After returning to earth after four years. Arcee and Jack grow closer again when he takes her to his little hideout for a much needed catch up
Stargazing
Arcee speeds along the road, her wheels mesmerizingly spinning.
"Here! Turn here!" He said, pointing at a dirt road that curves up along the side of the mountain.
"You sure?"
"Very"
Arcee tilted her chassis and exited the highway and onto the bumpy stone layered road
"Jack I swear if I get a puncture I'll kill you"
"It'll be worth it, trust Me." he said, patting her chrome gas tank. Arcee decided to do just that and continued up the path. She rode up along the winding dirt road, lush green starting to appear instead of harsh orange dead desert. Trees erected upwards and swayed in the winds.
"Jack where should I-"
"Here! Stop here!" He said, as she screeched to a halt and Jack leaped off. Arcee's arms folded out and slammed against the grass, her head forming out of the bike and her legs positioning beneath her, the wheels folding up into her shins and back. Her blue wings clicked into her back as she examined this place. Huge trees pointing up at the afternoon sky and thick lush grass coated the mattress of soft earth. She stood up with a groan from her crouched position
"This your little hideout Jack? She smiled, looking around at this place. A large circle of grass surrounded by a border of trees made it perfect. On the right was a parting in the trees, perfectly capturing the Sun's setting course over the distant desert Jack pressed his helmet against the grass and abandoned it, Arcee walking around behind him.
"What'd you think Arcee?" He said arms spread out wide as if he owned this place. Jack smiled as he sat on top of a large rock overlooking the distant desert, bathed in amber sunlight. She had to hand it to him. It was very impressive
"After studying earth's teens, I half expected a little wooden shed you'd built."
"A Den? Nah I prefer to see the sky." He said, looking up. Arcee positioned herself next to him, sitting on the ground with a silent thud.
"It is...nice, Jack" She mustered. Jack looked at her, eye level due to the rock he was perched upon.
"Nice?"
"Cut me some slack, I'm still trying to be all touchy feely. I remember having a place like this to myself on Cybertron. A little place to be alone"
"You did?"
"Yeah. Wasn't the happiest time of my existence" She sighed, looking around at the valley.
"I guess having Cybertron back has made you happier?" He asked. She simply smiled and nodded. No answer was necessary in words. Her huge blue eyes absorbed the sun's rays as it began its final decent over the mountain ranges in the distance. An orange hue began to fade across the land and sky. The first stars were beginning to form and flicker in the deeper blue abyss above. Jack sat with his legs bent, elbows resting against his knees.
"You know Jack, this is really nice. I gotta give it to you. You've really matured"
"Yeah. Four years of hell do that to you" He mumbled into his wrists. Arcee leaned closer to him.
"Come on, it can't of been that bad." She said to him, her cobalt eyes gleaming. Jack looked up at her.
"Arcee, you have no idea"
"So tell me mister twenty years old" she said, mimicking him with her pose, legs bent and arms crossed across her knees. Her mouth was concealed behind her wrists like Jack. He sighed and looked away
"You remember that my mom was single?"
"Yeah? You had no dad right?" She asked, shoulders shrugging and whirring. Jack sighed and buried his head in his arms
"He...no, don't worry" Jack said, turning slightly. Arcee looked at him with her big blue eyes
"Come on Jack, you can tell me. Partners, friends remember?" She said, and she was right. If he was closest to anyone bar his mother, it was Arcee.
"Okay. My dad left us when I was three at the most. He'd occasionally visit every few years, maybe move back in, and then have an argument with mom and leave" Jack said, lowering his knees from his chest. Arcee was sat listening, her head against her wrists.
"While I never saw much of him, he was still my father you know? You can't just forget that stuff. Then Mom comes in and tells me...she tells me he died"
Arcee's eyes and mouth widened. She could see the emotion on his face
"Jack..."
He had a lump in his throat that he just couldn't swallow and breathe to flatten out
"Yeah I know what a weakling right? I mean he left mom so many times, you'd think I'd hate him...but couldn't. I saw him a week before, then one day, he's gone. You know?" He explained. Arcee scooted over closer to him
"Hey, It' fine to feel vulnerable. After Tailgate and Cliffjumper's deaths I didn't let anyone near me. No one." she said comforting him
"He was...such a douche. But he was still my dad. And...He's gone. I haven't told anyone that." Jack explained to her.
"What, about your dad dying?"
"No. How I felt about it. Not even mom. Only you" Jack said, looking away from her. Arcee was shocked by this.
Jack trusts me that much?
"Wow, err thanks? You trust me that much?" Arcee said, scratching the pistons on her neck.
"Hell yeah Cee" He said as if she should already know that. Arcee suddenly realized something. He called her Cee.
"Wait, what'd you call me? Cee?" she asked with a raise eyebrow.
