I need a life. Anyways, my muse has run off to sleepyoldvamp on DeviantArt. Enjoy!!

Free to a Good Home

Five year old Leah Nightbird Beta stared out the window in her chair, the chair that she's used since her parents died a few months ago when she was four. She still remembered that night.

Flashback

Leah and her mom were giggling over a joke her father told when the drunk driver hit them. Leah just saw the two headlights before there was a sickening crunch. She wasn't completely sure how she got out of the car but she did remember shaking her daddy to wake him up. Only Daddy didn't wake up, and he always gave her attention. The EMTs had no trouble pulling her away from the bodies. She didn't understand death. She only knew that cartoon characters die, then came back. Leah was so wrong.

When the funeral came, she waited for her parents to pop out of the caskets and everyone would laugh. She waited, and waited, and waited as the caskets were lowered into the ground, her smile fading. Finally, she asked the pastor, "When is Mommy and Daddy comin' back?"

The pastor looked shocked, then sad as he explained true death to her. Then Leah began to cry. Not quiet tears. Loud tears that made everyone turn their heads. The pastor had to use his shoulder for her to cry on.

Then she came to the children's home, and when her first family came, it wasn't a happy family. It was a pervert family.

End Flashback

Leah's dark skin and hair still crawled where Mr. Tailor touched her. They weren't loving touches, they were the touches of someone who feared rejection. They could never touch her at night; she screamed from the beginning of the night till dawn. Mrs. Tailor only cared about the jewelry on the shopping channel and buying them with the money that they were suppose to spend on her. The Tailors had her for three weeks before they returned her. Even then, she still screamed at night.

But now she was staring with amethyst eyes at the sign on the telephone pole. It said, "Puppies! Free to a good home." Underneath it had a phone number and address.

Leah would have laughed if it wouldn't change her image. She needed a good home, not a place where she'll just be locked up in the laundry room forever and no hot meals. Hot meals, heaven when she came back and the older kids made beef stew.

Leah looked up to the sky to see that it was almost night time. She started screaming as soon as it became dark. About half way into the night, she stopped.

Leah remembered what her mother said about her, that she was driven. She would never give up and now she realized how pointless screaming was. It wouldn't bring her parents back. Her parents would want her to be happy, not screaming her head off. Her mother would be ashamed if she knew that Leah was doing this. She needed to find the ones that felt like her. She fell into a restless sleep, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

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The next morning, she was rudely awaken by rough voices, wails of terror, and cussing. Straightening up, she risked a glance at the people that were in the room.

The children's home had basicly two big rooms, one for the girls and one for the boys. Showers, bathrooms, the kitchen, and other rooms had no true importance to the orphans. So seeing guys that looked like they just came out of prison was spooky to her.

Turning back up front to the window, she noticed the two cops and four civilians running toward the door. She also noticed that it was almost dark and a squad of police cars and police people were waiting with guns out.

Leah began to count down the seconds before the night would come and she could scream her terror of the people that somewhat feel like her but not her. The two that felt like her were close, she could feel it.

Suddenly she was thrown into the wall and was told, "Stay there!"

The twitchy eyes that grabbed her then turned to the other girls and boys in the room and screamed, "The rest of you will go!"

The rest of the kids ran out, leaving Leah with the creepy people. Just as the one with the black and silver eyes was about to speak, the door burst open to reveal the two cops and one of the civilians, his brown hair and eyes wild like his guns. He had a couple of his tattoos showing despite the shirt and earrings completely dominated one ear while a couple of rings occupied his other ear and one on his eyebrow, a nose stud, and a lip stud. One cop had fat dreadlocks, tan skin, and wore sunglasses. The other cop had red hair with two small parts that were white, icy blue eyes, and pale skin.

Leah then noticed that night had fallen and started to scream as her little purple feathered wings came out and began to weave a snake, the only thing that she knew to make. She discovered her power of animalistic imagery when Mr. Tailor tried to move her into the laundry room before Mrs. Tailor could get back. He was about to hit her when something bit him, causing him to look down to see the little purple adder at his ankle. He screamed just as Mrs. Tailor came into the door and see him yelling that there was a snake in the house while Mrs. Tailor saw nothing. But it was not funny to Leah, because seconds later Mr. Tailor fainted and Mrs. Tailor called 911. Later, after Mr. Tailor received antivenin for the bite and she was in the laundry room, Leah tried to see what else she could do, thus discovering her little wings.

So, she was surprised when the earring guy exploded his tan wings, the red head cop unfurled his red wings graciously, and the dreads cop flapped golden ones as well. And they were all feathered like hers.

Leah continued to scream even after a voice in the boys' room yelled for a retreat. The civilian looked at her amazed while the two cops tried to get to her before getting bitten by one of the snakes that somehow accumulated . Finally they made it and immediately swept her into a hug.

"Shhh, sweetheart, shhh. You're gonna be okay," the dreadlock one whispered in a Deep South accent. The red head one began to rub her back, comforting her. Together the two cops calmed her enough for the snakes to go back to her wings. Finally a voice called out to the three adults, "We've got to go!"

"All right, Eric!" The brown haired man left them, his wings disappearing into him. The other two tried to leave too, but Leah realized that the two cops felt like her and screamed "NO!!!" and a purple boa constrictor wrapped itself around the threesome, squishing them together. Both cops looked shocked, then the red head's lips started to twitch as he said, "Odd."

"Oh, boy," the other sighed, then yelled, "PRIME!!! PROWL AND I ARE KINDA STUCK!!!"

"What do you mean 'stuck', Jazz?" the voice asked. A head appeared with the voice, revealing a man with black hair with two thin strips of red in it and a black goatee, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. His eyebrows shot up at the sight of the purple boa constrictor and said, "Ah. You are stuck. Bring her with us outside."

With that he disappeared. Jazz, the one with the dreads, looked at Prowl, not noticing the little hand that snagged his sunglasses to reveal golden eyes like his wings. "Well, we better go with them. Hey, sweetheart?"

Leah looked up with his glasses on her face, grinning, as Prowl began to tickle her. Giggles erupted as Jazz continued, "I carry you down and let you go if you let us go and you give me back my glasses. Okay?"

Trying to escape the tickling fingers, Leah nodded, then the boa constrictor returned to her and Jazz snagged back his sunglasses. "See? Not hard at all," he teased once Leah realized that she was tricked. "Now to the downstairs!"

On the way down, her wings, along with Jazz's and Prowl's wings, disappeared and Prowl asked what her name was. She told him, and he replied with a kind smile, "Leah? That's a pretty name."

Finally, they were on the lawn and Jazz was handing her over to one of the teens when she began to whimper. Jazz ruffled her hair with a sad smile and said, "Sorry, sweetheart."

Prowl gave her a hug, and both left to go to the Eric Prime person. Leah attempted to bury her head into the teen's shoulder, tears of sadness rolling down her face. Prowl and Jazz finished talking to Eric, then to the police chief, and finally headed to their cruiser. All the while, Leah was watching them, wishing that she could live with them.

She turned away when the cruiser pulled away from the curb. She wished again with all of her heart that Jazz and Prowl would take her home.

Meanwhile…Inside the cruiser

Jazz looked at Prowl as they drove to the police station to clock out. "So Eric's calling a family meeting when we get back home?"

Jazz and Prowl moved in with the rest of the Fireshots after a burglary in their very own home nearly killed them after realizing too late that Oblivion was inside. So they decided to stick with the other Fireshots, since they were practically family to them.

Prowl nodded. "Yes. It has to do with Leah."

"So on a scale of 1 to 10, this would be a 10?"

"Yes."

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