-Chapter 2- Validation is key Part I
"Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge." -Plato
"Good morning, Dani!" Jess smiled as she turned from the stove that was alive with coking food to look at her cousin. She was making a rather large breakfast, as she wanted to try and cater to everyone's personal taste in the house.
"Morning' Jess." Dani said as she stretched and yawned. Jess could hear some of her bones creaking and laughed a little to herself, as it seems Dani needs to work on stretching before doing strenuous activities. No matter how many times Jess tells her this though, she will never listen as Dani could be very stubborn when she wanted to be. Especially when it came to her health or her body, including things like her cloths and her hair.
"You're our guest you know" Dani yawned again while pouring herself a cup of coffee that Jess just brewed a few minutes ago "We are supposed to be serving you food, not the other way around."
"Oh posh" Jess laughed as she turned back around to continue cooking breakfast "It gives me something to do. You know I don't like being idle." She chuckled as she watched the eggs in the pan cook nicely. It was time to flip the pancake that was currently still in the pan though.
"True, true." Dani laughed as she sat down and grabbed a section of the local paper that was sitting on the table. Jess grabbed it from the porch earlier in the morning as she heard the paper bow toss in in the driveway as she woke up to do her normal morning stretches and routine.
"I'm surprised you're up this early, normally you are the last one awake." Jess commented with a smile on her face, she liked to tease Dani because she knew she could handle the light gestures thrown her way. Kade was one of the only ones who couldn't take a light joke, and sometimes he would take it as an insult rather than a small poke to have fun.
"Blades and I have early morning duty, I wouldn't be awake otherwise." She laughed while her eyes skimmed the paper lazily. Jess might have thought she wasn't even reading it, just skimming it if she didn't know Dani was a fast reader. She always has been that way, which makes her a surprisingly quick learner, if only she would read a cook book…
"Blades?" Jess asked while putting a plate of two pancakes, an egg, and a few sausage links in front of her cousin to eat before she goes on patrol. "That is your helicopter robot right?"
"Y-yup." Dani said taking a big bite of her breakfast, as Jess scolded her for it. She could choke on it, and Jess really did not feel like doing the Heimlich maneuver on her cousin.
Dani didn't speak through the rest of her meal, eating it rather quickly as Jess laughed and told her to slow down or she will get a stomach cramp later on. Dani laughed and said she hasn't changed at all, that she was still a nag, Jess only chuckle din reply as she continued to cook breakfast. After Jess wished her cousin a good patrol as Dani was out the door, the rest of the Burns family began to wake up and make themselves known as they slumped to the table.
The Chief sighed when he saw Jess making breakfast and tried to make her relax, but she was having none of it. She prefers to serve rather than be served, that was just who she was and how she was raised. Her father made sure she was given all the opportunities to be a good and polite person, and she took full advantage of it.
Graham was next to wake up to the smell of a fully cooked breakfast, and said his thanks as he sat next to his dad at the table. He ate with a sense of grace, unlike Kade who awoke next and rumbled a thank you as he scarfed down his food. Jess was sure he didn't even bother to taste it as he wolfed it down with such gusto, but that was Kade for you, you either love him or leave him.
Cody was the last one to drag himself out of bed, already up and eager to go to school. He was more like her at that age than he realized, ready to watch and learn and prepare for a future that will be grand. Eager to show the world what they were capable of when the opportunity arises to prove their worth. Though Dani was already gone by the time Cody was up, but he didn't seem to be too bothered by it. Jess knew the family made sacrifices for their job, but she was really hoping to have the whole family together for breakfast.
Kade left a little after Dani and said he was going to back to bed, as his patrol did not start till the late afternoon. Graham was needed to inspect a building on the island to make sure it was up to code, so he left while wishing Cody a good day at school.
Jess ate a smaller breakfast of toast with strawberry jam on it with a glass of orange juice on the side. She doesn't like to eat a lot in the morning or the afternoon, but once diner comes around after a long day at the hospital she will gladly eat her fill of food that is available. It seems like Cody is the same way, as he only ate a few pancakes and drank a glass of water.
"Uncle Charlie, you guys are in need of some groceries. When is the last time you went shopping?" Jess laughed as she began looking through the cabinets and the fridge when she finished eating her small breakfast. There wasn't a whole lot of fresh ingredients to be found, mostly premade stuff and quick snacks that can be made on the fly.
