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Chapter Text

Nicole's day started out like any other. It sucked for various reasons. She had woken up early that morning from a call on her cell, the club that had booked her was cancelling at the last minute and were also refusing to pay the cancellation fee she had in place. Which really didn't help the sore neck she had that quickly evolved into the mother of all migraines. She forced herself to leave her cheap hotel room, braving the sun and noise of Mission City armed with nothing but her purse and jacket. To top it all off she was hit on (again) by the ugly sleaze hanging around on the second floor before she could escape out the front door.

That gig was the whole reason she had traveled to Mission-freaking-City in the first place. Spending precious time and money to get herself and her DJ equipment from San Francisco, on a bus she might add, to get a chance at mixing in Mission Cities hottest club, The Nova. It could be the one gig to make her mark as a DJ, and now they were cancelling on her. All this before her expensive morning crap coffee she bought from the vendor down the street. Nicole choked down the bitter sludge, if only because she knew she would need her energy to argue her case to the manager of Nova.

"Stupid stinking upstart just waltzes in and thinks he can sweep this opportunity from me, just because he has better equipment? First, I'm gunna rip the manager a new one and then I'll use the head of that DJ wannabe for a soccer ball." Nicole muttered angrily under her breath.

She tossed her styrofoam cup into a nearby trash can, pushed up her glasses, sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She stopped when her reflection caught her eye in a nearby store window. Her shoulder length, bright blue hair was growing out, revealing the black it naturally was. She didn't have the money to pay her rent let alone have it touched up. Her natural waves and curls were limp with neglect and her face was pale from lack of sleep, making her freckles standout. All-in-all she looked like a punk in a worn-out bomber jacket and ripped jeans. Despite her drained appearance and exhaustion she gave her reflection a tired smile and continued down the street.

As hard and as different as this kind of living was from the way she grew up, Nicole wouldn't sacrifice it for anything. She had moved out the moment she had turned eighteen and had been making a living as a DJ for hire for just over a year now. Now if she could just make enough money so she could pay her rent she'd be set, because there was no way she was ever setting foot in her parent's house ever again. The Nova was a long way away from where Nicole's dumpy hotel was, the quickest way there was through the downtown area. She didn't have the money for cab fare so the only option was to make the arduous walk through the crowded streets.

It was almost noon when she finally made it to Nova and from the looks from the outside the darkly colored building seemed deserted. Nicole knew there was likely to be someone around, and she was more then willing to wait all day if necessary to speak to the manager. She pounded on the door with a fist, not even pausing long enough to listen for a response. It took a minute or two but the door was at last unlocked and opened by who looked like a janitor.

"Is the manager in?" She said politely. Might as well be nice to the guy letting her in.

"Ya, Dave's in the back finishin' some paper work. What'd ya need?" He asked gruffly while scratching his unshaven chin.

Nicole could tell by the older man's tone and body language that he wasn't feeling very inclined to let her in. Time to pour on the charm. If there was one thing she had learned from her parents it was how to influence people's perceptions and control their reactions. It was as easy as faking a smile and twisting your words, as simple as putting on a mask. So she tucked her chin and peeped at him over the rim of her glasses, being sure to give him an eyeful of her own innocent green orbs. This routine was so well rehearsed she hardly even had to try.

"Would you be kind enough to let me see him, sir?"

Her guiltless impression and pretty smile seemed to throw the man off balance for a second. He obviously was caught off guard, but the look succeeded in softening him up enough to let her in.

"Thanks." She beamed at him as she side-stepped through the doorway.

Unlike when the club was open the space was brightly lit, showing the small flaws that were normally hidden in the darkness. The black floors were heavily scuffed and dirty from numerous high heels, the mirrors that lined the walls were covered in handprints and had small cracks around the edges. There was still trash and alcohol spills all over the floor and the elevated bar, but over all it still looked pretty fancy. The bar had a large display of fancy glasses and expensive spirits in colorful bottles. There was also an elevated VIP section and small stage for the DJ. Speaking of which…

"Dave's in the office in the back behind the bar. Did ya need me to show you where it is?"

"No thank you. I can find my way from here." Nicole gave a false but bright smile and the man shrugged and got back to his work.

Nicole made her way across the dance floor and behind the bar to the afore-mentioned door. She dropped her smile and steeled her will, switching masks. Then she knocked twice and entered without waiting for an answer. In contrast to the dance floor the small office was fairly spartan in it's decor. Simple pale walls and functional furniture, there wasn't even a spare chair for visitors or a picture frame on the walls. The manager looked up from the piles of paper on his desk and opened his mouth to comment on her entrance, but then shut his mouth and looked her over once again. Nicole returned the favor and visually weighed the tall, thin man sitting in front of her.

He wasn't very young, but wasn't so old he didn't know how to keep a club fresh and successful for several years. He looked to be around his early to late thirties and dressed in a crisp gray suit with a red clip-on tie. He had a thin face with dark combed back hair and shrewd calculating eyes. Nicole fought off the urge to fidget under the man's heavy gaze and stood straight and tall, glaring back at him over his desk. She knew better then to assume she was going to get anywhere by batting her eyelashes at this guy. This man was in the business for the money, so the best way to deal with him was to not show any weakness and let him know she was not to be trifled with. Yet another necessary mask that was well used and rehearsed.

"You must be Mr Gerard, owner and manager of this establishment?"

It was an unnecessary question, she knew who he was, but he was also the man who had called her this morning and told her that her gig was cancelled. He was already in the negatives area in her good book. The man straightened and half rose out of his chair with his arm extended to shake hands with her.

"Please call me David, or Dave if you prefer. You must be Nicole Shultz, or do you prefer your stage name? The 'Bluejay' I believe you're called, yes?" Even his voice sounded leery but Nicole wasn't about to let him get any kind of upper hand on her. She ignored his offered hand, folded her arms over her chest and schooled her glare to be distant and cold.

"Nicole is just fine, thank you. I believe you know why I'm here." She said tersely.

The man dropped his arm and friendly pretenses before sitting tall in his chair once again. Nicole, by both refusing to shake his hand and making sure he called her by her name, was making a statement. She was saying in a subtle way that they were here on her terms, not his. A subconscious social dominance that she was so far winning despite the fact she was on his turf, and it made him uncomfortable. Yet another lesson she had been taught from her parents.

"I believe I know why you are here Miss Nicole, but as I told you on the phone this morning there is nothing I can do. My club is the most popular in Mission City and we only hire the best of the best here at The Nova."

"And I am one of the best!" Nicole declared heatedly before molding her expression back into one of cool detachment, only her eyes expressed her anger. However the slip in her mask had cost her. David was feeling a little more in control now and gave off a sigh.

"You are good, I'll give you that much. However a DJ we know to be successful stepped forward after we contacted you. This DJ is promising and has already shown good work at a number of other clubs here in Mission City."

"What about my cancellation fee? I didn't spend so much money just to walk away with nothing but a 'sorry maybe next time'. We had a contract-" She was interrupted by a dismissive wave of Dave's hand.

"We had no contract, we had a verbal agreement over the phone because sending any papers would have taken too long. Something you would be hard pressed to provide any evidence of ever having taken place. Besides, a young business woman like yourself should have been better prepared for any fallout from an endeavor like this. Or did you not fully calculate the risks of this little venture of yours?" He asked with a cold glitter in his dark eyes and a tilt of his head.

Her silence condemned her more then any words would have, and worse any defense she raised would only seem like an excuse. She had taken a risk to come here, now she was even further away from paying her rent which was due in two weeks time. Nicole was frustrated. He had her painted into a corner and they both knew it, it was seeming less and less likely she was going back home with her rent money. Despite her mounting irritation she remained neutral with her arms loosely crossed and hands relaxed.

"Who is this supposed 'promising' DJ? Some jock with a second-hand turn table and an ego trip? Who are you to say that his music is any better then mine?" Nicole scoffed.

"He is actually a she, and I can assure you all my turn tables are new and of top quality." A bright voice said as the door to the office opened.

The door swung fully open to reveal a blue-eyed, tall and willowy blonde about the same as Nicole. Her hair was long and elaborately curled, her high heels making her already tall figure tower over Nicole's height of five foot nothing. Her clothes were an expensive brand name, highlighted with expensive accessories and jewellery. seemed pleased to see the blonde.

"Ah, right on time. Miss Nicole this is Madison Wood. Miss Wood is the DJ we have presently booked, she comes highly recommended by several clubs. And her father is a good friend of mine. Miss Wood this is Miss Nicole. The DJ we had been considering until you came along."

"Please Dave, call me by my stage name Phoenix." Madison gave a tinkling laugh before turning her attention to Nicole.

"You must be Bluejay. I can't say I've had the pleasure of hearing any of your music, perhaps next time you're in Mission City we can get together." Madison said with just a suggestion of insincerity.

"Call me Nicole,” she replied curtly. An idea came suddenly to Nicole's mind, it was risky but if it worked she would have a gig in the Nova and enough rent for a few months.

"Why wait until next time to hear my music? The Nova only hires the best of the best, so why don't we see just who that is?"

Madison narrowed her eyes suspiciously, while seeming to straighten and focus his attention more on the conversation and less on his paperwork.

"What are you suggesting?" David asked with hands steepled in front of his face.

"I'm suggesting a DJ battle. Three rounds each and the crowd decides who the best is. The winner is the one who gets paid. Just think of the publicity, the Nova's first DJ battle and it's Mission Cities Phoenix vs. The Bluejay. Of course you need some time to get the word out and generate peoples interest so why don't we have it in say, a week from now?"

Madison seemed stunned at the sudden turn of events, she stood there with her mouth hanging slightly open. Meanwhile David wasn't disguising the fact he was highly interested in the offer, he was after all getting both publicity and two DJ's for the price of one. He half stood again and extended his hand for Nicole to shake. Nicole quickly grasped and then released his palm resisting the urge to get the hand sanitizer out of her purse.

"Deal. One week from now The Phoenix and The Bluejay will determine who is the better DJ." David seemed pleased with the outcome of this meeting.

Madison stepped forward, her brows furrowed and her mouth open to protest. Nicole quickly cut her off before she could say a word.

