-Chapter 4- Honesty is always best

"Honesty is the best policy."- Benjamin Franklin

Jess was able to speak again after a few hours of napping on the couch, but she refused to talk about what happened in the small music store. Kade was more than frustrated with her decision to remain silent, as he continued to press the subject; she was as stubborn as he was however. She wanted to gain her own thoughts and feelings back before she spoke out loud her thoughts on the whole situation.

Truth be told, she was still shaken up by the events, and a few hours was not enough to grasp the entirety situation. Jess knows Veronica better than most people did, as they were the best of friends at some point in their lives. She was not dangerous, loud while having a few destructive tantrums, maybe, but not dangerous. Jess was sure Veronica was sick in some way; she was just never sure how to tell her she thought that about her. In a way she felt like this whole situation was her fault, if she said something maybe none of this would have happened.

If she could just change the past, tell Veronica what she thought, than maybe they would still be best friends. They could still be staying up late sending messages back and forth on their phones about what they were thinking. They could share their feelings and be open with each other like they used to. She could comfort her friend like she used to, tell her how pretty she thought she was and how amazing she was and how much she could accomplish if she actually tried to do it.

The past is the past, she knows that, but sometimes it doesn't hurt to wonder about what could have been… right? There was never anything wrong with imagining what could have been. It is only when you are stuck in that mind is when it is dangerous and unhealthy, at least, that is what she believes in. Sometimes she can't help but thinking what if, in a weird way it made her feel a little bit better to just sit and imagine what could have been.

Now comes the hard part however, how would she go about convincing people Veronica wasn't a bad person? Certainly she has hurt Jess in more than one way now, and she has indeed destroyed private property, but she wasn't bad. Jess believes there is no such thing as a bad person, someone who is sick and maybe a bit irrational, but not bad. People are inherently good, and she will always believe that, no matter how many people try to change her mind. To her, it was one of her best traits, the ability to believe when all hope appeared to be lost.

Kade eventually got upset enough with Jess to storm out in frustration while throwing his hands up in the air while giving a loud sigh of defeat. Jess ignored his reaction and stood to take yet another shower, changing into her fuzzy pink pajamas afterwards, and tying her hair up into a loose bun. It was another small comfort, to be able to dress and get clean after such a bad situation.

She had a feeling it is going to get worse in a few hours when Uncle Charlie gets home, he is going to call her mother, and then one of two things will happen. She will demand Jess return home immediately and never let her return to the Island ever again, or she will tell Jess to stay where she is and she will come get her and take her home herself. Either way, Jess' visit was destined to be cut short because of the small bad decision she made in a moment of weakness.

Again, one cannot change the past, but if Jess would have just ignored the message none of this would be happening. Heatwave would be clean and waxed, the garage would be clean, and everyone who was here would be sitting at the table eating dinner and joking about random things they could think about. It was a nice thought at least, but it did not really help her racing and anxious mind.

Once Jess left the bathroom she noticed the living room was still void of people, and she just let a loud sigh escape from her mouth. It feels like no matter what she does, at the end of the day she will be destined to be alone. It was always like this at home with her Mother. Jess would come home to an empty and quiet house, her Mother at work and her Father hanging out with his friends over at one of their houses. It made her feel a little lonely and a bit lost, all she really wanted at the moment was comfort.

Comfort and the ability to speak what is on her mind, to share what she is thinking to someone who won't judge her or give away her secrets when put under pressure. Veronica used to be that friend, the one she could share everything with, and after what happened to them, she still never found that friend she could share everything with. She fought the tears peeking out of the corners of her eyes as she began to pace a little bit around the living room to help her keep her mind off of the dark things that want to haunt her.

Once they look at the scene they will see that it was not an accident, and this fire was very much intentional. The gasoline canister was still probably left out and the streaks from where the flames burned hottest will be there and noticeable. Also, if the entire building did not go down in flames, there is always the security cameras that will no doubt show what really happened when they entered the small building. It was not looking good for her case, to try and convince everyone that Veronica was not some monster, but a sad and sick person who needed a lot of help.

