You'll never be alone again

by CaptainPlum

Rewrite of 'You should never be alone'. Isabella is creative individual confined to Jasper because of her panic attack disorder though she wishes to travel the world. Smokescreen is a young autoboot rookie who just arrived on Earth and is getting used to being part of Team Prime. Time together proves just how much they need one another and may be quite fortunate in the war.

1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Earth

You'll never be alone again

Chapter 1: Welcome to Earth

A/N: Hello lovely readers. Now some people may recognise this a little. The title has changed a little but the storyline is pretty much the same with a few small changes. This is a rewrite of a fanfic that is still published on my profile called 'You should never be alone!" this fic was never finished because I was quite unhappy with it. And so comes this creation. I hope that it is better now and that people enjoy it just as much as the previous version. The song used in the fic is Never Alone by Barlow Girl, it doesn't belong to me. All rights to their respected owners. But it is recommended to listen to the song when it comes up in the story. Hope you all enjoy. R&R!

Smokescreen had to admit that Earth was nice. It was pretty in its own kind of way and more peaceful than what he remembered from the last moments on Cybertron but he also thought it was weird. He learned immediately from the others that humans weren't as advanced in technology and weren't as open about other life forms from other planets. From what he was told he gathered that the only way the humans have had experience with extra-terrestrials is through fiction – something the humans made up. He had already met three humans, they were teenagers and according to the autobots valuable members of the team. In his processor though he didn't quite see how small humans could help at all.

Since he arrived on Earth, however, things have been go, go, go. The decepticons were quick to make their presence known on the planet; granted he was in a pod that was sending out a signal to anyone to receive. He had done his part though and fought them off while rendezvousing with the autobots in the process.

Since then he had been introduced to this new planet and its people. Rules were quickly made known by Optimus Prime himself about how he was to go about protecting Earth and its inhabitants. The first rule was one that he knew he would have to get used to which was being a robot in disguise. It meant that he had to obey the human's traffic laws and customs; he wasn't allowed to transform out in the open and not get involved in human affairs. Something he believed he could do quite easily. He was more amazed that he was able to meet Optimus Prime and now he was under the Primes command which he considered a huge honour. The rookie wanted to set out and prove to Optimus that he would be a valuable autobot to the team, no matter his past mistakes.

After he had been subject to crazed questions from Miko and a few from Jack and Raf he watched as the teenage humans congregated with the bots and couldn't help but notice how friendly they all were. Granted he'd only just got to Earth and they had been on the planet longer than him but he saw something between them that made him feel a little left out. Raf could understand Bumblebee and the two of them spent a lot of time together much like Bulkhead and Miko and Jack and Arcee did. Rachet explained to him that the three bots were the teenager's guardians, it did explain a lot. Each of them obviously having formed a tight friendship. It wasn't long after he had observed this that Optimus had assigned him to get used to the planet. He wanted Jack to teach him about traffic laws and how to be a robot in disguise. Personally, Smokescreen wasn't bothered but if it was going to occupy his time in between fighting Decepticons and help prove to Optimus his worth then he was all for it.

It hurt him a little that Arcee was quick to distrust him with her charge but he would prove himself. Jack quite happily hopped into his alternative mode – a sleek Indy 500 race car. His doors were chequered blue, red and white with big 38s written over them. He figured it was a good disguise but Arcee wasn't as supportive of his decision as he would have liked. The undermining feeling he got from the others lowering his self-esteem. It made him recall his last days on Cybertron when he yearned to use what he had learnt in boot camp to fight the Decepticons in the Great War but was assigned as security detail at the Iacon Hall of Records. When others thought little of him and wanted him out of the way.

Those memories were the saddest, particularly when his last moment on Cybertron was where he was knocked unconscious.

He shook his thoughts away as he concentrated on driving on the roads of Jasper, Nevada. He faintly heard Jack talking about traffic laws which he had to obey but couldn't help his drifting thoughts. He had to admit it did annoy him that he couldn't just go as fast as he wanted, put the pedal to the metal, but he wanted to impress Optimus and the way to do that so far would be to go the speed limit for now. Prove that he could fit in with this new environment.

The little tests that the raven haired boy, in his driver's seat, was giving him did seem a little petty though. He did notice the people of Jasper going about their daily business unaware of his presence or the threat the Decepticons presented. It made him chuckle as some of them gaped at his car form. He must have chosen correctly to get such reactions.

