FINDING HOME
CHAPTER 8
BY VOODOO QUEEN
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, Dear Readers! I hope you're all enjoying this fantabulous day. As always, I'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone who has taken time to read this story and add it to their alerts and faves. Your support is much appreciated! Thank you also to the lovely people who time out of their day to leave a review. You guys are awesome and I can't thank you enough for sticking with me this far.
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.
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Petty Officer Doe stood, hands firmly planted on her hips, staring at the large shipping pallets that had been dropped off in front of the entrance to the bunker she and Jazz were supposed to be transforming into some sort of state-of-the-art Command Information Center, according to him. The hot, noon-day sun beat down from above prompting her to pull her cover off and wipe the beads of sweat that dotted her forehead with the back of her arm. Putting the hat back on her head, she pulled the brim down low to shield her eyes and sighed. The Unit Supply Specialist that she had spoken with on the phone yesterday had assured her the items she and Jazz had ordered for their workspace would be delivered today but she hadn't expected them to just throw it all off the truck and leave. The least they could have done was shove it all in the elevator.
How the hell did they expect her to move all this crap? She was only one person and really didn't understand what Jazz hoped to accomplish with only her as his sole staff. He was insistent that the two of them could handle it...whatever 'it' was. She still wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to be doing and they really hadn't talked about anything over the last few days outside of music, movies, and popular television shows that Jazz had stumbled across. She figured it was probably his way of putting her at ease, which she appreciated, but she really was beginning to wonder whether the mech needed someone with a background in operations or if he had just wanted some random human to hang out with and shoot the breeze. Not that she was complaining since she was surprised to find that she enjoyed the big guy's company once she got over the idea that he was an alien from another planet, but still. She didn't like to feel like she didn't have a specific purpose or job to perform. She was used to having to earn her keep wherever she went and was immensely relieved when he'd stepped off the elevator two days ago and proclaimed, they were going to "invest in some swag" and start getting the place in order.
She just hadn't expected said swag to be so...plentiful.
Honestly, she wasn't even entirely sure what all the stuff was. She certainly hadn't ordered these many items, just the things they had immediate need of such as lightbulbs that didn't produce seizure-inducing flickering, a couple computer terminals and peripheral equipment, and some basic office supplies to get them started off on the right path. She figured she'd been looking at maybe a pallet of items to move downstairs at the most. That she could have dealt with. Instead, the base Quartermaster detachment had dropped off seven of the damn things. She could only assume Jazz had added to the order significantly before submitting it. Though, she couldn't really imagine what a large, robot alien could possibly have immediate need of that would take up seven pallets worth of space. Curious, she approached the closest one and dug a box cutter out of her pocket. Slicing through the cellophane wrapping, she quickly cut open the top box and rummaged through its contents.
"What the hell?" Doe snorted in amusement as she dug around through the contents. "Seriously? Is this a stereo surround sound system?" She couldn't help but laugh as God only knew what else he had ordered, "Come on now, Jazz...priorities."
Shaking her head and still chuckling to herself, she dropped everything back into the box and dusted her hands off on her BDUs. Taking a tentative look around, she debated on whether she should ask anyone for help. Or if there was anyone she could ask for help, for that matter. There were plenty of soldiers and marines milling around but they all seemed to be wrapped up in their own duties and she certainly wasn't going to disturb them. Jazz had been recalled back to the med bay by the CMO, Ratchet, for some checkup or another. It seemed as if he spent just as much time there as he did down in the 'Dungeon', as she'd taken to calling the bunker. The mech was obviously in rough shape and she wanted so badly to ask him what had happened to him, but she didn't want to seem rude or nosy. Regardless, he wouldn't have been able to be of much help even if he had been around, doctor's orders and all that.
Realizing that she was probably all the help she was going to get, she set off in search of a pallet jack or something that she could use to relocate the supplies. As she moved through the base complex, she was a bit taken aback when she caught sight of a familiar face slipping through the crowd. She hadn't seen or heard from Monroe in two days. It was odd considering they lived in the same barracks and had gotten into the habit of eating breakfast and dinner together each day where they would chit chat about what had transpired during their shift, discuss the strangeness of their new positions, and swap sea stories from their previous commands. She was almost inclined to believe the guy had been avoiding her for the last couple days, but she couldn't think of any reason why that would be. She'd thought they'd been getting on well with one another. She would have been lying if she said the thought of him suddenly deciding that hanging out with her wasn't worth his time didn't sting. Especially since he was really the only person she knew on base and spoke to regularly. Alien robot supervisors didn't count.
