Will Byers

He'd let it go, for now, he knew they'd likely "discuss" it more later.

"No. My partner and I both chose vehicle alts. Knock Out likes to race."

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"Sure." The word is out before Sam can really stop herself from saying it, since it's late and she's tired and she has a bad sense of humour that has not improved in any way, shape, or form, with Breakdown's influence. "You saw my boarding pass."

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Will stares at Sam for a long moment while the pun sets in, then he turns to the rearview mirror and gives Breakdown a perfect you seein' this BS? look.

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That look. Oh, Runt, that look. He can't help the guffaw that comes out of him that that. "Yeah, she's a bit crazy, huh Runt?"

Sorry, not sorry, Sam.

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Sam pressed a hand to her mouth, but despite her best efforts, a snigger escaped. A full laugh followed, and she forced a “Sorry,” out for Will before pointing at the rearview mirror to admonish Breakdown as firmly as she could: “Don't you get him started, here.”

Feeling, perhaps, a pang of conscience, she looked to the boy as she moved to open Breakdown's driver's-side door. “I couldn't resist, alright? But to tell you the truth, no. I drive this beat-out old suburban, and sometimes a skidoo, but 'broom' and 'vacuum' are not, and will probably never be, among my options. Next question?”

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"That was a terrible joke," Will informs Sam with grave seriousness. Then his shoulders droop a little, because he knows what that opened door means. Back to real life. He tucks a little snugger inside the sweater.

"What's a skidoo?" He's definitely stalling now.

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They kid isn't moving fast, but he's still got another question after this one is answered, so Breakdown just chuckles, amused. "Aww, why not? He's perfect to influence. Young and impressionable."

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"Most of my jokes are bad. Sorry." As she answered, Sam stepped down to the parking lot pavement. Resting a hand against the doorframe, she watched Will expectantly, knowing a stall when she saw one. "Ah, snowmobile? Skis in the front, treads under the body, seat and handlebars like a motorcycle. I don't know that they're called anything else, except by brand names; I don't know if you'd get enough snow to see 'em in use."

She shook her head, looking upwards (as if for an answer to 'what did I do to deserve this') even as she drummed her fingers on the doorframe---affectionately enough. "Because he's young and impressionable, and you're already a bad influence on me." It was a bold assertion from someone who had been a bad influence back, but it sounded good; better for being delivered with offhand ease.

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"I'm not that young," Will protests, wiggling across the seat to the door. He may be reluctant and wanting to stall as long as possible, but he's obedient to a fault as well. He's not going to refuse a prompt like Sam's giving, as gentle as it is. He starts shivering the second he's outside again, crossing the floppy arms of the sweatshirt over himself and burrowing down into the collar.

"Can the snowmobile talk too?" This is half-addressed to Breakdown, because...at this point it seems logical.

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"Runt, I'm over six million Earth years old, all humans are young to me." It's said with a chuckle. He's totally serious, though, he's old; you're young.

His seat gives a little shrug-jiggle. "If they were Cybertronian, but I don't know anyone small enough to take that as an alt." Would probably be an Autobot too, but be'll not bring up factions or war, it would only get the kid asking more questions.

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"Maybe you're not that young, but he's that old. If you want to get melodramatic about it, we're chillin' with an ancient entity from beyond the stars." Sam was able to complete her sentence before sniggering, but not without really trying to stay sort of straight-faced. "Just one who happens to be more agreeable than the average."

Once Will was out and within arm's reach, Sam set a hand on his shoulder. She'd noticed that he was shivering again, already, and schooled her expression to keep from frowning in concern. (The kid had been anxious enough when she'd shaken her head at him, so she figured a frown was ambiguous enough for a fright.) Answering his question made it easier. "It's an ordinary skidoo, so no."

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Will is very quiet and very still for a moment, trying hard to wrap his brain around Breakdown being an ancient entity from beyond the stars. All he can manage, after opening and closing his mouth a couple times is: "But...cars were invented in...1886."

Because he's a tiny nerd who knows this type of thing.

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Oh his smirk is clear in his tone. "Yeah, on this planet. We just scanned your vehicles to blend in once we got here."

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"Which brings me to something I've really wondered." Aware she should be steering Will back towards the building, and of the seconds ticking by, Sam stood where she was and ran her mouth a moment more. "How many places have Cybertronians gone and actually successfully snuck around thanks to having local machines large enough and common enough that something---or someone---who looks like one can go unnoticed almost anywhere?"

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Will is still trying to wrap his brain around Breakdown's previous statement, leaning absently against the metallic side of the vehicle. Is that rude? It's probably rude, but his brain is breaking a little. Then he interjects, with an odd look in his eyes -- "Are there other alien things out there? Do you know how to fight them?"

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"Lots of places," he answers Sam easily. "There are places all over the universe where we're either not all the different or can blend in one way or another."

