Grey Areas Part One
A Transformers Prime Fan Fiction
Set between Evolution and Minus One
Jack and Optimus stood far apart in the temporary base they had been using since Jasper had been evacuated, but neither of them could miss the tension rolling off of Wheeljack since the Wreckers had returned from the cave. Jack had attempted to approach him several times, only to be rebuffed each time. Miko had spoken with him, and was still with him as far as Jack could tell. Jack looked over at Optimus where he and Ratchet were working to repair Ultra Magnus' hand; it wasn't going well, but there wasn't anything that Jack could do about that.
Daybreaker, have you been able to talk to Wheeljack yet? The gentle thought drifted through his head through the guardianship bond between him and Optimus, and Jack smiled a bit. He is doing his best not to talk to anyone, but I believe Miko is with him right now, Jack responded silently. I believe he feels he's betrayed the Autobot cause, but there is something disturbing about the entire thing. Jack felt more than saw Optimus turn toward him, which lead to annoyed grumblings in Cybertronian from Ratchet. Jack smiled and thought back to Optimus, tell Ratchet to watch his language; I may not be able to speak it, but I do understand more than he may realize. Optimus translated what Jack had said silently, and all he heard from Ratchet was "Scrap".
Jack walked over to where he knew Wheeljack was and sat down against the wall, much like the mech was himself; he saw Miko leaning against the mech and wondered what they had been talking about, though he suspected he knew the answer. If he was right, Wheeljack was going through the sort of stress that accompanied doing something morally wrong, but didn't see the whole picture; Jack was starting to see that picture, and the longer he thought about it, the clearer the answer was. "It was a set-up," Jack said. Miko and Wheeljack looked over at him, and Wheeljack responded, "a set-up? What does that mean?"
Jack closed his eyes and responded, "it means that Megatron knew we would respond to the bait of the unprocessed Energon and find the laboratory while exploring. He manipulated you into blowing up the laboratory by having Shockwave there, and he manipulated Predaking into attacking you by sending him to the laboratory at the time you were trying to leave." He sighed and looked over at Miko. "It's like Megatron knows how to hurt us the most without lifting a finger himself; he uses our sense of morality as a weapon against us, knowing that we will do exactly this sort of self-recrimination when things like this happen," he finished sadly.
Wheeljack looked at the humans closely; Miko was clearly trying to understand what Jack was saying and not really succeeding and Jack was listening to something that neither he nor Miko could hear. "Jack, I think I understand what you're getting at, but you've lost Miko in the process. Are you implying that Megatron planned this entire scenario, including Predaking's involvement in it, based on his understanding of the moral standards of Cybertronians and Humans? If so, I apologize for my tempermental response to your earlier attempts to talk to me about this," Wheeljack said, smiling at Miko.
Jack looked up at Wheeljack and smiled, "yes, that sums it up nicely. Now, why do you think he wanted the Predacons destroyed when they would be some of the fiercest fighters in his arsenal? Especially after all the effort they went through to find the bones in the first place. If we can figure that out, maybe we will have a clue as to what he plans to do next."
Miko looked over at Jack and said, "maybe they realized they couldn't control that many, especially after seeing Predaking transform?" She shivered slightly at the thought of the dragon having a robot form, even though it made sense.