Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Animated. I only claim to own my OC, Jak Skeller.
Hello again! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know, it's considerably shorter than the first chapter, but still... It's something!
"Jak...? Jak! Can you hear me?" a childish voice whined as a small hand gripped her own.
"Ow.. Sari, is that you?" Jak moaned as she blinked a few times, trying to block out the harsh light. The smell of sterilized everything and medicine tickled her nose as she finally came to her senses.
"Yeah, it's me Jak. I was so worried! Dad was too, and all the Autobots!" Sari said quickly. "You could had gotten smushed by that thing, but Prowl saved you and then got himself all beat up. But then I fixed him with my key and now he's oka-"
A hand shot out to cover Sari's mouth.
"Good God Sari, slow down a second. Your key? Who's Prowl? And what are Autobots?"
"Ohhhh, that's right. You don't know them yet. Well, they got congrats from dad and the mayor earlier today. They're heroes now," she said nonchalantly.
"Heroes... That's nice. When do I get to meet 'em?"
"Oh, as soon as you get out of here. You'll get to meet Bulkhead, and Bumblebee and Optimus... You get the idea."
"Bulk...head? That sounds dangerous..." Sari looked up at her worriedly. "Awesome," Jak added a few seconds later, a grin plastered on her lips.
"Really? Well they're all awesome."
"You don't say. Well how about you spring me outta this joint so I can meet these awesome robots."
Sari nodded and smiled.
"Dad already sent word. Oh, you might want to check on Kreon as soon as you get back. He's freaking out without you."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Jak sighed and sat up. "Now let's get me a doctor so I can leave... Uh, what all was wrong with me again?"
One pair of clean clothes, a shower, an explanation and some medication later, Sari and Jak were headed out to the parking lot. According to the doctor, Jak had fractured two ribs, sprained her wrist and scratched up her back. But despite it all, she was one big ball of smiles. Hospitals were not her thing.
"Jak, this Bumblebee. Bumblebee, this is Jak!" Sari chirped happily as she looked between the two.
"Uh... Yeah, hi. This weird, talking to a car and all," Jak scratched the back of her head, wincing slightly at the sharp pain in her ribs.
"Nice to meet ya Jak!" he replied enthusiastically, the car bouncing around on its wheels. "Let's get going. We were all gonna meet up."
Jak and Sari both climbed, with Jak in the driver's seat of course. Even if the whole city of Detroit knew he was a robot, there was no way she was going to let Sari sit there. Nu-uh, she was the adult here.
"Hey Bee, can we stop for some food? I'm hungry," Sari whined as she wiggled around in the passenger seat.
"Uh, sure Sari. Where, exactly, do you humans refuel?"
Sari smacked her forehead and sighed.
"The Burger Bot of course!"
Jak groaned and leaned her head against the seat.
"Sari, that stuff is so nasty. Do you even know the horrible things they do to the cows to make them... That way?"
Sari waved her hand dismissively as they came up to the drive through.
"You and your weird veggie obsession. Hi, can I have-"
Jak stopped listening as she rolled her eyes, concentrating on keeping her breathing under control. When they got to wherever, she'd need to take those pills.
"And a water," Jak added quickly before the order box turned into a robot that delivered their order.
"Yum, this is the good stuff!" Sari moaned in satisfaction as she stuffed her face with food.
"Ugh... I don't even understand how that goes down..." Jak said and visibly winced.
The girl merely made a face at her.
"Hey guys, I hope you don't mind, but Boss Bot wants us at the park now," Bumblebee cut in as the radio turned down.
"Sure thing dude. But you're carrying me," Jak said as she took a swig of her water.
"Okay! Why, exactly?" he questioned.
"Because I cracked two ribs! Would you want to walk if you cracked something inside of you?" Jak retorted and rolled her eyes.
"Point taken. Sheesh, you femmes can get pretty nasty," he muttered as he parked.
Sari hopped out and threw away her trash while Jak hobbled off to lean against a fence, watching in awe as Bumblebee transformed. She knew this was going to become a common occurrence, but it was still amazing how a car could be a robot... Or the other way around really.
Bumblebee placed a hand on the ground for Jak to climb into, which she did with some difficulty.
