Beyond the Darkness

by RazormusPrime

The key to Vector Sigma is destroyed in mid-download, leaving behind its scars on Team Prime. Jack bears physical scars while Optimus bears the mental scars of incomplete memory and the burden of a Prime, but was Optimus memories the only thing lost? Was anything lost to begin with or was something gained? What Jack will learn is that nothing ever is destroyed, it only transforms.

5. A Small World

A/N: Hey, guys, so here's the next chapter, well I pretty much gave this entire chapter an overhaul, so sorry if I made you guys wait too long! The changes I made for this chapter doesn't change anything from the plot but I felt it would be better to revise the lay out of this chapter a bit for reasons. :3 Oh, some warning for this chapter, there will be a little blood and energon spilled. Well at least I warned ya!

Oh yeah and the Blades of Time are a real thing, they have a role in the book Transformers: Exiles, I just added in the extra abilities like the time reversal, all they do in the book is open a portal to Vector Prime's Universe ;) I OWN NOTHING, well except for my own OCs

Please Read and Review! Thanks!

---

"Prime! Where are you?" Fowler yelled as he stormed through the elevator and into the autobot command room. A deep sigh escaped the Prime, not that he needed to, it was just a habit he had formed from being around the humans.

"I assume you are here to discuss the matters as to what occurred in the Valley of Fire," said Optimus as he approached their liaison.

"Noooo, I came here to bring you guys donuts!" Fowler spat sarcastically as he gripped the guard rails on the platform he was on. "When I approved for you guys to take that little field trip I didn't think you'd desecrate a national park!"

"I apologize, Agent Fowler." Optimus sighed, his apology sounded very sincere and he looked rather tired by the whole ordeal. Though, Fowler wasn't in the mood to be sympathetic.

"You guys have no idea what I had to do to clean up your mess, not to mention all the calls I've made to the base!" Fowler added as he shot a glare to the autobot medic who was standing by the monitors.

"With all due respect, we were attending to bigger matters, Fowler." Ratchet scoffed, trying to not roll his optics at the man's attitude.

"What on earth could be bigger than desecrating a part of a national park and visitors seeing strange lights in the skies and hearing gun fire?" Fowler snapped, before looking back up at the Prime though he was surprised when Optimus raised a hand to him, signaling for him to stop talking.

"Then, allow me to explain what happened," Optimus said, lowering his hand.

"By all means, Prime." Fowler replied crossing his arms over his chest before Optimus began to explain in detail what had occurred at the Valley of Fire and when they had returned to base.

Fowler understood most of what Optimus told him when he stated that the kids uncovered a relic. However, when Optimus started to explain how Jack had some ancient power of knowledge within him and that he used the relic to reverse time he'd completely lost him. Though, that didn't stop Fowler from listening to what Optimus had to say.

"Seems like you guys had a long day," Fowler said after a moment so he could process what he just heard. It really seemed like they barely got out of there with their lives. Though, it was still a bit confusing, all this ancient magic stuff going on. "How's Jack?"

"Stable," Ratchet replied simply, "the data is causing him no harm and he seems to be taking the situation rather well."

"After completing a few scans to confirm it, the children were sent home. Arcee is currently with Jack to offer him protection if it is needed." Optimus concluded, and that's when Fowler realized that was why the base seemed so empty. The only autobots in the room were Optimus, Ratchet and the new rookie, his name Fowler couldn't remember at the moment.

"Does June know what happened to her son?" Fowler asked, looking up at Optimus expectantly, they all knew Jack meant the world to June.

"Jack has had a very long day," Optimus replied simply, sounding tired himself, "We wished for him to bring his mother to base in the morning. Then, we would contact you to inform both of you of what had occurred. Though, I wouldn't put it past Jack to at least mention something to her to ease her worry."

"Fair enough," Fowler replied, stroking his chin lightly, "If Jack really went through all this insanity in one day I see why you gave him the night to rest, if that's even possible…" Fowler sighed, trailing off before noticing long jagged piece of metal on Ratchet's work bench. He almost thought it was scrap metal until he saw it was covered in symbols.

"Is this what you found?" Fowler asked as he walked over to it to get a better look, interest sparking his eyes.

"Do you recognize it?" Optimus asked, seeing how intently Fowler is looking at the Blade of Time.

"As a matter of fact I do," Fowler replied as he became serious once again.

"Really? Where did you see it?" Smokescreen spoke up, surprising Fowler by his outburst. He almost forgot the rookie had been in the room with how quiet he's been up until now. "Well?"

"I was going to tell you tomorrow, considering you guys were on your trip but we found some stuff earlier today at an abandoned MECH facility," Fowler began, eyeing the rookie for a moment before looking up at Optimus.

"This is becoming an interesting solar cycle…" Optimus sighed softly; his shoulder's sagging a bit, surprising Fowler. In all honesty, the Prime looked pretty exhausted. Fowler just thought he sounded tired but now that he looked at him closer it was obvious the bot probably hadn't slept, or recharge, or whatever it was that bots did to rest in days. Not to mention he just came back from a war zone.

For a moment the Prime said nothing, seeming to be lost in his thoughts so Fowler cleared his throat, deciding it would be best for him to continue. "Anyway, one of the things that we discovered looks a little like that blade thing."

"Are you serious?" Smokescreen said, his optics widening in shock before he looked over at Ratchet and Optimus. "Could the other pieces be here on earth too?"

"We don't know that yet," Optimus replied before Ratchet groaned in annoyance.

"Can this day get even more stressful?" Ratchet scoffed as he glared at all the data on his monitor. The data stretched from Jack's scans, the scans of the blade and even the symbols on Jack's body. There was so much to process; Ratchet barely even knew where to begin.

"I think you mean insane," Smokescreen noted before Optimus turned back to Fowler.

"What else did you find?" Optimus asked the agent, "Your words were that it was one of the things that were discovered."

"Oh, right," Fowler replied before clearing his throat again, not really sure how to put it. "We found a body, a Cybertronian or at least alien, so it looks like it's one of your own," Fowler explained and the room fell silent.

"MECH had the fella listed in their files by the name Icarus, because he was reported to have fallen from the sky." Fowler explained before moving on. "He doesn't have an insignia but it's definably one of you guys."

"Are you certain, Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked, looking down at the man sternly.

"Yeah, he's a hundred percent bot and even has a spark." Fowler explained, putting his hands in his pocket, "MECH is smart but they can't replicate your guy's biology."

"Do what you must to bring the blade and this Icarus here now." Optimus said after another moment of silence and Fowler knew it wasn't a request.

"I'll see what I can do," Fowler replied before taking out his phone and he began to dial a number. "The team that made the discovery is here in Jasper; let me give them a call." He said before looking up at Ratchet, knowing he was the only autobot in the room who would know what he was about to say.

"You remember Dr. Suzuki and Agent Keaton, right?" he asked as the call started to get processed.

"It's been nearly four years but yes, I do remember," Ratchet said after a moment, remembering both humans rather easily.

"They're done with their research in Japan and returned to the states recently." Fowler explained before getting to the point. "Their team was the ones to make the discovery of the MECH facility."

Ratchet only nodded and considered this information before something came to mind. "Are you saying their research was a success?" Ratchet asked, looking rather surprised at the agent.

"It was and there have already been several successful test subjects, including Keaton's son." Fowler added before the call went through and he stepped away to talk to whoever he had called first.

"Hey, Ratchet, what's he talking about?" Smokescreen asked in a hushed voice as to not disturb Fowler, moving toward the autobot medic. The autobot medic glanced over at the rookie who, in all honesty, had no idea what was going on. Meanwhile, Optimus was a special case. Though, Ratchet figured it wouldn't be good to keep the rookie in the dark.

"Dr. Suzuki and Agent Keaton are friends of this team. They were among the first group of humans to welcome us to earth once we settled into this base," Ratchet explained, looking around the converted missile silo.

"And what's this research you guys were talking about?" Smokescreen asked, stealing a glance down at Fowler who was beginning to dial another number on his cell phone.

"The research they have done is a project that was created when we first arrived to earth. Part of the agreement to allow us to make refuge here was to share our technology." Ratchet began, pausing to make sure Smokescreen understood. "However, we refused them access to our military technology so instead we gave them access to our medical technology."

"What can they do with that?" Smokescreen asked, raising an optic ridge. Humans didn't have metal plating as far as he knew.

"They wanted to accelerate their progress on a medical technology based on robotics. This technology would provide prosthetic limbs and body parts that could be controlled by the mind to treat those who had lost such things in war or in accidents." Ratchet explained before looking down at Fowler thoughtfully.

