The year 2033: Planet Cybertron
A lone Cybertronian kept to the shadows of Alpha Block 16-G in New Prime city, the first city erected in honor of Optimus Prime, the last of the mighty Prime's. In the wake of the Autobot's victory over the Decepticons many refugees had returned in Cybertron and a new golden age had come about with Megatron abandoning the Decepticon cause.
The lone shadowy figure had spend the last 20 years of her life as a mercenary, a gun for hire that often found herself hunting down Decepticon war criminals for profit after the war ended. Arcee was her name and she did what she could for Energon cubes and to have a roof over her head.
Arcee was on a personal mission. In these years since she left Earth she had longed to return to Earth to look for the human that helped her achieve peace so long ago. After all this time she still loved Jack Darby and yearned to return to see him. Maybe after all this time he would forgive her for what she had done to Flareup. Maybe, she hoped, he would forgive her for leaving him so abruptly.
She had to know.
After the Autobots returned to Cybertron she had tracked down an old friend, Bumblebee, to inquire about the fate of her sister. She was relieved that Flareup recovered from her injuries but Arcee assumed that the relationship between the two was destroyed beyond all hope. She held on to the hope that she could save another relationship that had crumpled to dust long ago.
Arcee found the building she was looking for in Alpha Block 16-G, nothing special from the outside but she had intelligence on what was on the inside. She had paid good Energon for classified info for the location of an Autobot Space Bridge, whose location was only known by a privileged few. After the war ended Space Bridge technology became a guarded secret to prevent what remained of the Decepticons from bridging back to Earth to search for Energon deposits. After Megatron's departure Shockwave had assumed leadership over the fractured Decepticons, and from time to time he would try to appropriate a Space Bridge.
Arcee climbed the side of the building and found an exhaust port for the Space Bridge. She was small and easily wiggled her way inside the port and into the inside of the building, making almost no sound in the process.
"Hey man I need a break" came a voice from inside the Space Bridge control room. The Technobot "Afterburner" was on guard duty tonight and looked bored, pacing around the control room holding his finger to his communicator. Grimlock walked into the control room and began to protest. "Me Grimlock no like guard duty" he said to Afterburner, who was already walking out of the control room waving to him. High above the two Autobots, peering out of a grated vent, Arcee cursed. "Fuck, just want I need…Dinobots" she said. She racked her circuits trying to think of a way she could slip past Grimlock with her spark intact. He was dumb but he could rip her to shreds if he wanted to. She came up with a brilliant plan that had worked for an old partner of hers.
Grimlock was standing around picking his nose, not paying attention to his surroundings when Arcee simply walked up to him. "Hi Grimlock long time no see" she said, trying to keep her nerve. Grimlock spun around surprised and transformed into his alt form, ready for a fight. "Why Harsee here? Me Grimlock think you not an Autobot" he said, baring his teeth. Arcee put up her hands. "Woah didn't Afterburner tell you? I've been reinstated to the Autobots" she lied. Grimlock scratched his head with a short, stubby dinobot-arm; trying to formulate a logical thought. Arcee would play him.
Dinobots, for all their might, were easily tricked.
"Hey did you see that family of Petro-Rabbits outside?" she said grinning, almost laughing at herself for saying something so ridiculous. To her amazement Grimlock turned away from her and stomped over to the security door that lead to the outside of the building. "Me Grimlock love Petro-Rabbits, they so snuggly" he said as he punched an access panel and exited the building, leaving Arcee to herself in the control room. Arcee knew she didn't have much time before Grimlock returned, no doubt crying his optics out that he had missed the Petro-Rabbits. She was familiar with Space Bridge tech and had no problems keying in the coordinates for Jasper, NV.
Jack Darby, age 36, drove home from his job in Jasper, NV after another day at work. The once small town had swelled to several hundred thousand in the past couple decades and became a major city. He pulled into his driveway in front of his modest 2 story house in suburbia and walked in. His wife was still at work so he had the house to himself for the next few hours so Jack walked into his kitchen to fetch a beer. It was times like this, when he was home alone, that he would think about his Autobot friends, especially Arcee. He had lost touch with his human friend Miko when she returned to Tokyo and Raff had moved away from Jasper to attend college and never returned. He had made new friends of course but he couldn't discuss the adventures he had in his youth with anybody, not even his wife. Jack didn't know how she would react stories of him and Arcee.
A lone Cybertronian stepped through the portal on the outskirts of Jasper and quickly transformed into her old Earth-based motorcycle form to avoid bringing attention to herself. As she sped into Jasper she was amazed on how large the city had become in the past 20 years, now more of a metropolis. Arcee tapped into a random wireless network and began to dig around for information on Jack Darby. She had no problems penetrating the firewall of the local DMV to find his current address. She wondered what she would say to him after all this time.
Jack was sitting in his living room when he heard a motorcycle pull into his driveway. Jack opened his front door and walked outside, trying to think of anybody he knew that drove a motorcycle. Jack noticed the rider, a thin female in full body leather and helmet. He then noticed the Autobot symbol.
It couldn't be.
Jack just stood there, staring at the motorcycle, his heart in his throat.
"Hello Jack" said Arcee.
It took all of Jack's will power to not fall to his knees. For several moments Jack just stood on his porch, stunned that she had returned after all this time. Jack dug in his pocket and hit the button on his keys to open his garage. Arcee drove in, transformed and began to cry. Jack ran in and keyed the door shut again.
Arcee sat on the floor of his garage and continued to cry while Jack stood in front of her, still not convinced he wasn't dreaming. "Hey partner" Jack said finally, placing a hand on her arm. Arcee reached out and embraced Jack in a heartfelt hug, saying nothing.
Jack forgave her for everything without her asking.
THE END