"Yeah. I know it's a stupid nickname, sorry I said it"
"What? No. Its fine, I'm flattered really. No one's ever given me a nickname. Raf and Bee, Miko and Bulk...Jack and Cee" Arcee smiled, thinking about it. She looked out at the sun set.
Cee? My own nickname!
Jack looked at her
"So yeah, that's kind of the bummer of a four years I had. Vince the bully didn't help. Glad to be out of that school. But he still finds me at K.O Burger and torments me at the drive through."
Arcee chuckled
"You know Smokescreen still talks about what you did to his car." She suddenly spluttered and became her old hard headed self "Not that I approved"
Jack had the perfect response
"What about when you broke rule number one and raced him, smoked him actually!"
Arcee rubbed the back of her neck and looked away
"Heh Well that...that's different!" She tried explaining in a stern voice
"Yeah that was good" Jack laughed
Arcee lent backwards, lying on her back looking at the stars. One of her legs tilted inwards in its bent knee position, the other flat against the ground. She placed her palms on her metal plated stomach. Jack hopped off of his rock and lay in the comfortable grass beside his giant guardian and best friend. He looked at her face, hoping she didn't see. Jack shook it off and peered up at the sky, growing darker as the sun dissipated its hold over day, stars claiming the night as they flickered brighter.
"So where's Cybertron up in all that?" He said with a smile. Arcee chuckled
"You want me to point it out in all those stars, where my home world is?" Arcee peered over at him.
"Yeah, impress me"
"What being able to turn into a motorcycle not doing it for you anymore?" she laughed. Jack shrugged
"Humor me. Where abouts did you guys come from?"
Arcee looked up at the night sky and took several moments remembering their arrival and what she saw. She pointed up into the night sky, her finger trailing along before reaching a familiar point. She saw a more amber glowing star than the other white ones. She dipped into her memories of the Cybertron skyline and the orange star that lit its silver beauty. She had found the system where her home was. Arcee opened her optics and her finger was dead on trained at that star in its shimmering glory.
"See that orange star?" She asked, Jacked lining up, using her finger as a set of iron sights to pick out the target.
"Yeah" He mustered
"I'm guessing that's my home system. But it's just a guess at this time."
Jack smiled
"So that's where Cybertron is. You know I've spent so many nights laying here looking up to try and see Cybertron's star. So I could see where you guys were."
Arcee looked at him, raising her arms and placing her palms behind her head
"You looked for us?" she asked
"Of course Arcee. You guys are my family"
"Sorry we left you"
"Ah don't worry. At least you're back now, right?" He said to her. Arcee nodded and smiled, her eyes scanning the night sky. For the first time in a while, her mind was free of all worries. She could finally relax, and Jack made her feel comfortable enough to do so.
"Okay my turn for questions" Jack said, breaking the silence. Arcee moaned as she stretched her back pistons and nodded
"Okay then. Shoot" She said to him. Jack took a moment to think of one.
"How did you guys come back? I take you knew about Fowler's department being shut down and the bridges confiscated and destroyed."
Yeah: destroyed (!) I'm sure. No way would humans destroy that kind of technology.
"Protoforms" She said, without any other information, as if Jack you understand.
"Gonna need more than that Cee"
"Protoforms are what we travel as. It's basically an asteroid like alt mode we use that allows us to travel across the stars at great pace. Then we crash land as them and ditch the form."
"But you said you kept your vehicle modes, you're still the same bike as before?" Jack asked, still slightly confused
"We cataloged our forms and when we crashed, reactivated them, being identical to what we were before. What? Did you think I flew across the stars as a Motorcycle?" She joked.
"Oh" Jack said, still trying to comprehend that style of travel. He looked at her
"Well, you've aged well too Cee" He said smiling at her.
"Thanks Kid" she said, knowing it would aggravate him. She could see his face drop and anger slap across it.
"I'm kidding" She smiled.
"Glad you managed to transform a sense of humor Arcee" He chuckled. Shoving her slightly, but finding her unmovable.
"Who else is here, hiding in plain sight etcetera" He said, swirling his hand in the air.
"Bee, Bulk, Optimus and two other you have yet to meet."
"Who?" Jack asked, intrigued.
"They met up with us on Cybertron and wanted to help. Ultra Magnus and Smokescreen chose to stay. Make sure Cybertron stays safe this time. Their names are Jazz and Ironhide"
Jack nodded, pouting.
"They sound pretty awesome"
"You'll see them tomorrow once we all meet up." Arcee said, returning to her war mind set.
"You guys know where to meet? I mean we don't have a base anymore, all that's gone." Jack explained to her, still lying in the grass watching the rotation of the earth as the stars moved every now and then. Her eyes looked downwards as she thought
"We'll think of something. Hope Bee and Bulk find Raf and Miko" Arcee said, sitting up.