"I didn't think they'd managed to complete the technology so soon," Ratchet muttered softly and it was obvious to both Optimus and Smokescreen that Ratchet was completely fascinated by this feat. Smokescreen also decided not to ask more, seeing Ratchet was going off into his own world.

"It seems Jaden can walk again…" Ratchet muttered so softly, though neither autobot could hear him. After four long years it was now possible.

---

"Soundwave, what your progress on locating the boy?" Megatron asked as he approached his head Intelligence Officer.

Soundwave said nothing as usual, instead he showed his leader the data he had gathered in his search for Jack. Megatron studied the information before him and it seemed Soundwave had determined that Jack comes from the small town of Jasper. Now it appeared he was going through several school data bases, using face recognition to find Jack's file, thus granting him access to his location, his home.

"Sir, do you really believe it's possible for a human to have absorbed the lost knowledge within itself?" Dreadwing asked as he approached his commander, his optic on the monitor.

"I do not believe it; I know Jack holds the knowledge within him, Dreadwing. It's the only possible explanation for our recent events." Megatron said simply, though that wasn't enough for Dreadwing.

"And what is it you are trying to prove once you've obtained the boy?" Dreadwing asked, watching his leader before glancing up at the vast amounts of knowledge on the monitors in front of Soundwave. After watching the screen for a bit, Megatron answered.

"Everything will be answered once the boy is here, Dreadwing," Megatron smirked when Soundwave pulled out a particular file and an image of Jack appeared on the screen. Soundwave wasted no time to look through the human boy's file to search for the information they needed. Moments later Soundwave brought up a house number and a street name.

---

Jack couldn't help but sigh, stretching as he made his way to the garage. Arcee had driven him home a little earlier. He was safe now but there was only one problem, he couldn't sleep. Jack wasn't sure what was going on, a normal person would be exhausted after experiencing everything he did; discovering an ancient Cybertronian relic, getting branded by said device with cyber glyphs, experiencing a second near death experience in the same month.

But, no, Jack was wide awake in his bed until he remembered he forgot to turn off the garage lights. Sure, his mom would have turned off the lights either way when she got home in another hour or so but since Jack couldn't sleep it just kept nagging at his mind.

Opening the garage door, Jack reached over and flipped the switch off without a second thought. He was about to close the door behind him when he noticed a pair of blue optics staring at him in the darkness. He nearly jumped out of his skin and quickly the lights back on before relaxing when he saw it was just his guardian.

"Oh, you're still here, Arcee?" Jack asked, not expecting his guardian to still be here.

"I never left," Arcee replied looking at her friend as her optics readjusted to the light quickly. She noticed his hair was wet and he had changed from his torn up clothes into a red tee-shirt and sweatpants. At least it explained why he had been gone for so long but she thought he'd gone to sleep.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have really been out of it when we got here then," Jack apologized, covering his face with his hands, a little embarrassed for forgetting his guardian.

"It's alright, Jack." Arcee chuckled, looking down at her human charge. "Shouldn't you be getting some rest?" Arcee asked, noticing the symbols on Jack's arm peeking from beneath his sleeve.

"Uh, probably, but the drive over here kind of woke me up," Jack shrugged lightly, rubbing his head before making his way to his guardian, "Shouldn't you be getting back to base? I thought you'd be gone by now, that's why I came back to the garage to turn off the lights."

"After what happened today, I'm not leaving you out of my sight," Arcee replied protectively, crossing arms over her chest. The decepticons would figure out what Jack was sooner or later and she wasn't going to risk it if they happened to find out sooner.

"Fair enough," Jack replied, chuckling softly, glad for the company and grateful his guardian cared before a thought came to mind. If she was going to be there they might as well hang out and do something. "In that case, want to have a movie night?" Jack asked hopefully, pointing back to an old TV sitting beside the wall.

Arcee simply gave him a look; she didn't expect Jack to be so carefree after what he had gone through today. Though, Jack took her reaction as a message that she didn't want to watch movies.

"Please? I need something to do since I can't sleep and I feel bad leaving you alone in the garage." Jack asked, rubbing the back of his head a little awkwardly. Arcee just let out a sigh and gave him a smile, she couldn't say no to him.

"Alright, fine, but if you want to watch a movie we can go to the living room, I can just use my holoform." Arcee replied, not keen on having Jack sit with her in the garage for her convenience. A smile spread on the teen's face before he went to the door to bring the things they would need. The smile was worth it.

"Oh, it's fine, Arcee." Jack called back, halfway out the door. "I'll just get some blankets and camp here," Jack said quickly and he was out the door before Arcee could argue. Then, he came back a few minutes later carrying a blanket or two, some snacks and a stack of movies.

"And besides, I like your robot form better," Jack said the moment he came back, smiling warmly.

Arcee only returned the boy's smile before watching Jack make his way to the old couch sitting in front of the TV. Once he was there Jack discarded the supplies onto the couch and walked over to the TV. After tinkering for a bit he was able to get it and DVD player to turn on.

A smile spread on Jack's face and he turned to Arcee and picked up the stack of movies he brought. "Ladies' choice, Arcee. What do you want to watch?"

Arcee looked at her friend and gave him a look at the term.

"What?" Jack asked, tilting his head a bit, confused.

"We don't have gender, Jack." Arcee said simply, crossing her arms.

Jack just gave her a look, of course he knew that but it still didn't explain the obvious differences between his guardian and a bot like Optimus or Bulkhead. The whole subject still confused him a bit when he looked at Arcee and gestured to her. "But?"

Arcee merely shrugged and Jack decided not to argue. "Alright, then its autobot guest's choice."

"I don't mind what we watch," Arcee replied shrugging. "Haven't really watched any earth movies, besides a couple that Bee's downloaded."

"Alright, then let me see," Jack replied, looking through the movie stack he brought and he couldn't help but grin when one caught his eye. Then, without looking back at his guardian he walked over and slipped the movie into the DVD player before walking over to sit in his nest of blankets on the couch.

Arcee watched him a bit curiously, wondering what movie he had picked. Shifting a bit to sit on the ground beside the couch, Arcee glanced down at the small TV screen just as the movie was beginning.

Arcee immediately made a face the moment some sort of giant robot appeared on the screen, fighting some sort of alien monster. Jack laughed at her reaction and it occurred to Arcee he was probably waiting for her to give some sort of reaction when she realized the movie they were watching was a robot movie. Arcee gave Jack a side glance and saw Jack's attention was already on the movie as he sat comfortable in his nest of blankets, eating a snack he brought.

Shaking her head, Arcee couldn't stop the smile forming on her faceplates and she decided to say nothing. Leaning her head on her hand she glanced at the small TV screen and began to watch the movie. The movie was interesting enough as it went along with a surprisingly complicated plot. It wasn't until they were already halfway through the movie that Jack decided to speak up.

"You know, we should all have a movie night one of these days," Jack suggested while watching the robot activate a chain sword before considering something, "Well, maybe after all this crazy stuff dies down." He said with a soft sigh, getting his guardian's attention.

Arcee glanced down at her friend and offered him a smile. "It'd be nice if everyone came together for something like this."

"Yeah," Jack said before nibbling on a cracker. Though, he didn't really feel that hungry anymore.

"Optimus probably wouldn't mind having a movie night but it'll take some effort to convince Ratchet to stay." Arcee replied, offering Jack a reassuring smile. Jack just laughed a bit but Arcee knew what was on his mind the moment his gaze dropped down to his arm to the black cyber glyphs peeking from his sleeve.

Staring down at his arm, Jack began to trace one of the glyphs with his fingertip lazily. "It's been such a crazy day," Jack sighed softly before looking up at his guardian, "So, you have any idea what these mean?"

"No, not really, wish I could help, Jack." Arcee replied, offering him another reassuring smile. "And since only Optimus and Smokescreen could read it it's probably written in the ancient language of the Primes."

"Why'd you think it freaked them out so much?" Jack asked, looking up at her curiously.

"It was more like Smokescreen freaked out, I think Optimus was freaking in." Arcee hummed softly, trying to think of the reason herself. "I'm not sure myself, Jack" Arcee said with a sigh. It worried her, not knowing and she would ask them what was going on the moment she got back to base. Though, she didn't plan to leave until she went with Jack in the morning.

"Anyway, how are you doing, Jack?" Arcee asked, realizing she forgot to ask.

"Honestly, I don't know how to feel." Jack sighed, looking away, barely glancing at the movie anymore. "A year ago, I wouldn't even be able to believe what's happening to me now."

