Jasmine paced, waiting. What was taking so long? Angela should’ve been back a while ago. She had to go shoot a few scenes today, but with how disheveled she was, it would take a considerably larger effort. Because she wouldn’t just be putting on a pretty face and acting for the camera anymore. It would be doing her best to hold it together in front of everyone off-screen as well.

She hadn’t been this on edge in quite some time. It was . . . unusual. She shouldn’t be this on edge. She should be okay regardless of any dumb letter some mystery man had sent her or not. Why shouldn’t she be? She didn’t need anyone to take care of her. She didn’t need anyone to save her.

She didn’t need anyone to care . . . Not that way . . .

That’s what she’d been telling herself for years, and while she had complete confidence in the first two statements . . . the third just nagged her. She’d been so self-reliant . . . And it wasn’t that fact that she had a problem with. It was the fact that she’d openly denied herself natural desires. She’d denied herself even the basic closeness she craved. Just a kiss without being defensive . . . That wasn’t too much to ask . . . But she hadn’t managed to do it . . . Every time her lips met someone else’s, she was ready to push them away at a moment’s notice . . .

Jasmine knew it couldn’t help herself. It never felt right. It always felt like she was betraying someone in some way. Like every time she let herself be with a man . . . it was breaking someone else’s heart . . . Sometimes she swore she could feel the effect in her own chest . . . And that was usually when the relationships came to a close. She couldn’t take that feeling gnawing at her from the inside out . . .

The door quietly slid back into place. Angela had entered her bedroom. Jasmine looked up and down cautiously.

Angela had returned empty-handed.

Jasmine: “What happened? Where’s the letter?”

    She demanded, hysteria threatening to take over again. He hadn’t written. He’d given up on her. He’d . . . He’d left her . . . How dare he . . .

Jasmine: “How dare he!”

    She screamed, spark breaking in her chest. Angela hadn’t even had the opportunity to offer an explanation.

Jasmine: “That lying piece of scrap! Says he won’t leave and now look! He can’t even send the final letter! He can’t even-! He can’t even . . . Tell me why he gave up on me . . . What did I do wrong . . . ? What did I break . . . ?”

    Tears were brimming at the edges of her lower eyelids, staring at the floor blankly. She just wanted to see him. To know who had taken such an interest from afar . . . Who had known how to make his letter stand out . . . Who had known exactly how to make her chest hurt with a bittersweet agony . . .

    Jasmine collapsed on the bed, staring at the bedspread, a beautiful shade of warm purple, probably tinted with some kind of red . . . She wanted to know him . . . And she felt herself sink at the thought that she never would.

    She swore she heard Angela’s voice call to her, but she felt the room spinning around her, along with two tiny voices occupying the blurs. It went back and forth, back and forth . . . The boy’s voice, then the girl’s . . . Repeat, repeat . . .

            ‘Mommy.’

‘Mommy.’

‘Mommy.’

‘Mommy.’

‘Mommy.’

‘Mommy.’

‘Mommy-!’

‘Mom, please!’

‘Stop it!’

‘Mom!’

    Her eyes glazed over slowly as she lost herself into the UP unceremoniously. Where Jade and Blaze were being held down in their Cybertronian forms. By ShockWave.

    The pair looked up, optics brightening at the sight of their mother. Their Cybertronian mother.

Blaze: “Now you’re in for it, Cyclops!”

    He taunted, and the purple mech looked back, glancing at the green and purple armored femme.

ShockWave: “Your appearance is . . . illogical.”

    The grown femme scowled, spark burning at the sight of her sparklings in his clutches.

Blade: “Screw your stupid logic you overgrown calculator!”

    Of course, it was a question what he meant by ‘appearance’. Was it her appearing in the UP in general that he found illogical, or the fact that she’d reverted to her Cybertronian appearance. The UP was fluid, and even for those who had a fractional control, was easily manipulated. The thing that unnerved her was ShockWave. Certainly he was with the other ‘Cons . . . as a TO . . . So how had he done the same . . . ?

    She didn’t want for an answer before she charged him, but quickly came to a skidding stop when he held Jade and Blaze up as a shield.

Blade: “You lowly piece of a-.”

Blaze: “Hell-bitten lugnut!”

    He interrupted, and JewelBlade flushed. Apparently her son had picked up some language in his covert observances. She would’ve scolded him had the situation not been so dire, but made a quick mental note to watch what she said, even if it was accurate and appropriate.

    ShockWave shook the small mech roughly in his large servo, the cable supporting his helm bending a little too far for JewelBlade’s comfort, but if she dared strike, he’d move them into her path. She’d have to catch a good angle and moment to deliver a decent blow.

