FINDING HOME
CHAPTER 6
BY VOODOO QUEEN
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, Dear Readers! I hope you're having a fantastic day. I'm truly blown away by all the support this fic has gotten. You guys are awesome and make me strive to be a better writer. My first and foremost goal is to provide you, the reader, with an enjoyable experience. Knowing that you're having a good time brings a smile to my face. That said, I'd like to thank everyone who has taken time to add this story to their alerts and faves. Extra special thanks to those who took time to leave a review on the last chapter: NightWraith, Alice Gone Madd, Autobot-Bre-Lightblast, Princess Nightmare99, Edges05, Of-Light-And-Shadow, Adelphe24, and 'Guests'. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Go Navy!
This chapter was updated on 10/23/2021 to correct spelling, grammar, flow, and other things my editing software missed.
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN TRANSFORMERS, JUST MY OWN ORIGINAL CHARACTERS AND PLOT.
XXXXXXXXXX
Doe flipped the covers back on her bed and crawled into it, jerking them back up under her chin once she was settled. She was both mentally and physically exhausted. The day had been harrowing, to say the very least, if not educational. After the initial shock had worn off and the fear that she'd felt in the hangar had faded, she could admit that Jazz had certainly thrown her for a loop. For an alien robot, she hadn't expected him to be so human. She supposed it could have been an act, a way to put her more at ease in his presence, but she really didn't think so. His words and mannerisms had seemed too genuine and flowed too smoothly to be faked for her sake.
Once Ratchet had left, Doe had found herself in the middle of the dank, cavernous room, sitting stiffly on an old, wooden desk chair that Jazz had procured from some darkened corner or another. He'd pulled himself up a rusty metal drum and had plunked himself down atop it, seemingly studying her from his perch. It made her a little nervous that she couldn't see his eyes. He had some sort of visor covering them, but she could see a soft, blue glow slightly though the opaque material. Though he wasn't nearly as large as the others, he still dwarfed her considerably and made her realize just how vulnerable she was in this place, away from any watchful human allies. She swallowed nervously and twisted her hands together in her lap, unsure as to what was supposed to happen next or what she was supposed to say or do.
"You can relax, you know."
The words had been spoken so suddenly in the eerie quiet that it caused Doe to jump in surprise. Her brain had heard him speak but hadn't processed the sound. Her face flushed in embarrassment, "I'm- I'm sorry?"
"I said, you can relax." The mech chuckled, "I'm not gonna try to wrestle you like the Terror Twins or anythin' like that. I promise."
Doe's eyes widened in confusion, "The Terror Twins?"
Jazz clarified, "Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. I heard all about the scene they caused up in the hangar this morning. I'm sorry that happened. I should have been there to help keep 'em in line but I got myself into a little trouble with the doc. Prowler said it looked to him like the two of them decided to single you out for some reason."
"Yeah," Doe reluctantly agreed. "I-I guess they did..."
"Scary way to start your first day," Jazz shook his head. "Try not to let 'em get to you. The twins...they're...they're complicated to say the least. They have a gift for causin' trouble, but they're loyal...mostly to each other. They won't be bothering you while you're down here with me," Jazz soothed. "I can promise you that much. In the meantime, Prowl and Hide will get 'em sorted out so don't worry about it too much," Jazz added before looking at the woman seriously. "Just so you know, I'm not going to have those two slaggers messin' around with my girl and stressin' her all out. I mean it. If the twins give you any more problems, you let me know and I'll take care of it personally, aight?"
"I-thank you." Doe nodded, surprisingly relieved by the mech's concern. "I will."
"Good," the mech clapped his claw-like hands together. "Now, on to the really important matters. What's your favorite kind of music?"
The rest of the afternoon had been spent discussing popular Earth culture with the mech, much to Doe's surprise. He seemed particularly enamored by the planet's many, many different forms of musical expression. He'd apparently versed himself in everything from the earliest classical composers to the most modern of mainstream musicians and everything in between in the time he'd been on the planet. He was also a fountain of musical trivia. For example, prior to meeting him, she certainly hadn't known that termites ate wood twice as fast when listening to heavy metal. Honestly, he reminded her a bit of a little kid set loose in a candy store. His enthusiasm for human culture had made her smile and had pushed all thoughts of the hangar incident to the very back of her mind, at least for the time being.
Now that she was in the dark of her small room, curled up in her bed alone, those memories pushed their way back up to the surface. Though she was warm under her blankets, she shivered. The electric buzz in her chest had receded to a barely noticeable tickle, eclipsed by a feeling of not-quite-rightness that she didn't really understand. The longer the feeling persisted the more she believed it had less to do with the shock she'd received and more to do with the mech who'd doled it out. What else could have caused his strange behavior in the hangar? She certainly hadn't asked for his undivided attention, not to mention being on the receiving end of his brother's obvious animosity. Jazz had said the twins were troublemakers, pure and simple, that they thrived on causing mischief. It was entertainment for them. That hadn't seemed quite right to Doe either.
