Chapter 3: Protection

It has been three months since Arcee adopted Miko, and she was very happy. Their bond as mother and daughter grew stronger every day as they spent a lot of time together such as watching movies, playing card games, and going on missions together. The blue femme was watchful of her daughter when they were on missions, which was why Optimus allowed Miko to go with Arcee under the condition that the girl listen to her mother, which the teenager agreed to, knowing that missions could get dangerous.

Today, they were both on a mission to check out a cave in the forest to see if it had any energon. Like always, Arcee had taken the lead, while Miko was right behind her, listening to rock music, but also watching her mother in case they ran into danger.

"Ok, Miko we're almost there. You ready?"Arcee asked.

She didn't get a response, and turned around to see her daughter not paying attention, but then the girl looked up at her and realized her mother had said something.

"Did you say something, Mom? I was to busy listening to this awesome rock music," Miko said sheepishly as she took her headphones out of her ears.

Arcee sighed. "Just stay close. And put your phone up," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," the young girl said, doing as she was told.

When they made it to the cave, they heard noises coming from the inside, making Arcee pull out her blasters. Miko stuck close to her before they suddenly saw Arachnid and two 'Con drones, who were carrying energon. "Arachnid," said Arcee, hate in her voice as she glared at her enemy.

"Ah, Arcee it's been awhile. And it looks like you got yourself another pet, I see," said Arachnid with a evil smile.

"For your information, bug girl, I'm her daughter," said Miko, defending herself fiercely against the female 'Con, making Arcee feel her spark swell with pride for her daughter.

Arachnid started laughing. "Oh, Arcee, are you really that desperate to have a sparkling that you had to go and adopt that animal?" She asked.

"That animal is my daughter!" Arcee exclaimed as she started shooting at the 'Cons, offlining the two con drones but Arachnid was blocking the shots aimed at her, making the blue femme start charging at her. "Miko, run now!" She said as she started fighting Arachnid one on one while Miko started running, looking for a place to hide as the femme turned her attention back to her enemy. "I'm going to make you regret for calling my daughter animal,"she said as she kicked the spider-like 'Con.

"Don't be mad if I'm telling the truth," Arachnid said mockingly as she shot her webbing at Arcee, making her become attached to a tree. The blue femme tried to get out, but was having no luck as Arachnid was looking at her with an evil smile. "I would love to take your spark, but first ,I will have fun with your sparkling," she said as she walked away.

"Arachnid, I swear, if you lay a scratch on her, I'll rip your spark out with my hands!" Arcee growled angrily.

"Good luck with that," Arachnid said with a mocking smile and took off running.

Meanwhile, Miko was running for her life, but soon she had nowhere else to go as she came to a dead end and she then saw Arachnid and immediately picked up a branch. "Stay back! I'm warning you," the teenager said, but it didn't work with Arachnid, who quickly grabbed her.

"I am so going to enjoy this," she said, a wicked smile on her face.

Miko was now getting scared and screamed. "Mom!" She cried out.

Hearing her daughter calling her, Arcee grit her teeth and clenched her fists. "Miko," she said as she managed to break free of the webbing and ran to save her.

Arachnid laughed evilly. "Your mommy isn't going to save you. You might as well say your prayers," she said mockingly to the girl.

That was when Miko remembered she had a bottle of pepper spray on her that Bulkhead had given her and insisted she carry with her. Mentally thanking Bulkhead, she grabbed the bottle and sprayed the pepper spray right into the female 'Cons, making Arachnid drop her.

"My optics!" She shrieked as she felt them burning. "You're going to pay dearly for that!"

Out of nowhere, Arcee jump-kicked Arachnid from behind before she landed in front of Milo. "Keep away from my daughter, scum!" She hissed protectively.

Arachnid growled, her vision blurry from the pepper spray. "I'll get you back for this. Soundwave! Bridge me out of here!" She commanded as she ran into the ground bridge that appeared, leaving the two in the cave.

Seeing it was over, Arcee bent down to Miko's "Did she hurt you, sweetie?" She asked worriedly.

"N-No," Miko said, a bit shaky. "You stopped her before she had a chance to."

"Are you okay?" The femme asked gently, meaning how her daughter felt emotionally and mentally, hoping that the wicked 'Con hadn't done anything to harm her daughter.

"I am now, Mommy," Miko answered before she started crying and hugged the blue femme.

"Shh, I'm here," Arcee said soothingly as she hugged her daughter back with happiness, knowing that she was safe once again. The teenager calmed down after a bit and clung to her mother who picked her up.

"I've got to thank Bulkhead for the pepper spray," Miko said suddenly. "I sprayed it at that witch's eyes."

"Good girl," the femme said approvingly to her daughter, smiling at her. "Why don't you go pick a movie for us to watch and I'll report to Optimus and get some popcorn and we'll relax to a movie?"

"That sounds good," the teenager agreed and did so as Arcee reported to Optimus, who was relieved to hear they had come out unharmed in the battle against Arachnid and gladly granted the mother an evening off to spend time with her daughter.

Thanking him, Arcee went to go spend time with her daughter while swearing to herself that she'd always protect Miko, no matter what.

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Goldguardian2418