Hidden Spark on Earth (TFP)

Chapter 8

Saphira stared at the ground bridge as she forced herself to take each bite of the baked beans. She had a lot of worry for Optimus at the moment. She realized it was the first time in a long time she actually felt worried for someone else. She didn't really know why, but Optimus had a calming, comforting presence about him even though he still scared her due to his size. Saphira wished she was there to help him. But she had no weapon, no nothing that could help him. She sighed, glancing at the ground in front of her.

"Hey Saphira." She glanced up and rolled her eyes at Jack. "Would you like company?" She shrugged, not really caring and he takes a seat by her. "Listen, I am sorry if I upset you before." She raised an eyebrow, not believing his word. "I don't know what your thought process is in all this, but I hope you understand that no one here is angry or annoyed at you."

She forced another swallow of a spoon full and frowned at Jack. "That is not what I hear."

"Saphira, you do know that Ratchet is annoyed at us kids more than you?" Jack asked curiously and she narrowed her eyes. "I know he seems to have his way of words, though Ratchet means well. Plus, Arcee is a little blunt too, so I guess the way she says things can sound mean. But the autobots are not going to push you away."

"I don't know, Jack. Everywhere I go, nobody wants me." Saphira looked at her half empty baked bean tin. "Not my dad, not my family, no my friends...no one..."

Jack lifts a hand slowly to her shoulder, she flinched slightly when she felt his hand on her shoulder as it hurt slightly. "You don't know that."

"Yes, yes I do." Saphira felt tears filling her eyes as she knew she was worthless. "Look at me, Jack. Look at me!" She looked at Ratchet, the bot was not paying attention to them as he was looking at the monitors. "I am not autobot, I don't transform nor do I have weapons. I don't have your bravery, Miko's musical talents or even Raf's brain..."

"Saphira, you are special in your own way. You seem to show compassion and empathy very easily, I mean, you surprised Optimus when you told him to be careful before he left." She rolled her eyes, that was just something she said in the moment. "And there are probably talents that you haven't shown because...because of whatever is happening to you."

"I don't even know why I bothered telling Optimus that. I mean, he has shown a great amount of kindness to me...but...I said it in the heat of the moment." She put another mouthful of beans into her mouth, this time, she had an easier time swallowing it. And that was a relief, she hated gagging when she was eating something nice. "And yet..." She looked at Ratchet with a frown and looked away. "He has been putting up the nice guy act so he doesn't anger Optimus."

"What?" Ratchet looked over with a baffled expression. "I'm sorry, am I hearing things?" Jack shakes his head at Ratchet. "Oh, come, come, Saphira, I am not faking anything."

"Uh huh...yeah, I know." Saphira turned her whole body, slipping her legs under the railing to hang over the side and look down at the ground floor while she kept eating her food. "You will be very happy when I am gone. Perhaps ten feet under the ground."

"Saphira..." Jack shakes his head sadly at her, shuffling forward to sit next to her, slipping his legs under the railing as well. "Do you think no one would miss you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, there is no police alert about me as a missing person. It is clear to me that no one will miss me. Not even you." Saphira put another spoonful into her mouth and chewed a little. "If I was a person worth missing, then maybe it would be different. But, that is not the case at all. You don't know what my life has been like."

"You're right, I don't. Not unless you tell me Saphira. Listen, I am sorry about your mother..." She looked at him with a shocked expression, wondering how he knew about her mother's passing. "I do not know what happened to her..." Oh, he doesn't actually know. "But would your mother want you to feel this way? I don't know what she was like, but it seems she meant a lot to you."