The kids watched as their parents drove off. Except for Alexis' parents, it had taken no convincing to let the kids stay with him for a little while. It was their idea anyway. That, and they wanted to let Alexis' parents work out the last of their venom. The honest truth, however, was that the kids were also in a bit of shock of their own.

They had all been aware that some of the Mini-Cons had been watching them but were now warping out and back to where they should be. Lazerbeak had also done the same; but after the kids found out about his latest little exploitation it made sense for him to run.

"Billy must have warned Scavenger,' Rad said, barely over his breath.

"I guess we ought to thank him for that,' Fred said. "Even though we're dealing with Lazerbeak, at least now we have things on tape. I just hope he hasn't spent all the royalties.'

"Did you see that flat-screen TV he has?' Alexis asked. "I think I know where he got the money for it now. Those things aren't cheap.'

"He could at least let us watch it,' Carlos said dejectedly.

"He'd probably charge for it,' Rad said.

"It would take how long for him to get pummeled?' Hilde interjected. The kids looked and saw the faint maternal smile she had on her face. "Come on, cheer up!' Already, she was back into the swing of things.

*****

Alexis looked around the kitchen in dismay. She had no idea that an omelette could explode like hers just had. Trying to remain composed, Hilde attempted to put it all into perspective.

"Well,' she said, "it was your first attempt at cooking. Ever.....'

"Just..... what happened?'

"Well, when fat gets hot, such as in a microwave, it can, well, explode. I honestly didn't think the ham and sausage were that fatty. Now let's clean it all up before the cat gets a hold of it.'

"Too late for that.'

Gently, Hilde managed to get the cat to leave the scene. "Don't worry; I'll go get the mop and some water. Just wait here.'

Alexis watched as Hilde went into the garage to get the mop and bucket. She left the mop in the kitchen and went into the bathroom to fill the bucket up. Hilde didn't say a word as she went to cleaning. She just simply smiled like it was a non-event. This only made Alexis feel even worse. She was the one who caused it; she should be the one to clean it. She had been taken care of and sheltered most of her life. Why was this still happening' She was grown up.

Or am I' she thought to herself. How grown am I, really' All this time I thought that I was so independent, and yet I still need other people to help me. The boys, Sureshock, Wierdwolf, Mr. Blair, and now Miss Hilde. How' Why' Why'

Hilde paused. "Just curious, but why are you asking how to cook?'

Alexis was startled back to reality. "No reason. I was just wondering. That's all,' she said, lowering her eyes.

*****

"I wonder what Alexis is up to inside,' Carlos said.

"You mean you can't smell the smoke?' Fred asked.

"Or the burned food?' Rad added. "I'd say Cooking 101. Her parents never let her learn to cook or anything. She was pretty pampered.'

"Must have been hard,' Fred said sarcastically.

"Guys, chill,' Derek said. "It was hard enough for her to realize that her parents weren't the perfect people that they tried to make her think that they were. They love her and all; they just couldn't quite show it in the right ways. They had their ideals and they all just kinda fell through.'

Slowly, he raised the Mauser and sighted it at the target. He took a slow breath, and released the safety. To the casual observer, only one shot was fired. But the kids managed to hear the individual shots; there was a total of five. "They all went through the same hole,' he said, not lowering the rifle. "It's a lot harder to do than it sounds. This, kids, is decades of repetition taking over. I actually did stuff like this for real.' He ejected the clip and put a new one in.

"Seriously?' Fred asked.

"Got a triple-tap on a BTR-70. Armor piercing rounds into the fuel tank. They collided against each other, making sparks. No survivors. Explosion caused a chain reaction along the entire convoy. To this day people still think it was an air strike.'

"Where did it happen?'

"Can't tell you yet. Taking the shot any time soon?'

"I'm a little distracted,' Rad said, trying to level the Springfield.

"Deal with it. I had to deal with artillery rounds going off. Mortar landed ten feet from me and I still made the kill.'

"Ouch.' Rad lined up the shot and fired. The five rounds flew to the target and hit, but Rad winced as he saw where they landed. Upper left of the target, and with a shot grouping the size of a fifty-cent piece. He knew that he could do better. He had to be able to deal with the pressure that would be on him or else he wouldn't be any good. To anyone.

He re-loaded the weapon and re-sighted it. Mentally, he tried to shut everything out. All that was real was himself, the rifle, and the target. No, he chided himself. The target is just a thing. I do not really exist. The rifle is just an extension of my shell. Breath, relax, aim, sight, squeeze. That's all it takes.

The five rounds pierced through the black center of the target, and in a grouping so small that a nickel could easily cover the holes. The first round impacted just right of the bull's-eye and the other shots went to the right of it.

"Forgot your windage,' Derek said. "Feel that cold chill' That was a wind gust. For now, you'll have to manually compensate for the wind. With experience, you'll automatically do it.'

"That was a wind gust?' Billy asked.

"Yep. Cold one, too. Looks like we'll be in for an early fall.'

"But it's still late July!' Fred said.

"No denying it. We'll be in for an early fall, and possibly a long, cold, winter. Might even get some snow.'

*****

"Was this such a good idea going back there?'

"Of course it is! We just can't leave her in the hands of that..... that..... Besides, now that we've got the sedan we can take her back with us.'

"I guess, dear.'

*****

"So what happened?' Billy asked as the kids began to eat at the snacks.

"My dad tried to trash Mr. Blair but got things turned around on him,' Alexis said. "That, and I kinda..... blew up an omelette.'

"So I smelled.'

"Very funny.'

"We also found out how Lazerbeak got the money for the flatscreen,' Carlos said, angrily. "He sold ESPN that footage he had of us?'

"Oh, that time where the three of us tried to jump that stream on the bikes and got totalled in a heap' Yeah, that was on two days ago.'

"He sold that too'!' Fred and Carlos said at once.

"Hence the DVD player and movie stack,' Rad added. "He's been watching Jackie Chan movies non-stop for the last three days.'

"Makes you wonder what other footage he sold,' Alexis said. "Almost makes me sick the way he gets rich off of others' misfortunes. I hate people like that.'

"Speaking of which,' Derek said, "I think that's your parents coming up the road.'

"How can you tell?'

"Who else would bring a brand-new luxury sedan this far out into the middle of nowhere?'

"Just great; they'll be smelling the burnt food and ask what all happened.'

"I guess we all better get going, too,' Rad said. "It's getting late.'

"So soon?' Hilde asked. "Rats!'

*****

Derek paused, watching as the kids left. "They're really great,' he said. "They just needed something to focus on.'

"And the Autobots' How are they handling them?' Hilde asked.

"The kids have been helpful on a few occasions. Mostly, though, the kids know when to stay out of the way and when to get involved.'

"They gone yet?' Firebolt asked as he and Sylphiel made their way up to the house. "I can't stand vain people.'

"At least the fishing was good,' Sylphiel said, hefting the basket. "I can't believe how much fish are in that lake!'

"You're telling me?' Hilde asked. Memories came back to her. "For two weeks one year fish was about all we ate. I was so sick of it. I almost threw up the day that *someone* made me help clean one.'

"Actually, you did. And I seem to recall that you were the one who wanted to know how it was done.'

Hilde paused. "Er..... yeah..... I remember that now. That just seems like so long ago.....'

An electronic chirping noise halted her train of thought. Derek heard it first, and activated his internal comm. "Decepticons,' he said. "Four of them in the middle of the desert, causing trouble. No Mini-Con signal or anything.'

"Just fooling around?' Hilde asked.

"No, they're trying to bait the Autobots out. I have a different idea. Up for a fight?'