His chuckle got Jacks attention. The teenage boy frowning knowing that the rookie probably wasn't listening. There was nothing that he had said that was remotely funny "Smokescreen, are you listening?"

He swerved a little as he tried to pay attention to the human inside him "oh yeah yeah. Always obey the speed limit, drive on the correct side of the road and don't draw too much attention to myself" he recalled generically what Jack had spoken about earlier.

Jack sighed knowing that Smokescreen was mostly likely not interest or he was distracted. The rookie hadn't been around long enough for him to know if there was something wrong with him or if this was just typical Smokescreen. "You have any questions before we review what you've learned?"

"Actually yeah. What if I'm being tailed by a Decepticons around a bunch of humans?"

Jack sort of knew the answer to that "from what I've gathered from being around the Autobots so much; your secret is not more important that saving innocent lives. If anything you should get the cons away from anyone they would endanger before engaging. You'll want to check with Optimus on that as well. He is the boss"

Smokescreen understood, these rules complicated things. "So does having a guardian bring you closer with Arcee? What about the other Autobots?"

At first Jack was confused at what Smokescreen was addressing "I suppose having Arcee has my guardian makes her more important to me, I mean she poses as my motorcycle but she more than that. I guess we each share a unique bond with our guardians but that doesn't mean I look at the others any less" Smokescreen remained silent as he was processing how Jack was explaining it. "Like Raf has a strong friendship with Bee but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a close friendship with anyone else. He cares for Bulkhead as well." He supposed it made sense but he still couldn't get his processor round it. Optimus and Ratchet didn't have charges but he guessed that the two of them had bond with the teens just like the guardians do with their charges "Perhaps it would be easier for you to understand if you had a charge of your own. Unfortunately, we're all out of humans. You'll get it one day" Jack tried to reassure him.

If Smokescreen was in his bi-pedal form he would have nodded. He was already tired of this activity and wanted to return to the base.

"I waited for you today

But you didn't show

No no no

I needed You today

So where did You go?

You told me to call

Said You'd be there

And though I haven't seen You

Are You still there?

I cried out with no reply

And I can't feel You by my side

So I'll hold tight to what I know

You're here and I"m never alone..."

It was soft and delicate. The words sung with such care. As the notes of the voice hit his audio receptors Smokescreen braked hard and came to an abrupt stop. His tyres screeched making anyone's ears ring that were nearby. Jack felt his seatbelt tighten as his body was suddenly flung forward slightly only to be caught by the safety device. Taking in a deep breath from the frightening experience he looked around to see why Smokescreen had stopped but didn't see anything. There was no reason for the Indy 500 to just stop as it did which confused him; the raven haired boy sunk down in the seat as his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

There were people all around even some in their cars that were looking at the race car in confusion. There was also a few angry honks from other vehicles behind them as their drivers drove around them not pleased with them just sitting in the middle of the road "Smokescreen! Move!"

Smokescreen heard the teen but wasn't really interested in what he had to say "but didn't you hear it?"

"Hear what?" Jack tried to hide himself just in case anyone saw him. The last thing he wanted was for someone to identify him inside Smokescreen; there was no way he could explain this "Look you can't just stop in the middle of the street. If you need to stop you're supposed to pull over to the side in a safe place" Jack tried to explain but it was clear that Smokescreens attention was elsewhere.

"But the voice…the singing" he tried to excuse

"What singing? The only voice I can hear is the angry shouts – can you please move?"

"And though I cannot see You

And I can't explain why

Such a deep, deep reassurance

You've placed in my life

We cannot separate

'Cause You're part of me

And though You're invisible

I'll trust the unseen"

There is was again. It didn't sound too close but it wasn't far off either. "Did you hear it then?" Smokescreens sudden burst of voice made Jack jump slightly as he was trying to get Smokescreen to move from the middle of the street.

