, she thought loud in his head on purpose.  When he glared at her in the middle of the conversation she spun away to chase the basketball she was playing with, having done the workout she was supposed to.  That is, without the weight room part.  She still hated it in there and it didn’t help that every time she turned around someone asked her if she was the one who had to be carried into the weight room for this or that reason.  Some of the speculations made Christine blush.  Gossip was horrible!  Her face flushed red with embarrassment and anger as she remembered last Wednesday’s events, trying to stay focused on shooting the basketball.  Depth Charge’s sneakers squeaked as he came up beside her and watched her throw the ball.  She ignored him the best she could, although even as a human his presence was strong and demanded attention.

            “So I guess you’re still mad at me.”

Christine bounced the ball hard and fast to drown out his words.  She attempted a shot and missed. She let the ball go on the opposite side of the court and threw it from there, far away from him.  Undaunted he followed her.

            “You brought it on yourself, you know.”

Growling, she didn’t reply.

            “And you only made it worse by yelling and screaming like you were…”

  Christine dropped the ball and pinned it down with her foot.  “Yeah, but did you have to carry me on your slagging shoulder?!”

Depth Charge shrugged.  “I do what I must to get the job done.  And you’re a scrawny girl.  I had to do that to keep a good grip on you.”

            “Oh, THAT makes me feel SO much better about it!  You made me look like an IDIOT!  I am the freakin’ laughing-stock of this SCHOOL!  And you don’t want to know what half the people think is going on between us!”  She shuddered.  “Eeew!”

He gave her a confused look.  “What…?  Should I be insulted or…?”  Realization dawned on him and he also shuddered.  “Uh, no.  You’re not my girlfriend or anything.”

            “Tell that to everyone here!  That’s what they think!”

            “Well, I’m not that bad of a catch and you’re too young for me any—”

            “HA!  You’re so full of yourself! Keep talking, boy, I’ll slap you!” 

Depth Charge didn’t doubt it as he saw the anger flashing in her eyes.  A mad female was someone even he didn’t necessarily want to deal with.  Their wrath was like no other.  It would be best to patch things over…. And to do so, he’d have to say a word that didn’t come to him often.  Christine should feel honored.  Gritting his teeth, he said:

            “I’m sorry, okay?”

That stopped her cold.  Depth Charge, apologize?!  “….Alright, sure.  Just PROMISE never to do it again!”

            “I won’t.”

            “Good—”

            “—Unless I need to.”

The two of them had a glaring match then, trying to get the other to back down first.  Depth Charge asked, “Shouldn’t you be in the weight room again instead of out here?”

She broke the staring contest to look at the floor. “Maybe.  I don’t wanna today.”                   

He growled but kept his temper leashed.  If she kept being so difficult he would have to follow through with an idea he had yesterday afternoon…  She wasn’t taking him or the issue seriously enough.  What he had in mind would certainly straighten her out.  Smiling at the thought, he watched her pick up the basketball to throw it. It went neatly into the net.  The ball bounced back into her hands.  Instead of tossing it again, she handed it to him.

            “Wanna take a shot?”

Surprised, he took the ball and bounced it a few times.  “Seems easy enough…” He threw it, and the ball slammed into the backboard so hard the glass shook.  They both ducked when the ball flew back at them.  Christine snatched it out of the air before it could bounce. 

            “Uh… try again.”  She gave Depth Charge the ball.  “Don’t throw it so hard, okay?  Just get it up and over and into the hoop.  You’re throwing a ball, not a spear.”

            “I wasn’t throwing it hard,” he snapped, bouncing it before he threw it again.  This time the ball sailed up and over the backboard and hoop, smacking the wall.  Frustrated, he paced a short line until Christine returned with the ball.  Seeing the anger on his face, she dropped the ball and stood in front of him.

            “Hey now, it’s okay.  Just chill.”

            “I am chilled!”