"Of course if 'The Phoenix' is too afraid to crash and burn then I would be more than happy to take her place." Nicole implied innocently.

If looks could kill Nicole would have found herself six feet under, but even so Madison's mouth closed with a snap. Madison flipped her hair and ignored Nicole while meeting David's gaze and nodding stiffly. David gave a sleazy grin and clapped his hands, producing the necessary paperwork seemingly from thin air. Once she had signed Nicole quickly excused herself and exited the office, getting away from the poisonous glares she could feel in her back.

The second she closed the office behind her Nicole could hear Madison begin raging for putting her on the spot like that. David sounded like he really didn't much care what she thought, he was making money no matter what happened. Nicole saw herself out of the building and back into the busy Mission City streets feeling very pleased with herself. All she had to do now was make some winning mixes before next week. Nicole couldn't afford to lose, or she would find herself out of money and on the street.

Nicole did some calculations in her head for her savings and expenses. Going back home to San Francisco until the DJ battle was out of the question. Getting her equipment back and forth would drain her remaining savings to almost zero, it was cheaper to stay in her dumpy hotel room and wait a week. Nicole's attention was suddenly grabbed when she heard a plane pass by close overhead. She stopped in her tracks and craned her neck to see a military jet flying low between the buildings.

'What's a jet doing in the city?' Nicole wondered to herself as she brought her attention back to the street around her.

Just down the road seemed to be some kind of disturbance, a line of military vehicles and some fancy looking custom cars were blocking the road. They were about fifty yards away up the street and as she watched the soldiers popped green smoke flares. The crowd seemed unsure what to think of what was going on. Was it a movie scene, or some kind of demonstration?

Nicole was too far away to see what initially started the panic in the crowd because she was quickly shoved aside by the screaming and running crowd. Her brain couldn't seem to make sense of what was going on, all she saw was a Ferbie truck inexplicably standing before she was shoved to the ground by an explosion. Time seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time as stone, fire and shrapnel flew through the air. Nicole's head met the concrete with a resounding crack and for several moments all she could do was lay still. She could hardly hear the sound of people screaming over the ringing in her ears. All thoughts of how important it was she pay for her rent seemed very small and silly now.

Stunned and surprised Nicole slowly propped herself up and tried to make sense of what was going on around her. At first she thought that perhaps she had hit her head too hard or that she was dreaming, because those couldn't really be giant robots could they? The closest robot was a yellow bot that seemed to have been injured in the blast. It was still a ways away but it was easy to see that the robot's legs were missing, and though it made no recognizable words the sounds it was making were obviously ones of pain. Nicole's brain swam with random and disconnected thoughts. A part of her was yelling to get up and run, while another part was wondering why a robot could feel pain.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by another booming sound behind her and another explosion nearby destroying even more architecture. Nicole painfully got to her feet staying close to the nearby wall and looked around for the new danger, which came in the form of some kind of tank rolling down the street. It was a massive piece of machinery that lurched forward, crushing cars and anyone foolish enough to get in its way. Nicole wasn't sure which way to go, there were giant robots behind her and a killer tank in front of her. She spotted a side ally and limped her way to it while keeping an eye on what was happening behind her.

The soldiers and three fancy custom cars; a GMC topkick, a search-and-rescue ambulance, and a Solstice all charged the tank. Nicole ducked around a street corner when she saw the cars change into robots and proceed to flip and fire massive guns at the tank. The sound of gunfire and screams in the street behind her were deafening. Nicole only managed to go about several feet down the side street before she had to stop. Even with the massive amount of adrenaline in her system her injuries wouldn't let her go too far. The worst pain was coming from her head, while her ribs and right leg came at a close second. Nicole clutched her skull, only feeling the warm wetness that coated her bright hair and now her hands.

'Why are robots fighting in Mission City?' Nicole wondered. It was a very good question but one that can be answered after she found somewhere safe.

Something massive and silver flew over her head and brought down a nearby fire escape, she instinctively hit the dirt. Her injuries screamed at her but her attention was more focused on the silver robot that had just flown down from the sky. Nicole froze as she looked up and saw the metal giant in front of her. The monster was at least forty feet tall and seemed to be made of sharp, jagged, metal. Her breath caught in her chest and she felt like her heart might burst from fear as it turned around with a growl.

Nicole could feel the menace and see the desire to kill in it's bright red eyes and cruelly clawed hands. Though it paid her less attention she would an ant, and despite the pain she felt in her leg she ran from that ally as fast as she could. The street was destroyed and some of the robots from before were still there but Nicole simply put her head down and ran faster. Screams rang out as the monster emerged from the ally behind her.

"It's Megatron! Retreat! Fall back!" A loud voice called out.

Nicole ran for her life, heedless of the pain in her leg and head she blindly dashed through the city. She didn't look back so she didn't see how her life and many others were saved by a smaller silver robot with a blue visor, who stood his ground to give others time to retreat. She didn't see that same smaller robot get picked up by the monster and carried away. How much time passed that she ran in a sightless panic she couldn't say. Later, Nicole would only remember the smell of smoke and the feeling of blinding terror as she ran through the city. She would have run for hours until she was out of the city, but when she rounded a corner and saw the monster her fear paralyzed her once more.

The monster stood atop a building, surveying the chaos and destruction around it with what looked like the body of another robot in its hands. The monster suddenly shouted and tossed the body before changing and flying off into the air, where it flew off to Nicole didn't know. Nicole screamed and ducked as the upper half of the robot's body crashed into the wall behind her and nearly crushed her. She scrambled to get away but froze when her eyes met with a flickering blue visor.

Strange pink and blue liquid pooled around the silver robots missing lower half while sparks fired from torn wires. The visor flickered again and the robots arms twitched, as if trying to get up and move. Static and a small cry of pain escaped from where she thought its 'mouth' might be, before it's visor went dark and it went limp once more. For a minute she hardly breathed, but the robot didn't move again. Nicole shakily got to her feet and began to stumble away when a sliver of light in the robots chest caught her eye. It may have been the concussion talking, but for some reason Nicole felt compelled to see where that light was coming from.

Cautiously, Nicole inched toward the robot ready to jump back at any time should it suddenly move again. The bright light in its chest wavered and dimmed but didn't quite go out. She circumnavigated around the strange blue fluids and approached the robot's chest. The damage ran deep into the robots chest, torn wires, dripping tubes and twisted metal making a macabre sight. The glow seemed to be coming from the deepest part of its chest, from a round chamber-like part approximately where a heart on a human would be.

'What is that?' Nicole wondered.

The chamber had a large crack, which let the light leak out. Though she could only see a small sliver of the blue-white light, what she could see was beautiful. The light wavered and dimmed once more, almost going out before flaring weakly. For some unknown reason the thought of that light forever extinguishing struck something within her and she reached a tentative hand out, as if to keep it from going out. What she didn't expect was for the light to reach back.

The moment Nicole came within reach a tendril lashed out and latched onto her right arm. Nicole tried to pull away, to scream, to do something but it was as if a current of powerful electricity was coursing through her body. Every muscle in her body clenched at once jerking her body on invisible strings, the current traveled up her arm and gathered in her head. For a moment she thought she felt a presence of something 'other' in her mind, but it was quickly overshadowed by pain. Nicole's sight went black as the pain became too much for her to handle, stars popped in her vision as the tendril finally released her.

Completely boneless she dropped to the ground, cracking her skull once more on the unforgiving pavement and succumbing to unconsciousness. In the black of nothingness Nicole didn't see many of the important things happening around her. She didn't see that the light in the robot's chest was now gone, or the battle between the silver monster and a blue eyed giant. She didn't see a boy running for his life with a cube in his arms, a cube that accidentally brought life to the machines around it.

And no one saw the newly sparked SUV open its doors letting out three screaming girls and drive away, weaving between the piles of rubble and disappearing. No one noticed the girls drop their now alive phones in their panic. No one saw those three phones huddle together under a collapsed concrete pillar, confused and scared of the gunfire and screams, they didn't know where to go. No one spotted three phones scurrying away from the fighting as fast as their tiny metal legs would carry them. And no one noticed when those three phones took refuge in Nicole's purse.

So after the boy had pushed the cube into the monster's chest and watched them both burn, the battle was finished. Nicole, still unconscious, never noticed the three phones keen as they felt the loss of the artifact that gave them life. Or when the body of the silver robot was taken away by a black giant. Leaving her to be taken to the hospital hours later by rescue workers, purse still slung over her torso and three strange new phones nestled in the bottom.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own scrap, or any recognizable Transformers but the OC's are my own invention so please ask before using them. So without further a due, enjoy!

"Talking"

'Nicole's thinking'

~Jazz~

-

It was two, almost three days after what had happened in Mission City that Nicole had finally been released from the hospital. She had been diagnosed with a badly bruised and slightly burned right arm, two fractured ribs and a severe concussion with a minor fracture to the occipital lobe of her skull, also known as the back of her head. She was lucky enough to be able to keep her hair and just have to wear a turban of bandages and take a lot of pain medication. The medicine she was very grateful for, it helped her ignore two problems with one pill, the pain and the voice. It was also effective in helping her deal with the idea of giant robots.

Nicole tiredly walked up the seven flights of stairs to her apartment, mumbling under her breath about the elevator being broken again. Her headache seemed to increase and her purse seemed to grow heavier with every step she took. Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose and hissed under her breath as she unlocked her door.

"Will you shut up and go away, please?" She tried asking nicely.

~Sorry sweetspark, but no. Ah seem to be stuck wit ya.~ The voice said in it's funny gangster accent.

"Lovely." She groaned.

Three days ago, back in the hospital Nicole had been very confused upon waking, in fact the voice was the first thing she had been aware of when she had woken. It stirred awake the same time she did, and at first she thought it's presence was just a dream. Then it spoke.

~What the frag?~

Nicole's eyes snapped open only to flinch from the bright light that streamed in through the window of her hospital room. She let her bleary eyes adjust and confusedly scanned the pale walls of the private room trying to understand where she was. The flimsy blue hospital gown she was wearing was a good indication. Nicole tried to sit up but fell back when she was hit with a wave of dizziness. Her hands reached for her head and felt the bindings over and around her skull. Her memories of what had happened crashed over her like a wave; fighting robots, the silver monster, the light, then nothing. She flinched from the pain that lanced along her right arm and the back of her head from her movement.

