To the guest who asked where Airachnid was: She is in this chapter.
The first part is based off 'Crisscross' (s1e17) and the last part happens around the events of 'Metal Attraction' (s1e18).
Since Liliy gave the order to keep an eye on Jasper, they kept it live on one of the many side monitors in the Comm center. When Echo walked in to take over watch duty from Lima, he happened to glance at that particular monitor.
"Lima." He leaned forward to get a closer look at the monitor.
"Hm?" The little femme turned from the main monitor.
"How long has Airachnid been in Jasper?"
"What?"
Echo pointed at the little pink Decepticon symbol blinking on the edge of the town.
"Uh… I don't know?"
Echo reached over and pressed a button, opening a channel to Leecher's office.
{Yes?}
"We have a problem."
{What is it?}
"Airachnid is in Jasper, Nevada. And we don't know how long she has been there."
{Inform the Madam immediately. And have Whiskey and Zulu meet us in the receiving room.}
Liliy sat up straight in her chair when she got the message.
"Something wrong, Liliy?" Ratchet asked. He was working in the medbay.
"Uh, no," she replied, turning to look at him. She held up her phone "No. It's just my brother is in Jasper and he wants meet with me. Is there way I could, you know...?"
"I have to bridge back to Jack's garage before his mother gets home," Arcee suggested. "You can come with."
"Thanks, Arcee." Liliy hurried down the stairs as Ratchet moved over to the bridge controls.
"You have to be back by tomorrow afternoon, at the latest." Ratchet put in the coordinates for their bridge.
"Sure thing, Ratchet."
Arcee and Liliy bridged to Jack's garage just in time for Jack to get home. He was surprised to see Liliy when the garage door opened.
"Liliy? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Sorry. Gotta run." And she jogged off down the block.
"What was that about?" he asked Arcee instead. "And is Mom home yet? I didn't see her car."
"I don't know. We just got here," Arcee explained. "Liliy said her brother was in Jasper and wanted to meet so she bridged over with me. By the way, there's a package for you."
Liliy walked up to the matte black El Camino parked on the street. She opened the passenger door and slipped inside. Behind the wheel sat a man who looked almost exactly like Liliy except he had black hair and yellow-brown eyes and both arms.
"What's the situation?" Liliy asked.
"Airachnid is working with MECH," Leech answered. "We think they are here for the Autobot two-wheeler and her young friend. MECH has already been to the boy's house."
{Third-wheel is on the move.} came over the comm.
"Who is with you?"
"Just Zulu." Leech's holoform pointed at the black SUV parked up the street. "And Whiskey. He is watching MECH. The others are on standby back at base."
Arcee and Jack drove past them. Jack had a gps device in his hand. After they turned the next corner, Leecher started after them. Zulu had to do a u-turn to follow Leecher after they turned the corner too. They drove slowly with their lights off so they didn't draw any attention. A few blocks ahead, Arcee turned another corner into the town's cement plant. As they approached the turn, they heard gun fire but by the time they reached the gate, Arcee and Jack were already inside the warehouse. Liliy stepped out of Leecher's interior. Whiskey appeared next to them.
"MECH brought an adult female human here earlier," Whiskey informed her. "I heard them mention that she was Jack's mother. Airachnid took her away and hid her somewhere in the compound."
"That might complicate matters. Hmm. Very well. Whiskey, you and I will go find Mrs. Darby. Zulu, stay here and guard the gate. And be ready if someone needs backup. Leech, go see if you can rescue Arcee and Jack."
"Roger that." Leecher transformed and headed for the warehouse, while Liliy zipped up to Whiskey's shoulder and they headed into the compound.
"Help them." Leecher heard Arcee beg. They peeked inside the open door. Tied up in webbing, Arcee, with Jack beside her, was surround by MECH and Airachnid. "Please. They're human, like you. You can't let Airachnid-"
"A few human lives are a small price to pay for a miracle of science such as yourself," Silas replied coolly, cutting her off.
"You say that, fleshling," Leecher said, stepping forward and leaning casually on the doorframe with their arms crossed. Everyone stared at them in surprise. "But tell us, the men you lost when Breakdown was rescued… did they die for a cause or were they just another 'small price to pay'?"
"You again!" growled Silas after he got over his initial surprise.