He turns his attention to Will again, noting the look, but not sure what to make of it. "There are lots of alien things out there, and I can fight any of them." How well he'd hold up to any given one is questionable, there are some he's pretty sure could prove a challenge, but that doesn't mean he can't fight them.

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If it's rude to lean against Breakdown, it probably doesn't register as rude after the time he's spent with Sam. She's leaned on him, sworn at him, climbed on him---a very little---threatened him a time or two, and kicked him the once, so Will's remarkably well-behaved in comparison. Rather than be a bad influence, the skin-witch followed suit, one hand against Breakdown's side, the other planted on her hip as she considered the boy; Breakdown's answer got an acknowledging nod (which she was sure he'd see, somehow) but no more.

“Why d'you ask?”

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Will's back is ramrod straight now, his expression and body language so intense, so focused he almost seems to shudder with it. In the dim lighting, it's hard to tell, but he looks ill -- he's too skinny, he shivers even with Sam's sweatshirt, and there are black shadows under his eyes that suggest he hasn't slept well in months.

Worst of all is his voice. It's stony, deathly serious, the way no thirteen-year-old's voice should be. "Even if it's not in this world? If it's in another world and...only one person can see it? Can you still fight it?"

His gaze flickers to Sam, and there's a note of desperation in his eyes now. "Can you kill it?"

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Something about the boy changes. He'll unfold an arm from his frame to shift the two humans away so he can transform and pick Will up, the boy sitting in his palm as he studies the kid.

"Hard to fight something I can't get at, Runt." He big head tilts to one side a bit. "This unseen thing giving you slag?"

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Now, more than ever, Will looked like a sick kid; haggard and exhausted, the something that had sent him to hospital after hospital catching up to the delighted awe real magic and an alien robot had inspired. There were tells in his face and frame, but Sam barely noticed---it was his aura that had her attention, and she eyed it with growing unease. The tacky, filmlike stain that was in it as much as on it didn't flare so much as densen, and she clenched her jaw at the sight. She looked to Will (Will himself, meeting his eyes) as he looked to her, but didn't have time to answer before being brushed back apace. She didn't scold Breakdown for his transformation but stepped back to better see the boy and ask, “Will... what have you been into?”

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Will's such a tiny bitty thing, he'd be easy to pick up even if Breakdown wasn't, y'know...a huge robot. He sits cross-legged, mostly because his knees are too shaky to hold him up, curling in on himself as they look at him. He falters at Breakdown's question, then turns to look down at Sam, something pleading and agonized in his voice.

"I-It wasn't my fault." His voice breaks weakly on the last word, and his eyes are too, too bright. "There was this thing, it...it took me, it chased me, it...caught me. I couldn't get away. It made me...I came back wrong."

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Breakdown has the presence of mind to lower his hand again for Sam to get a better look at Will. He's a fighter, but he's also a healer. It was only partially happenstance the led him to take on the roll as medical assistant.

"We're not going to blame you for being outmatched, Runt." He really is using the term like a name, there's even a note of gentleness in his tone. Don't you let people blame you for that, kid, he'll smash anyone who tries.

The rest of that left Breakdown at a loss, though. He was a medical assistant...to his own kind. He glanced at Sam, his aura giving away that look to be a plea for help from her, even if his expression doesn't show it.

"What do you mean by 'wrong', wrong how?"

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Once Breakdown lowered his hand, Sam stepped forward, planting both of her hands on the edge of his palm to boost herself up and join Will. Her movements were fairly graceless, but not at all uncertain; as soon as she could crouch by the boy, Sam had a hand on his shoulder. “Nobody's saying it's your fault; it's not.” You're just a kid, could've followed, but saying it was something Sam never considered. Will didn't need to feel any smaller, any weaker, or any more helpless than he already did.

She noticed the look from Breakdown, recognized it for what it was, and looked back at him, her expression briefly uncertain: I don't know. I don't know, yet. She turned her attention back to Will a second later, once more giving his shoulder a light squeeze before she lifted her hand to rub at her eyes. She might've missed something when she'd first looked Will over; it wouldn't've been the first time she overlooked something in an aura because some unusual feature caught her attention instead... and the offness which had somehow saturated his aura was something she'd never seen before.

Sam drew a slow breath and lowered her hands, squinting slightly as she studied Will anew. As she scrutinized him, her hands met and began to work at each other. After a time, she frowned---not at Will, but in uncertainty.

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At this point Will is doing that awful, shuddery, shaky sort of breathing that people do when they're trying not to cry. He doesn't want to ruin everything by crying like a dumb baby. He's done that too many times recently. But Sam's hand on his shoulder makes him crumble a little more, as does Breakdown's soft, firm reply. He stays very quiet while Sam looks at him, face knitting into anxiety when she frowns.

"What? What is it?"

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