Bonus post - Devices, Too part 5.

(For anyone new, the story starts with Appliances and continues with Devices, Too...)

Part 5 - Funtime

The first hint Poppy had that all was not as it should be back at the house was when, pulling into the drive, she saw Muncher cuddling a tree...
     'Beat yelped as she slammed her foot on the brake, forcing him to stop dead before she scrambled out and raced to the front door. Which was open.
     "'Spin? Chill?"
     A sound reached her from the kitchen. She frowned, trying to place it, then realised it sounded like... a giggle? What the hell?
     Heavy footsteps behind her had her whirling, alarmed, only to relax a little as the bulk of the transformed Mini loomed over her.
     "'Beat?"
     "Can't let you go in there alone." Internal sensors measured the doorway and he nodded, calculating he would just be able to squeeze through without causing damage. Well, much damage, anyway. "You better stay behind me."
     Only too happy to have half a ton of metal between her and whatever was inside, Poppy followed him as he wormed his way into the downstairs hall. She peered out from behind him, looking around carefully, but couldn't see anything to cause any immediate alarm. Then the giggle came again. She laid a hand on 'Beat's back.
     "I... I think we'd better see what that is."
     "Mm." It sounded a little dubious, but, making sure Poppy stayed behind him, 'Beat moved cautiously to the kitchen door. He could be surprisingly quiet for such a large, metal creature, Poppy thought absently.
     At the door he paused, then sniffed loudly – then straightened up, his head just brushing the ceiling. Arms folded across his chest he turned to glance at Poppy. She was startled by his expression – narrow-eyed, lips a thin line, almost scowling. At least, that was the impression he gave, and looking into the kitchen she thought she knew why.
     'Spin was lying in the middle of the floor in a shallow pool of liquid, with Steamy jumping up and down on his stomach and giggling, while Sucker... was lying curled up in the sink? What...?
     "What the hell is going on?!"
     'Beat growled from somewhere deep inside.
     "They've been at me energon!"
     Poppy closed her eyes with a shudder, then shouted loudly for Chillvern...

"I'm so sorry, Poppy." Chill – who had been so engrossed in the five games of chess he was playing simultaneously with Ramp that he hadn't noticed what was happening in the rest of the house – was wringing his hands. "I didn't hear anything, didn't realise anything was happening... I'm sorry." He bowed his head, shoulders hunched, and Poppy sighed.
     "It's not your fault, Chill."
     "But you left me in charge, and I've let you down."
     "It wasn't your fault! They all knew the energon was for 'Beat." She glowered at 'Spin, who was wincing and rubbing his head with both hands. "You at least should have known better!"
     "But..."
     "Honestly..."
     "But we only had a little bit! A tiny little bit each. Jutht to... tathte."
     Poppy humphed her disbelief. 'Spin flapped a hand vaguely in the direction of the garage. "Go and thee if you don't believe me..."
     With Chill and 'Beat following her, Poppy went to check. To her surprise she found that 'Spin wasn't exaggerating: there were barely two pints missing from the first tank, and none from the other three. She frowned at Chill.
     "It is really that potent?"
     "Not usually, not even after such a long time without..." He leaned closer and sniffed cautiously at the upended cap, and pulled back sharply. "That's... strong." He glanced at 'Beat. "Is that your usual grade?"
     'Beat smelled the cap and shook his head.
     "Nah. That's had stuff added, that has." He carefully removed the caps of the other three tanks, large fingers surprisingly dextrous, and he and Chill sniffed the caps. "All the same. All had somethin' put in 'em."
     Poppy switched her gaze between them uncomprehendingly.
     "Is that good or bad?"
     Fridge and Mini stared at each other for a moment or two, then Chill turned to Poppy and shook his head.
     "We'll need to have it analysed. It would probably be best if no-one took any more until we know what's in it."
     "I have to contact Graham anyway – I'll tell him what's happened. Will NEST be able to check it?"
     "Yes. It's a pity we don't have the facilities here – it would be quicker - but that can't be helped."
     "Will you be able to manage?" Poppy was watching 'Beat anxiously. "Without refuelling, I mean."
     "Got enough in me tanks to cope for a couple weeks, s'long as you don't want to drive Landsend to John O' Groats."
     Poppy chuckled briefly. "Not in my diary for this year. Will everyone be OK though?" She gestured towards the house. Chill nodded.
     "It would have been useful to have clean energon to flush the other out of their systems, but since we don't have any, it'll just be a matter of time. Sunlight would help, but the forecast is for cloudy for the next few days." He eyed Poppy wryly. "I'm afraid you'll have to cook your own food for a day or two. I wouldn't trust Steamy to boil water at the moment."
     "I'm sure I can remember how." Poppy turned back to the door. "But I'd better contact NEST right away."

