Authors Notes- And here I am back again with yet another chapter to Getting Under Her Armor. As you can gather I don't own Transformers, Hasbro owns them. I am merely borrowing them for my own amusement. Now, that we got that out of the way here is Chapter Three, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Three: The Silence Never Lasts
Sadly the morning seemed to come far too early Arcee's liking, as she woke to the sound of Jack rummaging around through his house. The boy is question poking his head in the garage. A look of concern etched on Arcee's face plate as she transformed and took in her partners appearance. Noting the messed up hair and dark circles under his eyes as he stifled a yawn.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who seems to have had a rough night." She commented.
Jack sighed. "I kind of pulled an all nighter, or..." Jack trailed off, gnawing on his bottom lip. "At least a late-nighter. Got a couple of tests coming up, and my grades have kind of slipped, sooo yeah." He told her.
"You know you could always bring your homework to the base. There are times when it is quiet." Arcee told him. Her fingers carding through Jack's hair, smoothing it out for him.
At that Jack had to chuckle. "Um, you do realize that Miko is at the base most of the time, right?"
"Ah, right." Arcee sighed. For a brief moment she had almost forgot about the bold, reckless member of Team Prime. As much as Arcee adored Miko, the girl could be a handful sometimes. And just a little bit careless. But, Arcee would be lying if she didn't care for her.
Miko did have a tendency to liven things up, maybe a little bit too much to the annoyance to Ratchet.
"Arcee?" Jack's voice cut through her thoughts, blinking she looks down at Jack. "I said that I'm going to take a shower then we can head out if you'd like?"
Arcee nodded, as Jack ducked back into the house. Leaver her alone with her thoughts once again going back to what transpired last night. Her optics narrowing, as she tried to shove those thoughts from her head.
No. She thought, as she leaned against the wall, waiting patiently for Jack to get ready, wanting to get back to base as humanly possible so that she could find something to preoccupy her. Arcee worried at her bottom lip, and try and not let Wheeljack's actions bother her anymore. Late last night she had finally come to the conclusion that Wheeljack had been trying to get a reaction out of her.
Well, now that she thought about it she really should of reacted by punching him square in the face plate. Arcee snickered, arms crossed over her chest. He probably would have never seen that coming.
"Something funny?" Jack's voice jerked her from her thoughts once more.
Giving her head a shake she smiled down at him. Noting that the teen looked better than he had earlier. Her optics then settled on the backpack strapped to his back.
"Took your advice." He said with a shrug. "Might try and do some studying while at the base." It couldn't hurt."
Arcee smiled , as she transformed, allowing him to climb on, as the garage door opened and the two sped out onto the street.
Wheeljack sighed, as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Things were quiet today. Or, he mused, as his optics scanned the interior of the base, right now it was quiet. Optimus was talking with Ratchet about something or other, neither of them paying attention to him as he pushed himself off the wall. He was bored, he needed to do something, he was half hoping that the Decepticons would do something just so the wrecker could have something to ease this boredom.
It didn't help that Bulkhead was out energon scouting with Bumblebee, and god knew where Arcee was. Though, Wheeljack mused crooked smirk on his scarred face. He could imagine she wouldn't be too happy to see him after his stunt yesterday. And sure, maybe he had been a little out of line when he had pinned her against the wall and kissed her out of the blue.
Something Wheeljack kind of regretted, something he rarely did. But ever since Bulkhead told him a bit of Arcee's past he regretted it. Sure, he only did it to get a reaction out of her, and hell, he half expected the two-wheeler to punch him in the jaw, explode at him, anything. And yet, Wheeljack mused, as he moved further into the base. Intent on looking for something to preoccupy his time, she did nothing. Said nothing.
Sure, when he had kissed her he could tell she was less than please with him but all she did was walk away. No angry words, no nothing as she all but dragged Jack away from the base, leaving the others to wonder what was wrong. More than one Autobot had shot the wrecker an accusatory look when she had. Wheeljack sighed, as he entered his quarters, and moved towards the rickety old desk that was sitting off to one side of the too tiny room he called his quarters.
Easing himself into the chair he busied himself with a small project, something to keep his hands his mind off the two-wheeler who seemed to be to be on his mind a lot as of late. However, before Wheeljack could get immersed in his work there was a knock on his door, startling the wrecker. Causing him to knock his chair back, blue optics wide as he looked up towards sound. Something was wrong...
Anticipation gripped Arcee as the base appeared before her. A strange feeling, considering she had called the base home for the many years they had been on Earth. And now, it seemed that things had changed. Perhaps, it's because of Wheeljack's little stunt. Arcee nodded to herself as she entered the base, allowing Jack to climb off of her and move to join his friends.
Arcee blinking when she saw Miko of all people with her nose in a text book, brow furrowed in concentration. While Raf sat beside her talking softly. Obviously the young boy was helping her with her homework. The young boy obviously had the patience of a saint if he was doing that. And, Arcee mused as she looked to Miko once more, as the girl worried at her lip.
It was obvious that something had happened to the girl in order for her to take her studies seriously. No doubt her parents, her real parents had somehow caught wind of how poorly she was doing in school, and had been none too pleased. And had obviously said something to scare the normally fearless Miko into doing her homework.
Shaking her head Arcee let the humans be and moved to where Optimus and Ratchet stood. A frown forming on her face plate as she caught snippets of their conversation. Sure, she knew eavesdropping on other peoples conversations was wrong, but for Arcee it was an old habit. She had spent countless years gathering intel back on Cybertron. So listening in was part of her job.
Giving her head a shake she moved away from the two older Autobots. When suddenly Optimus turned to face her.
