(An ArceexJack and BulkheadxMiko Fanfiction)

Chapter One: A Strange Dream and a Strange Day

Jack Darby jarred awake suddenly in a cold sweat as he sucked down air in fear and shock. What was that? Jack thought to himself as he looked around the room in mild panic. He never had a nightmare so vivid before. Jack ran a hand through his sopping wet hair to smooth it back down and looked at his bed in surprise. The comforter and top sheet where thrown around the bed as if Jack had been fighting in his sleep. As he looked at his messed up bedding, the dream slowly came back to Jack. The young teen was calmly walking around Jasper when he heard a laugh. As the sound rumbled out from its source, the Earth shook. Jack looked around in confusion and felt fear rising in his mind as he looked for the source of the voice, but couldn't find it. "You will be my pawn, boy. You will destroy that cursed Follower of Primus." It was then a rocky form, reminiscent of a Cybertronian, grew from the ground and stared at Jack with purple optics. Jack's brow furrowed in anger and a single word escaped his lips with malice that was not Jack's own. "Unicron…" Jack, or rather the presence in Jack's mind, said. "Let him make his own choice in time." Jack shivered and pushed the dream to the back of his mind for the time being and got ready for his day with the bots.

The raven-haired teen sighed as he walked in the kitchen and saw a note on the counter from his Mom. "I'm working late tonight. I don't know when I'll get home." Jack read to himself. He flinched when he saw a post script in all caps. "DON'T FORGET YOUR VITAMIN!" Jack shook his head with an aggravated sigh and found a bottle of the strange blue pills June made Jack take for as long as he could remember, but she never told him what they were for. Jack found a smile passing his lips as he popped the pill and chased it with a glass of water. Now that he thought about it, Jack noticed the pills looked like Energon caplets. Jack waved the thought away with a chuckle and sighed in happiness as he walked out of the main house into the garage. Jack's smile grew at the sight of Arcee. Jack really enjoyed the rides to base lately more than usual. He gave the thought a mental shrug and swung his leg over her seat with a contented sigh. Jack felt her aggravation and knew something was up. "Before I move an inch, you're going to put on your helmet." Jack got off Arcee and put on his helmet. When the helmet slid into place, Jack gripped Arcee's handlebars lightly, and Arcee sped off toward Omega One.

On the way, Jack couldn't get his dream to stop playing in his mind. Finally, he shook his head vigorously to try and get the dream to go away. Arcee saw how her partner was acting and didn't like it. "Jack," she asked. "What's bothering you?" He smiled at her and waved off the question. "It's nothing Arcee, just a bad flux…dream." Jack corrected himself. Where did that come from? Jack thought to himself in mild confusion as they pulled into the base and dismounted. Jack sighed as he went up to join Raphael and Miko in the human area as Team Prime discussed a recon mission in a thought to be abandoned Decepticon mine because of a small Energon signal. "It is worth the risk, our supplies are running low." Ratchet said grimly as Prime nodded in acknowledgement. Prime was about to speak when he received a message from the Matrix. The younglings, Jack and Miko, will go with their guardians. The Matrix told Prime. Optimus looked at his team. "Bulkhead and Arcee, you AND your human charges will go on this mission together." Wide optics stared at Optimus in confusion and shock. "It is The Will of Primus." Optimus said when he saw their looks. That silenced any ready rebuttal the bots had for their leader. "Yes, sir." The femme and Wrecker replied.

Later as Jack walked by Arcee, he couldn't help but notice the worried look on Arcee's faceplate. She stared at the scanner in front of her with little interest. Jack saw the cave and felt a rock land in his stomach. Damn it! Jack thought. I officially hate mines! As they walked farther in, Jack's anxiety only grew. He kept looking at Arcee. She sighed and gripped the scanner in anger. "There's nothing here!" She put a digit to her comm. link. "Bulkhead, come in." Nothing but static came from the other end. "Bulkhead, do you read?!" Arcee's left servo balled into a fist and forcefully placed itself down by her side. "Slag, we're too deep." She complained. Jack didn't know why, but the word "slag" made him blush. Meanwhile, Miko was thoroughly enjoying herself in the cave. "Hello, Cleveland!" She yelled. "Are you ready to rock?!" As the sound of her voice echoed in the massive cavern, Miko smiled to herself. "The sound is great in here!" She told Bulkhead happily. The Wrecker laughed to himself. Only Miko would find an empty mine fun. The mech thought as he spotted the source of the weak Energon signal in the form of a small, servo-sized chunk of the blue crystal."That was a waste of time." Bulkhead mumbled as he started to carve out the crystal with his wrecking ball.

