pullmeoutalive | log > what is wrong with us THE SEQUEL

Entry tags:

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!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

For his own part, Jolt looked nothing short of amused as we went to find the telephone. It took a little figuring, since he'd never had to use one himself before, and beyond that even more routing and re-routing and rattling off of codes before he finally got to speak to Optimus.

It was, in fact, not a pleasant conversation- not bad, but not pleasant either. Jolt did his very best to remain calm- especially because flaring tempers in an alien body was probably not the best way to test the proverbial waters- and reassured his commander multiple times that he was fine and that they would turn him back with no problems and no Ratchet cannot talk to him.

But of course Optimus made him talk to the medic anyway.

One very, very long phone call later, he returned to where Naomi was waiting, looking as though he'd just finished the world's longest, most tedious pop quiz. Which, in a sense, he had.

Sakaki had long since left, but Naomi was still waiting, having perched herself on one of the beds in the process. She tipped her head up, opening her mouth to welcome him back, perhaps to ask him how the call went-- and then thought better of it when she got a better look at his expression.

"It's... over now, at least?" She said sympathetically.

"I have a week of blessed Ratchet-free data gathering ahead of me, apparently," he replied with a sigh, moving to an empty bed and unceremoniously flopping down. One arm slung over his opti-- eyes. "I don't ever wanna go through that again." He might even take the medical examination over having Ratchet drill him with questions he couldn't possibly know the answers to. He'd only been human for mere hours, after all.

Unseen by the Autobot, her expression only turned more apologetic. She'd never had a problem fighting alongside him, but this time, he'd gotten involved and been forced into this situation, while all she could do was stay by his side and hope for the best.

With a small sigh of her own, Naomi hopped down, snagging a glass and a pitcher and filling the former with water. She then made her way over to the bed, leaning down and lightly tapping his arm to offer the glass. "Doctor's orders. You're going to have to take it easy for the next couple of days."

He moved his arm slightly, revealing one eye, and regarded her for a second. Right, doctor's orders. He'd had just about enough of medics and doctors, but orders were orders, so he sat up and took the offered glass. "Cheers," he replied with a bit of a grin, and promptly took a swig.

It was... cold. Not bad. Refreshing, even. His eyebrows rose as he regarded the glass. "Huh. This is gonna take some getting used to."

"Just a little." She settled gingerly on the edge of the bed, letting out a soft hiss as tended injuries protested. "But if you're still confused or if you feel strange at all, I want you to let me know, all right?"

She tapped her chin, then added pointedly, "At all."

"I'll do my best. I'm still not sure what normal is supposed to feel like, let alone strange." He eyed the glass again, taking on a thoughtful expression. "Think they can really change me back?"

"They can," Naomi stated firmly, matter-of-factly, and there was a flash of fierceness in her eyes. "We have at least four incredibly powerful espers who will be doing everything in their power to help restore you to your original form-- not to mention everyone else. There's a wide range of abilities and knowledge here. And..."

She glanced down at her hands, clasped in her lap, and then up at him with a faint smile. "Everyone here-- not counting my supervisor-- loves you, Jolt-san. They won't give up until this has been fixed."

A laugh escaped him, and he smiled at her. "That's good to know." He wouldn't have counted Tanizaki anyway, but it was nice that she felt she needed to clarify that point.

Setting the glass aside, he flopped back down. This was weird, sure, but he would be fine. He would have to be- he promised Optimus as much. "Thanks," he said after a beat. "For staying with me."

The girl's smile softened as she watched him, although she found it distinctly strange that she was actually looking down at him for once. That rarely happened, except in his alt mode. "You've always stayed with me, you know. The least I could do was return the favor. I'm here if you need me."

Jolt propped himself up a little, watching her. How did he get here from a zombie-infested shopping mall? That seemed like ages ago, but he knew he wouldn't trade the experience for the world. Not if it meant he ended up here.

That warm, affectionate smile spread across his face again, and he held out a hand. "I always need you."

She'd been powerless before that look before, and the same thing happened again. Somehow, just barely, Naomi managed to keep her face from flushing, but the events of today were beginning to make jumbled pieces fall into place. There was a realization slowly forming, that maybe she'd known, but had sternly repressed.

Jolt, however, was making that realization more insistent.

"Then I'm here," she replied, scooting a little closer to him and placing her hand in his larger one.

Dimly, he wondered what sort of looks he'd get from the others if they could see what he was doing, if they knew what he was feeling for this human. There was no doubt that Bumblebee cared deeply for his charge, just as Ratchet and Ironhide and the others cared for the soldiers, but this was different. He wasn't exactly sure what had changed, or when, but it was different.

