So… uh… I got this idea… and then it just wouldn't leave me alone. How in the hell I'm going to keep four stories going at once is beyond me, but I'm gonna try! Anyway, this stories updates are going to be slow in the making. Considering each chapter is going to be eight or more pages long…
Enjoy it!
I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, FORM, OR FASHION. THIS STORY IS PURELY FOR ENJOYMENT AND I MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF ANYTHING I WRITE. (That disclaimer stands for all the later chapters too.)
~.~ ~.~
A scream tore through a young woman's throat as an explosion went off beside her. Within seconds she was airborne and hit a pole heavily, then fell to the ground. For several minutes she just lay there, feeling nothing, but hearing her bones grind against each other.
This is it… She thought numbly. At least mom and dad didn't have to watch me die…
And she was correct; her parents had been in the center of the explosion. If she hadn't of been lagging behind because of a slightly twisted ankle, she would have died with them. The girl watched the sky; she had never noticed the brilliant blue it actually was. Too bad it took her death to bring these thoughts to her.
A body, much larger than her own and metal to boot, landed almost directly beside her. With a grimace at her grinding bones she looked over at it. She gasped when she saw that it was only the top half of a body. The young teen ground her teeth together and rolled over to crawl to the body.
"Don't… Don't you'll only kill yourself." A voice hissed; it was coming from the body.
"But… you're hurt." Hearing her voice so filled with pain made the young woman flinch.
"So are you… Don't there's nothing to be done." Hazel eyes met a blue visor after the statement was made.
"At least we… won't die alone." The woman gasped.
"You are… very accepting of… your death." The being responded in a voice filled with pain.
"When there is nothing left to you but death… your mind will accept anything…" The teen took a gasping breath. "What is your… name?"
"I'm Jazz… and you?"
"Catherine… My name is Catherine." She whispered and curled up on her side facing Jazz, where she could see his visor.
A pain filled chuckle surrounded the woman. "Thank you… Catherine."
"For what… Jazz?"
"For not letting me die alone…" The visor was fading and flickering.
Suddenly a wave of some type of energy swept over them, and Catherine felt her bones re-knit… But the bleeding would not stop.
"I thank you… Jazz…" Catherine whispered. "For not letting me die alone…"
And her eyes slid closed. Without warning her body began to glow, and her hand reached out on its own. Her fingers slid over a light within the chest of Jazz… and a bright flash followed. Twenty minutes later human paramedics and the Autobot medic arrived at the scene. The paramedics saw Catherine after the Autobot medic picked up the top half of Jazz…
"This girl is still alive!"
"Just barely, get a stretcher!"
One paramedic glanced at the alien doctor with a question upon his face. The medic shook his head solemnly.
"I offer you my condolences…" The paramedic stated quietly.
"Get her to a hospital… she will not last much longer if you do not." Ratchet replied just as quietly.
With only a nod, they parted.
~.~ 1 year later~.~
"Just recovered from major injuries and they are already harping on me about my math homework!" A young woman with ginger hair and hazel eyes that were greener than anything else sighed deeply.
She had survived Mission City, and she had somehow kept the conversation with the being known as Jazz a secret. She actually regretted leaving the poor mech to die alone. They had offered each other comfort in what they had thought to be their last moments.
"I don't understand this freakin' equation!" Catherine groaned and slumped against the back of the seat. "Stupid Algebra… how does putting the alphabet in with the numbers make sense?!"
Hey now… just calm down and look at it again.
Catherine groaned again, but did just that. She glared at the equation, and still couldn't make sense of it.
See the x… that's what you're looking for. Just take the other numbers and put them in the equation.
Catherine blinked, looked closer, and then smiled. Without a thought she picked up her pencil and did just as the voice stated…
Voice?
"Holy shit!" Catherine balked and dropped her pencil. "No… no, no, no… I am not losing my mind."
You're not… you're just hearing me for the first time Cat.
"Where did you come from… when did you get in my head?!"
I've been here since Mission City Cat.
Catherine stood up slowly and made her way to her dresser with a mirror. She stared at her reflection with a mixture of surprise, awe, and horror. Her right eye was no longer green-hazel… it was azure.
"Holy shit…"
Don't freak Cat… I don't know what's going on either…
"Don't freak?!" The woman shrieked. "I have a freakin' voice in my head, one of my eyes is the completely wrong color, and you're telling me not to freak?!"
Do ya want to let others know about this situation?
That is the only thing that caused Catherine to freeze and then deflate.
"No…" She muttered.
I thought so… and you don't have to answer me out loud Cat.
Catherine snorted and rolled her eyes. 'Yeah… well forgive me for being a bit unsettled by a male voice in my head… and you sound really familiar.'
