A/N: Ahhhhhhh, it's been six months since I've last updated. I'm so sorry! Yeah, life has been really busy, family, lack of stable internet connection and stuff prevented me from writing but I'll actually update the next chapter soon because I didn't realize I pretty much wrote double than what I normally do, so after some editing the next chapter should be out by the end of the week end? Maybe sooner, we'll see ;) So, a quick reminder, Jack and Arcee have been captured by the cons for the knowledge in Jack's head and Jack has just been put in a psych patch. What fun :) so yeah.
Enjoy! Please read and review!
The moment Arcee was escorted out of the Decepticon Command Room she's wanted nothing more than to escape her restraints and run back to snatch Jack from Megatron's grip. Unfortunately, Jack's current predicament prevented her from even considering an escape. Too much was at stake right now. Arcee was outmatched a thousand to one and if she made one mistake that was the end for Jack.
Arcee wouldn't put it past Megatron to kill Jack once his usefulness wore out. That meant her time was limited. She needed to figure out a way to get them out of this alive and the only way to do that was to contact the others.
As Arcee walked between her escorts, Breakdown and Dreadwing, she occasionally snuck glances back at Breakdown as they walked. There was something off about the decepticon. Though, Arcee couldn't figure out what it was exactly. She noticed the scars scattered along his frame and around his optic.
Arcee figured the scar around his optic was from the experimentation preformed on him back when he was captured by M.E.C.H. Though, it confused her to see his optic was back. No one in Team Prime has seen Breakdown since they rescued him. It felt odd, seeing him like this now.
Breakdown's optic appeared too damaged to have been replaced or maybe that was the point? Perhaps he was punished for being captured by humans and given a damaged optic. Still, whatever the case was something didn't seem right.
"End of the line, autobot." Breakdown said as he stopped in front of a cell door. "This is your stop."
Arcee took one glance at the cell before glancing at Breakdown. She took a step back the moment she saw a change in his optics. Though, was gone so fast she almost thought it hadn't happened at all. Still, she could have sworn she saw a flash of purple in his optics...
Then, Arcee remembered the scars all over Breakdown's frame, almost like he had been ripped into pieces. Before Arcee could dwell on her thoughts any longer she was picked up by her captors and thrown into the cell. The moment Arcee hit the ground she was up again and she immediately turned to attack Breakdown.
Though, instead of hitting her mark, her shoulder connected with the door of the cell. Arcee stumbled a bit, the impact stunning her a bit. Shaking off her daze, Arcee growled in frustration and began to slam her frame against the metal door in a futile and inefficient attempt to override the door controls.
"Quiet in there, autobot!" Breakdown growled through the door, punching the door to quiet the autobot before a smirk formed on his faceplate. "Or else you might wake up your cellmate." Breakdown called over through the door before walking away laughing.
"Cellmate?" Arcee muttered softly before looking around the cell. Arcee visibly tensed the moment her optics rested on a shadowy figure hung suspended on the ceiling with energon cuffs.
The blue two-wheeler instinctively went into the best battle stance she could get into while in stasis cuffs. There may have been no need to, considering the mystery bot was suspended on the ceiling but after all you could never be too careful.
Oddly enough, the mech made no move to attack or even acknowledge her presence. Strange, not even a comment that they were sharing cells. From what she could see, he wasn't dead. Was he in stasis-lock perhaps? No…his ventilation intakes weren't even as one would expect from stasis. No he was asleep, though it didn't appear as if it was a pleasant recharge.
Suddenly, Arcee recalled Megatron mentioning she would be put in the brig with another autobot. Was this the other autobot? Scanning the mech briefly, Arcee quickly found the familiar face of the autobot insignia sitting on the mech's arm. Still, that didn't exactly make Arcee relax either and she kept her optics on this mech.
Maintaining her distance, Arcee studied the autobot. It was hard to make out his faceplates from her distance and she was wary of getting any closer than she had to. As far as Arcee could tell the autobot had crimson armor and had a well built, bulky frame.
Arcee swore softly, not believing the situation she was in. Her mind was still reeling; her thoughts were mostly on Jack and his safety so it was hard for her to focus on her 'cellmate'. Still, her top priority was Jack. Arcee could only imagine what the cons would want Jack for and everything she came up with wasn't good.
Still, there was nothing Arcee could do to help Jack from inside this cell. She could easily smash the cuffs off with enough force but it could awake her sleeping cellmate. Even if he was an autobot, Arcee wasn't sure if was friend or foe. For all she knew this could have been an autobot who turned. Then again, what did she have to lose? Her best chance at the moment was gaining an ally that could help her escape.
Weighing her options, and she knew didn't have many, Arcee warily began to approach the other Cybertronian in the room.
As she approached the crimson autobot, Arcee's optics began to adjust to the lighting in the room. The more her optics began to adjust, the more she thought something was wrong and that they were malfunctioning somehow.
Taking a closer look, Arcee inspected the mech's sleeping form and she felt her spark skipped a beat.
Losing the strength in her legs, Arcee immediately collapsed to her knees and stared at the mech. She looked over anything that might prove who was in front of her wasn't who she thought it was.
No matter how she saw it, it was him. The same silver faceplates, the same bright red armor she could notice even before he heard him chatter away.
"Cliff…?" Arcee asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Everything was the same from the last time she saw him besides being split in half. By the looks of it, he looked to be fully healed and only had scars left. His right horn was still broken. It seemed the only thing that hadn't healed. Everything else has left a scar, including the wound over his spark; the wound that extinguished his spark.
"Primus..." Arcee muttered almost inaudible as she bowed her helm, not sure whether she could take in what she was seeing. It was him; there was no doubting it, but how? How could he possibly be alive after the explosion in the mine?
Looking back up at her old friend, Arcee studied him for a moment, her mind reeling. How was this even possible? Cliffjumper was supposed to be dead but here he was…When Arcee imagined seeing Cliffjumper again she imagined it being in the Allspark, not here in the decepticon brig.
Forcing herself up onto her feet, Arcee took a step closer to Cliffjumper. She stared at his chest for a moment and noticed a deep scar running just across his spark chamber. The thought of that gaping hole in his chest being what had killed Cliffjumper sent a shiver through Arcee's frame.
Tearing her gaze from the motionless frame, she let out a soft sigh. After a moment, Arcee glanced back at Cliffjumper and another thought came to mind. She knew it was probably a bad idea but she had to know her sure. Leaning her helm as best she could against his spark chamber, Arcee closed her optics and tried to listen for a spark beat.
It took a moment, but sure enough she heard it. It was faint but it was there, the constant but somewhat uneven pulses evident beneath his chest plate. For a brief moment Arcee was overcome with emotion. She felt her knees weaken but managed to stay upright this time. Was it really him? Was her partner really alive?
Her questions were quickly replaced by doubt. He was really alive but was he the same mindless beast as the Terrocon that tried to attack her or was he something else entirely? Something like Breakdown? With control over his actions and not that...monster that tried to kill her.
"What are you doing?" Cliffjumper muttered softly, peeking through a closed optic and Arcee jumped back and almost fell on her aft.
Opening her optics, Arcee rose her helm to look at him and her icy blue optics met with familiar aqua green optics, not purple, optics that were full of life, his optics. What Arcee heard was his voice that had broken a silence deep within her that has haunted her since the day she was told his spark had extinguish.
"Cliffjumper," Arcee said so softly she wasn't sure the mech had heard her. Letting out a shaky breathe she reached out tentatively to her old partner. A part of her still didn't quite believing what she was seeing was real. Arcee had been disappointed many times before when she had woken from dreams, only to realize Cliffjumper was still gone. Though, she hoped with every ounce of her being that side of her was wrong and this wasn't another dream.
Meanwhile, Cliffjumper just watched her a bit curiously, as if not sure what to make of her odd behavior. His aqua green optics seemed to sparkle in amusement as he watched her.