~Hey! Easy now, that hurts ya know?~

Nicole froze and scanned the room for whoever was speaking to her. The walls were a tasteless pale white and blue and the smell of disinfectant that was unique to hospitals wafted through the air. She scanned the small room again, growing more confused by the second, because it was obvious from one glance that there was no one else in the small room. Nicole shifted uneasily on the lumpy mattress and scratchy sheets forcing herself to will away her nausea and sit as strait as she could.

"Who's there?" She tried to say strongly but her throat was so dry it came out as more of a raspy whisper.

For a long moment there was no answer, and Nicole was just about to chalk it up to her imagination when the pressure in her head increased and the voice answered.

~There's no one here 'cept fer you and me kid.~

It was then that Nicole noticed that she wasn't hearing the voice from an external source but from inside her very own mind. Her thoughts came to a shocked standstill and she all but stopped breathing in surprise, staring at the door opposite her bed without really seeing it. Nicole turned her attention inward and mentally inspected the voice even as she felt it do the same to her.

It was more than a little strange and intimidating to feel a presence that was not her own in her head. Nicole could somehow sense that it was regarding her but trying to seem like it wasn't so as to not frighten her. Despite this observation she couldn't help but think the voice was still scary. The presence was huge in comparison to her own and it felt much, much older. It was like standing next to an infinitely deep and wide ocean, or looking up at an empty night sky and fearing to fall off the edge of the earth, forever falling.

The only thing that kept the presence from being overwhelming was what seemed like a thin invisible wall that separated their individual consciousnesses. Nicole cautiously tested the wall with a careful mental push and was surprised with how strong the barrier actually was. It was like a pane of glass with the strength of The Great Wall of China. All she could feel through the wall was the voice's scrutiny and a vague understanding for how it was feeling, but she couldn't know what it was thinking until it 'spoke' to her. Right now she could sense the voice was greatly confused but also wary and concerned, and not just for itself but for her as well. For the most part it just silently watched her reaction.

Nicole on the other hand was unsure how to feel about any of this. Her mind, which had stalled when the voice had first 'spoken' to her, exploded into motion. She could barely finish a theory before it was dismissed and her train of thought jumped to the next one. Her brain was now operating like a scared frog on drugs, hopping back and forth in a disjointed fashion, trying desperately to understand what was going on. The only logical conclusion she could think of was that she had finally gone crazy.

A small part of her wondered if an insane person could consider their own insanity in such a calm-ish manner. There was a slight strain of genetic schizophrenia on her fathers side of the family. That would readily explain both the voice and the hallucination of huge robots fighting in Mission City. Because there was no way that giant and possibly alien machines could possibly be real. Right? It was even more frightening to think that she could no longer trust her senses, that she could no longer tell the difference between reality and a hallucination. Nicole was so distracted by her incoherent thoughts that she wasn't aware she was accidentally letting her thoughts and emotions flow freely through the wall to the voice. She almost physically jumped from her hospital bed when it 'spoke' again.

~Yer not going crazy kid. An' what do ya mean ya think ah'm just a figment of yer imagination? That really hurts mah feelin's ya know.~

Nicole clamped down on her thoughts and mentally distanced herself from the wall, making sure that no stray thought or emotion leaked over. Once she was sure she was as alone as she could be with her thoughts, while sharing headspace with a voice at the same time, Nicole considered the voice. Which watched her cautiously but not apprehensively, and after a long awkward silence she finally spoke up. She spoke aloud, unwilling to let even a half-formed thought slip over the mental barrier that separated them.

"Who are you? Why are you in my head? Better yet, why don't you go possess someone else?" She said crossly, hoping uselessly that it wouldn't answer and instead take a hint and leave. To her great dismay it didn't leave, and instead answered. Nicole didn't know how but somehow the presence managed to give the impression he was rolling his eyes at her.

~Those are all good questions kid, but I'm afraid to say ah have no clue how ah got here. Ah was sure ah had offlined. Ah expected ta go to the Well of Allsparks not some random kids head.~

Questions about what the heck he was talking about crowded her mind, but she put them aside to concentrate on what she really wanted to know.

"You didn't answer my first question. Who are you?"

~The name's Jazz kid.~

Nicole snorted in disbelief and, being careful of her sensitive head, fell back onto her pillows. She was becoming more convinced that the voice, Jazz, was a product of her insanity by the second.

"Great. Just great, not only am I insane and hearing voices but said voice is also named after the only genre of music I can't stand."

~HEY!~

Whatever Jazz was going to say next was interrupted when the door swung open letting a tall man with a receding hairline in a white lab coat enter the room. Nicole focused her attention on reality and Jazz's presence retreated to a faint buzz in the back of her skull. All she could sense of him was a cautious silence. Nicole was shocked to realize she recognized the slightly balding man who had entered the room as her parents' well paid family doctor, Doctor Benet. Seeing that she was awake the doctor gave a smile that didn't quite reach his dull brown eyes and grabbed her charts before speaking.

"Ah Miss Shultz, it is good to see you finally awake. I was just coming to check on you, can you tell me where you are?" He didn't look away from the sheets on the clipboard as he spoke.

"Mission City hospital, right? How long was I out?" Nicole asked, not remembering anything after the strange light from her hallucination.

Doctor Benet put her charts back on the end of her bed and proceeded to check her bandages as he spoke.

"You have been unconscious for over twenty-four hours. In that time when your parents heard you were injured in that terrorist attack they spared no expense so you could be treated here. You were brought as fast as humanly possible back to San Francisco and admitted. We have already done a few tests and blood work and treated your head for any possible swelling. We were just waiting for you to wake up so we can be sure there is no permanent damage. So how do you feel?" The doctor asked as he turned to get fresh bandages.

'Like I've fallen down the rabbit hole.' Nicole thought to herself.

~There ain't any white rabbits around here kid.~ The voice said with a ghostly chuckle in her mind.

"Stay out of my head." She hissed at it under her breath and she felt it once more retreat into a faint buzz in the back of her skull.

"What was that?" Doctor Benet asked as he turned back to her with more bandages in hand.

"I said there's some pain in my head. I'm also pretty thirsty."

Nicole quickly answered the rest of Doctor Benet's questions, like when her birthday was and what her mothers maiden name was to make sure she didn't have any brain damage. The voice stayed thankfully silent but she could sense that it was thinking something over and choosing not to share its thoughts with her. Then Doctor Benet asked what she remembered about the 'terrorist attack'.

"Nothing. Last thing I remember is walking down the street." She lied smoothly.

"Well that's pretty common with this kind of trauma. Don't let it bother you too much. Do you have any other aches or pains I should know about? How about your vision?"

"If someone would give me my glasses back my vision would be fine. Other then that I'm fine."

"Alright then, I'll schedule you for an X-ray and we'll be keeping you overnight just to be safe. Should you need anything just press the call button, our nurses will be happy to help you." And with that the doctor left.

Nicole leaned back against her pillows and heaved a heavy sigh. It wasn't long before the voice spoke up.

~Why didn't you tell him about me kid?~

"Did you want me to?" Nicole scoffed sarcastically.

~No, but the doc asked if there was anythin' else wrong. Ah thought for sure you'd tell 'im about me and try at get rid a me, but you didn't. Why?~

Nicole took a moment to ask herself the same question, why hadn't she told the doctor about the voice? Part of it was because she was hoping the problem would solve itself, that the voice would disappear just as quickly as it had come. Another part of it was because Doctor Benet was on her parents payroll, and she couldn't find a reason to trust him. He would likely be only too glad to take her on as a mental patient so he could increase his already substantial pay check.

Lastly was the fact that the voice, Jazz, seemed to be fairly harmless for now. A product of what she was sure was schizophrenia, as she had a family history of it and it would explain both her hallucinations and the voice. Should he start telling her to kill people or assassinate the president then she would check herself into a loony bin.

"I don't know about you but I'd rather not spend the rest of my life in a mental ward, and quit calling me kid. My name is Nicole."

~Whatever kid.~ The voice scoffed playfully before retreating once more.

The rest of Nicole's day was spent staring at the walls completely bored out of her mind. The voice stayed silent in the back of her head and she was unwilling to encourage her delusional mind by talking to him. With nothing to occupy her mind Nicole could only fume at her parents for bringing her back to San Francisco. She worried for several minutes about where her DJ equipment was and other luggage.

Nicole and her parents hadn't spoken to each other since she moved out on her eighteenth birthday over a year and a half ago. Nicole didn't have some sob story of coming from a bad family that beat her or anything like that. She had grown up perfectly content with her lot in life, she was well taken care of. However as she grew older she realized her parents only saw her as a pretty flower they could use to make even more money. It became a rift that grew between her and her parents without them even noticing it.

When she moved out on her birthday it was to their great surprise and anger. She hardly ever spoke to them if she could help it. This was mostly due to the fact that every time she tried to interact with them they would try to use her like a pawn in their petty games of intrigue and power struggles. As their only daughter it had always been like that with her parents. They must have paid a lot of money to have her brought here and admitted to the hospital, and yet they couldn't find the time to visit her and make sure she was ok. Nicole suspected they only did it so they could garner some pity from their so called friends at the country club. Now she would have to pay for yet another bus ticket to Mission City, and still find time to make her music mixes for the DJ battle.

Nicole tried to focus on something other than her anger at her parents, so instead she thought of what she could remember about Mission City. She remembered everything, from the robots and the explosions right down to the strange light and her skull cracking against the pavement. The only question was how much of it was real? Her injuries were certainly real enough, so she couldn't deny that something had happened. If she was schizophrenic then her mind could have easily turned the terrorist attack into a hallucination of giant robots fighting in the city.

Nicole sighed and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do for her new found illness unless she was willing to tell doctor Benet about what she had thought she had seen and the voice in her head. However Nicole's stubborn streak of pride was unwilling to admit that she needed help, medical or mental. She was more then willing to ignore the situation and get along with her life as if nothing had changed.