I would hope so… The name's Jazz. Or did you forget?
Now the young woman's eyes widened and she stared at herself in the mirror. Her right eye was the same color that that mech's visor had been…
Was it possible that he hadn't died? Just transferred over to her body?
'Jazz… but I thought you died.'
So did I, Cat… so did I.
Catherine nodded slowly, she was uncertain now. They were both barely clinging to life when they had met… and—as far as she knew—Jazz had actually died. Of course she didn't remember much after the conversation that they had shared, it had taken three days for her to be stabilized enough to wake up. And then an entire month before she could actually talk about what had happened, her grief had silenced her for that long.
'So… what are we going to do about this?'
Not sure Cat… though I'm pretty sure 'hatchet would know what to do…
'Hatchet?'
Sorry… Ratchet, our medic.
Now Catherine paused, she had remembered only enough of what had happened to say that there were explosions everywhere during her time at Mission City. And she had made sure that nobody else knew about the conversation between her and Jazz.
'There are more of you?'
Bunches more Cat.
Catherine stared at her reflection; she wasn't sure how to hide the sudden change of eye color. And she had school in the morning.
Where do you go to school Cat?
'Tranquility High… I'm a senior now.'
Jazz was quiet for several seconds. Do you know a Sam Witwicky?
'Who doesn't… he's the looser that is always getting picked on by the jocks…' Catherine sighed. 'I feel bad for him, but he avoids me like the plague. I don't even know why.'
He's got contacts with the Autobots…
Catherine nodded. 'So… in order to find this Ratchet, we need to speak to Sam.'
Sounds like a plan to me… though finishing your homework is probably a good idea too.
Catherine grumbled and glared at the paper.
Don't worry. I'll help you. Jazz chuckled through her mind. You know… you're rather accepting of this Cat.
"When faced with the unknown… human minds will accept the strangest of things."
I've heard you say something like that before Cat.
'Only I was talking about death at the time.' Catherine sighed. 'Both times I was telling the truth… now how do you do this problem?'
Simple, take that number…
~.~ The next day ~.~
Catherine had stayed up late into the night not only discussing things with Jazz… but trying to figure out how to hide her eye color change. In the end she had only come up with wearing sunglasses and lost a large amount of sleep. But the teachers had made her take the sunglasses off… and then they had proceeded to ask if she had lost sight in her right eye. When the reply was 'no' the first three teachers had sent her to the nurse to get her eye checked. But then she had returned with 20/20 vision… so the teachers had just stopped sending her. And it seemed that everything was against her trying to get ahold of Sam that day.
'This is the worst day of school… ever.'
I don't know what's going on Cat… but we need to talk to Sam.
'Well… he's getting into his Camaro now…'
That's Bumblebee… another Autobot.
Catherine nodded slowly, now… how to get their attention. With a sigh she realized that she was going to have to play the idiot girl.
'This is going to hurt…'
Don't do anything that could kill you Cat.
'Wouldn't dream of it… badly injured, yes… killed, no.' Catherine replied in her mind with a roll of her eyes and then stepped off the curb just as Sam was pulling around the corner.
The tires squealed and Catherine braced herself for impact. Not a second later her feet were swept out from under her and she landed on the hood heavily. The car was immediately put in park and Sam leapt out of the driver's seat.
"Oh my god! Are you okay Catherine?!" The boy asked in a rush of words that was almost unrecognizable.
You idiot! That could have killed you!
'Ah, but it didn't…' Catherine winced and glanced up at Sam… just before she felt as if she was surrounded by water.
"Whoa…" Catherine muttered and touched a hand to her head. "Must have hit harder than it felt…"
Sam actually shot the car a glare, only for the headlights to flash at him.
'Bee just scanned you Cat.
'That's nice to know.'
"I'm taking you to a doctor." Sam stated, and then helped Catherine into the passenger's seat.
"I'll be fine Sam…" Catherine groaned.
"No… you need to come with me." Sam was staring at the scar on the underside of her right wrist now. "I think you need to see a doctor."
Catherine blinked up at him in confusion and then realized that her scar was uncovered. Ever since Mission City she had had that scar. It was left over from a burn and had taken the shape of a face. She reached up and pulled her sleeve back over the scar, but didn't argue with Sam any farther.
She really had hit her head pretty hard.
Cat… I'm gonna kill you. That was the stupidest stunt I've ever seen…
Catherine sighed inwardly and had to close her eyes as the world swam around her. Her head was hurting now.
'It got him to stop… didn't it?'
Yeah… but now you get to go see 'hatchet.
'… that sounds rather threatening.'
Cat… I don't know what to tell you.
