pullmeoutalive | log > how are these two so darn cute?

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log > how are these two so darn cute?

It had been an admittedly strange situation they had all been in - shopping mall, zombies, black outs - it was like a horror film gone wrong.

No one had any explanation for their sudden appearance in the mall, nor did anyone have an explanation for their sudden disappearance from the mall. Just as no one had an explanation for the blue Chevrolet Volt currently parked outside of B.A.B.E.L. headquarters.

For his own part, Jolt was doing what Autobots did best (aside from kicking Decepticon skidplate), and that was hiding in plain sight. Asphalt and sunshine, he decided, were preferable to zombie-laden carpet and the near-darkness of a mall without power. He just didn't like having to wait while Naomi was inside - no doubt trying to explain where the frag she'd been all this time. Jolt'd had a similar problem relaying his whereabouts to - of all mechs - Ratchet. (No doubt the medic thought he was glitched for insisting he'd been fighting off zombies all this time.) But, after much instance, and pleading for Optimus' permission, Jolt was allowed to stay with Naomi for the time being.

The Autobot sighed inwardly. He was still waiting, and he still hated it.

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Jolt only offered her a smile- albeit a slightly goofy one. There would be time for Naomi to come to grips with things when they got to... wherever they were going, but the drive, he felt, shouldn't be awkward.

"Come with me
Maybe we'll get away?
Come and see
Baby it's better when you...
Come with me
Maybe we'll get away?
Come and see
Baby it's better this way..." ♫

They were making good time, given that it was the middle of the day, and traffic was light. The buildings eventually thinned until they gave way completely to countryside, and countryside to mountain roads lined with trees.

Oh, this was better. Jolt liked nature, probably more than he cared to admit around his fellow Autobots, but his choice of an electric car for an alt hadn't purely been for the unique fighting abilities it provided.

Speaking of unexpected yet again...

Being the government-funded organization that it was, B.A.B.E.L. owned all sorts of land, including an entire green and mountainous landscape that was provided for special and more intensive training in a real-life environment. It had always been Naomi's favorite place to train, and one The Children had come to love, too. Where they were now was almost like it, except that this wasn't owned by the base.

It was beautiful, but Naomi's confusion only grew. Just how far was Jolt planning to go?

Far enough.

According to his GPS (which, by the way, was an ingenious human invention), there was a dirt road that veered off the main road right about-

Here.

"Hold on," he cautioned. He wasn't exactly built for off-roading, and the road was only used by those who knew where it was- and judging by its condition, that wasn't many people. The road wound through the trees, before eventually coming to rest at a clearing. The spot had clearly been used by campers before, as evident by the fire pit and a few scattered logs for places to sit.

She just barely managed to latch onto the door handle for some kind of support, having nearly whacked her head against the dashboard at the first lurch of car meeting dirt. The grip kept her balanced for the most part until Jolt had reached his apparent destination.

Which was when Naomi shot him a look that stated that he'd better have a good explanation for this one.

For his own part, Jolt, who had discarded his hologram when he hit the dirt road, managed to come off as perfectly innocent. "What?"

He didn't exactly... have a plan after getting her out of the city and away from everything, and now he realized he had best be thinking of something.

Had she not been sitting, Naomi would have placed her hands on her hips in a perfect imitation of the director when she was dealing with a troublesome esper-- or supervisor. As it were, she still managed to look stern.

"Don't you 'what' me. I don't know exactly what's going through your processor, but-- camping? You know what my supervisor's going to be like!"

"Only for a couple of solar- er, days," he blurted, nearly forgetting himself when it came to measurements of time. "And your supervisor would freak if you were gone for two hours, what's a little more time?"

There was a pause as Jolt collected himself. When he spoke again, he was serious. "Even if you don't know it yet, this'll do you some good."

A couple of days. She had just been brought out here by a car who seemed to have been possessed by Fujiko, because she was exactly the kind of person who was all about getting out and doing something different.

... Except when she slept for weeks, of course.

There was another flash of anger at his words, but Naomi restrained it once again, instead reaching for the handle to let herself out. "And just how do you know this?"

"Because," his tone was still serious, but his voice had softened- almost as though he could tell she was angry. Maybe he could. "Because I do." He really wished he was more eloquent when it came to this sort of thing. Moreover, he really wished Ratchet were here, as odd as that sounded. If anyone knew what it was like to lose a life after working so hard to save it, the Autobot medic did.

But the fact of the matter was Ratchet wasn't here. Jolt was, and he was going to have to try and make due. "I've seen seasoned soldiers crack under less, and I know you're trying, but you're cracking regardless. I just... I wanted to give you the chance to put everything back together."

"Put... everything back together?" Once she was out of the car, Naomi tilted her head back, eyes locked on the small, equally-blue expanse of sky that peeked through the trees. Her voice was quiet, the tone almost dangerous.