"C'mere," he said, giving her hand a little tug.

The girl obeyed, not out of any sense of duty or force of habit, but because this was Jolt, and she trusted him implicitly. This whole thing was new to her, the way he made her feel, but she didn't mind it. She just wished she could fully understand it.

But then, she thought, maybe she didn't need to know. Maybe it was better to just go along with her instincts right now. After all, it had been proven time and time again that her emotions occasionally knew more than the girl herself did.

Jolt was already riding on instinct. He couldn't even begin to understand how or why this human body was reacting to her presence, her touch, but he knew that he didn't want to let her go.

There was nothing pressing, no missions or the possibility of such, no supervisors lurking (to his knowledge). Just him and her and he was going to make sure he seized this moment while it was here.

He pulled her to him, encircling her shoulders with his free arm as he did so.

She'd been held by his hologram before, but there was a drastic difference between that and the human that held her against him now. Things that she wouldn't have noticed before, like his warmth, or his scent, or the way he breathed.

Naomi kicked off her boots in the process of moving, drawing her legs onto the bed and curling against Jolt, one hand still in his and the other resting on his chest.

"You're supposed to be lying down," she whispered, managing a smile.

He sat there for a moment, resting his chin on top of Naomi's head. he couldn't remember the last time he'd been this... content.

"Suppose I am, huh?" That didn't mean she couldn't come with him, because he had no intention of letting go as he eased back onto the mattress.

About to protest that that wasn't what she'd meant, she got no further than "Hey--!" before she was pulled down, and the increased proximity didn't help with her flustered reactions.

"... That wasn't what I meant," she muttered, but didn't try to pull away.

"Sorry," he replied, though he couldn't actually bring himself to feel bad.

Though, now that he'd stopped moving for a moment, he realized just how drained he felt. The warmth of Naomi next to him was doing little to help in the battle to keep his eyes open.

Edited 2009-10-03 09:30 (UTC)

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that Jolt was exhausted, and Naomi knew him better than anyone else here, so the odds of her not noticing were close to nonexistent.

"Get some sleep." It was neither an order nor a request, just a calm statement. "You're going to need all the rest you can get." She smiled, snuggling closer-- maybe it was a little forward of her, but she was too tired to bring herself to care. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

A contented murmur was his only reply, but he managed to smile when she snuggled closer.

His last waking thought was that a week suddenly seemed like an awfully short time.

Naomi continued to watch him for a little while longer, almost bothered by the sudden surge of protectiveness and affection she felt for him. She could control her powers, but this was nearly overwhelming-- and she couldn't stop it, even if she'd wanted to.

She sighed softly, closing her eyes. Whatever this was... she could deal with it later. She was content right now. And with that, she joined her friend in sleep.

The fever hit him in the middle of the night.

Suddenly he was too hot and too cold all at once, and not even the warmth of Naomi curled up against him could keep him from shivering. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that this was not right- this body was not supposed to feel like this, but he was too tired to voice it.

And on top of that, he was dreaming.

Not that he knew that- Cybertronians generally didn't dream. When your systems shut down for the night, that was the end of it until morning. But his feverish human mind was concocting a scenario that he had done his damnedest to push from his processor when he had been awake.

The bomb had gone off, and Naomi was still inside, and this time, she didn't come back out. She wasn't coming out, so he had gone in, despite orders to the contrary. There was fire and smoke and he was calling for her and calling for her but she wasn't answering.

She had been asleep, peacefully so, but she'd also been trained to react to the slightest indication of a disturbance. The increased warmth of something nearby only nudged her further towards awakening.

The grogginess with which she regarded Jolt vanished abruptly when Naomi took a closer look. He was shivering, but the temperature in the medical ward hadn't changed at all. Resting the back of her hand against his forehead verified her suspicion: the fever had struck.

Her first impulse was to call for Sakaki, but it was late, and he was probably dead to the world. That, and he'd told them both that this would happen, which in his own way meant that he would be leaving Naomi in charge if it just happened to occur now.

Water was the top priority; it was evident that Jolt's dreams weren't pleasant ones, but jarring a feverish person awake was never a good idea. So, reluctantly, the esper slipped free from his side and floated off the bed to gather the necessary things nearby.

"Naomi..." it was mumbled and barely coherent, but it was her name all the same. He was still dreaming, still calling for her, and some of that had bubbled its way to the waking world.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject