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Chapter 13 Listen To the Voices in Your Head Part 2

They had been driving for only a few minutes when Jazz pulled over on the side of an empty road. He had made sure that they were far away from Starscream and other humans. Cierra lifted her head from the headrest to see where they were. Jazz shook his head. "No, don't." He soothed, briefly lifting his hand and resting his hand on her forehead, gently guiding her to rest again.

With his other hand, Jazz gently lifted her arm and inspected it. Silently he studied the arm, painfully noticing the tiny streams of blood running down her arms. "I am taking you to a hospital." He finally declared, starting his engine and driving back onto the road and charting the fastest route to the closest hospital.

Cierra didn't reply back. She turned to him and opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again. She was still slightly in shock and she didn't feel like speaking. All she could focus on was that the mech's name was Starscream, the mech who was in her dreams. He was the one with the red optics and the one who killed her father. "Was that Starscream?" She asked finally her voice horse. Truthfully, she was afraid of the answer.

Jazz picked up her uneasiness. "Cierra?"

She shook her head, the tears rolling down her cheeks. "He's real…I dreamed about him last night and the night before. He…killed my father." She said, she breathed unsteadily.

Jazz shook his head. He knew about human dreams. They were figments of the human brain comprehending everyday scenarios-sometimes, in this case, trying to piece together problems. "Cierra, it wasn't real. Yo don' know fo' ah fact tha' it was 'im."

"No, I knew this was real." She tried sitting up to convince him, but Jazz wouldn't let her.

The mech's lips were straight and firm as he studied her. Her face was twisted in pain and offence. He knew that she was very sure of her statement just by her defensive posture. "A'right, A'right, yo fine girl. It's okay." He finally said.

Slowly Jazz reached his hand over to her again and held it. He wouldn't let go until they arrived at the hospital. And by the simple gesture, he could have sworn he felt an odd sense of foreign contentment.

Reports of a lone F-22 attacking an office building filled up the tv stations, radio stations, by word, and some already in news papers.

Cierra sat as the doctor wrapped bandages around her glass ridden wounds and cuts. He also took out the stitches from when Frenzy attacked her. Even though the wound was a day old, the skin seemed to be healing faster than normal. For whatever the reason, it left both Jazz and Cierra confused.

The teenager glanced up from the doctors hands and at her guardian who was stiffly leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He was carefully watching the doctor wrap his charge's wounds with a roll of gauze. If the doctor even made one wrong move to cause her even the slightest amount of pain, she knew the mech would lose it. Her guardian's tension was in the air like a cloud, not helping her situation at all.

The burden of knowing that innocent people were involved made her more depressed and guilty. She tried assuring herself that it wasn't her fault and it was Starscream's fault. But she knew too that if Jazz and herself weren't there, they couldn't have caused any casualties.

Jazz saw the pained expression on her face and was quick to notice it. He stood up straight, making the doctor twitch from his sudden, yet smooth movement. She looked up immediately and soothed her guardian with a shake of her head. His jaw was locked very tightly as he once again relaxed against the wall

"So you got caught in that attack?" The doctor asked, clearing his throat to rid of the tension he felt in the room. His deep voice made Cierra snap out of her daze and look to him.

"Uh…yeah." Was all she could manage to say. Right now, she wasn't in the frame of mind to speak. Thankfully and gratefully, Jazz did all of the explaining. "Saw 'er on my way to tha city. She was tha only one who seemed ta make it out with only ah few injuries. Ah couldn't pick up any more survivors. My vehicle was only ah two-seater." He said with convincing regret. Good, it made the story more convincing.

"That was very kind of you, by the way." Cierra said nodding her head.

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. "Yeah well, Ah was just at tha right place at tha right time."

Cierra smiled, feeling a brush of happiness in her mind. She tilted her head slightly at the feeling, but pushed it aside.

The doctor exchanged glances between the two as he grabbed another role of gauze. He smiled gently as he looked back down at her arm.

Suddenly, a ringing noise came from the holoform's jean pocket making Cierra look at him in confusion and humor. "Com link" was the answer that went through her mind.