"Well… I-uh." The chief coughed while rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous look on his face. That told Jess all she needed, it had to have been at least two weeks since the last time anyone went shopping. She didn't blame him too bad, but he has a big family of Heroes to feed, all of whom should be eating a proper diet of lots of proteins and carbs to keep them going energized throughout the day.
"Uncle Charlie!" Jess laughed in a mock surprised tone, as she grinned at him while closing the cabinets with a soft clink. She walked over and begun to pick up the dishes from the table and place them in the sink to be washed later, and she started to put away the leftovers after that was done.
The Chief just laughed at her picking on him, Jess hasn't changed one bit over the few years she was gone. It made him wonder how his baby sister was doing, as she was just like Jess and the rest of their family, kept very busy with work. Maybe it was just a Burns family thing, having so much passion and love for what they do that it made it hard to keep in contact with family they don't see every day. It made him grateful that he came from a family of such dedicated people, he truly was blessed.
"That settles it." Jess huffed as she hung up that terribly ugly apron the Chief liked so much and smoothed out her red turtleneck. She also pulled up her jeans slightly, as they were falling a little uncomfortably below her waist. She also made a mental note to grab another apron while she was out, she hated the one Uncle Charlie had. "C'mon Cody, I'll drop you off and then go shopping for food." She said as she began to walk towards the garage.
"Shopping?" The Chief asked a little stunned she would suggest it as he tilted the newspaper away from his face. He read it around the time Jess started to clean the table up of the family's breakfast.
"Noble! How are we getting there?" Cody asked, excited at the idea of spending time with his cousin. He did not mean to ignore his Dads question, but he rarely got to see Jess and anytime she suggested time together it made him happy.
"In Heatwave, of course." She laughed and motioned for Cody to follow her out. It should have been obvious as to what vehicle she was taking.
"Uhm… Wouldn't you rather go in Chase?" The Chief said a little unsure if he even wanted her to use the bots at all. He was always against recreational use of the bots, but he knew once Jess had her mind set it was a rare occurrence to have it change.
"Don't you need your robot for today?" She asked as she stopped before fully leaving the kitchen, Cody barley stopping in time from bumping into her. "Dani took Blades out, and Graham took Boulder. I'm not sure going shopping with a bulldozer is the best route anyway, or a helicopter for that matter. No parking." She laughed and left the room before the Chief could give anymore protests to her little outing. She would be back before Kade needed Heatwave, and then she can get started on a new eating schedule for the family.
Cody followed close by her, asking all kinds of questions about her job and how she liked living on the mainland in California. She laughed at how excited he was, but she understood, it had been far too long since her last visit with the family on the small island.
"The mainland isn't so bad, but I prefer being here with you, Kid." Jess laughed and ruffled his hair as they approached the robots lined up in the garage. The only ones that were left anyway, Chase and Heatwave. She thought that Heatwave was the coolest looking one out of them all, he even had the best paint job out of the bots living there. This one was definitely her favorite robot of the bunch, by far the coolest looking anyway.
"Alright, Heatwave. Would you transform for me so I can take Cody to school?" She asked while looking up at the massive robot.
"Affirmative." He replied in a robotic toned voice. Their voices could use a little work, but they were still great none the less.
She marveled at how he transformed from robot to car with ease, and was amazed that human engineering could accomplish something like this. To her, it would seem impossible to create something as complicated as a transforming robot, yet here was one right in front of her… two actually. Four technically, but once one was a mold successfully made, making more wouldn't be too hard.
He opened the doors for herself and Cody to climb into, as Jess took the drivers side while Cody sat in the middle seat next to her with his bag clutched to his side. He looked at the little screen that had Heatwaves face with a small apologetic smile as Jess buckled into her seat. Unaware of the silent communication between the boy and the bot.
Once she pulled out of the garage and was on the main road, she smiled to herself as she watched the familiar terrain pass her by. "How do you like the bots?" Cody asked seemingly out of nowhere as Jess stopped at a red stoplight making sure she kept her eyes open for any dangers on the road.
"Truly amazing, I am impressed by their ability to transform so seamlessly." Jess said while patting the steering wheel gently. "This one is definitely my favorite, I love fire trucks." She laughed as she continued her driving as the light turned green.
"That's good. I think Heatwave likes you too, he hasn't been given you any trouble. He is always giving Kade a hard time." Cody laughed "He never really lets Kade drive either."
