Chapter 2

"Prime! What in the name of Uncle Sam's hill was that?!" Agent Fowler looked furious as he walked out of the elevator. "You 'bots were supposed to stop MECH, not prance around like ballerinas!"

The Autobots had just returned from their failed mission. Each of them with a little disappointment on their faces. Optimum was the only one not fazed by the recent event.

"Agent Fowler" he started, "you of all people know my conditions. I will not allow any humans to be harmed on our missions. While we did not stop MECH from retrieving their objective, we saved many lives."

"It is not my position to interfere but do we know exactly what MECH took from the government base?" Ratchet interfered. Agent Fowler looked at him with a frown.

"We do... but you 'bots aren't going to like it" Agent Fowler stated. "The base MECH just raided is a top secret government research facility. Our scientists were studying the effects of different chemical mixtures. Somehow, MECH found out about the operation and took... about a ton of raw, dark energon."

The entire base fell silent, all eyes and optics staring at Agent Fowler. Ratchet seemed to have the worst reaction; his optics widened as his mouth hung open, unable to process what he just heard from the agent. Suddenly, he snapped.

"THEY TOOK WHAT!" Ratchet yelled at Agent Fowler, startling everyone and making Fowler flinch. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING WITH DARK ENERGON?! WHERE DID YOU GET IT?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW DANGEROUS THAT SUBSTANCE CAN BE?!" Ratchet head looked as though it was about to pop off.

"You must calm down old friend" Optimus said to the medic. "While we must keep our emotions in check, I do believe we need an explanation as to why the government was in possession of dark energon."

"Well, after the whole Unicron is our Earth's core situation, our radars picked up a strong source of energy near an erupted volcano" Agent Fowler explained. "The military brought some to the research facility to do some testing until MECH showed up. The rest is history. I was not informed of what we would do with it, but at the time, all we were doing was running some tests."

"Do we know what MECH might use the dark energon for?" questioned the Autobot leader.

"No. MECH has been keeping a low profile lately so it's anyone's guess to what they might be plotting"

"Very well. Because we have no other information available, we cannot do anything until MECH makes a move" Optimus stated. "Autobots, you are dismissed for the evening. Ratchet and I will remain here monitoring the radars. We will contact you if we have any news."

"Sweet!" exclaimed Miko, "Bulk, let's go dune bashing before it gets dark!"

"Alright Miko, hop in." The wrecker transformed into his vehicle mode and the two of them sped out of the base.

A couple beeps were heard from Bumblebee as he carefully picked up Raf in his hands.

"Ok you're on!" said the little boy. The scout carried him to the couch where they began playing video games on the TV screen.

"So partner," the female Autobot looked down at Jack. "What are we going to do for the rest of the evening?"

"I don't know Arcee. It's been a while since we had this much spare time. Your rather on patrol or I'm working a shift at the KO Burger" Jack answered. "How about we get something to eat, then we figure out what to do?"

Arcee laughed. "Don't you mean let's get you something to eat?" The female transformed into a motorcycle and started her engines. "Let's go partner."

The pair sped out of the base heading for the nearest restaurant. Jack was half thinking about MECH; wondering what they would do with all that dark energon, while the other half of him was excited for tonight. He and Arcee hadn't had time to relax in a while and he always liked having her around. She always made him smile and they could talk just about anything. Out of nowhere, an idea popped into his head.

After picking up some food at a local burger joint, he and Arcee started towards the outskirts of the town. Arcee had no idea of where they were going but Jack seemed to know what he was doing so she listened.

"Where are we going Jack?" the motorcycle asked.

"You'll see, it's a surprise" the teen responded. "Take a left here."

Arcee swerved off the road and headed up a hill. Once she reached the top, Jack got off as she transformed back into her bipedal form. There were a couple rocks lying around and a big tree to the left. She peered towards the direction Jack was staring and couldn't help but look in awe.

"Wow" Arcee said in an amazed tone. "It's beautiful."

The two looked out at the open area. An outstanding view of the night sky was given from their point of view. The clouds moved across the sky like pain strokes. The white puffs moved so elegantly, a wave of calmness took over Arcee. The moon shone brightly in the night as stars started to appear in the darkness. The hill also gave a magnificent view of the vast desert. The shadows of tall mountains could be seen in the distance as a cool breeze tickled her metal skin. They were far enough from the town so that no sounds could be heard except the beauty of nature.