Arcee's servos were inches from his faceplate when she hesitated. Cliffjumper was dead. He's been dead for a long time now but, how could this mech that talks like him and sounds like him, even look like him, down right to the damaged horn, really be Cliffjumper?
It didn't make any sense but it also didn't stop the joy she felt in her spark. Still, Arcee couldn't allow herself to be happy. Something was seriously wrong here and she needed to figure out what. Things weren't supposed to be like this.
"Are they gone?" Cliffjumper asked, breaking the silence as he glanced at the door. He was most likely referring to Breakdown and Dreadwing, no doubt. Arcee was about to say something when she caught a tint of purple in his optics. She could feel her spark freeze as reality crashing down on her hard and something snapped inside of her.
Suddenly, metal clashed against metal as Arcee's strike made contact with her former partner's faceplates in a quick and efficient kick. The chains that suspended him, already weakened from earlier attempts to escape, snapped at the sudden force. The attack was unexpected and Cliffjumper had no time to brace himself as he crashed to the floor in a tangled mess of chains. Pain erupted on his faceplates, both from the kick and from the impact on the ground.
Cliffjumper definably hadn't expected that from a fellow autobot. Nor did he realize how much power she could put in one kick. He was almost impressed if he wasn't withering in pain on the ground. He could already feel the wound starting to heal but he could care less about that at the moment.
A pained groan escaped his lips as his processor began to spin. Energon dipped from his mouth and he forced himself to sit up to spit it out, along piece of denta the kick managed to dislodge. He stared at the pool of his own energon on the floor for a moment, aware of the strange discoloration of it as the pain slowly began to fade.
"What the frag was that for?!" Cliffjumper growled, his anger rising as he turned to glare up at his attacker. What did he do to deserve this?
"Shut up!" Arcee growled, readying herself to strike again if necessary, showing no remorse for her former partner; her optics shifting back and forth between the pool of dark energon on the floor and Cliffjumper.
This had to be some sort of trick. It had to be.
Cliffjumper was long gone and for all she knew this mech in front of her could have been reprogrammed by the cons with the dark energon to act like his old self. The thought of that just made her anger rise and feel sick to her tanks. She had to urge to strike him again to make the feeling go away but something held her back.
"What in Pit are you?" Arcee growled, staring down at the mech with seething optics.
At that Cliffjumper looked genuinely confused, his anger temporarily fading. He was able to hold back his anger for a moment but he wasn't sure if he could keep it up.
"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about..."Cliffjumper tried to explain, his helm throbbing painfully as he felt something tugging at the back of his processor, trying to take over again.
Cliffjumper let out another pained groan as his vision began to darken and he tried to force the feeling back. He felt this happen before when he attacked those decepticons in the mine and in the brig. He had to calm down and if he didn't there would be no going back. He would black out and the next thing he knew he would fine this femme dead at his feet.
An image of the blue autobot suddenly flashed into his mind, lying in a crumbled heap on the ground, body mangled and torn to pieces. His servos drenched in her iridescent life blood and her energon splattered on the walls…
The next thing Cliffjumper knew, he and the femme switched places; he was standing before her, while she hung suspended to the ceiling by energon restraints. Cliffjumper stared at her long and hard, not having a clue as to what was going on. Where were they? They obviously weren't in the brig anymore…
Taking a look around, Cliffjumper felt his spark was still racing when he noticed energon splattered on the walls. He automatically knew for a fact it didn't belong to him, the femme or any of the guards he had taken out earlier.
He searched the room, looking for the source of the energon when his optics fell onto a white heap on the ground.
A body, mostly white but now that he took another look he had blue flames beneath his energon stained armor. Cliffjumper tried to get a look at the mech's faceplates but he quickly forced himself to look away. Before he knew it he and another mech he hadn't noticed before started to help the blue femme down from her restraints before helping her out of the room.
She kept saying something about not being able to save her partner but Cliffjumper could hardly focus on that. His thoughts lingered on trying to figure out what lead him to that room to begin with.
He glanced back at the white and blue mech on the ground for a moment.
"TAILGATE!" Cliffjumper heard the femme cry out before he realized he called out the name as well before he felt a stab of pain in his spark and he nearly collapsed. The closest he could describe the pain was as if his spark was being physically torn in half.
The shock of the pain suddenly brought Cliffjumper back to his senses and he was back in the decepticon brig like he never left. Confusion filled his spark as he tried to figure out what he just experienced but all he could think about was all that energon…
Images and thoughts of violence began to flood his mind. He knew what was coming and he knew he was losing this battle.
"Run..." Cliffjumper muttered painfully, his helm beginning to throb as dark thoughts began to consume him. He looked up at the femme and silently begged her to run, even though he knew it was futile. There was no place to run.
Arcee just stared at her supposed former partner. Unsure what to make of the fact he just screamed Tailgate's name and appeared to be having an episode. She didn't understand any of it until Cliffjumper's gaze returned to her and his optics flashed to a deep purple of dark energon.
Suddenly, a deep, primal growl emanated within Cliffjumper's voice capacitor. Arcee unconsciously took a step back at the sound. Fear rising within her when she remembered the last time she heard that growl. Though, it wasn't fear for herself it was the fear she felt when she had to let go of Cliffjumper to fall this his "death" into the energon mine nearly a year ago.
Seeing the femme in front of him step back in fear revved up the Terrocon within Cliffjumper. For a reason he couldn't understand, he loved seeing this femme fearful and helpless. Now he wanted her, he wanted to tear her apart limb by limb.
Suddenly, there was a loud snap of chains breaking as the Terrorcon began to break away from his restraints that shackled his arms together. The chains strained against the force, mental bending and scraping against each other as he began to break free from the reinforced shackles.
Arcee took another step back as the single restraint started to give. It suddenly dawned on her of her mistake in attacking a Terrorcon when she was trapped in an enclosed space and wearing energon cuffs. Not her brightest moment. The odds of her getting out of this alive were becoming slim.
The moment the last restraint gave way, Cliffjumper was free. Slamming his now free servos on the ground, Cliffjumper let out a low growl before charging straight for Arcee at lightning speed.
Arcee quickly jumped and barely managed to clear over Cliffjumper's helm. Landing behind him, Arcee quickly turned back to face her old friend only to see he had crashed into the wall from his momentum. Looking behind him, Arcee could see he left a rather large dent in the wall. She sighed; relieved he had gotten the wall and not her. The relief was short lived; she was still trapped in the same cell with this impostor.
Now she knew whatever part of him was gone now, even if it had been real. The odds definably weren't in her favor but, it's not like she was going down without a fight; not when too much was at stake.
Detaching himself from the wall, Cliffjumper let out a roar and immediately turned to face Arcee. Arcee knew she couldn't keep dodging but then an idea came to mind. If she could get Cliffjumper to strike the wall again he just might break through it. It was risky but it would mean she could escape and get to Jack.
Suddenly, Cliffjumper began to charge again and Arcee knew she had to dodge again. Though, the moment she jumped over him she felt something wrap around her ankle before she was sent flying across the room.
Arcee's vision darkened the moment her helm crashed against the wall. Before her vision could clear Arcee felt pressure around her neck as she was raised off the floor and slammed against the wall.
Looking down at her attacker, Arcee froze in fear the moment her blue optics met with cold purple ones. There was no longer emotion in Cliffjumper's optics, only rage. Arcee tried to say something, in a despair attempt to be able to get through to Cliff who had been pulled under by the raging monster before her.
Arcee let out a pained gasped as Cliffjumper suddenly began to tighten his grip around her neck. Her vision began to darken as the force threatened to crush her main energon line.
Arcee did all she could to keep herself from slipping away but her mind plagued her with images of the mine. She had Cliffjumper in her servo and had let fall to his death. She had been too late to save him and had failed him. Now she was going to die and fail another partner.
She kept failing one partner after another and it was like the universe was throwing it in her face now. And now, as her life was slowing being crushed away, Arcee wanted more than anything to be the partner she needed to be for all of her partners; past and current. If only she could have gotten the chance to start over...
