Finding Home
Chapter 19
By Voodoo Queen
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Author's Note: Hello, Dear Readers! You gorgeous people, you! I hope this chapter finds you well. Things should start to pick up pretty quickly from here. I've already got this story all mapped out all the way to the end. I'm pretty excited about it and I really enjoy writing it down. I hope you guys are excited, too! I love the twins so much! This one isn't too exciting, more of a bridge than anything else. If you squint, you may be able to see the first obstacle they'll have to overcome as a 'unit' heading their way. As always, I want to take a moment to thank you guys who've added this story to your alerts and favorites. I'm happy to have you on this journey. Special, heartfelt thanks to my wonderful reviewers: TheSarcasticKnight, LaurenA007, Bearloveforever, sakurawriter, iGleep, adelphe24, KayleeChiara, Til' all are one, Guests (you know who you are), Maria B, MysticFire101, velociraptor4659, ElleGirl19, ischyros, Edges05. You guys are wonderful inspiration!
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, just my own original characters and plot.
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Petty Officer Doe sat impatiently in her chair. She shifted, twisted and turned in her seat but couldn't seem to get comfortable. Her foot tapped restlessly on the floor while her fingers drummed themselves on the top of her desk. Her eyes kept straying to the analogue clock on the wall. Now that she was sitting still with nothing to occupy her, time seemed to be crawling along so slowly that it made her want to pull her hair out and scream. She couldn't recall ever feeling so anxious in her entire life. The tugging feeling in her chest was almost driving her insane. It was almost worse than the buzzing had been. It felt as though someone had ran a length of string through the center of her chest from front to back and was pulling the damn thing slowly back and forth over and over again. It was maddening.
It took some effort but she managed to pull her eyes away from the staring contest she was having with the wall clock and survey the space around her if for no other reason than to try to kill some time. Honestly, she loved her office. It was the only place she'd ever been that had actually been created by someone with her in mind and so she cherished it. Sure, she'd had her own workstation on board the ship but it was right out in the middle of the Operations Room floor with everyone else. She'd certainly not had her own office...well, shared office, but with an office mate like Jazz sharing certainly wasn't a hardship in the least. He'd even had both of their names put on the door. The mech was probably the easiest person, human or no, to get along with that she'd ever met and she enjoyed his company immensely. It seemed to her that the feeling was mutual.
She wasn't sure how Jazz had managed to pull it off but some time between her arrival for her shift that morning and the time she went to lunch, the mech had had her office furniture delivered and set up for her. She'd been expecting a desk, most likely one of those beige-colored, steel Sandusky Lee double pedestal desks that seemed to grace the offices of most chiefs and lower ranked officers she'd ever reported to on her ship. She thought that perhaps she'd luck out and he'd find a small shelf or filing cabinet where she could keep her Blue Jackets Manual, the required MSDS and SOP binders, and training and maintenance logs. Instead, she'd come back to the office to grab her cover to head out for chow and had found furniture that looked like it belonged to the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company somewhere working in a Manhattan high rise.
The furniture was wooden, oak, she guessed. It was polished to a warm, glowing luster. The desk was placed to where it looked out over the office space, itself, where she could see everything from her elevated position in the loft. She'd been given a computer to complete her reports on as well as all the necessary peripherals. A low, bookcase ran along one wall, all her books, manuals, and logs already organized upon the shelving with plenty of room for more. She'd stood there for a moment, stunned, as she tried to soak it all in.
"So, whatcha think, D?"
Amy had turned to find the mech leaning in the doorway, arms crossed over his chassis. "It's...it's awesome!"
The mech chuckled, "Glad you like it. I was furniture shoppin' and saw this in the catalog and it had your name written all over it. I couldn't resist."
She shook her head, "I don't even know what to say. Thank you, Jazz."
"The look on your face is thanks enough. Anything I can do for ya, scraplet," the mech had generously stated, "You know I will."
Aside from being generous and having an impeccable taste in furniture, she'd also learned that Jazz was a very good teacher. She would have been a bald-faced liar if she said the thought of working with Teletraan hadn't had her all in a tizzy. The immense size of the machine was intimidating enough as it was but the fact that it was genuine alien technology from another planet set her head a spin. She'd been excited but also as nervous as all get out. Thankfully, Jazz had brought the same laid back and easy going demeanor to teaching her as he did to every other task he undertook. She was glad for his patience since, with a sleepless night under her belt, she wasn't as sharp as she normally was.
