Flare
Chapter 3
Jazz's optics slowly onlined, casting a faint glow in the pitch black of this cell. He groaned softly and rolled onto his back. He was horribly dazed and barely able keep himself conscious but at least he was alive. "W-Who's there?" A femme voice asked. He could tell she was absolutely terrified. He rolled onto his stomach and forced himself to his hands and knees. "It's okay. I won't hurt you." He responded reassuringly, glancing around to look for the femme. Suddenly, he felt something press against his side. Instinctively he wanted to get it away from him, but then he realized it was the femme.
He sat down and pulled the femme to his lap, earning a squeak of surprise.
His optics widened as he finally saw the femme in the faint glow created by his optics. She trembled in his arms and he stroked her helm tenderly. The youngling slowly relaxed and rested her helm on his chest. "Who are you?" She asked, looking into his optics. Her voice was weak and it trembled, as if she had been here for a while and was starved. "I'm Jazz." He replied, pulling the young bot closer to him. "Who are you?" He asked. "I'm…I'm…I don't know. I never received a true name. I've always been called "It"." She murmured, yawning and curling into a ball. Jazz blinked, feeling bad for her. He watched as she slipped into recharge, soon followed her.
A pain-filled scream wrenched Jazz from recharge. He looked over at the young femme and gasped. She was being electrocuted by the humans. Not enough to kill her, but enough to cause agony. His hands instinctively flew towards her to pull her away. He could feel the electricity flowing from her to him, but he ignored the pain and pulled her away from the humans. She was sobbing and clung to him when he pulled her close.
"Hey!" One of the humans barked. "Put It back! It needs to be punished!" "For what?" Jazz retorted. "What did she do?" "It needs to be punished!" Another human insisted. "Let It down so we can!" "Never!" He snarled. The human growled and shot something at the femme. She was wrenched from his arm with a massive jolt and a sharp cry from her.
"Primus! Leave her alone!" Jazz roared. He lunged to get her back and was hit with a stab of pain. He forced back a yelp as electricity coursed through his body. He crumpled to the floor and began to twist and writhe. His optics rolled into the back of his helm and he began to convulse. He could hear the femme crying out for him. He wanted to help her, but he couldn't. The electrical current became stronger and soon everything went black.