"Hey, hey…get up, lil' lady…ya can't lay 'round all day…"
I felt someone stroke my hair tenderly as that lovely, heavily accented voice talked gently to me in my ear. I tried to open my eyes, but found that my eyelids felt heavier than they normally should. Moaning, I shook my head groggily. My body still ached from whatever Hook did to me and my ribs burned with a passion. I didn't want anymore of the pain, no more of the squeezing, crushing, laughing. I just wanted to go home.
"Leave me alone." I managed to whisper, "I don't want this anymore. I want to go home."
"Hey…hey, c'mon…the sooner ya get up, Al, da sooner ya c'n go home. Ah promise." The accented voice swore tenderly as a tiny hand pressed against my head. Even tinier fingers ran through my hair again and I forced my eyelids open. "There ya go."
I turned my head and saw Jazz smiling at me – at least I think he was smiling. He pulled his fingers from my hair and I knew from the way he chuckled that he saw the confused look on my face. "Why-Why did you come back?" I managed, trying to sit without my ribs hurting.
Yeah, I failed.
"'Cuz I wan'nt gonna leave ya 'ere, Al. Ya know me bettah dan dat. Ah'm an Autobot, 'member?" He climbed up my arm and sat on my shoulder. "Les' get outta 'ere. Stahscream already gotcher laptop outta here."
Okay, now I was really confused. "He did." I said numbly, looking down at the ground. Jazz said something, but I missed it. I was too busy staring at the drop.
The awfully long drop to the ground.
Shaking my head, I backed up, "I can't do this, Jazz." I whispered. His hand rested on my head.
"Ya c'n."
"I hate heights…I can't…I can't do it. Don't make me!"
"You have to."
Inside, I knew he was right. Curse him. Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and ran for all I was worth. My feet fell off the edge of the table and I fell. My scream hitched in my throat and I yelled as I hit the ground, my ankles snapping. I rolled onto my butt and clutched my right one, seeing as how I've broken my left one six times before. Tears welled up.
"I can't do this." I whispered, "I always thought I'd be able to escape from the 'Con HQ with my head, but I can't do it…" I looked at Jazz as he put a hand on my already-swollen ankle.
"C'mon. Ya 'ave t'." He told me, giving me that look. His visor was dim, but I could tell he was pleading with me. He wasn't gonna leave me behind.
"I hate you for being an Autobot." I complained, standing up. I whimpered once, but then picked Jazz up – even though he insisted on walking. "C'mon…tell me which way."
"Dat-a away." He pointed and I obediently limped that way, the pain in my left nothing compared to the one in my right ankle, which had never been broken before.
We made it to the lift with no trouble, but then all of our luck ran out. The seeker twins spotted us as we loaded into the lift. Both of cursed as they shouted and ran towards us. Jazz pulled out his rifle, but I yanked him off of my shoulder and hit the 'shut doors' button. The lift started to rise and I shook the Cajun slightly.
"Are you CRAZY?!" I yelled.
"Dat's what Prowl says…" He smiled.
"This isn't funny! If you hit them, it would do nothing. If they hit you…" I trailed off and looked away. I felt him climb up my arm and looked at him.
He was grinning! "Aww…you care!" He chuckled.
"Bite me." I murmured, looking away again. The lift opened and I almost stepped out…into open water. I cursed out loud, "Jazz! We're in the middle of the ocean…!" I blinked, "How'd I forget that?"
Jazz laughed, "Ya c'n figure dat out latah, but now…our ride's 'ere." He pointed out and I saw Sunstreaker zooming near us on those water-ski like things. The door opened and Jazz hopped in.
"C'mon!" Sunstreaker yelled as he zoomed away, then made a second round, "Jump in! This water is ruining my paintjob!" The snob.
"Ah'm comin', Sunflower!" I grumbling, running and jumping. I yelled in pain as I landed on the seatbelt. "Mary, Mother of Christ! Jesus!" I held my ribs as the pain flared through my body like a wildfire. The throbbing in my ankles didn't help either, but my main concern was the fact that it felt like my ribs were poking my lungs. "Oh, God…Oh, Primus…this-this hurts…"
Jazz put a hand on my head as Sunstreaker continued towards the beach. "Kiddo, ya okay?" He asked. Stupid question.
"No! Megatron…broke half my ribs, you Cajun!" I shouted, pain overriding my love for the cartoon robot, "My frikin' ankles are broken and I can barely breathe! Hook injected me with…something…and now I'm starving to the point it isn't funny. So, hmm…I guess I'm not okay!"
Jazz looked hurt – looking back, I should have stopped there, but I was an idiot. I continued to glare at him as my ribs burned and ached and my lungs flared for air. The new found pain in my stomach clenched and I wanted to empty my stomach, but that was difficult, considering I had already done that.