With the mech's encouragement and patient tutelage, though, she'd caught on very quickly. She actually wondered why she'd been so worried in the first place. Declination buoying was much like Sunstreaker had explained it to be and before too long, she'd gotten proficient enough at it that Jazz had turned her loose with only minimal supervision. By the time she'd run all the calculations she'd decided the twins had been right on another aspect of the job, as well. It did seem to become very monotonous after a while. She'd have to tell them she thought so when she saw them again. She was sure they'd get a kick out of her agreement that it was, indeed, quite boring.
Her eyes wandered back toward the clock. It was only five minutes since she'd last checked. She groaned in frustration, "Oh, come on already."
An amused chuckle sounded from the main floor below. "You're pretty eager to get out of here tonight, D. Gotta hot date night planned or something?"
"What?" Amy's eyes widened and she felt herself blush as she peered over the railing to find Jazz lounging at his own desk, feet kicked up, and gazing right back at her with a raised brow. She shook her head in denial, "N-no...n-nothing like that."
"Mmmhmm," Jazz grinned at her. "Sure you don't."
Amy felt as though her face was on fire. "I don't! I just...I'm tired. I didn't sleep very well last night. That's all."
"Deny it all ya want, scraplet," Jazz teased. "I know that look."
"What look?" If Amy hadn't felt flustered before, she certainly did now. "What are you talking about? I don't have a look."
"Sure ya do." The mech winked at her. "You've got the look of an enamored femme...some things are universal regardless of species. So..." the mech seemed to become serious, "Who's the lucky guy? Anybody I know?"
"There is no guy," Amy denied. "I'm not, I'm not...enamored. I don't have a date!"
"Is it that Cavanaugh guy in supply? He seems pretty decent." Jazz questioned, "Or is it that guy you used to hang out with all the time? What was his name? Monroe?"
"Oh, my God." Amy couldn't believe what was happening. More to the point, she couldn't believe that her plans to meet up with the twins after work had made her giddy enough that even Jazz had noticed. It wasn't a date, she told herself. It couldn't be a date. They were friends, the three of them. More so to drive the point home, she informed Jazz once again, "I don't have a date!"
"Come on, D, I need to know these things! I need details!" Jazz grinned at her, teasing, but there was an underlying current of seriousness in his words. "How else am I gonna know who's legs I have to break if they hurt ya?"
Amy laughed out loud, "Jazz..."
"Alright, alright..." the mech threw his hands up in surrender. "Be that way. Just remember, I do gather intelligence for a livin'...just saying."
Amy snorted, "Is that a threat?"
"That's a promise," the mech assured. He made a shooing motion with his hands, "Now go on and get outta here. You don't wanna make Romeo wait too long."
Amy blushed anew, "Jazz!"
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"What the frag is taking so long?" Sunstreaker paced restlessly causing the humans near him to cautiously move away. "That slagger better have a damn good reason for making us wait this long."
Sideswipe approached his brother from the other side of the hangar and sat atop a large, wooden, cargo crate next to the pacing mech. He rolled his shoulders in discomfort and passed a soothing hand over his chest plates to try to quell the turbulence in his spark. He vented heavily, "It shouldn't be much longer. There was a discrepancy in the paperwork. Lennox says Galloway is making them go back through the shipping manifest item by item. Prowl's handling it but he wants everyone on deck in case we have to move anything else."
"Unbelievable," Sunstreaker snarled. "We should have been out of here three groons ago. I don't know how much longer I can stand this."
"I know. I feel your pain, bro. I thought the three of us being closer would help but...I,guess we can't carry her around with us 24/7." The mech sighed, "I'm dying over here, Sunny. What are we going to do?"
"You're asking me?" Sunny shook his head and dropped his mass down onto the crate next to his twin. "You're the one that got us into this slagging mess in the first place." He seemed to contemplate for a moment. "The only course I really see is to ride this thing on out. It isn't like we can turn it off. Maybe it's the newness of it. Maybe it'll get easier the more time we're together. If not," the yellow mech pressed a hand to his chest plates. "We're going to have to come up with a Plan B. We can't function like this forever."
Sideswipe frowned but nodded in agreement.
"Alright, listen up scrap heaps," Ironhide sauntered into the hangar, catching the attention of human and mech, alike. "Prowl says we're good so if you don't have anything else you need to do, you're free to go."
