Chapter 2: The New Guy In Town

It was a perfectly normal day in Jasper High, where the students mingled and gossiped; where friends and couples are made practically everyday… Along with a few breakups and fights in between to balance it all.

But smack dab in the middle of all that chaos, is one Jackson Darby…

He is sixteen, has black hair that goes a bit crazy when not tamed right, wears an everyday grey long sleeved shirt along with light grey jeans that never failed to give him enough room to stretch his long legs and run.

He felt like doing that just now…

The Reason?

One Harry James Peverell…

When the young man came into the cafeteria; there was an instinct deep inside Jack that told him to stay far away from him.

Miko and Raf; his best friends of course, don't notice the aura at all!

In fact, Miko was pretty sure she met the man somewhere before…

When the bell rang throughout the school signifying that the first period was beginning in ten minutes, Jack reluctantly began to walk towards the stranger.

When the teen stepped closer and closer to the man, he felt a tightening in his chest begin to appear; making him almost stop about ten feet away.

Of course, the man noticed and locked his emerald jade eyes to his sky blue; causing Jack to freeze in place from his retreat to get away and calm down.

The student body around them didn't seem to notice the standoff between two different people; chatting amicably as the two stood still…

The black-haired man tilted his head at a slight angle in curiosity; his eyes gleaming with an unknown power that made Jack feel a shudder go down his spine, filled with dread.

The moment was interrupted by Rafael Esquivel calling for Jack.

When the teen briefly turned his head to the 12 year old student that got transferred to the high school due to his high end intelligence that made him shoot through the grades at high speeds; the new man disappeared.

*Outside The School*

Arcee was bored out of her circuits just sitting in her vehicle mode once again for what must've been the umpteenth time that week, her CPU whirring with scenarios that would take her boredom off.

After a Breem (8.5 Earth Minutes) of processing; The Femme decided to go for a stroll in her new holoform…

After checking her scanners, Arcee activated her holoform, dubbed 'Sadie', and directly took control of it; her systems falling into sleep mode to save the Energon.

Ratchet, the CMO of their group, installed a new feature into their holoforms. Making them more solid and last at a range of about 15km before they would enter unknown territory of functionality.

Arcee took off her helmet and placed it on her Cybertronian self; pushing back a strand of dyed yellow and cobalt blue hair behind her ear as she took a look through her new perspective.

It felt slightly new, yet invigorating to see everything from a closer line of sight than being in her other form.

Let's see what 'Sadie' can do. Arcee thought to herself as she dismounted from her dormant form and changed her outfit from a skin tight racing suit, to something more casual and comfortable.

First thing she noticed was that her skin was pale, as if she hadn't seen the sun in a couple of days, and; after taking a look in one of the nearby car's windows, has a moderate length of blue and yellow hair that was pulled back into a messy bun.

The Femme decided to use one of her partner's shirts as a base, yet changed the color to a silverish white with a dark ocean blue hoodie jacket that was perfect for this warm weather; along with hip wearing military blue slacks that were held up with a small black leather belt.

She looked down at her feet and saw that she was wearing black and white tennis shoes; and after testing out a couple of steps away from her dormant Cybertronian husk, nodded in approval.

Arcee got onto the sidewalk and began to walk away from the high school where her charge is; curious to see what the town of Jasper was like when she wasn't busy being on the lookout for Decepticons.

After a few minutes of walking around and browsing through a couple of random clothing shops and the nearby park; she ran into an anomaly...literally.

Arcee put her hands in her coat's pockets as she walked, listening to the sounds of Earth's nature surrounding her in an image of harmony.

The disguised Femme closed her eyes as she walked, taking in the atmosphere of the park and also letting her guard down for the moment as she relaxed in the warm sun.

She felt her heart rate decrease as she took in a small breath; new scents filling her nostrils that tried to identify what each specific smell it detected were.

That was when she got stopped in her tracks by running smack dab into someone, causing her to let out a small 'oomph!' and tried to regain her balance as she began to fall backwards.

Then she was caught by gentle hands gripping her arms, causing the Femme to halt in her fall and let out a small breath of surprise as her possessed body's momentum forced her head to snap backwards a bit.

" So sorry about that! I didn't see where I was going! You alright, miss?" Said a mature accented voice in front of her, causing Arcee to lift her head forwards so she could see who caught her from falling to the ground.

It was a man in his early twenties, a long mop of black hair slicked back with the occasional rebel lock sticking out into a long mullet in the back.