"Same goes here." Arcee replied, gently ruffling the boy's hair with her small servo, smiling at him sympathetically. "I'll give you credit, Jack, you've been taking it pretty well, considering what's going on." Arcee added before trailing off and moving her hand away.

"Something up?" Jack asked looking up at his guardian a bit confused by the way she was acting. One moment she was being all motherly and now she seemed to be pulling back. Looking up at her, Jack recognized the look on her face and he could tell something was on her mind.

"What did you mean when you told Optimus it wasn't the first time you've dealt with trauma?" Arcee finally said after a moment, catching Jack off guard. Is that what she's thinking about?

"Where'd that come from?" Jack asked, looking up at his guardian rather surprised by her question. It just seemed to come out of nowhere.

"When you said it," Arcee replied, shrugging a bit. "It just stuck to mind."

"Ah, well…I guess it kind of explains how I don't really freak out much in insane situations," Jack replied, "Except when we first met and you took me on that joyride when we were getting away from the decepticons". He added, mostly talking to himself before considering something. "Trust me when I say I've dealt with a lot of things, enough experience for a life time."

"Jack, what on earth could prepare you to deal with the fact that you're the Vessel for the Matrix?" Arcee asked, giving her friend a look. Jack simply gave her a weak, knowing, smile.

"Loss," Jack said after a moment before he glanced up at his guardian, "You already know about my family and the accident with me and my brothers, right?"

Arcee just nodded and remained silent. She knew the story about Jack's family, after being the boy's guardian for a year it was natural for them to swap stories about their lives to one another. Arcee even told Jack about Tailgate and Cliffjumper in greater detail than she's ever told anyone else.

Loss was something she and Jack were familiar with and something they had in common. Jack's loss had affected him and his family painfully but for Arcee loss was almost a natural part of life to her, no matter how much it affected her. Bots died in war, that's just how things were and it was something they had to adapt to. War was all she ever really knew but Jack's only had a taste of war in the year he's known the autobots.

It was then that Arcee began to understand. The loss Jack went through was before team Prime were in the picture and for him it was a reality check, not to mention it occurred at such a young age. "It's been four years since the car crash, right?" Arcee asked, looking down at her friend, knowing she was one of the few people he was comfortable talking to about this. Jack would have been thirteen in that accident, Raf's age.

"Yeah and I still have the scars to prove it." Jack replied, absently tapping a faded old scar caused by a badly broken arm, practically hidden by the damaged skin on his arm from the burns he got the month before. "Hm, can't say I'm over it, because you never completely get over something like that, but I'm better now than I was when it happened."

Arcee understood that completely, the loss of his older brother, the irreversible injuries done to his younger brother, followed by the divorce of his parents took a toll on Jack at a young age. Though, it seemed to make him stronger now, creating a shield for Jack which he uses to stay calm in any situation he's put through.

"Josh's is gone but I still can't help but feel responsible for what happened to Jaden," Jack muttered softly, almost as if he hadn't intended to say that out loud.

"Jack, you know it wasn't your fault." Arcee sighed, trying to get some sense into Jack before a sound outside caught her attention. Arcee got to her feet, into a crouching, considering that was as high as the low roof would allow her to go up to and she turned toward the garage door.

Jack looked up at her questionably, "Arcee, what's wrong?"

Arcee simply shushed the boy, trying to find the source of what she heard before. Her scanners didn't report anything out of the ordinary but something still felt wrong. Now that the garage was completely silent, minus the TV, Arcee could just manage to hear the distinct sound of an ion blaster charging.

---

"Hey, Optimus, what's up?" It was the first thing Miko asked the Prime the moment she and Bulkhead came down from Wheeljack's ship. When they left things had quieted down but now the base was buzzing with activity and not everyone was back yet.

Ratchet was busy clearing a station in his med bay while Smokescreen stood at the space bridge controls, talking to Bumblebee and fidgeting excitedly about something. Meanwhile, Ratchet's expression was hard to read as well so Miko knew something had to be up.

Taking his optics off the monitor, Optimus seemed a bit surprised to see her. "What are you still doing here?" He asked, a little more surprised than what Miko was used to before he before he composed himself to his usual calm demeanor, "If I am not mistaken, I had already sent you on your way home."

"You did, just waiting for Wheeljack to finish a little project for me," Miko hummed, leaning against the railing while peeking over to see what was on the monitor. She perked up a bit the moment she saw autobot body schematics on the screen. It wasn't of anyone she recognized so obviously her curiosity got the better of her. "Who's that?"

"That is something we would all like to know," Optimus replied, sounding tired before Ratchet came up to them.

"Optimus, I have prepared the med bay. I would like to meet with Fowler at the rendezvous point now." Ratchet said in his usual stoic demeanor.

"Understood," Optimus replied before opening his comm. link to saying something to Fowler on the other line before moving to activate the ground bridge.

Bulkhead and Miko watched with mixed curiosity as they looked toward the ground bridge controls as the device activated, revealing a familiar pattern of swirling lights. Their curiosity and confusion only grew as they watched Ratchet walked through the bridge with a portable medical berth.

"I'll go with you," Smokescreen said and walked through the bridge before Ratchet could argue.

"Okay, what did I miss?" Bulkhead asked, taking his optics away from the active ground bridge to look at Optimus and Bumblebee.

"It has been…a very interesting day." Optimus sighed, it was the only way he could describe it while Bumblebee just nodded. "And it appears we were not the only ones to make discoveries today."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miko asked before Optimus' comm. link went off.

/Alright, Optimus, we're ready. We're coming through now/ Ratchet called through the comm. link.

/Affirmative/ Optimus replied before Bumblebee activated the ground bridge controls and Ratchet stepped back into the base with the medical cart, but this time it wasn't empty.

"Whoa, a new bot? Sweet! And a day after Smokescreen!" Miko screamed excitedly.

Ratchet barely gave the girl a glance as he moved the medical berth to his work station. The autobots and girl simply watched as Ratchet worked. Miko moved closer to get a better look at the new bot and her heart sank a bit along with the bots in the room.

"Whoa, what happened to him?" Miko asked. From what she could see the bot was pretty small and actually looked rather bare. His frame was filthy, covered in what looked like scars and didn't seem to have any defining characteristics or armor that hinted at what he transform into. It was almost as if he had been stripped down to the protoform.

"A lot has happened to him," Ratchet sighed, silently cursing MECH for the bot's condition before beginning to connect cables into the bot's medical port to run quick diagnostics. Then he turned to speak to two humans who had come in with him earlier.

Optimus didn't know either human personally but knew they could only be the team leaders of the group that had made the discovery at the MECH facility.

"Where'd they find him exactly?" Bulkhead asked, pulling Optimus from his thoughts as he glanced down at the bot on the medical berth. Bulkhead didn't like the scars he saw on the small bot's protoform. Protoforms are strong and it takes a lot to scar the cybernetic tissue.

"He was found in an abandoned MECH facility that was discovered earlier today while we had been on our excursion at the Valley of Fire. However, it's not the only thing they uncovered." Optimus added and as if on cue Smokescreen walked through the bridge, carrying a familiar broken blade in his arms.

"Hey, isn't that a Blade of Time?" Miko asked, perking at the sight of the familiar relic while Bumblebee shut off the ground bridge.

"Yeah, turns out the group called MECH was hiding one of these," Smokescreen replied when he got closer. "But, no one's known about it until now. It's destiny I tell you that your government finds this the day we find one ourselves. "

"Where have you been, Smokescreen?" Ratchet scolded, waving a wrench threateningly in his servo. "Last time I checked, the relic was stored in the next hanger, not on the other side of the military compound!"

"I'm sorry, this thing is heavy! I almost dropped it a few times before I could get through the ground bridge." Smokescreen complained as he tried to maneuver to Ratchet's work area without knocking into anything that belonged to the medic. It wasn't that it was a big blade; it just was heavy for its size. "So, where do you want this thing?"

"Over there." Ratchet motioned to the empty work table before shooing the rookie away as he focused on the small mech on the medical berth.

Smokescreen let out a soft sigh when he could finally set down the blade, though he required some assistance from Bumblebee when he nearly ran into him.

Meanwhile, Optimus approached the relic and looked it over for a moment before looking down at the humans who made it possible for them to have it in their possession. "Thank you, Agent Fowler, Dr. Suzuki and Agent Keaton for bringing this on such short notice."

Fowler simply nodded at the Prime before glancing over to watch Ratchet work on the small bot known as Icarus for now. Meanwhile, only Keaton looked up from the work he was doing with Ratchet. "It wasn't any trouble at all," he replied with a smile.

