Ch. 4
Arcee was rather silent as she drove to Jacks home; she had so much on her mind right now that she didn't know what to make of it all. 'To think I worked with 'Wolf' for almost 4 years and now I'm probably gonna have his son as a human charge. Primus could today get any more surprising?' Arcee let herself look Jack over with her mirrors.
Jack was very similar to 'Wolf' as far as skin tone, eye and hair color; but Jack had a slimmer more defined body, where as 'Wolf' had been nothing short of a 6 ft. 7 in. mound of walking muscle. But strangely enough, Arcee felt as if there was more to Jack then what she could see on the outside. When they reached the city limits, Arcee heard Jack clear his throat to start speaking. "Arcee, my mom is liable to ask questions about me bringing home a motorcycle so just let me handle it alright?"
Arcee understood the need to keep her identity quiet from Jacks mom. Fred may have known about the Autobots, but it was still a Government secret, a secret that Jacks' mother was not informed of. She pulled into the garage which was still empty. So ensuring no one was around, Arcee transformed inside the garage appearing in a kneeling position in front of Jack, she stared at him for a moment with a hint of concern since Jack got off, and he had yet to face her.
She was going to say something when he turned around and spoke. "Arcee…" He paused for a moment and for the life of her, Arcee couldn't wonder what Jack would say, but was somewhat relieved when he continued. "I'm sorry about your' partner. He sounded like one hell of a bot." Arcee would normally have gone off on someone who said that to her, no other human knew Cliffjumper and it drove her insane when someone tried to relate to her pains.
But Jack was different, he had lost someone far more important in his life; his own father, the man who raised, trained, and molded Jack into what he is. So she spoke up in a simple and quite gentle way. "its fine, I'm sorry about your' father." Jack gave her a simple smile that showed he understood the pain she was going through. Arcee continued to hold his stare for a few seconds before they heard a car approaching.
Jack ran out after announcing his mom was pulling in and Arcee quickly reverted back into her vehicle mode and listened to Jack attempt to reason with his mother. "Mom, before you say anything, I can explain." "Can you now?" Arcee could swear she was hearing a female version of Ratchet and internally snickered at the thought. But when June walked into the garage to take a look at the motorcycle Jack had mysteriously brought home, Arcee kept completely still and continued to listen to the conversation. "You know I worry about you driving. And now you bring home a motorcycle? How did you even afford this?" "It's used, well to be honest, it's abused. It needs a ton of work, but mom its fine."
Arcee watched as Jack walked over to a small work table and put his hand on a motorcycle helmet sitting on the top of it. "I may have been messing around when I bought this, but I can't ride a ten speed forever. And besides, she's perfectly safe." Both Arcee and Jack suddenly froze as soon as they realized what he said. He had said she and not it.
But they both let out a silent sigh of relief when June failed to realize what he meant and continued in a rather comical type of tone. "Her, I didn't think you would be bringing a girl home so soon." Arcee couldn't help but smile at the small joke and was actually happy when Jack spoke up again. "Actually, I like to think that she brought me home." Arcee couldn't believe what she was witnessing, not only was Jack working things out with his mother, but he was basically saying that he trusted his new motorcycle to keep him safe on the road and beyond. "I'll trust you on this Jack, only because you haven't given me any real reason to do otherwise. And maybe you'll give me a ride sometime too, Right?"
Arcee suddenly had her eyes glued to Jack waiting for his response. "We'll see; she can be a little… temperamental." If Arcee were in her robot form, she would have had a wide eyed, open mouthed face of shock. Jack had just called her temperamental. "That little…" Suddenly, Arcee couldn't help but giggle somewhat at how Jack handled the situation. She decided to power down with one final thought of her human charge. "Just like 'Wolf'."
Unknown location later that night:
Jack was walking through a large corridor made entirely of metal, he was clueless as to where he was and couldn't seem to make himself move. He looked around to try and make sense of where he was when a door behind him opened and he suddenly, and strangely involuntarily, looked back. He looked up at the large robot before him.
The bot had dark grey armor plating and broad spiked shoulders; he had serrated metal teeth and glowing red eyes; but perhaps the most interesting feature on him was the symbol on his chest. It was purple and had sharp eyes with a spiked head-piece. Jack looked into the eyes of the large bot who in turn spoke to him. "Follow me." Jack didn't want to go with the large bot but once again, it seemed that Jack wasn't in command of his body, or his voice. He heard a strange voice that seemed to come from him. "Yes Lord Megatron."
Jack suddenly realized that he wasn't having a normal dream, he was likely seeing something like a memory or a vision through the eyes of one of the Decepticons. Jack realized that the bot named Megatron was likely the leader of the Decepticons that Optimus spoke of at base. Jack watched as he followed Megatron down the large corridor they were in as they soon reached what appeared to be a large door.
The large barrier opened up and both he and Megatron walked inside. Jack continued to look around until he heard Megatron speak to someone else. "It would seem that you have a higher pain threshold then I would have expected from a human. But I am a very patient individual, so I will find some other human to find out where the Autobot base is."