Nicole's sleep through the night was uneasy and light, since to make sure she had no brain damage the nurses had to wake her every two hours to ask her where she was and what her name was. Nicole nearly bit the head off of the last nurse to wake her before it was decided she could sleep for a few hours before her X-ray in the morning. Jazz never stirred during these nightly interruptions and Nicole was disappointed when she felt him stir awake in the early morning as she had her X-ray. She had dared to hope that he had gone for good.

Nicole overheard the technicians saying that her scans were good and showing that she was healing without any signs of swelling. So when Doctor Benet came into the room and started pretending that she would have to stay longer she refused. It took hours of nagging and pestering both the hospital staff and the doctor but finally Nicole was allowed to leave. It took another few hours for them to go over her home care for her injuries. There were pills she had to take at certain times, certain ways she had to wrap her wounds and certain warning signs she had to watch for should she relapse. It was all very boring and repetitive.

Someone, Nicole suspected who was her parents' driver and a good friend of hers, had left some clean clothes for her at the front desk. She was also given back her glasses and her red satchel purse, which was still covered in concrete dust and a bit of blood. Nicole just thanked her lucky stars her glasses were still intact after all they'd been through. She had just finished changing into her clean jeans and green 'save the earth' t-shirt when a nurse knocked on her hospital door and poked her head in.

"Excuse me Miss Shultz but you have two visitors. Would you like me to send them in?"

Nicole was in shock, she had not expected visitors. In fact the only two people Nicole could think of that would come to visit her would be her parents.

"Um… yes, I'll see them."

The nurse nodded and moved away from the door, Nicole could hear a pair of footsteps come down the hall toward her room. Whatever tiny hope that had dared to rise thinking that it was her parents coming to see her was quickly crushed when Nicole saw the two men in the doorway. Neither man was her father, and both wore matching black suits, had dark neat hair and stern expressions. The only difference between the pair was the fact one was a few inches taller than the other. Nicole could sense the voice, who had been a passive and silent presence in the back of her mind, suddenly very much there and aware.

Nicole warily watched as the taller man stepped forward while the other stood by the door, as if to make sure she didn't make a run for it.

"You must be Miss Nicole Shultz." It wasn't a question, he spoke as if daring her to deny it.

Nicole kept her face blank, not showing how nervous she was on the inside to these intimidating men. However it annoyed her that the voice could sense her real feelings, there was no hiding her true emotions from it.

"I am. Can I help you?"

The man reached into his jacket and flashed an official looking badge that he put away again before she could get a proper look at it.

"I am agent Colton and this is agent Hertz, my partner. We are from a division of the government that's been investigating the recent terrorist attack in Mission City. We also understand that you were there at the time of the attack. Care to tell us what happened?"

~Kid, ya gotta tell these guys about me.~ Jazz said almost frantically.

Nicole couldn't believe what the voice was saying. Just yesterday she had been thanked for not telling the doctor but now it wanted her to speak up? She balked at the idea of telling these sketchy government guys that she had a voice in her head and that she had a hallucination of giant robots in Mission City. She did her best to ignore Jazz's insistent presence and let her expression become one of slight regret.

"I'm sorry to say that I can't tell you much. Apparently I got a concussion and I can't remember much of what happened."

~For Primus' sake! Tell them I'm here!~

'Shh.' She thought gruffly at the voice.

The agents didn't look convinced, their stares becoming more pronounced.

"You must realize Miss Shultz that you left the scene of a government investigation. That makes you look very bad in our eyes. So why don't you tell us what you can remember?"

"For your information I didn't leave Mission city on purpose, I was unconscious when my parents decided to bring me here. The last thing I remember is walking down the street of Mission City." Nicole lied seamlessly, not wanting to give these agents any reason to give her a hard time. There had been a silent threat in the man's voice if he didn't think she was going to cooperate.

"And you don't remember anything about the attack, not even what the terrorists looked like?" The man asked with narrowed eyes, looking down his nose at her with suspicion.

Something in the way the man spoke sounded off, as if he was suggesting the terrorists should have been impossible to forget. Nicole thought back to her hallucination, the giant robots would have been unforgettable but they had just been an illusion created by her mind. Hadn't they? She looked from one man to the other unsure of what they wanted her to say.

~Kid! Tell them about me! Tell them Autobot Jazz is still alive!~ Jazz's presence pushed against the invisible wall in her mind. It sent a lance of pain through her skull but the wall remained firmly in place.

"No." She said to both the agents and Jazz.

The agents shared a look that said they didn't believe her but there wasn't anything they could do about it. The taller agent turned his attention back to her.

"Very well then, but we are required to tell you that if you remember any details of the attack to keep them to yourself. The investigation is still ongoing and the government has given us the authority to ensure that panic does not spread due to this incident. Part of that authority is given to us to ensure that those involved know to remain discreet. Do you understand Miss Shultz?"

Nicole nodded, she wasn't thick enough to miss the not-so-subtle menace in the man's words. Jazz was shouting what sounded like dial-up computer noises in her head and pressing against the imperceptible barrier in her head. The pain was beginning to build behind her eyes and at her temples, but Nicole didn't let the pain show on her face.

"And what would happen if someone should talk?" Nicole said carefully. The man narrowed his eyes but couldn't call her out on what she said in tone alone.

"I'm afraid that person would find their life becoming unfortunately difficult. Of course that person wouldn't be easily believed by the general public, and we would know if they talked."

Nicole and the agent stared at each other for a long moment before the man by the door coughed, breaking the building tension in the room. The man tapped his wrist as if signaling it was time to go, the tall man nodded and straightened his shoulders as he turned to leave.

"Have a good day Miss Shultz, and should you remember the attack I hope you also remember this conversation. Should you have any questions, here's my card." The man held a stiff white card with a phone number printed in stark black ink almost under her nose. Nicole snatched the card from his hand with a cold look and pointedly put it in her pocket.

"Goodbye agent Colton." Nicole said with just a hint of venom in her voice.

Nicole waited until she could no longer hear the men's footsteps making their way down the hall to put her hands to her head and grimace.

'Will you SHUT UP!' She shouted in her mind, the pain eased for a moment before Jazz pushed hard against the wall, making her head throb.

~Ya gotta go after 'em kid! They know about the Autobots. Ya gotta tell 'em I'm here!~

"And tell them what, exactly? That I have a voice in my head and they should check me into the closest mental hospital? You're not real! You are just a delusion, and I swear to God if you don't shut up I'm going to doctor Benet and have him deal with you."

Jazz said nothing but Nicole could feel his mounting frustration coming from his side of the wall. She ignored him as best she could over the next few hours as she completed the final paperwork to check out of the hospital. The sun was just beginning to set on the third day after the incident in Mission City when she finally escaped from the hospital. Nicole caught a bus and seated herself almost thankfully on the worn seat, a number of people glanced at her heavily bandaged head and right arm but quickly turned back to their own business. Nicole settled her purse in her lap and leaned her head on her arms.

Unfortunately for her the moment the hospital was out of sight Jazz began to try and get her to listen to what he had to say. Nicole ground her teeth in frustration, she didn't want to know more about the voice but she knew without Doctor Benet near it was useless trying to tell him to be quiet. In her mind talking to him would only encourage her delirium, so she ignored him. Nicole discovered she could block out the voice to some degree if she concentrated hard on one thing. So Nicole focused on thinking of only the music mixes she was going to play at the Nova, but it was difficult with the voice in her head practically screaming for her attention. It was like trying to do trigonometry without a calculator and someone shouting out random numbers in your ear.

Finally she made it home to her run down apartment and unlocked the door, hissing and muttering for Jazz to go away. She locked the door behind her, kicked off her shoes and surveyed her tiny living space. The bathroom was off to one side and practically a closet, while the kitchen was the size of a postage stamp. With barely enough room for a sink, mini fridge and hotplate stove but the place was clean at least. There was no distinguishing line separating the kitchen from the bedroom, the dirt stained carpet covered the whole floor from wall to wall. The bed was unmade and the thin mattress was covered with a single threadbare quilt and an equally threadbare pillow. The only good feature was a small window that overlooked the street below, as a seventh floor resident she may have had the furthest to walk upstairs but she had the best view of the sunsets over the rooftops.

The most dominating feature of the apartment was the sheer amount of music CD's, DJ equipment and band memorabilia all of it neatly stacked and organized for easy mixing and recording. A few posters decorated the walls, covering the ugly beige and giving the room a splash of color. Nicole was very happy to see that someone had taken the time to also bring back her DJ equipment from Mission City. Nicole smiled when she saw a little note from hoping she was feeling better attached to her turn tables on the tiny kitchen table. She made a mental note to call him and thank him for taking care of her equipment. She was sure her parents wouldn't have done that and instead leave them in the dingy hotel in Mission City for anybody to take.

~Hey! Are ya listenin' ta me?~ Jazz's voice popped her temporary happiness like a soap bubble.

"Will you be quiet? And stop pushing against the wall, it's giving me a headache."

~Giving us a headache. Ah feel what you do kid, and I'll stop when you stop ignoring me and listen.~

"No I will not listen to you and do you know why? It's because you are not real!"

~If you would just hear me out kid! That wasn't a hallucination ya had it was real, and I'm the ripped in half silver alien robot that ya saw. Somehow mah spark must have jumped inta ya when it was about ta go out.~

Nicole's frustration at the voice finally hit the boiling point and she mentally shoved the intangible wall in her mind. It sent a bolt of pain through her skull but despite that she was a little glad it hurt the voice too. She gnashed her teeth and gripped the strap of her purse in a white knuckled fist. She punctuated every shout with a violent push against the wall that made both her and the voice flinch.

"My name is not KID! And I don't care who or what you are, or how you got into my head I just want you to LEAVE! You are not real! You are a delusion! There is no such thing as alien ROBOTS!"

As she shouted the last word she flung her purse out of anger at the wall over her bed. She watched the purse hit the wall with a satisfying thud and several items fall out across her quilt. One of these items fell with a pained chirping noise that immediately caught her attention. At first what she was seeing made no sense to her, the thing was small and metallic but was moving on it's own. Then it looked up at her with what looked like little blue eyes and froze. For several long moments they just looked and blinked at each other, even Jazz seemed to have been stunned into silence.