"If I was a car I wouldn't let Kade drive me either. That guy doesn't know the meaning of the words "slow down" and "easy on the clutch"" Jess snickered while making air quotes whole still gripping the wheel.
Cody was laughing now and holding his stomach at Jess' humor towards his older brother. He knows those two are very close and enjoys watching them pick on each other whenever they got the chance to make a small quip or joke. Kade always seemed to get offended though, but not Jess. It was a good trait to have, and seemed to run in the family.
Cody looked back to Heatwave and saw be was trying hard not to laugh at Jess' jokes either. It made him continue to wonder why Heatwave was cooperating with Jess, as even when he had to pretend to be a robot around Frankie or the Doc he was still reserved and unwilling to corporate in his own ways.
Maybe it was because Jess was asking, and not at all demanding. She asked Heatwave if he would be willing to do something rather than she demand him and expect him obey without question. Cody know its better to be asked to do something than demanded. When asked one can deny the request easier than being demanded to do it and feeling bad later on for saying no.
Jess was also very gentle when handling people and objects, as she said she was there to help and not hurt. She meant it when she talks about things like that, as she doesn't believe in violence or benevolent behavior that could result in someone's injury. Physically or emotionally.
"Alright, Kiddo, here we are. Be good and give me a call if you want me to come get you after." She said as she pulled Cody into a side hug and pat his arm before letting go.
"I will, thanks Jess. Thanks Heatwave." He said while giving his cousin a small squeeze back before he jumped out of Heatwave and onto the sidewalk. He waved and made his way into the school building, followed by his best friend Frankie who waved to Jess as well, Jess waved back until they were inside the school and she could no longer see them.
Jess pulled out her phone and saw it was still only around eight in the morning, so she had plenty of time to do her chores before Kade needed his robot back for patrol. The Chief was probably gone by now, so she would have freedom of the house when she got back. Kade wasn't one to protest to her cooking and cleaning for the family, so long as he didn't have to do it he wouldn't protest someone doing his chorse.
"Alright Heatwave, I just wanted to thank you for putting up with me this morning. Nobody else would, at least not to come with me to do chores. Cody might but that is because he doesn't know any better yet." She laughed as she drove on.
Heatwave did not mind going with her, which was weird even to him, as he would normally fight any human that tried to make him into just a service bot or a taxi. He did not feel that need with Jess though, and he had no idea why. Maybe it was because she was being so nice about dragging him out around the town.
"I'm surprised you don't mind my excessive chatter either, normally someone would have told me to put a sock in it at this point…" She said as she stopped at a red light.
Heatwave said nothing as he thought it was weird himself that he didn't tell her to be quiet, pretending to be a robot or no. He was not bothered by the least with her talking, it just showed how at ease she was around him and the other bots.
Normally people were afraid of them their first time seeing them, and he didn't blame them. The bots were like titans to the humans. They were much bigger and way more powerful than they could ever hope to be, so it made sense they had to pretend to be built by them to keep the idea of security that they were controllable.
Even if the idea made sense, that doesn't mean he has to like it. Supporting an idea and liking it are two very different things, a lesson Heatwave learned during his training on Cybertron. It has served him well as a leader to his team, and he was glad that it was working here on earth… even if it made him a little uncomfortable.
"You're a good listener, Heatwave. Thank you." She said as she pulled into the parking lot of the local grocery store. "I'll be a little bit Heatwave, if you don't mind waiting?"
She went to unbuckle her seatbelt, but Heatwave did it for her, he also opened the door for her as she giggled and called him a gentleman. Once she was out of his cab he just grumbled out a quick whatever to her giving him a compliment. He was just doing it to be nice to the family as payment for them always being nice to him. That was what he decided to go with, since she was nice he would be nice. No reason to make a big deal out of something small and insignificant , not like he felt anything else for the woman.
She was pretty, he would give her that. She didn't look a thing like the Burns family he knew, she had these beautiful almond shaped eyes that were a dark grey that reminded him nebulas he has seen during his space travels as a rescue bot for Cybertron first response. Her hair was also a jet black color, and had no waves or creases to it, unlick most of the women here on the island. Her genetic roots must come from a different origin, and he wanted to ask her where she got her appearances from.
He wanted to ask her about her medical training, and if she was born on the island why she left at all. He wanted to know what she thought of everything, of their home and of the bots. He wanted to know what she felt for him… and it upset him even more.