Jack was wondering what Megatron meant by that when he suddenly heard a voice that made his blood run ice cold. "Don't count in it frag-face." Jack suddenly moved to Megatrons' side and was met with the sight of Fred Darby hanging in chains in front of him. Jack tried to say something, to shout out to his dad, anything to make his father aware of his presence. When suddenly Megatrons' large finger went across the elder Darby's' neck at a frightening speed. Jack could do nothing but watch as his father's blood began to run down his neck.
Jack bolted up with his father's combat knife in clutched in his hand, in front of him. He looked around to find he was back in his bedroom and was sweating rather profusely. "Could it have really been him?" Jack asked himself as he put the knife in his hand back into its sheath. He looked at the clock on his bedside dresser; it read 5:37 a.m. so Jack knew his mom was still sleeping.
Jack got out of bed and took some clothes from his dresser so he could take a shower to help him calm down from his nightmare plagued sleep. After relieving his pent up stress with a long, hot shower; Jack wrote a note which he left on the kitchen counter for his mom and then proceeded to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He opened the garage forgetting that Arcee had spent the night, so Jack was very thankful for the fact that his garage opened rather quietly. Jack looked briefly at the blue motorcycle before running out of the garage with his katana resting in its usual position on his back.
Arcee was sleeping when she thought she heard something, she figured it was nothing and so paid it no heed, but when she heard the garage door behind her opening she adjusted her mirrors to see what was coming in. However, to her surprise, she saw Jack already walking down the driveway and out towards the road, she was wondering what he was doing up so early but understood immediately when he took off at a brisk jog.
Arcee understood that some humans got up early to do certain morning rituals like this. She thought of going back to sleep, knowing that Jack could handle himself in the town, but she suddenly became curious and decided to follow him. Arcee followed from a distance and watched as Jack jogged through town towards what appeared to be the town cemetery.
Arcee drove up to the front gate that Jack had went through just in time to see him stop in front of a black granite tombstone. 'Please tell me that grave isn't who I think it is.' Arcee was praying to Primus that Jack wasn't here seeing his father's grave, but her fears were confirmed when she saw the ever pained look on Jacks face and then she was suddenly a bit unnerved when she saw Jacks face fill with what she new to be a silent but vicious rage.
She was about to rev her engines when she heard Jack speak up, "I'm gonna find him dad, I'm gonna make him pay for what he did." Arcee went deathly quiet for a few seconds as she heard Jack make this dark promise over his father's grave. She waited for a good few minutes and then revved her engine. Jack looked up and saw her, he took a final glance at his father's headstone and then walked over to Arcee, she was about to speak but Jack beat her to the punch. "What are you doing here Arcee?"
Jack hadn't seen her follow him so she decided, 'What he doesn't know won't hurt him I guess.' She chose her words carefully and spoke in a layback tone. "I woke up and found the garage door open, your' energy signature was all over the area so I decided to follow it and see where you were." Arcee knew Jack was probably in a rough mood and so she decided to try and calm him down a bit. "It's still early; you wanna go for an early morning drive or something?"
Jack suddenly seemed to change gears and seemed to be thinking for a second before he answered her. "Sure, there's a place I'd like to go, so let me drive; alright?" Arcee was somewhat surprised that Jack had asked her to let him drive, if it had been any other human, she probably would have said no, but Arcee felt that she could trust Jack, so she conceded and let him drive. They drove for a good ten minutes and Arcee soon found herself going up a rugged, heavily worn mountain trail that was going up to the top of the mountain they were driving up.
They reached a small clearing and Jack hopped off and started walking over to the rocky cliff that overlooked all of Jasper. Arcee knew it was too early for anyone to be up here and she could tell that the road she and Jack traveled was rarely used, so she transformed and slowly walked over to where Jack was standing, the sun was just beginning to rise over the rocky mountains on the horizon and was shining down on Jasper in a way that made everything seem clear and free. Arcee looked down at Jack who was simply staring out at everything in sight, Arcee was happy to see that rather than a pained face or anger in Jacks' eyes; she saw what appeared to be peace and contentment.
'Primus, he's not just like his dad, but like Optimus too? What other surprises does Jack have in store I wonder?' Jack said nothing so Arcee decided to indulge in Jacks' pass time as well and look down at the red sand plains of Nevada. She suddenly saw Jack go over to what appeared to be some sort of large group of bushes growing out of the fertile mountain soil. She walked over and decided to ask a few questions about this place. "What is this place Jack?"
Jack suddenly looked up from the small group of bushes and smiled at her before looking back out towards the rising sun when he spoke. "My dad used to take me and mom up here when I was younger. He used to go with mom and pick Blackberries from the bushes around the mountain and we would sit up here and eat them 'til we almost exploded." Jack looked back at the group of bushes and Arcee suddenly began to put the puzzle pieces together, she was about to speak up when Jack continued.
