A few weeks went by after Jazz and Emily had arrived at the Lennox house. The teen had grown close to Annabelle, who remained almost glued to her side. They would play dolls, play pranks on Ironhide when he was home and bake. Emily loved her adopted sister. Annabelle was always fully of energy and never stopped smiling, which worried Jazz about Emily.
The brunette had started to feel more and more drained of energy. Her face had gotten paler and she always looked tired. Emily insisted she was fine but Jazz didn't believe her. The first morning he had seen her like that he did a quick scan of her. It was a Saturday and she had been sleeping, something that Emily had trouble getting ever since they arrived. He remembered scanning her and feeling his spark drop to his pedes. Her health had gotten worse. The energon in her body had practically replaced all of her human blood cells and now it was exhausted, that it had nothing to cling on to live, in a way.
Bottom line, she didn't have long unless Ratchet could help her. It was quiet that one morning, around 9am and Emily still hadn't gotten up, which worried both Jazz and Lennox. Jazz went upstairs as Lennox and Sarah began to have breakfast with Annabelle. He headed to Emily's room and knocked softly.
"Em?" he called softly. There was no answer and he frowned. He knocked a bit louder. Still no answer. Jazz sighed and slowly opened the door, stepping inside and looked over at the bed where the brunette laid. She looked fine from where he was, so he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, gently shaking her awake.
"Em, it's time to get up." he said and she groaned from underneath the covers, curling up more. There was a muffled "No." from under the mass of blankets. He sighed. "Come on, lil' lady. Ah don't want ya wastin' your day in bed."
Emily didn't reply as she stopped moving from under the blankets. She started coughing and her face peeked out from beneath. That's when Jazz internally started to panic, his eyes widening when he saw her.
"Stay in bed. I'm going to call Ratch'." he said with a shaky voice as she managed a tiny nod and her eyes drooped. He quickly stepped out into the hall and contacted Ratchet that morning.
::Ratch'! Ratch', you gotta get here quick.:: Jazz almost shouted into his comlink. Ratchet answered grudgingly.
::I'm in the middle of Optimus's check-up. What could be so important that you need to interrupt and order me to get to the Lennox residence?:: the CMO asked.
::It's Emily. She's not doin' well.:: he told him. Ratchet quietly cursed under his breath and the saboteur heard a clang in the background. He winced, glad he wasn't in the room with him. There was a moment of silence before Ratchet spoke up.
::What are her symptoms?:: he asked. Jazz quietly went back into Emily's room, where the girl was sleeping. Her face was a bit pale with her lips appearing slightly blue. She shivered a little but she was covered in blankets. Her prosthetic laid beside the bed.
::She's lookin' pale. Her lips are blue and she's shiverin'.:: Jazz told him. Suddenly, Emily started coughing as she slowly sat up. But what scared him the most was the fact that she had coughed up energon. Drops of a blue liquid fell to the floor and on the bed as Emily covered her mouth. Jazz's optics widened and his spark clenched as he ran over to beside her. He steadied her.
"Em? Em! Scrap!" He exclaimed as she breathed heavily.
::Jazz! What is happening?:: Ratchet asked as he was still on the com. link. Footsteps were heard running through the hall and the door opened to reveal Lennox. He was in his regular clothes as his eyes landed on Emily. His eyes widened and he ran over to them. Jazz held Emily up, her legs under the blankets and her upper body in Jazz's arms. She shivered.
::She started to cough up energon!:: he told Ratchet, fear rising in his voice.
::Slaggit! Keep her awake and take any blankets off of her. If she's burning up, blankets will only add to it. I'm on my way!:: he shouted and then hung up.
"Jazz, what's going on?!" Lennox exclaimed as he tried to keep Emily calm.
"I don't know! Ratch' is on his way!" He said as he held Emily close. He found himself shakily stroking her head. The saboteur felt his spark pound against his chest. He cared for his charge so much that it pained him to see her like this and it angered him even more when she was kidnapped by the Cons and probably hurt. Yes, he did doubt himself to be able to protect the girl but he was there for her no matter what. He found his spark aching for her every time she left and every time she was in pain, it pained him even more. He hadn't told Ratchet about that but now it was getting more and more hard to hide. There was an emotion he thought he would never have towards his charge, something that kept growing each time he was with her or saw her:
Love.
