Chapter 23

Jack and Arcee drove into the command center, officially ending their vacation. It had been a fun, sun-filled two weeks alone but like a wise man once said; all good things must come to an end.

For Jack and Arcee, that statement may be true for their vacation, but they still had each other. In fact, they felt like they've grown stronger together than the last time they entered into the command center. Clearly, their time alone with each other has left its mark as they were still laughing at the multitude of things that took place during those two weeks.

It was a Sunday afternoon and the couple had just arrived into Jasper. Wanting to go home and have a nice warm shower after a long car ride, instead they agreed to pay their friends a visit.

"Welcome back!" they chorused as the two car doors swung open.

Jack smiled to see his family gathered together, everyone greeting them with smiles and laughs.

"Is there something we missed or are you guys really happy all of a sudden?" Arcee asked, also noticing the brighter atmosphere around the base.

"Well there is one small thing but we'll show you later" Bumblebee said, hinting at the new Autobots who were waiting in the hallway out of sight.

Arcee and Jack looked at each other with a confused look. They held hands as Arcee shot him a look saying 'what is he talking about' while Jack returned with a shrug.

Suddenly the couple was wrapped into a tight hug, their breath leaving them as Miko squeezed them as hard as she could.

"Miko... need... to... breath" Jack managed and the girl quickly let go of the tight embrace.

"Wow! Look at you two! You're golden!" Miko exclaimed, looking them up and down. She noticed the new necklace around Arcee's neck and jumped towards her, sending a barrage of questions at the former two-wheeler.

"This is so nice! Where'd you get it? Did Jack give it to you? Was it a gift? How much was it? What's it made of? What did you do in return?"

"Woah Miko, calm down. It was just a gift from Jack. It's beautiful isn't it?" Arcee said, mostly to Jack than to Miko.

"It sure is" Miko said, lifting the Autobot emblem in her hand. The two girls talked over stuff while Jack went to greet the boys.

"Good to see you guys again" Jack said, giving the two wreckers handshakes while fist bumping with Raf and Bumblebee.

"Same here Jack. How was the trip?" Bulkhead asked.

"Great actually, except the driving part. Arcee wanted me to stop every few minutes to check out the landscape or some animals. I knew she liked nature which was why took the scenic route, figures that that was a mistake." Jack said, stretching out his sore back and cracking his neck.

The group laughed at his joke.

"She's a keeper bro; just don't let her too close to the sun. I feel like she's going to burn up one day." Bumblebee said and Jack chuckled.

"Hey, you missed one of the best football games we've had in a while. It was the seven of us against some guys from the team and we totally smoked them. Raf here has a sick arm and could probably play QB in a couple years" Wheeljack said, tussling Raf's hair.

The young genius blushed at the compliment. "It was nothing... all I did was throw the ball."

Jack laughed and fist bumped with Raf. "You said the seven of you? Are you telling me you managed to get Optimus and Ratchet play tackle football?"

"You bet. Took a while and we pretty much had to force the doc outdoors but we finally did it. I'll admit, the old man surprised me and of course the commander can pretty much do anything on the field." Wheeljack said.

Jack talked with the guys a bit longer before breaking away and greeting the two older men.

"How was your vacation with Arcee?" Optimus asked.

"It was great Optimus. She needed some time to relax and I'm just glad I got to spend some time with her. The beaches were amazing and we really enjoyed ourselves." Jack said.

Optimus nodded and smiled, but seemed to be studying him. Jack could feel his eyes trailing his face and for some reason, he began to feel really nervous.

"Are you alright Jack?" Optimus questioned, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Jack wasn't sure what the Prime was referring to but he remembered Optimus telling him about sensing darkness inside him.

"I'm fine Optimus" Jack answered, looking into the leader's eyes. "So, how are the repairs coming?" he said, changing the subject.

"Unfortunately, it may still need two or three months to complete. We also need to run some tests before it can be used for its full potential and that will extend the repair time significantly" Ratchet answered, slightly disappointed.

"Hey, you guys are doing great and I'm sure the others won't mind waiting a bit longer" Jack said, trying to cheer up the medic.

Ratchet sighed and mustered a smile. "I must admit, I have gotten used to this human form. The experience has brought new information to my studies and once we are returned back into our Cybertronian bodies, I may be able to start creating devices for you humans."

"That sounds great Ratchet, I'll be looking forward to it." Jack said happily and shook the medic's hand.

Suddenly, he felt two arms wrap around his waist as Arcee kissed his cheek.

"So what are you three talking about?" she asked, placing her chin on Jack's shoulder. He leaned over and kissed the top of her forehead before turning back to the two men.

"Well, you two have clearly became much more affectionate from the last time we saw you" Ratchet said, noticing the slight change in attitude.

"Is there a problem with that?" Arcee asked in a fake stern voice. Of course, Ratchet couldn't tell if she was actually angry at him and responded as if she was.

"N-no, no problem whatsoever. I was merely stating the obvious" the medic panicked, holding out two hands and taking a step back. The couple laughed at the medic's reaction.