"Hang on now. I don't need you going splat. Prime would be on my aft so fast..." he muttered. Jak rolled her eyes and grasped his armor as he placed her on his shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah. It'd take a bigger drop to make me go splat."
"Come on you slow pokes!" Sari giggled as she sprinted ahead, her arms over her head as she left them in the dust. Jak chuckled and shook her head.
"Where she gets her energy from, I'll never know," Jak muttered as she smiled.
"Well where ever it comes from, I hope Bulkhead doesn't find it. That'd be bad," he mused.
"How so?"
"Big, clumsy bot with a whole lotta energy? Sounds like a mess to me," Bumblebee said and turned his head to look at her.
"Ah, makes sense. So, can I ask a couple questions?"
"Sure."
Jak pursed her lips before speaking.
"Sari said something about Autobots..." she trailed off, leaving the statement open.
"Oh yeah, that's us. We're just the most awesome group of Cybertronians to set foot anywhere."
Jak gave him a skeptical look, her eyebrows raised.
"Hehe, okay, we aren't the only Autobots out there. Just the only ones on earth. We're the good guys."
"Then who are the bad guys?"
"The Decepticons."
Jak remained silent for a moment and then nodded.
"Ah, well... I suppose evil robots would be inevitable. What about the rest of you? I mean, there's you... But I don't know anyone else before hand."
"Well, there's Optimus. He's the leader of us, sort of inexperienced in our terms, but he's pretty good at it. Then there's Bulkhead, the klutz and the total bot-wrecking machine! Then there's Ratchet, the oldest of us and the medibot. He's really cranky, so watch out. And then there's Prowl, the resident ninja bot. He's kinda quiet, but he's cool."
"Ninja bot? That is epic... Question, out of you all, who saved me?" Jak asked curiously.
"That was Prowl. Kinda weird though, he went all hero mode then got cocky and got eaten by that bug thing," Bee said as he waved a hand. They had finally made it to the park, where Optimus was standing, Sari atop his shoulder as he surveyed the humans.
"What's up Boss Bot?" the little yellow mech asked as he stopped next to him.
"Just observing the humans Bumblebee, and explaining. You see," he said and turned back to Sari. "We Autobots are programmed to respect the source of life, to protect it at all costs. For us that means one thing, the Allspark. But yet, you organics are life, which means we must protect you as well."
Sari blinked and nodded as she looked up at the large bot from atop his shoulder.
"But, how is it you're able to make these new, smaller organics?" he asked as he pointed a finger at a baby in a carriage. The tiny baby's parents were pushing him along, not noticing anything as they walked.
Sari and Jak shared a look, confusing both bots. The younger girl leaned in and whispered into the Autobot leader's audio, a smirk on her face. His face snapped forward, optics widening as he came to the realization of how babies were made.
"You think that's bad? You should see how they come out," Jak teased as she grinned. Optimus shook his head and made a face.
"No thank you... As interesting as I'm sure it would be," he muttered and sighed, much to the girls' amusement.
"I wanna know!" Bumblebee whined as he looked between them, a displeased frown on his lip plates.
"Fine, fine. Whatever you want Bee," Jak said as she leaned in, whispering to him in the same manner Sari had to Optimus. While the girl probably only had a limited knowledge, Jak did not, and she held nothing back in an attempt to embarrass the bot.
His eyes widened, mouth unhinged.
"I... Um... I don't know if that sounds fun or painful," he muttered as he turned his gaze towards the ground.
"Eh, a little of both," she replied and shrugged.
"And how do you know that?" Bumblebee blanched, his voice raising an octave. Jak just smiled innocently.
"What are you suggesting? I'm offended you think I'm that type of person," Jak chuckled and shook her head.
Bumblebee just sighed and slumped.
"Femmes... Can't live with 'em. Can't live without 'em. Oh wait, I have been for the past-" Bumblebee was cut off as the ground beneath them shuddered. The increasingly loud thumping of footsteps signaled the imminent approach of none other than Bulkhead.
"Hi guys! Sorry, I got stuck in what you humans call, traffic," he said and scratched his head. "I don't think they liked me walking over them..." he trailed off.