"I don't know what you're hearing, Smoke" Jack sighed. If he wasn't sat inside the rookies vehicles form he would be on his knees begging the Autobot to move. But before he could say something more to get Smokescreen out of the middle of the road the gear shifted and Smokescreen pivoted around, creating smoke with his tyres as he turned. When he was facing the opposite way he finally started driving again but it wasn't as Jack would have hoped. The teen put his hands over his eyes hoping that if he couldn't see it then it really wouldn't be happening "er Smokescreen…you're now driving on the wrong side of the street"

The rookie really was growing tired of the list of rules the humans had that he now had to follow, his dashboard lit up as he groaned in annoyance. Hoping to rectify the situation he quickly switched lanes so that he was now driving on the right side; he heard a sigh of relief from Jack but kept his concentration of the sound of someone singing. Turning quickly around a corner, faster than Jack would have liked, they identified the source of the majestic sound. Jack finally hearing the singing too and admitting it was nice.

"I cried out with no reply

And I can't feel You by my side

So I'll hold tight to what I know

You're here and I'm never alone"

Smokescreen slowed as they saw a young woman walking down the pathway by the road; the singing coming from her. She had deep red hair that was tied back in a ponytail whereas she was wearing black three quarter length jeans with a purple tank top. Her feet fit into cute black slip on shoes that she walked gracefully in. The rookie couldn't actually believe it – he was an Autobot. A warrior and yet he couldn't ignore the sheer beauty of this voice. It could sing in perfect harmony that no music was needed to accompany it.

"We cannot separate

You're part of me

And though you're invisible

I'll trust the unseen

I cried out with no reply

And I can't feel you by my side

So I'll hold tight to what I know

You're here, and I'm never alone"

The bot was actually disappointed when the song finished and the woman with red hair walked into a shop. He made sure to gently pull up outside the store, at the side of the road this time.

Jack inspected where they had come to a stop. He was happier this time now that they weren't drawing unwanted attention to themselves. He looked to the sign above the shop that boldly read 'Arts and crafts' that was written in multiple colours and on either side of the name was a paint pallet accompanied with a paint brush and pencil in the shape of an 'X'. Jack recalled coming to this very store when a project at school deemed him in need of supplies. "Unless you're planning on getting inspired with creativity I don't see why we're here" there was no reply. It was clear that Smokescreen was focussing on something else. Jack looked into the shop to see the woman they had followed. "Well you heard Isabella singing and found her, big achievement. Can we go now?" Jack tried to emphasise the achievement by raising his hands.

"You know her?" the rookies attention then turned to learning more about the woman.

The teen was rather confused as to why Smokescreen was so interested in her. Hadn't he heard someone sing before? Or even music. He was tempted to message Miko and get Smokescreen to experience her guitar solos back at the base. He wondered if Smokescreen would enjoy it or beg to be taught traffic laws again. He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought "Of course; Isabella used to babysit me. She'd sing to me until I fell asleep or to just try and get my tantrums to stop. She's a close family friend; mum invites her round of dinner every now and then"

They continued to watch the woman known as Isabella inside the shop for a good ten minutes. She seemed occupied with purchasing items at first and then just having a general conversation with the shopkeeper. After another good few minutes, where Jack wondered how Smokescreen could have so much interest in his old babysitter, the red head finally exited the store and her emerald green eyes focussed immediately on the familiar face of Jack Darby. "Hey little Jackie, how've you been?" her voice turned really soft as if she was talking to a toddler.

Jack blushed and rubbed the back of his head at the nickname that she knew he was embarrassed at. "I'm good, just out for a drive" he still allowed her to call him it when they were alone; something Jack had to remind himself that they weren't alone. Hoping to move things along so Smokescreen wouldn't pay attention to the name, Jack swiftly got out of the Indy 500 and moved over to the red head. The two smiled as they embraced in a friendly hug. "So where have you been? I haven't seen you around in like a month"

Retracting from the gesture Jack leaned on Smokescreen as they engaged in conversation. He figured the rookie wouldn't mind considering that he was so interested in his friend. "I just got back from New York actually, spent the month out there. This company that makes children's toys hired me to design the images on the boxing of their products"

"That's great. A big step up for you I imagine"

Isabella had the widest grin on her face "it is, it means that my work is actually good. They're sending me their essentials that they want on the product and then I get to create away and send it back to them. But at least I'm not taking peoples orders" she joked about Jacks job "you make your mother very proud with what you're doing. Not many would put up with working with fast food" she was going to continue but her eyes glanced to the car that she hadn't looked at properly and she stopped. "Jack Darby, when were you going to tell me you bought an Indy 500" she moved to the side of the car and bushed her finger tips on the doors tracing the large '38' "why do you even need the car; the motorcycle you had was perfect"

Jack again rubbed the back of his head. Something he often did when he was nervous "I still have it but I just figured it was time to move to four wheels as well"

"It's beautiful, Jack. Your job can't pay that well, you must have been saving for ages" having looked the car over she had to admit she was impressed "June wasn't that happy about you getting that motorcycle, so how does she feel about this?" she gestured to the sweet looking race car.

