FIC: My December - Chapter 9
Title: My December
Chapter: 9 of 31
Author: wicked3659
Verse: TFA
Rating: PG13
Word count: 1510
Prompt: Day nine - Bitter Snow
Warnings: angst
Other Characters: Sari, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee
Summary: Willing to leave everything behind on a whim and a dream, Jazz follows his spark to search for the one part that he never knew had been missing all along.
A/N: The start of my December challenge. A fic written just for the occasion, each prompt is one chapter. This is based on a bunny given to me by and written for vejiraziel may you get the December you deserve. Thank you for your encouragement and this little bunny. <3
Chapter 9 - Bitter Snow
The torrential snowfall has eased around Detroit, leaving everything blanketed in glaring white. The first chance she got, Sari was outside, running through as fast as she could. The snow crunched beneath her feet, the cold air wrapped its icy fingers around her lungs as she sprinted over the uneven ground. None of the others had seen her leave or knew where she was and she didn’t care. She ran, roughly brushing away hot tears from her face with the sleeve of her coat, her eyes stinging as they filled up again.
The park was empty at the early hours of the morning, only the odd lonely soul could be found walking their dog. She didn’t stop. She slid down an embankment and came to a skidding halt at the bank of the lake, falling to her knees, sobbing bitterly in the cold morning air. The melting snow beneath her, seeped into her clothes, but she didn’t care. She was too angry to feel cold, too frustrated to be beaten down by winter.
"Why did you leave?!" She screamed out across the frozen expanse of water, her breath billowing out in a foggy mist. There was no reply, no long sought after answer. Her small frame wilted and her mittened hands covered her face as she wept without shame.
****
"What will I say to her boss bot? She’s always mad at me." Bumblebee pouted, arms folded on the large seat, staring at the blank TV screen.
Optimus sighed and sat beside the minibot. "Well did you do anything that might have upset her?"
"No!" He scowled even more. "I haven’t done anything, in fact I’ve tried to be extra nice to her since the fraggin’ ninja went walkabout."
"Have you asked her why she’s upset?"
Bumblebee frowned, a flicker of awkward guilt crossing his face. "No…" He mumbled sheepishly. "But she kept telling me that I need to grow up, and stop terrorising my friends me grow up! I’m older than she is! And I don’t terrorise anyone!" The yellow ‘bot exclaimed heatedly, getting up from his seat to pace the room in agitation.
Ducking his helm at the mech’s rant, Optimus cast him a solemn glance. "You were pretty hard on Prowl…"
"What? No I wasn’t!" Bumblebee pressed his mouth into a thin line at Optimus’s quirked optic ridge. "Well even if I was, why she upset about it now!?"
Optimus shrugged and rubbed his faceplates. "Maybe she misses him and with Jazz gone she doesn’t think any of us feel the same way. You’re the closest to her, Bee… maybe she just needs to know you… miss him too…?"
Scowling deeply, Bumblebee kicked at the floor in discomfort. "…Course I miss him… what kind of ‘bot do you take me for…? I never meant any harm… I liked him fine…it’s just…"
"Just what?" Optimus prompted gently.
"Well, he was always so fraggin’ smug… he didn’t ever try to join in our games and just sat in his room meditating… he got riled up so easily…" sighing heavily, Bumblebee flopped back down beside Optimus, "hard to resist a target like that you know…it was all in good fun…"
Optimus nudged the crestfallen mini bot with a crooked sympathetic smile. "Maybe you should tell Sari that then…" Patting his leg, Optimus left him alone with his thoughts.
It wasn’t long before the rev of an engine could be heard as the yellow mini bot disappeared in a cloud of white, following in the young girl’s footprints.
****
Warm tear drops slipped silently from her cheeks, falling through the freezing air to land - without so much as a whisper - onto the snow. Head bowed, Sari sniffed, her breathing laboured, her sobs had long since ceased. She sat shivering in the cold, the ache in her chest almost too much to bear.
