Chapter Fourteen: Specters of the Past

Arcee smiled at Jack but shivered as a question rose in her mind: Could he be wrong about Shockwave? The blue femme thought. After all, Cybertronians, especially Decepticons, could take a serious beating and come back for more. Megatron was proof enough of that. The thought that the shark denta Con still was online even after being microns from a catastrophic Spacebridge failure made Arcee shiver. Jack looked at her worriedly as she sat him down on the floor. As Jack looked back up at her, he saw a familiar faraway look in her optics she had when ghosts of the past were haunting her and put a hand on her leg. "If I'm wrong Arcee, I'll be ready." He said as he looked up at her comfortingly. That's what worries me. Arcee thought. Jack wanted to respond but held his tongue. Instead, he simply said, "Come on, 'Cee. Let's go home."

Later that night as Jack lay in his bed, he began to dream. This dream was strange. Instead of the white dreamscape where Jack and his Dad would talk about the day's events, tonight was filled with an internal room in The Nemesis. Jack tensed and tried to move but found himself restrained. As Jack struggled, he picked up a laugh that he instantly recognized. "Megatron…" He said calmly. The voice that came from Jack was not his own but his father's. "Hammerclaw, your loyalty has been questioned by certain of your fellow Pretenders." Jack felt himself, or rather, his father smile. "Your underlings are less than trustworthy, Megatron." The Pretender said. "I will fix that." Megatron told him as he let out a disturbing smile. "By the way, Hammerclaw…" Megatron said casually. "…do you know where your pet is?" Hammerclaw's voice came out as a roar. "SO HELP ME PRIMUS! IF YOU HURT JUNE…" Megatron smiled, and Hammerclaw knew he had just given Megatron the reaction the deranged warlord was looking for. Hammerclaw didn't portray the fear Jack was able to feel from his father until Megatron brought June into view. She was in an airtight cage and Megatron relished in the fear that was in Hammerclaw's optics. "There are better ways to torture someone than just kill them. The pain would be over much too quickly." Megatron said with a twisted grin as he turned to the Decepticon Medic. "Knockout, begin the procedure." Knock Out turned to his superior, stunned. "But, My Liege, he isn't-" Knockout was interrupted by Megatron's booming voice. "Do not question me, Knockout!" The last thing Jack heard was his father's screams. The last thing Jack saw was a ghostly image of Soundwave's visor.

Jack woke screaming his lungs out and in a cold sweat. His mother was in the room almost instantly. He could feel Arcee jump awake and transform so fast she didn't notice the garage ceiling. Arcee's helm scraped the top of the ceiling as her blasters warmed up. She looked around slowly and, once she was satisfied the garage was clear, called out. "Jack, are you ok?" To her mild surprise, June answered. Because of the fear she was feeling from Jack's Spark, Arcee knew what had happened before June told her. "He had a nightmare, Arcee." Arcee then asked Jack through their link, Was it about your Dad? Jack's voice was shaky, even in the teen's mind which worried Arcee greatly. M-my Dad i-is Soundwave! Once Arcee heard that, she urgently called to June. "Activate your Bridge remote. Jack needs to see Ratchet ASAP!" June was confused as the urgent tone in Arcee's voice but didn't question it.

Once Arcee, Jack in his mother's arms, and June arrived at Omega One; Arcee quickly filled Ratchet in on what had happened to Jack. "Mrs. Darby, lay Jack on the exam table." Ratchet said with an edge of concern that June recognized as the tone of medical uncertainty in the medbot's voice. "If what you tell me is true, Arcee, you must use your and Jack's Bond to enter Jack's mind and convince his father to remove the memory from Jack's processor, or he could remain in stasis lock." June was instantly furious. "You're telling me Eric showed Jack something that scarred his…" She then realized what Eric had shown Jack and glared at Jack's body. "You promised me we would never tell him!" June yelled into the air as her eyes took on a slight blue glow. Arcee didn't waste time asking why that had just happened. She was too worried about Jack to care at that moment.

As Arcee laid down on the medical berth beside Jack, she let her mind slip into his. What she saw was not what she expected. Arcee was on The Nemesis or appeared to be, and Jack was strapped to a table that was standing upright. "Get out of me!" She heard Jack screaming over and over. Then, she saw Soundwave torturing Jack, HER Jack. She ran and tackled Soundwave to the ground as Jack groaned in relief. "You hurt Jack, and I'll send you to The Pit for it!" She yelled as she began to beat Soundwave senseless. "Jack…" The Mech said slowly as Jack reached toward the voice of his Dad. Arcee ripped Jack out of the shackles and stared into her love's eyes. They were milky white as if Jack was blind. "Jack, you have to listen to me." She said to him, her voice thick with emotion. "None of this is real, Partner. Come back to me." She then brushed a digit across his cheek tenderly.