Her light blue eyes roamed over the man's outfit; the long black tailcoat of English make was the main thing that caught her attention, along with a pair of dark grey slacks made out of a high quality fabric. He was also wearing a black shirt that was a bit big on him, but for some reason it fit him.

What the strangest thing about him was that if she squinted a bit, Arcee could see the outline of a faded lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Another thing that caught her eye was his emerald colored irises that glowed and showed a tale of combat that she recognizes…

There was also something about the air surrounding him that caused her metaphorical hackles to rise, like being in the presence of Unicron, The Chaos Bringer himself. yet it seemed as if she were standing next to her leader, Optimus Prime.

It was confusing her on how this man could have an aura of darkness surrounding him, yet appear to have a kind nature...

After staring at him for an Astrosecond ( 4.98 Earth Seconds), she replied.

" I'll be alright, no harm done." She said, brushing down her jacket of imaginary dirt and placed her hands on her hips.

The man's eyes seemed to rove over her holoform, not in a lustful way, thank the Primes…But as if he was checking her person for injuries that wouldn't show up even if she was shot at point blank range. That level of concern that he showed to a stranger was honestly astonishing to the Femme!

After a moment, he relaxed and gave what she called a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his neck in nervousness, saying.

" I apologize that I ran right into ya! I should've been paying attention to where I was going. I'm new to the neighborhood as ya can see." He said, amusement filling his voice as he gave a more natural, rogue grin.

" It's ok." She replied, waving her hand as if she was brushing something away, " I wasn't looking where I was going as well."

The black haired young man gave out a chuckle, putting a hand out towards her.

" Harry Peverell." He introduced himself, placing his lips to the back of the disguised Femme's hand as she took his for a handshake.

" Sadie Williams." She said, quickly coming up with a last name on the spot.

The man grinned again, the sense of danger disappeared as he did so, leaving a normal, or not so normal, human standing in front of her.

" Pleasure to meet you, Miss Williams."

Arcee cracked a small smile as he looked around the area of the park they were in, seemingly looking at the environment, before voicing a question.

" Do you know where the exit to this park is? I'm new in town, ya see, and I seemed to have gotten a bit turned around here." He asked, placing his hands behind his back and tiled his head slightly to the left to look at her as he spoke the question.

Arcee blinked for a second at the man's posture, taking in the stiffness of his shoulders and his straightened back along with his eyes darting to and fro around quickly as if searching for something to suddenly appear.

Surely he's not a soldier? She thought to herself before replying with an answer.

" New in town, huh?" She said with a wry smile, remembering Harry saying something about 'being new in town', and it rubbed her wrong for some small reason.

The Femme put that thought on the backburner, as Jack always says whenever he's busy as the man replied.

" Exactly! I mean, blimey! You'd think the first thing I would come across would be a map!" He exclaimed, shaking his head in exasperation.

Arcee smirked, putting her hands into the pockets of her jacket, copying him unintentionally as the two began to walk where she came from.

" Sounds as if you decided to just take a walk in the park, huh?" She slyly asked, causing the 20 year old man to let out a laugh.

" Considering all that I've been through? I think that I'd at least deserve it!" He replied, causing a small twinge in her Spark that felt like concern as her eyes zoomed in on his, catching the flare of old pain and loss in those emerald jade orbs of his.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at the regret and sorrow that swirled in Harry's eyes as he seemed to stare at something a thousand miles away for a moment, before shaking off her Autobot Scout instincts and nudged him in the shoulder with her elbow.

" Hey." She said, catching the Brit's attention, " Whatever you've been through, I'm sure things would get better. Trust me."

After thinking over her words, Harry seemed to lighten up a bit, and smiled at her.

" I'm sure, Miss Williams. I'm sure." He said.

" Call me Sadie, Mr. Peverell. Makes me feel like my mother when you call me by my last name." She playfully said, omitting the fact that she didn't have a mother; well, not a HUMAN one at least.

Harry nodded, his eyes meeting hers, a twinge of respect coming between them.

" Call me Harry, then." He replied to her.

After talking for a couple of minutes till they reached the park's entrance, Harry asked her something that caused her to stiffen in surprise.

" I don't suppose you'd have time to enlighten for a cuppa? I just found a good shop that has this delectable tea and scones to die for."

Arcee blinked in surprise at the sudden request, but thought it over for a few Astroseconds.