Arcee kept her gaze with her former partner. For a moment, she could have sworn seeing his cold dead optics flashing back to their original aqua green. Though, part of Arcee thought it must have been a trick in the light because it was gone the moment it appeared.
Cliffjumper wanted to kill her; it was all his instincts were telling him to do. He enjoyed hearing how helpless she sounded under his grasp, trying to utter out a word but the pressure around her neck was proving too much.
Still, even if she couldn't talk, Cliffjumper couldn't help but feel someone was screaming at him to stop. But why should he stop? This was too much fun.
Suddenly, the femme struck at him again, landing a solid hit to his helm. It seemed she still had some fight left in her; something still worth fighting for. Though, the hit hardly fazed Cliffjumper; it was more of a nuisance if anything else.
Staring at the femme with cold optics, he watched the femme as she continued to strike him. That is, until it dawned on her she was wasting too much energy attacking him. Changing tactics, the femme went after his servos around her neck and tried to pry open his grip.
Watching her, Cliffjumper couldn't help but laugh at her feeble attempts at escape. There was no escape, there was never an escape.
Suddenly, the voice he had heard before was growing louder. It was becoming more of a nuisance than her attack.
In the back of his helm, Cliffjumper could hear the voice but, he couldn't make out what it was saying. No doubt they were still trying to get him to stop attacking the femme. Though, soon enough the voice was starting to get lost in the chaos, the storm in his mind.
Cliffjumper was actually relieved when he could no longer hear the voice pleading to him. Then, just as the voice stopped it forced its way back, piercing through the chaos, startling him.
Suddenly, the next thing Cliffjumper knew he was suspended in the air. The cell had melted away again and this time the two of them were in a large chasm.
At least that was as far as he could tell from his position. Above him the whole place looked like it was falling to pieces and he was right in the middle of it. His first instinct was to move as bits of platforms from the high levels began crashing around him. Though, when he tried to move he couldn't feel his legs. He tried to see what the problem was and discovered he was lying in a pool of his own energon, his frame appearing to have been cleaved in two. He felt numb though the cause for his numbness wasn't the wound.
This place felt oddly familiar, like he had been there before…Cliffjumper tried to search his mind, to remember when he had been in this chasm but just got a massive processor ache.
Suddenly, the pain worsens as it shot through his processor like icy spikes were digging into his helm. He let out a cry as the pain deepened throughout his body and he felt himself starting to slip away. All he wanted was for the pain to stop…
Then before he knew it he began to fall and he felt like it was the end. Part of him felt oddly relieved it would be over soon.
Suddenly, he jerked back as someone took of hold of his servo. Looking up, Cliffjumper was surprised to see the femme holding his servo, helping him up.
"Let's get you home, partner." She called, raising an arm to shield herself from the falling debris.
Anger suddenly swelled through Cliffjumper and he let out a savage growl. This was supposed to be the end. He wanted it to end and this femme had the nerve to stop that?
The femme cried out when he growled at her and before he knew it he was falling.
Looking up at the femme as he fell, Cliffjumper was confused to see the femme was still reaching out to him. He kept watching her until he crashed into ground and everything went black.
When Cliffjumper opened his optics again he was in that room again; the room with the femme suspended in the restraints while her partner lay dead on the ground. Lowering his gaze to the body, Cliffjumper stared at him for a moment. His faceplates looked peaceful, meaning he was killed while he was unconscious. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
Closing his optics, Cliffjumper felt his spark ache before he turned to help the femme. Cliffjumper set the femme down on the ground and helped her walk out with the yellow mech who had gone into the room with him.
The femme was quivering, no doubt in anguish and guilt. Watching her only caused Cliffjumper's spark to ache even more.
"I couldn't save my partner..." The femme kept repeating over and over again.
Cliffjumper took one last glance at her partner. Others were going in to collect the body. He quickly turned his attention to the femme as they boarded a transport to get out of there.
"Let's get you home, partner..." He muttered softly, snapping the femme out of her trance for a moment but she quickly withdrew back into herself the moment she saw her partner's body being put on the transport.
Cliffjumper followed her gaze to her partner, Tailgate's body. It was that name he had heard before but he wasn't sure when, everything was so fuzzy now. Still, the name had the same affect it had on him before, sending a wave of pain through his spark. This mech, why did his death mean so much to him?
Suddenly, a girl appeared in his mind. She was sitting inside his interior, looking through a device she had found in his glove department. In the device were various images of him with other bots.
Then, the girl looked like she was drawing what was on the holoform. Her drawings were pretty good from what Cliffjumper saw.
"Who are they?" The girl asked suddenly, surprising Cliffjumper.
"Who are you?" He asked without really thinking about it before realizing this was the first time he's actually spoken to her.
The girl got excited when she heard him spoke, muttering something along the lines that she wasn't going crazy. "I'm Risa. Now, what's your name and who are they?"
Cliffjumper was about to tell her his name when he stopped short. Realizing at the time he didn't know his name but now he does.
Lowering his gaze to the holoform, Cliffjumper looked down at the bots in the holoform. In the holoform there was that femme, the yellow mech that had helped him and Tailgate.
Tailgate's name was the only name that came to mind but he couldn't remember the names of the other two.
Fighting to remember, Cliffjumper could feel things slowly coming back. He remembers he was looking for them; he had been searching for a long time. He had been trapped on this planet, alone and hasn't seen anyone in all that time.
Since he'd woken up alone, Cliffjumper wanted more than anything to find someone. Someone he knew, someone who knew who he was. Flashing back into the cell, Cliffjumper looked down at the femme, unconsciously loosening his grip, realizing he has found that someone.
As memories slowly came back Cliffjumper still couldn't remember anything past the time he woke up in that cavern. Still, he knew for a fact he could not kill this femme.
Putting together what he had seen, Cliffjumper realized that the two of them were partners. They had come to this planet somehow. Then something bad happened to him and she tried to save him.
Cliffjumper tried to remember more but came up blank as his processor ached.
The memories he did have of this femme and from before coming to this planet were fuzzy but Cliffjumper felt a strong connection to them. Suddenly, Cliffjumper let go of the femme and stepped back quickly. Using all his willpower, he forced himself to keep himself from attacking her again.
Arcee let out a relieved gasp the moment the pressure around her neck faded. She slide to the floor, her legs unable to support her as she waited for her energon to flow properly again.
Cliffjumper watches her for a moment, keeping his distance as his processor throbbed. He didn't want to kill her. He couldn't kill her but he still felt the urge to snuff out her spark. That's when he realized it wasn't him who wanted to kill her. Something else was making him want to do it. If that was the case, Cliffjumper did everything in his power to push that feeling back.
Meanwhile, Arcee just watched Cliffjumper in a bit of a daze. She was fairly surprised when he had let go of her and wondered what could have possibly possessed him to stop him from killing her.
"I'm sorry..." Cliffjumper said suddenly as he looked down at her, his voice returning to normal and his optics fading back into aqua green.
"Look, femme, I know you're upset. You probably have no idea what's going on, heck, even I don't know what's happening to me. I really don't want to kill you so please don't try to hit me again. I've barely got control of this as it is." Cliffjumper said, painfully forced, desperately trying his best to keep his composure in check. It was difficult to focus with the pain but he couldn't help but laugh as he rubbed his cheek. "I gotta say you have one hell of a kick."
Arcee just stared at Cliffjumper for a moment, not quite believing what he was saying. Suddenly, she let out a weak laugh, though, she wasn't sure if it was out of nerves of not being killed by her former partner or just hearing Cliffjumper say something like that.
Cliffjumper was a bit surprised to hear the femme laugh and knelt down beside her. He was a little worried, wondering if he might have held on to her neck too long to cause some processor damage. He certainly hoped that wasn't the case.
"Listen, I really don't want to kill the only bot I've met that could possibly be my only friend in the world." Cliffjumper sighed softly.
"Friend?" Arcee choked, her voice a bit strained and Cliffjumper quickly realized it had to do with the death grip he had her in earlier. Looking at her neck, Cliffjumper winced when he saw he left clear servo imprints around her neck plating.
