Arcee found herself alone, in the dark, and with no idea where she was. The ground beneath her felt soft and yet slightly coarse almost like...'grass?' She thought to herself. Somehow she was back on Earth.
A loud rumble sounded overhead before the sky was illuminated by a flash of lightning streaking across the sky. Arcee felt the cold pellets of rain patter against her metal skin, running off her armour and soaking into the ground.
She tried to make out her surroundings in the dim lighting, optics glowing in the night. Another bolt of lightning lit up the sky, allowing Arcee to make out the dark silhouette of an old stone building not too far from where she was.
The clanging of bells suddenly resounded from the building, making Arcee jump as another flash came from within the grey clouds ahead. She could now make out many stones, hundreds of them lined side by side like army of soldiers stood to attention. Another flash and she could make out etchings on the stones. She leaned on close to read the words. The flashes were becoming more frequent now, each one accompanied by a fierce growl of thunder.
As her surroundings were lit up once more, Arcee managed to read the inscription on one of the stones. She dropped to her knees with a horrifying realisation. These were graves. But the one she knelt before caused her to feel a fear unlike any the war had subjected her to. Arcee lowered her head. Among the grass and flowers, the grave bore slightly faded words that read: 'In Loving Memory of Jackson Darby'.
Arcee stared and the stone slab in unbelieving horror, still trying to process what she saw before her. As the storm tore the world to pieces around her, her's also shattered. "J-Jack?" Arcee stammered weakly with glassy optics. She felt something wet trickle down her face. Something that wasn't the rain.
Her grief soon turned to panic. No. Not again. This can't be happening. Not again. She thought to herself over and over again. Tailgate. Cliff. Jack. Everyone she was close to was gone. This was her curse, forged through her own attachment. Arcee's spark beat faster as her panic consumed her, hands gripping the grass, uprooting it. The storm became even more ferocious, lightning forking across the dark sky. Arcee saw the face she could never see again as she roared at the cruel world around her.
"JACK!"
A blinding flash of lightning obscured her vision as the beastly thunder growled at her once more.
...
Arcee awoke in a cold sweat of energon. Just a dream. She thought. No. A nightmare. Arcee looked around her darkened room from the berth she was on. Since most of the city was still in ruins, the Autobots had temporarily moved into one of the more intact residential buildings in Iacon.
Arcee hugged her knees and shuddered as endless questions plagued her mind. Could her nightmare be real? How long has it been since they left Earth? Why was she finding it so difficult to let go?
To stop herself from drowning in her own thoughts, Arcee decided to get some 'fresh air'. She got up from her berth, walking towards the exit of the small but comfortable room.
Arcee stepped out into the dim corridor. Rooms lined either side, each containing the other Autobots who were no doubt asleep. Arcee's light footsteps echoed down the hallway, the rhythmic beat breaking the silence of the night.
Arms hugging her body tight, Arcee continued down the corridor towards the balcony at the end. As she drew nearer, she began to hear voices, muffled by the door that led out.
After a brief period of hesitation, Arcee opened the metal door with an unmissable scraping sound. The view was truly breathtaking. The silhouettes of Iacon's buildings stretched out far and wide, with the only evidence of previous battles being the occasional collapsed structure. The moon shone across Cybertron's shiny metal surface, illuminating the city and almost giving the impression of lights through its windows.
Before Arcee could admire the view, she found herself face-to-face with Bulkhead and Bumblebee.
"Oh, hey Cee." Bulkhead smiled at her. "Couldn't sleep?"
Arcee was once again reminded of her nightmare. "No. Needed some air." She simply replied before perching herself on the balcony's railing, a fair distance from her comrades.
The three of them sat in silence for a few moments, staring out into the night together before Bumblebee broke it with an uncomfortable (but necessary) icebreaker.
"You've been having those dreams, haven't you?" He turned to look at Arcee.
Arcee felt her spark sink again as she heard his words. "I- What dreams?" She shyly responded, without turning to make eye contact with the other bots.
Bumblebee sighed. "You know the ones. Where you somehow find yourself back on Earth…"
"Only to realise its been years." Bulkhead finished, sadly staring into the night, chin resting on his arm.
Arcee choked back a sob as she faced away from them.
"Arcee..." Bumblebee approached her, his hand trying to rest on her shoulder as a small comfort. Arcee shrugged him off.
"I-I need to go for a walk." She said in a broken voice before taking off down the corridor at a brisk pace, trying to hide her face from the others.
Before Bumblebee could follow her Bulkhead lay a giant hand on his shoulder. "Let her go. She'll come around. She always does."
Bumblebee turned to face his friend, wondering if any of them will truly be at peace with their past. "I don't know. She lost Tailgate, and then Cliffjumper's death nearly claimed her too. Do you think that Jack...might've been the tipping point?"
Bulkhead had no response to this. They just sat there, wondering if Arcee, or any of them would ever be the same again.
Author's Notes: A little bit of a shift in focus this chapter. Perhaps a little melodramatic, but I felt that it was important to address this issue that Predacons Rising never brought up. I hope I didn't depress anyone too much with this chapter, not all is as bad as it seems! Took me a little longer to finish but I was on holiday and stuff, so I hope I kept no-one waiting! ;)