Half his men aimed their weapons at them.
"You know this mech?" asked Airachnid.
"How did you find us?" Silas ignored her.
While sitting on Whiskey's shoulder searching for June, Liliy pulled out her phone and dialed a number.
{Fowler} came the answer after the first ring.
"Hey, Agent Fowler, it's Liliy. Just thought you'd like to know that MECH is Jasper."
Liliy flinched when she heard Fowler choke on his drink. {What?!}
"It's true. They have Jack, his mom and Arcee. You should bring backup right away."
{Autobot backup?}
"Uhhh. No. That might be too much for Mrs. Darby in one night."
{Understood. I'll be there as soon as I can.}
"Thanks, Agent Fowler." Liliy hung up and pocketed her phone.
"To be honest," Leecher said, "we didn't know MECH was here until we arrived. We were actually tracking the, uh, what did you call us? Transformers?"
"You were tracking us?" asked Airachnid. "Why?"
"That's our job, of course."
"How are you tracking them? What sort of signal?" Silas wanted to know.
"Hmh. One you could never replicate." Leecher tilted their helm. "Hm. Jack, it sounds like we found your mother."
"What?!" Airachnid shrieked. She sprang into spider mode and made for the door.
Leecher pushed off the doorframe and blocked her path. "Ah, ah. Jack, first. She is his mother, after all."
She started to raise her servos to fire webbing at them but Leecher's visor flickered and then turned red. The webbing slamming into the containers stacked outside the warehouse.
"You are going to have to be faster than that to catch us." Leecher knelt outside the door and set Jack on his feet, much to everyone's confusion. They turned Jack to face the compound. "Go now. Your mother is in this direction and moving toward the gate."
Jack didn't have to be told twice. He broke into a run. Leecher stood to their peds and dodged another volley of webbing. They looked at Airachnid. She growled them and then scurried after Jack.
"Well then, Autobot. Your turn." Leecher stepped toward her.
"I don't think so." Silas raised his hand to signal his men.
Three different MECH agents fire electro-charges at Leecher. They all missed. Leecher was behind Arcee. They ripped away the webbing that bound her. Picking her up with an arm around her waist, they were outside the warehouse. They set her on her peds. She looked up at them questioningly as their visor flicked back to orange. They just put a digit to their mouthpiece in the universal sign for quiet and then transformed and drove out the gate. Arcee watched them go before dropping to her own wheels and going after Jack.
"There she is." Liliy pointed.
June was cocooned in webbing and hanging from one of the high platforms. Liliy raced up there in mere seconds.
"Whiskey, catch." She transformed the rod out of her forearm. But instead of going full scythe, a half circle bar looped over her fingers and a crescent laser blade formed.
Liliy carefully cut the webbing holding the cocoon to the platform. June fell safely into Whiskey's waiting servos. Stowing her blade, Liliy climbed back down. Whiskey laid the woman on the ground and gently ripped apart the webbing.
"Go ahead and disappear," Liliy instructed as she knelt beside June. "We don't want her to see you when she regains consciousness."
Whiskey nodded and turned invisible. June moaned and opened her eyes.
"W-what happened? Where am I? Who are you? And who were those strange men?"
"It's alright, Mrs. Darby. You're safe for the moment but we need to get you out of here." Liliy helped her sit up.
"How did you know my name?"
"My name is Liliy. I'm friend of Jack's." Liliy got back to her feet and offered June a hand up. Her help was accepted and she pulled the shorter woman to her feet. She turned, still holding June's hand, and started for the gate. "Come. We need to get out of here."
Liliy and June stayed close to the buildings and equipment as they made their way across the plant. Whiskey silently followed after them.
"Well, well, well," a voice spoke up. "It looks like a pest is trying to make off with my plaything."
Liliy turned toward the voice, pushing June behind her. Airachnid stood atop the next building, her spider legs supporting her.
"The robots are real?" June gasped, gripping Liliy's cape as she peeked around the taller woman.
"MOM!" Jack was running toward them.
Airachnid saw him and laughed. "You're too late, Jack." She lunged off the building toward Liliy and June. Before she could reach them, she was suddenly knocked back by an invisible force.
"What was that?" June asked in a scared voice.
"Our guardian angel. Let's go." Liliy grabbed her hand and they broke into a run toward Jack.
