Restart

At Tyler's threat to the wind, Nate jerked his head back from the wood pile he was investigating. "Tell us what?" he asked. He took a few steps away from the wood and closer to Tyler, his eyes narrowing. He waited for a few moments, in case there was a response but when there was none it was clear that Dotty wasn't here.

"What did she tell you?" Nate demanded. Now that the movie star had let something slip he was ready to fight it out of him to know what it was.

Father Jacobson stood back passively from the group, fingering his thumb as he watched.

~~~~~~

Mary Jane slid into the passenger seat, grabbing her seatbelt and securing across her chest as she sat. Once strapped in she rubbed her face with her hands, rubbing in a way suggested she was trying to wipe away this whole incident.

Restart

Ty glanced over at Nate, his jaw clenched. "Nothing," he said shortly. He realized Dotty must not be there if she did not come out and punch him or something for threatening to tell. He realized this man was not stable and could easily beat him up, but he had tried so hard to gain Dotty's trust, and he knew he could not give her up now. Even if she was not talking to him.

Turning away, he hurried down the stairs, figuring it would be less likely Nate would try to beat him up on the alter.

Alyson sighed. "Well this was a waste of time," she said in disappointment.

----

"Sorry," Chase apologized once they were on the road again. He glanced over at MJ. He was not sure exactly what he was apologizing for, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

Nate frowned at Alyson, refusing to believe it. The only connection he had to Dotty had run away, and he wasn't going to let him get away. He still didn't have answers. He turned on his heel and hurried down the stairs, moving quickly down so that he at least was four or five steps behind the movie star.

He caught up to him, though, at the bottom of the staircase and he grabbed Tyler's arm. "Hold it! I'm not done with you yet," he said, taking hold of the teen in a vise grip.

After Nate left, Father Jacobson was left back in the awkward position he was in, only now with one person to notice instead of three. Not that anyone seemed to notice his quiet state of uncertainty before, they were all too busy in the search and the inquests. But now that he was alone with the woman reporter his uncertainty was turning into an anxiety to say something, so when Alyson started to leave he suddenly cut her off by stepping into her path.

"Miss--" the priest started to say, stopping himself abruptly when he didn't know her name, and then let out a deep, reconciling breath. "She was here," he told her in a low voice. "Dorothea had stayed the night here."

~~~~~~

Cleaning her eyes with a finger, Mary Jane dropped her hands with a sigh. Her hands were slightly wet. "It's okay," she lied.

Restart

Ty jerked his arm out of Nate's grasp, though it took some doing and probably caused some bruising.

"I don't have to explain anything to you," he said through clenched teeth. "If you care so much about her, why haven't you been looking out for her better, huh? Why is she missing?" He backed up through the door, shaking his head.

"Talk to her about her secrets yourself; if you think you deserve to know anything."

Alyson stopped abruptly. "She did?" she said with a slight frown. "Do you know where she went? Please, if you know something tell me. Those two guys down there will tear each other apart if we don't find her."

----

Chase frowned and pulled over suddenly. Twisting in his seat, he stared at her. "Did she hurt you?" he demanded. "Because if she did, I swear--"

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

Tyler's sharp words took Nate aback, but only for a moment. "You can put all the guilt on me," he shot back defensively. "She was with you before she disappeared. She would not have gone missing under my watch."

The priest looked down as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "She snuck into my church in the middle of the night," he explained hesitantly, careful of what he said. "I don't know how she got in because everything was locked up, but I found her asleep on one of the pews in the morning."

