You should never be alone
Chapter 1
A/N: So I'm working on 5 fics at once so be patient with me on this one seeing as a I am more concentrating on a requested story and I just wanted to get the first one up quickly.
He didn't mind the rules that he was now under. Of course it did change a few things like the way he approached the decepticons and uplifting the whole robots in disguise secret. Meeting Optimus Prime was a huge honour but being under his command was indescribable, he'd happily admit that he had made some mistakes in the past but that only made him stronger. He'd learn from those mishaps which made him a better autobot.
It had been about an hour since Optimus had ordered him to learn about how to blend in on this planet from Jack, the raven haired boy that assisted the autobots whenever they needed it. He had been informed that three humans had seen them in the middle of a battle and had befriended them. It was weird that they could help out so much in this ongoing war and he didn't exactly understand how they had been able to stand up to the decepticons but he was new so he was sure he would probably see it some when for himself.
Watching them closely in the base he had seen that each human had a strong relationship with their guardian. Particularly Jack and Arcee, Raf and Bumblebee and Miko and Bulkhead had strong friendships. It was confusing to him how they were so close but he figured it was something he wouldn't understand, he had just arrived on the planet.
Even so he envied what they had it's was like having a friend forever, he did wonder if it go on to be more but obviously they weren't interested in something like that.
Smokescreen drove around Japser Nevada listening to Jack teach him about human traffic laws that he unfortunately had to obey. It did annoy him that he couldn't just put the pedal to the metal but he wanted to do Optimus proud. Although these little tests the human that was sitting in his drivers seat with his hands softly on the wheel was giving him seemed a little petty. He noticed that as he drove around there were a fair amount of people around going about their daily business with no clue as to what he was, the danger the cons presented to their world, it made smokescreen chuckle slightly which caught Jacks attention as he was trying to direct the new recruit around the city.
"Smokescreen are you listening?"
"Yeah yeah" he waited a moment but Jack remained silent as though his tour was over "so what's the deal with you and Arcee?"
"What do you mean? She's my guardian...motorcycle...friend"
"It's different from you being friends with Bulkhead though" Smokescreen accepted that humans were a little strange but he supposed that in time he would get used to it and come to love them like the others did.
"I suppose we each share a unique bond with our guardians, something unbreakable"
That still didn't make any sense in his head. The long silence lingered as he kept driving waiting for Jack to carry on talk about what he should and shouldn't do. Surely the most important thing was to not transform out in the open, if he were to do that there would be no going back. It would haunt him forever.
"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..."
Smokescreens thoughts were pushed aside and he quickly hit the brakes, the ear ringing screeches bouncing off any surface and deafening any nearby person as his tires skidded along the ground. Jacks body was flung forward at the sudden halt of movement which only made him glad that he had put the seatbelt on. His attention was then drawn to the other people as they drove around his and honked their horns in anger, he sunk in the chair in embarrassment. "You can't just stop in the middle of the road, your supposed to pull over to the side"
"Didn't you hear it?" Jack raised an eye brow as to what the bot was referring to
"Hear what?"
"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"
"That!" The outburst made Jack jump slightly as he tried to get smokescreen to move so that they weren't blocking the road. "It's beautiful"
"I don't know what your hearing but can you please move" if Jack were sat in the car he would be on his hands and knees begging him. The autobot then shifted gear as he reversed and made Jack fall back on the seat. Of course Smokescreen wasn't obeying the traffic laws again when he put the brakes on and drifted around so he was facing the opposite direction. "Show off" Jack mumbled
"Erm Smokescreen your driving on the wrong side of the road now"
The dashboard flashes as he groaned at the growing list of rules the humans had. He didn't hesitate to cross lanes until he was in the right one so that Jack wouldn't keep going on about what he was doing that was so wrong. He did want to fit in but this voice he had heard had caught his attention. He didn't give the sixteen year old a chance to question where he was going because he was so concentrated on following the sound to its source that seemed to be moving.
After a couple of minutes Jack began to hear it too. It was the sound of a woman singing.
"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"
They sped around a corner as they identified the source of the majestic sound, it was like nothing they had ever heard. It was pure beauty, no music was need to accompany her voice. They watched as a young woman with deep red hair tied back, wearing three quarter length jeans and a purple top walked into a shop. Smokescreen immediately pulled up in front of the shop, it was obvious to Jack that they were staying for a little while so he got out for a bit of air while he waited leaning on the door as he did. He inspected shop the woman had walked into. 'Arts and crafts' written boldly at the top and in different colours with a small image of a paint pallet next to it. He only came into this store on the rare occasion of there was a project that required painting or something crafty. "Why are we hear?"
He didn't get answer from the car. His gaze turning to the woman that had walked into the shop "You found the source of the nice singing big achievement so can we go?" Jack even raised his fist up to emphasis the achievement even more.
"We're not leaving till she comes out"
The boy was confused at why he was so interested in the girl. Hadn't he heard music before? Boy was smokescreen in for something when Miko starts playing her guitar again back at the base. The bot would probably beg to come back out again. He chuckled at the thought. The singing had stopped since the red head had walked in to the store, they still had yet to identify her. It was quite hard to believe that Smokescreen had no problem waiting patiently outside in the silence for the woman to come out, it seemed odd but you'd think he'd be complaining but no he was just quiet for once.
It's was about ten minutes before she came back out again. She hadn't bothered to finish the song she was singing or start another as soon as she exited the store with a plastic bag in hand as she laid eyes on the raven haired teen she had recognised as Jack Darby. She didn't know him that well but she had seen him many times and if given the chance they would have short talks, it was their friendly nature. "Hey Jack how have you been?"