Pushing down her feelings of rejection, she started to call out to him and say hello but something about the way he was acting gave her pause for a moment. The man practically darted from cover to cover, eyes wide and searching about his surroundings, casting frequent glances over his shoulder as if he were afraid that he was being followed. He honestly looked terrified, like he expected someone or something to jump out and grab him up at any given moment. Doe watched him for a few seconds with growing concern. He certainly wasn't acting like the happy-go-lucky, funny guy she'd spent the last week getting to know. Something was obviously wrong. Brow furrowed in worry, she set off across the grounds to intercept him.
"Hey, Monroe!" Doe smiled and waved but was nearly bowled over by the look of sheer panic that twisted the man's features when he jerked around to face her. All the color seemed to drain from his face leaving him a sickly, ashen gray color and Doe found herself afraid that he may pass out right then and there. She approached him cautiously. "Hey, are you alright? You don't look so good."
"Uh...OS2...I, uh..." Monroe's eyes darted around fearfully, looking everywhere but at the woman in front of him. "I-I'm fine..."
"Are you sure?" She asked, worried for him. She reached out to touch his arm. "Maybe you should go to sick call. You really do look terrible. No offense."
"I'm fine!" He snapped and snatched his arm away from her as if she'd burned him, his eyes darting wildly around as if afraid someone may have seen the action, "I-I I'm just..." He seemed to want to say something more, but something behind her seemed to instantly catch his attention. His eyes widened almost comically, and he paled even more if that was even physically possible. He stumbled back away from her several steps uttering a mantra of, "Oh, God. Oh, shit. Oh, God..."
"Monroe," Doe, worried, tried to take a step after him. "Do you need-"
"No!" Monroe threw his arms out in front of him, palms out, as if trying to ward off an attack and continued to back away from the woman slowly. "L-Look, OS2, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I really am. Like you can't even believe..."
"What?" Doe stared at him in confusion. "Why? What in the world are you talking about?"
Monroe swallowed hard, "I have mad respect for you as-as a superior and as a person and I a-apologize if anything I-I've said or d-done has offended you in any way."
Doe shook her head. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. You haven't done anything to offend me."
"Yes, I have," he insisted. He gave her a pleading look. "Please, just accept my apology. Please, OS2..."
"Uh..." Doe nodded slowly, still having no clue what he was babbling on about. "Yeah, sure Monroe. No worries. Apology accepted."
"Thank you," he gasped, looking as if he could have cried in relief. "Thank you!"
"You're, uh, welcome." Her brow furrowed, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," he nervously affirmed as he inched away, eyes still fixated on something in the distance. "Look, I gotta go. I really, really gotta go. Like, now."
"Oh," Doe frowned. "I guess I'll see you around later then."
"Yeah," the man nodded absently as he continued to back away. "Later."
With a puzzled look on her face, Doe watched as Monroe retreated quickly into the nearest building, the doors slamming shut behind him. As soon as he was gone from her sight, she became acutely aware of the feeling of being watched. The strange electric feeling in her chest, which had tapered off over the last couple days to a barely noticeable tickle flared back up to a warm buzz. Taking in a shaky breath and pressing a hand against her breastbone, she did a slow about face and almost immediately wished she hadn't. There, a mere building's length away from where she stood, were the 'Terror Twins' as Jazz frequently referred to them.
The silver one, Sideswipe, appeared to be nearly doubled over in laughter while his golden brother, Sunstreaker, stood with his arms folded across his chest, glaring daggers in her direction. Their eyes met across the distance and Doe couldn't help but shiver at the cold intensity that seemed to roll off the mech in waves. She wasn't afraid, not exactly, but she did feel a creeping concern that she may have been missing out on something important. Though, what that may have been she hadn't the slightest clue. Between the strange dream she'd been having every single night and the even stranger feeling she'd had lodged in her chest she wasn't sure that she wanted to know. Still, there was something about the pair that was...intriguing.