Jess just shook her head and went into her purse that lay on the couch to grab her phone, and sighed as she grabbed the charger as well. Maybe this will finally be the lesson to teach her to always keep her phone charged and handy at all times. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but she took her phone and the cord into the garage, maybe she will find a source of comfort in the big room full of junk and holiday decoration. She felt like she has spent more time in this room than any other in the house since she has been here, it is kind of funny in a way. If she didn't go to medical school than her next big thing would have been mechanics and robotics, as she always enjoyed being around cars and trucks.

Maybe that is why she liked the bots so much, they were a mix of two things she enjoyed. Cars were always fun machines to have around and use, as she is convinced no two are the same and each have a unique personality. You could drive two Camaros in a row and they won't feel like the same machine, they will have their own quirks and personalities, kind of like people do. Robots are amazing as well, things built by humans to help with some of our hardstand easiest things. Some are meant to help solve impossible mathematical equations, while others are there to simply screw the lids on jars in factories. Both are very helpful to the advancement of the entire species that is humanity.

As she turned around from closing the door with a gentle click, she noticed an idle Heatwave standing next to an open garage door just staring off into space with a blank stare. Jess looked around and noticed that Kade still had yet to make an appearance since her shower. He might have been stubborn and bull beaded sometimes, but he rarely ignored Jess when he was mad at her. He was always there to push and prod until he made her tell him what he wanted to know, and sometimes it did not turn out so well. It might be one of the reasons why she can be very reserved sometimes.

She loved Kade, loved him like the brother she never had, but the way he was able to get under her skin and make her tell him things that she was uncomfortable with made her very upset. No one had the right to just make someone say something, it was a form of manipulation, and Jess was really getting tired of it. They were both adults and should respect each other's boundaries, but she had a feeling that was not something that was going to happen.

"Heatwave, where is Kade?" Jess asked as she walked up to stand next to his leg, to peek around the garage door to see it was still a nice and sunny day outside. Not surprising considering the season, but she felt like sometimes the weather should reflect her mood… Maybe that way people would actually be concerned with how she was feeling instead of ignoring it.

"Outside." He replied in his robotic voice, moving his optics down to look at her. He noticed she as washed and changed since she returned back to the house, which is good. He would hate for her to be the type of person to lay around and cry when something bad happens.

He assumed she would be active like that, not someone idle in an emergency situation. If there was anything he hated it was that, someone who was just standing about while something bad was going on around them. They would just let other people burn or drown even though they had the potential and possibility to help. He noticed a lot of human did that, just avoided horrible situations without lending a hand to help others. He was glad; at least, she was not like them.

Jess let out a cough as she used her arm that was covered in a sleeve to cover her mouth while she wheezed in an attempt to remove all the toxins she inhaled earlier today. Heatwave felt bad that he didn't intervene sooner, as maybe this whole thing could have been avoided if he listened to his gut feeling and denied her a ride into town. No time to think about it now though as he feels both warmth and a weight leaning on one of his legs and he was a little shocked to looked down and see Jess was leaning on him with her forehead resting against his frame; he had to resist the urge to reach down and touch her to assure her that everything will be ok. It looked like she was about to cry, as she moved to hug his leg with shaky arms.

"Heatwave… She isn't a bad person. Ok? S-she is just sick… its not something that needs to be made a big deal of." She said as she looked up to see his face looking down at her. Tears began to fall from her puffy red eyes, and he felt the tug at his spark to just simply hold her and tell her everything will be alright.

Heatwave couldn't himself as he placed his servo on the ground next to her. She looked at his servo and then back up to his face, and before he had a chance to correct himself she climbed into his hand without giving it another thought. On one hand he felt his spark soar at the idea that she trusted him enough to just simply crawl into his hand without even questioning it, but on the other hand it made that eating feeling crawl back up into his processor yet again.

He had to have been glitching; why else would he feel this need to comfort this grown woman who was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. He is never like this, and it is really starting to bother his processor about why it and his spark where not currently in sync. His processor said to put her back down and walk away, but his spark said hold her close and never let go. Never has this pull between the two been this strong, as most of the time he was able to control the urges and feeling his spark tried to force him to feel.

Sparks were weird in that way, as they always seemed to win the argument between logic and feeling for most Cybertronians. He was always able to overcome the feelings and signals his spark sent his way, as mostly it was what being a rescue bot was all about. Understanding, no matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone. It will pull at your spark, but in the end you must overcome the feelings and move on with your existence in order to help those that still needed it.

