CHAPTER 24 - POV JACK - One Week and a Race later
As the night grew colder, Jack stood outside the hangar, awaiting the headlights in the distance. Rylee and Knockout had left with Snakesworth for some insurance thing, and everyone had assumed Knockout would be home within the same day. Apparently not, judging by Snakesworth's truck accelerating towards them, and Rylee riding shotgun. Rylee looked uneasy, and Jack frowned in response. Really hoping Miko's done her job as second lookout and warned the bots. Otherwise… Snakesworth will be walking into a big surprise. Snakesworth and Rylee pulled up in front of the warehouse and both exited the vehicle, Rylee discreetly putting a lot of distance between her and the car fast.
"What happened?" Jack asked, stepping forward. "Where's… er… the racecar?"
"It stayed behind," Snakesworth smiled sleazily. "Frequent check-ins are required, where not only do they re-check that the vehicle is eligible to drive in NASCAR, but also do whatever maintenance it may need." He took off his hat. "But don't worry 'bout that, it'll be back tomorrow. In the meanwhile it was my pleasure to drive Miss Anders here back to the hangar." He held the hat out to Rylee with a smile, and Rylee returned a very strained one.
"Thank you," Rylee said, still smiling, but it looked more like if she were gritting her teeth. Rylee tried to skip forward to Jack before Snakesworth caught up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, and she froze.
"Don't be afraid to catch a ride with me again. Anything for my star driver," he smiled, and Rylee looked visibly uneasy.
"Right," Jack said, stepping forward, trying to assess the situation. "Well, I think it's time we head back to the hangar, and you head home." Snakesworth glowered at Jack and then finally let go and put his hat back onto his head, tilting it in courtesy before climbing back into his truck.
Rylee skipped ahead and ran up to Jack, putting her arm around his shoulder, turning him around and beelining them both back to the hangar. "Thank god you were out here. Snakesworth's a real creep," she said, under her breath. "Don't look back, just get to the hangar."
Jack looked at Rylee in concern, debating whether to send a nasty look back at Snakesworth despite her request. "Why? What happened?" Jack responded in hushed tones.
"Nothing really 'happened'... the whole car ride was just as weird as that moment you witnessed just now. Just not very… proper ," she breathed. She then cursed under her breath. "I'm really missing Knockout right about now."
"Next time I'll come with you. Or call us to pick you up, maybe? We do have a spare car and jet lying around."
"I was planning on doing that, but Snakesworth insisted . He was already there, and apparently his place was along the way, so 'Why make them take two drives when I can just drop you off?'" Rylee shook her head. "Never again," she muttered.
They opened the hangar door to find Smokescreen and Thundercracker in vehicle mode, with Miko and Raf sitting on a couch off to the was intently focused on reading a paper, and a few more papers laid on Thundercracker's wing. Rylee headed right for the couch and plopped herself down between them, letting out a sigh. A few moments later Snakesworth's truck pulled up to the entrance of the hangar, and a very disbelieving Snakesworth stepped out.
"A jet? Since when do ya'll have a jet ?" Snakesworth cried out, walking up to Thundercracker. Buster appeared in the cockpit window, and Snakesworth jumped back. "And a dog ?"
"Yes, we do," Jack said simply. And as Snakesworth waited for a real answer, Jack gave none.
"Fine," he raised his hands in the air, and turned back towards his truck. "Whatever illegal things you're doing to obtain these items, I don't want to have any part of it. I will drag you all down before any scandal even touches me, just reminding you."
"Right," Jack replied coldly, staring Snakesworth down as he entered his truck. At last he started the engine, tipped his hat at them all, and took off.
Finally Jack breathed out and quickly closed the hangar door. Thundercracker and Smokescreen transformed back into robot mode, and Thundercracker looked extremely intrigued.
"Who was that?" he asked, looking as if he were about to start taking down notes.
