As soon as Arcee gets through the groundbridge and into the base she's so familiar with she's caught up in a big bear hug by Bumblebee. All the 'Bots make it through the groundbridge with Optimus being the last one through, all of their sparks swelling with happiness to have Arcee back with the team once more.
"Arcee!"
Arcee looks over at Jack who is looking at her with a mixture of happiness and concern. Arcee smiles at him, "Hey Jack. Hope you've been staying out of trouble."
Jack scoffs, "You know me Arcee." He says trying to be nonchalant about it, "It's good to see you again and I'm happy you're back to normal."
Arcee's spark breaks when she thinks of what she could have done to her team, her friends, while she was under Megatron's control, "I'm sorry for anything I may have done if I had hurt you in any way." She looks to the rest of her team, "All of you."
Optimus walks over to her, "Nobody here is mad at you Arcee, we know you weren't in control of your own actions. Megatron used you to get to us and take us down, and for a bit there he almost succeeded. We were all worried about you and just wanted you back."
Arcee smiled at him before Ratchet led her to med-bay so he could scan her for any injuries or any kind of tracker that the Decepticons could have put on her. He finds nothing, no hidden injuries and no tracker and he feels relieved. He then proceeds to reactivating her weapons, the whole time he was doing it they told her about what's been happening with them while she was gone.
While Optimus is watching them he can't help but have some skepticism rise in his processor. Megatron has never been willing to just let Arcee go, he's been fighting them all this time to keep Arcee his prisoner. So why is he so willing to let her go now? He's happy to have Arcee back to make their team whole again, but he can't shake the feeling that there's more to this than just using her as a deal-breaker to win them over.
When Ratchet finished with Arcee he walks over to Optimus, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He asks in a hushed tone.
"That Megatron is up to something?" Optimus asks back in a hushed tone as well.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy she's back with us. But I can't shake the question in my processor. Why did he let her go so easily? He has to be planning something."
"That's the exact thing I was just thinking myself. We will just have to wait and see what the outcome will be."
"So what are we going to do about Megatron?" Bulkhead asks.
"I know that desperate times call for desperate measures, but bringing Megatron here?" Ratchet says as he walks away.
"How can you even think of bringing that monster near these children after what he did to Raf?" June asks in a scolding manner as she stands behind Raf and puts her hands on his shoulders.
"He will be closely monitored." Optimus reassures them, "And only allowed to linger long enough to send us on our journey, not one moment more."
"What's gonna stop the 'Con from calling in an airstrike if he knows where you live?" Fowler asks.
"By groundbridging Megatron here, he will be unable to get a fix on our coordinates."
"Optimus, what's gonna happen to you when all your matrix energy is released?" Jack asks.
"The power within the matrix has not previously been utilized in this particular manner." Optimus responds.
"But, you have an idea. Don't you?"
"Autobots, if humankind is to be saved, I have no choice but to proceed. But you do."
The other Autobots think it over for a moment but it's an easy choice for them, "Well, I don't know about humankind, but I'm willing to do it, for Miko." Bulkhead speaks up first.
"For Jack." Arcee follows as they look over at the kids.
Bumblebee looks back at Ratchet who is standing behind them but before he can ask the question Ratchet speaks, "No Bumblebee, you're still not fit for battle." Bumblebee is disappointed but he understands, he still has a long way to go before he's fully recovered and ready to get back into action.
"Don't worry 'Bee, I know you would help defend us if you could." Raf says with a smile and Bumblebee nods, he certainly would.
Megatron continues shooting at the Unicron manifestations as more forms, he shoots at one bringing him down to his knee. He flies up and circles around to go in for another attack when he hears Optimus on the comm.
:: Megatron, we are sending transport. ::
:: You can always be relied upon to listen to reason Optimus." He says as he flips over and flies to one of the manifestations, he transforms and punches the thing in the head making it crumble before transforming back into jet mode. He flies closer to the ground and transforms again, landing on his feet as a groundbridge opens up in front of him.
Megatron walks through the groundbridge and comes out the other side to find the Autobots all standing in front of him, they transform their servos into their blasters just in case Megatron decides to make an attempt at attacking them. Megatron pays them no mind as he looks around at the base, "So, this is where the magic happens. Quaint."
