Note: I'm doing my best folks! It's hard with all the ideas that are cramped in my head, but this story seems to be in slight popular demand. So as long as you folks keep demanding it, I'll keep producing a new chapter within three days of each other. BE HAPPY :)
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Transformers or any part of the name; it's a simple fanfiction.
OH YEAH; Do not send me any little flames. I've got a bucket of water beside me and I know people don't like to be soaking wet.
Enjoy!
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Though the next few weeks went smoothly, Ave still seemed distant to everything. Liz and Jazz were talking more, to try and figure out what to do and how to find Optimus once they were back in America. They'd come to terms with Avery joining them back to San Diego, but Liz had refused his company anytime after that.
"Liz, will you please, please just let me accompany you for some of the time?" Ave begged, looking at her with a frustrated glance. "I don't want you off on your own right after this... you get out tomorrow! Don't leave yourself in harms way!"
"Ave, chill out. I'll be fine. I've got Jazz to protect me, and soon like, five other giant robots. I'm not really worried about it." Liz replied, flopping down on her chair and grunting at the feeling of her bones still grinding against metal. "It'll be fine."
"No it won't... Liz please don't let this happen like this..." Ave said softly, looking at his niece and sighing. "What if you get hurt again? What then Liz?"
"Then I go to the hospital again." She replied simply.
"And you'll leave yourself vulnerable to that...Star...screech...thing?" He asked, looking at Liz who's concentration was pouring into a picture she was drawing. "What if that happens? What if he attacks while they're down?"
"Then Jazz protects me. Right Jazz?" She asked loudly, her cellphone crackling to life.
"Avery I'll do everything I can to protect her... And I'm sure the others will do the same. I mean, I'm dedicated to keeping her safe and out of harm. A fellow autobot named Bumblebee keeps two children protected over in the states. Once one of us gets dedicated to something, we stick with it." Jazz replied, his voice rather sincere in his answer.
"But she can't just be some unimportant little assignment when you get back to the states -
Avery began.
"You're right Avery, she has to be a number one priority. Especially with what she can help create... We just need to find out how she can help..." Jazz interrupted.
Sighing, her Uncle simply got up, muttered something about going to get coffee, and disappeared.
"Dedicated..." Liz sighed softly. "Jazz are you dedicated only because you have to be?" She asked, her voice soft, in the moment of things.
"Liz. If I wanted to leave I would have long ago. I care to much about you to let you be on your own now..." Jazz replied, rather distant in his answer, but answering honestly. Quickly trying to change the subject he cleared his metallic throat a little and then spoke again. "Who did you leave in America...?"
"What do you mean who did I leave, Jazz? I don't leave people..." She sighed, setting her pencil down and sighing out. "My cousins are back in America. Jordan and Ashleigh. Two male twins... They're really the only people I ever got close to. I mean. I had friends back in Georgia, but when you graduate...people leave."
"So when we get back, you're going to see your cousins." Jazz replied softly. "You need a break from the normal Liz, I can tell. Se we're gonna go visit them. Where are they?"
"Jazz... I don't wanna go see them... It's been too long and I bet they've changed." She sighed, looking over at the phone only knowing she was looking at him. "They won't like who I am now..."
"And why not Liz?" He asked gently, wondering silently to himself what she had to be afraid of.
"I just... You know what Jazz? Fine. You win." Sighing she rubbed her head gently. "We'll go to Tulsa and see my cousins."
With a semi-confused tone, his voice crackled to life again. "Tulsa? Oklahoma? They live in Oklahoma?"
"Yeah. They have since I was three. The only ones that got along with me. I think Ashleigh cares mainly because I never laughed at him for having a girls name." Liz replied, getting up and stretching, cause the metal in her arm and spine to creak a little.
"Then tomorrow we leave to San Diego and as soon as we get there, we'll go to Tulsa." He said thoughtfully, obviously planning their next few days before hand. "I still need to figure out how to signal Optimus..."
"Jazz, mind un-hacking my phone for a minute? I have an idea." Liz asked quietly, to which Jazz quickly obliged. Before anyone knew it, Liz was rewiring the phone in her hand to look for radio signals. "Jazz what kind of car is Optimus?"
Crackling through the phone roughly, a rather louder, more amplified voice came through. "Front of an eighteen wheeler. Why?"
Blinking and confused, she looked at the phone. "How the heck is it THIS loud?" Looking over the phone she blinked only to hear a gear turn near her. "JAZZ! WHAT THE HELL?!"
The autobot was standing right outside her window, looking at her. Admittedly, Liz was happy to see him in that form. It had been a while she seeing him like that. "I can hack into his c.b. radio. Assuming the truck he copied has one... Wait, aren't you going to get caught?"
"Nah, everyone's asleep at this hour. You mean the little radios? Oh! I should've thought of that..." He muttered some, rubbing his head and looking off some.
Finally, after a good half hour of toiling with the same wires in the phone, she got a signal and heard a metallic voice on the other end. Smiling triumphantly, Liz looked at Jazz and stuck her tongue out. He only laughed softly.
"Hello? Who's on the other end of my phone?" Liz asked strongly, still slightly weirded out by the thought of another autobot.
