Origins: Bumblebee

Chapter 7: A Good Spark-Finding Jazz

Although he usually preferred the sound of silence today Bumblebee didn't care what he heard as long as it was loud and deafening. He sat in his usual seat in the back of the bar, nursing a cube of high-grade. He ignored the curious stares of the bartender, no doubt wondering why he was there again and merely continued sipping. His thoughts were, as they had been recently, heavy. For the first time in a very long time he found himself doubting his choice of work. Over the years he had gotten used to seeing the off-lined frames lying there in their slumped over, completely still positions. He never paid attention to the energon pooling on the floor or running in rivulets down their frames. He did, however, see them while he was in recharge or when he least expected it. He could still hear their muffle screams and cries along with the sound of parts of their frames falling off. He recalled their names and the names of their families. With a start he suddenly realized that he was cursed; doomed to spend the rest of his life wandering the world with the memories of those that he had killed haunting him. He shoulders slumped and he got up, exiting the bar then heading towards his ship. He needed to go to the planet Lyon and pick up some much needed supplies.

Two Days Later

There were many war orphans on Lyon due to the fact that it was right in the middle between Cybertron and Kaon. One of their war orphans, a young mech named Jazz, was running towards the docks as fast as he could. Glancing anxiously behind him he saw that he was still being pursued by a particularly viscous gang.

"Hey, orphan! If you're smart you'll stop running so we can get this over with!"

Jazz didn't take the time to reply but instead speeded up. He had no desire to get beat up again. Apparently having a rather strange looking gray frame in this neighborhood guaranteed you getting beaten up twice weekly. He resisted checking over his shoulder to see if his pursuers were catching up and focused his attention on the docks in front of him. If he could just reach it then he could easily find a hiding place to wait until the gang got bored and left. After desperately looking around Jazz ducked into a ship just in time to avoid getting caught. He was fixing to get off when it suddenly occurred to him that this was his chance. He could hide on this ship and leave Lyon for good. No one would miss him if he left and hopefully by the time anyone noticed that he was on the ship they would be so far away that they would just drop him off on the nearest planet. He tiptoed through the ship and quickly located one of the cargo bays. He stepped inside, hiding behind a particularly large crate. He crouched down and made himself as comfortable as possible. He was going to be here awhile.

Bumblebee knew that he had a stowaway even before he reached his ship. His security systems had all been re-wired so that the information was sent to him as well as the ship's main computer. He almost activated the security system but decided not to. More than likely it was just a bot trying to escape from this planet. As long as they didn't destroy anything he didn't really care. Besides, it was another week's traveling to reach the Bassan Galaxy which was where he happened to be going and he could always use the company.

He entered the ship and went straight to the main deck. It didn't take long for him to fire up the engines and head out into space. He kept the ship on a steady course for about an hour while turning down the heating systems several degrees every few minutes. After another hour of this Bumblebee turned the autopilot function on and headed for the cargo bays. After reaching the one where the stowaway was hiding he opened the door and stepped inside. Lying on the floor behind one of the many crates he found a brown mech curled up in a vain attempt to keep himself warm. Bumblebee bent down, gathering the bot in his arms then straightened. He walked to the med-bay where he carefully placed the unconscious bot on one of the empty berths then busied himself looking for a thermal blanket. Finally finding one he put it on top of his mysterious guest and checked to make sure that he was merely in emergency stasis. After determining that he was Bumblebee sat down in a chair at the foot of the berth and waited.

He stayed in the med-bay for almost an hour before a soft groan informed Bumblebee that his guest was now awake. He rose and walked over to the berth. "Good, you're awake."

"Who are you?" the bot asked weakly.

Highly amused Bumblebee raised an optic ridge and said, "I think I should be the one asking the questions seeing as how you are on my ship but I will answer your question first. I'm Bumblebee."

"Jazz," the brown bot said.

"Interesting name. Care to tell me what you're doing here, Jazz?"

"I wanted off of Lyon," Jazz replied.

I knew it! Bumblebee thought triumphantly then chuckled as he said, "Can't say as I blame you. I'd want off that backwater planet if I live there. No offense," he added as an afterthought.

"None taken," Jazz assured him.

"So, Jazz, whatever am I going to do with you?" Bumblebee looked thoughtfully at the stowaway then brightened as he thought of something. "Since you stowed away on my ship I really should turn you over to the authorities," he smiled as Jazz suddenly looked very frightened then continued. "But I just happen to need someone like you. So if you help me then I won't turn you in and I will drop off at whichever planet you want me to. Deal?"

After considering his options, which were few, Jazz nodded and said, "Deal."

A/N: 3 reviews please!

Ok since Black Friday and Thanksgiving are coming up more than likely another chapter won't get posted until Saturday. That is not guaranteed, however, but not very likely.

Also, yes I know that Jazz isn't 'brown' but I want him to be brown for right now but I will change his color later.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!