YES! I finally found the button for line breaks! Wow. I'm getting really fast at this. That's probably because Jaime and Jazz won't leave me alone though! Those guys are annoying when they double-team. Oh well, fun stuff for you.
*Warnings: Mild swearing. Apparently Jaime doesn't do well under pressure. Also, character death…
Disclaimer: Still don't own transformers…blah, blah, blah…But I do own Jaime…On to the story!
The days passed more quickly for Jaime now that she had Jazz with her. She was currently eating dinner with Charlie when she halted. Charlie looked at her from across the table.
"Jaime?" he asked. "What's wrong?"
Ya ok sweetspark? Jazz inquired. She resumed eating.
"I'm fine Charlie," she smiled. Charlie looked at her doubtfully but continued slurping up his watery soup. She didn't reply to Jazz though. She'd tell him later. No one knew about her new out of this world friend, not even Charlie. They quickly finished and headed upstairs.
"Jaime?" She turned to look at Charlie. "Can you tell me another story tonight?"
"Sure, just let me get ready ok?" he nodded and went into the boys' room. When she was alone in the girls' room, Jazz spoke again.
Ya sho'r yo'r ok? He probed.
"I'm fine," she laughed. "I just…realized something."
Wha's tha'? he asked.
"Can you believe it's already been two weeks since…we met?" she grinned. They'd really grown closer those last two weeks. She'd told him almost everything before coming to the orphanage. She'd told him about the games she used to play with her parents, the places they used to go, and even about the accident. He'd never asked her directly what happened to her arm, she'd appreciated that, but she knew he had been wondering. In return he'd told her about the many different Autobots. She'd sometimes asked to hear stories about Optimus and she'd later tell them to Charlie. Though she'd sometimes tell him other stories about the other Autobots that Jazz had told her. However stories about Optimus remained the most popular. Jazz thought it was cute when he learned how much Charlie adored Optimus Prime.
Sho'r has, Jazz responded. Tha' sho'r went by fast.
"Well you know what they say. Time flies when you're having fun," she answered pulling her pajamas on. She then tilted her head. "Huh."
Wha'?
"I…I never thought I'd say that…here of all places." She sat on her bed. Jazz didn't respond. She knew he didn't like the orphanage. He'd encouraged her more than once to run away or report the abuse and neglect that occurred at the orphanage. But she refused to leave Charlie by himself and she didn't trust the police. The one time she had tried to report what Miss Narcissa did at the orphanage had not ended well. Apparently the corrupt cop knew Miss Narcissa. She shrugged, pushing back the memories. She heard a soft knock on the door and looked up to see an excited Charlie.
"Ready?" she asked. In return, he bounded across the room and jumped on her bed.
"Ready!" he burrowed into her sheets. She snorted.
"What story do you want to hear?" she asked him the same question she always asked, even if she knew what he was going to say.
"…um…a story about the twins, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe!" he replied. Well ok, she admitted, he didn't always want to hear about Optimus. His second favorite robots to hear about were the twins, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.
Wha' 'bout the Jazzman? Jazz whined playfully. She grinned and told Charlie about one of the twins' pranks. Jazz was in the story too since he had helped them get some of the supplies. It ended with the twins dashing off base for three whole days to let the Hatchet's temper cool. After tucking Charlie into his own bed, Jaime snuggled into her own.
"Goodnight Jazz," she yawned.
G'night sweetspark, he answered. Jaime expected to sleep well that night. Since she's met Jazz, she hadn't had any bad dreams. She'd had a few dreams regarding the robots, but no scary ones. Instead, Jaime tossed and turned that night. Nightmares plagued her. But as soon as she'd wake up, she couldn't remember what they were about. She just knew they didn't have anything to do with the robots.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
Jaime rolled out of bed and hastily threw her clothes on. Her movements were jerky though as she raced down the hall and stairs. She skidded into the cafeteria on time. Miss Narcissa entered, a deep frown marring her face. She seemed to be in even a fouler mood and very distracted ever since she returned form free day. Jaime stifled a yawn. She was so tired! Thankfully, she managed to get through roll call without being singled out. She did her chores and met Charlie at breakfast. To say she was distracted would be an understatement. She kept on fidgeting. Charlie had asked her about it as well as Jazz, but she only shook her head in reply. Something was wrong. She could feel it. But she didn't know what it was. As usual, after breakfast was the children's studies. Jaime was on her way down to the makeshift classroom when she stopped.
Jaime? Jazz spoke. Her breathing hitched. She whirled around and raced upstairs. She didn't stop when she reached the roof. She ignored Jazz as she leapt over the gap. She didn't answer his flow of questions as she raced to Jeong Jeong's house. Her heart pounded harder as she neared her destination. Her dreams had been about Jeong Jeong. Something bad had happened! When she arrived, her heart twisted painfully on seeing the ambulance and two police cars in front of his house.