"If ya excuse me, Ah 'ave ta take dis call." He said, turning for the door.

"Sure." Cierra said, watching him leave the room and making sure that he closed the door tightly. The doctor remained quiet as he finished his work and so did Cierra.

The mech looked around as he walked down the hallway before slipping into the men's bathroom. He made sure no other humans were around before he made his holoform flicker out and disappear. It took the mech much longer than usual for him to start up his systems in his true form.

::Jazz 'ere, go ahead:: He said using his internal com link so other curious humans couldn't hear him speak.

::I have been trying to contact you for a while now Jazz. You had me worried.::

An internal smile came to the mech as he heard his leader's relieved voice. ::Yeah, well weh kinda got caught up with Starscream ruining da party.::

:So I've heard:

::Cierra got injured in da attack though.:: Before the Prime could speak in alarm, the mech continued hastily.:: They were minor. She's a lil' shaken up, but she'll beh fine. Cierra's ah tough girl.:: He said a slight tone of admiration in his tone.

::That is very good to hear. Did you find anything?::

Jazz noted that Prime wasn't wasting anytime. They never knew if the Decepticons were listening in onto their communication activities.

::Yea, but it 'as ta be deciphered. Da base where they are holdin' ol' 'Megs' is in Nevada. We din' 'ave enough time ta decipher it befo' Starscream attacked.::

::When you say 'decipher', what do you mean?::

Jazz exhaled from his vents. He hated explaining human activities.:: It was hidden in some sort of human-cybertronian firewalls, located on the humans' communications network, 'Internet'. Really hard ta break into, Prime. Even fo' meh.::

::The humans must be using data that is fed off of Megatron to hide him.::

:Tha' would be my best bet::

There was a pause at the other end of the line. He knew that Optimus was thinking and taking in all the information he had just been given.

::I want you to return back to base, Jazz. We will decipher the message then...give Cierra my condolences.::

::Got it Prime. See ya then.:: They both weren't hesitant to cut the com links as Jazz rematerialized his holoform back inside the bathroom. With haste, he stepped out into the hallway and walked down the hallway. He didn't like the thought of leaving his charge along with a stranger, even if the human was considered to be trusted. War has taught the mech to never trust anyone. "Like the old human saying-'old habits die hard.'" He sourly thought as he approached the door to the room that Cierra was currently in.

Jazz knocked on the door just out of courtesy and opened the door. "Back, sorry 'bout that." He said with a polite and cocky smile as he closed the door again.

As soon as he turned around, he noticed the doctor was gone. He relaxed with relief. He didn't like the human nearby anyway. Immediately, he moved to his charge and lifted her arms up to inspect his work himself.

Cierra managed to smile. "He's a doctor, Jazz. He knows how to do his job."

"Yeah, well…" He started, but never finished his sentence for the lack of words.

Cierra noted this and kept to herself. "What did Prime want?"

Jazz looked at her a quick sign of shock crossing his face, but made it disappear with a shake of his head. He knew that she knew the Prime was bound to call them. "Just wanted ta know how we were doin'. Ah guess humans don 'ave much fo' entertainment as they say. Da news of da attack already spread."

Jazz reached his hand out to help Cierra get down from the medical bench. She took his hand and nodded in gratitude. "I never asked you if you were alright." She said, standing in front of him looking up at him sincerely.

Jazz creased his eyebrows and nodded his head in assurance "Oh yeah, jus' armor damage. It goin' ta take more than dat ta take meh down."

She smiled, appreciating the humored feelings tickling at her. Immediately, it went away. Her smile was replaced with a frown. "What do you think will happen to Starscream?" She asked cringing, not liking the taste of his name in her mouth.

Jazz saw this and was quick to make her feel better. He pretended to think thoughtfully about it. "Screamer, Screamer…well Ah don' really know, but it's mo' like Ah don' really care. All dat matters is we got away from him an' we got da hard drive…Did yo see 'ow big tha' guy is compared ta meh?" He said, moving to the door and opening it for her.

