Note: Yep, still going strong! Looks like summer might actually be productive.
Disclaimer: Don't own them, Hasbro does, you know the drill.
Flames: One word – bucket.
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In the morning, Liz rose to find a gift on her bed. It had been carefully wrapped and had a little heart for a card. Opening it, there was a little from each boy, saying to come back or that she's always welcome. Inside, there was a bright red and gold kimono, with bright blue stitches to bring a river to life.
"Those boys always know what to do to make me feel loved..." She muttered, getting and putting it on slowly, along with all the other piece of materials.
Pulling her hair up again, she began to pack up what little she'd taken in and moved it out to the car, gently packing and finally finishing about two hours later, having taken a breakfast break before they got on the road.
Getting in the car, she buckled up and looked at the dash. "You ready...?"
With a shudder, the car started and took off like it had the day before, gliding gently over the pavement as they began their journey to Michigan.
'Avoiding me...' Liz thought, looking at the steering wheel and grumbling, putting her shades over her eyes as she relaxed, the silk around her comforting and cool.
After a good hour of rolling, she awoke after they'd hit a slight bump and looked at the surroundings. 'Obviously out of Oklahoma. He must've been speeding...'
"Jazz...speed limits are made for a reason." She muttered, shifting little in her seat, but keeping it so that she looked as if she were driving.
Eventually she felt the gears shift and his speed lower some. Without saying anything else, she just fussed with her hair and sighed out. Looking down at the floor for a second and then back up.
"Jazz, you also made me a promise..." She poked the wheel before her and leaned back as he sighed.
Without any warning he sped up again and then his voice rang all over the car. "Liz, I know you want to know but you really won't be able to help me in any way at all...And it's very complex because as autobots we never feel like earthlings feel..."
Groaning she put her head on the wheel. He was really starting to piss her off.
"Jazz just freaking tell me already!" At this she thought about slamming her fist and then remembered how heavy it was and stopped.
Quietly, his voice picked back up and he sighed. "Okay, here it goes...Liz, I may not be an earthling like you but I've learned from being here about how feeling are...And well, honestly Liz, by just...watching over you, I feel...I don't know what it's called, but I feel a certain twinge in my gears, like a tightening but everything still running okay..."
Looking at the car with a puzzled face, she blinked and put a hand on the wheel, her shades falling off.
"Jazz, are you saying...you like me..." She whispered, looking down gently. But before her trance could contain her, she heard the song he had on.
Beautiful...like the summer rain to wash away the winter strain, Beautiful...like the joy that comes when the love you've longed for has just begun...
Sighing out, she could only stare at the car before her, feeling her heart twist in the gears. He was right, she couldn't help him, not unless some crazy idea turned things in their own favor.
"I told you." He muttered, his speed remaining constant, but the tone in his voice distant.
"You did. But your feelings aren't in vain, I promise..." She muttered gently, leaning back in the seat and resting her head on the headrest. Gently, her fingers moved to hold tight to the arm rest. 'How awkward...'
The rest of the ride was quite, due to the previous conversation, she slept through Tennessee, but Jazz remembered and slowly dialed the number.
"Optimus, Jazz reporting. We've just entered Tennessee. So far no sight of Starscream..." He muttered and then waited for a reply.
"Jazz, good job. Now just make it to Michigan without her getting caught and we'll figure things out from there." The lower voice replied.
"Yessir. Jazz out." He sighed, cutting off the communication and sighed, his gaze on the road, but also on the young girl he must protect.
Without a hitch, the ride continued, Liz only twitching every now and then when they hit a bump, one time her left hand even accidentally hit the side and left a small dent in the interior, which caused a wince from the bot and a grunt from Liz.
Opening her eyes, Liz saw the lake beside her and then the cloudless sky. She sat up more and looked at Jazz and the dent she'd accidentally left in his door.
"Oh gosh! Jazz I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that at all!" she exclaimed, looking at him with a worried face.
He just laughed and smiled inwardly. "Don't worry about it Liz, things happen when a car jerks around. It'll pop out when I transform anyway..." He retorted, his voice rather happy compared to the tone it had at the beginning. "We'll be meeting up with Optimus and Ironhide soon. So be prepared for an odd evening..." He muttered, picking up just a little speed since he was under the limit for once.
Laughing gently, she looked down at him and muttered to herself. 'Don't you think it's already been a little weird...?"