The humans that had been assisting the bots began to scatter almost immediately. Mirage had flowed suit, nodding a farewell to the Weapon Specialist as he went. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had eagerly made their way towards the hangar doors as well. They were nearly to freedom when Ironhide's voice stopped them.
"Not you two slaggers." The big mech smirked, "Sunshine and Smart Aft, we need to have a word."
Sunstreaker vented angrily. "What now?" He growled.
Sides asked, "About what, Hide? Can it wait? Sunny and I are kind of in a hurry."
Ironhide shrugged, "Not my problem. You should have thought of that beforehand."
"What the Pit are you talking about," Sunny demanded.
Ironhide rumbled, "I don't suppose either of you know what happen to Advisor Galloway's missing projection equipment that vanished from the briefing room, do you?"
"What?" Sideswipe looked offended at the veiled accusation. "How should we know, Hide? We're not even allowed in the briefing room."
"Has he checked his aft port?" Sunstreaker deadpanned, "It might be shoved up there along with his head."
Ironhide snorted, "Very funny."
"Seriously, Hide," Sideswipe argued. "Are you even sure the fragger had projection equipment? He seems the type to make slag up just to start trouble."
"I don't like the human either," Ironhide ruefully admitted, "But we're stuck with him for now. The more pissy he gets the harder he is to work with and Prime has enough to deal with as it is without some miss-clocked human bureaucrat jumping his frame every ten seconds complaining about you two."
"Hate to disappoint you," Sunny smirked, "But it wasn't us. Why don't you go ask Mirage? That trinket has an obsession with soap operas. He's probably on his way to his quarters to binge watch right now."
Ironhide looked between the mechs, "The Pit is a soap opera?"
Sideswipe grinned, "Television serial dramas."
"Sorry I asked." Ironhide groaned and shook his head. "Are you sure you two dim sparks had nothing to do with Galloway's equipment?"
"We're positive," Sideswipe insisted. "Go check our quarters if you want. We don't have it."
Ironhide eyed the pair suspiciously, "I may take you up on that."
Sides shrugged, "Help yourself."
Sunstreaker demanded. "Are we done here?"
Ironhide studied the mech intently for a moment before giving a nod. "For now. Don't let me catch you two doing something you shouldn't be."
"Don't worry, Hide." Sideswipe assured, "You won't. We'll keep an optic out for Galloway's equipment. Come on, Sunny."
Sunstreaker lingered, gazing challengingly at the larger mech for a moment before turning and stalking off after his brother.
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"Come on, Amy..." Doe chastised herself. "Get yourself together. It isn't like your going to see the President...you're meeting up with friends."
Truly, she blamed Jazz for her current flustered state. All his talk about going on a date had her head all twisted. Now here she stood, freshly showered with a towel wrapped around her body, staring into her locker, and cursing her scant collection of civilian clothing. She supposed she could just wear her uniform. She had a set that was freshly pressed but that seemed a bit too stuffy for just hanging out. She considered just throwing on her PT gear but that seemed like she just didn't care. With a huff, she finally pulled a pair of black slacks out of her locker that she'd honestly forgot that she had and, with a bit more effort, found a long-sleeved, red t-shirt that she couldn't even remember buying.
She groaned at their crumpled state and drug her iron out as well. If the military had done anything for her, it had certainly made her proficient at getting wrinkles out of clothes. She set about her task, humming to herself, and trying to ignore the pulling sensation in her chest. It seemed the closer it got to time for her to meet up with the twins, the worse the feeling became. It didn't take her long to have the clothes pressed to her liking and she quickly dressed, pulling the sleeves of the t-shirt down over the scarring on her arms. She found a pair of black flats and shoved her feet into them before putting on her belt and cinching it around her waist.
She studied herself in the small mirror attached to the inside door of her locker and frowned at her reflection. She never really paid too much attention to her appearance so long as she was squared away for duty. She liked to blend in, didn't like to stand out or draw any unnecessary attention. She wasn't sure why she was so worried now. She gathered her hair up in one hand, thinking to put it up in her usual bun. She stopped herself, opting for a pony tail instead. She stared at herself for a moment longer and sighed, ripping the band from her hair and allowing her mass of blond waves to tumble back down around her shoulders. She sighed wearily and slammed her locker shut.