"It's good to see you again, Optimus. It's good to see all of you, in fact." Suzuki added in, not looking up from a scan she was taking of Icarus but she was smiling nonetheless.

Optimus looked at the two humans a bit surprised and tried to force a smile. He felt guilt for not recognizing either human when it was obvious the two of them knew him. Keaton seemed to perk up a bit at Optimus' response, seeming to notice Optimus' silence and discomfort.

However, only Keaton seemed to notice the blank expression on Optimus' faceplates the moment the mech realized he should have recognized the two humans he was talking to. "Don't tell me you've forgotten us already? It's only been four years, really."

"I apologize, Agent Keaton, Dr. Suzuki, but there is a lot I don't recall." Optimus shrugged helplessly. Ratchet immediately sensed Optimus discomfort and came to his aid.

"Circumstances arouse, Keaton, Optimus may not remember you right away," Ratchet replied to the man before returning to his work. Keaton looked back up at the Prime and wondered if he could remember him at all. There seemed to be no recognition at all and he even appeared different since their last encounter.

"It's fine," Keaton replied, deciding to let it go. "We came here to help."

"And we appreciate it." Optimus replied, looking back down at the offline mech.

Keaton followed the Prime's gaze and offered a light smile. "We thought this little guy…Icarus, was gone until my son, Jaden, heard his heartbeat."

"Spark beat is the proper term. It's weak but it's there." Ratchet noted after reading over some scans before getting back to work on Icarus. Though, he glanced up at Keaton and Suzuki for a moment. "How are the children by the way?"

"We're fine, thanks for asking." A girl's voice chimed in and the group turned their attention to the ground bridge where a young fourteen year old Japanese girl stood. Beside her was a dark haired boy who was a little bit older than the girl who simply waved at the group.

"Who are you?" Miko and Smokescreen asked in sync.

"Jaden, what are you two doing here." Keaton sighed, not at all pleased seeing his son and his co-worker's daughter in the autobot base. "We told you two to stay at the compound."

"Well, the ground bridge was open…" Jaden muttered, looking anywhere but at his father while he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"And we wanted to see the bots!" Marley added before running over to smile at Bumblebee. The yellow muscle car gave her a happy chirp, obviously happy to see her.

A sigh escaped Suzuki and she glanced up at Ratchet who was continuing to work on Icarus before looking over at her daughter. "Why don't you ever follow your father to work, Marley?"

"Dad's work is boring and you're the one who gets to see the bots more often than he does." Marley pouted while Jaden seemed fascinated by an invisible speck on the wall. One look from their parents and the two knew they would hear from them when they left the base. Sighing softly, Keaton looked up to the Autobot leader a little helplessly.

"I'm sorry for them being here but we have bigger things to deal with." Keaton sighed, looking down at Icarus before looking back up at Optimus. "You don't mind if they're here do you?"

"Not at all." Optimus replied before looking over to Miko. "They're not the only human children we have dealt with."

Keaton followed the autobot's gaze to a girl standing up on a catwalk. She appeared to be around Jaden's age and he was fairly surprised the autobots would befriend more human children. However, he decided not to question it for now and decided to get back to work.

"I thought we were the only ones that knew about the bots," Marley said, causing Miko to jump back in surprise and turn around to see the girl standing beside her.

"Whoa! How'd you get up here so fast?!" Miko asked before Jaden appeared by the ladder near her feet. "Oh yeah."

"I'm Marley in case you didn't hear." Marley replied with a smile before looking at Miko's pigtails. "I like your hair."

"Thanks; maybe I'll get you something so you could make yours stylish too." Miko grinned, looking at the younger girl's plain black hair with interest.

"Right," Jaden said shaking his head before offering a hand to Miko. "Hi, I'm Jaden."

Miko just stared at the boy's storm grey eyes and dark hair and tried to figure out why there was a nagging feeling in the back of her head. There was also something about the way he reacted to her offering Marley hair dye that seemed familiar, like protectively but she couldn't figure out why it bugged her. When nothing came to mind Miko just gave Jaden's outstretched hand a high five. "Name's Miko."

"So, you know the bots?" Jaden asked glancing away at the human sector, uncomfortable with having Miko stare at him. Though, that only seemed to motivate Miko to stare at him more intently.

"Yeah, I've known these guys for a year along with some friends," Miko said before walking over to the catwalk to get a better look at the bot Ratchet brought in. Jaden nodded and figured that much when he saw the three remote control cars and the guitar hero set in the human sector.

"Everyone, except this guy." Miko added in before looking up at Ratchet. "Who is this, Ratchet?"

"I am not familiar with this bot, though MECH referred to call him Icarus." Ratchet replied, glancing up at the girl for a moment.

"What? Did he fall from the sky?" Miko asked.

"I'm not familiar with that reference but yes." Ratchet replied before shaking his head and returning his attention to Icarus. Referring him to that was better than referring to him as a bot.

"So, why does he look like that?" Miko asked, leaning against the railing to get a better look at Icarus.

"Obviously he has been put through experiments and dissections from MECH and he has been stripped down to his protoform." Ratchet explained while plugging cables into the smaller mech's medical port. "As a result, many of the experiments have altered his appearance drastically."

"What is his condition, Ratchet?" Optimus asked as he approached the offline mech. There was something about him that felt familiar, he just couldn't place it.

"For now, he merely appears to be energon deprived and in stasis lock. Though, the stasis lock is deep enough for his spark to beat slowly enough it may have gone undetected by MECH for a very long time." Ratchet replied with a sigh.

"Understood, see what you can do to bring him back online as soon as possible." Optimus replied as he placed a gentle servo on the medic's shoulder.

"First, I'll need an energon transfusion, life blood would be best, that's a start. It may arouse him from his stasis a bit and we may be able to get a name." Ratchet suggested, walking over to get the proper equipment he needed for the transfusion.

"Then I'll make a donation," Optimus replied, slipping his servo from Ratchet's shoulder and offering it to him.

Ratchet just stared at the Prime for a moment, a bit surprised and he wasn't the only one in the room. Shaking his helm, Ratchet decided not to question it and began to set up a tube between Optimus and Icarus when it was confirmed the two had matching energon types.

"You might want to sit down; you're going to feel dizzy in a little while." Ratchet said to the Prime before connecting the tubing to Optimus' main energon line and he let then energon flow between the two for a bit.

Optimus just sat down on a nearby medical berth and watched the small mech intently. Meanwhile, the six humans in the room simply watch a bit curiously, fascinated by what they were seeing. Miko was so caught up by watching whatever was going on between Optimus and Icarus that she almost didn't hear Jaden and Marley call her.

"Hey, earth to Miko!" Marley called out, waving her hand in front of Miko's face.

"Huh?" Miko asked, blinking a bit and she looked at the two of them. "What's up?"

"I asked how'd you meet the bots?" Jaden asked, looking to Miko before glancing at the autobots nearby. He'd met them once before a few years ago. Back then there were four of them but there were five in the room, not including Icarus. "Are there more bots now?"

"Hmm?" Miko asked, looking around to the bots. "Yeah, the bots got more and they lost some." Miko shrugged a little sadly. "Right now there's seven bots, not including sleeping beauty here." Miko added, looking down at Icarus again.

"Seven?" Jaden asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "Wow, the first time we met them there were only four."

"Which ones?" Miko asked, looking over at the two.

"Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Bulkhead." Marley replied, looking to the bots with a smile.

"Wow, you guys haven't meet Arcee, Wheeljack or Smokescreen yet!" Miko said, surprised. "Well, Smokescreen's over there but still. Oh and you didn't meet Cliffjumper either but we didn't know him since he kicked the curb just before we met the bots." Miko shrugged and Jaden and Marley looked at one another.

"So, where are the others then if they're not here?" Jaden asked curiously.

"Well, Wheeljack's up top in his ship. Maybe I'll introduce him to you guys later when he's done with a favor." Miko noted, while also wondering why it was taking Wheeljack so long with the project she set him out to do.

"And what about this Arcee bot?" Marley asked curiously.

"She's probably still hanging out with Jack. We kinda had a long day and he went home. Not to mention Raf's home by now too." Miko shrugged and Marley's eyes seemed to brighten when Miko said 'she'.

"Who's Jack and Raf?" Jaden asked curiously and it just dawned on Miko neither of them would know her friends.

"Jack and Raf are my friends and were the first ones to find out about the bots between us. I just happened to be around when Arcee was talking to Jack. Been buds with them ever since." Miko replied as she looked down at Icarus again.