"Hopefully Miko took a note from you and matured too."
"You really think she would?" Jack said, knowing the answer
"Course not. Wouldn't be right if she didn't aggravate my servos every now and then" She growled, lying back in the grass beside Jack.
"Okay, my turn. You still working at that fast food place?" She asked palms behind her head once again. Jack nodded
"Yeah, not for long though. Managed to get a scholarship to go and work with a mechanic!" He said hopeful. Arcee smiled, genuinely excited for him.
"That's great news Jack! I'm so proud of you!" she smiled as she turned on her side and gave him a gentle hug. He could feel her pistons and metal plates digging into his chest, but he could also feel the warmth of her spark against his shoulder, and her head on top of his. He felt really safe, among other things. Things he chose to bury years ago, and didn't want to unearth. She released him and rolled back over on her back.
"Since when do you hug?" He asked
"Hey after babysitting your Decepticon bait ass for months, it gave me time to...accept you"
"Gee thanks; strain yourself on that heartfelt statement?" Jack mumbled. She smiled.
"Kidding, in all seriousness, I'm closer to you than I am Bee and Optimus"
Jack sat up slightly, resting his weight on his elbows.
"Really? Like, seriously?"
"Yep. Pains me to say it but, yeah. My human Partner and I know more about one another than our closest teammates and family." She explained looking at the sky.
"So like, what do I know about you that they don't?" He asked with a grin. She clocked onto it
"You getting some sense of amusement from this Jack?" She asked in a stern voice.
"What? Seeing a more emotional side to the cold hard-shelled Arcee? Never" He sarcastically quoted.
"Okay. Well you know about what happened to Tailgate and Cliff, but so do they. What they don't know is how I dealt with it" She explained as Jack remembered something she said while he was barely listening early today.
"Your little reflection place, like this place is my one. Your one overlooked Cybertron right?"
Arcee nodded.
"Yep, that's it. I'd go there to shed my emotions. No one would find me there so I could really deal with my thoughts and not worry about being caught"
"It's okay to show emotion Arcee" Jack said to her. She scoffed
"Yeah right. Try being an Autobot under the command of Optimus Prime. You can't show emotion. It'll rip you apart, or the Decepticons will use it"
"And you've never told that to anyone?"
"You told me a deep dark secret. I gave you mine" Arcee smiled at him and he grinned back.
"err anyway, before we start hugging and crying...er well done on that scholarship." She stuttered, changing the subject to avoid her building thoughts and emotions. She lay back in the grass and so did Jack. He wriggled back into his flattened grass comfy spot, and so did Arcee, the sound of her metal skin scraping the dirt
"Thanks Cee. Yeah I'm so looking forward to it. Finally I can do something I enjoy" He said with a smile from ear to ear.
"You not enjoy working with us? What about me Partner?" She said, using his poor wording against him.
"What? No! Of course I enjoy working with you guys, it's been the best time of my life having a best friend who protects me and knows almost everything about me" He explained, saving his previous comment.
"Ditto" Arcee said.
"Ditto? That's it, you can't hang around Miko anymore she's ruining your vocabulary!" Jack said, stifling a laugh.
"But yeah, It'll be great to do something I'm good at you know. Always been a passion of mine I could never truly follow, you know?" Jack said, placing his palms behind his head Like Arcee.
"Well if you need to practice you can practice on me" She said sincerely, looking at him. Jack's eyebrow raised and suddenly she realised what that could be mistaken as. Her eyes exploded bright blue and wide and she sat up violently quickly.
"Oh no, Allspark I didn't mean it like that, I err-"
"I know Arcee. God, the look on your face! Priceless!" Jack said through heavy laughter, he rolled around clutching his stomach laughing. Arcee shook her head and rubbed her metal forehead with her index finger and thumb
"Anyway. I'm proud of you. At least your boss won't be a jerk there." Arcee said, lying back in the grass admiring the now night time sky, the sun finally collapsed behind the mountains.
"Let's not jinx it" Jack chuckled. "You showed up at the perfect time. I've got two days off after tomorrow, so I'm all yours"
"What time you there till?" Arcee asked
"Three, then I'm free"
"I'll pick you up like I used to then" Arcee said. Jack groaned
"Please no Sadie-pulling-into-the-drive-through skit. It's not funny!" He pleaded. Arcee chuckled evilly
"Oh but it is"
"You'd make one hell of a Decepticon Arcee. Even Megatron would cower"
They shared a laugh as the night sky slowly swirled above them.
"So Jack, you brought any girlfriends up here while I've been absent?" She asked out of the blue. She rolled over on her side and looked at him, hoping to dig up information. Jack sighed
"No, another reason these last few years have sucked. No one ever comes up here. It's my alone place. Where I come to get away from all the scrap in real life, you know?"