"I'm really sorry about that," Cliffjumper quickly apologized again, guilt setting in and he looked away in shame. "I don't really know what's going on. I'm sorry; are you alright?" He asked, helping her up while the femme just stared at him like he lost his mind before she noticed the scar on his helm. It might have just been the case, she figured before her gaze trailed down to the puddles of dark energon on the floor.
"Dark energon..." Arcee said slowly, glancing back and forth between Cliffjumper and the puddles, "It's what…made you act so violently..."
"Seriously?" Cliffjumper asked, seeming to consider it before giving her a look. "That other mech, the one that tossed you in here mentioned that earlier...but what's dark energon?"
"I'll explain later...It's too much to explain…and too much is going on right now." Arcee replied, placing a servo on her helm, trying to organize her thoughts but she still felt dizzy and foggy. Jack was her main concern at the moment. The memory of Jack brought her back into focus for a moment. Looking up at Cliffjumper, Arcee stared at him for a moment, wondering if this really was her partner in front of her. "You...don't know who I am, do you? But, you said I was your friend..."
"Yeah, sorry about that, I don't remember you. Well, maybe somewhat but not completely and there's a lot I don't remember." Cliffjumper replied, offering her a weak smile while tapping the side of his head with his free servo. "And yeah, you're a friend, you're a bot and you seem to know who I am. And, if we're friends, maybe I did something to upset you like a prank or something and that's why you hit me." Cliffjumper shrugged lightly, offering his signature carefree smile to lighten the mood.
Arcee let out a soft sigh before closing her optics and nodded, feeling oddly soothed by Cliffjumper's endless chatter. It was just comforting after being trapped in the endless silence for so long.
Cliffjumper smiled a bit more before looking at her neck and was immediately reminded of the damage he caused to her and he sighed. "I'm really sorry about that, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Arcee replied, reassuring him again before opening her optics to look at him. "What do you remember?"
"Roaming around this planet for a little while, not really sure how long I've been here, before getting captured by the cons." Cliffjumper shrugged lightly. "Some details about the war and a couple of new things." He added, remembering what he learned when he shared minds with Breakdown and the glimpses of memories he had just seen.
Arcee nodded and took that information in. If Cliffjumper was a friend he could help her escape, she's seen the destructive force of Terrocons so the metal door of the brig shouldn't hold him back.
"What's your name?" Cliffjumper suddenly asked, surprising Arcee and when she didn't reply he gave her a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I have bad timing but better late than never."
"Arcee," Arcee replied simply. Despite the circumstances, Cliffjumper hasn't changed a bit. "Cliffjumper, I'm going to help you but first I need your help."
"What kind of help can I be?" Cliffjumper asked curiously.
"First. I need help getting these cuffs off. Then, I need your help to get out of here and save a friend, his name is Jack." Arcee explained, hope returning to her optics. Maybe she could still get Jack out this safe.
"Jack?" Cliffjumper perked up at the name, and cupped his chin. "The cons were talking about a Jack before they moved me to the brig. They said they didn't want any distractions and they needed to focus on him."
"For what?" Arcee asked a bit concerned as she offered her wrists to Cliffjumper so he could break the cuffs off.
"Something about a patch." Cliffjumper replied, taking the cuffs in his hands.
"Patch?" Arcee muttered softly before realization hit her and she nearly collapsed from shock if Cliffjumper hadn't been holding her by the wrists.
"Hey, you alright?" Cliffjumper asked, helping her up, confused by her reaction. He got the vibe that maybe whatever this patch was isn't good for Jack.
"No, I'm not." Arcee said, moving away from Cliffjumper as she began to pace. "This is bad; those fraggers don't know what a patch could do to a human!" Arcee hissed in anger, gripping her helm, trying to sort out why the cons would risk preforming a psych patch on Jack. Whatever the reason she didn't care at the moment, she was going to rip their sparks out.
"Calm down, Arcee, everything's gonna be alright," Cliffjumper said, trying to reassure her before taking Arcee's wrists, snapping off the cuffs with ease. "We're going to help Jack, no problem."
"No, you don't understand. A patch, a Cortical Psych Patch is technology that can probe into the mind of another. It's already dangerous for Cybertronians. Jack's human, I don't even know what the patch could do to him and if something goes wrong that patch could fry his brain." Arcee tried to explain but she couldn't focus. She was too overwhelmed by what was happening she couldn't think straight.
"Okay, um, you're not the only bot on this planet, are you? If there are others, do they know you guys were taken?" Cliffjumper asked, trying to calm Arcee with hopefully something positive. "If they do, I'm sure they can help."
Arcee perked up a bit and looked up at Cliffjumper. "You're right. There are more bots here…And I'll need to get to a communicator to be able to contact them and call for back up. We also need to figure out where we are." Arcee replied, walking towards the door, Cliffjumper following close on her heels.
"That's great and Arcee?" Cliffjumper asked looking down at the femme he nearly tried to kill minutes ago. The blue autobot turned back to look at him from inspecting the door, waiting for him to continue. "I might not know who I am or who you are but I'm going to help you."
For a moment it looked like Arcee smiled, it was small but it was gone quickly before she turned back to look at the door. "That's great to hear. Now can you break down that door?"
Cliffjumper took one look at the door and grinned. "You can count on me, partner."
"How long has Optimus been like that?" Raf asked, adjusting his glasses a bit as he stared up at the Prime.
Optimus had been in a trance like state, staring blankly at the blade they found in the desert, ever since he had arrived with June after they heard what happened to Jack. Now, as much as he was worried about Jack, he was also really worried about Optimus.
"He's been like that ever since he turned on that thing," Miko sighed softly, leaning against the railing to get a better look at the Prime. Raf turned to look at her and he could tell Miko was just as worried as he was.
Though, looking back at the bots, Raf could see them all huddled around Optimus, trying to figure out was wrong or to evoke a response. Ratchet had stopped trying to remove the blade from Optimus' grip, each attempt before only caused the Prime to tighten his grip. Raf tried to not focus on the energon slowly dripping onto the ground from the Prime's servo and forced himself to look away.
"Do you think Optimus's going to be alright?" asked Jaden, it was the first time he's spoken up since his family's awkward reunion when Raf and June had arrived. The reunion between Jaden and his mother was bittersweet, considering it was the first time June had seen her son since the accident that left him unable to walk. The happy reunion was short lived with the fact that Jack and Arcee had been kidnapped as well as the current state Optimus was in. Not to mention the presence of Jack's father. Raf couldn't imagine how stressful things were for Jack's family and honestly felt bad for them.
"I'm sure Optimus is alright and so are Jack and Arcee." Raf reassured Jaden, looking back at the bots, his gaze lingering on Jaden's parents, currently with Fowler and Suzuki, the four of them trying to get answers from the bots to try to figure out what was going on.
"How can you be so sure?" Jaden asked, looking down at Raf as if he held the answer to the universe. "Has something like this ever happen before?"
"Not exactly," Miko added in, glancing at Jaden for a moment before looking back up at Optimus, "but all three of them have been in tougher scraps, they'll be fine."
"What was Optimus doing with the blade?" Raf asked, trying to change the focus of the conversation a bit.
"He was using the blade to figure out a plan to save Jack." Miko replied, staring at the blade in the Prime's servo.
"It lets him see what's going on this very second aboard the decepticon ship," Marley added.
"Was this the first time he used it?" Raf asked curiously.
"No, he used it before. We saw him use it to figure out where the ship." Miko replied, looking down at Raf. "It's up in space but the bots can't reach it."
"But something went wrong this time." said Jaden, looking up at Optimus' dormant state. "He started looking like he was in pain and now this…"
"What's going on?" Raf sighed softly, looking down at the ground. A light touch on his cheek made him look up as he saw Nightbeat gently nudging him. It was almost as if he was trying to cheer him up a bit. A weak smile formed on Raf's lips and he patted the Cybertronian bird gently.