He lifted her up a little closer to his face, deciding to let his spark have the control over him for now, and kept her at a distance he thought they would both be comfortable with. She was able to reach out and touch his face if she felt the need to, and he was able to place her back down quickly if he absolutely needed too. Jess didn't know what she was doing either, as she let out a small laugh that sounded like an exquisite and exotic melody to Heatwave's audio receptors.

"I don't know of you understand me, but your attempts at comfort are making me feel better." She said as she placed herself more comfortably in his servo. She was a little bigger than her hand, but she didn't seem to mind the height or the distance from the safety of the ground. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve as she smiled and laughed more at the ironic situation.

She did say she wanted comfort and understanding didn't she? She laughed at where she was getting it from and how it all began to make sense to her. Heatwave could think and he could feel, as she knew she was not crazy when she was speaking with him before. Technology is not advanced enough to be able to make a working Artificial Intelligence that had a morality compass that included comforting a crying human, let alone the ability to know what comfort and understanding truly was.

Certainly there were dabbling in the ways of Artificial Intelligence, but even the smartest scientist she knew and read about have not made it very far in the programs they are writing. They have gotten pretty far, giving some robots and computers the ability to solve problems and feel good about their accomplishments, but that was about it.

There was no capacity to comfort or to understand their creators as a whole. They were still in the young phases, understanding themselves and being able to function as they should. Jess knew this robot was more than he was showing her, but at the moment she really did not have the capacity to think about it further, as her own problems began to bubble up in her mind again.

She reached her hand and placed it on his thumb as she looked down into her lap while looking sad again. "I don't want to make a big deal about this… I mean… Everyone is ok, so why does it matter how it happened." She began as she focused on anything but his face that was watching her with curious and understanding eyes.

"She is sick, Heatwave, even when we were kids. This isn't the first time this has happened between us." She said as she looked up to his face, starring into his deep blue optics. "She had the biggest crush on Kade, huge shocker I know." She snorted to herself as she remembered how much of a jerk young teenage Kade used to be, it was a surprise anyone wanted to hang out with him at all.

"She was mad that I wouldn't set them up, as I knew Kade did not like her that way. He really didn't like her at all really… I didn't want her to get hurt." Jess confessed as she recalled the incident that tore them apart all those years ago. She was trying to spare everyone's feelings, but really only made the situation worse than it was turning out to be.

"I've never told anyone this, because I knew she was sick and needed help… but she has done this before, the fire thing, I mean. It was afterschool and we were the last ones on campus just hanging out in the gym. She flipped and threw one of her tantrums… and I was a bad friend, I just- just let her do it." Jess paused as she removed her hand from his and wiped her eyes with her sleeve once again.

It was a painful memory to recall, remembering how she just sat there and let her friend destroy school property because she was upset at something trivial like dating her cousin. Veronica was throwing chairs, breaking trophy cases, and scratching the floors and walls like they weren't even there. Jess remembers being froze, scared, as it was one of her friend's worst freak outs yet. She did not know what to do, and it really just made the whole thing worse than what it could have been.

Her inability to react and solve the situation made it escalate into the worst fire in the school's history. It destroyed the gym, and the school had to cancel a lot of dances and basketball games that were planned for the season. The school never did build a new gym in their years there, but she assumed, hoped that they built a new one. She felt like it was her fault for letting it happen, and felt terrible for ruining the gym so badly that the rest of the school could not use it at all.

"She stormed out, and locked the doors with the keys she took from one of the teachers." Jess' voice began to crack more and sound even worse than earlier "before I knew it the whole building was caught fire… I had to climb the bleachers and slip out a small window to avoid injury."

It was a painful memory, of Jess just sitting in the middle of the gym crying with her hands on her face, just being utterly useless. She remembered looking up and seeing a wall of flames overtake one of the walls, and grabbing her bag while running to the double doors only to find them locked.

She ran again to the other doors to see they were locked too, there was no way out and she began to panic. She remembered seeing her life flashing in front of her, and thought of all the things she would never get a chance to do. If not for her looking around and noticing one of the upper windows were left open, she was certain her life would have ended there.

