log > what is wrong with us THE SEQUEL

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

It was hard to believe that only three hours ago, she and Jolt had been bar-hopping (with the best of intentions, of course) and now Naomi was soaring over a dense forest, zipping out of the way of a few directed lightning strikes, courtesy of one of Black Phantom's puppets.

She had bigger things to worry about, though. More specifically, she had one big thing who had somehow disappeared from the battle. It had been only a few minutes of leaving him to take down the other side's psychokinetic, but when she'd returned, Jolt had vanished. Hatsune and Akira were fighting on the ground, both too distracted to take the time to sniff him out. Sakaki was on hand in a nearby helicopter, but it had been made to land out of concern that the lightning would strike it. The Children could have helped, but they needed to stay together for Kaoru's cleansing ability to function properly.

That left a very frantic Naomi flying about in the hopes of locating one errant Autobot. The one controlling the other espers hadn't been very comforting, having glanced in the girl's direction earlier.

"Worried about your friend? You should thank me. I've taken good care of him."

She'd hardly been reassured-- if anything, Naomi's ire and worry had only tripled, until she'd not only knocked out the esper manipulating the lightning but picked up her speed. The fight was nearly over; she could see the bright light from The Children's area now, but she wouldn't be relieved until she knew her Autobot friend was safe.

"Jolt-san!!" She called now, skimming the tops of the trees and then flying a little lower. "Please, answer me!"

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[electrowhipit]

His first waking thought was that it was cold. It shouldn't be, even under the shade of the trees. Trees-? He couldn't quite recall where he was or what he'd been doing, only that there were lots of trees, and that he found his mind lazily drifting from useless tree fact to useless tree fact as everything slowly swam back into focus.

Lightning flashed somewhere outside of his vision, and he recalled with sudden clarity that he'd been fighting. And Naomi was there. And there were the bad guys and the one had- he didn't quite remember, it was all fuzzy still, but it must have been bad because he was lying in a fairly sizable crater.

And there was someone zipping overhead, calling out his name. "Naomi!" he cried, and was surprised by the sound of his own voice. It was... not right somehow. Only then did he look down at his hands.

"Oh, Primus."

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

There. Naomi halted in midair, directly where she'd heard her name. That had been his voice, but... something hadn't seemed... was this another trap?

With a frown, the esper dropped straight down through a clear spot in the trees and landed gracefully (considering the battered state she was in) before the crater and the human that lay within it.

... Human?

One hand glowed a faint, sparking red, as Naomi held her ground, fighting against confusion and wariness and hope. She wanted it to be him, but there was no way he would be using a hologram at this time.

"Who are you?" She said evenly, eyes narrowed in a clear warning.

[electrowhipit]

He held up his hands- human hands- making it clear he intended to do no harm. "Naomi, it's me." A pause, where he clearly seemed to be struggling with the fact himself, but he said it anyway. "Jolt."

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

An esper would have struck by now... unless this was a very elaborate trap, but Naomi wasn't the one Black Phantom wanted. But admitting this was Jolt... meant admitting that somehow, either his hologram had activated, or he was actually...

With a small hand movement, she lifted him out of the crater, setting him back on his feet in front of her. It was probably a mistake, but she'd be ready to retaliate if this was a trap.

"And how do I know you're who you say you are?"

[electrowhipit]

Oh this was new. It was one thing to be lifted when he had been in his alt, but this was new on so many levels- not to mention he was a little bit shaky on his feet when she finally set him down.

"How-" Of course. She was only being cautious and he couldn't fault her for that. "How can I prove it? Do you want me to start with the zombie shopping mall or can I just skip to holding hands outside the bar?"

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

"That was," Naomi started to snap, but then she stopped. And stared. And then proceeded to stare some more, hands slowly rising to cover her mouth. She shook her head just as slowly, as if in total disbelief, but her next actions belied it entirely.

The next minute, she'd taken a step forward, then another, and then launched herself at him (taking care not to knock them both back into the crater). "Y-you're alive!"

[electrowhipit]

He would have liked his first human contact to be a little less... jarring, but once he'd taken a step back to steady himself and very awkwardly wrapped his arms around Naomi, he found it wasn't so bad. "Good to see you too," he remarked, smiling slightly.

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

"I couldn't find you..." Naomi's voice had a faint tremor to it, which surely had nothing to do with the fact that she was getting wet spots on his shirt. "I k-kept looking, and I couldn't-- I thought--"

Her voice broke completely and she buried her face in his shirt, holding on for dear life. Weird as this was, Jolt was still Jolt-- and he was alive. They could go into technicalities later.