"How do you think Jack's doing?" Jaden asked suddenly, pulling Raf from his thoughts. Raf didn't really want to think about why the cons wanted Jack and what they were doing to him. According to what they know, their only window to see how Jack was doing was closed. They were in the dark.
"I said, he's fine." Miko replied stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest, "Arcee is going to make sure nothing happens to him."
"That's right, Jaden," Smokescreen said as he approached the small group. "I only just met Arcee, but from what I seen, she'll do anything to protect Jack, no matter what it takes." Smokescreen added, offering the four of them a reassuring smile.
"And besides Jaden, Jack's strong! He'll get out of this okay." Marley added in, taking her brother's arm and hugging it gently, smiling up at him.
"That's comforting I guess…I just want Jack back home and to be safe." Jaden sighed, lowering his gaze to the ground; his thoughts lingering on his brother.
"Jaden, I promise you, everything's gonna be alright, things just need to be sorted out is all." Smokescreen added, taking his servo and gently patting him on his shoulder with the tip of his digit. Jaden watched him, amazed by the control Smokescreen had to not hurt him.
"You're right, thanks, Smokescreen." Jaden replied, offering the autobot a weak smile and gently patting his digit for his efforts to make him feel better. He had to admit, it did help a little.
"Hey, look at that, you found a partner, Smokey!" Miko grinned, looking between Jack's brother and the new autobot. Both boy and autobot looked up at one another before looking back at Miko.
"Oh, I guess I did," Smokescreen laughed, rubbing the back of his helm sheepishly before looking down at the teenager. "You know only if it's alright with you, Jaden."
"That'd be great," Jaden replied with a smile.
"Sweet!" Miko exclaimed before during to look at Marley. "Alright, now we need to find you a partner."
"Miko, do you really think now is the time to think about that?" Raf asked, sighing a bit, though, Miko saying Smokescreen and Jaden were partners did boost their spirits up a bit. "Well, then again, it might be a good idea. What do you think Marley?"
"I'm up for it once Jackie's home." Marley replied with a smile.
"Jackie?" Miko asked before giggling a bit. "Looks like Wheeljack and Jack have the same nickname, huh?"
"Looks like it," Smokescreen chuckled, smiling a bit. "Hmm, that might get a little confusing."
The group couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. It felt good being able to keep high spirits, even though things seemed pretty bleak at the moment. They shouldn't worry so much, everything would be okay and soon enough they would have Jack back and laughing with them.
"So, how are you and Marley doing, Jaden?" Smokescreen asked, looking down at his new partner and the younger girl. He wanted to ask since these two have known Jack longer than most people in the room.
"I'm okay." Marley replied, giving Smokescreen a thumb's up.
"Yeah, same here but honestly, pretty scared." Jaden replied before offering Smokescreen a smile. "But I feel a lot better than I did before; you guys are doing what you can to help Jack."
Marley nodded in agreement and patted Jaden's shoulder reassuringly.
"That's good," Raf replied, perking as Nightbeat flew from his perch on his head, moving to sit on top of Jaden's head.
Jaden gave the Cybertronian bird a gently pat before glancing over at Optimus again. "I just wish I knew what was going on and what's happening to Jack…wait, maybe that not."
"Just think positively, Jaden." Miko hummed lightly, looking over at the teen.
"I know I just don't want to lose another brother…" Jaden mumbled so softly that Raf, Miko and Smokescreen almost didn't hear him.
"Another what?" Miko asked surprised, not noticing as the bots, minus Ratchet and Optimus, join the small group after being shooed away by the medic. "You guys have another brother?"
"Say what?" Bulkhead asked, looking down at Jaden surprised. Bumblebee said nothing but he did jump back a bit and his door wings flared back like he was startled.
"Had." Jaden corrected, looking down at his hand. "His name was Joshua; he died in a car crash…"
"Jack never mentioned any of this…" Miko muttered softly, looking over at Jaden.
"Jack never liked talking about it," Marley replied, looking up at Miko.
"It was a pretty bad accident; a hit and run that left me paralyzed and Jack hurt…Joshua died from his injuries." Jaden replied and both autobots and humans were silent, unsure of what to say. At least until Raf spoke up.
"So, your dad's research helped you walk again?" Raf asked, putting two and two together. He saw how surprised Jack's mom was to see Jaden running up to her, she'd even broken down in tears at the sight of her son.
"Yeah," Jaden replied, looking down at his legs. He couldn't even describe how overjoyed he was when he was able to make his first step. He almost tripped over his own feet with how excited he had been. His smile quickly faded and he let out a soft sigh. "Jack blamed himself for what happened to me and Joshua but I never did. In fact, the moment I was able to walk I wanted to call him right away but decided I would get stronger and come here to surprise him."
"Well, you can still surprise him when we get him back." Wheeljack added in, speaking up for the first time in the group, surprising Jaden a bit. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled, regardless."
"Yeah and I'm sorry for your loss." Smokescreen also added in, addressing both Marley and Jaden and the others all agree. Marley appreciated the gesture and Jaden couldn't help but smile.
"You know, normally I would get mad if someone said they were sorry for what happened," Jaden hummed lightly, looking up at Smokescreen, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Wheeljack with a smile. "But for some reason it makes me feel better when giant alien robots say it. It sounds like you really mean it."
"Well, of course they do, Jaden!" Marley replied, gently punching him in the arm for being so thick.
"Ow..." Jaden whined a bit, rubbing his arm as Miko and Raf snickered at the two.
"Anyway, you guys have to tell me, how has my big brother been?" Jaden asked, looking at Raf, Miko and the bots. He hadn't been in the same room as Jack in four years, they've only really talked online but that wasn't the same as speaking face to face.
"Well, considering what you've told us, he's opened up a little more." Bulkhead replied.
"Really?" Jaden asked, that fact bringing a light into his eyes as Bulkhead nodded.
"Hmm, he's responsible." Miko replied after a moment, staring at Nightbeat as he nuzzles into Jaden's hair; probably because it reminded him of Jack's hair. Yeah, Jack was practically 'Mr. Responsible.'
"Yeah, responsible enough to try to keep you out of trouble." Raf countered, looking up at Miko with a smirk.
"Hey!" Miko yelled, playfully whacking Raf's hair, earning a disapproving squawk from Nightbeat.
Jaden and Marley giggle a bit at that and Jaden picked Nightbeat off his head. Marley stared at the small robotic bird in complete fascination while Nightbeat did the same with her before hopping onto her head. Jaden smiled before looking up at the bots.
"What do you guys have to say about Jack?" Jaden asked.
"He's smart." Smokescreen said after a moment, giving Jaden a thumb's up. "Taught me everything I know about earth so far. Sure it isn't much but I just got here. He even helped me find a vehicle form."
"He's hard working." Raf noted, fixing his hair and glasses a bit, thinking about Jack's job and dedication to school and the team.
"And he's pretty selfless." Bulkhead added in, thinking about all Jack's done. "He's done a lot for this team in and out of the battlefield."
"Heh, I bet," Jaden replied with a smile before looking over at Wheeljack.
The Wrecker perked a bit and gave the boy a shrug. "Don't know Jack that well, just came back to base recently. He's a nice guy though."
Jaden nodded and perked up a bit as Bumblebee let out a series of beeps and clicks, none of which he could understand. "Uh, translate Marley?"
Marley took her head a bit and sighed. "Come on, Jay, you still don't understand him? He's saying Jackie's brave."
"Well his actually word was valiant but same thing." Raf added in before looking over at Marley, "You understand Bee?"
"Yup." Marley replied, smiling up at Bumblebee and the yellow scout seemed to smile back.
"Lucky little scraplets." Miko muttered, obviously jealous that she couldn't understand Bumblebee to save her own life.
Raf couldn't help but laugh a bit when he saw Jaden and Marley's confused looks when the autobots shuttered at the term. Smiling a bit, Raf looked back at Marley. "Anyway, Ratchet's teaching me some Cybertronian."