"Mom and I planted these Blackberry bushes up here after dad died. I come up here and it helps me find my peace." She understood how this felt; Optimus and the team had done something similar for Cliffjumper at the top of the base by putting a small burial marker in place. Arcee suddenly felt a deep connection with Jack; they had both lost someone they deeply cared about. 'Come to think of it, Jack actually kind of reminds me of Cliff.' She could see how Jack was much like Cliffjumper in that they were both a bit closed off until they found someone they trusted or could relate to.
They also seemed to have a way of befriending whoever crossed their paths. She suddenly couldn't help but feel greatly protective of Jack and so she decided to try and find out what was troubling him. "Jack, what made you go out to the graveyard?" Jack looked up at her with what appeared to be a bit of surprise in his face but Arcee didn't stop. "Jack, I can tell something's got you really worked up right now. Did something happen last night?"
She could see that Jack was evaluating whether or not he could trust her right now or not, but he soon spoke up in a gentle, albeit somewhat troubled tone. "I had a nightmare last night, only it felt like I was seeing a memory through someone else's eyes." Arcee could guess that it had to do with Jack's father, considering he went to Fred's grave, so she decided to try and figure out what kind of dream it was that was torturing Jack. "What happened?"
Arcee couldn't help the worried tone she heard in her voice, she was genuinely worried about Jack right now and wanted to help. "I was in this giant metal hallway; I turned around and saw this huge bot coming out of some sort of metal door. He told me to follow him and I heard myself say 'Yes Lord Megatron.'" Arcee felt a sudden sense of dread growing in her spark chamber as Jack continued. "So I followed Megatron down the hall to this big door, Megatron opens it and we both step inside, that's when Megatron started talking to someone and when I saw who it was… it…"
Arcee was almost shaking with a mix of anger, pain, and sadness; she could feel where this was leading but she wanted to stay strong, to be able to help Jack, so she spoke up to try and get him to admit what she was to be the answer to her next question. "Who was it Jack?" Jack was looking down now and Arcee could see tears going down Jacks face. She was about to say that he didn't have to tell her, but then the fears that had been growing since she saw him in the graveyard were suddenly confirmed. "It was my dad…"
Arcee looked away now with here optics squeezed shut in anger. She had half a mind to go out and hunt down Megatrons' ship herself, but that thought was interrupted when Jack continued. "Megatron was trying to get my dad to tell him where the Autobot base was, but he wouldn't tell him and…" Arcee tried to speak, but she couldn't. "Megatron slit his throat and walked out grinning…" Arcee didn't know what to think; but before she realized that she had moved, she was kneeling on one knee with a hand on Jacks' shoulder.
Jack didn't make any move to do anything with the offered hand, in fact, it somewhat unnerved Arcee that Jack didn't make any movements what so ever. He just stood there with tears going down his face, Arcee was about to ask if he was okay when Jack said something that caught her completely off guard. "How do I find Megatron…?" Arcee could practically feel the venom dripping from Jacks' voice and she knew what it meant; Jack was, as humans put it, 'out for blood.' Megatron had taken away something that meant a great deal to Jack and now the Decepticon war lord had a new, and quite possibly, deadly enemy in Jackson Darby.
Suddenly Arcee knew that she had to keep Jack rational, despite her own hatred for Megatron. "Jack, Megatron's a completely different level from that Vehicon you took down; he's ruthless, unpredictable, and…" Jack suddenly looked up at her for the first time in several minutes. "Arcee, I understand that. But do you really think that's gonna stop me from going after him?"
Arcee knew Jack was telling the truth, she had felt the same way over the one who killed her first partner and still hated the demented bot with a passion. "Megatrons' ship is always on the move, either in the upper atmosphere or somewhere on earth. You don't find Megatron, you find his lackeys." Jacks' mood suddenly changed rather drastically and rather than rage, which she had been expecting, Arcee suddenly saw a combination of disappointment and understanding on Jacks' face. "You're right. Besides, I don't even know anything about him so I wouldn't know how to fight him anyways."
Arcee was surprised that Jack was back to his level headed ways and so she spoke up to try and lighten up the mood. "Why don't we go up to base, see if Optimus or Ratchet needs any help?" Jack looked up at Arcee with a smile that told her he was glad to be able to help with the Autobots. 'Primus he has a nice smile.'
Arcee thought to herself and then transformed when she realized what she had thought. 'Where did that come from?' Arcee thought to herself, she hadn't realized she was staring at Jack again, even in her motorcycle form. "Hey Arcee, you okay?" Jack said in a nonchalant way, it was enough to snap Arcee out of her staring and she finally started up her engine and then she and Jack were on their way back to base.
Chapter 4 up and operational! YAAAAY! Anywho, read, review, comment; you know the drift. Hope everyones enjoying the story so far. I've also got plans for both Jack and his buddy Michael. Airachnid will also get a bit more involved in the story later on but that's all i'm gonna say for now. Until then, ROLL OUT MY FELLOW AUTOBOTS, OR DECEPTICONS! Lol.