Cierra walked forward a breath of laughter escaping her lips. Once she was out of the room, Jazz shut the door behind him and closely walked next to her.

She turned to him once he was next to her again. "How do you think I feel?" She said, leaving the mech to decide if she was kidding or being serious.

Jazz hummed. "Touché." He said, bringing a protective arm around her waist

Cierra sighed at the gesture. A few people glanced their way as they walked down the brightly lit hallway of the hospital, but she managed to pay no attention to them. She was just thankful they were not near the ICU. A shiver was sent down her spine. She was very sensitive seeing any blood or…other injuries.

She shook her head, trying to rid the thoughts away. "Do we have a story for Optimus when we get home, eh?" She asked, hoping that Jazz would get the hint to make a conversation. They turned a corner that lead to one of the many lobbies in the hospital.

Jazz nodded. He left a lot of details out of the attack when he called in. Then the sour and dreaded realization hit him. He knew by the thousands of years being lieutenant he was going to have to make a report. With a sigh he placed his sunglasses on his eyes as they exited the lobby and out to the parking lot. "Oh yeah…"

They had managed to leave the city without another "interruption" and were now driving on the highway, heading back to the Autobot base. Cierra was once again dozing off as the harmonic sound of her guardian's engine drove her into sleep. A slight pang of happiness crossed her mind. She now knew for sure something was wrong.

She opened her eyes and slowly sat up straighter in the passenger seat. Carefully, she tapped her earpiece. She flinched as it rung with pain. Then she remembered what had happened during the attack in a quick burst of realization. While she was escaping the building, there was that odd piercing pain in her head.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked over at Jazz's holoform with curiosity. Carefully she "prodded" the com link between them. Instead of saying anything, she concentrated only on emotions. She sent a curious "poke" over the link and in return felt surprised shock and fear. The holoform suddenly looked over at Cierra in shock. She had to recoil backwards from the painful and quick wave of emotions.

"What da slag was dat?" He asked, not bothering to act like he was driving.

Cierra gripped her head as she straightened in her seat. Another wave of fear came to her more clearer and painful. "Jazz, stop. Stop." She begged quietly, the pain in her head growing.

"Stop w-?"And then he felt it: the pain coming over her com-link in waves.

Cierra looked up at him her voice strained. "Where are these feelings coming from? Are they coming from you?"

His eyes traced her face, the fear growing on the holoform's face. The realization struck the two at the same time.

"I feel your emotions, Jazz." She said slowly her eyebrows creasing in concern.

He was about to deny it automatically, but when he too felt foreign emotions, the doubt went away. "Primus…" He whispered in disbelief.

Somehow, she felt his emotions and he felt hers. Was it the earpiece? Had it malfunctioned? Jazz looked away from her and shook his head, swiping a hand down his face and gripping the steering wheel tightly. Cierra didn't have a spark so how in the pit were they becoming bonded? Was it even a bond?

He tilted his head in curiosity to the side and sent confusing feelings to her just to confirm that what was happening was true. She nodded her head to him, confirming his theory.

"Jazz?" She asked carefully.

"No, this can't be happening." He said with another shake of his head.

"What?" Cierra wanted to know what was happening too.

"Bonding is only meant for Cybertronians, not humans. This can't happen…" He said in confusion and anger.

"'Bond'?" Cierra was now confused and left in the dark as he continued to deny whatever was happening between them.

He exchanged hesitant glances from the road to her and sighed. "When two Cybertronians are committed ta each otha, they create ah bond. It's where they share each otha's spark an' become tied togetha. They can communicate, feel tha otha's emotions, see what they see, an' sometimes read their thoughts when they aren't even communicatin' with each otha. They can also feel each otha's pain…" He said oddly quieter. "When one of tha bonded gets hurt, tha otha will feel it. When one of them dies, the otha will too at tha' same moment." He said sadly.

"Is that why you could see the sign at the building? When I was escaping, I felt that you were scared and panicking." She said the realization coming to her slowly.

On the other hand, Jazz didn't bother to celebrate the discovery. "It's my fault…da earpiece mus' 'ave malfunctioned or-or-" He said, trying to find a solution to fix the unwanted bond.