"Really? Lucky!" Marley replied, staring at him in awe.
"Yeah, I could teach you a thing or two sometime." Raf suggested.
"You'd do that? Sweet! But you gotta pinky promise on that." Marley noted, extending her pinky finger. Raf just smiled and wrapped his pinky around hers to seal the promise while the autobots just watched the gesture curiously.
Jaden watched Raf and Marley for a moment, smiling at the two. He was glad Marley made a new friend and was also glad Jack had such good friends in the bots and Raf and Miko. It was comforting to know he found them.
Looking up at the bots, Jaden watched as Bulkhead suggested to Smokescreen and Wheeljack to see if there was any way they could help Ratchet with Optimus before they left to Ratchet's work area. Following their gaze, Jaden could see Ratchet was trying to coax Optimus out of the trance.
Below them, his parents and Agent Fowler were talking amongst themselves, though Jaden wasn't sure what they were talking about. As long as his parents didn't break out into an argument he didn't care. Glancing back over at Marley, he could see she and Raf were getting into a conversation with Bumblebee about the Cybertronian language.
Jaden let out a sigh and decided to walk over to the human sector to sit down on the couch. He didn't realize how tired he was until he realized it was after midnight. When did that happen?
Rubbing his eyes a bit, Jaden sat down and when he looked back up he noticed a guitar case leaning against the coffee table.
"Who's guitar is this?" Jaden asked, looking up at Miko as she approached him.
"Hmm? Oh, that's mine." Miko replied, smiling as she walked over to the case and picked it up.
"You play?" Jaden asked, watching with interested as she opened the case and slipped the guitar strap over her shoulder.
"Yup and I used this to save your bro's life last month but I'll have him explain that story when he gets back." Miko replied and Jaden just looked at her a little surprised as she strummed a few cords.
Jaden listened to her play in silence, watching her before something came to mind. "Have you heard him sing?"
"Who?" Miko asked, glancing up curiously.
"Jack." Jaden replied simply before getting a little concerned when Miko just stared at him for a long time, gapping at him like he just grew another head.
"He what? He never told me that during band practice! He didn't even sing happy birthday for Raf's party!" Miko exclaimed, getting Raf, Miko and Bumblebee's attention as she flew over to Jaden and took him by the shoulders, demanding answers.
"Since when could he sing? How good is he?" Miko asked while Jaden just sat there, unsure of what to say.
"Uh, Miko, let go of Jaden." Raf sighed softly but Miko ignored him.
"Well?" Miko asked again, loosening her grip only slightly.
"He's sung for the school chorus since forever," Jaden replied slowly, "He's not in the chorus anymore?"
Miko opened her mouth to say something but before she could get a word out a commotion over by Ratchet's work area got her attention. Perking up a bit, Miko glanced over in time to see Ratchet finally pry away the blade from Optimus' damage servo with the help of Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Smokescreen.
The moment the blade left his servos, Optimus optics suddenly seemed to refocus and he looked around a bit confused before remembering where he was. Bumblebee immediately went over to join the others to see if their leader was alright.
Bumblebee gave off a few chirps, tilting his head curiously as Optimus seemed to react to him. Optimus stared at Bumblebee for a moment before letting out a soft sigh before nodding. "Yes, I'm alright, Bumblebee…"
"You sure, Optimus?" Smokescreen asked as Ratchet began to attend to the Prime's damaged servo. Optimus simply nodded before his demeanor changed suddenly and he became very serious.
"Optimus, what in Primus' name is going on?" Ratchet asked, glancing up from his work for a moment before activating a private comm. link, so the others don't overhear. "Are they really using a cortical psych patch on Jack?"
Optimus nodded grimly before quickly standing without another word as he headed to the monitors. Ratchet watched him a bit dumbfounded before following him, urging him to sit back down so he could tend to his wounds. Though, his words seemed lost to the Prime when he didn't seem to hear him as he began to type away at the monitor.
"Wait, what's going on? What did you see, Optimus?" Smokescreen asked, walking up to the Prime, briefly glancing up at the screen to see what he was doing. He was a bit surprised to see he was opening up the communications lines.
"Before the vision ended I was able to see Arcee's whereabouts." Optimus said suddenly, not once stopping to look at them as he typed into the keyboard.. "She was being held captive in the brig but has escaped. She is currently looking for a communication link to contact base. Once she does we'll formulate a plan to enter the ship. Our best chance to go in undetected is if Arcee opens a space bridge from the inside."
"That's great and all but can we talk about what just happened to you?" Bulkhead spoke up, looking at the Prime, obviously concerned for their leader as he eyed the still bleeding wounds on his servos. Optimus was in a trance after something went wrong with the Blade and now he's brushing it off like it was nothing. Something wasn't right. "No offense, but you look pretty shaken. That's not like you."
"Optimus, you need to stop, you're getting energon everywhere." Ratchet replied, taking the Prime's wrist. Optimus wasn't sure what the medic was talking about until he finally noticed the energon staining the keys. Most of the keys were covered in iridescent life blood. Looking at the palm of his servo, Optimus could see a sliver in the metal where a steady bead of energon was seeping out. Optimus was not even aware he had been injured. He couldn't even feel the pain even though the wound was right before his optics.
Optimus continued to stare at his servo but allowed Ratchet to take him back to his work area to clean and seal the wound. From what Optimus could see, Ratchet had only partly sealed the cut because it was all he able to do before he had gotten up to go to the monitor. First he wasn't aware he was injured and now he wasn't even aware Ratchet had been in the process of repairing it.
Thinking back, all Optimus could remember was pain after activating the Blade. Then, there were Jack's screams and after that there was nothing but darkness. Jack was still alive, he knew it in his spark he was but he knew his time was running out.
"Optimus? Are you alright?" A voice asked, pulling Optimus from his thoughts. Looking down at the source of the voice, Optimus was surprised to see June, standing on the platform nearby, looking down as Ratchet sealed up his wound.
"Yes, I am fine…" Optimus sighed softly, looking away and focusing on his servo as Ratchet worked.
"What is going on? What's happening to Jack?" June asked, desperate for answers at this point but also worried about the Prime's current physical and mental state.
Optimus said nothing for a moment, unsure of how much he should tell them. The Blade revealed so much to him, even he didn't understand it all. The pain he felt when the patch activated; the only reason he should have felt it was because he and Jack share a connection with the Matrix. It was the only explanation but there was no simple way to explain this to Jack's family at the moment.
"Optimus," Ratchet spoke up, snapping the Prime out of his thoughts. Optimus perked up at bit when he saw Ratchet had finished his work on his servo.
Looking down at his servo, Optimus closed it gently to make sure the seal held firm before looking back down at June and then at the others who were also eager for answers. "Things will be explained in time but first we must focus on bringing Jack home."
"Optimus, I understand that and all but as a mother I need answers." June persisted, clenching her hands into fist; she needed to know exactly what was going on with Jack and Arcee. She couldn't handle it if either of them got hurt or worse.
Optimus returned his gaze to her and held it for a moment before sighing tiredly as he stood to return to the monitor to wait for Arcee's call. "June, I want nothing more than to explain everything but there is simply no time."
"Then make time!" June suddenly snapped, surprising the group, both human and autobots alike. Her voice broke a bit as emotions overwhelmed her but she needed to continue. "Optimus, you have kept us in the dark since the very start and I'm tired of not being able to know anything."
"June, I understand your frustration but—" Optimus tried to explain to calm her but June only cut him off.
"Optimus, do you have children?" June suddenly asked her voice calmer and more controlled than before. Optimus was a bit curious of the relevance of the question but decided it would be best to answer June.
"No, June. I do not have children." Optimus replied calmly.
"Then you obviously don't understand how it feels like, as a mother to be on the verge of losing another child." June explained, her voice cracking again as he eyes fogged up as small started to slip down her face without her control. "I just need answers. What is going on to Jack?"