"Arcee," The Autobot leader spoke, blue optics settling on her. Optic brows furrowed as he moved towards her.
"Did you need something, Optimus?" she asked, turning to face him.
Optimus nodded, casting a glance at Ratchet as the old medic stepped forward. A grim look on the medics face plate. Dread formed in the pit of her tank, something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "What happened?"
"We lost contact with Bulkhead and Bumblebee." Ratchet told her. Arcee's spark sunk as she heard this. These missions were usually a breeze in and out and with little to no trouble. So, what happened?
"Decepticons?" she asked. A silly question, unless MECH was still around that was the only option.
Worry replaced all other emotions as her mind fed her scenario after scenario. All impossible, Bulkhead wasn't someone who went down easily. Sure, there were a few times when they had thought they would lose him. But the big brute always seemed to pull through. And Bumblebee, well 'Bee had more than once been to hell and back and had always managed to come out fine. So, why was she so worried?
"And let me guess..." Arcee said, meeting Optimus' gaze. "You want me to go find them."
Optimus nodded. This was good, Arcee thought. She had been itching for something to do, and though she was concerned for her friends, she needed to get out of here. When-
"Good." Optimus spoke. "Wheeljack with accompany you."
Arcee froze when she heard that, tried to not let it get to her, she had being doing so good not thinking about him. And now she was being paired up with him. I thought you were over what he did? A voice whispered in the back of her mind. And that was true, but still she wasn't ready to be around him.
Clenching her jaw as she nodded at Optimus, turning her back to her leader she headed to where Wheeljack liked to spend his time when he wasn't on the field blowing Decepticons to bits, and spending time with Bulkhead and Miko. Bracing herself she knocked on his door.
"Yeah?" Came the muffled response, and yet he didn't open the door.
What could he be doing in there? Arcee wondered before giving her head a good shake. "It's me," she spoke, wishing that he would just open the door, if she wanted to talk to a wall or something she would spend her time talking with Cliffjumper's grave. "We got a mission." She waited a moment. "Optimus' orders." She added the last part just in case he refused.
Silence greeted her as the door slid open, and Arcee found herself looking at him. "What's the mission?" he asked.
"Bulkhead and Bumblebee haven't checked in. You and I are going to go see what happened." Arcee told him.
Wheeljack scoffed, rolling his optics. "I'm sure Bulkhead and the kid are fine." He told her.
"I agree," Arcee told him. "But Optimus seems to think otherwise, and let's face it," She added, hands on her hips. "It's not like either of us have anything better to do, so let's go." She said, leaving no room for argument as she turned on her heel and walked away. Not giving Wheeljack a chance to say anything as he watched after her, before moving to follow her.
A frown was etched on his scarred face plate, as he did so. Neither of them stopping until the reached the Command room. Ratchet and Optimus watched as the two of them appeared.
"I don't know why you're dragging us to the middle of nowhere." Wheeljack grumbled, as he toyed with one of his grenades, seeming uninterested in the mission.
Optimus looked to him eyebrow ridge raised slightly, but said nothing, as Ratchet opened the ground bridge.
'I'm telling you," Wheeljack said, looking to Optimus. "This is going to be a waste of my time. Bulk and the kid are fine. I'm sure their just..." he trailed off, worrying at his bottom lip.
To be honest he had no idea why they weren't back yet, or even reporting in. Perhaps their comms were jammed? Or perhaps they were trapped somewhere. All of those were good ideas in fact he was certain that was the case. And yet, he looked to Arcee as she transformed, Wheeljack followed suit as they two of them drove through the ground bridge, and came out in a valley. A valley that seemed devoid of life, at least that's how it seemed to him as Wheeljack transformed and scanned the area.
"So," Wheeljack said, looking to Arcee. Wheeljack watched as the two-wheeler scanned the area, her optics narrowed. She saw nothing, no vehicons or Decepticons. And no sign of Bulkhead or Bumblebee. "Any ideas where they could be?" He asked.
Arcee looked around for any sign of where they could be, before addressing him. "We keep looking, they got to be around here somewhere." And with that she turned away from him, leaving Wheeljack to catch up.
When suddenly-
BLAM BLAM BLAM!
The two Autobots leaped out of the way as several vehicons fired on them from above. A stray blast catching Wheeljack in the shoulder, making him cry out before returning fire. Hitting several vehicons off the ledge, energon staining the ground beneath their bodies. And still blaster fire rained down on the two Autobots.
Biting down on her bottom lip Arcee looked up at the attackers this had to be a trap, there was no way this was random. She thought, gritting her denta as she fired back, after what seemed like forever there was silence once more. Something Arcee would have found calming, but right now she found it unnerving. Looking up Arcee watched as Wheeljack stepped out from his cover before turning to look at her.
A frown etched on his face plate, obviously he was beginning to see how serious things really were,. Sure, the presence of vehicon troopers in the area really didn't mean much. Megatron often had them do most of the dirty work when it came to things like energon scouting and such. And sure, sometimes certain Decepticons would accompany them, but so far Arcee didn't see anyone.
"I don't know about you," Wheeljack said, moving to stand beside her. "But something tells me that our boys have stumbled into some sort of trouble, and the 'Cons sniffed it out."
Nodding Arcee turned away from him, and continued on. She just hoped that they weren't too late to save them. And as she thought this, she could help but think that something was going to happen. Something big...
Authors Notes- And here is Chapter Three. I hope you enjoyed. Sorry it wasn't too actiony but things will get better in the next chapter. But I hope you enjoyed it. I wish I had more to say but I'm kind of sick. So this is The Exhausted Writer signing off.