In another part of the mine, Starscream and Megatron walked calmly. "Repeated failures, Starscream, that's all you are!" The Decepticon leader roared. Starscream fell on his aft and started crawling backwards in an effort of self-preservation as Megatron's looming form drew ever closer to the Seeker. "I grow tired of failure, Starscream." Megatron said coldly as his red optics blazed with fury and Megatron's arm cannon powered up. The warlord pointed it at Starscream and fired. The Seeker was quick and moved out of the way. The blast struck a vital support and made the cave rumble and shake before the ceiling came down on Megatron and Starscream retreated to the safety of the outside. Only after Starscream started to calm down did the Seeker realize his blunder. With a yell of frustration, Starscream dove back into the pit to rescue the person he hated with a passion just for the sake of the glory the Seeker would receive as a result of the rescue.

As Bulkhead pried the crystal free, the roof came down on them. Miko frantically pulled her head down and prepared to die. When all she fell was a few small pebbles, Miko looked up to see Bulkhead as he held the majority of the rock from falling on Miko. "Don't worry, Miko. I got ya." He told her with a kind smile. She nodded her thanks and smiled warmly at the massive mech. For some odd reason, her smile made Bulkhead's Spark flutter. Elsewhere in the mine, Jack crawled out from under a pile of ruble and dusted himself off. Then, the thought slammed into him like a fist to the face. I should be dead. He thought to himself. Why am I still alive? The thought would have to wait because Jack had other priorities at the moment. After walking for what seemed like forever, Jack found a miner's drill. His mind screamed at Jack that there was no way he could hope to operate the alien machine. I have to try. Jack thought as he climbed on the device and watched the Cybertronian glyphs turn to English. Jack froze when he saw this. What the Pit? Jack's mind briefly registered before he started the machine and started down the mine tunnel.

Megatron glared at the sound of drilling and cursed. Then, the wall to the opposite of Megatron's view collapsed. Megatron glared at the hole, and his optics widened as he saw one of the Autobot's pet humans in command of the drill. Those little pests are quite resourceful. Megatron conceded in his mind. His red optics glinted at the youngling human mech. "Why not use your drill to finish me?" He said with a hint of mirth in his voice. Jack shivered as the dream came to him anew. Let him make his own choice in time. The voice repeated. Jack glared at Megatron. "Seize the day," Megatron encouraged. "Optimus would." Jack looked Megatron in the optics which shocked the warlord. Then, with a firm scowl, Jack said, "No. Optimus wouldn't, not like this." With that said, Jack left Megatron even as the warlord threatened Optimus. Megatron's threats made Jack laugh. If he couldn't offline Optimus all those stellar cycles ago, Jack thought to himself. What changed the outcome now?

Miko was growing more and more tired as time went on. She had to get them out of here. After trying to move the cave in one rock at a time, Miko was rapidly burning through the limited air she had. "Miko, stop!" Bulkhead ordered as the girl dropped onto a rock and started to feel lightheaded. Then, Bulkhead heard drilling and smiled. "Miko, someone's drilling." Bulkhead told the girl. "Pick up a rock and bang it on my foot." She looked up at him. "I-I don't want to hurt you." Bulkhead smiled. "I'll be ok. Do it." He said with a smile. Miko gave him one final look of fear. Then, she started to do as she was told. Jack's head turned to the sound of banging in the distance, and he smiled as he put the drill in high gear and started off. Unfortunately, Starscream heard the sounds too and started toward them.

Jack sighed as he started to feel stronger for some strange reason. The black-haired teen felt this new strength surge through him and pushed the drill on. Jack shivered when he saw the cave in was partially busted through and punched it. The machine ripped through the rock with ease and slammed into Starscream. As the Seeker was pinned against the wall, Jack glared at him. Miko's eyes and Cybertronian optics went wide at the human. "Jack, your eyes…" Bulkhead mumbled. Jack looked at Mike and held out a hand. "Come on!" Jack ordered. "We can't leave Bulkhead!" Miko yelled as tears streamed down her face. Jack jumped off the machine and sent a pile driver punch at Starscream. The Seeker staggered back. Bulkhead let the ceiling fall, scooped up Jack and Miko, jumped on the drill, and smiled as Starscream was forced to bear the weight of the ceiling or be crushed.

The three were on their way out of the cave when Arcee walked up to the group. Her Spark swelled with relief when she saw Jack was alright, and Jack couldn't help himself. The teen hit the ground and happily hugged Arcee's leg. Miko grinned wildly at the scene and started to sing "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" to herself. Then, she remembered what Jack did just moments before. "You won't believe it, but Jack saved our afts." Arcee gave her a curious look. "He mowed down Screamy. Then, Jack punched the Con so hard Starscream staggered back." Arcee looked at Jack in disbelief. "How…?" The femme trailed off as Jack looked up at her with scared eyes and shook his head as he told them, "I…don't know."

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