Graham frowned.
     "Hm. I'll arrange to have the tanks collected – no, on second thoughts, I'll pick them up myself. When they left HQ they were perfectly fine. If the energon was doctored, it was probably on route, and that couldn't happen without the driver's cooperation. I'll have him detained for questioning. What I don't understand is why anyone would want to tamper with it. Not to denigrate your value to us, but your operation simply isn't that important in the larger scheme of things."
     Poppy nodded: she'd considered that herself already. Her transformers were all neutrals, refugees, and none of them were fighters (though she suspected they could all defend themselves if they had no alternative).
     "Well, we see what we can find out." He glanced to one side as someone leaned in to speak to him, then nodded and turned back to Poppy. "Fortunately we have enough energon stockpiled for me to replace the dodgy tanks. I'll bring it with me."
     Poppy grinned. "Thanks. 'Beat says he has enough for a week or so, but I'd rather not push it."
     Graham nodded. "And how did your meeting go?"
     Poppy frowned momentarily, then smiled.
     "Oh, yes, at the pub. Well, Lightdance's alternative form is a jukebox, of all things. We couldn't actually speak, but 'Beat says that he likes me but isn't sure he really wants to leave the pub."
     "I expected that. It really would be safer though."
     "We're going back on Thursday to see if he's changed his mind. Or if we can change it for him."
     "Good. Let me know how you get on. I'd rather not intervene if we don't have to but I do want to see him settled with you."
     "Do my best." She was about to sign off, then remembered. "Oh, just one last thing. Do you think you could take Grunt back with you? He seems to think he's training me to join the army and Chill thinks he'd be better off at one of your bases. You know, where he can torture real soldiers."
     Graham laughed.
     "Oh, I'm sure he would. Very well. Tell him it's an order from me. I'll see you later – I should be able to get there by 2 a.m., if that's not too inconvenient."
     Well, she was already tired, but should be able to get in a nap this afternoon.
     "Should be OK. I'll see you then."

Graham had only stopped long enough to unload the new tanks, load the old and get Grunt (who to Poppy's relief had raised no objections to being moved on: she rather suspected he was simply used to obeying orders. She wondered idly what he'd been, back on Cybertron) settled in the back of his Defender. She waved him off, hiding her yawn behind her hand, then locked up and set the alarm. As she passed the kitchen door Chill appeared, a mug of rich hot chocolate drink in his hand.
     "Don't tell Steamy..." he chuckled. Poppy grinned tiredly.
     "Thanks Chill. You're a star."
     The fridge blinked, head tilted to one side – then smiled as he tracked down the reference.
     "One does one's best. Sleep well, Poppy."

Wednesday morning was... awkward. 'Spin was sullen, Muncher maudlin, TeeVee and Blue – who had imbibed less of the energon than the others – were irritable, Sucker was hiding somewhere, Livewire was curled up on the bed with his head under the pillow refusing to speak, Grounds (the coffee maker) was sulking, Hotpot the microwave refused to open his door, Downbeat (the stereo) was working – sort of, if you could call playing music at the wrong speeds working, Airhead (the tumble drier) wouldn't stop working, Blurt the kitchen TV played nothing but static, Hooker the food processor kept shorting out, and Steamy was inconsolable, not least because he still wasn't sufficiently recovered to cook Poppy's food. Ramp, who'd been playing chess with Chill and hadn't partaken, was unbearably smug and amused himself by making loud noises whenever one of the suffering transformers was in his vicinity. Cable had been with Poppy so had missed out on the fun, but was wisely keeping quiet. Only Chill and 'Beat were normal. Well, what passed for normal in this household, anyway. Poppy was torn, on the one hand wanting to be sympathetic – after all, they were all suffering the transformer version of massive hangovers – and on the other wanting to shout at them all to just shut up!
     Eventually she took herself out to the garage and offered to rub Ratchet's special oil into 'Beat's frame, an offer he accepted warily. She opened the can and carefully poured a little onto a soft chamois cloth as he transformed from Mini to robot mode and hunkered down so she could reach all of him.
     It was very soothing. 'Beat was happy to play music quietly rather than talk, and after a few minutes apparently decided she was skilled enough for him to relax (though quite what he thought she could do to cause him discomfort Poppy couldn't work out. Perhaps the cables and wires between his metal plating were particularly sensitive...) and settled a little lower to the ground. She took her time and used careful strokes, and an hour later patted him on the shoulder as she finished.
     "How's that feel?"
     'Beat stretched and blinked at her.
     "S'good. It'll do nicely."
     "Good... How often do you need it applied?" She frowned. "Come to that, how do I keep you clean? Should I take you through a carwash? Or can you use a hose? I mean, I can help you with that..."
     "Hose would do, as long as water's hot, ta. We got our own cleansers – there'll be some at NEST, if your officer could have 'em sent. And th' oiling should do me for a month, unless weather's really bad."
     "Thanks. And I'll be sure to ask Graham." She sighed then patted him again, affectionately. "I suppose I'd better go and see how everyone's doing..."

By Thursday morning everything was back to normal – helped, admittedly, by Chill allowing everyone a little of the pure energon on Wednesday afternoon. (Poppy had watched, bemused, as he'd trickled small amounts into inlet tubes with the precision of a nurse: the beneficial result was almost immediately clear as they'd all visibly perked up.) 'Beat had also refuelled – Poppy saw that the first of the energon tanks was now about a quarter empty and made a mental note to keep an eye on the supply so she could request more in plenty of time – and was ready and waiting as she slid into the driver's seat. She took hold of the wheel as he started his engine.
     "Right. Let's go and see if Lightdance has changed his mind."

© JAT Nov 2011

Labels: fanfic, Transformers