"Snakesworth. The guy funding this whole debacle," Jack responded, starting to brush his teeth using just a toothbrush, toothpaste and a water bottle. "It's already late, and I think we should all get ready for bed."
Thundercracker took a head count of everybody and his smile suddenly dropped. "Where's Knockout?"
"Had to stay behind for some insurance thing. He'll be spending a night alone in some garage… hopefully he can handle it."
Thundercracker looked deeply troubled - more than the situation warranted.
"I see," he responded. "I have to make a call. I'll be back." As he walked to the hangar door, Rylee eyed him the entire time, a frown on her face. He exited the back door of the hangar and then closed it, and from behind the door you could hear the distinct transforming noise, and then the sound of a jet rolling away. A jet at a race track is still not very incognito, but I suppose it's considerably better than a robot walking around.
"Where's he going?" Miko hopped up from the couch, waving a paper. "I never finished reading the rest of his script! Should I follow him?"
"Don't think that's a good idea if he's purposely leaving to be alone ," Jack remarked. "Add that it's nighttime, and may accidentally step on you if you're sneaking around in the dark."
"Personally, I don't think he would," Smokescreen responded, busy watching a show on his holopad. "I mean he's got a pet dog . If he somehow hasn't crushed that small thing by now, I don't think any human's in danger."
"Okay, sure, whatever," Jack said, raising his hands. "Let's just leave him in peace and get to bed."
About twenty minutes later Thundercracker had still not returned, and most of 'Team Knockout' were in their sleeping places - Smokescreen and Miko fell asleep the second they laid down, but Raf was up reading a book in from inside his sleeping bag with a flashlight. Jack was about to enter his own sleeping bag when he noticed Rylee still awake, sitting atop the table drawing designs on her hand with marker. Despite the relaxing activity her foot tapped rapidly on the bench - she was nervous? Jack walked over to her.
"Hey Rylee." He sat down on the bench next to where her foot was tapping.
She looked up momentarily, then continued drawing on her hand. "Hi, Jack."
"I noticed you… aren't going to bed?" The knew question sounded weird, almost as if he were micromanaging the activities of the squad. He didn't care how late she stayed up, she was her own person. What he did care about was her mental health - and why she was not going to sleep.
"Not tired," Rylee said simply, not looking up from her work.
"'Not tired?'" Jack replied. "I don't know, I think only tired people have dark circles under their eyes."
She promptly raised her hand to her face. "I do?" she asked concernedly.
"Yes, you do," Jack responded. "And you used to not. What happened? Why are you refusing to sleep?"
"I'm not refusing , I -" she said indignantly, before cutting herself off. She then looked away from him, back to drawing on her hand. "It's nothing."
"...Right," Jack said. He felt bad about prodding… but he was concerned. "I also noticed something else. I've woken up a couple times in the early morning, and each time I've found you nowhere near your sleeping bag, and instead usually laying against Knockout's arm." Rylee froze, and Jack tilted his head. "Knockout's always the first one to fall asleep. 'Beauty rest' and all that he says, so you go over there after he's already asleep. So why -"
"Fine, fine! You got me! I'm not okay!" Rylee blurted out, lowering the marker. "You asked why? What happened? It's ridiculous, but Thundercracker happened!" She looked away from him. "I don't know, everytime I see him it's a reminder that a war happened, and that people died, and that Knockout's hiding it from me and that - that -" the marker shook in her hand. "That Knockout may not be who he seems." She gripped the marker hard in her hand to stop it from shaking, and laid it down on the table. Jack laid a hand on hers to try and comfort her, but she pulled away. "Thank you for the concern, but I will be fine. I really will." She still hadn't looked back at him again.
"If you're afraid Knockout isn't who he seems, then why are you going to sleep by his side?" Jack asked.
"Because before that fear comes my fear of Thundercracker." She finally looked at Jack, and swiped away a stray tear on her cheek. "I know. You'll say 'Thundercracker? But he's so nice!' He is , trust me…" for a second she looked as if she didn't know how to continue on. "I don't know what it is. He was the first Cybertronian to scare me. Things just don't… seem right with him."