The teen didn't quite know how to reply. His mum knew of the Autobots particularly Arcee but he figured she'd be unhappy to lie with him about owning a race car. Especially considering that Isabella was around their home every so often but he had no choice "mum's cool with it, so long as I don't abuse it" he had to say something he thought his mum might say. Considering Arcee was technically confiscated from him by his mum, when she didn't know about the transformers, just so he would take more responsibility with his job and school work. It seemed like something his mum would say.

"She's right. Focus on your studies and not racing it like Vince does" Jack could sense the bitter tone in her voice as she spoke the guy's name.

"He still bothering you?"

Isabella sighed and tilted her head as she could have sworn she saw the Indy 500 shift a little but she shook it off knowing it wasn't possible "when doesn't he bother me? My condition isn't funny, it's serious. I mean I have to take medication every day for it, my parent's think me burden for it. I still don't get why he makes fun of me and then decides to flirt with me – makes no sense" the sentence started off sad but then Isabella went into a rant about Vince.

Jack smiled at her ranting to which she playfully hit his arm "he's an idiot; try not to let him get to you"

"This coming from the one that Vince hates the most, you should learn to take your own advice. I better get going. I'll see you around Jackie" she grasped tightly the things she had bought in the store before walking off with a quick wave of her hand.

"See you, bells" Jack smiled as he watched the red head walk away. She had a shoulder bag rest on her shoulder and a small carrier bag in her hand with the items she had purchased in the arts and crafts shop.

He had enjoyed the little conversation with the young woman and had almost forgot that Smokescreen had been there the entire time. He cleared his throat to try and shake it all off before moving back round to sit in the driver's seat.

Smokescreen, on the other hand, had sat through their whole conversation and hadn't taken his gaze off of Isabella. It was like he had been under a spell when she sang and couldn't help but follow. As soon as he found her he was memorised, he hadn't imagined that a human such as her could cause him to act so weak. He hadn't seen such a fiery red colour that was her hair and such a glistening green colour that was her eyes. He didn't know why but he wanted to learn more about her. Once she was out of sight Smokescreen was able to shake everything off and then remembered Jack, who was now waiting on him. He quickly pulled away to re-join the traffic "care to elaborate why you're so interested in Isabella?" Jack was the first to speak.

"Not really, Jackie" Jacks face immediately flushed red.

"It's a nickname she gave me when I was young and she babysat me…and it stuck" he folded his arms defensively.

Smokescreen laughed aloud as he kept his concentration on the road ahead. "What was she talking about when she spoke of taking medication and a condition?"

"That's not really my place to say, Bells takes it really hard. She was born with an extreme disorder where she has to take medication every day to help her cope with it. The medication doesn't null her disorder; it just lessens the blow of it on her everyday life. And this bully at school likes to make fun of it all" Jack didn't want to go into depth too much in fear of feeling like he was going behind her back. Then again there wasn't any way Smokescreen was going to be able to actually meet her and have a conversation with her. With the whole secret and the rules, Smokescreen was never going to have the opportunity to get to know her the usual way.

"He sounds like an idiot. Someone should put him in his place" the rookie had the urge to meet this Vince and teach him a lesson "so what's she like?"

Jack laughed at the rookie with all the questions on his former baby sitter "Isabella's kind and caring. She always sees the best in people, I've never seen her lose her cool even with my temper tantrums when I was young. She's got a good heart; the only problem is she always doubts herself. She's creative as a photographer and an artist. She works to create designs for products and by the sound of it she's just landed a big contract with a big company in New York" Jack had to stop himself. Given that the woman in question was eight years older than him, he could still continue to talk about her.

He had memories replaying in his head of the good times he had with her. There was the time that she agreed to read his favourite story to him over and over until he fell asleep and he had been determined to stay up. There was also the time she picked him up from school when he was sick; it was raining that day and to cheer him up she jumped in the puddles with him all the way home.