Slowly, he came to a stop at a huge open field where the front of an eighteen wheeler and a large Sierra sat, facing the road.
"Optimus, Ironhide." Jazz muttered and adjusted, opening the door to the car so as to let Liz out and show his comrades the new fleshling that Starscream so diligently fought for.
Slowly, she stepped out and looked at the two cars. Gradually she decided that the two were just like Jazz, but waited as her ideas died, since the two new bots slowly decided to transform.
They were HUGE compared Jazz, It took them quite a bit longer to transform as well. But once they had, it was almost frightening how large they got. And once finished changing, each crouched and looked directly at her. Even Jazz had transformed.
At once, Optimus decided to scan her and then tilt his head. Ironhide did the same and looked at Jazz with a questioning glance.
"What is it that you do for a living...?" Optimus asked, looking down t her for a second.
"I uh, I work on cars for a living. Technology is one of my many hobbies. Ask Jazz. He watched me fix up quite a few of them in Tokyo..." Liz stuttered some in her speech, obviously still effected by sheer size of the bots before her.
Slowly, she backed up to Jazz and leaned against him gently, grumbling to herself some. Looking up, Jazz smiled down at her and then looked at Optimus.
"Apparently her skills are worthy of collection..She was able to rebuild many complex cars, and even input her own technology. It's no surprise they want her now. But they knew before she traveled to Japan." Jazz reported, his gaze lowering to Liz as a cue for her to speak.
"R-right, I saw the jet, Starscream, at a US air base. I didn't think anything of it then, or rather did know what to think of it. But the last time he attacked I was put in the hospital. That's why I'm thirty percent metal. Even part of my heart had to be encased..." With a sigh, she sat down on Jazz's foot.
Optimus looked from the girl to Jazz then Ironhide, his face scrunched up in curiosity. A frustrated sigh escaped with a metallic hiss as he put his head in his hand and grumbled.
"Then we must keep her with us. The base is clear. We'll have to retrieve the piece I took the day Megatron chose his fate...And have her try with that..."
Looking up at her companion, Liz's face showing clear confusion.
"I'm going where and why...?"
Laughing gently, Jazz put his claw gently on her shoulder, in a reassuring motion and smiled. "We're going to the base, where the Autobots remain hidden when we must. Optimus would like you to try and mimic the power in the All Spark, to see if you would be able to help against the Decepticons..."
Blinking and looking at them all, she shook her head, laughing gently before throwing her hands up in fury.
"You want me to replicate ALIEN TECHNOLOGY?! I am a HUMAN, say it with me now, hu-man. We don't do that stuff! We just try and perfect our own!"
Getting up, without even thinking straight, she began to walk toward the road, grumbling about aliens and ignorance and no way in hell.
Jazz took one step and stopped her gently, his claw in front of her. He watched as his charge's fingers twitched into a fist, her left arm twitching more than the right.
"Elizabeth...We really need your help. We can't keep fighting this wars alone, especially when our comrades are so far and wide apart...Please help us." He whispered, looking down at her with a pleading glance, the tone in his metallic voice almost desperate.
"Do you have any idea how much I don't care right now. I don't want to be dragged into this! I'd rather have my whole body turned to metal than have to try and decipher something I NEVER would be able to!" She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Show me where the bloody base is and give me a comfortable environment..."
Nodding, he transformed back and turned to Optimus, opening his door for Liz.
"We're going to head that way boss. She's agreed, but let me handle it for now..." He muttered, revving up his engine and starting off toward the mountainous area, the song inside mellow again, and by the same band but a quieter song.
"Heh, Trading Yesterday...Elizabeth...Sucking up to me again I see...Listen Jazz..." She murmured, turning the volume down. "I'm not keen on this at all. It's not what I want to do at the moment. Because most of me is scared that I will end up all metal..."
"I'm not going to say nothing will happen...Because we can't predict e future like that. But, I will do my best to keep you safe. I swear on my life..." He mused, the music turning up only slightly. "With how I feel Liz...I'd do anything. I swear."
"I believe you Jazz, I never doubted you. I just don't need any more stress...You know that as well as anyone else."
The further they headed down the road, the higher Liz's senses went, her mind racing over all the thoughts, but mostly over how she would try and duplicate this technology. It was alien. It was strange. And apparently so powerful it could scare giant robots.