"What the..? Who are you? How have you contacted me?" The tone was hilarious to Liz who just tossed the phone to Jazz before she could start snorting and laughing so hard she thought her lungs were going to collapse.
"Jazz speaking." He said as though reporting to a major in an army. "Contacted via safe connection."
"Jazz? Where are you? You left for Japan two years ago!" The other metallic voice seemed pleased, and yet not.
"Optimus, I'm still here. But I have news... And important news at that." He replied somewhat nervously, only to have Optimus go silent on the phone, this was Jazz's signal to continue talking.
Once he'd told Optimus everything, he only went silent, waiting for an answer.
"A new all spark... And this fleshling has the power to help recreate it? I don't see how... But if Starscream has already attacked, you'll need to return immediately. We can't risk them taking her." Optimus replied sternly, as though thinking while speaking. "I'll tell the others... Somehow."
"Sir, we planned to leave tomorrow night, she gets out of the hospital then. And Optimus, what do you mean somehow? I thought everyone else was still traveling with you..." Jazz questioned rather worriedly.
"They were, but after you left Ironhide decided to go look further toward...some southern state. I can't remember which." Optimus replied slowly, trying to figure out where Ironhide had gone exactly.
"We might find him by Wednesday. We're going back to the states tomorrow night, then the next day we'll be in Oklahoma for a small side trip. Then we'll head to where ever you are then. Liz said we can leave the phone on this frequency." He said, rather irritated though admittedly happy to not be protecting Liz on his own soon.
"Alright. I hope you find him. Contact me if you have any trouble on the way to Michigan." Optimus finally said, before ending his transmission.
Setting the phone down on the chair beside Liz, Jazz sighed and looked off with a rather distant disposition. Before he knew it, Liz was up in his face, blinking and staring at him.
"You know I've never been this close to your face... It's quite complex..." Liz muttered, getting even closer, which only caused Jazz to begin to back up. Liz kept following and eventually was sitting on the window ledge, looking up at the autobot with a semi-dreamy yet bemused look.
Jazz just awkwardly stared back, letting her get close as she cared too, but looking off at the same time. Before long, he held out a big metal claw. Liz crawled into it and sighed gently, looking up at him still, secretly wishing they'd met without an unconventional hospital stay.
After a while, Jazz placed her back in her bed as she slowly drifted to sleep, his claw clinking against her back as he lay her down. His gaze lingered on her before he slowly began his transformation back, listening to a cd Liz had made all night.
Noon the next day, Avery came in the room and sat down on the chair by Liz who was still out cold. Smiling, he brushed the ruddy coloured hair out of her face and sighed gently. 'I guess I can't be her father...' He thought some, sighing out.
Twitching, Liz looked up at Avery and blinked a bit, her eyes portraying her want to sleep more. "G'morning Ave... Why are you up this early?" She asked groggily.
"Elizabeth, it's noon." He said gently, laughing some at her expression.
"Noon? Wha - ?" Liz blinked, slowly getting up, grunting a bit as usual from her back. "It can't be noon already..."
"Why can't it?" Avery asked, sitting down by her and watching her groan a bit.
"Because tomorrow Jazz is taking me to see Jordan and Ashleigh when we get back to the states... And I'm so nervous... They're about to graduate college. Why the hell would they want to see me?" She grumbled, stretching and getting up to go wash her face in the mirror.
"I thought you were really fond of those two... Besides you're like a sister to them both. I bet they'd enjoy the visit. They haven't seen you in two years, so you never know." He replied, watching her walk around, gathering bits of clothing.
Before long, Liz had disappeared into the room bathroom and appeared only minutes later in her j-rock clothes. "I'm gonna miss Japan... I wanna come back some day." She said, smiling softly out the window.
"I'll bring you back as soon as you're done with whatever the hell that insane robot is dragging you into..." He sighed, looking out the window at the parking lot. "I think I'm ready to get out of here worse than you are kid." Before he could say anything else a pillow smacked him in the face.
"Bakani..." Liz sighed some and laughed lightly as her Uncle stood up and glared at her. "Don't call me a kid, Avery..." She sneered, putting great emphasis on his full name which caused him to growl slightly. She only laughed then began fluffing up her hair. "We leave tonight..."
"Tonight... Yeah we do. We'll go on my plane, that way we can get Jazz off the ground without having to worry about security and what not." Avery said, packing up some of Liz's things. "I want this to take as little time as possible."
"And I want it to take all the time in the world. I'm so nervous!" Liz squealed to herself.
After a few hours of signing papers and saying their goodbyes to locals, they got in the Solstice and drove to the airport. Pulling up Liz sighed, but Jazz did as well. "What's wrong Jazz?" She questioned softly, looking at the radio.
"Nothing, don't worry about me." He replied, some reassurance in his voice, but Liz could only half believe it, and yet still nod, not wanting to bug him.
Once on the plane, she dozed off, not wanting to even think about later.
