Stolen Virtue

By: Sinead

Author’s Note: Met Scott McNeil at Anime Boston 2005 . . . and he’s exactly how I thought and imagined him to be. No, I take that back. He’s better than I would have ever thought, and I can’t wait to meet him again. And that’s basically why I haven’t gotten this out sooner. That, and I’ve been having some HORRENDOUS writer’s block for almost everything Beast Wars. And that royally bites. No pun intended, if you’ll continue to read this chapter. *winces*

Chapter Twelve: Renewing Devotion

            Sighing, Sinead looked out the window at the two humanized bots trying to test their strength again. She looked to Meara, who chuckled. “I think it’s amusing, at least.”

            “Hah. You won’t for very much longer.”

            “Mm . . . well, you never know.”

            “Oh? Is someone starting to enjoy the company of another certain someone?”

            The mother gave her daughter a very real glare just as Dinobot walked into the room, eyes bleary from a nap. He transformed to his reptilian beast mode, the Predacon-turned-Maximal leaned against Sinead’s shoulder, rubbing his cheek a few times against the fabric to deal with an itch before muttering, “They’re at it again?”

            “Only this time they’re in a poison-ivy zone . . . and they don’t know it,” Sinead replied, grinning. “I know Rampy’s immune, but Rhinox ain’t gonna be happy ’bout it later this week.”

            Meara chuckled in an evil way, and suddenly Dinobot knew where Sinead had gotten the fantastic modeling for building her attitude and personality from.

            That night, Rhinox itched. Not everywhere, but in three or four distinct places. He knew that he had gotten it from his tumble in the poison ivy while sparring with Rampage, and mentally shrugged it off. He’d just transform to his robot mode if he got too annoyed and itchy.

            But the itches weren’t supposed to start until tomorrow.

            Yawning, he stood and walked to the bathroom mirror, turning a light on and blinking. He turned his head slightly, and blinked, his eyes widening in shock.

            Screamed shrilly.

            Meara jumped awake, her hand automatically gripping a hardwood walking staff as she did so. Opening her door, she saw Optimus and Nurann staring at her, quickly joined by Rattrap and Sapphire. The five then walked down the hall and to the bathroom. Meara knocked upon it. “You all right in there?”

            The door opened, and Rhinox pointed to his neck. “There! Right there! What is that thing?!”

            Sighing, having done this many times before, the mother shoved Rhinox’s shoulder back, thus moving him a step backward. “Sit on the edge of the tub, you big baby. It’s a tick. Nasty little buggers, but it’s relatively harmless for a parasite.”

            “Parasite?!”

            Sapphire didn’t envy Rhinox as he was delivered a look from Sinead’s Mum. “Stop whining.”

            Sinead and Dinobot ran into the house, peeking around the other four. The young woman spoke first. “We were just taking a walk around when we heard the shriek. What is it?”

            “Tick.”

            She shuddered. “I’m making tea.”

            Sapphire and Nurann followed her while the men stood in the doorway. Meara sighed explosively. “Sinead!”

            “What?! You know I get queasy about ticks! I had two on me once, remember?! I was a bawling mess! And the time before wasn’t any better!”

            “Fine! Find someone else to help me!”

            “Why?”

            “I’m counting three ticks. So far.”

            “Oh, great.”

            Meara rummaged through the medicine cabinet for Q-tips and . . . “Where’s the nail-polish remover?”

            “Under the sink!”

            “Thanks!”

            Retrieving it, Meara poured a capful and dipped a Q-tip into it. “Don’t move.”

            “What are you doing?” came the quavering reply.

            Rattrap leaned in closer, blinking. “So dat’s a tick? Dey look nasty.”

            “They’re nothing. Unless you get the wrong type, which carry a disease,” she replied in a distracted voice, carefully pushing the hair at the nape of Rhinox’s neck away from the bug so she could sponge the area with the acetone-soaked cotton swab.

            The large African-American man quivered again.

            “These aren’t that type. This is too big to be one of those, so it’s a dog tick. The deer ticks are the ones to look out for, and they’re smaller. Ask my daughter about the details of what they look like. Sinead! Get me some tape while you’re out there!”