Cierra looked away and out the window, tired of her guardian freaking out. "You act like it's a bad thing." She said suddenly.

He stopped short and glanced at her quickly. "It-it is. Cierra, tha bond is only meant for us, Cybertronians! Committed Cybertronians. Not humans!"

"I don't see why not?" She asked, not bothering to hide her hurt in his statement.

"Because you can get killed. I don't want that!" He said snapping at her.

Cierra recoiled mentally and physically from him. She knew the risks already. He had told her. The teenager brushed a lock of dirty hair behind her ear unintentionally, revealing her metal ear to the holoform.

At this Jazz relaxed his eyebrows and sighed. She saw this out the corner of her eye and looked up at him.

Did he realize that he was the only one Cierra had? What about the positive side to the situation?

"If you don't want it, then why the hell did you give me the thing in the first place?" She said quietly.

The mech wasn't mirroring her attempt to keep the situation calm and orderly. "It was only meant for communication!" He said in defense, his accent long gone replaced with urgency and annoyance.

"Well, you wanted to be closer to me by giving me that in the first place. So how is this different?" She urged.

"It's only for committed Cybertronians? It could do Primus knows what to you. It might cause problems? I am not ready to be bonded?" He thought among other reason, but one reason made it all the more serious. "You can get killed." He ground out. He cared for her. Deeply. He would want nothing to happen to his charge. He only wanted her to understand that she was in danger.

"I can die anywhere anytime, Jazz. What would make the difference?" She said, craning her neck to him a slight tone of anger lacing her tone, making it crack.

"If I die, you die, and if you die, I die." He said, trying to make her understand this.

Cierra blinked, deflated. "Did you ever think that that would make us stronger? Fighting for each other? You always thought the war was for nothing and that it was for no reason…"

Cierra looked away, shaking her head. She rested her elbow on the car door's handle while looking at the scenery past by. She knew she was about to sound selfish, but it was true fact she had to point out. "Do you think now you have a reason to fight?" She said quietly and sadly "Everything happens for a reason, Jazz." She whispered very faintly.

Jazz stared at her, realizing the truth in her words. He kept silent, anger crumbling away. He visibly deflated, his tense body relaxing. He gripped the steering wheel again, this time more gently. Giving the hint that he was done with their argument, Cierra looked away.

For the longest time, they both sat in silence. Cierra finally closed her eyes and rested her head on her arm that was leaning against the window. Jazz watched her in the corner of his eye, his curiosity getting the best of him as her face suddenly became content. He felt a prod at his spark, causing him jump slightly in surprise.

She didn't bother to open her eyes as she spoke, her voice quiet. "Is that your spark?" She asked, knowing the answer already. In the back of her mind, she could hear the familiar thrumming of her guardian's spark. It was felt in her mind and her chest, gently thrumming along with her heart beat.

He couldn't help, but let a small smile cross his lips as Cierra "brushed" against his spark. He suddenly became tense. It was uncomfortable, but enjoyable at the same time. It was as if a gentle breeze brushed his spark, caressing it. He could tell Cierra was purposely being gentle with her prodding, making it all the more relaxing and pleasurable. "Yeah…" He finally answered. "I can feel your heartbeat too…" He said calmly.

Cierra finally opened her eyes and looked at Jazz, seeing the same expression of contentment on his face. She smiled knowing that she could return the feelings to her guardian.

He turned to her and sighed deeply. "Ah am sorry, Cierra but-" He paused but shook his head continuing. "We can't 'ave this bond. It's too dangerous an' unnatural. When we get back ta base, Ah will talk ta Ratchet about tha earpiece. He'll know how ta take it out…" He kept focused on the road, not wanting to see the hurt on her face. It was a pathetic attempt to do so as the hurt flowed over the raw bond with the equivalence to a shove. He closed his eyes painfully and shut himself off from Cierra. As a Cybertronain, he had the ability to block off feelings and thoughts. But as a human, Cierra couldn't do so. Human emotions flowed more freely and easily.