" Sure. Not like I go anything better to do at the moment. Speaking of which, what's the time?" She responded, wanting to make sure she had enough time to go on this ' outing' before she had to get back to her Cybertronian body.

Harry stopped and pulled out a pocket watch that seemed to have been recently bought, clicking open the lid and taking a look at the clock hands.

" It is 1:24." He replied, snapping the lid of his pocket watch shut and placing it under his coat.

Arcee nodded her head, quickly calculating the time it would take to… what was it that Jack said? Indulge herself?

Harry smiled as he extended his hand towards the entrance/exit of the park grounds, and said.

" After you."
-

The Crumpled Horn café was a small establishment, but it had good quality customer service and good, natural food that most restaurants bragged about, yet fell under unlike this place.

Arcee decided to try this place out again with her charge as soon as the taste of iced raspberry tea hit her tongue…

Harry sat across from her, quietly sipping his steaming cup of Earl Grey tea and writing in what appeared to be a journal, which caused her curiosity to flare up again.

She didn't know much about this man before her, but one thing's for certain…

He had a warrior's heart and mind…

She could tell in the way he chose to sit with his back to the wall facing the main entrance of the café, how his eyes sharpened around his surroundings, darting from face to face every few moments, and the way he held himself that even though he was currently occupied in his leather journal; His ears were clearly on the lookout for enemies.

The Femme didn't know whether to feel sympathetic or outright pity him; cause whatever hell, another human term to describe war; He had been through must've been terrible to cause him to be so paranoid.

After a few moments of quietly contemplating asking the main question, Harry himself offered it up…

" I can tell that you're curious…" He quietly said, causing her to snap her head up slightly from her lemonade to look at him.

The Femme furrowed her eyebrows, clearly confused as to what he was referring to…

Harry's eyes met hers and she forced herself to not flinch at the power swirling in those irises of his.

It was instinctual that she felt the need to dispel her disguise; but she kept her cool.

" About?" She asked back, raising a brow and keeping her face in an expression of open confusion and surprise.

Harry didn't say anything for a while, simply staring at her with this strange stern expression that made the Autobot think back to the days of when she served under Ultra Magnus, the commander of the special unit called 'The Wreckers'.

Then the man leaned back into the headrest of the booth and sighed, his stern expression fading to what seemed to be melancholy.

In the depths of Arcee's Spark, she sympathized with him…

" Did you know that when I was born, a madman of a terrorist group tried to kill me?" He said so casually, that Arcee almost thought that he was joking.

At least, until she saw the serious expression on his face as he waited for her to answer.

After thinking a couple of moments over her answer, She replied.

" No… Considering the fact that we just met, I only know your name and your love for Earl Grey." She admitted, curious as to where this conversation was going, but was willing to see it through to the end.

Harry let out a sad smile, and his eyes seemed to age a hundred years before her, like an old man trapped inside of a young teen's body.

" The man had a crazy thought that when I was born, I would be able to kill him and stop his reign of anarchy if I was allowed to live. So he personally tried to solve the problem himself." He continued, his mind elsewhere.

" Of course he never suspected that my parents would overpower him, leaving his 'Army' to scatter and crumble." He continued, letting out a cold chuckle that made the Femme sitting before him to stiffen.

The tea that was sitting on the table between his hands sat cold…

Arcee let out a silent gulp at the numb tone Harry took as he spoke.

Then he snapped out of his trance, then looked outside for a small second; before returning to look at her before speaking in a low tone.

" Sometimes, things and events in life happen to those that would make the most sense of them, leaving others bewildered and confused as to how they happen."

Harry trailed off, clearly thinking of how to continue this discussion of something he never swore to reveal to someone he just met.

Arcee sat still in interest, wondering what's going on in the human's mind as he slumped slightly with a light sigh.

" A wise man said to me once: Death is but the next great adventure." He said, letting out a smile at the memory of Albus Dumbledore.

Then, he frowned.

" I believe I took up too much of your time, Miss Williams. I need to get home." Harry suddenly said, getting up from his seat and grabbing his coat.

Arcee blinked in surprise as the 20 (?) year old British man opened his wallet to set down a 5 pound note on the table, saying, ' It's on me.' before leaving the cafe.

The Femme stared at the man's back in confusion as he walked, until he was out of sight.

What in the name of Primus? She thought to herself as she got up from her seat and practically ran outside the shop to look for Harry.

But he was nowhere to be seen…