TF: Rhythm and Blues

Disclaimer: I don't own Jazz or any other Transformer (unless of course it's one of my OC TFs who I might cameo just because I'm a dork XD). Ashley and any other human characters [unless of course they're real people that I know belong to me. /I'm still in trouble on the Ark. T.T Prowl now has me painting the corridors…with a toothbrush. XD Guess I shouldn't have glomped him/

I want to thank everyone who reviewed or read the first chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Also the third chapter wont be up quite as soon as the second one was. I haven't gotten the beta'd version back yet.

Chapter Two: Error, Error

The morning after Ashley learned of the white Porsche's true nature, Al Taylor careened into his business's parking lot and screeched to a halt. He quickly got out of his old pick-up and ran to open his garage.

He had woken up that morning to an empty house - no niece cooking breakfast, no radio belting out 80s music, and no annoying nagging about his medication. Certainly a first since his niece had turned fifteen and taken control of the house.

It took Al a minute to open the old rusted lock, but finally the lock clicked, the door swung open and fluorescent light momentarily blinded him.

Fearing the worst, Al rushed into the garage expecting to find his niece mortally wounded; however, he did not expect to find Ashley snoring quietly in the front seat of the beat-up Porsche. She lay curled like a kitten despite that the seat had been leaned back completely.

Al felt like a fool. Of course his niece had stayed to work on the Porsche until she exhausted herself. He ruffled his hair and stared at his niece. It had been a long time since he had taken in his sister's child and the girl had grown into a woman. No longer did she need him to watch over her.

"I'm proud of you, girl." Al said as he left Ashley to rest.

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When Al entered the garage Jazz had been startled out of recharge by his repaired sensors and had witnessed the touching moment. As he watched the human walk away, Jazz wondered if maybe Transformers and humans did not have more in common than most believed, at least in their emotions.

Jazz had seen many humans express emotion. He had seen anger, sadness, joy and many more emotions. And he had also witnessed these emotions in his fellow Autobots. They too knew anger, sadness, and joy. And some had felt too much of the more painful emotions.

Shaking off the depressing thoughts, Jazz focused on his internal repair system instead. His comm and radar were in the green, but his transformation mechanisms were still in the red.

And with the Decepticons in the area, Jazz could not risk sending out a distress beacon or radio the Ark without gaining their attention, especially if Soundwave was nearby. If they caught wind of him, the Decepticons would swarm this place like sharkticons and that would put his new friend in danger.

"Jazz-man, you've sure gotten yerself into a mess o' trouble. " Jazz said to himself. "I shoulda listened when Prowl told me t' take the twins with me on this road trip."

Then again, I probably wouldn't have met Ashe.

Although getting slagged had not been the most enjoyable of experiences. He had learned a great deal about humans during the conversation they had while she repaired him.

Their conversation had jumped from subject to subject - music, TV, the differences between humans and Transformers, and anything else they could conjure up. Jazz had been pleased to learn that Ashley was a fellow lover of music and loved to talk about and listen to it as he much as he did.

And the young mechanic had learned how to repair him quickly. A feat that Jazz had to admit impressed him. His engine ran smoother than usual and Jazz could not wait to go for a drive to test her work.

Speaking of his human friend, Jazz felt her stir.

"Mornin', lil' lady." He greeted her as she sat up and stretched.

Confused, Ashley looked around her before realizing who had spoken. "Mornin', Jazz. Wait, mornin'? " She said. "Uncle Al must be worried about me."

Jazz chuckled. "He's already here and he seemed mighty glad t' see you." He said.

Ashley frowned. "I better go apologize." She said as she got out of Jazz's interior. "I'll be back in a minute."

"I'll be here, kitten."

Ashley scowled at the term he had used, but did not contradict him after all to a Transformer she was like a kitten.

Al's office happened to be the only office in what they called the office building and it had glass windows making it impossible to sneak into the room. Ashley stood in front of its door wondering if he would be angry with her. Twenty she may be, but Al was still her uncle and she lived under his roof.