            “No, no you’re not.  First of all, stop pacing.  You’re making me dizzy.”  She giggled, but sobered when he glared at her.  “Listen grumpy gills, it’s just a game.  All you gotta do is get the ball in the hole.  There’s nothing to get angry about. I don’t make half the shots I try and I’ve been doing this for years.  You’ve done it twice.  So calm down, take a breath.”

            “Fine,” he growled, taking a slow deep breath and closing his eyes.  After a moment, he opened them and the tension in his face lessened.  Christine picked up the ball and put it in his hands.

            “Now.  Just aim for the net.  Up and over.  Gently.  If you don’t make it, so what?  Just try again.  Okay?”

            “Alright…” 

She stepped out from in front of him and watched him take aim.  The ball hit the backboard and slipped right through the net.  Christine bounced and ran around in circles.  “Yaaay!  You did it!  Heeheehee!”

A little overwhelmed at her jubilation, Depth Charge backed up but allowed himself a small smile.  “Heh...”

Running to get the ball, she tossed it at him.  “Try again!”

He did and made the shot.  He grabbed the basketball away from her as it bounced back to them in a sudden burst of playfulness, something he hadn’t felt in years.  For a second he stared at the ball, amazed by his own out-of-character move.  

            “Heeey, I want a turn now…” Christine pouted.

Depth Charge grinned mischievously, deciding to run with the playful moment. “Too bad.  You’ll have to get it from me first.” 

            “I want it now!  BallballballballballBALL!”  She dodged around him, trying to swat the ball from his hands.  Easily he kept it out of her reach, finally holding it over his head.

            “Heeey… that is SO not fair.  You’re taller than me!” she jumped, trying to reach it. 

            “It doesn’t take much to be taller than you.”

Christine stopped, narrowing her eyes at him.  “Shaddup.”

            “Well, it doesn’t.”

            “I STILL want the ball!”  She poked him in the stomach.  “Ball!”

            “—Oooff!”  Depth Charge doubled over and the ball fell to the ground. 

            “BallballballBALL!”  She pounced on it before it got far and grinned at him.  “Squishy fishy Depth Charge!  Heeee!”

            “I am not squishy!” 

            “As a human you are!” 

            “Give that back!”

            “No!  Mine!”  Christine sat down and hugged the ball.  Rubbing his stomach, he shook his head, eyeing her. 

            “You are a strange kid.”

            “I like to have fun.  My ball.”

            “Fine.  Have it.”  Depth Charge huffed and settled himself against the wall, his playfulness leaving him as quickly as it had come. Christine drooped, saddened he wouldn’t play anymore. 

            “Ya know, there’s nothing wrong with goofing around every once and awhile…”

            “I don’t ‘goof around’.”

            “For a moment it looked like you were…”

            “I don’t, alright?  Drop it!”

She sighed, rolling her eyes at his ‘tough guy’ stance.  He really did seem like he was having fun for a while, but now he was back to being grumpy and serious.  She couldn’t understand how someone could live in the dark world of hatred and hardness like he did.  The clock on the wall suddenly caught her attention.  It was well past the end of class, and she had an hour before her next one. After class last week Depth Charge had simply disappeared and she wondered if he’d do the same thing today.  She didn’t really want him to, though, because she didn’t have someone to talk to at school very often.

            “Hey… I have to go change clothes now, class is done… are you going to stick around?”

            “And spend more time with you than I have to?”

She glared at him, sticking out her tongue.  “Nyah.”

            “… I suppose I can take it.”  He shrugged.  “You’re not that annoying…”

He had to duck when she threw the basketball at him.

            A few minutes later Depth Charge followed her to the building’s entrance.  Christine handed him her story folder while she strapped her backpack on over her heavy winter coat.  She stared out the door’s window then looked to him, blinking.

            “Uh oh.”

            “What?” he wanted to know, then realized he was holding her folder.  “You can have this back now.”  

She took it, hugging it close to her chest.