The faint rumble of an engine sounded some way off, a distinctive low sound. Her eyes brightened and she looked up suddenly. "… Jazz…?" The sound was so familiar, yet as it drew closer it became something entirely different. She looked away as Bumblebee appeared over the crest of the hill and headed in her direction.
She’d been somewhat mean to him before she left, yelled at him, not realising how angry and bitter she’d been. She loved Bumblebee, loved them all, but they fussed over her, kept asking her if she was alright when they were going about as normal. Their life spans were different to hers, she knew that but did they have to pretend everything was fine when it simply wasn’t?
"Hey, Sari…" Bumblebee began from behind her, shuffling a little in the snow. "Boss bot figured someone should look for you, I-"
"-Well if that’s the only reason you came then you can just go back and leave me alone. I’m fine, I’ll be back later. Don’t need you checking up on me."
Bumblebee’s optics dimmed at her snapped words, his helm bowing a little. Instead of going home, he took a couple of steps forward and sat beside her quietly. "He didn’t really tell me to look for you…" He murmured, staring at his lap. "I wanted to see if you were alright…"
She sniffed and shot him a cold look, not yet willing to relent on her anger. "Go away, ‘Bee… you wouldn’t understand…" Sari mumbled, staring blankly out across the lake.
"Why? Because you think I don’t miss him too?" Bumblebee snapped suddenly before checking himself with a sigh.
Neither of them spoke for a few moments the mention of the ninjabot creating an immediate tension between the two.
"…I was jealous… not of him, let’s face it, he didn’t know fun… I’ve never been able to sit still, keep my mouth shut… listen… it got my kicked out of the Elite Guard… I never achieved anything… while he was a ninjabot, travelled on his own, can do that creepy mind moving thingy and…" he smiled faintly at the small girl beside him… "he could kick my aft in a fair fight…"
Sari listened, gazing up at her friend in surprise. Bumblebee never talked about Prowl, ever. Not since that fateful day. He only ever made some comment or jokey remark and changed the subject. "Why did you never tell me?"
He shrugged sheepishly. "How do you think it would sound? I deliberately annoyed him because it was fun, I teased him, made fun… who’s going to believe me when I tell them I miss the glitch?"
Sari wiped her face and smiled fondly up at the mech. "I would."
Bumblebee smiled and gently scooped her out of the snow. "Pulling pranks just isn’t the same if he’s not there to yell at me."
Grinning Sari hugged his bright plating. "I miss him ‘Bee." She sniffed, her lower lip wibbling once more. "And I’m so mad at Jazz for leaving too, he always let me talk about him… I really hope he brings him home. Do you think he will?"
"I don’t know, Sari…" Bumblebee gazed down at her sadly, gently cradling her against his plating. He had never put much stock in all the ninjabot freaky stuff as he liked to call it, but that had been what saved all their lives, was the reason they could sit in this park in the freezing cold. "But if anyone can, the Jazz man can." He grinned at her, his optics brightening at her responding chuckle.
"Yeah, you’re right. He’ll keep his promise, I know he will." She stated firmly, that familiar determination returning to her delicate features, hiding the sorrow away for now.
"Want to help me complete the last level of my new game?" His grin widened.
"You got to the last level already?!" She batted at his plating, playfully. "You said you’d wait for me."
He shrugged. "I have, I’m waiting at the last level." He snickered and placed her down gently as he transformed. His door swung open granting her access and she climbed inside. "Hey you want to know one thing I wasn’t jealous of Prowl for?"
"Yeah?"
The minibot revved his engine and sped off through the park. "He was never as fast as me!"
The park fell silent as the sounds of his engine faded and birds idly twittered in the snowy trees. Beside the lake was a small patch of melted snow where Sari had sat. The snow had melted where her grief stricken tears had fallen, revealing a soft faint blue glow amidst the sea of white. It pulsed softly, unnoticed, barely visible in the glare as the cold sun beamed onto the bitter snow. The sunlight dimmed, covered once more by clouds and large snowflakes began to flutter from the sky.