Hello again everyone. Please accept my apology for not updating until now. Work has been….well let's call it demanding. But let me say Happy Summer! Finally! I live in Maine so summer is a big deal for us since it's normally very cold. And this year, with the summer, comes TF3 and I'm going to throw a fit if I don't get to go see it soon. How many of you have seen it? Anyway, on with the story.
The trip home was a tedious one. Jazira would frequently have to stop and use her tail to reposition Optimus on her back so he wouldn't slide off.
She sighed with relief as the warm lights of her home came into view through the trees. She stepped through the massive doorway and snapped her wings open to shake some of the water off. Rain water ran off her body onto the floor and her scales glittered brilliantly against the lights.
She snaked her head down toward the floor and eyed her car. She hated to do any damage to it but Optimus needed help and she needed to have more floor space so she could lay him down. Any damage done could be fixed later.
She used the tip of her nose to push the car to the other side of the room.
Once the floor was clear she crouched down and used her wings to shimmy Optimus onto the floor. She looked him over carefully. Now that she had better lighting the extent of the damage was visible. There was hardly an inch on the Autobot leader's body that wasn't damaged, burnt, or covered with mud.
She was relieved to see that the crack in Optimus's helm was not a large one. But the gaping hole below his chest plates continued to spill energon.
She didn't know much about the way Optimus's body worked, but she was certain that if his energon levels were to become too low, he would not survive.
She morphed back into her human form and touched Optimus's face.
"Optimus," she said softly, "Can you hear me?" Optimus's optics flickered slightly but that was the only response she received.
She bit her lip, nearing panic. She had to do something, quickly. He was fading fast.
She desperately tried to remember what Lennox had told her about how the Transformers worked, how they lived.
"They are a lot like us" His voice echoed in her head. "Just like us, they have a single source of life: Their spark. If their spark goes out, they pass on."
That was it!
She bolted over Optimus's arm, clamored up the side of his torso, and climbed onto his chest. From there she slid into his chest plates. His spark, normally bright, strong, and pulsing, was barely flickering before her. In the back of Jazira's mind she thought it reminded her of a candle's flame, ready to go out from lack of oxygen.
He had mere minutes left.
"Come on Optimus," she said "Stay with me."
She placed her hands on his spark. Closing her eyes, she focused her power and her energy.
During the many years she had spent alone, she'd stumbled on her ability to transfer some of her energy to others. She hoped it worked for Optimus.
It was his only chance.
She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes at the uncomfortable sensation of her energy leaving her body. But she continued to give it. She had to get Optimus stabilized, no matter how much of her strength it took.
After several minutes she felt Optimus shift below her. She opened her eyes and ceased the flow of energy.
Optimus's spark flared brighter and stronger. She smiled, satisfied.
She crawled out of Optimus's chest plates, careful not to step on anything that appeared damaged. Her legs trembled slightly. The sudden loss of energy was a shock to her body.
She poked her head from between his chest plates and her heart leapt with joy at the sight before her.
Optimus's optics were online and shining the most beautiful blue she'd ever seen.
Her happiness was short lived however as she watched Optimus struggle with the pain of his injuries.
She jumped off Optimus and onto the floor. She approached the puddle of energon beside her and eyed the wound. The energon seemed to be pouring from a line that had been completely severed when Megatron had impaled him with the staff.
Hoping that was the route to most of Optimus's problems, she turned and ran to the back door.
Optimus did not notice her go. He fought against the urge to groan in pain. He was vaguely aware of his processor flashing warnings of damage. He already knew that he was desperately low on energon and still continuing to lose it. But he was too weak to help himself. The boost of energy Jazira had given him was enough to keep him going for a little longer, but if he kept losing energon he would soon be too low to stay online.
Just as that thought crossed his processor, Jazira returned from the back with a large sheet of metal, a welder, sunglasses, and a measuring tape.