Jess began to shake as she tried to hold back her tears; she hated crying, especially in front of others. She knows that he was more than a robot, and it was starting to make her feel a little bit more self-conscious. Did he think she was pathetic for not knowing what to do? Did he think she was stupid for even letting a situation like that affect her for as long as it has? She wanted to so bad know what he thought, but she knew he would not tell her, as he seemed to be a bot of few words.

Maybe it was because the family was trying to keep theme a secret? They maybe did not want the world to know these big thinking and functioning robots were able to think and act on their own, that they had a moral compass and the capacity to feel emotions just as humans did. It would scare a lot of people, and make even more people want to find out what makes them tick.

Heatwave did not think these negative things about her, and he really wanted to tell her this. She went through something dramatic as a younger person, and he can really relate to her situation. When he was younger, the whole youth sector in Iacon went up in flames from an accidental explosion. He remembered being trapped and scared until a rescue bot came and pulled him away from the burning buildings around him.

In a way he thought their situations were similar, but the only difference is he had a savior, he had someone whom he could look up to after that. It is what made him want to aspire to be a rescuebot to begin with, to become someone who fights off flames and energon explosions that occurred all through their planet, and maybe even expand his horizon to saving people all around the galaxy.

In a way he has received his wish, to saving people all over the galaxy. It wasn't Cybertron's galaxy, but it was a galaxy none the less. He reached his other hand over to Jess as a gesture of good faith, as it was the only thing he could think to do to tell her that she was safe with him around. That he would watch her and never let anything bad happen to her so long as he was with her.

She would have never guess that this machine would be her salvation this day, a listener, a comfort in a place where she can't seem to find a decent amount of in her life. Call her selfish and irrational, but she will take all the comfort she can get as she grabbed his offered finger with a sad smile. It was like a silent communication, one she was grateful he offered. She understood, he was there to make her feel better and be her friend, her comfort.

She has made many friends since Veronica, but has still kept a reserved nature about her. There were certain things she would not share with the people around her, no matter how long they knew each other. It seems that maybe she can finally find peace and closure from this robot that can feel.

"The gym burned to the ground and she was never caught, and I never told anyone. Not even my Mom… I knew it wasn't her fault, and that maybe after this incident she would figure out she needed help." Jess continued as she looked back into his optics, her eyes a little red from her tears. "She isn't bad, just in pain…"

Heatwave said nothing, not that he would know what to say if he was able to say anything at all. This was a hard situation to deal with, and the fact she has been carrying around this baggage with her for so long could not have been good for her emotions. He knows what it's like to hold secrets that others should not know about in order to protect them or their feelings. Jess was strong for doing it for so long, and felt he felt honored she told him something that no one else knew about her. It made his spark soar with a certain type of happiness he couldn't seem to place at the moment, but he really hoped the feeling would last a little bit longer.

It turned out alright, this time, letting his spark take control. It gave him a better understanding of Jess, a better understanding of human based emotions. They were not so different from Cybertronians, and he guessed maybe he should stop holding back from sharing his thoughts with her. Secret be sent to the pit, if he can make Jess laugh and smile again, than it will be a good day in his book.

"Thanks for listening again, Heatwave." Jess said as she wiped her eyes yet again, her face still a little red and puffy from her earlier tears.

He was about to reply with a 'no problem' but was interrupted by a shouting Kade next to his leg. At first Heatwave couldn't hear him, but Kade continued demanded He put Jess back down on the ground so he can take her back inside and make sure she was still ok. He wanted to so bad to tell Kade to frag off, because she was just fine being in his servo, she was comfortable and sharing her feelings with him. He was more than capable of making sure she was alright, he was smarter than his partner would like to give him credit for. He knew enough about human anatomy and sickness to know if she was in danger, but he held his tongue and gently lowered her to the ground.

Once the two were inside the house after Kade more than pushed her that direction, Heatwave felt his frustration grow even more with having to pretend to be a robot. Maybe if she was told from the beginning none of this would have happened and he could have told her to not bother with this woman to begin with. Would she still like him if she knew he was autonomous? The thought crossed his processor once or twice, and it made his spark clench in his chest worse than before…

Of course she would, like him that is! From what Heatwave has seen of her she was very accepting and understanding of the things around her. Would she like his personality though? Heatwave knew he could be a bit brazen and stubborn and angry at times, but in the end everyone knows he means well and he honestly does try to do his best in any situation he is thrown into. She was Kade's best friend for Primus' sake, and if she liked Kade than she would like Heatwave.