He paused and looked at Alyson entreatingly. "I should have said something in the first place, I know. But Dorothea took me into her confidence," he explained, hoping for understanding from this woman, "and I can't break that. Especially not to the two people she cares so much for."

~~~~~~

Mary Jane was silent for a while, not looking at Chase. "No," she said, and this time truthfully. "She was actually nicer than I thought she would be."

Restart

"She ran out on me," Ty correct. "Freaked out over something and left. She's paranoid." He paused and glanced sidelong at Nate. "You should know that."

Alyson pursed her lips. "If she really cares about them that much, she wouldn't make them worry like this. Nate is going crazy and I've never seen Ty Waters loose his cool."

----

"What did she say?" Chase asked, completely stupefied. He could not believe they had gotten out unscathed. Although MJ's upset state was worrying him.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life
"Well, I'm hoping that it will provide some previously-unknown insight into Dittotopian history. Best case scenario would be that once our finding are published, I'll be able to get a grant for further studies and research!" Chip grinned, his gaze distant as he imagined what life would be like in that event.

"Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to get my job at Monstropolis University back," he sighed in a daydreamy tone.

-------

The Autobots finally arrived in Autobot City. Warpath, Space Case and the Maximals went directly to the city's control center, and Space Case took his place at the long-range communications console. He entered the frequency for Cybertron and sent the first hailing message. Then began the wait for the signal to send through the transwarp channels and be received by the Autobot homeworld.

"Wish it didn't take so blamed long to establish a link," Warpath muttered.

"We have also been authorized to upgrade your computer network," Bursa said, as if he was throwing in some deal-breaker. Warpath didn't reply as the link was finally established. The floating Autobot insignia on the screen was replaced with a very static-distorted image of an Autobot's face.

Some minutes later, Warpath, Space Case and the Maximals exited the comm center and stood before the crowd of curious Autobots that had gathered to hear if the Maximals' message was true. Warpath didn't say anything at first. His optics were lowered to the ground, and his shoulders were sagging. Finally he looked up and around at the assemblage, the blue light of his eyes glowing dimly with a whipped ego.

"They're tellin' the truth," he said sullenly. "Their upgrade equipment will be arriving on a shuttle tomorrow."

Funny Thing

I didn't know any characters by sight, but I kind of figured who the elves were (though I couldn't remember a baby - obviously from a story I hadn't read). I forced myself not to drool over Lady A's elvish dress (or the elvish horses), suddenly remembering that I was still in my pajamas. At least there were enough oddly dressed people around for me not to look too out of place.

Funny Thing
I could hardly contain my excitment "ELVES! my mind screamed then I noticed Lady A "Oh look hummy its the bossy mody" I wispered.
((JK!))
The Aftermath
"Don't worry it won't" said Alexander. He turned and walked away into the crowds "Think he ment it?" asked John "Not sure, we'll see" said Mathew.

Aftermath
"Well, I sure hope he meant it." said Ellie as she turned back towards Matthew and John. She had hoped this day would turn out a lot better than it had. "What should we do now?" she asked. "Matthew, do you still need to check on the new recruits?"

The Aftermath
"Oh yes, they are over here come on" MaTHew said as he started walking towards the training grounds.

Aftermath
"Alright." Ellie said as she and John followed. They walked over to where the recruits were doing drills, Matthew in front, her and John only a few steps behind him. "I sure hope they're doing well." she said quietly to John.

The Aftermath
Alan whipped his sword up to his opponent’s neck "dead again" Mathew looked as the boy sparred with another and beat that recruit too. Mathew strode out to the boy as he prepared to take another on and with his sword held Alan’s in place. Alan spun around and put their swords in the standard x shape. Mathew jumped back with his singnature spin move before Alan jumped after him, swinging his sword over his head but Mathew stopped it with a defensive stance.

Aftermath
Ellie and John stayed back while Matthew went in close and watched. All the recruits seemed to be doing very well, especially one. He beat everyone he dueled against, and beat them easily at that."I guess we don't have to worry about the recruits putting Matthew in a bad mood." John commented quietly to Ellie with a small chuckle.Ellie nodded her head in agreement. Then she saw Matthew draw his sword, and stopped the recruit's in mid-air. She was surprised when the recruit kept going, most would've dropped their swords in surprise.

((greenleaf, did you miss this post?))

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

The young crew member blinked and then frowned. "You're not a crew member," he repeated. "This isn't a tourist ship. It's a private vessel, so you probably should get off before I have to report you."

He thought she seemed nice enough and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, even though she was acting a little strange.

----

Jakov lost interest in Chase's words soon after the man started talking and zoned him out. Therefore he did not realize when the man stopped talking and did not ask any more questions.

P.S."Brooklyn!"