The moment was broken when Arcee felt a wing-blade slam into her back. She turned around to face the threat and glared at Soundwave with so much hate. "How could you?!" She growled. An artificial voice came from Soundwave's visor. "I am an Agent of the System." Arcee glared at the Communications Specialist and began fighting him blade-to-blade. "I guess I can call you 'Smith', Soundwave?" She asked with an icy glare. Soon, it became apparent that Soundwave's speed and agility had been heightened by the Dreamscape. He moved so fast that his motions were blurred like successive still shots taken while the camera was moving. Arcee smiled at the scene and mumbled, "Fitting for a dream…" She then matched Soundwave move for move and grinned as the Con blurred to Jack's side and put a blade to his neck. Arcee used her Bond with Jack to freeze Soundwave and readied her blaster. "Dodge this, Motherfucker!" She growled with a pissed off glare as she fired a blaster bolt into Soundwave's head.

As the Con fell to the ground, everything turned into a blinding white as if Jack's mind was purging data. Arcee sighed with relief at seeing everything go back to normal and ran to Jack once he was pulled out of the nightmare and into the familiar white of his calm mind. She scooped him up and kissed Jack gently. Jack stopped when he heard someone clearing their voice. The sound made him happy but also made him nervous. Why the sound of his father clearing his voice made him nervous, Jack couldn't figure out. Jack turned to see Eric getting up. He patted Arcee's shoulder and smiled tiredly. "Thank you, Arcee." He said with a kind smile. Eric then turned his attention to Jack. "When you wake up, Jack," He said with a sad tone. "Tell your Mom I'm sorry." Eric said calmly. Jack shrugged but nodded. "I will Dad." He said calmly as the dream started to fade.

Jack slowly sat up with a pounding head as he groaned. June ran to her son and hugged him tight. "I thought I lost you." June said as she looked up at Jack and saw him blushing. "Mom, why are you so worried? I was just sleeping." Jack checked his internal chronometer and received a shock. "I was out for over eighteen hours?!" June nodded. "Do you see now why I was worried?" Her tone made Jack instantly regret downplaying her reaction when he woke. "Nurse Darby," Ratchet interjected. "Don't be too hard on him. It appears that his processor had been in power down according to its own records." June smiled. Then, she had a terrible thought. "What do you remember about the time that you were asleep?" She asked with a hint of fear in her voice. "Dad wanted me to apologize to you for something. Exactly what about or why he wanted to apologize, he didn't say." June nodded understandingly. "It was something I and your father argued about before you were born." June told him with a contented smile.

Jack looked down and noticed a gold heart locket around his mother's neck that he had never noticed before. His internal medical protocols screamed at him that something was alive in there. "Mom, what's that?" Jack asked as he pointed to the locket. "Your father gave it to me." She said with a smile. "He said it was so I would always have a part of him with me." Jack nodded. "I guess Dad was a sucker for being romantic." He said with a chuckle. Arcee smiled and looked down at Jack. "He's not the only one." Jack smiled at that but thought. Arcee, we need to go on a drive, so we can talk. He told her. Arcee turned to Optimus, who had been silently observing the entire time, and said, "Jack and I need to patrol." She said to the Prime, who looked at Jack with a hint of worry after the ordeal he'd just watched Jack go through. Elita walked up and smiled at her Sparkmate. "Let them go. I'm sure they need to discuss some things just between themselves." She said with a smile. Optimus nodded, knowing the value of privacy with some matters. "Report back if you find any Decepticon activity." He ordered. Jack and Arcee nodded in tandem before Arcee transformed and shot off out of the mesa with Jack.

After they had ridden a few miles in silence, Arcee asked. "What did you want to talk about?" Jack let out a long sigh. "Mom and Dad are hiding something." The words sounded so alien to Jack. His Mom had always told him everything. It was not like her to hide things and that had him worried. Arcee smiled. "They are trying to protect you Jack." She said gently. "It's like what I told you when we first met. 'I don't exist.' I was protecting you from scrap I thought you didn't need to get into." She told him. Jack could tell Arcee was holding something back. You too? He thought, hurt. Arcee simulated the action of taking a deep breath. "While I was in your head while you were out, I saw what they were protecting you from. You did too, and it broke your mind. That is what we are trying to keep from happening again." She said to him. Jack nodded, satisfied with that answer.

As they were riding back to Base, two Jet Vehicons screamed overhead. "Looks like we get to have some fun after all." Jack said as he dismounted, and Arcee transformed. The two 'Cons landed hard. "Soundwave wants the human. Hand him over." One said as he readied his blasters. "Over my offline chassis!" Arcee yelled as she shot at them. They dodged her shots and got closer. Arcee engaged her blades and fought hard. Jack fought a smile as he heard car engines roar behind them. Ambush… Jack thought as he held up his hands in mock surrender. "I give up! Just please don't hurt her!" Jack said as he went to his knees and silently reached for his remote. As one of the Cons grabbed Jack, he activated the remote, and Jack's Mu7stang knocked the 'Con that was holding him off his peds. Jack fell toward his alt mode. The suit encased Jack as it fell back to Earth. Trickshot then rolled to a knelling position and started firing. The Cons fell like dominoes. After the slaughter was over, Trickshot keyed his comm. "Bulkhead, we need cleanup." He said with a smile.

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