            Megatron’s sleepy voice interrupted. “What the Pit is going on here, and what are you doing?”

            Almost a half-hour later, Rhinox glared at the minute bugs, positively glowering. Meara sighed. “Those are the ones I could find off of the bat. Hey! You four!”

            Optimus, Rattrap, Megatron and Dinobot looked up.

            “Yes, you stooges. Does any of you think that you can do what I just did?”

            “Pull ticks?” Dinobot asked.

            “Yeah.”

            “Don’t count on it.”

            Optimus sighed. “Why?”

            Meara stretched her left arm. “Because any others he might have . . . I don’t want to know about, or the location of.”

            Dinobot sniggered, quickly getting out of range of any potentially-thrown objects.

            Yawning, a mug of coffee in his hand, Gary walked over the waterhole, seeing Depth Charge enjoying the water in the early-morning heat. Hacker was sitting upon a log and dry, talking with the large Maximal. He raised a hand in greeting, continuing on his way to the main cabin. When he entered, he saw Rhinox as a human, looking completely drained and slouching in a chair. Optimus and Nurann appeared to have breakfast duty.

            “You look bushed, and it’s only nine in the morning,” he commented with a slight smile.

            “Ticks. I hate ticks.”

            “Ah. Trophies from your wrestling yesterday, I take it?”

            “Nine of them.”

            “Ouch.”

            “No, what was ‘ouch’ were the ones that–”

            “Not in the house, please, and not before breakfast,” Sapphire said, yawning. “I heard your cursing. I’m actually shocked that Rampy didn’t have any on him.”

            “They fall off. I’ve seen it happen,” Lady Venom said as she brought in milk, eggs, sugar and bread from her stop at a convenience store. “Morning, everyone. Only Optimus and Rhinox were up when I left.”

            Gary smiled, and sat. “Hacker and Depth Charge are up and at the waterhole.”

            “Then I’d suggest to everyone that we keep out of range for a while. Those two need their time to get to know each other,” Nurannoniel said, smiling quietly.

            “I still don’t think that I believe you.”

            “Aw, c’mon. You can turn human, right?”

            “Ye-es?”

            “And you’ve seen the toys.”

            “Again, yes.”

            “Have you seen the series yet?”

            “No.”

            “I’ll show it to you. Sinead brought it up with her.”

            “The entire thing?”

            “Yep. She’s a big fan. Most of us are.” Hacker smiled, relaxing and watching the blue sky. Gary walked from what was becoming known as the “Mainframe Cabin” to the first one, which had been somehow dubbed “Axalon.” The new cabin was known as “Darkside;” Dinobot and Sinead’s cabin was known as “Valhalla;” Megatron and Starath’s was known as “The Throne” to everyone but those two. They hadn’t shared their name for their cabin yet. Rattrap and Sapphire’s was called “Brooklyn.”

            She smiled, sighing, seeing him lounge in the water. His optics were aimed at her eyes. “So what’s with Dinobot and Megs and a good portion of the others? They’re different from me, somehow, and from the others. Almost not as Cybertronian as I would think them to be.”

            “They’re Bonded with a human. Dinobot with Sinead, Megatron with Starath, Rattrap with Sapphire, Inferno with Miss Special, who you haven’t met yet; Optimus with Nurann, and Rampage with Lady V.”

            “How’d that come around? I’ve only heard of one other Cybertronian-human Bond-pair that had actually worked.”

            “Equal need, they said.”

            Depth Charge blinked at the dark-haired human, then moved closer to lean against the rock next to hers. “So what’s with this teasing that the other humans are aiming at you?”

            She blushed, leaning over to lightly dope-slap the Maximal, causing him to grin under his mask. Depth Charge was right in his guessing that she liked him. He never expected anyone to take a liking to him, not since he’d become nigh-obsessed with hunting a certain crab that, in this universe, was now dead and replaced with one that had actual reasons to level the bases.

            Yet what really shocked him was that he was starting to like this young woman in return.

            “He’s smiling.”

            “Ssh! Lookit them . . .”

