pullmeoutalive | log > what is wrong with us THE SEQUEL

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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It took him a moment to disentangle himself from her and get off the bed. Once standing, he took stock of how he felt- this seemed right. More familiar. More like--

In a smooth, practiced motion, one hand shot out, electricity lanced from his palm in a flash, snaking as though it were stuck on a string- or whip. Another flick of his wrist, and the stream diverted its course, snapping away from the wall at the last second. Another flick and it shot back toward him and vanished as though it had never been.

The initial movement made her jump, eyes wide and staring at the lightning that crackled forth in one smooth motion. Almost... like a whip.

Of course. Hadn't she fought alongside him enough times to recognize it for what it was? In just a few hours, he'd seemed to master the electricity and how the human body could wield it.

Naomi cradled one hand with a burnt palm, content to watch in silence with an approving smile. Jolt had said he was a fighter, and he'd more than proved it.

Satisfied with his little display, the electricity around Jolt's hands vanished, and he moved back to the bed.

Only then did he notice the condition of Naomi's hands. It was enough to make him stop dead in his tracks. "Naomi- I--" he floundered for a moment before gently cupping her hands in his. "I'm so sorry. I- so sorry."

"Don't apologize." It hurt, she couldn't deny that, but for someone who had taken on a full electrocution with only a split second to throw up a shield, this was nothing. She'd sustained worse injuries on missions.

"You needed to get it out," she went on, as patiently as a teacher guiding a student would speak but giving him a little smile to reassure him. "Nothing was damaged and you're all right now. That's the most important thing."

He gathered her into his arms- gentle as always- and just stayed like that for a moment. "I don't ever wanna have to do something like that again," he said, voice soft. It was enough to watch it happen, but to see the results was- it was a reminder of how fragile humans could be, and even though he was one now, he'd still inflicted damage.

Naomi didn't protest, resting her head against his chest and just letting him hold her. She didn't feel quite so small and fragile when he was closer to her size, but all the same, there was something in the way his arms wrapped around her that made her feel simultaneously vulnerable and safe. She would have recognized that feeling anywhere.

"I'm sorry," she said contritely, tipping her head up just a little. "I know it must have been hard, but I'm glad you trusted me. I'm glad I could actually do something for you this time around."

Do something for him? But she had done so much, just by being there. She didn't have to put herself through this kind of thing for his sake- and then he remembered that moment in the woods, where she had fiercely thrown up a shield to protect him from her raging power. She wanted to protect him, to help him, and who was he to try and stop her?

He smiled a little, and planted a kiss on her forehead. "You should probably get those looked at."

"These?" Naomi regarded her palms with a wry smile. "The doctor's got some aloe and cream in here somewhere... I can wrap them up myself and have them looked at later."

That, and she was too comfortable where she was to want to move just yet. He was only going to be in this form for a week, so she was going to enjoy this while she could. Which reminded her...

"Was there anything you wanted to do like this? We should be able to go out tomorrow."

log > what is wrong with us THE SEQUEL

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