She deposited all but the measuring tape and the sunglasses onto the floor beside Optimus. She set the sunglasses on top of her head and patted Optimus on one of his massive fingers as she approached the gaping hole in his torso once again. Carefully, she wrapped the measuring tape around one end of the broken energon line to measure how big it was. Optimus's body twitched in pain at the touch.
"Sorry Optimus," Jazira said. "Almost done."
She finished her measurements, went to the sheet of metal lying on the floor, and marked it.
She transformed into a smaller dragon, no bigger than she was in human form, and used the same technique she had used in her battle with Megatron to superheat her claws. She scraped one claw along the marks on the sheet until she had the perfect cut-out. She brushed the scrap metal aside, opened her mouth, and unleashed a torrent of flame onto the metal. She used the heat of the fire to warp and bend the metal until a perfectly shaped, make-shift pipe lay before her. To finish, she flapped her wings, sending the air current toward the pipe, quickly cooling it.
She transformed into her human form and approached the wound again, carefully sliding each end of the pipe around each severed end of the energon line. It was a perfect fit.
She stepped back and thought for a moment. She knew she had to weld the pipe in place, and that worried her. Optimus was already in massive amounts of pain and blasting his worst injury with a welder would be agonizing. But she really had no choice. If she didn't weld the pipe in place it would fall off the moment Optimus moved.
She approached Optimus's face again. His optic covers were shut tightly and his face plates were tense with pain. She placed a hand tentatively on him and his optic covers snapped open. It truly was the most dazzling blue she'd ever seen.
"How you holding up?" She asked him.
He opened his mouth to speak but seemed to struggle with the words. He was still disoriented from the blow to the head.
"Losing…..energon." He managed to slur. His baritone voice swept over her. Fantastic eyes and a powerful voice…she made a mental note to have more conversations with Optimus once she got him stronger.
"I'm working on that," She said as she stroked her hand up and down the dirty metal. "But I have to use a welder to stop it completely."
Optimus's optics seemed to search Jazira's eyes.
"I'll be as quick as I can but you have to stay still," she said. "If you move I might cause more damage." Optimus blinked weakly before turning his head to look up at the ceiling, preparing himself. Jazira gave Optimus a reassuring pat before turning and jogging to the kitchen.
She returned moments later with a bucket of ice water. She set the bucket on the floor beside her work space beside the partially repaired energon line.
She pulled her sunglasses over her eyes, picked up the welder, and turned it on. Optimus tensed at the sound.
"Try to relax Optimus," she said gently. "I promise I'll make this as quick as I can." Optimus relaxed a bit and Jazira set to work.
The searing flames from the welder scorched the wound and Optimus clenched his fists and groaned in pain. Jazira cringed as she worked. She hated to cause him pain.
"It's ok Optimus," she soothed. "Let it out, it's alright." Optimus groaned again. Jazira continued to talk Optimus through the whole process. She reminded him that she was almost done and that everything would be alright.
Finally, she finished her welding and looked over her work. There were no leaks and everything was tidy. The metal glowed bright red. Optimus's pain tolerance began to push past its limit. He groaned desperately, body shaking. Jazira made a mad dash for the bucket of water.
"It's ok Optimus," she soothed. "Here, this should help." She lifted the bucket, tilted it, and slowly poured the water on the hot metal. Steam erupted from the pipe as it hissed and cooled.
It was a huge relief for Optimus and his cooling vents released a gush of air in a massive sigh.
Jazira smiled and walked to his face once again. Gratitude filled his optics. Jazira's smile grew warmer and she went to put the welder and other tools away. When she returned Optimus caught a glimpse of the deep gash in her thigh.
"You're….injured." he said to her. Jazira raised an eyebrow.
"Look who's talking." She said with an amused grin. She looked down at her leg and saw the bloody cut. "Oh yeah, so I am." She said casually. She really had forgotten that Megatron had managed to slash her. She took a moment to examine the gash. It would need cleaning and stitches. She rolled her eyes and swore under her breath.