It had started when he found out that she was giving a few months to live and since then he couldn't stop his growing love for her. Jazz hadn't told anyone about it. But he knew he was going to have to tell him when he arrived. Emily shook in Lennox's arms as Jazz heard the sound of crunching gravel outside. He glanced out the window and saw Ratchet's alt mode parked in front. The front door opened and shut loudly, followed by running footsteps. Emily's door swung open to reveal Ratchet with a medical bag in hand.
He rushed over and ushered Lennox aside, checking Emily's temperature. He cursed as he quickly started taking out equipment.
"What? What's wrong?" Lennox asked frantically.
"She's burning up! The energon in her is literally burning her from the inside! Her lungs are filling with energon fluids!" Ratchet explained as he gently sat Emily up and quickly took the blankets off of her. She whined and weakly tried to get them back. She shivered and coughed. The color on her skin was a faint blue, making Ratchet narrow his optics slightly to inspect it.
"Youngling, I know you feel cold but you're burning up." He said. Emily managed a small nod as he examined her skin. "The energon is making its way to her heart. I need something to counteract it from reaching it." He said as Emily started coughing again. Lennox ran a shaky hand through his hair as he looked at her.
"Like what?" He asked Ratchet.
"Something that can act like a magnet to keep it away from her heart. Energon is the only thing that can repel it. Normal human blood won't help." Ratchet told him. Lennox's eyes widened.
"You want to put more energon in her when it's killing her?" He exclaimed. "No! I'm not doing that to her!"
"William, I don't want her to offline either!" Ratchet shouted. Emily whimpered, becoming a pale blue as she laid back. Jazz stared at her with wide and pained optics. He didn't want her to die. Not Emily. His spark almost broke in half as he watched her be in this much pain. He went beside Emily and held her close before looking down at her. He tried keep his breathing even.
Then he remembered something. Back when he saved her from Scorponok, she fell unconscious from the amount of energon she used to fight him off. He donated some of his own energon to help balance out the effects and she got better. What if it worked to keep the energon away from her heart? But the only way to keep it permanent was to... He stroked Emily's head.
"Ratch' what if I-" Jazz asked but was then interrupted by the medic.
"No. Do you know what could happen if something went wrong with that? The consequences?" He exclaimed with a hard look. Jazz didn't back down as he gave him a glare in return. Lennox looked utterly confused at the two.
"With what?" He asked.
"Forming a bond with Emily." Ratchet explained. "There's a possibility it may work but the consequences are fatal."
"Wha-fatal?" Lennox sputtered. "No!"
Jazz narrowed his eyes and growled.
"She's dyin'! Doing it is probably the only way and I don't want her dyin' because we didn't do anythin'!" He said. Ratchet ran a hand through his holoform's hair, sighing. He looked at Lennox, who was staring at Emily with a sad look.
"Will, it's your call." Ratchet said softly. Lennox stared at Emily for another moment before looking at the two Autobots.
"Ok. Do it." He said. Ratchet nodded and gestured for Jazz to return to his bipedal mode. Ratchet held her up. She was having trouble breathing as her lips turned a dark blue and she coughed violently again. Jazz's holoform fizzled out and he online does outside. Ratchet carried Emily outside with Lennox following and placed her in Jazz's clawed servo. He held her gently so as she wouldn't fall and held her close as his spark thrummed against her head before opening his spark chamber.
He placed her close to it and allowed his spark to wrap her in its warmth. He could feel the bond beginning to form as he felt her heart beat match his own.
"Come on, lil' lady. Don't give up now. Please..." he murmured. Then, he suddenly felt pain through the newly formed bond and he gasped softly and grimaced. Jazz tried to send love and comfort through the bond, knowing Emily had no idea what was happening but it was the only way to ease the pain. He stroked her gently with a clawed digit and waited.
Emily's POV
It was dark as I slept. I could feel the energon getting closer and closer to my heart. But suddenly it stopped. What happened? It seemed like I was standing in a black void and out of the darkness came a glowing blue ball of light. What was that?
"Hello?" I called but I got no answer. I slowly walked closer to the ball and curiously reached out to touch it. A tendril shot out of it and made its way towards me and I stepped back with wide eyes, scared. The tendril reached out and I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Please don't hurt me." I whispered. It touched my face gently. That surprised me and I opened my eyes to see the ball of light pulling me towards it. It felt...warm, almost familiar. Soon, I was engulfed in it and a very familiar voice said
"Will you hold me tight and not let go?"