It caught him off guard that he already knew the person and it kind of made him feel stupid that he didn't recognise her sooner but having said that he wasn't great friends with her and it had been a while since he'd seen her around. "Isabella it's good to see you" Jack walked up to her and gave her a quick hug.
"You still working at that burger place?"
"Yeah well at least I'm making some money" he joked at his job that he never like that much but at the least he was responsible, that much could be argued. "How's work for you?"
"Let's just say I'm not standing around taking orders, I enjoy what I do. I hope you've been concentrating on your studies"
"Please I get the same pep talk from mom"
"She only says so because it's true. You're better studying your ass off than regretting it later" They laughed at each other, it was strange how they knew so little about it each but could easily take an interest in the other. By then Isabella had taken notice of the car he had been leaning on. Her eyes glistened as it grabbed her attention. "Jack is this your car?"
The teen blushed and rubbed the back of his head "yeah"
She studied it. His ride was sweet, she couldn't quite work out how he had managed to pay for such an awesome race car. She knew immediately that it was an Indy 500 just by its curves and structure the majority of it was white with the doors being checkered with blue and red and having giant 38s written on the side. She frowned as she felt suddenly drawn to it and as she examined its frame she felt as though it was doing the same back at her but it seemed silly to think such a thing. As she continued to think she remembered seeing the raven haired boy riding on a navy blue Kawasaki Ninja 250R motorcycle.
Smokescreen was watching her looking her up and down as she did to him. Her milky skin tone went perfectly with her fiery red hair that was tied back which allowed him to clearly see her emerald green eyes looking all over him. He felt weird that at the sound of her voice entranced him and now her image made him wonder further about humans, this one seemed different from the others. Having said that she just thought he was a car at the present moment and nothing more. But she had no reason to think otherwise so why would she?
"How does your mom feel about this?"
His cheeks flushed at the question. "She's okay with it" he shrugged it off
Her eyes narrowed at his answer. She knew his mother well and knew that he had already bought a motorcycle and even then June wasn't sure about it. Isabella had heard that she had to confiscate it to get the teen to be responsible about his job and school work but she hadn't heard anything after that, it had been a long time since she had seen Jacks mom. "Well it's a really beautiful car just don't abuse it and race around like Vince"
"Oh no definitely not. He still bothering you?"
"Yeah it freaks me out, one minute he's making fun of my condition and then the next he's hitting on me"
"He's just an idiot I wouldn't worry about it"
"I'm not worried, he's a teenager and I'm...out of his league" she giggled as she tried to think of the right words to say. "I better get going. Take care of yourself Jack"
"Yeah see you around" he waved her off and watched her walk down the side walk with her recent purchase in the bag she was holding. Jack let out a breath as the driver's door opened by itself and he happily fell in and took the wheel to make it look as though he was driving to everyone else. Smokescreen closed the door and took off his door mirrors still focused on the small form of Isabella disappearing behind them. They remained in silence until she could no longer be seen.
Jack noticed that the bots attention was still on her and smiled at it. "Why so interested in Isabella?"
His attention then redirected back to the road. Of course he was a bit embarrassed, for some reason he had been entranced by the voice. It made him feel like he could do anything but when he concentrated on the words that she sang he had noticed that it was quite a heartfelt song, like she was lonely. "What was the condition that she spoke about?" He decided to ignore Jacks question and just ask his own out of curiosity.
"Isabella has a panic attack disorder, it's not her fault but this guy at school thinks it's funny and enjoys making fun of her and then trying to ask her out"
"Idiot" smokescreen mumbled "what's she like?"
Jack had to think a moment. Memories of her replaying in his mind. "Isabella's kind and caring. She always sees the best in people, never seen her loose her cool. She's very creative, she's a photographer and an artist. She designs packaging for products and sells her designs for a living. I've got to be quite honest I don't know that much about her, she is 8 years older than me so out of my age range"
"Wow, she's a model citizen" he listened intently to Jack talk about her. Smokescreen liked hearing about her for some reason it gave him comfort, made his spark fluster just thinking about her. The thoughts subsided as Jack suggests going over what he had learnt as they were to exit the town and go back to the autobot base. He sped around the corner quickly to join the intersection.
"Okay intersection let's review. Lights green" Jack waited for Smokescreens reply
"Green for go" he quickly replied
"And yellow" he looked down at the wheel, a little suspicious of young bot. He did have a race car as his alt form which kind of said a lot.
"Go faster!"
Smokescreen quickly gave it all he had to speed up and make Jack jump as he did so to the changing traffic lights just ahead of them. "Woah woah Smokescreen" Jacks eyes widened as they not only just broke the speed limit but were about to run a red light. But just before they could zoom past it the brakes were put on and smoke emanated from the tires as they came to a halt and the tries radiated heat from the friction. The raven haired boy was jerked forward as they came to a sudden stop in front of the lights.
His grip on the wheel tightened from the intensity of the ride that he was suddenly taken on. Smokescreen then began laughing 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 more skidding noises approaching their position, 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 it everyone was of it. Jack immediately sloughed down in the seat 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. Although it didn't help the guy known as Vince had seen him 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. "Drive" Jack whispered wanting to get as far away as possible.
"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"
"Just let it go" Jack sighed as he recompose do his posture in the seat.
Smokescreen drove off then as well it this time he obliged to follow the rules that Jack had taught him. It made him think back to Isabella, something he couldn't imagine her doing. Although he had only just met her and she didn't know about him yet so he considered those thoughts a bit useless at the moment"Are you kiddin me? Where's your self-respect? We gotta stand up for ourselves"
"We also have to follow Optimus's rule" Jack then began to shake him head to emphasis 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 as he knew the consequences. The idea that Smokescreen was posing was very tempting. 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.