It looked like a cross between a metal crab and a little bird, it had a few spindly metal legs and two bright blue eyes on stalks. Its body was small, small enough she could have easily cupped it in one hand, it was covered in small patches of what looked like light green armor. It also had diminutive, wing-like appendages sprouting from its tiny back. The 'wings' twitched nervously as it curled in on itself, trying to become smaller, watching her with expressive and fearful blue eyes. Nicole was sure she could feel the bottom of her jaw hanging around her ankles as she realized it was a small alien robot.

It had only been a few seconds since the little bot had tumbled out from her purse. The tiny bot was the first to snap out of it, it gave a scared electronic hiccuping noise, and dived back into the safety of her purse. For another minute Nicole didn't even blink, staring at her purse watching for some kind of movement. Nothing, not even a twitch in the fabric. Not trusting herself to speak aloud she sent a thought over the mental wall to Jazz.

'What was that?'

~That… that was a… sparkling.~ Jazz said in a tone that was close to awe.

Nicole was confused by the word, and why he sounded so amazed.

'What's a sparkling?' She asked, but it seemed like Jazz had formed all the words he could in his stunned state of mind.

Carefully and quietly Nicole approached her bed, her purse laying innocently atop her quilt. Slowly she pinched a corner of the fabric and lifted it up to give her a view of the inside of her purse. At first she saw nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual junk and crumpled receipts that infested her purse. A stray thought considered the possibility that it had been another hallucination crossed her mind, then she noticed that there was something else that hadn't been in her purse before. Three something's actually, because there were three new iphones at the very bottom. One phone was a deep blue, one was a fiery red and the third one was a light green.

Nicole's only warning was the three phones suddenly trembling and shaking a second before they burst into motion. Nicole leapt back with a sharp cry and backed into the kitchen, nearly tripping over her discarded shoes in her hasty retreat. The red phone bot charged out first, a tiny infuriated squeal coming from it as it jumped at her. It didn't come after her but stood at the edge of her bed and watched her every motion and growling. The blue phone bot was next out of the purse, the green one followed close behind it almost clinging to the blue one for reassurance.

The blue phone bot seemed to call out to the red one, almost looking like it was scolding the red for being reckless. The red spared the blue only an angry chirp before turning back to face Nicole and glaring once more. The green phone bot whined and curled in on itself as the blue ignored the red and tried to comfort its green companion. Nicole could only stare in a mixture of fascination and fear for her mental stability. Jazz seemed to come out of his stunned trance and spoke up, still sounding surprised.

~What was that ya were sayin' about alien robots kid?~

To numb with shock to reply Nicole could only continue to stare at the three little bots on her bed, glaring and shooting her the occasional nervous glance. Except for color they all looked the same, right down the their bright blue eyes. Slowly, so as not to startle the red phone bot into attacking, Nicole took a seat at the kitchen table. The three little bots shifted uneasily but seeing that she wasn't moving in an aggressive matter settled down once more, occasionally clicking amongst themselves.

Nicole's thoughts were in a whirl. The incident in Mission City she could write off as a concussion and a hallucination. The voice in her head, Jazz, could be written off as a product of schizophrenia. Everything that had happened to her over the last few days could be explained as an illusion of her own mind, except for the three very real robots sitting on her bed. These little metal beings would explain why the agents had been so adamant that she not talk about the 'terrorist attack'. It all pointed to one very obvious conclusion.

She was still very much sane, giant alien robots were real and the voice in her head might be one of them.

Nicole folded her hands under her chin and continued to watch the little bots as she turned her attention inward. She could have sworn that Jazz was giving her a smug look if only for the fact he didn't have eyes at the moment. Nicole sighed and sent him the feeling of a reluctant apology, she didn't want to scare the little bots so she spoke to Jazz in her thoughts.

'Ok, I'm listening now.'

He didn't have to even think the I-told-you-so that was so obviously going through his thoughts.

~So ya believe me now?~

'Given the fact that I'm staring at three tiny robots that shouldn't exist, camping out on my bed, yes I believe you. So you were the silver robot that I saw?'

~Ya that was me. Though I look terrible in the memories ya have a me.~

'What are you? And how did you get in my head?'

~We're autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Aliens basically in your terms, but try to keep away from the 'R' word it's a little offensive. Call us Autobots, and as for how I wound up in yer head I have no clue. I'm the second in command of the Autobots and not the CMO for a reason. My best guess would be that my spark tried to save itself and somehow transferred to ya when ya touched it.~

'Spark? Do you mean that light I saw in your chest back in Mission City?' Nicole thought back to the cracked chamber she had seen, and the blue-white light that had poured put of it.

~Yup, that's it. Our sparks are basically our souls, to put it in yur human terms. If our sparks go out we offline, that means die. Somehow my spark got inta ya. Ya saved my life kid.~

'So it is kind of like possession.'

~Ya 'cept yur the one in control, I'm just along for the ride. Can't even move of my own free will.~

Nicole couldn't help but feel a sudden stab of pity for Jazz, he was trapped, in every sense of the word. Sure she had saved his life, but was it really living without any freedom? He was stuck in her mind and stuck with a girl who had refused to even believe he was real. Nicole didn't share these thoughts with Jazz, or the feeling of guilt that pooled in her gut.

'So why were you and those other robots on earth, let alone fighting in Mission City?'

~We were fighting ta protect the Allspark.~

'What's an Allspark?'

Jazz told her the shortened version of his peoples long history; the battles that raged over the surface of his planet because of Megatron's lust for power. A war great enough it destroyed their world making it a barren wasteland unable to support life. He told her of how the Allspark, the source of life for their species, was launched into space to keep it from becoming a Decepticon weapon. Nicole was captivated by the tale of how they scattered to the stars in search of the Allspark and in pursuit of Megatron. The most impacting thing about the story was that it was all real, it wasn't her imagination or a hallucination, it was all true.

It was getting late by the time Jazz had told her of their arrival on earth, and meeting the boy who held the clue to finding the Allspark. While Jazz was telling her his tale Nicole's eyes never strayed from the three little bots on her bed. The small metal beings had hardly moved since she sat down but seemed too wary of her to explore her apartment any further. For the longest time they had watched her still form from across the room but eventually seemed too exhausted to keep their eyes lit. One by one they curled up and seemed to drift to sleep. The red phone bot was the last to nod off, laying directly between Nicole and the other two little bots, as if to protect them.

Nicole felt like her head was going to split in half from the absurdity of Jazz's story by the time it was finished. The worst part about it was they didn't even know who won in the end. Nicole spoke aloud hoping it would somehow ease her mounting headache.

"So let me get this straight. The last you knew, the artifact that could transform earths technology and kill us all was with the Wickety kid. One of your Autobot guys was injured and being carried to safety on a tow truck. Meanwhile, bad guys are closing in and the big sliver monster, Megaton, flies off to fight with your leader who's a prime number."

~There are several things wrong with that statement but ya, that's the gist of it.~

"Are you kidding me? That doesn't explain anything!" The little bots on her bed stirred slightly at the slightly raised sound of her voice, so she reverted back to speaking to Jazz in her mind.

'We don't know if the good guys won! What about the Allspark and the Autobots? Where are they and who has it? Where does the human government fit into all this?'

~How am ah supposed to know! Ah was a little busy dyin' at the time and then you saved me but promptly passed out after.~

'Well excuse me, next time I see an alien robot dying remind me to not accidentally save it.' Nicole snapped impatiently.

There was a silent moment where they both just fumed in frustration at each other and the situation. Once she had calmed down Nicole felt bad for saying what she had said. Jazz must have caught that emotion because he sent the feeling of a reluctant apology. Nicole could only sigh and rub her tired eyes.

'This is all so messed up.'

~At least we can agree on that. As for how things ended in Mission City while we were both unconscious I can make a few good guesses. Seeing as how we aren't dead and earths technology isn't Megatron's new army we can assume the Decepticon's didn't get the Allspark.~

'That's good.' Nicole dared to think hopefully.

~Ya, but that also means that it's likely Optimus had to connect it with his spark. Which means he's likely in the Well of Allsparks and we have no way of reviving our planet.~

'That's bad.' Nicole heaved another heavy sigh.

Nicole could sense a growing sense of sadness at his leaders passing on Jazz's side of the wall. Trying to distract herself from Jazz's intense feelings and give the mech some time to mourn in semi-private she turned her attention to the still sleeping bots on her bed. It was very late now and the little things were curled loosely around each other and chirping in their sleep, or whatever passed for sleep for robots.

'Jazz? What about these little robots? How did they wind up in my purse of all places? You called them sparklings before. What does that mean?'

Jazz hesitated before answering her.

~Remember how ah said the Allspark was the giver of life on my planet? Well, the Allspark is also where we'd get sparklings. My best guess would be that the Allspark must have been activated and made these sparklings by accident. Sparklings are the equivalent of your newborns, they're babies. Ah haven't seen any since before the war.~

Nicole looked at the little bots still sleeping peacefully on her bed with amazement.

'So that's why they're so small? They're babies?'

~Ya, and they're likely the last sparkling we'll ever have with the Allspark gone.~ Jazz couldn't seem to keep out the sad undertone in his thoughts.

Several minutes went by as they both mulled over their thoughts. Nicole didn't know if it was intentional or not but Jazz was letting a lot of concern for the sparklings slip through the mental wall.

'So what do we do now? How do we contact the Autobots and let them know you're alive and in my head?'

~Ah don't know. Ah don't know where they would have gone after the battle to regroup or what your government would do to 'em. We don't exactly trust yur government after what happened ta Bumblebee.~

'Then why did you want me to tell those government guys back at the hospital about you?'

~ 'Cuz I can't think of another way to get the Autobots attention without also attractin' attention from the Decepticons.~

'We can still get a hold of those agents, they did give me that card should I have any questions.'

~No. It's one thing to tell them you have me in yer head but now if they learn about the sparklings there's no telling what yer government will do to 'em.~

They seemed to share a mutual feeling of distrust for the government and its agents.

'So what do we do then?'

