Thanks to everyone who reviewed since my last update. Enjoy!

His mom had taken it a lot better than he thought she would. She was in phase one of denial, crying her eyes out and sniffling about why and how this could have happened. It had quickly turned into the second phase, blame, and called the Autobots out on the situation, pointing the finger to each of them in turn and holding them for responsibility. Then came the third and last, which involved more crying and hugging her 'little' boy. Or at least trying to. The closest she could get was embracing one of his fingers. Everything else was too big.

Arcee hadn't taken it well either. She had barely made eye contact with him during the first week of his change. Whenever he did manage to get a glimpse of her face he saw pain and loss. She felt like a failure for allowing this to happen to Jack.

His official funeral was tomorrow, his body prepped and ready and a casket already paid for. Jack felt immensely sad. Everyone he knew, bar those involved with the Autobots, now thought him dead and while he technically was deceased he was also very much alive. Jack sighed. He had to move on with his life. He had been doing well so far, with the help of the others.

Jack started to enjoy his new form, if only a little. His alt mode was getting closer everyday though he was hesitant to try it. He had a fear of heights. But he would cross that bridge when he came to it, so for now, he pushed it from his mind.

Taking a page from the Autobots, he distracted himself with training, which was more of learning about his new body and mechanisms. Target practice became a great stress reliever for Jack, especially when he imagined the targets having the head of Vince or Megatron. His aim was surprisingly good. Ratchet summarized a guess that some of Skyquakes memory remained, allowing Jack to learn quicker and more efficiently.

Training was all Jack did as of late. He didn't want to think or wallow in self-pity.

"Jack?" A voice said quietly from the doorway.

"Oh...hey Arcee." He said, looking up to see the blue femme. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine." He assured, smiling. "Do you need anything? Some help or...?" Arcee shook her head. "Well would you train with me? I could use an experts advice."

Arcee smiled. "Yeah. I'll help you train."

So that's what they did, practicing against each other, Arcee pointing out his mistakes and praising him when he performed perfectly. Jack watched Arcee closely, trying to copy her movements, perhaps not the brightest idea he had, considering the size the difference between them. Muscle and height it seemed were useless if one didn't know how or when to use them, as Arcee pointed out when she flipped him over onto his back.

"Don't charge in blindly. Think before you act, look for a weakness. Brute strength alone won't win every battle." She chided, stretching out her hand to help him up. He took it gladly, standing. He smiled sheepishly at her. She smiled briefly before a flash of uncertainty crossed over her eyes.

"I have to go. Recon." She explained shortly.

"Arcee wait-!" Jack called out vainly as she disappeared behind the wall, leaving him alone. "Damn it..." He murmured. Jack punched the wall in frustration. Why was everything so hard now? He couldn't even interact with his guardian without freaking her out! Damn this face!

How could he have expected Arcee to look at him the same way? How could she ever look at him without flinching?

No. She would never look at him with those same soft pink and blue optics again.

"I'm going out." Jack stated as he walked into the bridge room. He drew the attention of the others easily. Optimus frowned, a disapproving look on his face. He placed a hand on Jacks shoulder, holding firmly.

"I do no think that would be wise at the moment. If we were able to trace your signal then no doubt Soundwave would have as well. I believe it would be best if you remained here for now." He explained to Jack logically. Jack just tore himself out of Optimus's grip, scowling.

"I need some alone time. I'll be back in a few. Ratchet, bridge please." He asked, ignoring the Prime altogether. Ratchet obliged, albeit hesitantly when Optimus gave him a stoic glance. Jack went through the first chance he got. He needed to come to terms with himself.

He needed to get away.

He couldn't stand the pitying looks anymore. The whispers of between the bots or his mothers condolences, nor Miko's look of awe as she looked up to him. Rafs endearing glances of amazement and his questions of what it was like to be a Cybertronian. It was like asking him what it was like to be a dog or a plant. He hadn't a clue yet. He only just started. It wasn't like he knew Cybertrons history and what half his bodily functions did. It was all too much.

Why wouldn't they leave him alone?

He sat against the edge of the canyon ravine, sighing to himself. It would take time, taking everything in. Not just for himself but the others too. He couldn't imagine how his mother was feeling right now, seeing her little boy being buried in the ground, only to come back and see him in a more grotesque form. He himself felt like crawling into a hole and cry his heart out. But he couldn't even do that anymore. Tears were a human thing.

Glancing down glumly, Jack watched and waited for a sign, for anything to show him where to go or what to do next. Hours passed and just as he was about to call it quits and go back to base, a two streaks light shot across the sky.

Jack smiled.

"Prime!" Fowler shouted, suddenly appearing on the screen. "What in blazes are your people doing out here?!" He shouted, going into a rant about collateral damage, to which Optimus responded that all Autobots were present and accounted for.

"Then how do you explain this?!" He replied in aggravation, showing a crashed ship.

"By the Allspark..." Ratchet whispered. "It is one of us." Bulkhead exclaimed cheerily as he saw WheelJack. Optics narrowed as the image switched to a large blue Cybertronian carrying a machine gun that looked an awful lot like Jack.

"Looks like Skyquake..." Bulkhead "But that's impossible since-"

"But the question is, who's his dance partner?" Said Arcee, interrupting the green mech before Fowler could discover anything. "Let's go check it out. We'll bring Jack back later." Arcee stated, the others nodding in agreement. Ratchet supped up the bridge, allowing them passage to Wheeljacks location.

From the looks of things, Wheeljack was handling himself pretty well against his assailant.

At least until he made the gas station go up into a fiery explosion in his ignorance, trying, and failing to stop the Decepticons escape. "Scrap!" He shouted, transforming his guns back into hands. "Dreadwing must've rigged it to blow."

"Uh no 'Jackie, that was you. Gasoline doesn't mix well with blasters." Bulkhead explained, sighing.

"Well whatever, Dreadwings getting away." He said with a roll of his shoulders, uncaring. He was stopped by Optimus who gave him a stern look and cold response.

"Take us back to base Ratchet." He said through the com link. "We have things to discuss with our new comrade. It seems with have a new player in the game."

Yeah, I know it's been awhile since I've updated. Sorry to those that read and/or actually care about the fate of this fic lol ;p Just been busy and kind of focused on Shattered Realms with Inkcrafter. But hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Even if it is a little short.