Why should he care what some human thinks of him? It doesn't matter in the grander scheme of things, and he could kick himself for even letting those thoughts creep into his processor. It had to have been a glitch, hopefully it would go away. They didn't have a medic on their team to fix something like that, and he would hate to call Optimus for something as trivial as a glitch.
He sighed to himself and looked at the time with his built in chronometer, she had been in that store for about forty-five minutes. That was a long time for Heatwave to just sit and do nothing, he preferred to keep his hands busy and help as much as he could. That was why he was a trained as a rescue bot and not a scout or spy. He hated being idle and doing nothing, it allowed his mind to wander to darker times he didn't want to think about anymore.
To keep his processor form going to dark places again, he thought about how he would need to clean his interior, as there was this weird itch forming between his seats again. It was probably from Kade eating inside him again, he always left crumbs and trash in his wake. He hated when the older Burns sibling did inconsiderate things like that and then did nothing to rectify the situation. It was one of his partners many flaws of personality, and no matter how many times Heatwave scolded him about it he just scoffed and denied he even did something wrong.
His processor began to betray him again as he thought that maybe if he played the robot shtick right he could convince her to clean out his seats and scuff out all these hard to reach places he couldn't get to on his own. He loved his sleek red paint job, and tried not to let his vanity show through to much as he tried to keep his gruff leader exterior up. It was a guilty pleaser he will not admit out loud if he could help it.
Her grip on his steering wheel was already gentle as she drove Cody to school, much different from the first time she drove him. The first time was sporadic and rushed as she tried to respond to emergencies as quickly as possible. She wasn't at all reckless, just not very gentle like she was earlier. She had a soft and easy grip as she drove, and each time she ran her hands down the wheel a little it was a fight not to shudder under her touch.
"Scrap…" he muttered to himself as he could feel his processor try and think about her more than he should have.
She was a human for Primus sake! A completely different species than he was, why was his processor thinking things like that? It must have been a glitch, he will look into it when he gets back to the firehouse, run a diagnostic on his systems to make sure everything was running correctly. If this was a serious glitch it could ruin his whole systems, and without a medic on his team they would have to wait for the one Optimus has to come and see. It might be too late to save him if it took to long to treat, and his team would have to find a new leader, and he would just fade from memory, and-
"Sorry that took so long." Jess said as she approached his cab with a cart full of grocery bags. "I ran into a few people I knew and started talking. Hope you didn't mind waiting?"
"No." it was a short answer as he opened the rear doors for her to place the food in, he was actually glad she pulled him out of his loop. No telling how long or how far his thoughts would have taken him.
As she loaded the groceries up he could feel every little touch she gave him, every little slide of her hand and stroke of her fingers. He wanted to shut off his nerve pathways so he didn't have to feel her hands on his seats but he couldn't bring himself to do it, even when some of the groceries were cold against him.
He checked his chronometer again and saw forty-five minutes jumped to about an hour and twenty five minutes. It would have upset him and he would have complained about how slow she was and how long he was just sitting there, but she was here now and they could head back to the firehouse now without any stops and that eased his temper a little, but he was still fuming about the potential glitch in his system.
"Alright. Last stop is home, thanks again Heatwave." She laughed as she pulled around the parking lot and out onto the main roads again. She patted the empty seat next to her as a gesture of good faith. "Technology is amazing, you know, but I get the feeling you are more than that."
Oh no, did he blow their cover somehow? Did he do or say something to make her question whether he was capable of emotions? Did he just screw things up between her and her family? What if she figured it all out and was going to blow up when they get back to the firehouse?
"I don't know if you understand me, but thank you for helping people here on the island, and for protecting my family when I can't be there." She smiled while looking at his face on the dashboard by the steering wheel.
He tried his hardest not to smile in return, as she placed her attention back on the road in front of her. It has never been this hard for him to pretend to be a robot to a human before… Sure he absolutely hates it and he doesn't like feeling fake like that, but this feels different. He feels like he is outright lying to her and it is starting to gnaw at him.
Heatwave has never been a very good liar, and he does not like lying to begin with. It's just another thing to add to the list of reasons he hates pretending to be a mindless machine. He can't return the gratitude this woman was showing him, he can't even crack a smile, or more realistically for him, just roll his eyes and grunt an angry "you're welcome".
Before he really had a grasp of how long his thoughts were racing he noticed they were back at the firehouse. Jess pulled Heatwave to a stop in the garage and opened his door. She began to pull her seemingly endless amount of bags from his back seat, as she had to make multiple trips from inside the house to his cab.