    Upon careful examination of his large, red optic, she could still see a scratch, leftover from where the sensory device had been split open by a dagger. One of her daggers. She imagined he was still a bit sore about that.

    Jade had remained silent, but her optics flicked around constantly.

Blade: “What do you want, ShocWave?”

    The femme growled, staring up at him, fibers itching to remove his helm from his body. She wanted so badly to obliterate him right now.

ShockWave: “Lord Megatron requests these two terminated or used for experimentation.”

    Her optics blazed, denta grinding together against her will.

Blade: “Lord Megatron has no right to them. They cannot be exterminated or removed from the UP.”

ShockWave: “Your argument is illogical. They seep energon as does any living Cybertronian. They feel a comparable amount of pain and can break.”

    Blade’s optics flew downward. Each held a small cut on their shoulders and both of the smallest digits on their left servos were broken in an unnatural way. A few bruises littered their arms.

Blade: “YOU SICK SON OF A FRAGGER, I’LL KILL YOU!”

    The green femme lunged a millisecond too quickly for the Decepticon scientist to react properly, and she delivered a strong blow to his optic, causing the tiny scratch to shatter and implode on itself, a few shards imbedding in the sensitive wiring beneath.

    His grip was lost on the small mech and femme as he flung back, hitting the level ‘bottom’ of the UP with a thud, the green femme quickly on top of him, drawing a dagger as his servos flew to his optics, a small yell of pain escaping him before he silenced, venting heavily.

Blade: “How did you get here?! How did you manipulate the Plane?!”

    She pressed the dagger against his throat, spark pounding furiously as she stared at him, his emotionless optic. What she glimpsed through his large servos, anyway. She thought she might actually get an answer, but the Decepticon scientist pulled his right servo down, and in a fractional second, transformed it, sending a firm shot into her side.

    JewelBlade yelped, the blow sending her off him and a few hundred feet away, skidding against the astral floor of the UP. A large burn mark formed on her side from the blast. The UP had helped her, preventing the shot from destroying her body. But it had given him space to go after her sparklings again.

    He strode towards them as she stumbled up, ignoring the pain the best she could as Jade and Blaze rushed nearer to her, and she flew past them at the nearly-blind ShockWave. She jumped up, coming down with her knees to his chest, pinning him back down, holding his shoulders down firmly as she leaned over him, venting heavily. A little too heavily than she was comfortable with, but she didn’t have much of a choice at this point.

Blade: “Give me an answer, Sparky! I’m not repeating myself! I know you remember!”

    But her servos weren’t placed properly. Years without being in the battlefield had left her rusty, and in a too-short amount of time, the bulky, purple mech sent another shot, this time into her left shoulder, another burn mark forming as she flew back, gripping at the invisible barrier that formed the ground.

    He staggered as he began walking towards the small pair again, and JewelBlade bit her lip as she struggled to get back up, one side of her torso essentially useless at the moment, riddled with pain.

    Jade took one look at her mother, then at Blaze before transforming her right servo, sending a blast straight into ShockWave’s optic, shredding a few wires in the process. She grinned when he recoiled, pressing his servo tighter against his optic. Blaze’s expression was even brighter version of Jade’s.

Blaze: “Nice shot!”

    He offered her a high five, and when she did nothing but raise an optic ridge, crossing her arms, he instead held out his fist. She shook her helm slowly, giving him a look of obvious disapprovement.

Blaze: “Bolt in the mud . . .”

    He grumbled, but Jade’s attention was already back to ShockWave, and to her horror, he actually seemed to be . . . healing. His pain was lessening to discomfort, however slowly.

Jade: “Mom!”

    While plenty of practice had made Jade and Blaze good shots, it didn’t take the place of field experience. Their earlier encounter with the large ‘Con had gotten that point across. Before they’d called for their mother.

    Wincing, she was on her peds, and as the large mech took another step towards the children, she charged, the UP aiding her in silencing her steps. She leapt as he reached for them, wrapping her right arm, her good arm around his neck, hooking her legs around his underarms, keeping him from making a move on them. On her babies. And preventing him from shooting her for a third time.

    She pulled hard on his neck cabling, leaning back so she could comfortably hold the position with her body so compressed.

Blade: “Answer. Me. NOW.”

    The Decepticon paused, weighing the questions and his options.

ShockWave: “You curiousity is . . . logical . . . Lord Megatron had me construct a way to enter the . . . Plane as you call it . . . So that he may conduct business efficiently, even at night. I am manipulating it through the same breakthrough. Lord Megatron doesn’t appreciate the . . . recent interference. And wishes them taken care of.”

    JewelBlade growled, pulling back tightly on his neck cables.

Blade: “Tell Lord Megatron if he sends anyone after them or comes after them himself, I will. Not. Show. Mercy. You lucked out.”