He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with him personally, that maybe she would hate him somewhere along the line. That maybe if he shared some of the things from his past with her, she would despise him for some of the things he has had to do to survive. The fear of rejection is always apparent when meeting new people, and there is always a small fear you will say something to set them off. Heatwave knows Jess is a nice person and would most likely accept them, there is just that fear in the back of the processor preventing logic from entering.

The fear in his processor was starting to hurt his spark, and he reached to his chest to pound on it a little bit. He grumbled about how stupid it was being, and decided to try and tune out the signals it was sending to him once again. This is why he doesn't let it take control as often as he should, it only ends up causing him pain, and having spark pain was way worse than suffering physical pain.

It wasn't a few minutes later when Kade came back outside and began shouting at Heatwave for his negligence to Jess health, and for almost blowing their secret to her. He was also upset at the fact Heatwave thought it was ok to handle Jess that way after she went through something traumatic like that. If only Kade knew, as to Heatwave it felt like the perfect time to say something.

Jess wasn't some dainty Praxian crystal that needed someone to care for her all the time, as she gave off the vibe of independence and strength. He understands that sometimes even strong people need a shoulder to cry on as well, and he would gladly take on the challenge of being her comfort. Was it that weird thing about human males trying to keep their femmes at a certain distance from other males?

Come to think of it, Heatwave never understood humanity and their need to keep their femmes in a certain imaginary line they created to help boost their fragile masculinity and egos. On Cybertron, Femmes and Mechs are treated in the same, regard as equal opportunities in work places and social situation. If someone was big and bulky they would work construction, if they were agile and small they would be spies or athletes. No gender was better than the others, and he will never understand the need to keep the human femmes down and shunned.

Maybe Kade was not thinking about it that way, but Heatwave saw it that way a little bit. He noticed how hard he tries to keep both Dani and Jess out of danger for no reason, like as soon as he lets the leash go they will run into the street and get hit by a car. It irked him to think his partner thought less of his family because of their smaller size and gender.

"Calm down, I think Jess is going to be fine." He replied once Kade was done having his fit and would actually listen to what he would have to say.

"Oh, and how would you know?" Kade said as he threw his hands up again "I've known her my whole life. I think I know what she can and can't handle." He said with a matter of fact voice, giving Heatwave a sort of smug and angry look all at once.

Heatwave said nothing and let lose a low growl as he ignored whatever it was Kade said after that. He knew nothing of what Jess just told him, and Heatwave would have rubbed it in his face if he didn't want to protect her and her secrets. He decided to argue a different way instead, keeping to himself that Jess had been through this before, and that she was more than capable of bouncing back from a bad situation.

"She is trained to deal with emergency situations you know. She knew what to do when the building caught fire." Heatwave said as he crossed his arms looking down at his partner.

Heatwave described what he saw Jess do, lay flat on the ground and pull the other woman down with her. Had the door not been blocked she would have been able to get out of the building and given Veronica a little medical treatment from the ding to her head. Jess was not an idiot, and has been trained to not panic in serious physical situations.

Just because she freezes in social situations and does not know how to handle them all the time, doesn't mean she doesn't know how to deal with survival situations. She reacted just as was expected of her. Smoke and heat rises, and the best option is to get low and find an exit. Once he explained this out loud, Heatwave expected the worst, for Kade to argue with him.

Kade said nothing as he stormed back into the house while slamming the door shut as he entered the house. He was just glad his dad wasn't back yet, or he would have gotten scolded for treating the door and house with a lack of respect. He looked over on the couch to see Jess sending a message to someone on her phone; she was just sitting there looking like nothing had even happened. Like she was not just held up off the ground by a giant robots alien, in fact she looked better than she did before he stormed out of the house to get some air earlier. She looked more at ease and did not seem as upset as she was earlier.

Once Kade was inside and done examining Jess, he sat with a huff next to her on the couch as she started to brush her still slightly damp hair. She paid him no mind, as Kade sometimes got huffy for little to no reason. It wasn't hard to tell he wanted to say something, but he did not know where to start.