They remained that way for a long moment, each party watching the other from a relatively safe distance. Sideswipe had managed to compose himself for the most part and had joined their little staring contest. The silver mech, however, seemed to be in a much more jovial mood than his golden counterpart and raised his hand in greeting. Almost without thinking, Doe raised the hand she didn't have clamped over her heart to return the gesture. This seemed to snap Sunstreaker back into the here and now and he instead turned to glare at his twin. For a moment, it seemed as if they were engaged in some sort of argument with Sideswipe gesturing excitedly in Doe's direction while Sunstreaker vehemently shook his head in the negative while making a slashing motion with his hands.
Doe wasn't sure what their discussion entailed but she certainly felt unnerved that she seemed to be their focus. She briefly entertained the notion of turning tail and running back to the Dungeon to hide until Jazz got back. That thought was cut short, however, when a large, clawed hand descended upon her shoulder. The woman let out an undignified squawk, drawing the curious glance of a couple passing Marines much to her embarrassment, as well as the renewed attention of both twins. It was no small relief when she looked up to find the soft glow of Jazz's visor looking back at her.
"Sorry," the mech chuckled. "I didn't mean to scare ya."
"No," Doe shook her head. "You didn't. I guess I'm just..." She glanced back in the twins' direction. They were watching quietly. Doe rubbed her chest. "You just surprised me. That's all. It's been a weird day."
"Weird, huh?" Jazz followed the woman's line of sight, his optics immediately zeroing in on the two troublesome mechs. His mouth pulled down into a frown. "Weird how? Are those two giving you any trouble?"
"Them? Oh, no," Doe denied with a shake of her head. She watched, a bit apprehensively, as Sunstreaker elbowed his brother, jerking his head in a 'let's go' motion before stalking off. Sideswipe lingered a moment longer before shooting a sloppy salute in her and Jazz's direction and skating off after his twin. "This was actually the first time I've seen them since the briefing in the hangar."
"That's not surprising," Jazz sighed. "They've spent most of their time in the brig since then."
"The brig?" Doe's eyes widened in surprise. "Why?"
"Someone could've been hurt with them shoving each other around. Optimus doesn't play around with stuff like that." Jazz continued, "He thought a couple days in the brig might do 'em some good. Think about what they did, ya know?" The mech shrugged. "Never does much to change their attitude, though. Prowler let 'em out and they and ended up going straight back that same night for two more cycles."
Doe frowned as she rubbed her chest, "What for?"
"Oh," Jazz sighed, "The usual. Sunstreaker broke a cog in Ironhide's shoulder during a training exercise and Ratchet went ballistic."
"That sounds more like an accident to me," Doe observed.
"When it comes to those two, there are no accidents." Jazz leveled his gaze on the woman. "Trust me."
"Okay..." Doe shook her head. Something still didn't feel right. "But why send both back to the brig for something one of them did? It doesn't really sound fair to me."
"They're twins." Jazz spoke the two words as if they were the answer to all the great mysteries of the universe. He must have assumed that cleared up any confusion since he pressed on to other subjects. He hadn't missed the way she seemed to be favoring the area over her heart. "Are you alright?"
Doe looked up at him in surprise. 'I'm fine. Why?"
"You seem a little," Jazz paused for a moment as if searching for the right word. "Uncomfortable."
"Oh," Doe immediately dropped her arm to her side. "Yes," she nodded. "I'm fine. Just some, uh, indigestion or something. That's all. The galley, uh, chow hall was serving breakfast burritos this morning."
"Ah," Jazz hummed in sympathy. "Anything I can do for ya?"
"No," Doe smiled in thanks. "It'll pass. Did, uh, did you need me for something?"
"I was lookin' for ya," Jazz admitted. "I saw that they dropped off all the stuff we ordered."
"Yeah," Doe nodded but her mind was still on the twins. "I, uh, was going to see if I could find a pallet jack or something so I could take the pallets downstairs. I didn't expect there to be so many of them."