The Autobot put a hand on my shoulder and I sobbed, hitting him back. He hit the door and fell onto the seat, looking at me with pain and betrayal in his optics. "Don't touch me." I seethed, looking up at him as my brown, matted hair fell into my face, "It's your fault. Your fault I'm here. Your fault half my ribs are broken and Megatron wants to kill me."
"Al…" He tried to reach for me again, but I hit him back again. He looked at me and then away.
Sunstreaker screeched to a stop. "You did not just hit Jazz!" He yelled at me, but I covered my ears. I didn't want to hear anymore. I wanted this to be over.
Jazz murmured something soft to Sunstreaker, but I missed it. The yellow Lamborghini started to drive again and I curled up in the backseat as Jazz climbed into the front. It hit me then what I had done; I had hit my only frikin' friend in this forsaken hell-hole of a universe and then yelled at him…then hit him again. I hid the sob that wanted to force itself out as I clutched my midsection and just waited to return to Autobot HQ.
Once there, Ratchet took me into the infirmary as Prime took Jazz into his office to talk about what had happened. As I sat on one of the berths, the pain numbed by a medicine Ratchet had given me, I listened to the grumpy medic gripe and complain about having to fix everything. As he turned to me, I saw a needle in his hand and instantly started to back away, the image of Hook in my mind.
"Don't touch me with that!" I yelled, backing away feverishly. My arm throbbed in a reminder of what the Constructicon had done and I whimpered loudly.
Ratchet just gave me a quizzical look and then glanced at the needle. He put it down and slowly walked over, quickly – yet gently – taking me into his hands as I cowered beside his thumb. The snarkiness disappeared quickly, "That wasn't for you." He assured me gently, "It was for Wheeljack…but he seems to have disappeared…" He glanced around and I realized that the engineer, who had been in there when I had entered, was now gone.
I nodded, but the fear was still evident in my eyes. He sighed and put a finger under my chin and lifted my head so he could get a better look at me, "What did they do to you? I need a detail list so I can begin." He put me back down and I swallowed.
"According to Hook…Megatron broke my ribs…I think I either broke or twisted both my ankles…Hook injected me with something…" I looked at him, "I'm hungry. Can I get something to eat?"
Something in that sentence made Ratchet laugh once, "Femmes. Always thinking about your stomachs." He told me; I didn't bother to remind him that I was a human female, and should be called a 'girl' or 'young lady'. On second thought, femme is better.
"So…that means I can eat?" I brightened slightly. At least the pang in my stomach would go away quickly if I could just have a snack. When Ratchet nodded, I cheered. "Yay!"
Ratchet shook his head and turned from me. He pulled out a scanner and ran it over my body, making me giggle. He gave me a weird look and I shrugged, telling him it tickled. Shaking his head, he put the scanner away, "It appears as if Hook told the truth…for once." He snorted, "Only, four of your ribs are broken, not half." When I gave him a look, he shrugged in return, "Prime told me what Jazz said you told him." He responded with a sniff.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." I said simply.
For the next ten minutes, there was silence between the two of us, then Bluestreak bustled in. He handed me something and smiled, "I got you something to eat 'cuz Jack told me to after Ratchet told him to. After all, he said he was busy with a project and had to keep working on it. I didn't want him to mess up, forget where he was, or have it blow up in his face so I did it for him. I got what Hound said you had the last time. Boy, were the humans surprised to see me order human food!" He grinned.
I laughed, almost loosing the French fry that was in my mouth. During his little speech, I had already started eating and now, I was listening for comic relief. My brother always said I was like Bluestreak because of my mouth, and I realized he's probably right. "I bet they were, Blue." I giggled, smiling up at the young gunner.
"You better believe they were! Of course, it took a while for me to find the human currency that Wheeljack took from…" He eyed Ratchet, "I mean found, but once I found it, it was all good. I mean, after that human that was taking orders woke up after she passed out upon seeing me, but still…" He grinned again.
I giggled louder and winced, "Ooh…pain…the ribs…" I explained when Bluestreak gave me a worried look. I waved it off, "Don't worry, Blue. It's not you."
Assured by that, he grinned and continued to ramble. Eventually, Ratchet got tired of it and yelled at Bluestreak to get the (bleep!!) out of the repair bay. Hurt, Bluestreak turned and scurried out. I felt a pang in my heart, realizing that's how Jazz must have felt when I yelled at him. I shouldn't have touched him. I shouldn't have hurt or yelled at him…
"You should go apologize." I murmured, looking at Ratchet. The medic snorted.
"Not in the job description."
"No, but making 'bots feel better is…and I think you hurt Blue bad…"
No response.
Goldie: anger is like grasping onto a hot coal, you hurt yourself, and occasionaly, depending on where you toss it, others. Al's just learned that lesson the hard way.