Once the time had passed, like the scenery, and they had reached the base, Jazz drove in slowly, clearing security and droning about how low budget they were. Once they were far enough back, he opened his door, gently letting Liz out and transforming.
Looking up, she could only go wide eyed at how incredibly high the ceiling was. And looking around she also noticed something that was going to upset her very soon if they wanted her to work.
"No work station...No nothing. JAZZ. Please..."
"I'll be right back, just hang tight." He muttered, transforming and speeding out of the base, many intents in his mind, but mostly making sure he got the right equipment, which was every tool in the store.
While he was gone, Liz got up, looking around and running her hand over the walls, their tables, which were huge, and other things she found.
'It's huge...it's grand...it's amazing as well..." She muttered, walking back to where there was empty space and laying down, her eyes closing gently as the cool ground relaxed her entire body.
Eventually, her companion returned and set up a station rather quickly, his mind busy with making sure everything was comfy for her. When the last tool was set down, he looked around before spotting her on the ground and blinked.
"Liz, uhm...why are you on the ground? It's not clean at all..." Jazz inquired, walking over to her slowly.
"I am relaxing. I practically live in garages, why would I care about a little dirt...?" She asked, smiling at him gently. "I mean, it calmed me down, relaxed me. I'm not mad anymore but I do want to be relaxed before I get to work..."
Relieved, he smiled and nodded, gesturing to the work station. "It's all prepared for you. I can even go get you some food if you need."
"Nah, don't worry about it any. I just need to zone in and I'll be fine. When I'm hungry you'll know." She replied, looking up at her guardian as he sighed and sat down beside the work table.
Slowly, he pulled out a small piece of something that looked like a metal rock. Looking over it he looked to her and her look of curiosity.
"This is a piece of the all spark. The only piece that remained after a young man named Sam shoved it into Megatron's core and ended the war four years ago...This is what we need you to harness the power of..."
Looking at the piece, she gently took it from Jazz, suddenly remembering that things seeming small to him were huge to her, the weight a little more than she expected.
After setting it down on the table, she grumbled and looked at it, pulling the fake skin off her arm and shoulder. Touching it, she jumped as a spark hit her and made her arm twitch before she could regain control.
"Well that explains why they want it so bad...and why they're so afraid of it." She muttered, grabbing a chipper and chipping off a small piece, before looking down at her arm.
Grabbing a microscope, she set the small piece under it and tilted her head some, the metal twitching slightly and sparking toward the metal. Slowly she was able to manipulate the ions in the metal enough to isolate them.
"Jazz...go get me two double cheese burgers...I'm so hungry..." Liz muttered, after horus bent over the piece of the cube.
"I'll be back soon then..." He replied, transforming and taking off toward the city.
"I'll be glad when I'm done with this...It's not easy trying to recreate, isolate, and manipulate retarded ions that can control things...I don't know what I'll harness the power in either..." She continued, though she knew Jazz had already left.
Suddenly, as she was about to lay back and doze off, the base opened and the big rig drove in, transforming slowly into Optimus.
"You know doing that slowly shows off how complex you are, but it's not really that impressive..." Liz muttered, looking up at him from her chair. 'Hell I'm tiny...'
Looking down at her, he blinked some and sighed out, only to look at the microscope and then the desk.
"Where is Jazz...? And have you figured it out yet...?" Optimus's deep voice rang all aroudn the cage, but isolated in some spots which made Liz jump.
"He's getting me food. So I can survive. And almost, but I have no idea what you want me to harness this power in...It's really difficult to find a surface that will transfuse with ions easily..."
Optimus looked down at her with an amused and yet obviously factual glance. Knowing she was right he thought for a moment.
"What about a crystal...? Would it be stable enough...?" He questioned, sitting down slowly beside her and sighing out. "Those are easy to find as well..."
Looking at the ions, she nodded softly. "I suppose it would work, but I would have to find the right kind...there are so many different ones...even a jewel would work...But if you can find me some genuine pieces of tungsten..I'll try and reform the ions..."
With a nod, Optimus looked around and then dialed who Liz could only expect to be Ironhide.
"Optimus to Autobots...We need tungsten, and soon. The fleshling has figured out a way to isolate the ions..."
A ring of about four different voices replied in acknowledgment and the search was on while Liz sat, waiting for her double cheese burger.