            “I am, my Lady. I am.”

            Lady Venom smiled at her Bonded, then peeked back over the edge of the waterhole. A human Rampage was doing the same, and after another moment they crawled backwards then stood and went back to the house, where there was a decided absence. Hacker walked in right after them, asking, “Where’s Sinead?”

            “And Dinobot?” came the next question from across the room.

            Meara set the kettle back upon the stove, looking at the now-silent group. They returned the steady gaze, and she shook her head. “Leave them be.”

            “You’re her mum, though, right?” Gary stated. “Shouldn’t you be slightly more protective? I mean, I’ve heard how she’s . . . ahm . . . well . . . sworn off that which belongs within the boundaries of marriage?”

            Her staunch, fixed look stopped any more conversation along those lines. “Mister Chalk, believe me when I say that my daughter’s life is her own. And I fully recognize that Bonding is the complete equivalent of marriage in their culture. Therefore, whatever happens between them is indeed ‘completely within the boundaries of marriage.’ And there will be no interference.”

            Discussion ended, she returned to making tea, hearing conversation rise back up to the normal dull-roar that it usually was. Her thoughts, however, were racing. It was almost ten in the morning. Sinead always was up to help out the others with anything that needed done, not to mention she checked everything around the property to make sure that things were safe or aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Grinning, she noticed that she had made two cups more than necessary. Huh. Looks like she’ll bump into her daughter after all.

            “All right, you two, unlock the door.”

            Sinead jumped awake at the sound of her mother’s voice at the bedroom window. “Is something wrong?!”

            The chuckle on the other side of the shutters was reassuring. “No, unless you count the rumors that have just started to fly around about you two.”

            Dinobot rolled over, sighing. “Just what we need.”

            “I have tea.”

            Sinead and Dinobot shot out of bed, opening the doors as they went. Meara blinked at them. “Well. So nothing happened last night between the two of you?”

            “Nothing at all,” Dinobot replied, taking the tray and resting it upon the small kitchen table. “We were up until four what with helping you and then taking care of a few small issues here.”

            “Issues being . . . ?”

            “Just small stuff,” Sinead replied, yawning and leaning upon the wall. “Nothing too too serious.”

            “Ah. Well. I should tell those hooligans at the main cabin that they were completely wrong about what you two had been up to, and that if I hear anything else upon the rumors or the subject, then they’d better watch out.”

            “Yes, Mum, your wrath is not something that they’d like to come up against,” replied the laughing voice of her daughter. She shrugged, sitting and yawning again. “But it’s been a long few months for us, so I’m not surprised that they haven’t seen me sleep in before. I wanted to make sure that things were all right on the property and with whoever needed a boost or just someone to talk to, so . . . I guess that I’ve just been exhausting myself.”

            “Yes, you most certainly have,” came an irritated snap from Sapphire, who looked around the door. “And I’ve been worrying that that’s what you’ve been up to. Now will you knock it off?”

            Smiling, Sinead nodded. “All right, time to indulge myself. That’s what you’re telling me to do? Stop prying into everyone’s business?”

            “You’re not prying. Just helping, and managing to stretch yourself too thin. We’re fine and we can handle things on our own at this point.” Sapphire smiled, walking into the house completely, sitting upon the couch. “But that doesn’t mean that we don’t appreciate your efforts. Now get back to bed and finish sleeping. I’ll take lunch.”

            Dinobot guided his Bonded back to the bed, whispered something to her, then walked back out, closing the door and smiling, sitting at a chair. “She’ll sleep through anything right now. So what were you really coming here to talk about, Meara?”

            “Your relationship with my daughter. I’ve already spoken to her about you a while back, but I don’t believe that we’ve had the talk yet.”

            “I’ll leave you two up to that, then,” Sapphire said, standing. “I knew that the rumors were wrong, but I wanted to see if she was all right anyway.”

            The British South African young woman left, closing the door softly, leaving the concerned mother and her son-in-law alone for one of the first times. Dinobot sighed, fingering the handle of his mug almost nervously. “What did you want to know?”

            “Why you allowed her to risk her life for you, for starters.”