Jess knew that about him; that sometimes you need to give Kade a window of opportunity to talk about what he wants. Mostly it is when he has something big on his mind that is a little awkward for him to say out loud, something he doesn't know how to bring up himself without getting flustered or angry. It was easy enough to initiate a conversation like this, but being able to get him to say what was on his mind was a challenge. He was reserved, just like she was, and he never had someone like she had Veronica to talk to.

She always felt bad that Kade seemed to isolate himself from his peers, but then other times she noticed he seemed perfectly ok with his self-isolation. He was always the one to convince himself that he did not need anyone but himself to look after. It made him feel better to emotionally distance himself from everyone, especially after his mom passed away.

Jess was not a mind reader, but she had been friends with him for a very long time, and he is not a hard person to read. He tries to be big and tough on the outside, but Jess knows on the inside he is a big squishy marshmallow. Once placed under fire her will start to cook under the pressure and be forced to spit out what he needs to say.

In a way it made Jess a hypocrite she knows, as she hates when Kade forces information out of her when she doesn't want to talk about it. In the end, maybe it was good for both of them, to be forced to speak their emotions. She will never know, and she doesn't want to think about how bad of a person that makes her look, there was enough going on without adding more fuel to this disaster fire.

"Heatwave is a pretty wild bot. It's almost as if he seems to care-"

"Look, Jess. I don't want to say anything without everyone's say so." He said while slumping further into the couch, getting into a position that could no be any way comfortable.

He slid down so that half his body was hanging off the couch while he folded his arms and looked up at the ceiling. It reminded Jess of a child throwing a tantrum, displaying physical signs to show that he was upset and did not want to share why with anyone.

This made Jess wonder what he meant though. Maybe she should ask the question that has been floating around her mind for a while now. The curiosity has increased since a few moments ago where she swore Heatwave portrayed autonomous abilities. She did not tell him to lift her up or to even listen to the words she spouted without thinking. He had to be some kind of super Artificial Intelligence, and she will get to the bottom of the situation with or without the family's permission.

"They are more than just robots, aren't they?" She asked while placing the brush down on the coffee table.

She turned to look directly at him; she was always able to tell when he was lying. He can't lie to her, no matter how hard he tries to do it. She can always see past the mask and the walls he places around himself to try and avoid looking like the good guy that he really was.

"Who told you…?" Kade asked while turning his head a little from her, it almost seemed like he was ashamed for keeping this secret.

He hated lying to Jess, but this was a weird and sensitive subject to the whole family. How do you go up to your best friend and say 'hey it's been awhile, by the way our new cars are transforming robot aliens from a far away planet'? Besides it wasn't his whole secret to give away either, as he shared it with his whole family. They had to decide what to do together, as a team.

"No one, I kind of just knew. Robots with no feelings don't try to comfort a victim of circumstance." Jess said as she picked up the brush again "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

Kade just sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't good with mushy stuff like this, and he hated confrontation despite being the cause of it most of the time. He told Jess to just wait till Dad got home to explain it better than he could. He then proceeded to go upstairs and proclaimed that he needed a very long nap. Jess said nothing as he left, understanding why he might have felt guilty.

She wasn't mad, just really confused. Certainly they knew Jess better than that to just keep her in the dark like this… She wasn't the type to panic and scream over an earth shattering secret. She would like to think she had more sympathy and understanding than that. She never really gave them an indication she could keep this secret though, as she was just a reserved as Kade was at times.

Once Charlie get's home she will ask him about it. Where did they come from, and why are they here? She wants to know all about this new situation the family has found themselves in. Change is hard, and it will sometimes change a whole lot of things, but sometimes it was necessary for people to grow and move on from the past.

Meanwhile Heatwave decided to give the two their space and let them talk it out, and hoped maybe Kade would come clean about the whole situation. If Jess was going to stay here for much longer she is going to have to be in on this little family endeavor to work together and protect each other.

He found himself in the control room of the Sigma, and contemplated contacting Optimus about the situation. He would know how to handle what was going on, after all someone does not get the rank of Prime for no reason. They have to earn it, to be proven worthy of it, and Heatwave had no doubt Optimus was one of the best Primes. He has survived the war for a reason, and that means a lot to Heatwave.