"Wow," was all Jaden could say before looking back down at the tiny autobot. He kind of wished he had an interesting story like that to tell.

"So what's your guys' story?" Miko asked, glancing over at Marley and Jaden. "You know, besides the fact your parents seem to work for the government and the bots."

"My dad's work really," Jaden shrugged lightly. "He and the bots met a while back and helped with his research."

"What kind of research?" Miko asked, somewhat bored.

"Work on robotic prosthetic limbs and parts." Jaden replied and curiosity sparked in Miko's eyes. "It's a project the bots have been helping with for a while."

"What? Sweet!" Miko grinned, getting excited of the thought of ever having a robotic arm or something. "Did it work?"

"I wouldn't be able to walk without it." Jaden replied with a smile just before they heard a soft groan coming from the medical berth below them. Eyes and optics immediately shot toward Icarus, still lying motionless on the medical berth.

"Did he just?" Miko asked surprised, looking down at the silver protoform.

Since Ratchet cleaned him off Miko could actually tell Icarus' protoform was a warm silvery color and his head had small bits of orange and blue on it. Not to mention he looked a little better than the first time she saw him, probably before of the energon transfusion. The little bot looked a little less pale than before, if bots could even look pale to begin with.

Suddenly, Icarus let out another groan and his dark blue optics shot open. Then, without warning he started to scream.

Miko and the other humans in the room literally had to cover their ears as the mech's wails tore through the base while he began to thrash against Optimus who was currently trying to keep him from getting up.

"Calm yourself, young one. You are among friends, you have nothing to fear!" Optimus called over the Icarus' screams and the younger mech's dark blue optics shot to his, completely panicked.

Then, the moment there optics met the younger mech became silent. Recognition sparked in Icarus' optics as he looked up at the Autobot commander and a series of chirps and clicks came from his voice capacitor. Only his chirps didn't sound like Bumblebee's, Optimus began to realize it was a language as his processor began to feel light.

"Optimus don't move." Ratchet said calmly as he placed a servo on Optimus' arm. "He disconnected the energon line when he was thrashing around. The two of you are bleeding badly." Ratchet said calmly as Optimus glanced down at his arm to see energon practically gush out of the open wound caused by the tube disconnecting from his arm.

The silver mech had a similar wound on his arm and he appeared to be growing weaker as well but he still kept talking as if he hadn't noticed. The flow was steady for each wound and energon leaked down onto the medical berth as well as the ground.

Within moments Ratchet patched up both mechs and began to set up another energon line with Bumblebee to the strange mech. Then, he picked up a cloth and moved to clean up the spilled energon off the medical berth and the floor. Optimus tried his best not to get in the medics way but he was forced to sit in the same berth as Icarus, considering the small mech was clinging onto him like a life line. Though, Optimus didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest.

"He's speaking in a Velocitronian dialect." Optimus said more to himself than anyone else once his processor cleared a bit. Optimus continued to stare at the young mech in his arms; his mind was too fogged to be able to decipher anything the he was saying. Though, if Icarus was speaking in Velocitronian it was only logical to assume that he was of Velocitronian origin but what was he doing on earth?

"What is your name?" Optimus asked softly, still feeling a bit out of it from lack of energon in his systems. Optimus didn't want to keep referring to him as Icarus. He wanted to know his real name.

The young mech stopped his chatter and look at Optimus a little surprised before laughing. He sounded weak, even with the new energon he was obtaining from Bumblebee. The laugh was a strange sound, considering moments ago the young mech had been screaming as if being eaten alive by scraplets.

Just then, the young mech's language adaption seemed to kick in and just before he closed his optics he muttered one last word before slipping back into stasis. "Clocker…"

After that the room fell completely silent as the autobots in the room, minus the rookie all shared a look at the recognition of the small mech's name.

"Is he dead?" Miko spoke up, looking down at the offline mech.

"No, he merely slipped back into stasis." Ratchet sighed, shaking his helm as he disconnected the energon line between Bumblebee and Clocker. "I don't understand, with all the energon he obtained, he should have remained conscious."

"You've done all you can, Ratchet." Optimus sighed softly as he closed his optics before Ratchet shook his shoulders in an attempt to keep him awake.

"Ah, bah, bah! This is no time for recharge. Not after you lost all that energon." Ratchet scolded and Optimus merely gave him a look. For the past few weeks Ratchet has scolded Optimus that he needed to get more recharge and just when he wanted to he's being scolded again. He never wins.

"I'll need someone else to donate to Optimus or else he might end up slipping into stasis." Ratchet sighed and Smokescreen volunteered immediately. Ratchet was more than relieved when it was confirmed the two mechs shared the same energon type and started the transfusion.

After the connection was set Optimus and Smokescreen sat side by side on another medical berth while Ratchet got to work attending to Clocker. Optimus started to feel better after a while, the energon donation was definably a help.

Ratchet continued to work in silence but everyone could feel the weight in the room. Ratchet ignored them all and connected Clocker to what the humans assumed was some sort of IV before carting him over to the diagnostic chamber. Normally he would hook Clocker up to the device but in his fragile state Ratchet left the Velocitronian on the medical berth before locking him into the chamber. On the outside, Ratchet typed in a few commands that'll run tests and scan to determine any problems he couldn't see. Once everything was set up and Clocker seemed fine, Ratchet returned to the group.

"I've hooked him up to nanites to will speed up his healing process. I'll see what I can scrape together for armor for him." Ratchet said calmly, his voice completely under control and professional as he worked on removing the energon line between Smokescreen and Optimus. "It'll take a while for the scans to be complete. I want to know exactly why he's still in stasis."

"Great, now that all the insanity is over, anyone going to explain what's going on?" Miko asked, voicing the thoughts of everyone else in the room. "Why'd this Clocker guy know Optimus? Do you guys know him? What's a Velocitronian?"

Ratchet's optic seemed to twitch a bit as the girl went on with her game of twenty questions.

It seemed to strike the last of Ratchet's patience. The medic turned his back to the humans and looked straight at Optimus, completely ignoring Miko just as Optimus was rising to his feet. A sigh escaped the Prime, he knew what was coming.

"Optimus, what in Primus name is going on here?!" Ratchet yelled at the Prime, surprising him a bit by speaking in fluent Cybertronian. Though, it wasn't entirely unexpected either. Optimus could see why Ratchet was reserving to speak in their native tongue to keep their human comrades from interfering.

"Ratchet, calm yourself." Optimus spoke softly in their native tongue, placing a gentle servo on the medic's shoulder. Right now, there was clearly more going on than any of them understood at the moment.

"Optimus, how do you expect me to calm down in a time like this?!" The medic snapped at the Prime.

"Huh, maybe you should listen to him, Doc." Bulkhead added in, also speaking in Cybertronian, looking warily between the two mechs.

"Do you have any idea what they're saying?" Jaden muttered to Miko as they continued to watch the bots bicker amongst themselves, clearly having forgotten their presence, or were at least ignoring them.

"Not a clue." Miko replied but she wasn't really focused on that at the moment. Miko liked the gusto and just the sound of Cybertronian being spoken. It was pretty amazing.

Though, what fascinated her more than just hearing them was hearing the clear accent Bulkhead spoke in that was different from Optimus and Ratchet. It made Miko wonder if her guardian lived in another part of Cybertron than Optimus and Ratchet. She'll have to ask him later when they were done talking.

"Should we say something?" Suzuki asked, looking up at the autobots with as much as fascination as Miko.

"It's probably best that we don't interfere for now." Fowler sighed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, and how long's that gonna take?" Miko muttered softly, crossing her arms over her chest. Miko could tell Ratchet was ticked off by whatever Bulkhead had told him. Meanwhile, Optimus seemed to be trying to calm Ratchet down and it seemed to be working. At Miko hoped it was.

Then, Miko began to wonder what Raf and Jack were up to before it dawned on her that neither boy knew what was going on. Flipping out her phone, Miko began to text the two to update them on what was going on. However, the moment she hit send the message only got through to Raf's phone. A message appeared on her screen, saying the number was no longer it order. Miko huffed softly in annoyance.

She forgot Jack fried his phone by the beam of light when they found the Blade of Time. Sighing softly, Miko was about to considering calling Arcee; she probably didn't know what was going on either. Though before she could dial she got a response from Raf.