"Thanks again, Heatwave." She said while holding the last of her groceries and smiling exiting the room through the door that lead to the Burns family home.
Once she left the room he transformed and let out a breath he did not realize he was holding. What was with him, anyway? She was just a human like everyone else, a member of the Burns family to boot. She was well educated and trained to save people like the rest of her family.
She was like other humans, with long black hair that fell past her back when she let it hang loose like she did today. She wore it up yesterday, and he wondered why the human women didn't have their hair as long as she did. Maybe it was a convenience thing? It seemed like it would get in the way when times would get tough.
She had pale skin, like Dani and Chief Burns did, but hers had an interesting tint to it. It almost appeared to be pinker than the others, but that might be due to temperature changes or fluctuating heat within the human body. He knew enough about human anatomy to know a few things about that.
He was a rescue bot, after all, he had to know proper ways to care for the indigenous life he was sworn to protect. How much of an extreme temperature could they experience before perishing to the elements? What kind of atmospheric conditions are needed to keep them alive and healthy? He did his fair share of research on the internet, and was actual proud of himself for finding out the answers to those questions on his own.
"Yo, Heatwave!" Kade said as he came sauntering into the room, the sound of his voice pulled the bot from his processor as he looked down at his human partner.
"What's up?" Heatwave asked as he all too excitedly steer his attention away from the subject that his processor insists on thinking about. He really needs to talk to Optimus about this when he gets the chance.
After all, there was no reason to compare Jess to other humans! She was just another native life form that made up this crazy family of his. Nothing special that required his extended attention like she has been. Next time she asked him for a ride he will definitely say no, she can do her chores with Chase next time! He loves doing those domestic human things more than he does, sometimes those things seem like such a waste of time.
"Hey, Heatwave!" Kade yelled rather angrily at his robot.
"Ugh, what?!" Heatwave snapped back just as upset, Kade has no right to yell at him all the time like he does.
"I just asked you a question!" He said impatiently as Kade crossed his arm and began to tap his foot on the ground repeatedly.
"Oh… Uh…" Heatwave felt a little embarrassed, his mind being clouded with a certain femme yet again. He has to keep this on the down low until he can get it figured out, and Kade, especially, must never know.
"I asked if you were ready to head out on our patrol shift, but it looks like someone is a little out of it." Kade stated as he uncrossed his arms and watched as Heatwave transformed again and opened his door for Kade to climb into his cab.
"Let's just go." Heatwave grumbled as he drove away form the firehouse yet again to complete his shift of watching the island and making sure everyone is safe and unharmed.
Jess began to sort and put the food she bought away while thinking about what she will cook her family for dinner. She loved to cook healthy and filling food for the people around her, it was one of her hobbies to come up with new recipes that involve hiding healthy food in comfort food.
She learned as a child that Kade will not eat vegetables unless he has too, as that would be the condition placed to him before he was allowed to have desert. From many phone calls from her family it seems Cody is the same way as her and Kade. She also does not care for the taste of certain foods, and sometimes won't eat at all of the food on her plate.
She just never feels really hungry a lot of the time and she knows it just her mind playing tricks on her really. As a medical professional she knows how many calories she has to ingest to be able to function normally. She is well below the normal limit, but that is the beauty of the human body, she thinks.
That they are adaptable, able to work with what it is given. Abe to function with less than what it needs, and sometimes able to process more than what it needs without harming itself. With the few exceptions, the body was flexible and able to live in almost any environment. That is why she wanted to study medicine, because the human body was so very fascinating.
Once everything was packed and put away she began to clean the kitchen a little bit, small things like scrubbing the counters and finishing the dishes from the breakfast that morning. It was a good way for her to forget about some of her troubles she is facing.
School was difficult, and she was dreading going again for another semester. She was almost done with her school long ago, but she was undergoing training and it was hard for her. She was afraid to fail, afraid to mess something up and get someone hurt. Mostly, the older paramedics would tell her, it's just instinct.
You just go and help people without thinking about it, it's like riding a bike or driving a car. She is good with normal medical situations, but she was afraid of big accidents. Something more morbid than just a car crash or a fire… Well, that sounds bad when it's thought of like that.
Fires and Car Accidents are very big accidents and can hurt a lot of people, but she has heard stories from her fellow classmates and instructors about terrible things that they had no control over. That not everyone can be saved, and that was a hard thing to process.