[electrowhipit]

Holding Naomi while she was crying was something he was all too familiar with, but this was yet another in was would likely be a long list of new experiences. He just wrapped his arms around her as best he could, burying his face in her hair. "I'm not going anywhere," he murmured.

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

There was that safe feeling again-- the one she'd always had when he was holding her, either up to his level, or when he was bowed down to hers. But now he was warm and solid, and she couldn't help but stand there for a few minutes longer than was strictly necessary. High-level esper or not, there were times when even Naomi just needed that sense of security and comfort.

"You'd better not." Her voice was low as she looked up, moving one hand to impatiently whisk away a few tears. "If you do that... without at least telling me good-bye first... I'm never speaking to you again."

[electrowhipit]

There were a few thoughts flitting around in the back of his mind - he should probably call Optimus. How were they going to change him back? Could they change him back? - but they seemed unimportant when faced with a crying Naomi.

"Hey," he said, catching her chin in his fingers as he had before with his hologram. "I don't plan on having to say goodbye for a long, long time."

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

The esper made a tiny, startled noise, widening eyes locked on his. For all that she should have expected him to do that, there was always an unusual-- for lack of a better word-- jolt she experienced whenever he touched her. And...

... Okay, looking into his eyes hadn't been the brightest of ideas.

"Neither do I," she finally managed.

[electrowhipit]

Human contact, he decided suddenly, was not bad at all. This was the same and yet so different from the moment they'd had outside of the bar- the feelings were still there, even if he didn't have a name for them specifically, but the sensations were alien.

And he'd be damned if he didn't turn a little red when their eyes met. "Good."

[electrowhipit]

Jolt was a fighter, and as he valiantly fought the fever off, the rest of the night passed without incident.

But he had always been one to sleep in, and that wasn't about to change now- especially not after the long night he'd had to endure. As B.A.B.E.L. was waking up, he was still dead to the world, contentedly lying there with his arms curled around Naomi.

The inevitable breakdown that was going to walk through that door was a distant thought.

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

Naomi had the tendency to snuggle against whatever was close at hand, be it her pillow, the blanket she inevitably wound up tangled in... or the nearest source of warmth, which just so happened to be one Autobot in a human body.

And so she was just as peacefully curled against Jolt, just as the doors slid open and Sakaki and Tanizaki strolled in, the former perusing his clipboard and the latter doing what he did best.

Rambling.

"Naomi is a highly-valued esper and should be resting in an undisturbed environment, safe and protected from that..." He trailed off, a warning sign that had Sakaki immediately looking up to see what had silenced the supervisor so abruptly.

Just as quickly, he looked back down, but it was too late. Tanizaki had exploded in (what he felt was righteous) rage.

"FIEND!! YOU FOUL VEHICLE WHO TRIES TO BESMIRCH MY NAOMI'S CHASTITY AND HONOR, RELEASE HER AT ONCE!!!"

Miraculously, his charge didn't stir at all.

[electrowhipit]

The Autobot, however, did. He flinched and groaned, carefully cracking open one eye. The sight of Naomi curled against him caused a smile to flash across his face, but his attention was quickly drawn to the screaming supervisor, and he made a face.

Reluctantly disentangling himself from the sleeping esper, he sat up and, in a move that was oddly automatic in this new body, ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. "What crawled up your exhaust port and died?" he remarked, shooting Tanizaki a supremely annoyed look. Clearly, he was not much of a morning person.

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

"What-- crawled-- exhaust port-- died?!" He parroted in a yell that bordered on a screech. "Just what do you think you're doing, taking advantage of B.A.B.E.L.'s hospitality to make a move on my subordinate?! I won't have it! Naomi is elite and far above your standards so that you could not hope to even grasp her! One day, she will sparkle in her flowing white--"

Sakaki was already groaning, and his future sparkling subordinate was automatically curling into a tighter ball, as though that would drown out the screaming trying to pull her from her slumber.

"Look, Tanizaki, he's my patient right now and an important ally, so if you could for once stop yelling about Naomi-chan--"

"NAOMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII--"

[electrowhipit]

Jolt was out of the bed in a second flat, two more and he was across the room. He had always been agile, no surprise when one considered his weapons of choice and the skill with which he wielded them. His body, changed though it was, seemed to remember the decades of fighting that had been drilled into it, and very suddenly he was laying Tanizaki flat with a well-aimed fist.