"No," she moaned.
Aw Jaime. Jazz tried to comfort her. But she was inconsolable. She got as close as she dared, trying to catch a glimpse of the old man. She wanted to assure herself that he was ok, that it was all a lie. It was just a big misunderstanding. That she wasn't losing one of her best friend.
"Miss?" a voice from behind her asked. A surprised Jaime whirled around to see a tall police officer looking down at her. His dark hair was cropped short and he had a small mustache on his lip. He also had some stubble on his jaw as if he didn't spend as much time taking care of himself as he should. Jaime fearfully looked into his bright blue eyes.
"Yes," she squeaked. The officer looked down at her with a strange expression on his face, as if he was trying to not look intimidating but wasn't used to dealing with children.
"Are you a relative?" he finally asked. Jaime risked a glance back at the house but quickly looked back at the tall man. She didn't want to leave her eyes off him for too long.
"Not by blood," she answered.
"Are you a relative by law?" he tried again.
"…No…"
"…Did you know him at all?" the officer seemed to be getting frustrated by her vague answers.
"Yes." He waited for her to continue. She shifted uncomfortably. "I…we were friends…He was like a grandfather to me." He nodded accepting her answer. "How…how did he die?" He looked down at her, trying to decide what to say.
"He passed away in his sleep," he sighed then looked around. "Where are your parents? Do you live around here?"
"Yea I live a few blocks away," she lied turning quickly and began to walk away from the strange police officer. She sighed as she walked by the two police cars.
It's ok Jaime. Ya heard wha' he said. He passed in 'is sleep. Ninety is ol' for humans ain't it?
"I know Jazz. It's just…I feel like I should have been with him you know?" she replied. She didn't notice how the police officer from before snapped his head in her direction.
Ya couldn't help it Jaime, said Jazz gently.
"I know," she sighed. "It's just…he was my best friend Jazz!"
Ey, wha' 'bout meh? He asked indignantly. She laughed, knowing that was his goal.
"Take it easy tough guy. We're best friends too. It's just, I knew him longer and—" she stopped when she got the feeling she was being watched. She whipped her head around to see the police officer's intent stare focused on her. Why is he staring at me? she wondered. "Creepy," she muttered. He began to stride towards her. Jaime's eyebrows shot up. She spun around and took off like a shot.
"Stop!" he shouted.
"Yea right," she mumbled as she sprinted down the street.
Jaime, Jazz began.
"Not now," she huffed.
But I don't think—
"Now is not the time for your wisecracks," she cut him off. She heard a growl.
Jaime!—
"So help me Autobot if you don't let me concentrate I'm going to find a way to separate us and kick your aft back to Cybertron!" Ok so sometimes she snapped at people when she was under pressure. And she may have happened to pick up some Cybertronian swear words from Jazz the past two weeks. Regardless, Jazz fell silent. She cursed under her breath when she heard the police car's sirens switch on.
"Crap crap crap crap crap!" she chanted. She sprinted into the park up ahead. She didn't know what the occasion was but there seemed to be some kind of parade going on. "Yes!" she cheered. She raced through the crowds and barriers set up on the street. "Sorry!" she apologized as she pushed past people and jumped over the low barriers. She continued to run until she felt like her lungs were about to burst and she came to a stop to catch her breath. She carefully looked over her shoulder. No cop car. However she didn't relax until she was back at the orphanage. Luckily, the only people who noticed her absence was Charlie and Miss Elizabeth. Miss Elizabeth was upset at first, but upon seeing Jaime's tear stricken face she had given her a Kleenex and asked what happened. Jaime choked out how Jeong Jeong was dead. After noticing the woman's confused expression, Jaime admitted that she had been leaving the orphanage and visiting him. She told her how she would eat all kinds of food at his house, and how he was her best friend.
"I'm sorry," Jaime hiccupped.
"I don't approve of you sneaking off by yourself. Lord knows what could happen to you on your own." Jaime resisted the urge to say that she wasn't alone. "…But I was aware of it." Jaime looked up at her surprised. "Yes I knew that you would sneak away at least once a week. I wasn't happy about it. But you always looked so happy when you got back…and I happened to notice you sneak food to Charlie once."
"When?" Jaime asked.
"When he was doing chores in the laundry room."
"Oh."
"I realized that you must be getting fed by a friend…and I didn't want to stop that," she sighed. Miss Elizabeth placed a hand on Jaime's shoulder. "I am very sorry to hear of your loss." The girl didn't reply. She just nodded her head numbly. Miss Elizabeth felt for the girl and she didn't have the heart to deny her going to her bed to mourn. Jaime didn't bother going to lunch. She didn't have an appetite. Instead she spent the next few hours staring into space on her bed. Realizing her need to focus on something else before she went into shock, Jazz began to tell her stories about Cybertron in the Golden Age. He told her about the other twins, Skidz and Mudflap. He told her about Wheeljack's experiments. He even told her about Bumblebee when he was a sparkling. That last made Jaime's mouth twitch into a smile. Apparently the yellow scout was very troublesome.