Jess loved people, and itis always a tragedy when someone is hurt, or worse, passes away from something that was just bad timing. A lot of accidents are just that, an accident, and when a simple mistake causes people their lives… It's such a… catastrophe.
"Hi, Jess!" Jess jumped a few feet in the air as she whipped around to find a smiling Cody in the doorway for the room. She laughed at her own jumpiness and greeted him with a big hug. She lost track of time it seems, as it was already well passed 3 in the afternoon. She would have to prepare for dinner soon, as everyone was most likely going to be home around five.
"How was school today, Cody?" Jess asked as she put a plate with a small portion of cheese and crackers for him to munch on as he pulled out his homework from his backpack that he placed on the table next to him. She sat in the empty chair next to him and pulled out her phone and sent a message to her Mother.
She always worried about Jess a lot, especially when she was so far away from home. Jess thought it was weird since technically she was home, but her mother was a lot like Uncle Woodrow. They never liked to stay in one place for long. They never liked to feel tied down, and preferred the big bustling cities of the mainland to the small and semi quiet environment of the island.
"It was good, I passed my math test from last week. Good thing I studied, because it was a pretty difficult test, and not everyone in my class passed it." He said triumphantly as he began to munch on the food she put in front of him.
"That is great, Cody. I am proud of you! Especially because math is a hard subject to master!" She laughed as she felt her phone vibrate in her palm, she glanced down and noticed a new message from her Mother popped up. She opened it and let her eyes scan lazily over her phone's dimly lit screen.
She liked keeping the phone on a low brightness because it helped to save the battery and make the power last long. She always forgot to plug in her phone before she laid down to sleep, and it has bitten her more than once, but it seems that is a lessons she will never really learn most likely.
'While you are on the Island, why not visit that one friend you used to always hang out with.'
Jess stopped for a moment and read over the text again and again, surely her Mom did not mean the one person she did not really like on the island. The one person whom decided to use her for their own personal gain while pretending to be her best friend…
"Don't worry, I can teach you anything you need to know about math. I am pretty good at it." Cody said as he finished his small snack and began to pull out his notebook and his few sheets of homework left for him to do over the weekend.
"That would be wonderful, dude. I'm going to go step out for a while. You will be good here by yourself for a little bit?" She asked as she stood and ruffled her cousin's hair.
"Sure, Dad will be home any minute anyway." He said as he began to work on his math problems and small English report. English was never his favorite subject, but he will try to complete the assignment anyway. It was just a simple 'Pick an important person in your life and write about them'.
Jess smiled and began to walk out of the door and onto the garage driveway just outside of the firehouse. She loved Cody, and she did not want him to see her break down and lose her cool over a simple thing as an old friend turned toxic.
She sent her Mother a reply test, 'The one that used me, and made me feel bad about myself? That friend?', as soon as she sent the message she regretted it though. She loved her Mother, but she had a hard time understanding Jess' feelings, and always said that she was overly emotional and a little dramatic.
Sure, she was more on the emotional side than she was the logical side, but that did not mean she was invalid in her feelings and actions… Right? Sometimes Kade even told her she needs to chill out sometimes, and that she needs to stop thinking with her heart and more with her brain.
She can't help it most of the time, it was just who she was. She was so full of love and compassion that she had the side effects of feeling emotions a little stronger than others around her. In reality, she absolutely hated it, but she knew deep down it made her special in her own way.
Sometimes it is hard to see that trait as special, as it has mostly caused her nothing but trouble. It has helped to shape who she is though, as it is one if the reasons she wanted to become a doctor. She loved to help people, and she loved seeing there people full of emotions like she was.
'Oh posh, Jess. It has been years since that has happened. It's time to grow up and let bygones be bygones.' Her Mother replied as she looked at the message on her screen once again. Jess just sighed and ran a hand through her hair in frustration, her Mom wasn't going to be someone who understood this about her.
Jess looked up and noticed the sky was going to get dark soon, and night would befall the small island that she found herself on once again. She truly was grateful to be back, but with the good comes the bad, as one cannot exist without the other.
She loves her home here, and with life comes tragedy, as Jess can remember clearly what happened when she was still in High School with Kade. The two of them were very close, ever since they were young kids. It might have to do with the fact they were in the same age group, or the fact they spent the most time together, but whatever it was she knew she and Kade were always going to be best friends… No matter what he said about it.
In the end she will always love her family, but sometimes they were a handful when it came to understanding emotions, but as they say, no one is perfect. Her family included, no matter what people saw on the outside, because it's what's on the inside that matters.