"Knockout and Smokescreen listened to his backstory and verified that he's nothing to be afraid of, that he's genuinely working for the U.S. now. They trust him… you don't?"
Rylee brought her legs up upon the table as well now, hugging them. "I told you before. I don't know what it is. To be honest, I think I'm just projecting my fear of all Cybertronians and the war onto him… and yes , he doesn't deserve that. But..." She then looked down at him, her voice now tense, and slightly hushed. "I had a dream the first night he showed up. I completely thought it was real, but… I suppose there's no way it could be. After that is when I started sleeping next to Knockout when scared of being alone. If Thundercracker ever did go rogue…. Knockout's there, within arm's reach."
"What was the dream?" Jack asked softly.
"It's… silly," Rylee began. "I thought I was awake. Maybe I was drifting awake. I looked over and saw Thundercracker just… looking at me from across the room, ominous red eyes in the darkness. I… panicked, but I wasn't fully awake yet, I guess. Because by the time I was and was able to sit up, I looked over and found him laid down facing away from me, with Buster fast asleep beside him." Rylee traced the lines of the drawing on her hand. "I don't know what that dream was about. Or if it was a dream… but it must've been, right? Anyways, after that is when I started sleeping beside Knockout. I'd try to get over my fear and sleep by myself… but it never worked out. A few hours of sleepless anxiety each night before finally breaking and taking refuge in the only thing that could feasibly stop Thundercracker." She wouldn't look up at him. "I know it sounds silly-"
"It doesn't," Jack responded, and took her hand and squeezed it to comfort her. This time she didn't pull away, and smiled. "Look, back when I first heard of Cybertronians, I was terrified. All of us were. Not necessarily of our own squad and more so of the vehicons that attacked us… but your fear still makes sense, and you're not alone."
She looked down at him. "How are you not scared? Hell, you lived through a war!"
Jack laughed. "That's the thing. I lived through a war. The worst is behind us now, it has to be. I've stood against Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream… after witnessing them, any other fear becomes almost insignificant. Even Knockout was part of that list at one point but… well… he's obviously nothing to be feared anymore."
She finally let go of Jack's hand and got down from the table, taking the marker in her hands. "Right. I'll get used to it eventually."
"Where are you going now?" Jack asked.
"Finding something else to keep me busy."
Jack shook his head. "Rylee… you need sleep . Now that Knockout isn't here for you to crash next to, I'm afraid you'll pull an all-nighter. And if Knockout isn't actually home by tomorrow? How many days in a row are you going to do that?"
"What am I supposed to do then?" Rylee sighed, exhausted. "Thundercracker's not even here. We don't know where he is. I guess I'd feel better knowing he's already asleep… but he's not."
"I have an idea," Jack raised a finger. "Not so much an idea but a suggestion. Come back to where you were originally going to sleep. We can switch spots, and you can have the one closer to Smokescreen. Now, he likes his personal space, and I don't think he'd be much of a fan of you laying on him… but if being nearby comforts you, I don't think he'd have a problem."
Rylee smiled, eyes starting to droop. "Thank you. I'll… I'll try it."
Soon the sleeping bags were arranged, and Rylee within ten feet of Smokescreen… not nearly as close as Knockout was in case of an emergency, but it would have to do. When Rylee was cuddled up within her sleeping bag, she still kept her tired eyes glued on the hangar door.
"Rylee," Jack finally said, laying in his own sleeping bag. "Do you want me to keep an eye out on the door? To stay awake until Thundercracker gets back?"
"You'd do that?" Rylee murmured, already starting to fall asleep. "Thank you…"
Jack nodded and turned over, keeping his eyes on the hangar door.
Rylee fell asleep soon after… and it was never Jack's intention to fall asleep on guard duty as well. But after only half an hour, he did.
And that was his first big mistake.