'Sorry 'bout worrying you…'
I should've come up with a plan Cat… one that didn't get you hit by a car.
'I didn't give you time to come up with a plan.' Catherine sighed and winced when her head throbbed. 'It's not a concussion… just a rather nasty headache.'
Jazz remained silent in the back of her head, but she could feel something akin to worry radiating from the corner he occupied. Catherine sighed, and then realized that Sam was just staring at her now.
"Hey… eyes on the road. I don't want to be in a freakin' wreck because you weren't paying attention." The girl ground out.
"I have a feeling that you know I wasn't driving anyway." Sam replied. "You were at Mission City… weren't you?"
If Catherine was to admit to herself that Sam had sounded more hopeful than curious, she would have spilled everything right there.
"That's where my parents died and I got hurt, Sam." Catherine replied quickly, refusing to even look at him. "So I'm pretty sure I was at Mission City when the shit hit the fan."
An outright laugh came from Jazz in the back of her mind, and a scowl covered Catherine's face. Sam blinked in slight confusion at the sudden change in expression, and was about to let it go…
Penny for your thoughts?
Catherine blinked in surprise and glanced at the radio. "Something wrong with your radio Sam?"
Bee was trying to communicate with you Cat.
"Uh, no… just a slight glitch." Sam stuttered at her, all the while glaring at the radio.
More to you… than meets the eye.
Sam was now giving the radio a murderous glare, but Catherine sighed.
"Your name… it's Bumblebee, right?"
Correct!
Catherine flinched at the incredulous look that Sam was now shooting her.
Way to go Cat, now just wait till he asks to tell him about me.
'You weren't kidding when you said that there were more of you.'
Catherine met Sam's eyes for the first time, and the boy jolted in surprise.
"I thought both of your eyes were hazel…" He muttered. "Did you go blind in the right one?"
"No, Sam, that's just a… side effect." Catherine huffed. "Do you know how many people have asked me that same question today?"
"Too many?"
"You bet… now explain to me what happened in Mission City, because I have a feeling that the government is hiding something." The girl stated.
You know better than he does Cat.
Catherine rolled her eyes at Jazz's statement, and then groaned when she realized that Sam was now slightly freaked out by her actions.
"Do you hear voices in your head or something?" Sam asked rather bluntly.
Catherine gave Sam a tight smile. "You could say that."
Explain.
The girl glanced at the radio, and then sighed.
'How do I explain this Jazz?'
Tell him what all you know Cat…
'Gee… that's a lot of information that I have then.' She replied, her inner voice dripping with sarcasm.
"In Mission City… I was walking slightly behind my parents when the ground beneath them exploded… The explosion threw me backwards and into a pole. My bones were broken, and I had intense internal bleeding…" Catherine took a shaky breath. "A body—or the top half of a body—suddenly landed beside me."
Catherine's voice suddenly tried to lock up, the memories of the pain silencing her. Without warning the memories were suddenly pulled away and restrained.
'Thank you Jazz…'
No problem Cat.
"I don't know why I did this, but I crawled over to the body, and we… talked." Her voice shook. "It was an alien, his name was Jazz…"
The car jolted and Catherine knew that she now had the full attention of both Sam and his guardian.
"We offered each other comfort in what we thought would be our last moments… But I survived and recovered—much quicker than the doctors thought I would." Catherine paused and regained control of her rampant emotions now. "Last night, while working on my Algebra, I was having trouble with a problem and a… voice suddenly helped me. I—naturally—freaked and became very…"
Panicky? Jazz offered.
'Shut up you.'
"Unsettled…" Catherine's eyes rolled again at Jazz's amusement to the word she used. "It turns out that I now have the voice of Jazz in my head, we came up with a theory as to what happened, but we are still unsure."
Let's hear it.
Catherine sighed. "Jazz thinks that, when Sam fell with the Allspark in his hand, the resulting wave of energy washed over us. It healed my bones, and infused me with some of its energy… As Jazz's spark faded, after I was unconscious, something happened and Jazz's spark transferred to me."
"As a last ditch effort to survive..." A voice filtered through the speakers, it sounded as if it pained him to speak. "Sparks will do that if the conditions are right."
Tell him that he doesn't need to be using his voice until 'hatchet gets it completely fixed.
"Jazz says not to use your voice until Ratchet gets it completely fixed." Catherine deadpanned.
Gee Cat, can you sound any unhappier?
'Jazz… I don't think that they really believe me.'
I think they do Cat.
Catherine glanced at Sam, who was staring at her like she had grown a second head.
Is that why… Change in color… eye?
"Yeah… it happened last night when I actually heard Jazz's voice for the first time." Catherine sighed. "On a scale of one to ten, how weird is this entire situation? Ten being the weirdest and one being not weird at all."