            “Well, it’s kinda, like, wintertime outside.  It’s cold and windy and snowy.  You’ll get sick.”

            “I’ll be fine.”

Shaking her head, she unraveled her purple scarf from her neck.  “No you won’t.  You’ll need something at least.  You’ve only got a short-sleeved shirt and jeans.” 

            “I’ll be fine,” he stressed, grumping when she gave him her scarf. “I don’t need this!”

            “At least humor me and carry it.”  She pushed open the door and went outside.  Depth Charge sighed/growled, then stepped back as a blast of cold air hit him.           

 Grudgingly he wrapped it around his neck, pretending that he was doing it just to make her happy.  He stepped out the door into the wind.

            “Oh, and watch out for—”

He slipped on a patch of ice and landed flat on his back.

            “…Ice.”  Christine stood over him and offered a hand.  “You okay?” 

            “I’m fine!”  He pushed himself up and stood, dusting off snow. 

            “Alright….  We’re gunna have to go halfway across the campus to get to where I wanna go, so come on, I can tell you’re cold already and I don’t like the cold either.”

            “I said I’m f-f-fine!” He shivered, hating the human body he was in.  If there weren’t so many people around he’d be in his normal Cybertronian form in an instant.  But then, getting warm sounded better than worrying about mass mayhem at the moment….  While he pondered the pros and cons of that thought, he followed Christine past other buildings and a small forested area.  He was about to make up his mind that he was tired of being cold when he nearly ran into Christine.

            “What did you stop f-for?!” he demanded angrily. 

            “A kitty!”  She dropped her backpack and folder, running up a small hill to the tree line.

            “What?” 

She came back carrying a pale little fuzzball in her arms.  Dusting off the snow revealed a cold miserable blonde maine coon kitten with liquid green eyes.  Depth Charge blinked; amazed that she could see something so insignificant sitting in the snow.

            “Such a sad lil thing,” Christine hugged the kitten close but allowed Depth Charge to see.  “Isn’t he cute?”

            “Can I eat him?”

–WHAP! 

“Ow!”

            “No, you can’t eat the kitty, you big meany!  He’s cold!  We have to get him somewhere warm right away!  An’ if you try to eat him I’ll beat you up!”

            “I wasn’t going to!  …It’s too puny anyway.”  He dodged another slap from her. 

“I was joking!  I don’t like cats, okay?”

            “I LOVE cats! How can you NOT like them?”

            “They have a tendency to eat fish.”

            “No cat could eat you, Depth Charge.  Your ego is too big.”

            “It is not!”

The kitten mewed and blinked slowly, looking up at the two humans.  He reached out with one paw to Depth Charge, who hastily stepped back.  She squeaked and stroked his little head.  “He’s so precious!!  We have to get him inside quick!  Poor lil thing… Grab my stuff and come on!”  She took off towards the nearest building carrying the kitten, leaving him and her belongings behind. Shaking his head in admiration of her irrepressible spirit, Depth Charge grabbed her backpack and folder and went after her. 

            They dropped the kitten off at the college’s main office where Christine made sure the young cat was going to be taken care of properly.  After they left the office desk she noticed Depth Charge was still shaking from the cold even though he tried not to show it.  He insisted on giving the scarf back to her, but before they went downstairs into the lunchroom she attempted to make him put on her winter jacket despite his grumbling protests.

            “I’m fine!  I don’t need that!”  He dodged her when she tried to put the coat over his shoulders.

            “Yes you do, you big whiny fishy!  It won’t kill you to wear this for a few minutes until you get warm!”

            “I’m not whining!  I just don’t need your clothing!  I don’t know what you’ve been doing in it!”

            “Besides WEARING it?  Oh for bootin’ up cold!”  Christine ignored the confused looks she got from two students walking by when she said the Cybertronian curse.  They giggled as they saw the large boy duck away from her before they went down the stairs.

            Depth…” She caught herself, “Daniel, you don’t have to put it ON cuz chances are your arms are too long for it anyway.  Just let it sit over your shoulders for awhile.” 