            “I didn’t have any other choice. Nor was I quite given one, as she seemed to have set her mind upon saving me no matter the consequences.” He shook his head, setting the tea upon the table and looking at his hands. “She was too slagging determined to have me live. She . . .” Rubbing at his face, the black-haired man continued talking. “She was nearly always there when I woke up. I knew that there was something other than just her simple concern for me behind why she was keeping vigil.”

            “That something was a love she held for you alone,” Meara replied. “I know my daughter. When she had met our infamous Scott McNeil for the first time at a convention, quite a bit before she had even met you, she had told him that you were her husband; you just didn’t know about it yet.”

            That dragged a chuckle from the weary husband. “Go figure. I’d expect nothing other than that from her.”

            “And he replied in your voice, I’ve heard.”

            “That, Meara, I can certainly see. He’s a character all unto himself.” Dinobot sat back. “But why did you bring that up?”

            “Because it should help you understand her even that little more,” Meara replied. “For you to die before her eyes, for you to not even want to try to live . . . it would have killed that love she held for you, the extremely high respect she holds you in, and something would have been broken as a result of you giving up.” The mother swallowed. “It would have broken her warrior’s spirit.”

            “So? What’s the sitch over dere?” Rattrap asked the moment Sapphire returned to the main cabin.

            She blinked. “Sinead just slept in. She was overtired. And Meara says to kill the rumors.”

            “Out of curiosity,” Scott asked, “why?”

            “Well, it’s either you kill them, or she comes after you with something that will most likely cause you great pain and suffering.”

            A collective gulp was witnessed, and Sapphire grinned. “So. Who’s up for some swimming?”

            Scott wasn’t. As soon as he had been able to, he had gotten over to “Valhalla” just in time to eavesdrop upon the end of his first meeting with Sinead. He continued to listen, hearing the silence that followed Meara’s words of what could break her daughter. A broken sigh, followed by a deep intake of air was all that he could hear on the other side of the window.

            “Meara, I . . .”

            A long pause.

            “After . . . after getting to know her, Meara, I can now see that I hadn’t treated her . . .”

            “The way you should have, eh?” The older woman’s voice said, gaining optimism and a slight humor within its depths.

            “Affirmative.”

            “But did she give up on you? You see how she is towards you. You know how she feels, even more so than I know how she feels. You’re the one she confides in. You’re her husband.” A low chuckle from the mother. “That’s how it should be between a man and his wife.”

            “She never gives up on what she feels strongly about.”

            “Ah. And?”

            “She feels strongly about me.”

            “Atta boy. And?”

            A deep sigh was coupled with a slight snarl at being talked to like a child, even though he knew Meara was gently teasing and goading him along. “I’ve been not-so-good towards her?”

            “No, not that I’ve seen.”

            “Over-protective?”

            “Nope.”

            “Sometimes–”

            “Too hovering, perhaps?” Scott called in softly.

            “Get in here,” Meara said, opening the door. “And no.”

            Scott smiled, entering and leaning against the wall. “Great job with this. I’m thoroughly impressed.”

            “Thank you,” the human Dinobot replied. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not getting at what you’re trying to infer, Meara.”

            “You’re too harsh on yourself when you accidentally do something that upsets her. She’s the same. Always has been. She holds regrets a little longer than she should.” Shrugging, Meara stood. “But the two of you are well-matched, and you’re doing a lot of good for each other. Get a little more sleep while you can. I’ll make sure that everyone knows that this place is off-limits.” She turned, nearly walking into Scott. “Lump of uselessness. Move, will ye?”

            He replied in the same accent. “Naow, but to–”

            “You’re married, have a wife who’s waiting in my kitchen, and my daughter and son need sleep in here. You’d keep him awake. Out.”

            Laughing, the actor made his exit, turning Rattrap around just as he passed him, guiding him back to the main cabin while Meara griped the entire way back, poking fun at the duo. Dinobot closed the door, then rubbed at his face again and picked the mug up from the table, walking back into the bedroom and curling up behind Sinead. Maybe having more people around wasn’t all that bad of an idea after all.