Sam quickly gave the answer of ten, and Bumblebee gave the reply of eight. Jazz laughed from the corner of Catherine's mind that he occupied, which in turn caused Catherine to smirk, which in turn made Sam ask more questions. After twenty minutes they had arrived at the 'look out' where a rescue hummer was sitting.
That's 'hatchet, by the way Cat.
Catherine was suddenly filled with dread; she had developed a healthy respect for doctors after the injuries caused in Mission City.
'He's not going to squish me or anything… is he?'
No Cat, he won' squish ya.
Before Catherine could even step out of Bumblebee, the hummer was twisting into a new form. Soon there was a two story robot standing in front of the Camaro.
Catherine really wanted to just stay in the car now.
Come on Cat, no need to avoid this.
'Fine, but if I get squished, I blame you.'
Jazz chuckled at her irritation, only fueling said feeling more. But she climbed out of Bumblebee anyway… just a bit cautiously.
"I remember you… you were the human that was found near Jazz's body." Ratchet muttered the moment he got a good look at her. "Bumblebee has informed me of some… interesting details about you."
Tell 'hatchet to stop trying to scare you Cat. It won't do any good.
"Jazz says that you need to stop trying to scare me, it won't do any good… Oh, and he says 'Heya Hatchet'." Catherine deadpanned once again.
'Really, Heya Hatchet?'
I'm one of three mechs that called him that… he'll know it's me now.
'…'
Come on Cat, give me some credit.
Ratchet was staring at her now, almost as if…
"Tell that slagging idiot that he has quite a bit of explaining to do."
"I don't have to tell him… he can hear you." Catherine sighed, and then flinched at the sudden irritation coming from Jazz's corner of her mind.
Tell 'hatchet that I would explain if I knew what happened, so just lay off.
"Jazz says that he would explain if he knew what happened, so just lay off." Catherine replied immediately, without pausing. "Wait… did you mean for him to lay off of me or off of you?"
Catherine was being studied very carefully; she didn't realize that she was responding to Jazz aloud now.
I meant for him to lay off of you, after all… you are the one that would be getting the lecture.
"I don't know if that's a good thing or if that's a bad thing Jazz."
Could go either way Cat.
"You are really Confusing, I hope you realize that." Catherine grumbled.
I'm confusing? Cat, have you ever looked at your own mind?
"I never felt the need to, no… though I suppose that I probably should look at my own thought processes now that I have a voice in my head." The woman snapped.
I apologize… but you really do need to look at yourself before you make statements like that.
"Says the voice."
I have a name Cat.
"Whatever Jazz, don't point out that a female's mind is confusing unless you want Armageddon knocking at your door."
I don't have a door Cat. And your mind is the most confusing thing I've ever seen.
"You're the one that decided to look!"
And I suppose you have a better idea to keep me from being bored.
That caused Catherine to pause in her anger and become curious. "What do you mean?"
I can't sleep Cat… not while my spark is in your body.
"Oh… so… you studied my thought processes while I was sleeping?"
Yeah… what is a 'dream'?
"Something that human minds create while we sleep… sometimes it's a memory, sometimes it's a fear that we have tried to hide or don't even know we have." She glanced up at the sky. "Why do you ask?"
You were having one last night… though it was more of a 'nightmare.'
"That would be one of the dreams that stem from a fear then… what happened in it?"
Catherine was now completely oblivious to her audience, and Jazz was just as oblivious.
You were running from something that you couldn't see… but you knew that it wanted to hurt you.
"That would be the fear of the unknown, Jazz, paired with my paranoia."
Ratchet decided that then was a perfect time to regain Catherine's attention.
"As interesting as hearing one side of the conversation you are having is, it is also rather unsettling." The medic stated evenly. "Please stop."
Catherine jumped and blinked at Ratchet in surprise, then groaned. "I was speaking out loud… wasn't I?"
You were?
'Shut up you.'
It was just a question Cat.
"Yes, you were. Now, you will need to come with us to see Optimus." Ratchet stated and transformed, then popped open his door. "Get in."
Catherine stared at the open door.
'Who's Optimus?'
He's the boss bot… don't worry Cat, 'Hatchet and the others won't hurt you.
'Once again, Jazz, that somehow doesn't calm my sudden pounding heart.' But she hesitantly climbed into the rescue hummer. The moment she was seated, the seatbelt snapped over her and Ratchet drove off.
~.~ ~.~
So, there we have it. Human woman with a spark trapped inside of her. I didn't state her full name in this chapter, so here it is: Catherine Jean McFaye.
Review please, I really want to know if it sounds good. :)
Until all are one.
~Chistarpax