/Wow, that's insane but you couldn't have told me in the morning? :( /

/Well, this is important and you wouldn't have missed it if you didn't go home :p/

/Does Jack know?/

/Can't reach him/

/That's weird/

/Well, he did fry his phone when that beam of light shot into the sky/

/No, I mean there are a lot of fire trucks in the neighborhood, I think someone's house is on fire/

Miko tilted her head a bit confused by the message Raf sent her. She was talking about the discovery of the century for the bots and he was talking about some burning house in their neighborhood? Shaking her head, Miko was about to reply to the younger boy before an outburst from Ratchet made her jump and drop her phone off the catwalk. Miko watched in stunned horror as the phone hit the ground and snapped in two on impact.

"Oh, that sucks." Jaden said, looking down at the ground at Miko's phone while Marley just pat her shoulder.

"Ratchet, I needed that…" Miko whined softly, knowing the autobot medic probably didn't hear her as she slouched over the railing, staring at the remains of her phone. Miko at least hoped she would be able to somehow salvage the memory to get all her pictures back.

"There's a lot we don't understand, Optimus!" Ratchet snapped, all attempts of Optimus trying to calm him seemed futile now. "A lot of strange things have been happening recently and this is another one to add to the list!"

"Ratchet, I know." Optimus sighed softly, his voice remained calm and even, his patience unwavering.

"It's started since the accident," Bumblebee chirped in, speaking in his usual beeps and clicks, finally speaking up after remaining silent the whole time. Though, he'd been using his silence to process through everything they know. "There's Jack's survival and his link to the knowledge of the matrix, Optimus' memory loss, discovering the Blade of Time in the Valley of Fire and its new strange ability."

"It's destiny." Smokescreen hummed before cowering when Ratchet shot him a death glare for not speaking in Cybertronian.

"And now the humans have found Clocker with a Blade of Time. Not to mention we haven't even had time to search for the relics in the Iacon data base." Ratchet added in with a deep sigh.

"Alright, then let's try to focus on one thing at a time."Smokescreen suggested, speaking with an Iacon accent. "What about Clocker? What do you know about him?"

The group turned their attention to the diagnostic chamber, currently housing the mech in question. A whine escaped Bee's voice capacitor when he looked at the dull grey protoform of their friend, remembering that back on Velocitron Clocker had the brightest blue and orange armor.

"We haven't seen Clocker since back when we were on the Ark. This was some time after the Exile and we began to discover colony planets." Bumblebee sighed, shaking his helm. "Clocker is of the planet Velocitron but he is not your average mech as he appears to be."

"What do you mean?" Smokescreen asked curiously.

"Clocker is a part of a very complex combiner form. When fully combined with his four other parts he becomes Nexus Prime." Optimus spoke up, getting the rookie's attention.

"You're saying this little guy is a component of the Nexus Prime?!" Smokescreen asked he did not see that coming. "The guardian of Rarified Energon?!"

"Yes, but he also safeguards several swords created by Solus Prime, including the Blades of Time." Optimus replied before glancing over at the Blade of Time lying down on Ratchet's work bench. "In fact, the last time we encountered Nexus he had taken the Blades and had left to hide them away."

"It's destiny I'll tell you, all of it is." Smokescreen hummed softly, it was the only thing that explained what was going on. Everything would add up together eventually.

"Clocker, he said something about being attacked in his chatter. Not to mention there were witnesses seeing him fall from the sky." Bumblebee chimed in, getting Optimus' attention. "He may have still been combined with the others at the time, and the others could have been attacked as well. One of them could even be in the Valley of Fire somewhere for all we know."

"We can't jump to conclusions, Bumblebee." Optimus said calmly, though it troubled him the thought of another one of Nexus components buried somewhere in the national park, unable to call out for help.

"Hey, guys! I know this is serious and all, considering you're all being so secretive, speaking in Cybertronian, but what's going on?" Miko called out, getting the groups' attention.

"We're trying to figure that out, Miko." Bulkhead sighed, his language core returning to English. "It's just all really confusing right now. We don't have all the answers."

"Well, why don't you look at the things you can get answers from?" Miko asked, crossing her arms.

"Miko, this is more serious than you can understand…" Ratchet sighed but Optimus raised a servo to silence him.

"What do you mean, Miko?" The Prime asked.

"Well, you guys were so worried about this Clocker guy, and I don't blame you, but you guys barely even gave this new Blade of Time a second glance." Miko explained, pointing back at the untouched relic. "In all this insanity I figured you might want to have some answers."

"It's a start," Optimus replied, walking towards the relic. Optimus didn't see the relevance in seeing what the Blade of Time could do but decided it wouldn't hurt anyone to find out.

Reaching out for the relic a strange feeling washed over the Prime the moment he touched it. Optimus wasn't sure where this feeling came from or what it was, but it was there.

"Is something wrong, Optimus?" Ratchet asked, watching the Prime's outstretch arm had not picked up the relic.

"I'm fine." Optimus replied before picking up the blade and holding it up in front of him. It felt lighter to him than Smokescreen made it seem like. Optimus inspected the blade for a moment; part of him began to wonder how he would activate the blades' power.

"Are you just going to keep staring at it?" Miko asked.

"I am not entirely sure how to activate its power." Optimus replied honestly.

"Well, how'd Jack activate the first one?" Miko asked, hoping the Prime would be able to draw in inspiration from that.

"Jack…" Optimus muttered softly as he looked over the seek metal of the blade in his servo. From what he had seen it appeared Jack may have activated the blade by accident when in the presence of death. Unfortunately, that didn't exactly help Optimus at the moment. Now that Optimus thought about it, Jack was probably the furthest from danger right now, now that he was home.

Suddenly, without warning the blade began to glow with energy and the metal of the blade distorted. Before Optimus was able to figure out what was happening, his vision was overtaken by darkness. When Optimus came to his senses he realized he was surrounded by fire.

Looking around, Optimus was confused to see he was in a neighborhood and by all appearances it looked a lot like the children's neighborhood. Turning his attention back to the fire Optimus realized it was a house. Fire trucks surrounded the house and fire fighters were desperately trying to put out the flames, yet no one seemed aware that a thirty two foot autobot was standing amongst the chaos.

Optimus was unsure why the Blade of Time was showing him this burning house. That is, not until he heard a familiar voice in the crowd of people watching behind the safe zone.

"Jack!" A familiar voice called out, forcing her way through the crowd before running toward the burning house.

Optimus looked down and was surprised to see a woman wearing medical scrubs being pulled away from the house by a firefighter.

"June?" Optimus asked in shock, though it was obvious the woman hadn't heard him considering she was thrashing in the firefighter's arms, trying to break free to get to the house.

"Let me go, this is my house!" June screamed, watching as the flames got bigger. "Jack!"

Optimus stood there, watching the humans as a mixture of horror and fear courses through his spark at the thought that Jack was in the burning house. He was so shaken by the thought he barely heard a voice asking him if he alright. He could only guess the voice was Ratchet, considering no one was aware of his presence in this vision.

"Ma'am you need to stay back, my men have gone through and there's no one in the house." Another firefighter spoke up as he approached June and Optimus couldn't help but sigh in relief as a weight seemed to be lifted from his spark. But why was the Blade of Time showing him this?

Looking back at the burning house, realization finally hit Optimus. He had been thinking about Jack being safe in his home just before the blade activated. But what was he seeing exactly? Was this a vision of the past or future or even the present? And if this has happened where were Arcee and Jack?

Suddenly, Optimus vision changed and the fire and neighborhood was gone. Instead he could see the stars above him and he figured out in the desert. Only everything appeared to be moving around him quickly.

"We need to get a message out to the bots!" Optimus heard Jack's voice call out over the sound of cannon fire and he looked over to see Arcee and Jack speeding through a dirt road in the desert.

"The cons have a signal jammer up I need to get out of the radius." Arcee called back when the ground beside them exploded and she had to swerve a bit to avoid the heat of the blast.

Optimus watched the two in stunned silence. This vision was different somehow. His spark was racing and he could sense Jack's fear. It was the only way the Prime could describe it. Suddenly, a blast shot dangerously close to Arcee and Jack, nearly causing Arcee to crash.

"Arcee! Jack!" Optimus called out to the two, unintentionally dropping the Blade of Time in the process, cutting him off from the vision.

Optimus vision was a bit blurred as his optics adjusted to the light of the base. Meanwhile, the group just stared at him with looks of surprise and confusion.

"Optimus, what is going on?" Ratchet asked, alarmed by his friend's reaction as he helped Optimus to his feet.

Optimus focused his vision on his friend for a moment, trying to comprehend what he had seen. Though, right now the most important thing he needed to figure out was when exactly the vision took place. He immediately reached over for his comm. link to contact Arcee and his spark sank a bit when he was met with static. He tried a few more times before moving to the monitor to try to locate her life signal.

