Hello, hope you're all enjoying the fanfic by now. *is watching Extreme Home makeover* HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! there're demolishing the house!
Arcee: I don't see the humor in that *crosses arms over chest*
Me: It's an old house that no one likes anymore. Plus the dude's are acting like generals and screaming at people lol
Later that day, Arcee slowly walked into Autobot HQ, still deep in thought. As she walked into the command center she was greeted by questioning looks from her allies. And a particular glare from Ratchet. "What?" Arcee asked, somewhat annoyed by their silence.
"What were you doing driving recklessly in a civilian highway?" demanded Ratchet. "What are you-" Arcee said before Ratchet replayed the news report on the screen. The video showed her jumping over the ramp into vehicle mode and land on the other side of the freeway, narrowly avoiding a crash with a silver minivan. Damn news chopper…
"So I scared a soccer mom, big deal." Arcee said, shrugging as if it were no big deal. Before the others could respond to her sarcasm, a thought occurred to her.
"Big deal? You could have-" Ratchet said, getting cut off as Arcee suddenly pushed him aside and stood in front of the monitor. The Autobots all watched in confusion as she quickly began typing into the control panel, completely oblivious to Ratchet's complains. She replayed the news footage, hoping to see if the news helicopter caught a glimpse of the red car she had seen. The Autobots watched her replay the video at least a dozen times.
"Wow, you must really like looking at yourself on TV" said Bulkhead. Arcee ignored him.
"Scrap!" she cursed. She'd seen the video again and again and never saw the red car drive by. She growled in frustration and was about to replay it again when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"What?" she snapped, then shrank back after realizing it was Optimus.
"Whoa, what's got you so pissed?" asked Bulkhead.
"This isn't like you Arcee." Optimus said calmly.
Bumblebee beeped. (You've been acting strange all week. What's gotten into you, Arcee?)
"It's nothing," Arcee said, a bit harsher than intended, causing Bumblebee to shrink back a bit at her harshness.
"Uh…Sorry, Bee." Arcee muttered. She looked up at the others who were looking at her with questioning optics. Was she going crazy? She could have sworn she had seen Cliffjumper on that freeway. She tried to walk past them but was stopped by Optimus, who was looking at her with concerned optics.
"Was it the same reason you acted so recklessly in the freeway?" Arcee tensed. She could swear that it was like he could just read others minds by staring into their optics. Arcee decided to keep her mouth shut. It wasn't like they were going to believe her anyways. She tried to walk past Optimus, to her surprise, he didn't try to stop her.
Optimus and the others watched as Arcee walked towards the tunnel. She paused at the entrance, as if considering whether she should say something or not.
"Just… forget it…" Arcee said quietly, not facing them as she spoke, her voice was strained as if she were desperately trying to conceal her emotions from them. Before they could say anything, Arcee transformed and sped into the tunnel, leaving them with more questions than answers.
Why is he doing this to me? Arcee thought, frustrated as she blindly sped down the open road that lead out of Autobot HQ. Not only was she seeing Cliffjumper in her dreams but in real life as well? Maybe she really was going crazy.
Later that day after cooling off, Arcee drove back to Autobot HQ. She didn't feel like facing the others yet, but Jack had been calling her all afternoon on her comm link, not to mention everyone else back at base. She hadn't gone back to the school to take him back to base and felt as if she owed him an explanation. As Arcee entered the base, she transformed as the cave walls began to close behind her. She walked solemnly down the long tunnel, dreading the confrontation with the others with every step she took. As she entered the command center, she realized that her explanations would be delayed. Arcee noticed everyone, including the humans, were staring up at the monitor. She half expected them to be watching the video footage from the news, but was surprised to see a beacon flashing on the monitor. As Arcee approached them, Jack, who was standing on the platform near the monitor, noticed her come in. He walked closer to her, away from the others.
"What's going on?" asked Arcee, drawing the attention of the Autobots.
"Monitors picked up a strange energy signature a few minutes ago." answered Ratchet, not taking his optics off of the screen. "I'll try to pin point it's location."
"Hey where were you, Arcee?" Jack asked as Ratchet busily typed into the control panel.