She walked into her bedroom and returned with a large red bag. She grabbed the chair by the desk and dragged it over to Optimus. She grumbled as she sat down.
She reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. She'd need a heavy duty germ killer for this job. She unscrewed the bottle, took a deep breath, and poured the clear liquid into the open wound.
She set the bottle on the floor as her leg exploded with pain. She clenched her fists, shut her eyes, and hissed with pain. She tried to remind herself that Optimus had just suffered double this amount of pain moments ago. She had no right to complain.
"If it's burning its working!" she shouted at herself.
She reached into her bag and removed a pile of gauze. She used the entire stack to thoroughly clean the dirt and grime out of the gash before reaching back into the bag and extracting a needle and nylon thread. She stitched her skin back together, covered the sutures with bandages, and cleaned up the mess.
When she returned from disposing of the bloody gauze, she returned to Optimus's side. Optimus had been watching Jazira tend to herself with interest. She clearly knew how to take care of herself as well as others.
"How are you feeling now?" she asked him. "Do you feel any of your strength returning?"
Optimus blinked wearily.
"It is difficult to say." he mumbled "Tired..."He winced as his still-open wound sent fresh waves of pain through his body. "Weak."
Jazira could hear every part of Optimus's complex body working to try to repair itself. She was sure that some of his more minor injuries would indeed repair on their own. But others would not.
She placed a hand on his face.
"Just rest then," she said. "Conserve your strength." Optimus seemed to consider her suggestion briefly before another, more powerful wave of pain lanced through his body. He groaned in discomfort and closed his optic covers. Jazira stroked his face in an attempt to comfort him.
"Easy Optimus," she soothed. "Just take it easy. Please try to rest." A few moments passed in silence as Optimus tried to start a much needed recharge cycle. Jazira hummed a soft song to help him relax. Soon Optimus had slipped into a deep recharge.
Jazira sighed with relief knowing that rest would help Optimus greatly. She remained beside Optimus for a few moments before turning and limping to the phone. Now that her leg had been stitched, she was more aware of it and how uncomfortable it was to walk on.
She turned on the television and dialed the number for Lennox. She stood impatiently as the line rang multiple times with no answer. She was about to terminate the call when Lennox's face appeared on the screen.
Jazira nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight before her. Lennox's face was covered with dirt and a bloody gash ran down his temple. He was panting heavily. An automatic weapon was still in his hand. He had clearly been fighting.
"Will?" Jazira said. "What the hell happened?"
Lennox eyed Jazira and noted how dirty she appeared and the bandage that was wrapped around her leg.
"You first." He demanded.
Jazira thought of insisting that he explain but she decided against argument.
"Optimus was attacked by Megatron and several other Decepticons," she said. "He's alive, but not doing so well."
Lennox's eyes widened in horror.
"They spared him?" he asked. Jazira snorted with amusement.
"No," she said bitterly. "Megatron was about to cut him in half when I got there." She crossed her arms and shifted all her weight to her uninjured leg. "I managed to get them to retreat back into space, but I'm sure they'll be back again."
Lennox closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was clear that he'd been through a lot that night. He lowered his hand and looked back at Jazira.
"It was a trap." He sighed. Jazira gave him a questioning look. "We were attacked here in Diego Garcia." He explained. "They wiped out our cargo planes and took off; and now I know why."
Rage flashed through Jazira's veins as she realized what Lennox was thinking.
Both attacks that night had been to ensure that Optimus would be killed with no interference. The Decepticons had tried to wipe out any chance of NEST reaching Optimus to back him up or get him back to base. No planes were left functioning that could accommodate his size.
They had set out to eliminate any chance of Optimus surviving.
And they almost succeeded.
Hooray! Another chapter down! I figured that since you've already seen the sarcastic/humorous side of Jazira, as well as the ferocious fighting side, why not show the mother hen side too? Hope you guys enjoyed this one. Keep rating! =D