"I give up," she muttered. "Not like they'd even care what I look like anyway," she mused with a self-deprecating laugh. "They're made out of metal. We probably all look like alien meat ogres to them anyway..."
She looked at her watch. She still had about thirty minutes before she was to meet the twins but it would take her about twenty to walk to the MWR office. She needed to get a move on. She quickly grabbed her military ID and key card and shoved them in her pocket. Taking one last look around her room to make sure everything was in order, she shut the door behind her and made her way to the stairs. She took them, two at a time, reaching the ground floor and bursting out of the stairwell into the lobby. She nodded a greeting to the Marine PFC on watch as she made her way to the front doors and pushed her way outside. She took a moment to breathe deeply the salty ocean air and admire the evening sky swathed in hues of pink, orange, and purple.
She moved easily down the stairs and onto the sidewalk, hanging a left in the direction of MWR. She walked briskly, the tugging sensation seeming to become more insistent as she moved. It was almost as if it knew where she was going and who she was going to meet. As she walked she passed others out enjoying the evening air. Off duty soldiers jogged by, throwing their hands up in greeting and so she did the same. She made the twenty minute walk in just fifteen, coming to a halt right in front of the MWR building and was more than a little disappointed to see that the twins were nowhere to be seen. She looked up and down the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pair but saw nothing. The first inklings of panic and rejection tried to worm their way into her thoughts but she quickly pushed those feelings down. A quick look at her watch told her she was still early and to give the mechs more time.
With a sigh, she stuffed her hands into her pockets. Her eyes wandered, lighting on a small pathway worn into the scrubby grass next to the building. Curious, she wandered in that direction, following the trail as it wound its way around behind the building. She followed it through a small stand of palm trees until it opened up and she found herself standing on a white, sandy beach. She hummed wistfully, closing her eyes and listening to the crash of the waves roar of the water as it rushed up onto the land over and over again. She could almost feel the pitch and roll of the sea beneath her feet and had a twinge of almost-homesickness. Not for the ship but for the peacefulness she found out on the water.
"Ames!"
The sound of the name Sideswipe had christened her with being called startled her out of her reverie. She took one last look at the ocean before turning back and following the trail back around the way she'd come. The tugging in her chest insisting that she hurry. She rounded the corner of the building to see both mechs looking rather perplexed. Sunstreaker stood in the middle of the street, no seeming to care that others trying to use the road had to swerve out around him. He had his hand planted firmly on his hips and was glaring daggers at passers by. Sideswipe had the foresight to move out of the flow of traffic and was on the sidewalk, hands laced together atop his head as his optics searched the area.
"Hey," Amy greeted shyly as she approached. "Sorry, I was early and wandered down to look at the water."
"Ames..." Sideswipe's optics brightened and a grin pulled at his lip plates as he moved toward her. He looked her up and down, humming in appreciation. "Wow...you look amazing."
"Oh, uh..." Amy blushed. "Th-thanks." Embarrassed, she looked away quickly, her gaze landing on Sunstreaker. The mech seemed to be regarding her strangely. She swallowed nervously.
"Squishie," Sunstreaker greeted with a nod, sounding slightly out of breath.
Sideswipe rumbled in amusement, "We missed you. The working party wasn't nearly as good company as you are."
Amy timidly admitted, "I, uh, I guess I missed you guys, too. I mean, Jazz is good company but...you guys were totally right. Declination buoying is really, really boring."
Sunstreaker smirked, "Told you so."
"So..." Sideswipe regarded the woman with a raised brow plate and a secretive smile. "Are you feeling up for some adventure this evening?"
"Adventure?" Amy blinked up at the mech, wide-eyed. There was something about the way he'd asked that made her mouth dry and her heart pound. "Like...like what?"
"Secret," he mischievously and mysteriously answered.
"Oh," Amy frowned. "Well, uh..."
"Come on, Squishie," Sunstreaker encouraged with a sly grin. "You're not scared, are you?"
Sideswipe looked to his brother and the two shared a brief, enigmatic moment which caused the yellow mech's grin to widen. He turned his attention back to Amy. "Just...trust us. Please?"
Amy hesitated for a beat. The tugging in her chest encouraging her to trust them even as her natural inclination to self-protect warned her against it. The strange connection they all seemed to share won out. Amy nodded, "Yeah, alright."
Sunstreaker praised, "Good choice, femme."
"Yeah," Sides agreed with an excited grin. "We promise you won't regret it."
End of Chapter 19