I let my heart flutter. "Jazz?" I asked as I tried to look for him but he wasn't there. The only thing that was there was the ball of light. But yet, it sounded like his voice was coming from the ball of light. Then, realization dawned on me. The ball of light was Jazz's spark. I teared up with happiness and was about to hug it before I was thrown out of the black void and thrusted back into reality.
I jerked up and my eyes snapped open, flailing for a minute as a clawed servo hovered over me. Blue optics looked down at me worriedly as Jazz held me in his servo.
"Em, it's ok. I got ya. You're ok." He murmured softly as I slowly calmed down. I saw Ratchet beside him along with my dad. Ratchet was scanning me and pulled my dad aside to talk privately. I breathed slowly as I clung to Jazz.
"W-What happened?" I croaked out. My guardian looked down at me with complete relief and sighed softly. He stroked my back gently with a digit as he said
"You were really sick. You..." he trailed off. "The only thing that we could do was..." he seemed at a loss for words to explain to me.
I looked up at him. "What?" I asked quietly. He drew a breath.
"I bonded with you. It was the only way to keep the energon away from your heart to keep it from killing you." He said softly and I stared at him. To be honest, I didn't feel exhausted or sick anymore. I looked at my hands and body. My lips and chest weren't blue anymore and I did look healthy. So it was Jazz's spark I saw before! I stared up at him.
"Bonded?" I managed to ask a bit confused.
"A bond is when we form a special connection with a charge, a sparkling or a sparkmate." Jazz explained. "We feel the other's emotions and when one gets hurt or is in pain, we feel it as well." He shifted his hold on me so I was fully facing him. "Let me show you. Don't panic, girly ok?"
I nodded as he stared at me with a small smile and almost immediately I felt a wave of love form in my heart. My eyes widened as I gasped softly, unfamiliar with the feeling. I looked up at Jazz.
"Is that-" I began shakily and he nodded. It felt amazing to be honest. But that wasn't all.
'Can you hear me, Em?' Jazz's voice sounded in my head, causing me to yelp in surprise.
'Jazz?' I asked with wide eyes.
'It's ah'right. I'ts just meh talking through the bond. Ah think you call it telepathy?' he explained and I relaxed, nodding a little. I looked up at him and he smiled a little. This bond thing was so new to me I was confused and didn't know how to feel. I would now share an emotional and mental connection with Jazz. It was both a bit weird yet, it felt...right. I couldn't exactly explain it. But I must have been lost in thought because Jazz nudged me with a digit. he looked down at me in worry.
"Ya ok?" he asked softly and I managed a small nod. ratchet had come back over with my dad, who ran over to us. Jazz gently set me down on the ground and Dad engulfed me into a hug, kissing my head.
"I'm so glad you're ok." he whispered and I hugged him back. Ratchet quickly scanned her while she was hugging Lennox and vented a sigh of relief.
"She appears to be healthy. It worked. Her life span has increased exponentially." he grumbled as he walked away, putting something into his datapad. I felt utter happiness and joy. I was ok and all thanks to Jazz. Jazz watched him leave and visibly relaxed. Dad released me and looked between Jazz and I.
"I'm going to give you two some time alone. But I'm going to check up on you ok?" he told me with a serious look and I nodded.
"Ok." I said and he eyed Jazz before leaving to go back into the house. That just left the two of us outside. The sky was blue with a few clouds and the sun beamed down. Trees blew a bit from a slight breeze. Jazz looked down at me.
"Em, I want to talk to ya about somethin' important." he said. I looked up at him, a bit confused and worried.
"Oh ok." I said. He transformed into his alt-mode and activated his holoform, leading me to the pasture for some privacy. What was wrong? I thought as I followed him and sat down beside him. He breathed slowly as he stared ahead at the grass in silence. Then, he looked at me, uncertainty and worry in his eyes. Jazz opened his mouth and said softly
"I...have somethin' to confess." I looked at him.
"What is it? You can tell me." I told him. He took a deep breath and what he said next made my heart skip a few beats.
"I love ya, Em. More than a guardian would to a charge. I love ya, more than a friend." he said softly.
I stared at him, shocked and with wide eyes.
Jazz...loves me?