A/N: See I said I would have this chapter up soon, I actually decided to make it a little longer than planned to keep from stopping at another cliffhanger to spare you guys then I accidently wrote like 13 more pages so guess what? Chap 12 is ready almost just need some editing done. Heehee. Okay I hope you enjoy this one. Good luck XD
"Breakdown! Where have you been?! I've been trying to get a signal out to you!" Knock Out yelled from his spot tied to some of his heavy duty medical equipment.
"Sorry I was late, Knock Out. Just got the call." Breakdown shrugged a bit, his optics glinting playfully as they flashed purple as four vehicons appeared behind him as he scanned the room before frowning. "Hey, where's Bulkhead? Where's the big lug hiding?"
"No one's hiding, you slagger!" Miko hissed, glaring at Breakdown as she force open the latch for Ratchet's chest compartment.
"Ah, his pet." Breakdown chuckled, smirking a bit before Jaden and Jack quickly tried to pull Miko back into the safety of the compartment. "What did he call you? Miko?"
"Breakdown." Megatron growled softly, giving the blue mech a warning glare, "Focus."
Optimus stared at Breakdown and noticed as his optics flashed purple. He sensed the dark energon within him but there was something wrong. Breakdown shouldn't have gotten a distress call; the signals were jammed so the message had to have gotten through another way. Megatron's mind was too weak to have called reinforcements so quickly. How else could have the signal gotten through? Optimus warily looked to Sideways and perked when he sensed dark energon within him and the silver decepticon merely gave Optimus an unseen smirk behind his mask.
"Right, focus." Breakdown sighed as he glanced at the vehicons behind him and ordered them to them.
"Not so fast." Wheeljack growled, manifesting by Megatron's side as he held a sword against the decepticon commander's main energon line. "Take another step and you'll be cleaning energon off these floors."
That seemed to get Breakdown and the vehicon's attention and they all seemed to hesitate before Breakdown smirked as more vehicons entered the room, followed by Dreadwing. "Well, looks like back up just arrived."
"Yet we remain at a standstill," Optimus replied as he stood his ground and stayed between the decepticons and his team. "Let us pass. We have no quarrels with you, Dreadwing."
"You know I can't do that, Prime. Put down your weapons and no one else needs to be harmed." Dreadwing replied as he briefly glanced down at Smokescreen, laying in a pool of his own energon. "You are outnumbered and you know only more energon will be spilled."
Optimus said nothing at first. He knew Dreadwing was right and with both Smokescreen and Jack injured and the phase shifter damaged their chances of escape were becoming slimmer. Shutting off the signal dampener, Optimus sent a quick message to Arcee, asking what her and Cliffjumper's positon was. She responded back immediately and explains they were almost there but they needed more time. Time that he and team did not have.
More time…
"Great, how are we supposed to get out of here?" Miko muttered softly from their hiding spot within Ratchet. Jack said nothing, his mind was reeling and he felt lightheaded. There had to be something he could do to help them get out of there. They needed more time…
Suddenly, an idea came to mind.
"Be reasonable, Prime. You're surrounded with no way out." Megatron gloated despite the sword pressed against his neck.
"Last chance, surrender now or die fighting." Dreadwing added as he activated his weapon. "Weapons down."
"Hey, Optimus?" Jack whispered softly and Jaden and Miko watched him curiously, unsure why he was calling to the Prime when he probably couldn't even hear him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I certainly am now, it would seem." Optimus replied, perking at Jack's voice echoed in his mind. Closing his optics, Optimus nodded a bit in agreement as he retracted his ion canons as a memory of Thirteen entered his mind.
"Boss, what are you doing?!" Wheeljack asked, surprised at the sight of his commander surrendering.
Optimus gave no explanation and even Dreadwing gave Optimus an odd look. That was too easy, Optimus must have been up to something. Breakdown took a step closer and was also suspicious "Servos up!"
"As you wish," Optimus shrugged, before raising his hands before quickly clasping his hands together, the action creating an orb of red and blue energy. Megatron's optics widen at the sight of the orb, it was the same orb the Thirteenth Prime had used on him to force him out of Jack's mind. Then, before anyone knew it the orb shot straight towards the group of decepticons.
"Get down!" Optimus cried out, immediately moving to shield his teammates, moments before the orb collided straight into Breakdown, exploding on contact. Before the dust could settle, Optimus' hands crackled with energy as he shot another orb, this time into a wall adjacent to them, causing it to crumble in front of them.
"Move!" Optimus ordered as he slung Smokescreen's arm over his shoulder to help the injured autobot out of their new exit as the team quickly piled through. "Keep going!" He ordered, making sure everyone got through before picking up Smokescreen as the team dashed down the hall.
Once the smoke cleared in the med bay, vehicons made their way into the room to free Megatron, Sideways and Knock Out. Once Knock Out was freed he immediately went to Breakdown's side. "Breakdown! Are you alright?!"
"Scrap…that hurt…" Breakdown muttered weakly before slipping into stasis lock. Knock Out let out a sigh, glad to see Breakdown was still able to speak. Inspecting his injury, the medic took note that Breakdown's wound was centralized around Breakdown's shoulder.
The damage was severe, the metal was melted and nearly 2/3's of Breakdown's shoulder was severely damaged or beyond repair. Knock Out didn't even want to think what the damage would have been if Optimus had aimed for Breakdown's spark chamber.
Knock Out continued to work on Breakdown to stabilize his condition, not even once noticing when Megatron and Sideways left with Dreadwing and any other vehicons that were still alive after the blast. No doubt they were after the autobots but Knock Out had bigger concerns at the moment. He wasn't about to lose Breakdown again.
The dark energon wasn't healing Breakdown's wound and Knock Out didn't understand why. Inspecting the wound, he noticed that remnants of energy remained on the smelted metal. Retrieving his scanner, Knock Out immediately began to try to figure out what find of energy or even radiation from the orb Optimus had manifested that was keeping the dark energon from triggering its healing properties.
Quickly reading over the results, Knock Out was surprised to see the closest energy source his scanner could match the energy to was the energy from the Matrix of Leadership.
"Come on! Just tell me! How did you do that, Optimus?! How did you blow up the con's evil lab?!" Miko asked, staring up at Optimus in complete awe. "Since when could you do that?! Why haven't you ever used it before?!"
"I was not aware I possessed the ability until now to be honest…" Optimus replied, not once looking back to see if they were being followed he just kept moving, keeping a firm grip on Smokescreen to keep the rookie from slipping from his grasp as the team raced towards the rendezvous point, "I believed Jack helped me unlock it…"
"How?" Jaden asked curiously as Bumblebee transformed and raced ahead of the group, making sure the path ahead was clear while Wheeljack took care of covering the rear.
"Complicated…" Jack said weakly as his head began to spin and he clutched his head, hoping it would help make it stop.
"Jack?" Jaden asked, looking at his brother concerned, perking when Jack's eyes closed and he began to lose consciousness, "Jack stay awake! You'll go into a coma after all the damage caused to your mind!"
Jack groaned a bit, annoyed that his brother was right. "I know…but I feel lightheaded…Too much blood loss…" Ratchet had given him bandages to stop the bleeding but it didn't feel like it was helping.
"I'll take another look at you once we get somewhere safer, Jack." Ratchet promised as he ran alongside Optimus, carrying Smokescreen's severed door wing that he managed to pick up before they escaped the med bay. With it, he at least hoped he could reattach the sensitive wing before the injury became irreversible. He sighed a bit, having to face the challenge of dealing with an autobot patient and a human one.
"Thanks, Ratchet…" Jack muttered weakly.
"Look on the bright side, you're gonna get a wicked battle scar from that," Miko grinned and Jaden gave her a look but Jack couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Now I can say I fought Megatron one on one and lived…" Jack muttered, offering Miko a weak smile.
"That's the spirit!" Miko grinned before peeking out of the compartment to look at Smokescreen. "What about you Smokes? How you doing?"
"Could be better." Smokescreen offered a weak smile but his systems where screaming at him to go into stasis but he couldn't become dead weight. If he stayed conscious he could at least still shoot something if anyone came around a corner or hall.
"Stay strong you two, we're almost there." Optimus replied, trying to reassure Jack and Smokescreen.
"I can see you guys have been on the ship before…" Smokescreen muttered weakly, "You guys don't do this on a daily basis right?"
"Thankfully not." Ratchet sighed before Optimus activated his comm. link.
/Arcee what is your status?/ Optimus asked. /We have Jack and are in need of escape/
/We're here. Just brace yourselves/ Arcee replied through the comm.
"Arcee?" Jack perked up a bit, looking to Optimus. "Wait what does she mean by that?"
Before Optimus could answer, each of the bots magnetized their pedes to the ground before the ship shook and rocked as it began to plummet towards the earth.
…
"They should be here soon." Arcee replied after cutting off her comm. link as she looked to Cliffjumper. She took care not to trip over any of the vehicons they took down to gain control of the ship, as she made her way to the front door.
"Right, so how long do we keep descending until the ground bridge can pick us up?" Cliffjumper asked as he stayed by the controls of the ship, glancing over his shoulder to watch Arcee.
"Soon, we're dropping altitude fast. Then we call Bulkhead and we should be home safe." Arcee replied as she stood by the door, waiting almost impatiently for the others to arrive with Jack. She perked the moment the door opened with a quiet 'whoosh' as Ratchet entered, followed by Optimus as he carried an Smokescreen, taking care to set the injured mech down before moving to the door to make sure it was clear as Wheeljack and Bumblebee entered.
"What happened?" Arcee asked, looking at Smokescreen, surprised to see him in such a state as Ratchet injected him with an anesthetic to help him deal with the pain. "Where's Jack?"
"I'm here." Jack replied, peeking his head out from Ratchet's chest compartment as Ratchet momentarily moved away from Smokescreen to let the children out. "We ran into some setbacks…Sorry we're late…"
"Jack! Are you alright?" Arcee asked but she almost didn't finish her sentence when she saw all the blood on Jack's clothes and face. "Jack…"
"I'm fine! It just looks worse than it is, I swear!" Jack replied, trying to reassure his partner while lying through his teeth. Everything hurt like scrap and he felt like he was going to pass out at any moment.
"Liar…" Arcee sighed, picking up Jack as she embraced the boy as gently as she could. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you…"
Jack was surprised to hear Arcee say that, he honestly didn't expect her to say it. The last thing Jack would even think of was that Arcee failed him. She didn't and he could tell how worried she was for him just by how her voice wavered as she spoke, "Arcee…you did all you could. I don't blame you for what happened to me."
Looking up at his guardian, Jack gently hugged Arcee back, wincing a bit as he aggravated his wounds but he ignored it for her sake. "I blame Megatron. He did this to me. You did everything you could…"
"I'm glad you're safe…" Arcee said softly, it was the only thing she could bring herself to say.
"That makes two of us…" Jack replied with a smile.
"Spark warming family reunions. Gotta love them." Cliffjumper hummed lightly as he glanced over at the two. Jack perked at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and glanced over Arcee's shoulder to look at Cliffjumper and he recognized him almost instantly.
"I'm not even going to ask…" Jack sighed.
"It's been a long day for you and me…" Arcee agreed.
"Tell me about it…" Jack muttered before Ratchet stood from Smokescreen's side, having patched up his injury for the moment the best he could before walking to Jack and Arcee's side.
"Alright, Jack, time for me to take another look at you." Ratchet said as Arcee set Jack down while the medic activated his holoform to check over Jack's injuries.
If it was any other occasion, Jack would have been curious and amazed by Ratchet's holoform but honestly after the day he's had he couldn't bring himself to focus on much of anything for long.
Jack said nothing as Ratchet began to splint some of his injuries and bandage others. He occasionally glanced around the room to see what the others were doing. His head was a bit foggy so it was hard to focus. The first bot he saw was Optimus who was standing beside Cliffjumper, seeming to monitor their escape progress while Wheeljack, Bee and Smokescreen watched the door. Even Miko was standing on Wheeljack's shoulder, holding a piece of broken metal, ready to fight at a moment's notice.
Turning his attention to Smokescreen, Jack noticed the rookie's door wing was still severed off but Ratchet managed to stop the bleeding and numb the pain. It gave Jack a little peace of mind that Smokescreen was at least able to stand upright thanks to Ratchet. Speaking of standing…
Jack's attention drifted to Jaden who was standing beside Smokescreen, looking concerned and probably asking if he was okay.
"Hey, Jaden?" Jack called and the younger boy perked at the sound of his voice and he quickly jogged over.
"Need something, Jackie?" Jaden asked once he got close.
"Have you met Arcee yet?" Jack asked, looking up at the blue femme. "She's my partner."
"Yeah, we've met once." Jaden replied, offering Arcee a light smile.
"I think the first time we spoke was when I called for backup." Arcee replied after thinking thoughtfully. "We didn't actually meet face to face until an elevator ride up to the med bay."
"Yeah, technically we weren't supposed to be here…" Jaden shrugged sheepishly as he glanced over at Smokescreen and Miko.
"Ah, let me guess. Miko convinced you." Jack sighed, he should have known really. He couldn't think of any other possible reason why Optimus let Miko and Jaden come. You have a lot of explaining to do, Jaden."
"Well, dad and Doc need to explain too…" Jaden muttered, wincing a bit when Jack makes a face at the mention of their father.
"Optimus, how long do you think it'll take for them to realize we're here?" Arcee asked, as Ratchet finished looking over Jack and she gently picked him up. Ratchet wordlessly deactivated his holoform and picked up Jaden as he and Arcee walked to the main monitor.
"Unclear. We left the decepticons...in disarray." Optimus replied honestly.
"You blew up those cons in our way and then blew a hole in the wall with your hands." Miko replied from her spot on Wheeljack's shoulder.
"Ever get the feeling you missed something important?" Cliffjumper asked, not at all understanding what was going on.
"You have no idea…" Jack sighed, leaning against Arcee for support as Ratchet moved beside Arcee and Jaden moved closer to Jack to pat his head gently to reassure him. Jack said nothing but appreciated the gesture.
"According to the readings we're about to enter the altitude the ground bridge should be able to reach. I suggest taking down the signal dampeners masking the ship." Ratchet added as he handed Jaden to Smokescreen.
"Agreed." Optimus replied before moving to disable the ship's cloaking device before activating the comm. link to get in contact with base.
/Optimus to Outpost Omega One, we have Jack and Arcee and are in need of extraction/
/Ugh, thank the Allspark! We were getting worried!/ Bulkhead's voice replied through the comm. link moments before the familiar hum of a space bridge echoed beside them.
"Everyone through. The children and injured first." Optimus ordered as Arcee made her way into the ground bridge, followed by Smokescreen who carried Jaden.
Jack briefly glanced back at the controls and perked when Optimus did not follow them to the bridge. "Wait! What are you doing? Why are you staying?"
"I need to make sure the ship does not crash near any human settlements." Optimus replied, glancing at Jack briefly, not wanting him to worry.
"You're crashing the ship?" Jack asked, pondering the thought for a moment. "Well, good riddance I guess…"
"I'll be through shortly, Jack." Optimus promised before looking to Arcee. "Arcee get him out of here."
"Yes, sir." Arcee replied and with that, the two disappeared through the bridge, shortly followed by Smokescreen, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee who carried Miko out.
Ratchet watched Optimus for a moment and raised an arm to stop Wheeljack from walking through the ground bridge. "Wheeljack, I have a request for you. I cannot remain here, the other need me right now. Please make sure Optimus makes it through this ground bridge."
"Sure thing, Doc." Wheeljack replied, understanding the older mech's concern before watching Ratchet disappear through the bridge before he glanced over at Optimus. "He's worried about you, you know that?"
"I am aware of that, Wheeljack." Optimus replied, not taking his optics off the monitor.
"Yeah, well obviously more worried about you now. Given the circumstances." Wheeljack added, he had the feeling that Optimus never disclosed to Ratchet how much his memory was actually lost. Wheeljack just knows something like that would get to Ratchet. "He thinks you're going to do something stupid again. That's why he asked me to babysit you."
"…I apologize." Optimus said quietly after a moment.
"It shouldn't be me you should be apologizing to." Wheeljack hummed as he kept his attention on the door.
"You're right." Optimus sighed before activating his ion canon and shooting the control panel once the ship was set on a crash course. Suddenly, a loud bang came from the door.
Something was wrong, Jack could sense it. Despite the flurry of activity going on around him, Jack could barely focus on anything but on the open ground bridge and wait for Optimus and Wheeljack to get through safely.
"Earth to Jack! Jack what's wrong?" Miko asked, trying to get the teen out of his trance.
"Why aren't they coming through?" Jack muttered weakly.
"They're fine, I'm sure of—"Miko tried to reassure him before a loud crash suddenly came from the ground bridge as Wheeljack tucked and rolled out of the open portal.
"Bulkhead! Get ready to close that damn bridge!" Wheeljack yelled, his optics wild and energized.
"Wait, where's Optimus—?!" Bulkhead asked, troubled by the fear in his friend's optics before another crash came from the bridge as Optimus was thrown the ground bridge portal.
Before anyone could even process what just happened, Optimus was on his feet again and he immediately bolted straight for the swirling vortex. The Prime slammed his full weight against the portal and it wasn't until an audible thud echoed against his frame that the others realized they weren't alone.
Purple flames crackled and sizzled against Optimus' frame as he fought with the being trying to force its way into the base. Optimus let out a frustrated growl as his hands crackled with energy as energy poured out of them as he tried to activate his newfound ability.
Suddenly, a powerful kick to the legs caused Optimus to stagger back to reveal Megatron trying to force his way through the bridge.
The base erupted into complete chaos at the sight of the decepticon commander completely engulfed in purple flames locked in battle of wills as both Optimus and Megatron fought to overpower the other but neither would yield.
Arcee, Bumblebee and Smokescreen immediately created a wall between the humans and the chaos erupting at the ground bridge in the case that Megatron happened to come through. While the others activated their weapons, trying to get a clear shot at Megatron but the two cybertronian commanders were struggling back and forth too much they feared firing at Optimus or damaging the ground bridge.
"Close the bridge!" Optimus yelled over the roar of the ground bridge vortex, wincing as the fire coming off of Megatron's frame threatened to burn through his armor down to his sensitive protoform.
"Optimus, you'll be caught in the bridge when it closes!" Ratchet tried to argued, moving to the bridge controls, watching as the energy collecting around Optimus hands enveloped around Optimus' frame, forming ribbons of light across the Prime's frame, mirroring the wings of the Thirteenth Prime.
"That's an order!" Optimus growled but his voice cracked a bit as it sounded more like a plead rather than an order. Optimus eyes widened as Megatron's arm shifted and he heard a distinct hum of a weapon charging as he stared down the barrel of Megatron's arm cannon. "Ratchet, now!"
Only seconds remained before the cannon would fully charge and in those few moments Ratchet timed as both Optimus and Megatron shifted back and forth between the base and the decepticon warship.
And then he made the call as he cut the power off from the ground bridge.
Time seemed to slow as the ground bridge closed abruptly between Optimus and Megatron. In that split moment the bridge closed a brief look was shared between Optimus and Megatron. A wild, feral look filled Megatron's optics and it shook Optimus to his core. He could not accept that the mech in front of him in flames like the Fallen Prime was Megatron anymore. And then it was gone as Megatron disappeared through the other side of the ground bridge.
Optimus' optics widen a fraction as the closing ground bridge sliced clean through his own arm and Megatron's arm cannon, triggering an explosion as the energy in the fusion canon combusted in front of him.
For a split moment Optimus felt nothing as he shielded the other from the blunt of the explosion. Then momentum sent him flying back, causing him to roll and skid across the ground until he came to a stop on top of the autobot insignia branded on the floor. Energon began to pool over insignia as Optimus lied motionless on the ground as the sprinkler systems went off due to the explosion.
…
Megatron panted heavily as he lied broken and battered on the ground of the decepticon command center. Pieces of metal, both his own and Optimus lied scattered across the floor. Megatron's vision was blurred and unfocused; one of his optics was shattered and charred, oddly enough paralleling Optimus' injuries.
Megatron's energon boiled at the thought that his fusion cannon was gone, destroyed in the explosion and completely useless to him now. At least he wasn't the only one to lose something he thought as he stared at Optimus' severed arm, laying on the ground not too far from him.
Forcing himself to sit up, Megatron hissed in pain as the movement aggravated his wounds. It didn't help that the sirens, triggered from the imminent crash was making his processor throb.
"That looks like it hurts." Sideways hummed as he walked into the room; observing Megatron's injuries curiously as he got closer.
"The dark energon you gave me…It boosted my abilities…" Megatron muttered, thinking back to the increase in strength the energon had given him. Still, he hadn't expected to burst into flames. Though, it certainly brought a smirk to his face of the reactions the autobots had when they saw him try to storm their base before his smile dropped and he glared at Sideways, "Yet, still I was no match for Orion…the ability he obtained…"
"Quite fascinating." Sideways hummed to himself as he shook his head. "Give it time. This strain of dark energon may surprise you." He smirked a bit as he watched Megatron's smaller wounds begin to heal before his very optics. Though, Sideways forced back a displeased look when he noticed Megatron's arm did not heal.
"What did you do to me…?" Megatron hissed softly as the pain began to numb. He watched as each of his wounds began to heal at unimaginable speeds but his severed arm continued to bleed. It was the same arm Optimus held back when his servos were overflowing with energy.
"It appears I saved you're life. For the moment at least." Sideways hummed as he casually glanced up at the monitors, the screens where covered in warnings that the ship was going to crash. At this rate, Sideways suspected they had about a minute before collision, "That explosion would have killed you had I not given you the dark energon strain I obtained from the autobot before you made your way here."
Megatron said nothing and followed Sideways' gaze to the monitors and the two moved to brace themselves for the crash before his gaze lingered to Optimus' severed arm on the floor, "If we survive this I want to know everything about this dark energon strain and that ability Prime possessed."
"As you command, Lord Megatron." Sideways glanced down at the Prime's severed arm, energy still crackling from it before he picked up the hunk of metal as he stored it away in his subspace for safekeeping. A light smirk curled beneath his faceplates moments before the ship shook violently as the ship crashed and plunged into the depths of the ocean.
Another pawn had just been added to the game.
"Optimus!" Jack cried out as he tried to run to the injured Prime through the downpour of water. Jack's head became lightheaded as he forced himself to move and he almost slipped in the energon and water pooling around Optimus' arm where the ground bridge had severed it from the elbow.
Jack tried to keep himself from looking at any of the other injuries but his eyes were locked at the serious burns covering Optimus' body. The water pouring down from overhead caused the molten metal to hiss and sizzle from the change in temperature.
Going up to Optimus' face, Jack cringed to see practically half of Optimus' face burned from the explosion. The damage was so severe that Optimus' left optic was completely black and shattered while his undamaged optic kept flickering on and off.
"Optimus, can you hear me?! After all that don't you dare die on me now!" Jack cried, his voice wavering as he began to shake as he kneeled down beside the Prime as fear paralyzed him. It was happening again, he was seeing someone he cared about dying in front of him again.
"Please, don't...not again..." Jack pleaded, leaning his head against Optimus' helm, hoping by from miracle he could hear him.
"Jack...?" Optimus' voice echoed weakly in Jack's mind. Shattered optic sensors came online, flickering as they tried to bring detail to the darkness surrounding him.
"Optimus?" Jack asked quietly completely unaware of anything else around him.
Optimus' undamaged optic flickered as it tried to reconfigure and it took a moment for it to be able to refocus to see Jack. Jack looked like he just went to the Pit and back, though Optimus couldn't say he didn't look any better as his vision flickered again as warning signed filled his vision screaming at him to go into stasis.
Yet, Optimus couldn't allow himself to slip into stasis just yet. He could hear the Jack's heart rate rising and he could feel Jack shaking. Jack was frightened and Optimus fought back more warnings of stasis lock for a moment longer to say one last thing to Jack before everything slipped into darkness.
"It's going to be alright..."
Jack could only watch helplessly as Optimus' optics flickered and dimmed black. Within moments, Ratchet was by Optimus' side, moving quickly to stop the bleeding and assess the Prime's condition.
Jack stood there, unable to move despite the commotion around him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice spoke to him but it sounded muffled and far away as Jack's vision suddenly darkened.
Suddenly, Pain tore through his head and Jack's legs immediately buckled. The hand on his shoulder quickly moved to grab him. The next thing Jack knew he was on the ground and the noise around him grew louder as frantic voices called around him.
Looking above him, the water from the sprinkler systems blinded him for a moment and familiar faces above him began to blur. He tried to wipe his good eye to be able to get a better look at them but he couldn't recognize the faces around him, at least not anymore.
Another wave of pain tore through Jack's mind as the sound of glass shattering echoed in his ear and Jack suddenly began to feel himself starting to fall. Jack watched as the faces around him began to fade into darkness and that's when he felt it again, that feeling.
He was slipping away, his memories.
As Jack fell, memories swirled around him, each becoming undone as he passed them. Jack tried to reach out to them, to try to grab for them before they disappeared but there was nothing he could do except fall. Jack couldn't understand it. That bot, the one with the bright eyes, Optimus, he said he'd help him keep his memories. Except here he was, watching as his memories slipped free from him again.
Where was Optimus to help him now?
He was hurt, Jack had to remind to himself; a bit surprised he still clung to such a recent memory.
Closing his eyes, Jack cringed as he smelled burning metal, twisted and distorted, energon oozing from the fresh wound onto the cold ground. The sprinklers beating down causing steam to rise from Optimus' motionless body. Making the ground so slick he was barely able to make it to him after the explosion.
Optimus said would be alright but things are not alright. He was slipping back into the darkness again and there was no one left to help him.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed for his hand, jolting him as his descent stopped. Maybe he was wrong.
"Stargazer…?" Jack called out weakly, his eyes widened a fraction as he recognized the silver sparkling. He has not expected to see him again since they became one with Thirteen. A part of him thought he was gone for good.
"Jack…You okay?" Stargazer asked they slowed to a stop and seem to land on solid ground.
"No…but thanks for asking…" Jack replied quietly, looking to the ground and then to Stargazer. "How are you here?"
"I never left your side." Stargazer replied, pointing to Jack.
Puzzled, Jack looked down, perking a bit when he noticed cracks were scattered throughout his body with only threads of data holding them together. He looked so fragile, like he was made of glass and even just a light breeze could cause him to shatter.
Still, the threads of data held Jack firmly together. Following the threads around him, Jack noticed thinner threads connected to Stargazer and he couldn't help but smile a little. Stargazer was helping him keep it together.
"So…we're back in my mind, aren't we?" Jack asked, mostly to himself. He noticed it was a lot emptier and darker. Jack wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "Optimus said he'd help me fix things…"
"He's here." Stargazer replied and Jack looked at him surprised.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Thirteen is with him." Stargazer replied, before offering Jack his hand. "I'll take you there."
"Did…I miss something?" Jack asked, looking down at Stargazer's hand and then to Stargazer. Thirteen. Right. That was the matrix version of Optimus essentially.
"You're missing a lot actually." Stargazer replied and he couldn't help but smile weakly.
"Noted." Jack sighed before taking the sparkling's hand. "Let's go."
A/N: I am so evil. The ground bridge scene actually came to me last minute and I stuck with it cuz it was so evil but I love it. Anyone see that coming? :'D
Oh to clarify because someone pointed it out, Megatron's active fusion canon being destroyed as the space bridge closed caused the explosion. Sorry if I didn't make that clear ^^;
And look! The return of Stargazer! No RIP for him. well that was fun. Anyway, yay! Jack and the others are back home at base but that doesn't mean Jack and Optimus are out of the deep end.
Ugh, school starts tomorrow but I should have the next chap up soon. So updating will probably get weird when I get busy at school.
On a side note, if you want to see the next chapter alive watch "Strange Magic" (2015) it is a beautiful movie pfft just kidding I'll make sure to have the next chap up though I highly recommend that movie I love it so much I might write some fics since the fandom is so small
Okay!
Please review I'd love to see your reactions!