~Ah'll figure something out, but our first concern should be the sparklings. They need someone to take care of 'em and keep 'em safe.~

"Oh no, no no no no no. Nada. No dice. Do not pass go or collect two hundred dollars. No. It is one thing to accept that giant alien robots exist and one of them is in my head, but it's a whole different ball game to take care of three alien babies." Nicole stood from her seat, almost sending the chair toppling from her sudden movement.

She was suddenly gripped by a sense of panic at the idea of trying to care for the little cybertronians. In Nicole's mind she was barely scraping by for herself, there was no way she could care for three baby robots. The sparklings stirred at the sound of her voice and the clatter of the chair but their eyes stayed dark. Jazz 'spoke' up, his thoughts were brusque and almost impatient but there was a large undercurrent of concern for the sparklings.

~There's no one else who knows about us who can care for 'em. Until we can find a way ta contact the Autobots they need a caretaker. Ya can't just put 'em out on the street kid. They wouldn't survive for very long, worse is what would happen to them if the Decepticons found 'em. Please Nicole, they're the last sparklings.~

Nicole noticed that this was the first time Jazz had called her by name and not a nickname. Her throat seemed to close up at the thought of trying to care for the three little sparklings, but worse was the thought of failing them. They were just babies, only a few days old if they had been sparked in the Mission city battle. Nicole took a shuddering breath and rubbed her tired eyes.

'I just don't know Jazz, I just… I don't know how to take care of human babies let alone sparklings.'

~But I do. I can tell ya what at do an' how ta keep 'em safe. I wish ah could do it but ah'm stuck in yur head. Ah can't do it without ya Nicole.~

Nicole sat down heavily in the kitchen chair feeling more tired then she had in a very long time.

'It's too late for this, I can hardly keep my eyes open let alone think. I'm not saying no, I'm saying let me sleep on it ok? It's a lot to take in in just a few hours.'

Jazz said nothing but Nicole caught a slight feeling of relief before he retreated back into a buzz in the back of her skull. Nicole was too tired to even bother with getting into her pajamas, it was all she could do to keep aware enough to brush her teeth and wash her face. She looked at the occupants of her bed for a minute before deciding that it wasn't worth scaring the little bots. So instead she grabbed some spare sheets from her dresser and made a small nest in between one of the kitchen cabinets and a small bookshelf of her CD's. Within minutes of shutting off the lights, laying down and curling up Nicole was deeply asleep.

Nicole was so deeply asleep she never noticed when a pair of blue eyes lit up and scanned the now dark room curiously. The little bot moved to the edge of the bed and peered across the room to Nicole's sleeping form. With the small sound of clicking metal the sparkling made the small leap to the soft carpet below and moved cautiously toward the nest of sheets. In a way that was almost instinctive the little bot burrowed under the sheets seeking warmth and comfort. Finding the sound of her heartbeat, which was not unlike that of a sparkbeat, the sparkling settled back down to recharge over her heart with a soft click.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I don't own scrap, or any recognizable Transformers but the OC's are my own invention so please ask before using them. So without further a due, enjoy!

"Talking"

'Nicole's thinking'

~Jazz~

Sparkling talk

-

Nicole was still deeply asleep as noon approached and sunlight poured in under the curtain of the small dirty window of her apartment. She was more than content in her nest of warm sheets to have a bit of a lay-in, though her drowsy mind wondered for a minute why she was on the floor instead of her bed. The thought was dismissed as unimportant and soon forgotten. Nicole burrowed deeper into her makeshift bed, unwilling to open her eyes quite yet. As she dozed on the edge of sleep she dismissed the feeling of something moving out of her blankets as a dream and the sounds of soft cheeping as her imagination. It wasn't until several minutes later when something fell with a loud crash that Nicole jolted awake and jumped to her feet with a wordless shout.

It took a moment for her vision to focus and her still fuzzy mind to make sense of her surroundings. The small lamp and a stack of CD's that had previously been stacked on her bed side table had been tipped over. In its place was the small blue phone bot, which seemed to be frozen in shock at her outburst. The other two sparklings were right behind it on the bed, also looking startled. With a startled squeak all three dashed across her mattress and disappeared into her purse. Nicole couldn't hold back her sigh as she grabbed her sheets from where she had thrown them in her panic and dumped them into a messy pile.

'Damn. So it wasn't a dream.' She thought to herself running a hand through her hair which closely resembled a blue bird's nest.

~Not tha' again. How many times do we gotta go over this kid? Ya not dreamin' and yer not imaginin' anythin'.~

Or so she would have thought to herself if not for the unexpected resident in her head.

"Shh. It's too early to deal with you." Nicole muttered grumpily, rubbing her aching temple as she grabbed some clean clothes from her chest of drawers. Trying and failing at ignoring the three pairs of bright blue eyes that were peeking out of her purse on the bed. Nicole figured that they would likely remain there and out of trouble for the time being, so she tucked her clothes under her arm and headed for the bathroom.

"Now you will do your best to disappear for the next five minutes or so help me I will discover brain bleach just for you." She threatened Jazz, more than half seriously.

Jazz took her at her word and retreated far enough beyond the wall she could hardly sense him. It was nice to be able to pretend, at least for a few minutes, that there weren't baby aliens in her apartment and another older one in her mind. Her wounds and bruises stung in the warm water but once her aching muscles relaxed, the shower became pure bliss. Her scalp was still extremely sensitive with still healing fractures so it took much longer than five minutes as Nicole took her time with her morning routine.

The best part was she was able to think, without having to guard against Jazz knowing her every thought and feeling. It was exhausting trying to keep her thoughts from crossing the wall, and it was even more frustrating that she could no longer be alone in her head. If having an alien in her head wasn't enough to send her spiraling into madness, then the lack of privacy in her own head might. However Nicole decided that she couldn't just ignore the situation, as nice as it would be, if the sparklings were going to survive she would have to sacrifice her privacy. At least until they found a way to contact the Autobots and find a way to get Jazz out of her head and into his own body again. Twenty minutes later she emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, feeling better then she had since Mission city.

Since she had no plans to leave her apartment today Nicole dressed in worn but comfortable gray sweat pants and an equally worn long sleeved black shirt. Her long blue hair was wrapped up in a towel turban as she placed her glasses on her nose and scanned the room with her sharp green eyes. Three pairs of blue optics peeped out of her purse on the bed before ducking back out of sight. Jazz became present once more, and Nicole's headache became more prominent. She was beginning to think there was a connection between the two events instead of it just being her skull fractures.

~So, how are ya gonna get 'em ta trust ya kid?~

"I honestly don't know. I thought you might know how." Nicole sighed. To her disappointment Jazz gave the mental equivalent of a shrug.

Nicole didn't want to admit it but it wasn't all Jazz's worry that filled her mind. Though his concern did come seeping from the other side of the mental wall and add to her own. It was strange to feel two emotions at once, one of which was not entirely her own but she still agreed with. Nicole was resigned to the fact that she was the only one who could care for the sparklings. She didn't have the heart to abandon them, and even if she could be so cold as to kick them out Jazz certainly wouldn't let her. So if she was going to be taking care of these sparklings she would have to get them to trust her.

At the very least she would have to be able to get into her purse, because that was where she had put the bandages and medication for her injuries. Nicole had an idea but was unsure if it would work. She took her towel from her head and draped it over a chair, letting her still damp hair down before padding over to her bed toward the sparklings. Her footsteps were normally almost soundless on the carpet but she allowed her feet to drag and thump so the sparklings would be able to tell where she was in the apartment.

Cautiously she sat on the far edge from where her purse lay, trying not to look like she was observing the red sack from the corner of her eye. The bag shifted a little and Nicole could just see inside. The red bot was again the closest, seeming to be standing guard at the opening of the purse. The blue and the green bots were peeping over the reds tiny wings with an expression that she couldn't recognize on their strange metal features. It was painfully obvious that they didn't trust her and Nicole was unsure how to make them understand. Careful not to make any sudden movements she passed a hand over her face and sighed.

'How much do you think they understand about all this Jazz?'

~Hard ta say. By mah species standards these lil' guys are really small, but I'd say they're developed enough to do simple searches on da internet, understand yur language and communicate. Maybe they have a minor defensive weapon or two but they'll only use it if they feel threatened.~

'Whoa, wait a sec. Your guys equivalent of newborn children have weapons?!' Nicole couldn't keep the expression of mild horror off her face.

~Calm down a bit Nic. Ya have ta remember we're an advanced alien species that's been at war for longer than earth's been a planet. Our babies aren't created or 'born' naturally defenseless an' uncomprehendin' like yur human kids. The weapons they got can't do much damage an' they have natural protocols in their processors ta only use 'em for self-defense an' in emergencies.~

Nicole was torn between being extremely displeased at Jazz's statement and grateful at the same time. On one hand it was great that the sparklings were developed enough to understand. However the feeling was tempered by the idea that newborns would even need a weapon, even if they were technologically advanced alien robot babies. She decided that for now she would be appreciative.

She turned her attention to the sparklings in the corner of her eye, unsure how to proceed. Jazz suspected they were mature enough to understand her despite being only days old, but that likely meant that they were closer to a scared toddler in mentality. Nicole couldn't help but feel like she was in over her head. Her limited knowledge of children was not near enough to know what to do next without appearing threatening. Nicole bit her lip for a moment in thought before deciding to keep it simple, she would let them come to her.

Molding her face to appear relaxed and unconcerned she leaned back on the mattress, earning herself a warning growl from the red sparkling which she ignored. She could sense that Jazz was curious as to what she was doing but didn't comment. Nicole closed her eyes, relaxed and started to hum to herself. If there was one thing she did know about kids it was that they were curious and hyper. She was hoping that by having their curiosity and energy focus on her she could show them that she meant them no harm. With her eyes closed she couldn't see if the sparklings were doing anything so she simply continued to hum random tunes and melodies.

Fortunately she didn't have to wait long. After about five minutes she heard a rustling of fabric and a soft chirp and then a pause of wary silence coming from where the purse lay. Nicole wanted to look and see what the sparklings were doing, if they were coming closer or trying to get further away, but kept her eyes closed and continued humming like she had heard nothing. She could feel a weight shift closer on the bed until it was right beside her but she still kept from reacting. Nicole knew if she startled them in any way now they would retreat from her again and it would be much harder the second time for them to overcome their fear. There was a long moment were the only sound was Nicole's humming and the distant sounds of the city below the window.