The teenager flinched at his action. A small grunt of pain was bitten back. Hurt, Cierra kept to herself and didn't bother to acknowledge her guardian's unwanted bond.

As they drove down the highway, there was no music to keep the mood happy. There was no playful gestures and prodding to each other. All that was left was the silence and the surrounding sounds of traffic going by.

This time, Cierra didn't mind the silence. She actually preferred it.

"Wilston sir, take a look at this." The Sector Seven agent had his hands on his head, looking up at the half destroyed business building. News stations, fire departments, the police were all over the place trying to put two and two together to find the reason of the attack. Robert finally heard his name and spun around to a scientist who was waving him over. She was in her late thirties. A tall, yet fragile looking body was donned in simple dress pants and a white shirt covered by a short lab coat. Her icy blue eyes looked through a pair of thinly framed glasses at the agent.

He lowered his arms and walked over to the woman who was standing with a devise in her hands. "Yes, what did you find, doctor?" He tried to keep his voice leveled trying to not show his uneasiness. Robert's team had been following the Pontiac Solstice for two days now and they were getting closer. The fact that they were so close made him nervous. He honestly didn't know what he would do if he ever found the girl and alien. All that he could do for now was to try to keep his head on straight, after all his career depending on this case.

The doctor pointed a metal rod with a box at the end. The needle behind the glass covered box went side-to-side, making steady beeps sound from the devise. She stopped when the needle went over fifteen. "Jesus, this area is loaded." The alien was defiantly here.

He pressed his hand to his mouth and glanced at a pair of agents questioning a handful of civilian survivors who were receiving medical treatments. Among them was an older and miserable looking woman. She was currently talking about a young woman who she gave a key office to. The agent was making an attempt to calm her down.

With the government now questioning witnesses to sights of giant robots fighting and "transforming" as they said, excuses were becoming more and more…pathetic.

"That's not all we found either." She said, making Robert get out of his stare.

"Oh?" He said, following her over to where another agent was examining and taking photos of broken bloodied glass nearby one of the emergency exits. They made sure that none of the local police or detectives get near it.

As she and Robert walked over to the taped off section, she was pointing to a long trail of tire marks. "The silver car was also here." The man followed where she was pointing and indeed saw tire marks on the asphalt. "They match up with the pattern of the vehicle's tires in the photo you gave me earlier."

The agent raised his eyebrow in surprise. The photo barely showed the tires in the picture. She saw this as she walked over to the glass, lifting the yellow tape over herself. "I enhanced the photo, Mr. Wilston." She explained quickly and simply with a smile of her own.

This got the man's attention and he immediately went over next to the scientist almost choking himself on the yellow tape as he lifted it over his head.

She ignored this to the best of her ability. The doctor crouched down putting her long hair behind her ear as it fell in her face. "This glass is shaded darker than other cubicles in this building. There are only a handful of cubicles in this building that are made of this certain glass and one of them was Mr. Woods' office."

"We also did a DNA matchup for the blood on the glass. It belongs to a seventeen year old girl named Cierra Rose Woods." She let the name hang in the air.

Robert looked at the woman with shock. "Really, the previous executive's daughter?"

"Yes…" She said, standing.

"So she's made an alliance to those aliens?" He said, jumping to conclusions too quickly and stupidly.

She hummed with distaste. "I don't know. She could, she couldn't be, or she's a hostage or servant or, God knows, an experimental sample. We just don't know so let us not jump to conclusions, Robert." She warned sternly.

He looked at her with annoyance by calling him by his first name, but he let it slide. Robert shifted his glare to the broken glass. "Well, they might be using her to find something…clearly they knew she was the daughter of Mr. Woods."

The doctor thought about it. This assumption was more reasonable. Finally, she shrugged pushing her thinly framed glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "It's hard to say. It might be too early to know for sure."

"How fresh is this?" He asked.

"A half an hour. Maybe an hour."

Robert nodded his head and then called over another agent who was taking photos and measuring the radiation of the area with another agent. She quickly handed the camera to her partner who handed her a clipboard in return and walked over hastily.

"Status?" He asked the woman once she was next to him.