Jack looked up to see his partner stare out to the night sky. A happy smile was on her face and he couldn't help but smile as well. The glow from the moon shone on the Cybertronian, making her optics sparkle and her body to look curvier.

"I come here a lot in my spare time" Jack said. Arcee looked down at him, making his heart beat increasingly fast at her beauty. "It's where I can think and where I can be alone, away from all the distractions and worries. I know how much you like nature so I thought you might like this spot." He moved over to a spot underneath the large tree and lay down in the soft grass. A moment later, Arcee joined him.

"I love it" she said. Not saying another word, just staring out into the night.

Jack couldn't help but stare at Arcee and notice how beautiful she really is. Her long slender legs and her elegant curves made her look increasingly attractive. The blue on her armour glimmered in the night and her face looked so calm and happy.

Arcee looked over to her left a saw that Jack was staring at her. She met his eyes with her optics and they both stared at each other. She started to feel warm and her spark was pulsing at a faster rate.

"Thank you Jack, this is wonderful" she said to him. He smiled back making her feel even warmer.

The pair turned back to the night sky and watched as the moon rose and the stars appeared.

...

The next morning, Jack woke up with a groan. It was a Saturday but he had a shift at the KO Burger. Somebody fell ill so he had to fill in today. His phone buzzed, notifying him that he had a new message. It was only Arcee telling him she had to go back to base to help out with an energon scouting mission.

Slowly but surely, Jack made his way to the bathroom, hoping into the shower. He thought back to yesterday night and couldn't help but smile. He and Arcee spent hours together looking into the night sky. He couldn't help but feel there was some sort of attraction between them. They were closer then they have ever been and it made Jack feel warm inside. Is Arcee becoming a crush? He thought to himself. While it's true that she makes me happy just by being together, does that mean I like her? Is it possible for a human to fall for a Cybertronian?

Jack decided to put the thoughts aside as he got ready for work. Because his mom had an emergency at the hospital and Arcee was on a mission, Jack had to take his bike. It's no Arcee, he thought to himself, but it'll get the job done. He pedalled fast to the KO Burger. It wasn't too far of a bike so he managed to get there without breaking a sweat.

While he locked up his bike, he was surprised to see his boss walk towards him carrying a stuffed bag. Mr. Cowell wasn't the nicest guy around and was also part of the reason Jack hated his job. The man could be really nasty sometimes.

"Jack! I need you to deliver this order to this address pronto!" Mr. Cowell handed him the bag along with a slip of paper.

"But Mr. Cowell, we don't deliver..." Jack started.

"We do when the customer pays triple the price!" his boss interrupted.

Jack really didn't feel like delivering, especially because he was on his bike today and knew that it would be a struggle. "Why not get Jess or Bryan? They have cars and can deliver them much faster than I can."

"Do you want to lose your paycheck Jack?!" The teen shook his head. "Then you better deliver these right now! Don't come back until those have been dropped off!" With that, he walked back into the KO Burger.

Jack sighed and looked down at the slip of paper.

Simon Tornello

194 Hinter Street, Jasper, NV

He sighed again and started heading towards the address. After 10 minutes of biking, he reached Hinter Street. It was a quiet and dark road near the outside of town. Never been here before, Jack thought. Kinda sketchy if you ask me. He hooked his bike up to a pole and started down the street.

...184,...186,...188,...190,...192,...19-wait what?

Jack looked at the spot where the supposed 194 house should be... except there wasn't a 194 house. He looked across the street to see if the house was on the other side but the last house was 193.

What the heck? Jack was very confused. He looked back down at the slip of paper. Am I on the wrong street? He looked back at the sign which read "Hinter Street".

Jack was too busy re-reading the slip of paper in his hands to notice a group of men surround him from behind. All of them wore camouflage clothes while holding a semi-automatic assault rifle. The word MECH was plastered on each sleeve in clear, white words.

Finally Jack heard footsteps behind him. He turned around just in time to see the armed men behind him. Before he could say anything, one of them hit him in the head with the butt-end of his gun, knocking him unconscious.

The man who knocked him out took off his mask and grinned.

"Hello Jack" Silas said, "good to see you again."

Hey guys, hope you like the story so far. I'll be updating it every day do so be sure to follow me and the story. Trust me when I say, it's only going to get better. Please do leave a review if you haven't already. I would love to get some feedback from you guys to see what I could improve on. Other than that have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow with Chapter 3.