Having agreed to some overtime in the shop to finish re-building the transmission for a Mercedes that had been sitting in their bay for a few days now, Mikaela had finally finished her work and was taking the car for a test drive to make sure it wouldn't fall apart ten minutes down the road. She was just finished circling the ten block or so radius her boss liked to use for the test runs when she spotted the Solstice.
Her breath hitched as it did every time she saw that particular type of car. The hope that it might somehow be Jazz was such a desperate one. She hadn't known the Autobot that well, really, but she still missed him. She could almost cry, looking at the sleek lines of the car, remembering the sadness she'd felt at the knowledge that they had lost one of their own in that battle. But she knew, if she just waited for the vehicle to pass, she'd be fine.
Only that wasn't to be the case. The Pontiac drove through the crossroad in front of her and her stomach dropped clear to her toes as one thought and one thought only rushed through her mind.
There wasn't anyone driving the car.
On some logical level, Mikaela knew that wasn't possible. Jazz was dead. He'd been killed by Megatron and there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do to change that fact. Yet she also knew, as sure as she was sitting there, that there had not been anyone sitting in the driver's seat.
Turning on her blinker, she took a right at the light as soon as it changed from red to green and sat up as straight as she could, trying to spot the car in the traffic. She managed to catch a glimpse of it just as it turned off the main stretch of road. Mikaela sped up, determined to see this through to the end. Maybe, she thought grimly, once she realized it was just wishful thinking on her part and there was someone driving the car, she would be able to find some kind of closure. Or at least stop reacting so strongly at the sight of a car.
Making the turn without really slowing down, she had to slam on her brakes to keep from smashing into the car in front of her that had slammed on his brakes just as quickly. For a moment, she couldn't figure out why, and then she saw it. Or, rather, him.
It was Jazz. It was really, truly him. The screams from the people who were around to spot the giant robot only confirmed that fact. Yanking the Mercedes she was driving off to the side of the road and throwing it into park, she got out of the car in what felt like slow motion and simply stood there for a minute. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, her mouth hanging slightly agape.
I wish Bee were here, was her first thoguht, and she thought about how thrilled he was going to be when she got back to her apartment and told him about this.
A man shoved roughly against her as he tried to flee the now talking giant robot and promptly pulled Mikaela from her thoughts. Slowly, feeling like she was stuck in some sort of dream, she stepped closer, and closer, and then finally, when enough people had cleared the area that the screams weren't so loud, she spoke.