"Optimus, what is going on?" Ratchet asked raising an optic ridge in confusion as he watched the Prime.

However, just before Optimus could send out a call the monitor went off, signaling that someone was trying to send through an emergency comm. link. Optimus answered immediately and his spark sank as his fears were confirmed the moment he heard Arcee voice's frantic voice calling through the monitor.

/Arcee to base, requesting back up! The cons are giving chase, they know about Jack!/ Arcee called through her comm. link before swerving a bit to avoid a blast from a decepticon. Arcee was relieved she had been able to get a call through after getting out of the jamming frequency zone the con's put up.

/Scrap, that was close!/ Jack swore softly over the comm. link.

"Arcee, what's your current location?" Optimus asked immediately as he approached the ground bridge controls.

/Halfway to base but with all this fire power we're not going to—/ Arcee explained before the sound of cannon fire ripped through the back ground. Arcee and Jack screamed before the feed cut off; leaving only the sound of static on the screen.

"Jack? Arcee?" Miko asked a bit stunned as she stared at the screen. Keaton and Jaden shared her look of shock but no one seemed to notice.

Moments later the ground bridge activated and Optimus turned to his autobots.

"Autobots, roll out!"

---

Jack was in a world of pain. It was the only way he could describe it as he laid sprawled on the road after being thrown off of Arcee. Just when they thought they'd escape a con a lucky shot blew out Arcee's rear tire. It would only be a matter of time before the cons showed up.

Sure, it could have been worse, Jack figured. A lot worse.

"Jack!" A voice called, sounding muffled. Even through the ringing in his head, Jack was able to distinguish the voice as Arcee's.

"Still alive..." Jack muttered weakly, unsure whether or not his guardian had heard him or not, considering he had been thrown a good distance away from her.

Agonizingly, Jack twisted and turned to pull himself up in a seating position. He knew it was a mistake the moment pain exploded from his shoulder, sending back to the ground, causing his vision to turn white momentarily.

"Jack-?!" Arcee called back, this time sounding further away, followed by the similar sound or clashing metal.

Taking a shaky breathe, Jack opened his eyes to see Arcee fighting a good ways away fighting off a couple of Vehicons. Jack wanted to help, to help Arcee but there wasn't anything he could do lying on the ground injured.

Closing his eyes again, Jack growled out in frustration and punched the ground with his good hand. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Jack; he opened his eyes only to curse softly when they met with a pair of crimson optics and a matching paint job.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Jack muttered softly, looking up at the familiar decepticon medic as he approached him.

"That's going to leave a mark." Knock Out hummed softly as he looked down at the boy on the ground. Kneeling down, the medic picked up the boy and was a little surprised when he let out a strangled scream as he gripped his shoulder and chest in pain.

"Human are so fragile aren't they?" Knock Out muttered, as his optics lingered on Jack's shoulder and the weird way it seemed to be sticking out. Dislocation without a doubt caused from the fall. His ragged breathing may also mean injury to his rib cage but the boy wasn't bleeding so it was probably just bruised. "Hmm, you'll live."

"Let him go!" Arcee called out as she tried to maneuver away from the Vehicons keeping her from Jack.

Knock Out glanced at her direction and was fairly confident Arcee wouldn't be able to break through the wall of Vehicons separating them on her own. That is, until a ground bridge opened up behind her and shots began to rain down on the Vehicons from the other autobots.

"And that's my cue to leave." Knock Out muttered before transforming and driving off in the opposite direction of the oncoming autobots. "Lord Megatron, I request a space bridge!"

"No!" Arcee called out frantically the moment a space bridge appeared. Seeing as she was the closest than any of the other autobots, Arcee made a beeline for the open bridge. This wasn't happening. She wasn't going to lose another partner to the decepticons again, never again. She swore it on her life as she watched Knock Out disappear into the space bridge.

"Arcee, fall back!" Optimus called out to her when he saw she was making no move to slow down as the space bridge was beginning to close. Arcee simply ignored the Prime and kept going. She might have not been able to save Jack but she wasn't going to let him face this alone.

"Jack!" Arcee called out just as she jumped and dived through the space bridge just before it closed fully and she was enveloped by darkness. Arcee ducked and rolled instinctively as she hit the ground and stopped in a crouch. It was at that moment she heard the sound of energon rifles charging, not doubt aimed at her spark chamber.

"Get up slowly with your servos where we can see them and we won't harm the boy." Dreadwing ordered, his voice echoing somewhat from the confined space they were in.

Arcee kept her gaze down and raised her arms in defeat before slowly got to her feet as ordered. It wasn't until she was standing that she decided to look up. That's when Arcee realized they were in the decepticon med bay and she was surrounded by five decepticons. Megatron, Dreadwing, Knock Out, Breakdown and Sideways. Though, surprising that wasn't what she was focused on. Instead, she was focusing on who was in Megatron's servo.

"A-Arcee?" Jack asked in a shaky voice, obviously trying to hide the pain he was in. He was clearly injured from the crash and being handled by the decepticons wasn't helping.

"Dreadwing, Breakdown, see to it that she gets to the brig without incident." Megatron ordered, keeping his grip on Jack firm. "And if she resists, well…" Megatron added, looking down at Jack before pressing a sharp fingertip on the boy's face.

Jack tried to hold back a cry as the sharp metal broke through his skin and blood began to seep down his face. Jack began to panic when his eye went blind and hoped it was just from the blood and not damage caused to his eye.

"Stop!" Arcee yelled in fear before looking down in defeat. She cringed as she caught a sight of Jack's blood drip down onto the floor with gentle plops. She looked back up at Jack and kept her gaze on him even as Dreadwing moved forward to slap stasis cuffs on her wrists.

"Take her," Megatron ordered, satisfied that Arcee wouldn't make any attempts to escape, at least in the trip to the brig. "Put her with her autobot comrade."

"Whatever you say, boss." Breakdown replied as he made his way to the door with Arcee and Dreadwing following behind him. Arcee eyed Megatron a bit confused as she was dragged off. She wasn't aware of the decepticons keeping autobot prisoners, and then again, there was a lot she didn't know about them.

"It's going to be alright, Jack." Arcee said, glancing back to see Jack but she was pushed through the med bay doors and it shut behind them and Jack alone with three decepticons. The odds were definably not in his favor.

"Great, you caught me. Now what do you want?" Jack asked bitterly, trying to use the edge of his sleeve to soak up the blood from the cut on his face.

"They're something on your mind we need to take a look at." Megatron replied almost casually as he watched the boy tend to his injuries. Human blood was such a fascinating color. "The Key to Vector Sigma wasn't completely destroyed that day, now was it, Jack?"

Jack shot the Decepticon leader a glare and kept tending to his injuries. His shoulder was throbbing and he was starting to feel a little dizzy. "Alright, you figured that part out but what can the cons want with that knowledge in the first place? It's not like you can use it."

"Oh the contrary, Jack," Megatron smirked as he began to move through the med bay. "To have the knowledge will be of great benefit to us."

Jack winced a bit at the sudden movement and gripped his arm as pain shot through him. Jack was at least glad the arm he injured was the one with the glyphs, that way he had a reason to cover up his arm. He really didn't want Megatron to see it after witnessing Optimus and Smokescreen's reactions to it. Megatron was smart; he was bound to know what the glyphs meant.

"How?" Jack argued, glaring up at Megatron and he merely smirked. Jack didn't like the way the Decepticon commander was looking at him. It was like there was something he knew that he didn't.

"We can't directly use the knowledge when it's inside of you. For now I need your to prove something." Megatron replied and Jack was beginning to hate he was talking to him in riddles.

"Knock Out, is the patch ready?" Megatron asked as he glanced down at his medic.

"Ready and waiting." Knock Out replied motioning to a strange device set up on one of the medical berths. Jack froze a bit at the term, not believing what he was hearing as he followed the decepticon's gaze.

"You can't be serious." Jack gasped, his eyes widening in horror the moment he caught sight of a familiar cable connected to some sort of helmet, just the right size for humans.

They did it, they actually did it. The decepticons created a human cortical psych patch.

---

"What happened? Where's Jack and Arcee?" Miko asked frantically the moment the bots returned to base. Neither Arcee nor Jack was among them.

"We were too late," Optimus muttered softly, his gaze looked a bit far away as if he was still trying to accept it himself. "This is my fault."

"Optimus, nothing you could have done could have prevented this." Ratchet replied, placing a servo on his commander's shoulder.

At that moment, Optimus' optics seemed to refocus and he regained his calm, calculative demeanor. Ratchet wasn't sure if Optimus believed him but was glad it got through to him.