Understatement of the vorn darlin', Jazz sniggered. Jaime nearly jumped when the bell went off. Ding. Ding. Ding. Another family wanting to adopt a child, she mused. She remained silent though and rolled over. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It read three o'clock.
"That's strange," she murmured.
Wha's so strange? Jazz asked.
"Miss Narcissa doesn't usually let prospective parents see the children until after four," she mumbled. "They must be really persistent or something." Minutes dragged by. Unable to stay still any longer, Jaime knelt down to the floor and pulled out her knapsack. She gently pulled out a worn leather jacket. It was a bit big on her since she was only five feet. The brown suede jacket belonged to her father. It was one of the only things she had left from her parents. She put it on. Another memento was the antique watch necklace she had given Jeong Jeong. She closed her eyes remembering when she got it.
A woman with dark wavy hair turned around to look at her. They were in the car leaving the movie theatre. She handed her a box, her green eyes sparkling.
"Open it sweetie," she urged. Jaime grinned at her mom.
"But it's not my birthday for another month!" she laughed. Nonetheless she snatched the box and ripped off the paper. She peered inside and gasped at the necklace lying inside. It was her mom's special necklace; the same special necklace that her mom had gotten from her mom.
"Mommy," she said in hushed reverence.
"Go on, put it on," her dad laughed at her expression from the driver's seat. Jaime lifted it over her head and let it lay on her small chest. Actually it was closer to her belly, she was so small.
"It's good luck," her mother smiled. "It will keep you safe from harm."
"We love you James," her Dad added. Her mom rolled her eyes at her dad.
"She's not a boy Harold."
"She likes the nickname," he defended, giving Jaime a wink though the rearview mirror. "Don't ya squirt?" She grinned at her parents.
Jaime shook her head, clearing her thoughts. No she didn't regret giving Jeong Jeong her necklace. She wasn't lying to the cop when she implied she was family. She really did consider the old man family. And she was pretty sure Jeong Jeong had felt the same way. She sighed, setting her knapsack back under the bed and walked downstairs. Figuring the visitors were still down in the meeting room, she took the front stairs. They were in much better shape, almost pristine, since the visitors saw these steps when they walked in. She reached the floor and turned down the hallway, running into a strong chest.
"S-Sorry," she stuttered, rubbing her bruised nose. She timidly looked up at the man she'd accidently run into. He was tall with spiky brown hair and soft brown eyes.
"It's ok," he smiled at kindly, then tilted his head in confusion. "Why aren't you downstairs with the other children?" Jaime shrugged.
"Why aren't you?" she shot back. He studied her curiously.
"We didn't see any children that …fit what we were looking for," he replied. She tilted her head.
"We?"
"My wife and I."
"Oh," Jaime shuffled a little and looked at her feet.
"What's your name?" he asked in a gentle voice.
"Jaime," she murmured but continued to look down. She heard a sigh. Oh no, did she make him angry? He surprised her by slowly kneeling down and front of her.
"Jaime?" She looked at him, somehow knowing that was what he wanted. He smiled at her widely and stuck his hand out. She hesitantly took it. "Let's start over." Feeling slightly bolder she offered him a small smile.
"Jaime Hawthorne," she introduced.
"Will Lennox." he responded.
xXRetrobotXx:Thanks! Most of the characters so far are only going to be side characters but I don't want them to seem flat and one-sided since most people aren't like that.
jgoss: I'm glad you could tell. They call each other friends but I'd like to think you can tell that Jaime's beginning to look up to Jazz as a big brother, since she never had that chance. I know you've really been waiting for her meeting all the Autobots. She doesn't meet all of them in this chapter but they're coming! I promise!
Rayne: Jazz is aware that the Allspark was at Hoover Dam and the force she was talking about is the Allspark. But he doesn't say anything since he doesn't know for sure (he can't exactly scan her) and he doesn't want to stress her out. He knows a lot more than he lets on to Jaime because unlike her he knows just how powerful the Allspark is.
Authors Note: YAY! She's finally met Will! *Sigh* Still sad that Jeong Jeong died. Weird…my favorite character usually dies in other people's stories and I just did it in my own. But otherwise she may not have met a certain Cybertronian…Give ya one guess who it was. Ok so please leave a review. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome. I think I'm finally getting the hang of Jazz's accent! Let me know if I made any mistakes though and I'll try to be quick to fix them. Peace out!
~Hubero