Smokescreen had been listening intently to Jack and couldn't help but think that Isabella sounded like a model citizen. It gave him comfort to hear about her. It sounded like she was really living her life. He had to put the thoughts to the back of his processor when Jack brought up going quickly over what he had learned on their way back to the base. Going back to the others was something he was excited for – he'd had enough learning about humans for one day.

To exit the town and go out into the desert towards the Autobots base he turned a corner relatively fast which made the raven haired boy grip the seat beneath him. "Okay intersection let's review" the traffic lights ahead of them was something simple he could go over "Lights green" Jack then waited for Smokescreen to answer what he should do.

"Green for go" replied quickly.

The lights didn't stay green though. As they were getting closer it went yellow "and yellow" Jack looked to the steering wheel for an answer.

"Go faster!" Smokescreen sounded too excited and sped up which made Jack nervous.

The teen should have known Smokescreen would have acted in such a way. This was a bot that decided to have a race car as an alt form. As they were coming upon the intersection the rookie gave it all he had to speed up until the lights turned red. At the new colour and the sudden speed they were going Jack began to freak out "woah, woah Smokescreen!" his eyes widened as the speed limit was well and truly broken.

Just before they could zoom past the intersection and hopefully not crash, Smokescreen put on the brakes and skidded to a stop right on the white line. The rookie could feel the heat in his tyres and it made him want to speed around. Much like earlier Jack jerked forward but was caught by the seatbelt while he held a death like grip on the steering wheel.

Smokescreen then began to laugh as they were then waiting for the lights to change again. "Just messin around" the bots voice cracked as he laughed although Jack wasn't very impressed by his performance.

"Ha ha" he pouted.

Jacks attention was then drawn to approaching skidding noises and hated the feeling that he knew who it was. Looking back on the mirror above the dashboard and then behind the seat he confirmed his suspicions of who it was. It was obvious that it was him as he pulled up next to them in his own car that he always showed off to everyone. It was funny that he was oblivious to how sick of his boasting everyone was. Jack immediately slouched down in the seat in an attempt to hide, hoping to avoid being seen as well as pulling the window up. Smokescreen noticed this and the small whisper that suggested something bad.

"What is it? Cons?" He asked getting a little giddy at the thought of going out into battle

"Just someone from school I'd rather not talk to" Jack replied as he kept his head down. "It's Vince" Although it didn't help the guy had seen him already and after noticing the race car that he had pulled alongside. After recognising Jack in the driver's seat the bully couldn't help himself as his hand dove into a paper bag from a fast food restaurant. This had to be one of the worst moments ever for Jack. He always hated running into Vince on the road mainly because Vince would always try to make himself look cooler than he actually was with his car. It was clear that he was jealous of others "Drive" Jack whispered wanting to get as far away as possible and to avoid a confrontation.

"Red light teach. No can do" now he paid attention to the rules of the road, when he wanted the bot to break them just this once. He took a gamble by sitting up and looking over to Vince only to see a devilish grin along his lips and to receive burger throw at the window before the guy sped off quickly like he was a coward.

"Seriously" Smokescreen wasn't happy. Not long ago he was complimented for being beautiful by Isabella and now he had human food on him.

"Just let it go" Jack sighed as he recomposed his posture in the seat. It was clear he was used to this sort of treatment.

Smokescreen drove off then as well, having only just realised the lights were now green. This time he obliged to follow the rules that Jack had taught him, going at the speed limit and not over. It made him think back to Isabella, something he couldn't imagine her doing – breaking the rules. Although he had only just met her and she didn't know about him yet so he considered those thoughts a bit useless "Are you kiddin me? Where's your self-respect? We gotta stand up for ourselves and for Isabella"

"We also have to follow Optimus's rule" Jack then began to shake his head to emphasise his point "it's not just about protecting humans, you can't harm them either"

"Who said anything about harming?"

Jack had to admit he had wanted to get his own back on Vince for a long time but he never had the guts to do it, especially because he knew the consequences. The idea that Smokescreen was posing was very tempting as well as having a partner in crime. He thought about it and didn't really see the harm in getting a little pay back in a way that would make everyone feel better. It was time to give Vince a taste of his own medicine.

His main argument for defence here was that they weren't breaking any rules of any kind. Besides Smokescreen had learnt as much as he should have. They had made progress and now they were doing something for the benefit of the community.