The door creaked open announcing her entrance though Al did not seem to notice the noise. His attention was focused on his account books and receipts.

"You're not in trouble," He said after a few uncomfortable seconds. "I was young once too, but it would do this old man good if y' call him when yer gonna stay out."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, git out of here and go home t' clean up. Yer a mess," Al shooed her out with a wave.

Relieved, Ashley left.

Like he had said, Jazz had not moved from his spot. "Everythin' all right, kitten?" He asked more out of curiosity than any real concern. If she had been in any trouble she would not be as upbeat as she appeared.

"Mm-hmm, I've just gotta go home for a shower and a change of clothes." Ashley said.

Jazz's engine rumbled. "Just watch out for any Decepticons." He said as she left.

Ashley took Jazz's warning to heart as she drove home, carefully checking every car for the sinister purple insignia. When no vehicles suddenly became giant alien-robots, Ashley heaved a sigh of relief.

The double-wide trailer that she called home could not come into view fast enough for the frazzled woman. After a meeting with a sentient Porsche and the subsequent conversations with said Porsche, Ashley's tolerance for unusual situations had reached its limit; Right now, all she wanted was a hot bath and some breakfast, in that order.

After opening the door and leaving her grimy boots by the backdoor, Ashley picked her way through the trailer to the bathroom, carefully avoiding brushing the furniture with her oily uniform. If it got on them it would just be another thing for her to clean up.

The hot water pounding on her back soothed her tense muscles, but could not soothe her racing mind. Snatches of her conversations with the Autobot know as Jazz flashed through her mind.

"I don't understand while ya'll are fightin'. What do the Decepticons hope t' gain by destroyin' Cybertron?"

"Wish I knew, but I ain't ever heard their reason other than t' enslave the labor 'bots."

"Sounds like a bogus reason. Take over the planet and for what? To subjugate a buncha harmless workers?"

"Hey, now, I'm not so harmless an' I was a musician."

At first the things Jazz had told her about his planet made Ashley long to see the wonders he described, but the war had ravaged the planet destroying its beauty. A somber tone had taken over Jazz's voice as he described how the Decepticons had just started destroying things and taking over cities.

"The Decepticons are ruthless and their leader, Megatron, is the worst o' the lot. He don' care what gets in his way."

"What about your leader? What's he like?"

"Prime is… Well, Prime is just Prime; He's th' antithesis of Megatron. Every life is important to 'im no matter how small."

"Sounds like he's a good man –ah, I mean- 'bot?"

"Haha. I understand what ya mean."

A sudden drop in temperature brought Ashley back to reality. The water running over her had become icy. Shivering, she shut the shower off and wrapped herself up in a fluffy towel. She put on a fresh blue uniform and went to make herself some breakfast.

While her pop tarts heated in the toaster, Ashley signed onto AOL ®. There were no new e-mails from her friend in Utah, but an article on the welcome screen caught her attention. The headline of the article proudly read 'Transformers Battle in Alabama'.

She clicked on the link and was brought to a page detailing the damages caused by the fighters accompanied by a few blurry pictures. Nothing she had not heard from Jazz, but a link on the bottom caught her attention. It was an email address for sending information on the battle.

Ashley clicked the address. There were probably millions of others who had sent in information, true or not, but that did not stop her from uploading the pictures from her digital camera and typing a short message that she hoped would make the Autobots realize that it was not a hoax.

By the time that Ashley returned to the repair shop, Ricky, Mike, and Luke had already come in and were busy readying the garage for the costumer's.

Ashley greeted them casually as she moved to Jazz.

"I won't be able to talk to you until after work." She whispered as she pretended to clean up her tools from the night before.

"All right, kitten." Jazz said just as quietly.

Ashley joined her co-workers and Jazz shut down to allow his repair systems to work faster.

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Moulton, AL

During Jazz's stay in the repair shop, the Autobots had not been idle. Two of the best Autobot warriors had been called in to search for him.

"Che, there are too many fragging bugs on this planet. I swear I've hit all of them."