'Hey, Jess! It's me, Veronica. I heard you were back in town and I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out?' Jess read that message over and over again on her phone. During the little rant in her head she noticed a new message from an unknown number.
How did she get her number? Why would she want to talk to her when it has literally been years since they last spoke? Why now? Why when she is trying to reconnect with her family does she decide to pop her head in for a spell to speak with Jess?
Jess was startled out of her thoughts as a car horn was heard in front of her. It was Uncle Charlie, along with everyone else, coming home from their shifts at work. Jess smiled and stepped out of the way to make room for the cars to pull into the garage.
For now she is going to put Veronica out of her mind and away from any thoughts she is going to have later. This was about her and her family, not past mistakes and problems she doesn't want to think about. She watched as everyone came in to the building and come out of their respective vehicles.
"Welcome back, everyone." Jess smiled as she put her phone back into the pocket of her jeans. She just won't think about it, it was that simple…
"Hey, Jess. How was your day?" Dani asked as she walked over and placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder.
"Pretty good, I bought food but I wanted to wait till you all got back before making anything." Jess replied as she turned to enter the house followed by the rest of the family.
"Jess, why don't you let me cook this time?" Uncle Charlie asked as he put his hand on her shoulder as they all entered the house one at a time, their voices slowly fading away from the garage as the rescue bots let out an audible sigh and dropped their act.
Blades was the first to speak as Boulder flipped the switch for the platform to lower into the bunker of the Firehouse. "So, how was everyone's day?"
"Surprisingly good, I have noticed fewer and fewer citizens have been breaking the law." Chase said as he walked away to the book case to grab another book on police code to gloss over for the fifteenth time. He likes to be diligent when it comes to the law and police regulations, as he knows one can never be too careful when it comes to rules.
"That's good, what about you Boulder?" Blades asked as he continued to stand where he was as he watched Boulder walk off to take care of his green friend Leady. He loved the plants and animals of Earth, they were so different from the ones on Cybertron. There were parallels to the animals, but nothing compared to the plants of the Earth.
"It went well, Graham and I helped to find faults in a few old buildings that the city was planning refurbishing." He said as he let his large finger stroke the leaf of his plant friend. Nothing looked or felt like the foliage here, and maybe that is why he liked it so much, as unique things tended to be the most amazing.
"Nice, Heatwave?" Blades asked but he noticed the leader was already out of the room and into the communication chambers. Blades might be naïve sometimes, but he was not stupid, as he was the first to notice Heatwave was trying to get transferred out of their unit and onto Prime's team in Nevada. It hurt him a lot, to know that Heatwave doesn't love them enough to stay.
Heatwave grumbled to himself about his stupid processor and having a stupid glitch while he began to boot up the console on the Sigma. He began to run a diagnostic scan of his processor as the system came online to do so, and he could barley stand still as the diagnostic began to run it's course.
What if he did have a bad glitch? Would it hurt his chances of becoming a member of Team Prime? He would hope not, as most glitches in the processor are beyond prevention and are generally an easy fix. It was just like fixing a virus on a computer, just a simple repurposing of files and defragmentation and you are done.
There are more permanent glitches though, one's associated with heavy Cybernetic Narcotics usage. He is clean however, and has never touched CN in his entire existence, and he has never put anything in his body besides medium grade Energon. He had High Grade once, but one time use is not enough to cause a system to crash, and it was so long ago it wouldn't even matter.
The console let out a low ping noise as it indicated the diagnostic was complete. Heatwave only sighed as it came up completely clean, he was glitch and bug free. Is this something he needed to call Optimus about? Maybe it was because he was tired, as he hasn't been getting much recharge lately with all the commotion of Jess' arrival to the Island.
He is surprised his team hasn't started to ask questions about her, as they have to have known they were out together this morning running errands. Unless they don't know, in which case, he won't say a word about it. It is better this way, as he doesn't want to think or talk about her at the moment. At least until he can sort his processor out.
After diner was done, and most of the Burns family settled down to sleep, Jess sat awake on the couch in her pink fuzzy pajamas. She was reading over the conversation her and her mother had over and over again while trying to figure out what to do. She never responded to Veronica's text, mainly because she wasn't sure how.
Should she listen to her Mother, and have faith that people really do change over time, and that she really is just being petty and dramatic? Is it the right thing to do, to contact a long ago lost friend in hopes that maybe they too thought the entire situation over and regretted how it was handled?