"I got you Ratchet, you can relax. I'm not going to attack you" Arcee said, calming down the medic. Ratchet grunted to himself in response, not liking her newfound sense of humor.

"So Optimus, Bee mentioned something about a small change. Did something happen while we were gone?" Jack asked.

"I'm glad you asked Jack, something did indeed happen while you were gone but I believe you would prefer to see them yourself."

The rest of the group joined behind them as Miko yelled into the base as loud as she could.

"OK, YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!"

Arcee hugged Jack tighter as they heard two metal footsteps come closer. They looked towards the hallway that leads to the quarters just in time to see Smokescreen jump out, followed by Ultra Magnus.

"Ta da!" the rookie joked, striking a pose while having jazz hands.

"Oh yeah, just like we practised Smokey!" Bumblebee cheered as the rookie did a somersault that extended into a front flip.

Ultra Magnus followed behind, slightly rolling his optics at Smokescreen's antics. He had a stern look on his face but softened up when he saw the two new humans.

As soon as Arcee saw him, she gasped and let go of Jack. The former two-wheeler stood to the side, straightening her back and saluting him. She gave Jack a nudge as well and he followed, not quite understanding why they were doing this.

"It is nice to see you again sir" Arcee said to Ultra Magnus.

"At ease soldier, it is nice to see you as well Arcee" the Autobot lieutenant said, then turned to look at her boyfriend. "And you must be Jack I presume."

"That is correct, uh, sir" Jack stammered, wanting to show respect.

Ultra Magnus studied him, nodding his head as he looked him over. "Optimus speaks highly of you and I can see why. You are a fine soldier and I am glad to know that Arcee has picked up someone who understands authority."

Jack didn't really know how to respond to that and he scratched his head. "Um, thank you sir."

Ultra Magnus nodded again before backing up, allowing Smokescreen to come over.

"So you're Jack huh? Optimus said that you're going to be the next Prime but how can a human hold that title?" the rookie said.

"Wait, Optimus said what?" Jack asked, looking over at the leader. Optimus just stood there, stern expression on his face as he nodded to Jack, basically telling him drop it.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm Smokescreen and I've heard a lot about you. You're a pretty cool guy for a human and if you can score a girl from another planet, you got my respect." The rookie said.

Jack liked the new recruit, probably because he was a lot less serious than the rest of them and seemed to be really laid back. He laughed at his joke, earning a nudge from Arcee that stopped him.

"I don't remember seeing you on Cybertron" Arcee said, studying his body while trying to figure out if anything matched with her memory.

"You probably didn't. I was the younger ones that didn't get to go out into the field at all. Instead, I was Alpha Trion's bodyguard in the Iacon Hall of Records." Smokescreen started, slightly drifting off into memory. Suddenly he remembered that Arcee was the second-in-command and quickly changed his posture into a salute. "I mean, it's nice to finally meet you sir... ma'am... commander?"

Arcee raised an eyebrow at the rookie. "Calm down Smokescreen, you don't have to speak with authority with me, Arcee is fine."

Smokescreen sighed in relief as he returned back to his normal self. "Thank god, I'm tired of saluting every time I want to talk with Ultra Magnus."

"Wise up soldier, I'm right behind you" the lieutenant said with a stern tone.

The rookie sighed and looked at the couple with a sly smile that made them both laugh. Suddenly he lifted Jack up and placed him in his hands, bringing him up to eye level.

"Woah, what are you doing Smokescreen?" he asked, holding onto his servos.

"Just wanted to see if what I've been told is true" he answered, gently poking at Jack's arms. "Where's the other guy?"

"Other guy?" Jack questioned.

"Yeah that agent person or something" Smokescreen mentioned.

Jack winced when he said that. It's not that he had a problem with Agent 000, in fact Jack has grown to like the other guy in his head. It's the mention of what MECH did to him that got him. Truth be told, Jack hasn't thought back to his encounter with the terrorist group and now, all the memories started to go through his head. He pictured the operation they performed on him where they cut him open and injected things into him. He remembered the people that he/Agent 000 killed and the screams of pain. He remembered slicing the Autobots apart and severely injuring them.

"Smokescreen, put him down now!" Optimus ordered with a stern voice. Rarely does he ever get worked up but seeing Jack's reaction to the rookie's comment brought him over the line.

Smokescreen was startled by the command and quickly did what he was told, placing Jack on the ground. The teen had wide eyes and deep in thoughts, still replaying his memories over and over.

"Did I do something wrong? All I did was ask a question" the rookie said.

Arcee ran over to her boyfriend where she looked him in the eyes. She saw that he wasn't there and probably lost in his own mind. Anger built up inside of her as she had hoped that Jack had finally forgotten about the past, only to have him remember it all because of a sentence.

"What the frag was that?! What made you think that you had the right to ask that question?! Do you see what you've done?!" the angry female yelled.

Smokescreen's optics widened as he held his hands up and took a step back. He had no idea what he did wrong but apparently, he screwed up somehow.