That danger became evident when a wind that most certainly hadn't been there before began to whip at her hair and there were sparks of red light in the air around her. The trouble with being anywhere close to an esper when their emotions were even the slightest bit... wild was that things just tended to happen around them.

And right now, Naomi's tenuous grip on her own emotions was slipping. She was angry-- not at Jolt, he was trying-- but at herself. She was frightened. She was confused, and upset, and so many other things that she would have given anything not to be. Just as she would have given anything not to have Jolt witness her like this.

"The more something cracks, the more likely it is to break." It was a simply stated fact. "The sooner it breaks, the harder it is to put back together. Even for an esper. If this..." She shook her head, taking a step back, and then another. "Maybe you're right, and I'm cracking, but that's-- that's exactly why I didn't want to-- with you, especially-- if I break, you'll--"

Naomi broke off, staring at the Volt almost helplessly. This probably wasn't what he'd intended when he'd searched her out, and now the poor Autobot had to be wondering if his human friend had completely lost it.

He'd expected this, to be honest. Optimus had always said that their two races were more similar than anyone could have guessed, and when one took into account the fact that he was comparing gigantic, autonomous robots to tiny, comparatively frail humans, the notion seemed ridiculous. But Jolt saw now what he meant- at the core, they weren't so different at all.

Jolt was a soldier in a centuries-long war, and the look of pain and confusion on Naomi's face echoed the looks on the faceplates of countless allies and enemies alike. The life you could have saved, would have saved, should not have taken, should have taken- he'd seen the ramifications of all of them, and watching it play out now with someone so young, and someone he cared for deeply at that, put him at a loss.

"Naomi," he said at length, his tone still quiet. "Whatever happens, I can take it. I can't- I won't leave you. I already left you once, when you needed me the most, and I'm not going to do it again."

She shook her head in denial of his words, moved neither forward nor backwards, standing rigid and still fighting with every last ounce of energy she had to keep things at bay. This wasn't a normal battle, against enemies she could actually see and fight and conquer. This was a battle against her emotions, the nightmares that haunted her, the life that had been lost that still hung heavily over her.

"You didn't..." It wasn't as though Naomi hadn't felt alone before. She had been considered dangerous until B.A.B.E.L. had taken her in. She had endured Tanizaki's sexual harassment, never once speaking out against it until she'd-- for lack of a better word-- forced to confront her feelings. This was nearly the same. She'd grown since then, become more confident, but there were times when all other options had to be shut off, leaving her with no further choice. A necessary risk had to be taken.

The energy escaped from her briefly, battering the trees, occasionally striking at the car without Naomi to consciously restrain it. The girl lifted a hand to call it back, fighting back tears and knowing it was a losing battle. Despite her attempts to keep him away, the Autobot had said what she'd needed to hear, and she could no longer pretend to be anything but herself in front of him.

"Jolt..." Either she was too distraught to remember the usual honorific, or she just didn't care at the moment-- probably because she was already crying. "Please..."

Help me.

Her unsaid plea did not go unheard.

His first impulse was to use his hologram, but he quelled it instantly and transformed- pausing long enough to set aside her things so they wouldn't be crushed in the process.

A careful hand encircled her, gently drawing her to his kneeling form - the closest thing he could come to a hug, considering their differences in size - and he waited, bracing himself silently. He would endure whatever beating her slipping powers threw his way, and shield her from whatever her slipping powers threw her way. "I'm here," he murmured, dipping his head. "I'm here."

With just those words, the power escaped from her once more, lashing out at anything and everything. Naomi was no Level 7, but results could still be catastrophic when it came to a psychokinetic losing control-- and a high-level one at that. She hated it-- hated that all of this had been trapped inside of her, hated that it was hurting Jolt. And yet all she could do was hold on to him as best as she could, resting a palm on his face, whispering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" as the power raged on unchecked.

Physical contact had been easier with his hologram, but Naomi didn't have a preference as to which form he chose to take. Solidified image, vehicle, robot-- all of them were Jolt, and so long as that remained the fact, she was fine with it.

Gradually, her sobs died down to tiny, shuddering hiccups and whimpers, and the next time her power surged, there was a bubble of sparking energy to repel it away from the Autobot. She wouldn't let him be hurt. Not by her hand-- not by anything.

Jolt just held her, optics shuttered, steady and unmoving in the maelstrom around him. He was used to battle, to combat and chaos and pain, and this was just a battle of a different kind- he would endure it for as long as it took, because, as he'd told Naomi so many times before, she was worth it.

The sudden diversion of her power away from him caused his optics to flick open, and he pulled away just enough to regard her with a look akin to a worn smile. I'm okay, said his expression. I'll be fine.