He couldn't back down now as he already pressed the call button on the communication consol. He wasn't sure how to start his report, but did not really have time to think about it as Optimus came onto the screen with a small greeting.

"Heatwave, reporting in sir." He began as he stood a little straighter "a lot has happened in the past few days here and I felt you should be informed of them." As he saw Optimus nod his head and ask him to go on.

Heatwave told him about Jess, another member of the family that was an unannounced visitor who was causing quite a stir in their little group. He told Optimus about their little mundane talks and outings, which lead him to ask the awkward question about a potential glitch in his system.

"Have you run a diagnostics?" Optimus asked as he looked through the screen to the Rescuebot's leader.

"Affirmative, it came up negative, sir." Heatwave said as he stood unmoving in his spot.

Optimus looked at Heatwave for a moment and allowed the situation to sink in, as the Prime had a hunch as to what was going on. Heatwave was a logical bot, who loved his tram and loved to lead. He was someone who had a preference to being in control and knowing how to handle every situation he was in. He did not like the unknown, and it was obvious he did not know how to handle situations of the spark.

Optimus knew many bots that were the same, they were more processor and mech than they were anything else. They liked to pretend they did not have emotions and that they were stronger because of it, they liked to pretend that nothing affected them. In the end they only harm themselves because they can't admit to their processor that their spark needs to be listened to as well. They both should be in sync for a cybertronian to function normally and without glitch issues.

"Heatwave." Optimus began "I think I understand. You must start listening to your spark, understand what it wants."

"Sir?" Heatwave had no idea what that meant… was he being philosophical with him? Was this a prime thing? He wanted to ask for clarification but Optimus informed him that he had other things to attend to.

Sure Heatwave knew he had a tendency to ignore what his spark was telling him, because in the end he always had a solution that made both parts of him happy. Sometimes he hated the fact that Cybertronians were this way, so torn internally with themselves because their mind says one thing but their spark says another. He had no idea what to do with this new information and just simply stood at the console for a good long while until he heard some movement outside the small secluded room, no doubt it was the bots coming back from their respective patrols to discuss the current situation.

He heard his name being called and was thankful to be pulled from his current thought process. Sometimes he can feel his processor trying to fry itself with all the things he wants to think about. There are always distractions to keep him from going too far into dark places, and he is always thankful to Primus for those things.

"Heatwave! What happened?" Blades asked as he stood in the center of the room looking nervous "Once we got here Dani ran straight inside with a scared look on her face."

"Graham too, we were wondering if you knew anything?" Boulder said as he walked over to stand next to Blades. Chase remained quiet as he observed from the other side of the room, already knowing most of the situation at hand.

"It's… Complicated…" Heatwave said as he explained how Jess was just doing Kade's chore of washing him when she decided to meet up with an old friend she knew from here. Afterwards she went into a building and the place caught flame, when he acted to pull the girls out and put the flames out when Chase pulled up to the scene with the Chief.

The others listened to Heatwave with intensity, and he could see the looks of curiosity on their face plates. They wanted more details on the issue, but Heatwave will not divulge information that isn't his to give away. If Jess wants to keep some things secret then so be it, she shouldn't have to give out information about herself she doesn't want to.

"I am glad she is ok, at least." Boulder sighed as he listened to Heatwave's story "Graham was so worried, I can only imagine how everyone else is feeling."

"I know what you mean; Dani was in a huge panic on the way back here." Blades said as he placed his hand on his helm.

"Heatwave." Chase said as he approached the leader with his normal dead pan look "If you saved her, does that mean she knows about our secret?"

The rest of the bots were silent as they now looked to Heatwave for the answer, they forgot she was supposed to be kept in the dark for now about their identity. Technically Heatwave acted without being told to do so, and they knew humans were smart enough to put two and two together. At least, the competent humans were able to fit the pieces together.

"I don't think it's going to be an issue if Jess knows who and what we are." He said as He crossed his arms over his chest. He basically gave it away in the garage earlier that they could think and feel, and it actually felt like a huge relief that she will know who they are.