"I'll…I'll explain later," Arcee said, still staring at the monitor. She felt a strange sensation in her spark. She wondered if the sudden energy signature had anything to do with Cliffjumper. No… Arcee thought. Cliff is dead… She clenched her fists tightly. Cliff is dead… she repeated to herself.
"You say something, Arcee?" Jack asked, looking up at her.
"Huh?" Scrap! She hadn't realized she'd said it out loud. Before Jack could ask anything else, Ratchet spoke again.
"I've found the location of the energy signature." Ratchet said, he seemed to pause for a moment.
"So, where is it?" asked Miko.
"Remember the energon mine the Decepticons destroyed?"
Arcee tensed. Cliff… The other Autobots seemed to be affected by the news as well. The mission at that mine had ended tragically for them. It had been a dark day for the Autobots. And the children knew that.
"Isn't that the place where you guys tried to save a bot?" asked Miko.
"Cliffjumper, right?" asked Raf. Ratchet nodded gravely. Arcee could feel her spark pounding painfully against her spark chamber. Memories of her dreams flowed into her mind.
"What kind of energy signature is it?" asked Jack.
"Is it Autobot or Decepticon?" asked Raf.
"Neither," Ratchet said, sounding as confused as they were.
"Ratchet, please clarify." Optimus said calmly.
"Well, I'm…not sure what it is." explained Ratchet. "Scans show an odd spike of energy within the mines. It could either be a large amount of energon giving off high energy levels. But all the energon there was destroyed back in the explosion. Or it could be the energy signature of either an Autobot or Decepticon…"
"But everyone's here and there aren't any other Autobots on Earth." said Raf.
"So maybe it's a 'Con?" suggested Miko.
"What would the Decepticons be doing in that old place? They were the ones who destroyed the mine in the first place." said Bulkhead.
("Maybe we should go check it out.") Bumblebee beeped. Moments later the beacon on the screen disappeared. (Or not…) Ratchet began typing into the control panel.
"Well, whatever it was it's gone." said Ratchet.
"Should we still check it out?" asked Raf. Ratchet shook his head.
"It was just probably a glitch in the system."
A glitch? Arcee thought, why was her spark hurting so much?
"Still, remember the last time you thought it was a glitch?" asked Jack.
"Maybe one of you guys should go check it out." suggested Raf.
Without thinking Arcee suddenly said, "I'll go." rather quickly and for the first time to the others since she arrived. Everyone turned to look at her. Arcee immediately regretted saying anything.
"Like you said, it could be anything…" Arcee said, trailing off.
"Arcee," Optimus started, Arcee immediately cut him off.
"I'm fine, okay! There's nothing wrong with me! I'm perfectly capable of going there on my own."
"I never said you were not alright." Optimus said calmly, his optics filled with concern and confusion, making Arcee regret yelling at him…again.
"Whoa, what's up with her?" Miko asked Bulkhead, who shrugged in response.
"Please…I need to do this." Arcee said quietly, her voice filled with a hint of desperation. Optimus looked down into the blue motorcycle's optics. He could see a sadness deep within them. The same sadness that had been in her optics before when she had been replaying the news footage over and over again. Almost as if she were searching for something. Or someone… Optimus thought. He had a pretty good idea who and decided to speak to Arcee about it later.
"Very well." Optimus said calmly. Relief seemed to wash over Arcee's faceplates. Optimus ignored the looks of surprise from the others as he walked up to the spacebridge controls. As the portal for the space bridge appeared, Arcee glanced over at the others, who were all looking at her with questioning optics. She did not even try to attempt to hid her emotions from her allies. They could all see the grief and pain deep inside her optics. Before they could say any thing she walked up to the portal.
"Arcee, wait!" Jack said, jumping off the platform before running up to her. Arcee stopped in front of the glowing vortex.
"I'll explain everything later, Jack. I promise. I just need to do this alone." she said calmly without turning around. She turned her head slightly and looked down at the ground before running through the portal.
They all watched in confusion and concern as Arcee disappeared into the glowing green multicolored vortex. Just as she disappeared, Jack noticed a strange series lights, barely visible against the light from the spacebridge, that appeared to be coming from Arcee.
A/N: SO ENJOY THE AWESOME DRAMA! Is Arcee going crazy? HECK NO! Weird light coming from Arcee? I WONDER WHAT IT COULD BE! Arcee going crazy? STILL NO!