"You were walking over cars?" Sari yelped as she scurried to look at Bulkhead, clinging to Optimus.
He didn't get to answer, because a red and white bot appeared behind him.
"I don't understand you organics' ways! Who sits there for an hour, in the middle of the road, just ranting at nothing?" he grumbled and paused as he caught sight of Jak. "Oh great, another one. Aren't you the one that almost got pulverized? You organics... Can't even defend yourself." he muttered irritably.
"Um, hello! Unlike you, I don't have cannons that pop out of my arms! What do I look like?" Jak retorted and furrowed her brows.
"Calm down both of you," Optimus said as he motioned with his hands. "We're all friends here. Speaking of friends, where is Prowl?"
"Right here," a smooth voice said. Everyone turned to look at the newly arrived bot.
"What took you so long? I thought you were the ninja," Bumblebee said and made a pose like that of a ninja, nearly throwing Jak off.
"Watch it! Injured girl sitting on your shoulder, remember?" Jak hissed as she clutched onto his armor, her teeth grit in pain.
"Oh, yeah..."
Bumblebee rubbed his head sheepishly.
"To answer your question, I was observing the earth creatures known as birds. They're fascinating, so lithe and active... But, I was disturbed by admirers," he muttered the last part as he crossed his arms.
"Ohhh, you mean those organics that follow us around and take pictures? I like them!" Bumblebee said and danced around. "They make noises when you entertain them," he said and continued to move.
"Bumblebee! Would you hold still- Gah!" Jak yelped as her hold on Bee's armor slipped, sending her flying towards the ground. She'd expected to faceplant on the concrete and have to nurse a broken nose, or more, but she landed on a tan palm. It gently wrapped its servos around her and brought her up to optic level, so she was face to face with a bright blue optic panel.
"Thanks. I guess I owe you two now...?" Jak said and smiled sheepishly, clutching at her ribs.
"I suppose so," he muttered as he unfurled his servos, allowing her to simply sit there. "Are you unharmed?" he asked, to which Jak nodded.
Optimus cleared his throat and smiled.
"Well now that we're all here, I guess we should formally introduce ourselves. I am Optimus Prime," he introduced. "This is Ratchet, our medibot," Optimus continued as he pointed to the squat red and white robot. He grunted in response and crossed his arms. "You know Bumblebee. So this is Bulkhead," he pointed to the enormous green robot. "And last, but not least is Prowl."
Jak titled her head upwards to look at the gold and black ninja bot. He looked down at her, head titled slightly before he nodded.
"Well, it's wonderful to meet you all. I'm Jak Skeller, Sari's unofficial sister, babysitter thing, somewhat tutor and daughter of Jack Skeller, founder of Skeller Corp," she gave them a wry grin as she pointed to herself. They all nodded and most of them smiled or gave some other sort of acknowledgement.
"Aw man! The sun is going down. You guys need to get back to base," Sari said suddenly.
"Base? We don't have a base," Bumblebee pointed out.
"Not that you know of," Sari grinned and jerked her head towards the parking lot. "Come, on let's go!" she said, nearly falling off Optimus.
"Alright, alright. Autobots, to... Base," he said before putting Sari down and transforming into his alt. mode. The rest of them transformed, minus Prowl, who set Jak down gently before transforming himself.
Jak stood awkwardly, eyes shifting between the Autobots. Sari had climbed into Bee without a second thought. Seconds later, the yellow police car shot off, probably at Sari's request.
"I would suggest riding with Optimus," A voice said, causing Jak to look around expectantly. Upon finding no person speaking to her, she finally shifted her gaze to the black and gold motorcycle before her. She still wasn't really acquainted with vehicles talking to her.
"Oh, okay." she said softly and smiled. "Thanks again... I really owe you." she said before turning to head towards Optimus.
"No need to thank me, I was simply doing what any Autobot would."
Jak smiled a bit wider as she walked towards Optimus, a hand still pressed gingerly to her ribs as she climbed into the awaiting cab.
R&R please! Anyways, I might as well start this now... Who do you think Jak should be paired with? Just as a general question... Oh, by the way, not updating until I get a couple reviews on this... I know you guys are reading it. O.O