"Not even Sierra?" she said in an implied voice, raising and lowering her eyebrow pieces. She turned away from him and made smooching sounds while her arms hugged and caressed her own body, as if mimicking two people kissing. Jack sat up
"Where the hell did you learn that one?" He had to ask, he could not ignore it. Arcee stopped, looking over her shoulder at him, lips still pouting. She sighed and lay back in the grass, hands on her stomach.
"Embarrassingly, another thing I stored in my memory banks from Miko. Couldn't really forget her doing that"
"Why was she doing that?" Jack asked as he lay back down.
"Taking the rust out of you and Sierra"
"Damn. She gets away with so much. But yeah, no one. Just my little rest and relaxation place, you know?"
Arcee nodded, understanding completely
"Yeah I can understand that Jack. We all need somewhere to go to be alone, escape from it all. I had my one on Cybertron when things got too much. A little ledge that overlooked Iacon city and the sunset." She suddenly realized how similar it was to here. Her eyes scanned the valley and matched it with her memories. Almost a perfect match, without the metal ground beneath her feet.
"This place is very similar." She said nodding slightly. She fixed onto one word jack said
Nobody. But, I'm here?
"Jack you said nobody comes up here. You let me come here?" She had to ask. It was eating away at her Energon infused spark. Jack looked up at her and shrugged
"Yeah, but you're not nobody are you." Arcee's eyes widened at his compliment. If she could blush, she'd be red right now. "I'm sorry I had a go at you earlier. First thing I say when I see you again and its accusations and anger. Sorry" He mustered.
"Hey, it's behind us remember? Move on or let self loathing destroy, that what Cliff always told me" she smiled, lifting his chin wit one finger.
"Partners don't ditch Partners" She smiled at him, her big blue eyes illuminating the dark.
"As long as you're not chasing after Sierra anymore, Waste of scrap if you ask me, missing out on you" she complimented Jack
"Ha, Thanks Cee" He said, watching the as time slowly spun the sky.
"You think its Megatron don't you?" Jack asked. Arcee lay silent before responding with a heavy sigh
"Yeah, I do. But we'll stop him if it is."
"Damn right" Jack nodded
Arcee awoke to the sound of birds chirping and bright morning rays piercing her polymer eyelids. Her eyes fluttered open and her optics flickered blue. She moaned and groaned, lying in the fetal position in the grass. She felt something warm on her palm.
"Uh, no doubt some small earth rodent has laid a fresh-" She stopped as she saw it. Hey eyes widened and her mouth ajar. Jack was asleep, also in the fetal position, facing towards her. During his sleep his hand had moved, resting on Arcee's larger metal palm. She looked at it and slightly panicked, before calming herself and gently sliding it out from under his flesh hand. As she gritted cybernetic silver teeth and squinted her eyes as not to wake him, her hand was free. She held it in her left hand and sighed relief.
"Arcee" Jack mumbled in his sleep. She gazed over at him, her head turning slowly
Did he just say my name, in his sleep? Is Jack dreaming about me?"
Arcee shook it off and stood up and yawned, her gears in her throat whining. Her arms spread wide out and her chest pushed outwards, she clicked and whirred as her pistons were relieved of stress in this much needed stretch.
That may be the best power down I've had in a long time. Allspark I powered down! I didn't keep watch what if...oh yeah. No Decepticons here. Calm down Arcee you old war girl
"Ah yeah that's the good stuff" She mumbled to herself, trying to keep her wandering mind off of Jack. Her blue metallic skin reflected in the morning rays
"Ah Scrap! We were out all night!" She said, slapping her forehead in frustration.
"How do I get you home without getting caught by your mother?" She thought to herself tapping her chin with her right index finger.
Jack was awoken by a gentle shove
"Jack, wake up" Arcee's stern voice sounded. He groaned and rubbed his eyes as he awoke like a zombie. "Come on, I've got to get you back to your mothers"
"I'm twenty, remember?"
"Yeah and if I know June Darby, she'll still worry, now come on. Tell her you were round a friends or something" She said, back flipping into her Motorcycle form. The motorcycle bounced against the ground and her kickstand flicked out.
"Come on sleepy head, you can sleep while I drive, which reminds me, have you got a drivers license yet?" Jack replied with an aggressive moan as he stretched and yawned, walking over to Arcee, grabbing his helmet as he staggered
"Yes I do, by the way" He grumbled
"Well la-di-da" She said in a sarcastic voice, spinning her back wheel and racing down the hill. Jack clung on for dear life as she rejoined the highway and raced towards Jasper. She sped along the tarmac, keeping to the speed limit. A tired Jack had finally become awake enough for conversation
"So I just tell I was at a friend's? Doesn't it kill you not being able to see her?"
"Of course Jack, but Optimus's orders. Keep her safe by not letting her in"