"Stop complaining. You can wash 'em off when we get back to the Ark."

To anyone who passed by the argument might have been comedic if it had not been for the fact that the two arguing were cars- Lamborghini Countach to be exact, one red and the other yellow.

"They're marring my new paint job!" Sunstreaker yelled.

"Sunny, you've been complaining the whole time we've been here!" Sideswipe said. "Use that energy to find Jazz."

Sunstreaker's engine growled, but he stopped complaining. He would not admit but he was worried about the saboteur. Jazz was one of the few 'bots who did not talk about him behind his back and Sunstreaker respected him for that.

"We'll find him." Sunstreaker said gruffly to cover his worry.

Sideswipe did not answer, but Sunstreaker knew what he was thinking. i But will he be alive? /i

At noon the brothers had their first lucky break. A trip to the local police station yielded an important clue.

"Here you boys go." A middle-aged officer said as younger officer wheeled out a car hood. The hood was white with blue and red stripes. '4' was painted on it along with the Autobot symbol. "It came in yesterday. Someone found it in the destroyed gas station."

Sideswipe carefully lifted the dented item. His fuel boiled and in his spark Sideswipe swore that the Decepticon responsible would pay.

"Thanks, officer. Let's go, Sunny."

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Back at the Ark, Autobots read through every email sent to them sifting through the useless info. Finally, a cry of triumph came from a black and white Transformer.

"RedAlert, I'vefoundsomethinginteresting. Doyouwanttoseeit? Ithinkit'saleadonJazz." Bluestreak chattered. RedAlert looked up from his monitor and scowled at the blabbering 'bot.

"What is it, Bluestreak? Not another false lead I hope." RedAlert said as he came to peer over the excited mech's shoulder.

The red and white mech read and re-read the message, and then looked through the attached pictures.

"Prime! We've found him!"

Optimus reviewed the data that RedAlert had given him. The message was straightforward enough. A brief retelling of a young woman's meeting with a presumably normal car. What intrigued him were the obvious references to Cybertron.

"'As I type this I can't help but imagine what Iacon must have looked like before the war.' " He read. His second in command Prowl, a white and black Datsun, frowned.

"Sir, this could be a Decepticon trick." Prowl said.

Optimus nodded. "But it may not be. Jazz needs our help and I will not allow innocent humans to be hurt in the Decepticon's hunt for him."

Prowl said nothing. He too wished to see his friend safely back at the Ark and in Ratchet's expert care.

Optimus opened a comm. channel to the main speaker system. "Jazz has been located. Ratchet and Bumblebee- you two will accompany Prowl and me to his location. Autobots prepare to roll out."

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Al's Automotive Repair

"-and they should get the email and follow it here." Ashley said.

Jazz chuckled. "Good idea, Ashe-kat. I wasn't sure what I'd do on account of them darn Decepticons monitorin' the air waves, but I doubt they'd bother wit' human internet." He said.

Ashley smiled bashfully. Praise was something she found awkward to respond to.

Once again she had stayed behind to work on Jazz, but all that could be repaired by the girl had already been repaired, so Ashley just sat a talked with Jazz. The Autobot's repair system would have to take care of the rest.

"I guess I'm one lucky mech t' have ended up in yer care." Jazz teased. "Y've got brains and beauty, plus yer handy with a wrench. What more could a 'bot wan-" He stopped short.

"Jazz?"

Jazz kept silent. His radars were picking up five Decepticon signals. The Drag Strip had returned to finish what he had started and had brought the rest of the Stunticons with him.

"Open the garage door." He said. He knew his words sounded harsh, but there was no time for him to explain. The Stunticons were heading right for them.

Ashley did as told and Jazz revved his engine.

"Where are you going?" Ashley shouted over the sound of his engine, but Jazz tore out of the garage without an answer.

Shocked, Ashley watched his taillights disappear into the night before pulling herself out her daze and following after him in her Camaro.

As Ashley followed after him, she wondered if her simple life would ever be the same again.

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I appreciate any comments you wish to leave, but I would be especially grateful for constructive criticism.