Naomi regarded him with a steady gaze, blue eyes blinking away tears. She correctly read the message he wanted to convey and understood that he would wait, taking every last bit of her power until she could draw it back. That was just the kind of person-- Autobot-- he was. Eager, impulsive, but reliable. He'd been waiting for her all this time, and he was still willing to endure this... for her sake.

Nonetheless, she maintained the barrier, only dropping it when her power had softened, then withdrew. All the while, she didn't look away from those optics, silently telling him that he wasn't the only one who had someone he wanted to protect.

When the chaos finally faded away into nothing, and the barrier Naomi had constructed along with it, Jolt allowed himself to relax, if only slightly, but he held Naomi's gaze for a moment longer. She was pretty, by human standards, he thought suddenly, and found himself wondering why. Pretty, and delicate, and yet somehow stronger than him. The Autobots always fancied themselves protectors, and there wasn't much on this planet that they would consider able to protect them. But this girl... she could, and she would, and that spoke more of her strength than anything.

His free hand came up, and very, very gently, he brushed the side of her face with a finger.

The girl held still, not wanting to speak and risk... whatever this was. She wasn't sure. Jolt was a friend-- he had been ever since they'd first worked together in that stuffy, zombie-infested mall-- but ever since he'd made the request to stay here, with her, the bond they'd formed had only gotten stronger. And now there was something there, something else that she couldn't quite put a name to or understand, just an innate knowledge that there was a level deeper than the kind of cheerful or working friendship she shared with her school friends or the other espers.

As his finger gently grazed her cheek, Naomi didn't flinch or shy away. She gave no sign of being frightened that something so much larger than her was doing this-- on the contrary, she closed her eyes and carefully leaned into the light touch. She trusted Jolt, and that was more than enough.

If he could, he would stay like this all day, just basking in this silence that somehow spoke louder than words.

But as it stood, his leg servos were locking up, and the beating he'd endured earlier was doing little to help the situation. He shifted, and his gears protested loudly- loud enough to make him cringe.

He cast Naomi an apologetic look and rose to his feet, joints grinding. "I'm too young to sound this old," he remarked, flexing his legs until the noises subsided to a manageable level.

"Ah--" Instantly snapping out of whatever reverie she'd been about to sink into, Naomi quickly waved her hands in her usual flustered manner. "I-I'm so sorry, Jolt-san, you didn't have to-- I should have been able to keep it under control, and your legs...!"

He hadn't been the only one to cringe at the chorus of grinding gears and locked joints. She'd have to give him an extended carwash with the works when they returned.

"I'll be fine," he assured her. Sore as hell, but fine. A call to Ratchet might very well be in his future, but for the moment, his own healing systems would be enough to cope with whatever damage had been done. He just needed a good recharge and he'd be okay. For the most part.

Having satisfactorily worked out the kinks in his servos, he retrieved the bags The Children had packed for Naomi (thankfully untouched by the earlier torrent of Naomi's power, for the most part), and presented them to her. "I had a little help getting you out of there."

Edited 2009-09-29 05:37 (UTC)

With a puzzled blink, she accepted the bags, glancing down at them quizzically. It didn't take long to figure out who could have possibly aided Jolt, though.

"They must really like you to go this far," she remarked, shifting the bags in her arms. "Especially Shiho-chan." Aoi and Kaoru were more affectionate with everybody, but for a psychometer who could very easily read the darkness lurking in anyone's heart, it took more than that to gain her trust. Naomi willingly submitting to a thorough search of deep-rooted issues had probably made the younger girl open up to her more quickly.

He grinned. "Well, I am pretty likable." Truth be told, they disliked seeing Naomi in the state she was in just as much as he had. Jolt had every confidence that their choice to get involved had not been for his sake, but hers.

Naomi continued to stare at the bags, before something odd happened. Something that should have happened well before now.

She laughed.

It was a tired laugh more than anything, but one that carried genuine amusement and a weary sort of happiness along with it. It had been awhile for her, but she was willing to drag herself back from whatever bleakness had been clouding her thoughts, no matter how long it took. Not just for everyone's sake, but for hers as well.

"So you're keeping me company, just the two of us in the woods?" It did sound like something The Children would have wanted to help out on. Most likely not without a whole lot of teasing and references to romantic scenes, but the trio had a habit of doing that to everyone in a daily basis; Minamoto in particular was usually their favorite victim, but there was no doubt that his charges truly loved him. One perhaps a little more, but that was her own business, and Naomi had chosen to keep such observations to herself.

Naomi was laughing. She was actually laughing, and it was like music to his audio receptors. Bit by bit, the Naomi he knew was coming back. It had been, in his opinion, far too long, but she was coming back.

"Do you have to word it like that?" Not that he could think of another way to word it off the top of his head, but it did put him in mind of the girls' teasing.

((ooc; I CAN TYPE I SWEAR.))

Edited 2009-09-29 06:13 (UTC)

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