"Ratchet, run the scanners through every frequency to look for either the ship's reading or Arcee's." Optimus ordered calmly.

"I'll see what I can do, but it'll be a long shot." Ratchet replied, moving to access the monitor. It was always difficult to find the decepticon ship but they've done it before.

Optimus nodded before turning on his comm. link, opening a link to Wheeljack to explain the situation to the Wrecker. /Wheeljack, I need you to take the Jackhammer to begin scouting the air for the decepticon ship, it is of the utmost important that we locate the ship to find Arcee and Jack/

/You got it, boss bot/ Wheeljack replied before shutting off his comm. link. Another long shot but it would help in the search.

A sigh escaped Optimus as he looked over the command room. "Fowler, since the monitors are of use would you mind opening a line to June? Jack's family has a right to know what happened tonight."

"Sure thing, Prime but most of them already know." Fowler sighed, looking up at Optimus a little tiredly. "In fact, his father and brother are in the room with us." He added before taking out his cell phone, stepping away to call June. At that the room fell silent and everyone turned their attention to Jaden and Keaton.

"Holy scrap, I see it!" Miko yelled, shattering the silence instantly. She took another long look at Jaden and gasped. "No wonder you looked so familiar!"

"Oh, well, that explains why you kept staring at me." Jaden replied, rubbing the back of his head a little sheepishly.

"You even act like him!" Miko gasped before noticing Keaton walk up to the railing, approaching Optimus and she lost some of her enthusiasm.

"Optimus, what happened to my son?" Keaton asked sternly. "How does he even know of your existence?"

Optimus remained silent for a moment, studying the man in front of him before he spoke. "Jack came to know one of my soldiers, Arcee, after a confrontation with the decepticons a year ago. Arcee has been his guardian since the incident and now the two of them have been taken by the decepticons. However, their main target was Jack."

Keaton just looked up at Optimus in shock as he took in the information he was told.

Jaden looked equally as stunned at this revelation and looked up at Optimus. "Why? Would they want Jack?"

A sigh escaped the Prime as he rubbed his optics a little tiredly. It was too much to explain when they still had so many unanswered questions. Glancing over at Ratchet, Optimus could see he was currently scanning frequencies for any sign of the decepticon ship.

"It would be best to wait for June to arrive to avoid having to explain this complex story twice." Ratchet suggested, saving the Prime while not once looking up from the monitor.

"She's already on the way." Fowler added in, hanging up the phone, returning to the group. "She'll be here in a few minutes with Raf."

"Thank you, Agent Fowler." Optimus replied before turning away and kneeling down to pick up the Blade of Time he had dropped earlier.

Optimus stared at the blade for a moment, considering using it again to see what was going on in the decepticon ship. It was obvious to him now this Blade of Time showed him visions of what was happening in the present. His optics widened a bit when realization hit that he could even use the blade to figure out where the ship was at that very moment.

"Optimus, what did the blade show you?" Ratchet asked, glancing back at his friend, cutting Optimus from his train of thought. Though, he already had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Jack's home was on fire." Optimus replied bluntly, surprising the group. Though, Optimus did not take his optics off the Blade of Time. "And after that, I witnessed the decepticons give chase to Arcee and Jack in the desert and I believe it was all in present time."

"Does that mean you can see what's going on to Jack right now?" Miko asked, looking up at the Prime.

"That and much more." Optimus replied before opening his comm. link to Wheeljack's frequency. /Wheeljack, return to base immediately/

/Did you find the con's ship yet?/ The Wrecker asked curiously.

/Not yet but in a moment we'll know exactly where it is/ Optimus replied before disconnecting the comm. link and looking down at the Blade of Time again.

Clearing his mind, Optimus focused his thoughts on the decepticon ship and its current location. Sure enough, the blade began to glow again and the metal distorted again as his vision melted away. When his optics refocused he was in the sky and a dark looming mass floated in front of him.

Taking a look at his surroundings, Optimus began to calculate the location of the decepticon warship along with its current speed and direction.

Once Optimus had the location in mind he deactivated the Blade of Time and turned to Ratchet to give him the coordinates.

"Are you sure this is it?" Ratchet asked, raising an optic ridge.

"Yes, Ratchet." Optimus replied simply.

Ratchet turned away to type in the location and gave the monitor a frown as the map of the earth zoomed off planet, high above the earth's surface. "Optimus, these coordinates are in earth's upper atmosphere."

"Why would they take Jack to space?" Miko asked, looking up at the monitor.

"No doubt the decepticons chose that location for the very fact our ground bridge is unable to reach their ship." Optimus sighed, shaking his helm.

"Even if we take the Ol' Jackhammer, there's a good chance the cons will detect us first and that won't be good for Jack." Wheeljack added in, appearing almost out of thin air. Optimus was a bit impressed by the Wrecker's speed in which he returned to the base.

"So what's the plan then?" Bulkhead asked, looking up to their leader.

Optimus looked back down at the blade in his servo, thinking about everything that's been going on. They were so blinded in their search for answers it hadn't occurred to him that the decepticons would come to the same conclusion that Jack was the vessel of the Matrix. Yet, now they needed answers more than ever.

"We need more information." Optimus replied before activating the Blade of Time. If he was able to see Arcee's situation he could see if she could open communications between the base and the ship. Though, Optimus was also worried about Jack, hoping he wasn't being harmed. There was only one way to find out.

Clearing his mind, Optimus only left an image of Jack and Arcee to guide the Blade of Time and the smooth metallic surface began to distort.

For a moment, Optimus caught sight of Arcee being thrown into the brig. He had no doubt with her skills she'll be able to find a way to escape undetected so he focused his thoughts on Jack without noticing the pair of aqua green optics watching Arcee in the darkness.

"Stay out of my head!" Jack screamed startling the Prime as the image of the decepticon med bay came to focus.

Suddenly, a scream of pain came from the boy as Megatron tightened his grip around him. Optimus could only watch in horror, seeing Jack's face covered in blood and cringing a bit at the loud pop Jack's shoulder made. Jack slumped forward, overwhelmed by pain as he struggled to remain conscious. He was completely stunned by the pain and in that time Knock Out moved forward to strap Jack down in a strange device.

Jack simply lay there, breathing heavily but not as much as before, still holding onto his arm despite his restraints. "Stay out…" He said weakly.

"I think you just fixed his shoulder, my Liege." Knock Out commented, looking down at the teen's shoulder as he slipped the helmet over Jack's head.

"Knock Out, begin the psych patch." Megatron ordered as he moved to lie down on an already prepared medical berth beside Jack's and Optimus energon ran cold.

Of course the decepticons would just a cortical psych patch to retrieve the data but what use would it be? Optimus wondered but his train of thought stopped immediately the moment Knock Out activated the patch and Jack began to scream. To make matters worse, pain hit Optimus like a train and he fell to his knees but he refused to let go of the Blade of Time this time. He could vaguely hear his autobots surrounding him, asking what was wrong but he ignored them all and returned his attention to Jack.

This was a vision but why was Optimus feeling Jack's pain? And this wasn't the first time either. When he had seen the vision of Jack and Arcee trying to escape the decepticons he had sensed Jack's fear. But what did it all mean? Did he and Jack share some sort of connection through the matrix?

Optimus could feel himself being raised from the ground and moved somewhere. No doubt Ratchet was moving him to sit down on a medical berth. With a shaky breathe Optimus pulled himself away from the vision for a moment and his optics barely registered Ratchet in front of him.

He appeared to be trying to talk to him but all Optimus could hear was Jack's screams.

"Patch…" Optimus choked out softly and for a moment he registered Ratchet's look of shock before Jack's screams stopped and darkness over took Optimus' vision. That's when Optimus knew he was inside Jack's mind and the psych patch was a success.

Optimus decided not to withdraw from the vision. He needed to know why Megatron would take such drastic measures to perform a psych patch on a human. Human minds were complex, far more chaotic than Cybertronian minds. Who knows what the patch could do to Jack's mind.

Then, as Optimus vision began to brighten, his only hoped was that Jack's mind was strong enough to be able to survive this ordeal.

---

A/N: Well that was exciting! Hope you guys liked the new chapter :D Oh and this chapter was going to be longer with more things but I felt it would be a bit of an overload for you guys and it would have been twice as long as this O.O So yeah, next chapter we go into more detail with the inner works of Jack's psych patch! Probably some family matters, not to mention we'll see an old friend ;p and the rescue mission :3

Please Read and Review! I like to hear what you guys think or if I need any improvements or if there's any confusion :D