"Woah, I'm sorry if I said something bad. Nobody told me anything about not mentioning it to him. Seriously, I didn't know." The rookie said.

Arcee sighed and realized she was getting angry for no reason. "You're right, sorry for that outburst. It's just, Jack has been through some tough times and he doesn't need to be reminded of them."

Smokescreen nodded sincerely, actually feeling bad for what he did, even though he still didn't know exactly what that was. "Ok, that's my bad. I wasn't told the whole story and I was curious to hear Jack's perspective."

"Very poor timing soldier" Ultra Magnus scolded and the rookie hung his head in shame. First impression and he probably just ruined it all. He liked Jack and thought they could become good friends but of course, he had to ruin it.

Arcee went over to Jack and looked into his eyes. "Jack, snap out of it!" she said, shaking him on the shoulders. Her attempt to get him back to reality came to no avail. Little did she know that Jack was busy with something else.

...

I... I don't know what to say kid.

Me neither.

Inside Jack's sub-conscious, he and Agent 000 stood watching clips of memories fly by like a movie. Although, instead of enjoying what they were watching, they were horrified. All of Jack's memories of the killing and the injuries were displayed on the big screen and both of them were shocked to re-visit the past.

I've never thought back to those memories like this before. Now that I'm watching what I did, I feel terrible.

Jack didn't respond.

Kid, if I don't know remember if I told you this before but I'm sorry for what I did, for what you had to witness. You didn't deserve to see things happen like this and I can only blame myself for being so stupid.

Don't blame yourself Agent 000, this is MECH's fault. The deaths and the injuries were their fault and you were just tricked into doing their dirty work.

Suddenly the memories stopped playing as Jack sensed something happen; a subtle thump that could be felt throughout the entire sub-conscious world.

Do you feel that?

Agent 000 and Jack stopped and remained silent. The only thing they could hear is the thump every few seconds.

Quick! Get to the barrier!

Jack and Agent 000 went deeper inside of their minds, moving as fast as they could until they reached the mind barrier that was placed to block out the force from coming out.

A strong and steady bang could be heard every few seconds and they both knew that the darkness was trying to escape. There were cracks visible on the wall and the entire barrier shook with every hit.

Fix it! Fix it now!

Jack and Agent 000 immediately began to focus on rebuilding the barrier, their auras clashing against the wall as it took hit after hit. Somehow, the memories of the past made the force stronger and it was taking a lot out of them just to hold it back.

Give it everything you got kid! We can't let it out!

Jack did what he was told, pushing everything into rebuilding the barrier. All his strength, physically and mentally, was being used to stop the force from escaping. The immense strain on his mind and body was painful but he put it to the side, fighting through the pain to finish the job.

With the help of Agent 000, slowly, the barrier started to become reinforced. The loud banging started to get quieter and quieter, not because the force was stopping but because the barrier was getting stronger.

Eventually, all was silent and the two of them collapsed onto the ground, catching their 'breath' and feeling the pain rush through their bodies.

...

Meanwhile in the real world, Arcee was still shaking Jack, yelling at him to wake up. She even gave him a slap across the face which made the group wince but even then, Jack didn't come back.

Suddenly, his mind came back to reality and he fell forward, clutching onto Arcee as he breathed heavily.

"Where am I? What happened?" He asked, slightly dazed over his fight over the barrier.

"I-I don't know. You just blanked out. Are you ok?" Arcee asked with a worried face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine" Jack said slowly, starting to regain his balance and letting go of Arcee. In truth, he was not fine and his entire body ached along with his head. He just couldn't show it and refused to tell Arcee about what happened.

Jack placed his hands on his knees as he took in some deep breaths. Once he felt like he was ok, he looked up and gave the group a weak smile, brushing off any comments about what happened.

"Hey Jack..."

The teen spun around to see Smokescreen on a knee in front of him.

"... just wanted to say that I'm sorry about reminding you of those things. I didn't know too much about your past and was curious to learn more about it. If you hate me for that I totally understand, I just wanted you to know that I didn't mean to cause you any harm" the rookie said sadly.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I don't hate you and it's really not your fault. I just remembered some stuff that I put away for a while and it's partially my fault for doing that. We cool Smokey?" Jack said, putting out his fist for a fist bump.

Smokescreen was taken back at the teen's words and was slightly shocked at his forgiveness.

"I can call you Smokey right?" Jack asked.

The rookie's emotions softened and he smiled. "Yeah, and yeah, we're cool. Thanks Jack."

Smokescreen fist bumped with Jack and stood up, happy to know that he didn't lose a friend after all.

Jack turned to face Arcee and took her hand.

"Can we go home? My head is killing me and I really need to shower" Jack said quietly.

Arcee nodded and gave him a loving smile as they said their goodbyes to everyone and headed for the car.

Jack needed to clear his mind for a bit and the only way he knew how was to go to bed with Arcee safely in his arms.

Agent 000 was right, they did have a serious problem on their hands and none of them knew what to do about it.

They needed a solution quick before something like that happened again.

There was nothing worse than knowing that they can't control the darkness for long.

...