With a yell, Airachnid clambered to her peds. She spotted them and turned into her spider form to go after them. There was a roar of a motorcycle behind Jack. Arcee raced past her charge and transformed just before she reached the women. She leapt over them and slammed into Airachnid.
"Mom!" Jack cried as he reached them. He hugged her.
"Jack, was that your motorcycle?" Disbelieving, June turned to look at the battling femmes but they were now out of sight behind one of the buildings.
"I can explain, Mom- Wait. I already did."
"Jack."
"Liliy?" He suddenly realized she was there too. "What are you doing here?"
"I was with my brother when I saw you and Arcee drive past, so I followed you. I didn't know where you went after you entered the plant so I was just wandering around and found your mom."
Arcee and Airachnid came crashing down near to them. Arcee got up and went to punch Airachnid but she was knocked roughly aside by a spider leg and webbed to the ground. Airachnid spotted the humans. Liliy stood protectively in front of the Darbys.
"Oh, so noble of you," Airachnid sneered as Liliy glared up at her. "But you can't protect them."
Liliy suddenly smirked and glanced up. It was the only warning Airachnid got before she was again smacked away by an invisible force. The spider femme growled as she got back to her peds. The noise of helicopters incoming interrupted any further fighting.
Liliy looked up. "Ah. Fowler's finally here with backup."
"You called Fowler?" Jack asked, watching the helicopters.
"MECH in Jasper, of course I did. What better way to scare them off than by bringing in the military? But I did tell him not to bring the Bots."
Liliy's phone rang as the helicopters opened fire on Airachnid.
{You didn't say anything about Cons.} Fowler said after she answered.
"I didn't know at the time," Liliy lied. "Next time, I'll be more thorough in my investigating."
{Humph.} And the call ended.
The helicopters ceased fire because they couldn't see Airachnid anymore through the dust. She suddenly appeared out of the dust, beams of light shooting out of her optics as she scanned the nearest helicopter. Leaping into the air, she transformed into her newly acquired vehicle mode and flew away.
"No!" Arcee cried, unable to get up. She was surprised when the webbing was suddenly ripped off her and she was lifted to her peds by a servo around her arm. She stared at the empty air beside her as the servo on her arm went away. "What?"
The air rippled slightly, revealing for a brief second the silhouette of a mech. Then he was gone.
The helicopters landed and the soldiers went looking for MECH while Agent Fowler came over to Liliy, Jack, and June. Liliy met him before he reached the Darbys.
"Apparently, Jack has already told his mother something about the Bots," she said in a low voice, "so be honest with her, alright?"
Fowler sighed heavily but nodded anyway. He approached Jack and June.
"Mrs. Darby, I'm Special Agent William Fowler. It's time you knew the truth. For the past several months, Jack has been interning as a liaison to a government secret. Part of which you saw tonight. I would formally request that you allow him to continue and that you would keep anything you learn to yourself."
Liliy laughed. "Interning as a liaison? Then what does that make me? An exchange student?"
Fowler shot a glare at her. "Why are you even away from the base without an escort?"
"My brother was in town and he wanted to see me."
"And where is your brother now?"
Liliy held up her phone. "He just texted me saying he left. He has to be in south Cali by tomorrow evening."
"Agent Fowler," one of the soldiers called.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Darby." Fowler stalked off to talk to the soldier.
"I think you made him angry," Jack said to Liliy.
"Aw, he'll get over it. Oh, hey, Arcee." She looked up at the Autobot who was approaching them.
"And she would be your…?" June asked Jack.
"Motorcycle, guardian, Autobot, friend," Jack listed as Arcee came up and knelt beside him.
"Call me Arcee." The femme smiled.
"Thank you, Arcee." June smiled back.
"I think it's time for that ride you once made me promise," suggested Jack.
"Right now?" his mother replied. "It's the middle of the night. At least wait till morning, Jack."
"Well, it looks like MECH cleared out before we could get to them," Fowler said as he rejoined them. "Thanks for the warning, though, Liliy."
"No problem."
"But you do need to go back to the base now."
"Yeah. Yeah. I'm going. I'm going." Liliy walked off as she pulled out her phone again. "Hey, Ratchet, could I get a ground bridge?"