Jazz chuckled, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah, I might've added a couple things. But don't worry about it," Jazz grinned. "I've managed to procure a cube of triple-filtered Urayan high grade which I've agreed to give to Mirage in exchange for his assistance." Jazz winked at her. "That mech isn't big on manual labor but with the right motivation you can talk him into doin' almost anything."
"Ah," Doe smiled. She had no idea what a Urayan high grade was but if it helped move all their cargo downstairs, she wasn't going to ask too many questions. "That's awesome."
"Yep," Jazz chattered on as they both started a slow trek back toward the bunker. "And I've got some exciting news."
Doe perked up, "Oh?"
Jazz looked down upon his companion thoughtfully. "I can't go into too much detail right now, but Optimus wants to meet with the both of us tomorrow to discuss a few things. He's been in meetings with the National Security Director and the Secretary of Defense and most of the Presidential Cabinet all morning trying to hash out some of the details. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to get them to agree to most of what he wanted...the important stuff, anyway. I hope you're up for a challenge."
Curiosity thoroughly piqued; Doe nodded. "Always."
"That's my girl!" Jazz clapped his hands together. "I knew you were the perfect femme for the job. I just had a feeling, you know?" The mech laughed, "Now, let's go see what else we can talk Mirage into doing for a cube."
#
Sideswipe hurried along after his brother. Jazz's sudden appearance hadn't exactly been welcome, but it hadn't been a total loss. He was still chuckling to himself occasionally over how spooked their femme's male-friend had been when he'd laid eyes on Sunny. Intakes still wheezing in mirth, he managed to ask his twin, "So…does this mean you're willing to give it a try?"
"What?" Sunstreaker stopped in his tracks and whirled on his brother, irritation burning in his optics. "Give it a try? Are you mis-clocked? Pit, no! It just means I don't like that human!"
"You don't like any humans," Sideswipe reasoned. "But you haven't bothered to go out and put the fear of Primus into any of the others."
With a huff of dismissal, Sunny turned away from his twin and kept walking. "He caught me in a bad mood. So?"
"So," Sides continued as he caught up, "You're always in a bad mood. I just think it's a little coincidental that the one human you choose to single out to vent your disgust for humanity on just so happens to be the same guy that's been welded to our femme's hip for the last week."
"Let's get one thing straight, slag for brains," Sunny growled. He'd stopped moving and spun back around to face his twin once again, a finger pointing in the other mech's face. "She isn't our femme. She will never be our femme. She isn't even our species, for Primus' sake! She's just another fragging human who probably thinks we're a bunch of giant metal monsters trying to take over her planet and you've got a bolt loose somewhere if you think she'd want anything to do with you...with either of us...outside of her duties."
"You don't know that," Sideswipe argued.
Sunstreaker challenged, "Don't I?"
Sides smirked, "You know what I think?"
"No," Sunny barked. "And I don't care."
Undaunted, the silver mech continued, "I think you're curious. You may even like her just a little. You just don't want to admit it."
"Curious?" Sunstreaker scoffed. "I think the word you're looking for, brother, is repulsed. I find this whole situation repulsive, no thanks to your dumb aft. Only you could get us mixed up in something like this." He turned away with a huff of disgust and resumed walking. "I don't like her. I don't even know her. Neither do you, for that matter."
Sideswipe watched his twin go; his head tilted in thought. What Sunny said was true enough. They didn't really know anything about her other than that she was a Navy Operations Specialist that Jazz had picked out personally to collaborate on the big, secret project he had going on below ground. Sides knew her last name was Doe because he'd been close enough to read the embroidered name off her uniform in the hangar. Other than that, the femme was a complete mystery outside of the havoc she was causing in his and Sunny's sparks.
The mech hummed to himself, a slow grin spreading across his face plates. They didn't know her, but that could certainly be fixed. He'd just need to exercise some discretion. A plan was slowly formulating in his processor. He didn't like sneaking around behind Sunstreaker's back, but he told himself that his brother would thank him for it later. Or so he hoped. He'd have to see eventually that it was the right thing to do. This was something too intriguing, too promising to ignore. Feeling minutely better about their delicate predicament, he skated off after his twin. "Hey, Sunny! Wait up!"
END OF CHAPTER 8
TO BE CONTINUED...