Then she felt a warm metal claw brush tentatively against her hand which lay beside her. Nicole stopped her humming and slowly opened her eyes. She gradually looked to the side to see that it had been the blue phone bot that had approached. The other two bots were standing just outside the opening of the purse, watching their sibling vigilantly. Nicole ignored their watchful eyes and focused on the little blue bot which was trying to shrink under her gaze, its tiny wings pulled close to its body. A soft but genuine smile worked its way onto Nicole's face without her being entirely aware of it. She slowly turned her hand so the palm was facing up. The blue bot shrunk away for a moment but like Nicole had hoped, didn't run away. It gazed at her for a moment with its piercing blue optics before looking closer at her hand.

The blue sparkling hesitated for a moment before running a foreleg over her index finger. It chirped as if in surprise at the texture of her skin and Nicole had to hold back a grin at the adorable sound. It laid its claw over her hand and looked back and forth between them, as if to compare the materials they were made of. The little aqua cybertronian seemed to gain confidence from the encounter and cheeped encouragingly at the other two. The green sparkling dashed forward while the red approached more slowly, a slightly distrusting look still in its optics.

It wasn't long before all three sparklings were boldly exploring her hands. The blue phone bot had gained enough confidence to stand in her palm while the green seemed fascinated with her fingers, pushing and pulling them into curling and uncurling. Nicole could feel Jazz very present in her mind, his feelings of amusement and awe of the sparklings flowing freely through the barrier. The red finally relented to its curiosity and began roughly prodding her thumb with the tip of its sharp foreleg. Nicole couldn't help flinching slightly moving her hand away from the source of the pain. The blue sparkling gave a chirp of delight at the free ride while the green drew back in surprise at the movement. She looked down into the red sparklings optics with a serious expression.

"Stop, that hurts ok?" She spoke in a no-nonsense, firm voice. Just because they were alien babies didn't mean she was going to put up with any ill behavior. Jazz had said they were capable of understanding speech, so to her that should mean they at least know better than to intentionally cause someone pain. The other two bots paused at the sound of her voice and looked at their red companion. The red bot looked back defiantly for a moment before looking away and giving a sullen twitter. Nicole noticed a fragment of the phone screen on the little red bots chest light up. In what appeared to be a text bubble were two words.

I'm sorry.

Nicole supposed she shouldn't be too surprised at their chosen method of communication, after all she couldn't see any mouth that they could have spoken from. She gave the now sulking red bot a small smile and slowly reached out with her other hand. The red sparkling shrunk away, slightly scared but stayed in place, as if fearing punishment. Being as gentle as she possibly could she ran a finger over its eye stalks and down its back between its wings, which prompted an unexpected purr from the little being. The red phone bot looked up at her, seemingly surprised at the gentle touch. Nicole smiled again, wider this time.

"You're forgiven. Just be more careful ok? I'm not made of metal like you guys." She chuckled at the cute and slightly awed expressions she could see on their faces.

The red bot nodded and joined the others in the continuing inspection of her hands, more gently this time. It wasn't long before the sparklings had more or less abandoned their fear of her and instead adopted her as their own personal jungle gym. Jazz chuckled at her predicament of having two sparklings (Red and Blue) climbing her sleeves and another (Green) tangling itself in her still wet hair.

~Yer pretty good with 'em.~ He laughed as she tried not to move and dislodge the tiny beings.

She groaned at his comment and reached up with her hands to untangle the green sparkling from her hair.

'I think I might have preferred having them too scared to come out of my purse. Now I'll never get them to stay in one place for long.' She was lying of course, and because he was in her head Jazz knew that. It was much better that the sparklings were comfortable with her instead of scared stiff by her.

Having finally disentangled the jade sparkling from her blue mane she held the little being in the palm of her hand and lifted it up to her face for a closer inspection. It gave her a cheerful sounding warble and happily nudged her thumb, pleased with the attention it was receiving.

~Primus but they're small.~ Jazz muttered. Nicole heard the thought and became slightly concerned.

'Is that a problem? It won't affect them negatively will it?' Her mind automatically thought of premature and underdeveloped children and how they generally had more health problems. These sparklings were absolutely tiny compared to how huge the robots back in mission city had been. What would she do if they became sick?

~Cool yur jets girl. While it is true tha' most sparklin's are bigger then these lil' guys, it's not unheard of for 'em ta be this small either. It just means it'll take 'em longer ta grow an' reach their final frame. It also means they'll likely have a smaller mass then most mech's when they're done growin'.~

'How long will it be until they need new frames?'

~Don't worry about it. It'll likely take decades until they need ta upgrade.~

Nicole blew a sigh of relief. At least that was one thing she didn't have to worry about- for now in any case. She brought her attention back to the sparklings who seemed completely unaware of her conversation with Jazz and were now either settling in her lap or trying to climb her sleeves once more.

'What should we name them? I can't just call them Red, Blue and Green.'

~Not a problem. They should'a been sparked already knowin' their designations, it's somethin' that all bots know when they're sparked.~

"Really?" Nicole spoke aloud, forgetting that she didn't need to speak for Jazz to hear her. The sparklings paused and looked up at her at her question, tilting their heads in identical silent questions. Nicole just smiled and set them all in her lap so she could look at them all at once.

"Hi my name is Nicole, what's your name?" She asked simply.

The bots chirped and whirled, so easily excited by her attention. The small fragment of a phone screen that they all had on their chests lit up with a little text bubble telling her their names.

Neon. The blue sparkling screen read, standing as tall and proud as its tiny stature would let it.

Pixel. If the green phone bot could have spoken Nicole was sure it would have said its name in a barely audible voice. It ducked down from her notice, suddenly shy once more.

Cinder. Nicole rolled her eyes as the little red bot preened almost vainly while also trying to seem indifferent to her gaze.

"So it's Cinder, Neon and Pixel. I think I'll be able to remember that." They were better names then Nicole would have been able to come up with herself. There was a reason all seventeen of her pet goldfish growing up had all been named Goldie. Nicole could once more feel emotions of shock coming from Jazz across the wall.

'What's wrong?' She questioned.

~Nothing's wrong. I'm just surprised that they're all femmes.~

'Femmes? What's a femme and how can you tell? They all look the same to me.'

~A femme is basically a female of mah species. Since Megatron ordered all femmes and sparklin's ta be killed it's rare to bump inta any femme, let alone a sparklin' femme. An' here's three of 'em newly sparked right in front of meh. Normally ya would have ta look at their sparks ta tell the difference, I'm only guessin' they're femmes 'cause their names are really girly translated back inta cybertronian. They're either femmes or the Allspark has a mean sense of humor.~

Nicole shook her head at Jazz's stunned disbelief but could see where he was coming from. These sparklings were special in more ways than one. Her attention was suddenly brought back to the sparklings when Pixel, the green sparkling, gave a high pitched whining sound that almost sounded pained. The other two sparklings began making similar sounds and their normally bright optics dimmed until they were almost dark. Nicole could barely contain her panic enough to keep from standing and knocking the sparklings from her lap. Jazz had to almost shout to be heard over the rampant thoughts of, 'oh-my-gosh-what-did-I-do-and-how-do-I-fix-it?'.

~Calm down kid. They're not about ta offline anytime soon so quit spazzin', they're just hungry. Sparklin's are always hungry after bein' sparked an' I'd bet that these lil' gals haven't even had their first meal yet, so their energy reserves are gettin' low. Somethin' tells meh ya don't have any low grade energon layin' around this dump do ya?~

'First of all, again; my name is not kid, my place is not a dump, and no I don't have any energon. Whatever that is.'

~Ah didn't think so. Energon's what we eat and is our life blood, it's also highly toxic ta humans. Well, I guess they can get by on electricity for now, Ratchet will have my aft for it but it's the best we can do for now.~

'Ratchet, that's the medic one right? Why would he be upset? Is electricity bad for them?' Nicole asked absently while running a finger done the sparklings back, calming them.

~Yes and no. It's just really inefficient. They'll have ta power up alot more, more frequently if they're going ta meet their energy requirements. It's a lil' like your junk food, it's not the best thin' to be feedin' 'em but it's all we got right now. It would also be a good idea ta open the curtains and let 'em get solar energy. It's slower but a bit healthier for 'em.~

Nicole knew she wasn't the healthiest eater in San Francisco, but she did feel bad about giving three day old sparkling's the cybertronian equivalent of junk food. However Jazz was right, it was all they had for them until they could think of a way to contact the Autobots. Pixel's mournful 'hungry' sound made her mind up for her.

"Hold on now. Let me get up." She gently scooted the trio off her lap and onto the mattress before standing and casting around for a source of electricity.

She found her phone charger on the kitchen table and plugged it into the wall socket beside her bed. The little bots shuffled closer, question marks showing on their chest screens. She held out the other end for the sparklings but continued to receive only blank looks and question marks.

"Umm… its food, ya know." She held the cord close to her mouth and mimed chewing, though she suspected the motion was lost on them. "Food, energy." She held out the cord once more hoping they understood. She could sense Jazz laughing at her but pointedly ignored him.

Once more it was Neon, the blue sparkling, who led the way for the other two. She crawled forward across the mattress and took the cord from Nicole's hands. Grasping it in her little fore-claws and inspecting it before looking up at her uncertainly. Nicole nodded in encouragement, just as unsure as the sparkling but unwilling to show it. Neon inspected the cord once more, a small panel just under her eyestalks slid open revealing a tiny mouth-like opening. Neon brought the cord to her 'mouth' hesitantly and twitched in surprise as electric sparks jumped from the end. Neon cooed excitedly and brought the cord back to her mouth intent on devouring the energy source. The other two sparklings rushed to join their sister and they frantically passed the cord end between them repeatedly, finally having found a cure to their hunger.

Nicole watched with amusement at their chattering, slight guilt pooling in her stomach. Had she known they were that hungry she would have given them something sooner. No child, human or alien, should have to be hungry. She wondered for a moment or two what electricity would taste like, or energon. As if reminded that it was well past breakfast Nicole's own stomach gave a discontented rumble.