Maybe she should follow her gut, and ignore what her Mother said and continue to ignore Veronica. She would ask Uncle Charlie, but he is so busy dealing with his own children and his own problems she doesn't want to burden anyone with her own issues. She also doesn't want to go to Kade because he was already embarrassed with the situation before, and he is just like her, in the sense he prefers to leave past feelings in the past and to just simply move on from them and not let them consume you.
She placed her phone on her lap while locking the screen and looked to the clock on the cable box in the living room, as it read 3:00 am. She was one of those people who did not get tired around bed time, and tended to stay awake with her thoughts whenever they plagued her like they do now.
Maybe getting some fresh air will do her head some good, as she enjoys being outside when the weather is clear and the air isn't too brisk or too warm. She stood and slipped on her tennis shoes over her equally pink socks and pulled her university jacket over her head.
She placed her phone in her pocket as she quietly made her way over to the garage door. Uncle Charlie was kind of a light sleeper, and so was Dani. She would hate to wake them up when they have morning patrol to go on in a few hours. She slowly slid open the door and slipped out quietly as she shut if with a soft clicking sound.
She jumped and placed a hand over her chest when she turned around and saw Heatwave standing there motionless in the dark garage. She laughed quietly as she began to walk towards the robot, patting his leg when she got near him.
"Hey, Heatwave." She laughed as she pulled her sweater down a little bit "What are you doing up here? I thought the bots were stored down below?" she asked while looking up to watch his face.
"Early morning patrol, preemptively prepared." He replied in his monotone robotic voice. Truthfully he couldn't recharge either, as he had so many thought running through his processor. It was always one after another, which lead to some pretty dark thoughts like was he worthy of being a leader? Was he good enough to impress a Prime?
He felt bad he couldn't tell her the truth though, that he was a thinking and functioning being that understood what she said. He hates pretending, but with her it felt more like a big lie that he could feel pull them deeper and deeper away from the truth. It hasn't really been discussed if they will let Jess in on the little family secret like they did with Woodrow.
"That's nice, I couldn't sleep. Got too much on my mind." She said as she rested her back on his leg and pulled out her cellphone once again. "It's kind of stupid really… Just me being dramatic or whatever." She sighed as she stroked her phone's screen with her thumb softly.
He wanted to know what was bothering her, but he had to pretend to be a robot around her until the cyber cat was out of the sack. From what he has seen, she was not dramatic, a little passionate maybe. Not dramatic. Some humans can take passion as drama and that was another thing he did not like about them.
It was such a waste to let such emotional beings destroy themselves because there was a split between their sparks and their processors. With Cybertronians it was easy to think both logically and emotionally because normally their "brains" and "hearts" were synched.
Humans did not have that luxury in their society, it was either you were too logical or too dramatic. Too logical just meaning they are to analytical, to good at seeing through people who did not always make sense. Too dramatic meaning they are to passionate about what they love and too emotionally involved in what they are doing.
These are not inherently bad traits, but apparently they were to humans. Their societies were so broken he did not know how they survived. Then again, Cybertron was not perfect wither, after all a civil war destroyed their planet and now they are stuck on this rock picking up the pieces of their existence.
Jess let out an audible yawn as she rubbed her eyes on her jacket sleeve and stretched her other arm in the air. Heatwave thought for a moment it looked a little cute, but immediately shut off that part of his processor. He needs to contact Optimus tomorrow after shift. These thoughts were getting out of hand.
"I think I am finally tired, god night Heatwave." She said as she stood up straight and gave a small pat to his leg. He could feel a cold spot forming where she stood and felt a little sad.
She proceeded quietly through the door and was gone just as fast as she appeared, Heatwave had his visor rise as he stared at the door. He had the overwhelming urge to tell her it will be ok, and that whatever was bothering her she was valid in her feelings.
He really needed to take care of this glitch in his system.
Chapter 2 is written and ready to go, sorry for any diction errors and punctuation messes. I have work in a few hours and had to be quick.
Also let me just say, I am writing this for me, it's not for you. I am glad you enjoy it but telling me to "hurry up and finish" wont make me want too. In fact it will make me not want to.
Let me put it this way, I have bills to pay, I have mouths to feed, I have school work to do. I write this when I have the inspiration too, which is rare when it happens. I wont abandon this story, but it will be awhile between updates. Work and real life doesn't come with vacations.