All the while Jess sat on the couch trying to convince her family that everything was ok, and that they were over the top for no reason. Kade stayed mostly silent on the couch next to her, while Dani paced back and forth in front of them. Graham sat on the other end of the couch looking deep in though, while the Chief just stood silently across the room with his arms crossed.

"Will you explain what exactly happened, Jess?" the Chief asked her as he just stared at her with his stoic expression. Jess felt a little small at that moment in time.

What can she say to ease everyone's worries without painting Veronica as an evil human who just wanted to harm her for no reason? Jess understood she was sick and needed help, but will the rest of her family… She could only hope as she let out a big sigh.

"Well, I was just hanging out, washing the fire truck when Veronica text me to hang out." She started as she pulled her legs up to her chest "I drove there in Heatwave because I did not have any other vehicle, and I figured you guys wouldn't mind."

"Once I got there it was a kind of awkward reunion, and so we walked into the music shop to talk and try and work out some of our issues." Jess let out a sigh and had to pause for a moment.

Should she tell them her secret from all those years ago? How would she even do that, how do you just say 'well this isn't the first time she has done this and I forgive her because she needs help'. It doesn't blow over well for some people to know about.

Sometimes people don't understand what it is like to know someone with mental health issues, as her father is an active sufferer of Schizophrenia. She understands that sometimes people are not always in control of themselves when they get into certain fits of depression or anger. People just don't have enough sympathy to care, or they just don't feel like they need to care.

"Now… I don't know how to say this but…" Jess sighed as she let her legs unfold and touch the carpet beneath her.

"That the girl is insane?" Kade said with a huff while he too crossed his arms "Always has been since we were kids"

Jess let her face drop as Kade uttered the word insane. It isn't her fault! Veronica was not thinking when she was acting! Certainly they had to understand that… "You already investigated the fire?" She asked a little apprehensively.

"I saw the tapes and recognized it was an act of arsine, Jess." The Chief said as he walked to kneel in front of his niece "If you can explain the situation to us than maybe I can understand what I saw better."

"I-"Jess had nowhere to run now, and she couldn't hold this secret in anymore "This isn't the first time this has happened…"

"What do you mean?" the Chief asked as he looked at her with awaiting and understanding eyes.

She explained about what happened in High School with the gym, about how she knew Veronica needs help and not punishment. How she truly believes that she was sorry for what she did and was not in control of herself during these bad situations. Once Jess was done she held her breath waiting for someone to say something, something to break the tension she could feel build up in the room.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" the Chief asked as he took her chin in his hand and tilted her face upward so he can look at her face "I believe you Jess. She is sick and needs help."

Jess began to sob a little as she leapt up and hugged her uncle with a tight squeeze. He did understand, he actually understood what she was saying out loud. It was a huge relief from her chest to just let this all out after all of these years of keeping it pent up and trying to forget it.

Dani and Graham joined the hug and Jess began to laugh at how loving her family was, how could she ever doubt them this way? Of course they would understand, they were her family… She was grateful to have such a good one. Not a lot of people would understand like they would.

"Speaking of secrets…" the Chief said as he released a laughing Jess from the vice grip she created for him "about the bots-"

"They are alive. And they can think and feel, just life us." Jess said as she wiped her face from her stray tears from earlier "the real question is, how?"

The family looked as stunned as they could be, with their mouths a gape. Certainly they did not think her that incompetent? They had her fooled up until Heatwave attempted to comfort her as she was distressed in the garage earlier. No machine is capable of something like that, no matter what someone tried to tell her.

It was then that they all explained that the Bots were really from outer space, and were sent here on a mission from their leader somewhere else on the earth, to protect and serve the island of Griffon Rock and its inhabitants. Jess almost didn't believe it at first, and would have laughed had it not been for all she has experienced in the past few days. Only on Griffon Rock would something like this happen, and she knew she was going to love every minute of being home once again.

Same as last chapter, I am very tired and did not want to proof read this whole thing. if you find an inconsistencies please let me know, as it is currently 2 in the morning and I have lost control over my emotionally wrecked life.

I also just wanted to push this out so I can start on my Prim story and my Rid2k15 story. I also wanted to re write the intro to this chapter as well, as I feel it is so weak and short and gross.

Anyway, reviews are always welcome, and send me a message anytime if you feel like chating.