For a moment Optimus stared at June before forcing himself to look away in shame as he took in her words. Meanwhile, the others looked on at the Prime in silence, waiting. He understood where June was coming from but he wasn't so sure if the truth will bring any of them any comfort, only dread. Still, he had to give June some form of solace she could only find with the truth.
"You are right, June. I may not understand what it is like to lose a child but I do understand what it's like having family taken away from you." Optimus said softly, turning to face June and gently wiping a tear from her face.
Looking over Jack's family, along with the rest of Team Prime, Optimus let out a deep sigh before looking back down at June. "I apologize for keeping the truth from all of you. We are all Jack's family and you all have a right to know what is happening."
June's storm grey eyes seemed to bright up at his words. She knew that whatever Optimus had to say she probably wouldn't like but she asked for the truth and now she was getting it.
"What's happening to my brother, Optimus?" Jaden asked, taking his mother's hand to support her while he kept his matching storm grey eyes on the Prime. June briefly looked back at her son before looking back up at Optimus, waiting.
"We can handle it, anything you tell us." Jaden added in reassurance when Optimus was silent for another moment.
Looking to Ratchet, Optimus shared one last look with the medic before closing his optics for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Very well, but this will require some explaining for Jack's family and I insist that everyone remains calm."
The group gave the Prime silent nods and waited for the Prime to continue as he opened his optics. "From what the blade has revealed to me it appears that the Decepticons have Jack under a functioning cortical psychic patch."
At the mention of the patch, Jack's family looked at him, puzzled by the term as silence filled the room to the point Optimus' audio sensors could pick up the sound of Miko and Raf's hearts speeding up. Meanwhile, the rest of the team simply stood there, staring at the Prime in complete and utter shock.
Looking at everyone's reactions, Jaden was quick to pick up that Team Prime immediately knew what Optimus was talking and whatever it was it wasn't good. Though, before he could even ask what that was the silence was broken.
"W-What?" Raf asked, so quietly it almost went unheard if the room already hadn't been so quiet.
"Are you serious?" Miko added, staring up at Optimus, trying her best to calm down to not alarm Jack's family, not that it mattered after seeing the others reactions.
"How on earth is that even possible?!" Bulkhead replied, finding his voice after the initial shock, "The technology isn't even compatible with humans!"
"Calm yourself, Bulkhead." Optimus sighed softly, placing a servo on the Wrecker's shoulder. "I am well aware of the severity of the situation."
"What is a cortical psychic patch?" Dr. Suzuki asked, readjusting her glasses as she gained the attention of everyone in the room. She was rather surprised by the reactions Team Prime had by the news. She could tell it had to be something they've dealt with before but she wasn't sure if that was such a good thing for Jack at the moment.
"Allow me to explain," Ratchet replied, Jack's family turning their full attention to him now. "For a more simplified explanation; it is a procedure developed by the decepticons through which the mind of one Transformer can be joined with another using a cable connected directly between the two brains."
"Fascinating…" Suzuki muttered softly, cupping her chin as she thought it over as Ratchet continued.
"By this means, the victim's memories can be viewed by both parties, no memories can be hidden during the procedure, the viewing of these memories allow for the information to be extracted." Ratchet added, crossing his arms over his chest. "However, in Jack's case the decepticons have somehow figured out a way to create a connection between a human and transformer. No doubt the connection has been made between Jack and Megatron himself."
"Unfortunately, that is correct," Optimus followed, looking amongst the team. "The Blade of Time allowed me to view into the patch and I have seen the inner layout of Jack's mind." Optimus added, trailing off a bit at the end, sounding rather amazed due to what he had seen of Jack's mind. It honestly wasn't what he expected.
"Seriously?" Miko asked, looking down at Raf to exchange a look.
"So, does that mean Jack's okay?" June asked, looking up at Optimus hopefully.
"Currently, Jack's patch seems rather stable. That also means there is a high chance to be able to remove Jack from the patch safely." Optimus replied, before turning back to the monitor. However, first they needed to establish a communication line with Arcee. The only way to do that is wait for her to contact them.
"That's a relief." Smokescreen sighed softly before glancing down at Jaden to give him a reassuring smile. Jaden let out a soft sigh but appreciated Smokescreen's gesture.
"There is another thing the Blade allowed me to witness." Optimus added, getting the group's attention. "It appears the layout of Jack's mind is extremely complex so Megatron has not located Jack within his memories and thus, has not retrieved any data from his mind."
"Meaning we still have some time." Ratchet replied, taking a cloth to clean off the energon off the keyboard.
"So how are we going to go at this?" Wheeljack asked, looking over at the bots in the room, "Now that we know Jack's in a patch, everything's changed. We don't know what kind of damage the patch can do to Jack if we don't disconnect him right."
"Wheeljack is correct. For that reason someone who is aware of the technology will accompany us on the rescue mission." Optimus replied before everyone turned to look at Ratchet.
Ratchet nodded simply, "Understood. I'll do everything I can."
"Who else is going?" Smokescreen asked, looking up at Optimus but before he could answer the monitor went off, signaling an incoming call. Optimus immediately turned and responded to the call and not a second later, Arcee appeared on the monitor.
/Great, it worked…/ Arcee sighed in relief the moment she saw familiar faces on the screen. /You guys are not going to believe what's happening up here…/
"We are aware of your current status and location, Arcee." Optimus replied, surprising the femme. "Thanks to the ability of a second blade of time we have recently obtained we are also aware of Jack's current status, so please continue."
/Huh? You know about the patch? You know what, never mind I'm not even going to ask…/ Arcee sighed, shaking her helm. It was only now that Optimus noticed the slight rawness in Arcee's voice. /Well, since you guys know where we are and our current dilemma you can see we have a serious problem here/
"That's an understatement." Miko muttered and Arcee perked when she saw her, along with Raf and a group of humans she wasn't familiar with, except for June and Fowler. Another thing she wasn't going to ask about at the moment.
/So, what's the plan?/ Arcee asked, looking back at Optimus.
"Arcee, currently we are unable to use the ground bridge to reach the ship so we need you to get to the space bridge controls and open up a bridge so we may board the ship." Optimus explained, looking at Arcee straight in the optics. The whole plan depended on whether Arcee succeeded or not. "Will that be a problem for you and your partner?"
/Shouldn't be/ Arcee replied before glancing at something off screen before looking back at the Prime. /So, you know about Cliff?/
"Partner?" Smokescreen asked curiously, looking at Arcee.
"Cliff? You can't possibly mean…" Ratchet asked, surprised, if she meant what he thought she meant…
/Someone call me?/ Cliffjumper's voice suddenly rang through the comm. link before he peeked his head onto the screen. Meanwhile, every bot, minus Smokescreen and Optimus just stared at the screen in shock as they stared at the familiar red autobot.
/Whoa, that's a lot of bots/ Cliffjumper commented as he looked at the bots on the screen, amazed to see about six other autobots on the other side of the screen. /Hi, name's Cliffjumper/
Miko and Raf looked up between Cliffjumper and the others, noticing the complete shock upon seeing him. They were the only ones in the room, besides Fowler who understood the shock the bots were going through. If it wasn't enough all this weird stuff was going on, Cliffjumper, an autobot who was supposed to be dead decides to make a special guest star appearance. Could this day get any weirder?
"B-but how?" Ratchet tried to ask but Arcee immediately cut him off, shaking her head. There was no time for long explanations even she didn't fully understand.
/Focus on saving Jack now, explanations later/ Arcee sighed before gently shoving Cliffjumper off screen, scolding him for not keeping watch. Cliffjumper gave a quick apology before glancing through the monitor once at the bots before disappearing off screen.
"Better put that on the list of things to explain." Miko commented as she placed her hand on her hip, looking down at Raf who was compiling a list on his laptop. Clearly there was something a bit odd about Cliffjumper. He didn't appear to recognize any of the bots in the room. Still, that was something they would have to put aside for the moment.