"Shut up," he barked, glaring daggers at the other man and pointedly ignoring the pain in his hand where it had met the unfortunate supervisor's face. "You're one to talk about standards, you creep. You don't deserve her."

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

Poor, poor Sakaki. He didn't ask for much in life. Fine female company, a day in which Shiho didn't cheerfully one-up him, a quiet workplace... and maybe, just maybe, one peaceful morning.

But that was impossible now, given that Jolt had moved so swiftly, remarkably at ease in his new body, and now Tanizaki was on his back.

No, he amended, now he was slowly sitting up and glaring just as much as the Autobot was.

"I don't deserve her?" He snapped. "And where were you when I was the only person she could trust? Fighting your war? And where were you when she nearly died? You're just a poorly-constructed hunk of metal masquerading as human! There's no way I'll ever let you near her a--"

"That's enough."

The next instant, Tanizaki had been picked up by some invisible force and slammed into the nearest wall. This wasn't a typical psychokinetic force, either. This time, his charge was livid.

Naomi, newly awake and looking very dangerous, kept her glowing hand in front of her, locking her supervisor in place.

"Good morning," she greeted the others sweetly, even though she kept her eyes trained on the older man.

[electrowhipit]

Rage flared dangerously in the Autobot-turned-human, and his powers reacted as they always had in his own body- electricity crackled in his hands, lancing between his fingers in bright blue arcs. Optimus could berate him until his vocals rusted out, he didn't care. He was going to fry this bastard-

Unless, of course, Naomi got to him first. Which she had, quite violently.

Jolt whipped around to face her, the electricity in his palms dissipating instantly. He looked shocked at first, but only because of the suddenness of her intervention, and then something like grateful.

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

Naomi chanced looking away from her supervisor briefly, just to give Jolt a nod of acknowledgment, while Sakaki stared at him for a little longer. So he'd already manifested his abilities, with no apparent difficulty. That was the mark of a highly skilled fighter. Nonetheless...

"Keep it contained," he warned. "You're not in your original body. Without proper practice, there's still a chance of that electricity going haywire, and you'll risk hurting others around you if that happens."

The esper half-heard this, but remained focused on Tanizaki for the most part. She had some things she wanted to address, and there was no time like the present.

"How dare you." Her voice was low, controlled, but there was barely-restrained rage in her eyes. "How dare you blame him for anything, when he's done so much for me. How dare you judge him. How the hell do you expect me to listen to you when you're preaching trust in others and accusing them in the same breath?? If I ever hear you saying anything like that again, I'll be asking for a new supervisor. And I mean it."

Tanizaki stammered something, but Naomi chose that moment to drop him and turn away.

[electrowhipit]

A small nod was the only indication that he'd heard the doctor as Jolt stood there dumbly for a moment, staring at his hands. That was so incredibly stupid of him. He had, as always, acted on impulse, and, as always, that had not been wise.

"Naomi," he approached her carefully, speaking softly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have provoked him. I--" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. This morning had quickly devolved into one big mess.

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

The look she gave him was still irritated, but six years of fighting for B.A.B.E.L. had given her remarkable control and discipline, and it wasn't Jolt she was furious with. After a long moment of silence, she took a deep breath. Sakaki very discreetly shoving Tanizaki outside helped.

"Maybe you shouldn't have, but he provoked you first. As far as I'm concerned, you aren't the one at fault here."

[electrowhipit]

"Then I shouldn't have risen to the bait." He kept his distance- she was plainly still angry- and plopped down on the edge of the bed. He buried his face in his hands and just sat like that for a very long moment. "This," he said into his palms. "-isn't how I would have liked to start this morning."

[kittykinesis.livejournal.com]

"..." To be honest, she'd had better mornings, too, but watching Jolt slump like that made her anger slowly ebb away. It really hadn't been his fault; Tanizaki had some kind of twisted talent to infuriate anyone in his vicinity.

Naomi waited until she'd fully calmed down before she sat beside him, one hand resting lightly on his back. "You've got a whole day to go to make up for it," she reminded him gently. "Try not to let this get to you."

"As sage as ever, Naomi-chan." Sakaki grinned affably, dropping a hand onto Jolt's other shoulder to glimpse his patient's health before he removed it and returned to his desk to type some things in. "You've still got that fever, Jolt, lowered as it is, so the order still stands to take it easy today. There may be some electrical discharge too; you'll want to watch out for that."