Exhaustion finally settled in and she felt her eyes drifting closed and her mind beginning to wander. It wasn't long until she found herself once again standing within a black abyss. The giant, mysterious, mumbling mass was still there hiding in the dark, as well. As she listened to its endless chatter, something in her mind clicked in recognition. She now knew where she'd heard Jazz and Ratchet's strange clicking, whirring language before. She still had no idea what was being said but, being a dream and completely illogical, her dream-self didn't seem too concerned that she was dreaming of an alien language she couldn't have possibly known of before she'd ever heard it spoken.
Instead, she peered into the blackness, eyes squinting, as she searched for the pinprick of light, she instinctively knew was out there somewhere waiting on her. It hadn't taken her long to home in on her target. The light was still a considerable distance away, barely a speck against a backdrop of perfect darkness, but she was relieved to see that it appeared slightly closer than it had been previously. Maybe she had managed to make some headway. With a new sense of purpose and determination, she set off in the direction of the light as if everything in her depended upon reaching it. The rumbling voice followed.
#
"That's how it's going to be, huh? You're just going to keep ignoring me? Over a fragging human? You can't be serious." Sunstreaker stood, gripping the bars that separated him from his twin who was across from him in a cell of his own. He really shouldn't have been too surprised that Prowl had taken the initiative to commission the construction of a Cybertronian-sized brig, just in case. Normally, his brother would have reveled in plotting a way to escape their bonds if for no other reason than to grind the SIC's gears. As it was, Sideswipe had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since being locked up and it was beginning to get on Sunstreaker's last nerve. Frustrated, he snarled, "I was doing you a favor, you glitch."
Sideswipe lay flat on his back on the floor of his cell staring up at the pitted, metal ceiling. One hand rested behind his head for support while the other drifted back and forth over his chest plates in a leisurely, contemplative motion. Hearing his brother's words, he ceased all movement, head snapping in the other mech's direction to look at him for the first time in several groons. "A favor?" The mech pushed himself up into a sitting position, all the better to glare at his twin. "She could have been hurt, Sunny, or killed."
The yellow mech snorted, "And there's over seven billion more of them where she came from! This entire planet is crawling with humans! Not a big loss in the big scheme of things! Take your pick!"
"Not a big loss?" Sideswipe looked at his brother incredulously. "How can you say that?"
Sunstreaker threw his arms up in exasperation. "What do you want me to say, Sides? That I'm sorry? Okay! Fine!" He pointed at his brother, "I'm sorry that you're such a half-clocked slag head that you think your little spark fluctuations actually mean something to an organic!"
"How do you know it doesn't?" Sideswipe was standing now, glaring at his brother. "She feels something, Sunny. I could see it in her eyes. She might not understand it, but I know she does. You can feel it, too."
"The only thing I feel," Sunstreaker barked, "Is sorry for your dumb aft. Can you hear yourself? You're talking nonsense!"
"I'm talking nonsense?" Sides shook his head. "I'm not the one in denial! Maybe if you'd just touch her-"
"Touch her? You want me to touch that disgusting, greasy thing?" Sunstreaker laughed but it was devoid of humor, "And smudge up my paint job? I don't think so."
"She isn't disgusting," Sideswipe huffed. "She's actually kind of-"
"Shut up!" Sunstreaker's shout cut off the other mech's words. "You had better not be about to say that you find that-that SQUISHIE attractive. I swear to Primus I'm going to come over there and reformat your face!"
"Well, she isn't not attractive! You can't tell me you didn't notice some of the human males eyeing her up." The mech smirked at his brother. "I heard you over there growling about that guy that was whispering to her when they walked in."
Sunstreaker sputtered, "I was not!"
"Don't try to deny it," Sideswipe countered. "You were pissed. Even Mirage heard it and asked me what your problem was. Why are you fighting this so hard?"
"Because it's a pointless waste of time and energy!" Sunstreaker grit his denta together in frustration. "All you're doing is setting yourself…Pit…you're setting the both of us up for disappointment!"
"It doesn't have to be that way," Sideswipe pressed. "I'm sure if we just talked to her-"
"It's always that way, Sides! Always!" Sunny paced his cell. "Let's say for arguments sake you're right, which you're NOT," he emphasized. "The Squishie reciprocates your stupidity. Then what, slagger? Have you even though ahead that far? No! Because you're glitched! It can't work! It won't! Because she's an ORGANIC! And that's not even considering the fact that we're twins, and she would have absolutely no clue what all that entails. How do you think she'd handle that bit of information?"
"We can talk to her, the both of us. You know, explain things." Sideswipe simply shrugged, "We can figure something out."
"Figure something out? Yeah, because that's worked so well for us so far." Sunstreaker shook his head. "Sides, what's it finally going to take to get it through that thick plating of yours that it's just the two of us. That's the way it's always been and that's the way it's always going to be." Sunstreaker vented heavily, a frown tugging at his mouth plates. "You should have learned that by now."
END OF CHAPTER 6
TO BE CONTINUED...