~What was that?~ Jazz sounded alarmed by her bodily functions and empty feeling in her abdomen. Nicole couldn't help but be amused at his alarm. Now that the shoe was on the other foot and he was the one freaking out over nothing, Nicole could see why Jazz was always laughing at her mild anxiety. She couldn't help but chuckle as she rose from her spot and opened the curtains letting in the light through the dirty glass.

"Calm down, I'm just hungry because I missed breakfast." She said as she made her way to the kitchen, still keeping one eye on the sparklings.

The sparklings paused in their frantic 'eating' at the sound of her voice but quickly turned their attention back to the cord when Cinder snatched it away from Pixel creating a bit of a scuffle.

"Hey now you three, you'll share nicely or won't get any at all. Am I clear?" She scolded sternly not really meaning it, but they didn't know that.

The trio twittered sullenly at being reprimanded but settled down and shared as she said. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief and searched her small, mostly bare, cupboards and cabinets for something to eat. Finding that last few slices of bread weren't completely stale and there was just enough jam in the fridge, she quickly made herself a peanut butter and jam toast sandwich. Clearing a few things from the kitchen table she sat down where she had a good view of the sparklings, who were still busily refueling on electricity.

Nicole turned on the small radio that had a place on the tiny table and idly flipped through her favorite stations while taking a bite of her toast. Her apartment was too small for a TV and the apartment building itself was very old with no internet access. If she ever wanted to surf the net she had to go to the internet café down the street with her laptop to do it. Then she would either have to hack their wifi or buy a ridiculously expensive coffee that tasted like dirt, something she didn't like to do and had no money for. So instead, for entertainment in the mornings she would turn on her radio and listen to whatever was on the air.

~What's that?~ Jazz spoke up, sounding both disturbed and curious.

"What's what?" Nicole muttered, also distracted trying to get the static out of the signal and taking another bite of her food.

~That. The thing yur puttin' in yur mouth, it's doin' something funny. What is it?~

Nicole paused and concentrated inward to see what Jazz was trying to say. She started laughing when she saw that he meant the taste of her peanut butter and jam toast sandwich. Jazz sulked in her head not appreciating that he was being laughed at. Nicole chuckled at his childish behavior and took another bite of her food.

'It's called taste. What? Giant, incredibly advanced, alien robots don't have a sense of taste?' She snickered in her mind.

~No we don't. An' what'd I tell ya about usin' the 'R' word? It's offensive.~ Jazz grumbled.

'Sorry.' Nicole thought with a roll of her eyes, still eating her sandwich. She could feel Jazz focusing his attention on the flavor of the tart raspberry jam and crunchy peanut butter that she loved.

~It's interestin' though. Really strange, but not unpleasant.~

Nicole was about to tell him about the wonder that was chocolate and coffee but was interrupted by the radio. A cheery feminine voice cut across the horrid pop song, news castor music played softly in the back ground as the woman's voice came from the speaker.

"We interrupt this broadcast for an important message. Good morning San Francisco, it's been three days since the terrorist attack in Mission City which according to reports started at the Hoover dam and spread into the city. It is a disaster which economists say is going to cost millions if not billions of dollars to repair, and has left over a dozen people dead and hundreds more injured or missing. The body count is expected to rise but emergency crews remain hopeful of finding survivors amongst the rubble. The military has been called in to assist in the cleanup and to keep the peace on the streets. Reports are coming in that those who were detained in the city to keep panic from spreading are being released later today. The US government has assured that all of the assailants involved in the attack were apprehended or killed, but they caution citizens that the ones responsible may have accomplices. For any who wish to send care packages or donate to disaster relief are to contact-"

Nicole impatiently flicked off the radio with a deep frown on her face, while Jazz seemed uncharacteristically silent and serious on his side of her head. Nicole looked up to see the sparklings observing her from their place on the bed, little question marks were on their chest screens again. Nicole could only sigh, unsure how to answer them she glared at the radio as if were to blame it for her now ruined mood.

"No mention of a giant alien death match." She muttered crossly.

~Nope. Looks like that's their story an' their stickin' to it.~

"So what do we do now?"

~I'm still figurin' somethin' out, for now we focus on takin' care of the sparklin's. That's all we really can do till I figure our next move.~

"Well that's all fine and dandy for you but I have to go back to Mission city in the next few days."

~Ya can't just leave 'em here alone either, 'cause I promise ya they'll be in trouble faster than it takes ta turn around. I doubt that all the Decepticons got caught like that news report said. If ya leave 'em behind yer leavin' 'em defenceless. Ya know ya can't bring 'em with ya, the Decepticons are likely hangin' around that city like a fog.~

"I know that, but I can't not go Jazz. This gig is important and if I don't go and I don't win I won't have the rent to pay for this dump, how will I take care of the sparklings then, uh? Answer me that." Nicole's fists curled as she glared at the table top.

The conversation was quickly escalating into an argument. Jazz was adamant that she had to stay with the sparklings, while Nicole was unwilling to quit her gig at the Nova. The only thing they could seem to agree on was that the sparklings couldn't go back to Mission city. Not only were Decepticons likely hanging about but the government was as well, making it even more risky to bring the sparklings to Mission city. Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a questioning chirp.

Nicole looked over to see that the sparklings had finished refueling and were now looking at her with question marks on their chest screens. Nicole reined in a sigh and went over to the sparklings, sitting down on the mattress. Nicole was happy to see that the little trio didn't even hesitate to crawl into her lap, their fear of her now gone. Cinder's chest screen lit up.

Who you talk to? Who Jazz?

Nicole couldn't help but think the words appeared in a demanding way. She also thought that the sparklings needed some teaching on proper grammer. Nicole hesitated to answer the question, how did you explain to a sparkling that you had an alien in your head? How did you explain that to anyone for that matter? She stopped trying to rationalize it after a few moments; after all there was nothing normal about her situation.

"Jazz is…" Nicole hesitated but seeing that the three were listening intently to her words continued.

"Jazz is like you three, but bigger, much bigger. He's made of metal and he's really annoying."

~Hey now.~ Jazz protested.

Nicole smirked before turning her attention to the sparklings once more.

"Jazz had a bad accident, and he was hurt really bad. Somehow… somehow I saved him and now he talks to me but only I can hear him. He tells me what to do so I can take care of you." Saying it out loud it sounded absolutely ridiculous, but Nicole was sure that it wouldn't be the craziest thing she would say over the course of the next few weeks.

The sparklings chittered at each other for a moment, but seem to easily accept what she was saying for the truth. They were too young to know that hearing voices certainly wasn't normal, and neither was having Jazz in her head.

~So back ta what I was sayin'. Ya can't go ta Mission city. Ya just haft ta find another way ta pay yur rent.~

Nicole ran a hand over her face with a sigh, she had only been awake for a little under two hours and already she felt like going back to bed. However she had to admit that Jazz was right, she couldn't leave the sparklings for days by themselves while she went to Mission city. Nicole's attention was brought back to earth when she felt a gentle tap on her other hand. She looked down to see that Pixel, the green sparkling, was trying for her attention. Once Pixel was sure Nicole was looking at her, the little screen lit up and voiced a questioning chirp.

Where brothers?

Nicole stared at the second word, trying to understand what Pixel meant by 'brothers'. It clicked at the same moment Jazz froze and a slight feeling of unease slipped over from his side of the barrier.

"Brothers, oh no." Nicole breathed with slight dread, Jazz on the other hand burst into curses as his agitated consciousness pressed against the wall, making her head throb uncomfortably.

~Frag it all! I should have thought of that sooner. The Allspark sometimes sparks bots into family units, they're like siblings born to work and live together. I should have known that.~ Jazz's conversation dissolved into unhelpful cursing and electronic sounding noises. Nicole tried to drown him out and focus on the trio of sparklings in her lap, all looking at her with the same question for their brothers in their optics.

"How many brothers do you have?" She asked gently, not wanting to scare them by being alarmed.

A large bold 3 was her answer. Three lost brothers, three more lost sparklings.

Nicole strained to appear calm, and she let the sparklings only see her calm and collected face with her relaxed body language. Only Jazz knew that internally she was anxious for the three sparkling that were unintentionally left behind in Mission city. Not only were those sparklings alone, probably starving, and likely very scared but they were also in very real danger. Decepticons, untrustworthy government agents and not to mention other humans wouldn't hesitate to hurt or even kill them not realizing they weren't a threat. Nicole was in so far over her head, she had no idea what to do.

'Jazz? What do we do?' Nicole hated how she couldn't hide her emotions from Jazz, but at the moment she could only feel grateful that he was at least there to help her. Jazz finally calmed and Nicole could sense him formulating a plan of action.

~Well we have ta go get the missin' sparklings. There's no way we can just leave 'em, I wasn't kiddin' when ah said they wouldn't last long on their own. They've already been alone for three days so we gotta get to 'em ASAP.~ Nicole mentally agreed.

~We also gotta find 'em as fast as possible, but without scanners or knowin' what their alt-modes are it'll be like lookin' for a needle in a needle field.~

Nicole had a feeling she knew where Jazz was going with this conversation, and already she didn't like it.

'What are you saying Jazz?'

~Ah'm sayin' that we have ta bring the triplets with us. They have a siblin' bond to the missin' sparklings, they'll be able to tell us which way to go an'the general area to find 'em.~

Nicole looked back down at the femme trio sitting in her lap when Neon tapped her hand again. Nicole absently ran a finger down Neon's back, earning a tiny purr.

"I don't like it Jazz." Nicole said, trying to keep the scowl off her face.

~Ah know, an' I don't like it either but like ah said before we can't just leave 'em alone. If we don't bring the girls with us we won't find the missin' ones till they either starve or the Decepticons find 'em.~ Jazz was trying to not show her his anxiety, but Nicole could still feel it as keenly as her own.

Nicole sighed and shuffled the sparkling trio from her lap and onto the mattress. She had a lot of getting ready to do.

"Alright you three, looks like we're going back to Mission city. We're going to find your brothers."

Nicole really hoped that would be all they found, and quickly.