By this time she had him cornered in a… corner. 

“No!  I’m just fine without it!”  He said through chattering teeth. 

            “How you said that suggests otherwise.  Now come on, I’ve got class in about twenty minutes and I want to get something to eat before then.  Use the coat for a while, please?  I don’t want you to get sick.”

            “Food?”  For some reason that sounded incredibly tempting and he discovered he was hungry.

            “Yes, food.”

            “Can I get some?”  He couldn’t help sounding hopeful. 

            “Well… I don’t have a lot of money, but…” She eyed the green jacket in her hands and then glanced at him.  “I’ll get you something if you wear this for only five minutes.”

            “…Alright…” Depth Charge hesitantly took the coat and put it over his shoulders and gladly found it was still warm from when Christine was wearing it.  But he didn’t admit that he was happy to stave off the winter cold.  Picking up her backpack and purple story folder with a grin, she bounced down the stairs with him following behind.

            A few minutes later Christine stared hungrily through the glass of a vending machine at the seventy-five cent candy and snacks, which was all she could afford.  She turned to Depth Charge, who was leaning against the wall trying very hard not to look like he was enjoying the warmth of her coat.

            “What would you like?”

            “Fresh meat.”

            “Uh…they don’t put dead rabbits in here.  Anything else?”

            “Sharks.”

            “Huh?”

            “I eat sharks, not rabbits.  Too small.”

            “Whatever.  They don’t have those either.  I’ll pick for you.”  She put in the money and pushed a few buttons.  She handed him a small red package, reading the label.  “Try these ‘turkey pepperoni meat sticks’.  They should be close enough.”  Then she got her own snack, turning her back away for a moment.  When she faced him again nothing was in his hands.  Depth Charge burped.

            “Good stuff.  Spicy.”

            “…You didn’t eat the wrapper too, did you?”

            “I wasn’t supposed to?”

Christine turned pale.  He laughed at her expression and pointed to a nearby garbage can.     

“Nah.  It’s in there.”   

            “Oh geez, don’t DO that!” she ripped open a bag of Fritos chips and walked out into the main part of the lunchroom, scolding him.  “You could seriously get sick from eating plastic wrappings and stuff!”

            “I’ll make a note of that.”

A long silence drew out between them until Christine looked at her watch, munching on her Fritos chips.  “Slag.  I have class in ten minutes and I have to get there early if I want a seat…” She looked at her ‘human’ friend with a knowing grin.  “Can I have my jacket back now?”

Depth Charge’s blue eyes snapped wide and he quickly shrugged off her coat and handed it to her.  “Yes!  Uh… yeah… Here.”

            “Are you warm now, inside and out?”

            “Well, I don’t know about my inside, but…” He smiled. “Yes.  I guess so.”

            “Good, I’m glad.”  Dropping her backpack to the ground she pulled on the green coat.  “So I’ll see you around then?”

            “Perhaps… if you keep ‘goofing around’ in your gym class.”

Before Christine could reply he gave a short wave and added, “See you kid,” and disappeared from in front of her.  No one else noticed his sudden departure from the crowded room but she figured it probably had something to do with his “magic”.

            Depth Charge stood on the beach and let the ocean winds blow sea spray and sand at him, once again in his proper Transmetal Maximal form.  Normally when he stood at this spot staring out at the horizon he was tense with anticipation of the next meeting with Protoform X or some other huge battle with the Predacons.  But, as he watched the sun set he felt something else, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.  He was… content.  Today he had seen acts of kindness.  Some done for others, but also some done for him too.  It was almost baffling, receiving acts of kindness.  He had forgotten what it was like.  It had been a long time since he allowed anyone to be nice to him.  And for a few moments he had ‘goofed around’ for the first time in ages.  He sat down in the sand, watching screeching seabirds play in the breeze and darkening sky.  It was a welcome break from the ordinary.

END PART TWO