    The strings appeared, and JewelBlade released ShockWave, hitting the ground quietly as he was split at the limbs, and each piece was torn away from sight, disappearing into darkness. JewelBlade shuddered, the effort taking a fair chunk of energy from her. But it had been worth it. While ShockWave wasn’t . . . “Taken care of” or “Disposed of” it would be much harder for him to return to the Plane.

    And that would be if he survived whatever punishment Megatron would dole out for his failure. She was venting heavily, holding her left side carefully, favoring it. Two pairs of optics stared at her, wide. Fascinated. She glanced over at them, smiling sheepishly.

Blade: “Hey guys . . . You okay . . . ?”

    A broad grin spread over Blaze’s face, and he ran, embracing her tightly. She winced, but wrapped her good arm around him, nuzzling his helm.

Blaze: “My mom . . . is the COOLEST femme on the planet!”

    She laughed, squeezing him tighter.

Blade: “Well I’m glad you think so, Sweetspark.”

    He smiled more, slowly pulling away.

Blaze: “How’d you do that?”

    He asked, voice echoing the expression in his optics, an air of child-like wonder in them.

Blade: “Apparently I can do more with those strings than I thought . . .”

    She glanced over to Jade, who still stood in place.

Blade: “Sweetspark . . . ? Hon . . . ?”

    Jade vented slowly, letting a shudder wrack her body.

Jade: “You ran away . . .”

    JB frowned, striding over to her daughter, pulling her into a tight embrace.

Blade: “I. Am. So sorry, Sweetie. I didn’t know. I panicked. It’s complicated. Very, very complicated. I’ll do my best to do better, okay? I love you.”

    Jade opened her optics slowly.

Jade: “I thought you didn’t love me anymore . . .”

    JewelBlade winced, pulling her daughter tighter still.

Blade: “I will always . . . ALWAYS love you, SweetSpark. Don’t you ever think otherwise . . .”

    Jade nodded slowly, cautiously wrapping her smaller arms around her carrier. She vented, keeping herself restrained as she did so, not wanting to be too vulnerable, gradually calming herself.

Jade: “I love you, too . . .”

    She murmured, squeezing tighter, but JewelBlade felt herself starting to fade. The strings were taking their toll again. It was getting harder and harder to keep herself in the UP. She felt herself being pulled back, a defense mechanism so she could care for her body properly and stabilize.

    Today she hated that sensation; the knowing she was being pulled back.

Blade: “I love you. Both of you. Don’t ever forget that. If you need me, just call.”

    She flinched, feeling the pull of the conscious world. Jade searched her mother’s face and frowned, knowing their time was short. What she didn’t know was exactly how short, and the green femme in front of her vanished quickly. She’d opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out when the absence of her carrier was painfully obvious. She closed it slowly, wishing it weren’t so.

    Blaze walked over, placing a steady servo on his sibling’s shoulder. She quickly shook him off, walking away.

    Jasmine, on the other hand, jerked awake in her room, mouth and eyes inexplicably dry. She sat up, closing her eyes, rubbing them firmly, shutting her mouth firmly, trying desperately to produce saliva. Angela just watched her, arms crossed, eyes wavering. She knew from the vague details she’d gathered it hadn’t been a good vanish, but this time was different. The strings weren’t taking as much of a toll as they should. Jasmine’s body was fighting the energy loss better, replenishing, healing. It wouldn’t be one hundred percent the way it would be with food and drink, but she’d get by until then.

Angela: “Jasmine.”

    She called quietly, resting a hand on the woman’s shoulder. No answer came to the blonde woman.

Angela: “Jasmine.”

    She called again, a bit louder, eyebrows creasing together slowly. The auburn-haired woman sighed lightly, keeping her eyes closed.

Jasmine: “Yeah, Angela . . . ?”

    For a moment, she debated telling her, but if Jasmine didn’t know, she’d think Orion, Optimus had just . . . abandoned her . . .

Angela: “Sara got a hold of the . . . admirer sending the letters . . . He’s running late with the last one. Said he wants it perfect. It’ll probably arrive late tomorrow.”

    That bittersweet pang struck in Jasmine’s chest again. It would be late, but she would have it. That was something . . . right . . . ? She laid back down on the bed, gripping the covers in her hand, wishing it weren’t such an empty space. It was a horrid thing to be so alone in this bed.

Jasmine: ‘It should be filled with bodies . . .’

    She thought, envisioning it. Four bodies in the bed, curled up close as a thunderstorm raged outside. Warm, happy . . .

Jasmine: ‘Just me, him, and two sweet little things . . .’

    The thought was intoxicating, and the lack of it’s true existence a painful jab in her spark.