The humans all peered around the corner to look at the warlord and Raf is filled with rage at seeing the one that almost cost him his life. Raf runs out to confront him with the others trying to stop him to no avail, "You…!" Raf says as Jack grabs him by the shoulder to stop him.
Megatron looks down at the boy, "Ah…" He begins speaking as he takes a step towards him but Arcee runs over to get in his way with her blasters pointing at him, "…you're looking much better than the last time we met little one. Humans, resilient."
Jack takes Raf by the shoulders to pull him back, "Come on Raf, he isn't worth it." June walks forward to take Raf back to where they were.
Jack glances up at Megatron before turning to walk away only to be stopped by Megatron speaking, "And you, I never forget a face, even that of a human."
Jack turns back to look at him again then turns to walk away. Miko watches Jack walk away before she looks at Megatron, "You double-cross anyone, mine is the face you'll never forget! NEVER!" She shouts at him and Fowler grabs her and carries her away.
Arcee shakes her helm as she laughs a bit, same old Miko. Her attention is drawn back to Megatron when she hears him chuckle and she finds him looking at her, "I see they wasted no time in reactivating your weapons, my dear."
Repulsion and anger fill her, she hates it when he calls her that and she knows he does it to annoy her. Oh, how she wants to blast a hole in his spark chamber and make him pay for everything he has put her through.
Optimus stands next to Megatron, "Ratchet, obtain the destination coordinates from our guest." He says and Megatron walks around him to go over to the monitor. Ratchet walks over to the monitor as well and starts typing while Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Arcee keep their blasters fixated on Megatron.
Optimus walks over to the humans who are heading to the back, "Jack." Jack turns around to look at Optimus. Optimus looks back at the others before kneeling down to his level, "Will you keep something for me?" he asks with a hint of hesitation.
Jack can tell that he's a bit worried about something but doesn't know what and he doesn't question it, he just shrugs, "Sure." Optimus brings out an object to hand to him, the thing transforms to a smaller size and Jack takes it from him, "What is it?" Jack asks as he looks at it.
Optimus looks away, "It is…" Optimus pauses for a second before looking at the boy again, "The key to the groundbridge power supply."
"Okay but, shouldn't Ratchet have this?"
Optimus looks down, "Perhaps." He takes another momentary pause before looking up at him again, "But I've been impressed by how much you have matured since we first met. As such, I feel you have earned the responsibility of safeguarding this device until I return."
Jack looks down at the thing in his hand then looks up at Optimus, "I won't let you down."
Optimus stands up as he looks down at him, he then turns and walks away. Optimus walks over to the others to see Ratchet just finishing putting in the coordinates Megatron was giving him. Ratchet opens up the groundbridge and Megatron goes to stand next to it and waits for them.
Arcee looks up at him as they come to a stop in front of him and he looks down at her, "You first." Arcee says with a gesture.
"As you wish." Megatron says as he does a bow. He turns to walk through the groundbridge and Arcee, along with the rest of the 'Bots, turns to look back at the humans who walk over to them.
"Wish there was more time for us to catch up." Arcee says to Jack.
Jack smiles at her, "We'll have plenty of time to catch up when you return." He says feeling confident that she will come back.
Arcee just smiles as she turns to walk through the groundbridge with Bulkhead following her. Optimus stops to look back at their human allies one more time before following the other two through the groundbridge. Bumblebee and Ratchet walk over to watch them leave and Bumblebee feels bad that he can't go with them and help.
Megatron, Optimus, Bulkhead and Arcee walk through the other side of the groundbridge and they look around, they find themselves on one of many of what looks to be walkways with pulsing purple lights running along the sides. They stop for a second to have a good look around at their surroundings. Arcee walks towards Megatron to ask the question, "So, how long before Unicron knows we're here?"
Megatron glances back at her over his shoulder, "Make no mistake, he already does." He says before he starts walking. Optimus starts walking as well to follow him, Arcee and Bulkhead look at each other before they start to follow them. They don't know what awaits them inside Unicron but they're going to keep their guards up and take on anything that Unicron throws at them.