"We are still tracking their signals." She said.

"Their?" Robert raised his eyebrows in shock.

The woman was quick to explain. "Aside from the vehicle, we also got a signal on a nearby jet. The aircraft is emitting radiation similar to the vehicle." She answered in an uneasy tone.

At this, the scientist next to him smiled excited to hear another alien was discovered. On the other hand, Robert didn't seem so thrilled.

He sighed heavily and turned to the agent. "Get the rest of the crew moving. We have identified the female as Cierra Woods, the daughter of the previous executive. This just got a whole lot hotter and I want you to contact Carl and tell him we are rescuing her from an armed alien who has taken her hostage. Get him to bring in the military in. We now know what these things are capable of." He said noting the building sourly.

"Yes, sir!" She said, scribbling down everything he had just said on the clipboard in her hand. She then turned away and put a finger onto her headset that communicated with the whole team and started giving out orders that Robert had said.

The scientist creased her eyebrows in worry and turned to him, their very well known professional façade disappearing. "Robert, do you think you are taking this a little too seriously? Maybe they aren't dangerous…"

The man didn't like her innocent sounding voice and reasoning. "When was the last time you heard an alien was good?"

She pouted. "Those are movies, fictional based scenarios only created for entertainment." She urged.

"Don't make me laugh, Alicia. You know very well what I am talking about."

She tweaked her head. "NBE-1 or the cube?"

"They are very damn well after that thing and I am not going to let them anywhere near it."

The scientist shook her head, deciding to remain silent. Whenever she put in her input, the man would disregard it with his own opinion. She never wanted to work with this man for this very reason. He was cocky, impulsive, stubborn, and narrow-minded. Maybe that's why she was assigned to him in the first place. To make sure that she kept him in line. So far, she was very tempted to shoot herself in the leg or something to get medical leave just to get away from the man. But at the same time, she wanted to stay. Her gut told her something about the whole situation was off and his assumption that the aliens were bad was wrong.

That was the main reason she joined Sector Seven. She followed her gut more than the facts and nearly most of the time she was right and right now she knew defiantly that the aliens were very misunderstood.

With a sigh, she kept following the man that was in charge of this whole mess to a black SUV. Before she got into vehicle, she turned to Robert with a worried expression. This time, she wanted to hear his opinion. "Do you think she's safe?" She wasn't very sure about the answer to the question she asked.

Robert breathed a humorless laugh. "Safe? Alive is more like it."

The doctor looked away as he got into the vehicle; his opinion adding slight doubt to her assumptions.

The Decepticon flew in the air, an angry roar coming from his afterburners as he seethed with anger. Even if the mech wouldn't admit out loud, it was degrading and embarrassing that some short Autobot could take him down with such a simple devise.

A growl escaped him. At least he on-lined, just in time to evade the annoying and pestering humans that were slowly gathering in the area.

A click was heard in the back of his processor before an annoying voice broke his seething thoughts. ::Lord Starscream::

::What is it, Frenzy?:: He never bothered to hide his anger in his tone.

The tiny bot learned to ignore it after a long time being with Barricade. ::The Autobot and human are returning to their base::

::And how did you come across this information?:: He asked. He never liked to trust any sort of information without a reasonable source.

::The Prime foolishly didn't encrypt the com-link completely. I easily hacked into the transmission and overheard the whole conversation. They plan on returning to the base and decoding the location of Megatron. I would say that's in about a couple of hours, boss.:: A smile was heard in his tone as he spoke. Sometimes, the tiny 'Con felt so excited whenever he used his hacking abilities and received a great reward for doing so afterward.

Starscream felt a surge of determination replace his anger. :: Give me the co-ordinates for the Autobot base.::

They were given to him immediately by the little spy 'Cot, earning an internal smile from the mech.

::Spread the word, Frenzy, we attack at sundown:: He cut the communication link and abruptly turned going the opposite way-the direction in which the Autobot base was located.

"Soon little Autobot, you will learn to never cross paths with Starscream and survive."

A big thank you to my beta reader Kellie Witwicky, readers and reviewers!