-Before her was an open field and the devastation there was horrible. She could only cry at the sight of the thousands of massacred bodies, families killed together and left to bleed to death. A ways in front of her, stood a large robot. She couldn't see who it was, but the feeling she got from the thing before her frightened her. When it turned, her arm quivered and her mind raced. It was Starscream and he was after her AGAIN. Looking around, she saw Jazz before her, his body torn to shreds. "Jazz!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.-
Screaming, she awoke and Avery was over her, his eyes wide. "Elizabeth are you okay?! What's wrong? What were you dreaming that made you scream so loud?!"
Wiping her face she looked off and shook her head. "Just... Just a really bad dream Ave. Don't worry... Sleeping on planes does that to me..." She muttered, looking out the window. "How much longer Ave?"
"Only half an hour... You should sleep the rest of the ride..." Ave crooned gently, looking down at Liz who just sighed and closed her eyes, readjusting in her seat.
Soon she was asleep, but when she opened her eyes, she was back in San Diego.
Getting off the plane, she looked around and took in a deep breath. 'The ocean smells so good this time of year...' She thought, looking around the scene and smiling gently. Walking further into the airport, she sighed and sat down, only to have Avery walk over a few minutes later and smile at her.
"Dear, it's time for you to head off to Tulsa..." He said softly, looking down at his niece with fondness. "you have the credit card in your name, take care and do everything to stay safe..." He added with a gentle tone.
"I will Ave..." Liz said, getting up to hug Avery tight. "We'll go to Japan again... But for now, I'll call you when I get to Tulsa." She added, and Avery nodded.
Walking out with her bags, she looked at the Solstice and opened the back seat door and set her bags in the car, climbing into the Driver seat and buckling up. "Jazz, I'm just gonna put on some sunglasses and sleep... Remember to please obey speed limits..."
A chuckle came from the radio. "I told you I'd protect you ba – Liz. So just go ahead and sleep. Make sure you aren't drooling anywhere." He joked, chuckling and turning on her cd. He pulled out of the parking lot and their journey began to Tulsa.
After a few hours, Liz woke up and looked at the road, trying to see where they are. "Jazz... What state are we in...?"
"New Mexico... The border of it. We'll be in Tulsa in about three hours." Jazz rumbled softly, obviously still in distress about something.
"Jazz... Seriously what's wrong..." Liz begged, leaning against the steering wheel and musing slightly. "You've been acting like something is off and I'd really like to know what it is. I care..."
"It's nothing. Really. Besides, even if you know you really couldn't help." He muttered through the radio, only to turn on Liz's slow music and sigh gently. "It's just difficult... that's all I'll say." He added, before completely tuning out of the conversation and just finishing the drive.
Sighing, Liz closed her eyes and just slept the rest of the trip, not even wanting to bother with it until she had to now. The only thing she needed to worry about was seeing the twins, at their college. 'Five bucks says Avery already called them...' She thought, before fully falling asleep.
Another bad dream and a few hours later, they came to a stop outside some apartments and Jazz jerked a bit to wake up Liz who looked at the dashboard as she woke up and grumbled. "Can you not do that again Jazz?"
"Sorry... I just don't know how to wake you up when you're dreaming..." He muttered through the speakers.
Looking up, Liz saw the apartment before her and 'eep'ed a little, looking around cautiously. Before she could move, someone flew against the window.
"LIZ!" the voice screamed just as Liz did and flew toward the passenger door, or rather out since someone else had opened it. She was caught quickly by someone and squeaked, automatically clinging to that person's neck.
"WHAT THE HELL GUYS?" She screamed, looking at the twins. "Jordan you know better than to scared the crap out of me and, HOLY HELL Ashleigh what the heck is going through your minds?!" Looking at the two blonde hair green eyed twins, she couldn't help but smile. "God I missed you guys..." She sighed out and hugged both the boys her her.
"We figured it'd be fun to mess with you. Avery said you're a bit twitchy from sleeping so much." Jordan said, grinning at his cousin. "It's all in fun."
Ashleigh nodded and smiled before looking at Liz and blinking. "Did your arm hit me? Cause something heavy did and it hurt like hell!" He laughed and hugged Liz again.
"Shut up you two. Geeze." She laughed, getting up and following the two of them inside their apartment only to stop dead in her tracks when she got in. In front of her were two new guys she'd never seen before. All she could tell was that they were twins too.
"Oh yeah! Matt, James! This is our cousin Elizabeth Shardon." Jordan said, grinning and giving Liz a small push forward.
Bowing, she didn't look at either one of them, her cheeks bright pink. "Ohiyo goseimous." She said softly, looking at the ground.
All the boys looked at each other with a weird look and then back at Liz. "Meaning what?" The all asked at once only to laugh, then go silent, waiting for the answer.
"It means hello... I was in Japan for four months... Sorry, it's a habit now." She said softly, smiling some at her cousins who smiled back. "You really have no idea how happy I am to see you two... It's been two years... too long."
The boys nodded and smiled, hugging her once more. Matt, the new twin with slightly longer black hair, was watching Liz with his green eyes the entire time. When Liz had finally gotten comfortable on the couch, listening to their stories, he took a move and sat beside her, smiling gently before listening in to the main conversation. Looking sideways at her, he smiled but his cheeks, which gave him away were even a bit pink.