/Anyway, back on topic, I can open the Bridge but how do we get to Jack?/ Arcee asked, looking to the Prime, hoping he had an answer. /The Cons will no doubt hold him hostage the moment they know you're here./
"I understand. We will send out a small team to head to the med bay for Jack's retrieval. Meanwhile you and Cliffjumper are tasked with ensuring our escape as well as creating a diversion." Optimus replied, looking at Arcee with complete confidence.
/But-/ Arcee tried to protest but she quickly stopped herself. She wanted to go and find Jack but it was also important that once they had Jack they needed a way to get out. This was also not the time to argue. /Alright, fine…So, what? We guard the space bridge?/
"No, we will not be able to leave the same way we arrived. Once the decepticons know we have Jack, Megatron will send all his troops to ensure we cannot escape." Optimus explained he knew Megatron well enough that he would do anything to stop them. He needed to do something he wouldn't expect. "You and Cliffjumper need to bring the ship down into the ground bridge's range once we secure Jack."
/How are we supposed to do that? The control room will be heavily guarded/ Arcee replied.
"Take out the power core." Bulkhead suggested, "Worked for me."
Arcee glanced off screen, presumably at Cliffjumper and shared a look with him. She knew what Bulkhead was referring to. It was the time he got trapped on the decepticon ship alone and had to escape he destroyed the ship's power core. /Sounds good/
Optimus gave Bulkhead a nod of approval before turning to look back at Arcee. "You will be on standby and will await my signal."
/Understood/ Arcee replied, thinking over the plan in her head. Shouldn't be too hard, they'll be home in no time.
/Hey, Arcee, you might want to hurry up, I think someone's coming/ Cliffjumper said, his voice audible through the Comm. Arcee knew their time for talking was up.
"We'll prepare a team and wait for the space bridge." Optimus added in before Arcee could shut off the transmission.
/Alright, you'll have your bridge open soon/ Arcee replied before looking over at June. /June, I promise you we'll bring Jack home/
"I know, stay safe." June replied, giving Arcee a reassuring smile. Jaden looked between Arcee and his mother and could see how much faith his mother had for her. It was like in the time Arcee had known Jack and their mom she'd become part of the family.
"Arcee!" Jaden called out before the blue autobot could shut off the transmission. Arcee looked a bit surprised to be called by a boy she didn't know but waited to see what he wanted to tell her. "Keep my big brother safe."
/Jaden?/ Arcee replied, rather shocked to see the boy standing before her optics. /Jaden, I promise I'll keep Jack save and he'll be glad to see you again/ Arcee said softly, taking a quick glance at the rest of the people in the room, realizing they were Jack's family before remembering what she had to do and she cut off the comm. link.
Jaden just stood there for a good minute, surprised that Arcee even recognized him. Jack's talked to her about him? Did she know about Joshua too? And the accident? Well these were questions he could ask when they got back.
As Jaden lingered on his thoughts, he was somewhat aware that Optimus was starting to pick out members for the rescue team. Optimus said something about the team needing to be small so, so far the team consisted of Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee and Wheeljack. Optimus to lead, Ratchet to help Jack, Bumblebee for his skill and Wheeljack for his armory since it would just be the four of them.
"Wait, why isn't Smokescreen and Bulkhead going?" Marley asked, looking up at Optimus.
"As I said before, we need a small team to be able to maneuver more quickly." Optimus explained, looking over at Smokescreen and Bulkhead. "And Bulkhead is not cleared for duty. He is recovering from a recent mission that impaired his mobility."
"Oh," Marley replied, looking up at the two.
"Sorry, buddy." Jaden said, patting Smokescreen's arm gently while Smokescreen just sighed, clearly wanting to be a part of the action as Optimus began to explain to the group on the rescue team what their part will be on the mission.
"Least you're not the only one who really wants to go." Miko sighed, looking up at Smokescreen sympathetically. What she'd give to be a bot to be able to go with them on missions without them worrying about her.
"Don't even think about it," Bulkhead sighed, shaking his helm a bit. As much as he cared about Miko she was reckless and needed to be kept an optic on more than Raf and Jack combined. She had followed them through the ground bridge enough times to prove that.
"Bulkhead, you will man the space bridge." Optimus added, looking over at the green Wrecker, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"You got it, boss." Bulkhead replied as he made his way to the space bridge controls. Optimus gave the Wrecker a nod in appreciation before moving over to Ratchet's work area to retrieve the blade of time the medic had left on one of the work benches.
"Optimus, what in Primus' name are you doing?" Ratchet asked the moment he saw the Prime pick up the blade. "Do you remember what happened just now? We don't need you going into another trance."
"I can assure you Ratchet it will not happen again. I was merely caught off guard when I witnessed the patch being activated." Optimus replied, trying to reassure the medic. However, Ratchet didn't seem convinced.
"You were never a good liar, Optimus…" Ratchet muttered so softly, only Optimus could hear.
"So I've been told." Optimus muttered just as softly, sighing a bit before looking back down at the blade of time, clearing his mind so he could use it. "I will just be using this to monitor Jack's condition until Arcee sends us the space bridge."
"Fair enough," Ratchet sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"But wait," Raf suddenly spoke up, running across the platform to get as close as he can to the Prime.
"Yes, Rafael?" Optimus asked, looking down at the young boy.
"After you disconnect Jack from the patch will he be alright?" Raf asked, before realizing the Prime might not remember what he was referring to before looking over at the others. "The last time you guys dealt with the patch Bumblebee got…"
Optimus looked down at Raf, a bit confused when he didn't finish his sentence before looking over at the yellow scout. When his optics met his Optimus could see there was a change in Bumblebee's optics; it almost appeared like guilt. Whatever the reason it was for, Optimus could tell Bumblebee had been a victim to the patch and it had affected him in some sort of way.
Sharing a glance with the others, Optimus could tell they were also aware of the incident. He wasn't sure what type of damage was inflicted on Bumblebee by the patch. However, in Jack's case the probability of his mind being affected negatively by this was much higher. "Raf, I will assure you I will not allow of that incident to repeat itself."
"Yeah, I'm sure Jack will be fine." Wheeljack added in, though he didn't want to even mention his first experience with the psychic patch; a complete personality change and missing memories. Yep, best he kept that to himself. Raf didn't need to know that and he just wanted to reassure him and the others.
"Yeah, soon enough, we'll all be laughing about this with Jack like a distant memory." Smokescreen commented and Raf only hoped so.
"But why are they doing this to Jack?" Suzuki asked suddenly, having been oddly quiet for a majority of the time. Most of the time spend had been muddling over her thoughts, trying to find logic within the madness. "What could possibly be in Jack's mind that is of interest to the Decepticons?"
All the members of Team Prime each shared a look, all of them well aware of the reason the decepticons took Jack. The only problem was that they didn't know the specific reason for why the decepticons would want the knowledge of the Primes in their possession.
Optimus let out a deep sigh and looked down at Dr. Suzuki. "We only know part of the reason to what the Decepticons are looking for in Jack's mind. I only wish I knew the entire reason myself."
With that, Optimus looked back down at the Blade of Time, relaxed his mind before the metal on its smooth surface began to distort once again. Soon enough, the base melted away into darkness.
Taking a look around him, Optimus was completely blind. He knew it he was currently looking into the patch. It was as dark as he had remembered it but when he took a closer look, something looked different.
Deep in the darkness, Optimus could see a bright light and it was coming toward him, illuminating the ground as it passed.
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please read and review! Thanks guys! ^_^ One of the big reasons I updated recently is because I just watched Transformers 4: Age of Extinction which is a great movie, I recommend to see it if you hadn't already. There's a lot in store for long time fans :D
Anyway, I'll try to update as soon as possible, a lot is going on in the story ;3 Will the bots be able to get to Jack in time? Who knows! Stay tune!
Oh, and if you guys are interested I'm coming up with ideas for a Transformers Prime Jazz/Prowl centered fanfic which I'm going to call Symbiosis, where Prowl is a decepticon, it'll be a lot of fun :3 I might post the first chapter before the next chapter of Beyond the Darkness but we'll see ;3