The green portal opened in front of her and she disappeared into it before it closed.
"What was that?" gaped June.
"I'll explain later," Jack told her. He took her hand. "Right now, let's go home."
The next day Jack brought his mom back to base to meet the rest of the Autobots. As Jack went through the introductions, June stared up at the Autobots in awe.
"And you already met Liliy last night," Jack said, gesturing to the tall woman beside him.
Liliy extended her hand. "Hello again, Mrs. Darby. How are you feeling today?"
June shook her hand. "A little overwhelmed but fine, thanks."
"Liliy pretty much lives here."
"Here? But does your family know where you are? Aren't they worried about you?"
Liliy shrugged. "Not really. And probably, but they do know that I'm safe and they can take care of themselves. I usually travel a lot anyway so they are used to not having me there."
"You have not mentioned your family before," said Optimus.
Liliy just glanced at him.
"Is it the one you told me about?" asked Raf. "Where none of you are really related?"
Liliy smiled. "Yes, Raf."
"How big is your family? Bigger than mine?"
"There are 28 of us."
"Whoa. That's a lot. Are they all girls?" asked Miko.
"Haha. No. Actually, I am the only female."
"I can see why you like to travel then," observed June. "Living with 27 guys must be rough."
"Sometimes. They like to use my homecomings as an excuse to party. They can get rowdy but they are a good bunch. And I can always count on them when I need help."
"I have a question about last night. Was there another robot, er-" June hesitated.
"Mech," Liliy offered. "The proper term is mech. Except for Arcee. She is a femme."
"Alright. Was there another mech or femme there last night? Besides the spider?"
"Well, Leecher was there," Jack said.
"They left after they pulled me out of the warehouse after you ran off," Arcee commented. "But there was someone else there. A mech with some sort of cloaking device that made him invisible. I only saw him for a second."
"A cloaking device?" inquired Ratchet. "It couldn't have been Mirage, could it?"
"I don't think so. I couldn't tell much about him but he may have been with the CRC."
"CRC?" asked June.
"Cybertronian Rebel Corps," answered Liliy. "They are a neutral faction of Cybertronians."
"There's a third group?" June put her hand to her head. "Oh, this is so confusing."
Jack laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Mom. It takes a bit to get used to."
About a week later…
"Arcee, a vehicular form is approaching," Ratchet said.
"Decepticon?" Arcee asked.
The surveillance image on the monitor zoomed in and cleared. It was a small white car.
Jack facepalmed. "Mom."
Arcee put her servos on her hips. "Again?"
"She worries."
Ratchet opened the base's secret entrance for her. A couple minutes later, June pulled into the main room and parked her car.
"Hi, Honey," she said as she got out and went over to Jack. She gave him a hug while he just stood there kind of awkwardly. She let him go. "Finished my shift early at the hospital so I thought I'd swing by." She looked up at Ratchet. "Good to see again, Doctor." Then up at the blue femme next to Jack. "Arcee."
The bots each acknowledged her with a nod.
"Hello, Liliy," called June up.
"Hey," came the short reply from behind the easel on the catwalk.
"She's not very talkative today, is she?"
"Oh, don't mind her." Jack shrugged. "She just gets that way when she draws or paints."
"What's she working on now?"
"No idea. But she usually shows us when she is done though."
That evening after everyone returned from their missions.
"Well, I'm going to head home now, Jack, and make dinner." June headed for her car.
"Ok, Mom. I'll see you in a bit."
"Wait! Mrs. Darby!"
They looked up to see Liliy coming out of the elevator with a canvas in hand. She came down to the main floor.
"Please, Liliy. Call me June."
"Right." Liliy smiled and held out the canvas for June to take. "This is for you."
It was a painting of Jack and June together, smiling.
"Wow, Liliy. That is really good," said Jack, looking over his mother's shoulder. "It almost looks like a real photograph."
"Do you like it, June?" asked Liliy with a slight frown when the nurse didn't say anything.
She nodded happily, tears welling up in her eyes. She hugged the taller woman suddenly.
"Thank you!" she said as she pulled away.
Liliy smiled again. "You are most welcome."
Look at that. Got this chapter out on time. Hopefully the next chapter will be too since it is practically done.
Zulu's alt is a Chevy Tahoe.