Ch. 12

Two years later:

We see a young man in his early twenties standing at attention on a stage; to his right speaking to the large crowd before them is General Austin Miller, and to his left is his instructor. He had finally made it to the top of the heap and he stood proudly as the General walked in front of him and placed the young man's new rank on the lapels of his ASU before speaking up. "Congratulations son, you made it to the end and came out on top." With that, the General gave a crisp salute and the young man returned it. The General dropped his salute and as the young man dropped his, he looked down at the silver eagles that now rested on his chest.

Meanwhile, in California, we see another man wearing a Marine Corps class A. He is standing at attention as he is given his new ranks. Marine Corps General Thomas Patton II walked forward and placed the ranks on the lapels of the black and red uniform before stepping back and speaking up. "Congratulations Sergeant Major." With that, the Sergeant Major snapped off a crisp salute as he let a single thought run through his head. 'I did it; I proved everyone wrong, everyone who said I couldn't do it… I proved them wrong.'

Arcee was driving across the dirt of the Nevada desert about twenty miles north of Jasper. After the incident with Cliffjumper two years ago, she had been doing this quite often; she would drive out to the desert to be alone with her thoughts. Many times she would just drive as fast as she could and take her emotions out on the dusty ground.

Other times she would go up to the top of the base at night and stargaze like she had done with Jack before he left, and other times she just sat in her quarter's and let herself cry, hoping that time would go by faster so she could be with Jack again. Arcee was walking in her robot mode deep in thought; she was in her own painful world.

She thought back to the night before Jack had left and the special moment they had shared together:

Jack had walked into Arcee's quarters alongside his blue femme and turned when he heard the door shut and lock. Jack looked up to see Arcee smiling down at him as they both walked up to her birth. Jack learned an interesting fact about Cybertronians; they actually sleep with blankets like a human would.

Jack walked up the steps she had beside her berth and settled down beside Arcee as she was already under the blanket. They sat there for a moment simply at peace in each other's embrace. After a few moments of peaceful silence, Arcee looked down at Jack who in turn looked up at her. "You okay Cee?" Arcee loved it when Jack used his nick name for her.

"Yes Jack, you don't need to worry about me." She finished that with a giggle. Jack loved it when Arcee allowed herself to laugh, it made him feel nothing but joy knowing she was happy. Suddenly, Jack found himself simply staring into Arcee's eyes and Arcee found herself doing the same with Jack. They sat there for a few minutes simply staring into each other's eyes.

Suddenly, Arcee felt as though her insides were heating up; she did a discreet analysis of her systems and found that her spark was heating up and pulsing very quickly and her energon stores were heating up. 'Oh Primus, am I getting turned on by this?' Jack was feeling very similar to Arcee, he felt himself getting very hot; he suddenly felt as though there was some primal urge calling for him to do something.

Jack suddenly realized what was happening. 'Oh crap, it's my hormones again; this is no time for a midnight fling Jack, your' only 17!' Suddenly, Jack found himself pinned to the berth by Arcee's metallic lips. She was actually grabbing his body and from the looks of it, she was in the same condition as he was; they were basically two teenagers running on hormones.

Jack suddenly brought his hands up and pushed Arcee's hands and head away. Arcee's eyes went wide as she started assuming the worst in her mind. 'Oh scrap, I moved to fast; he's mad and didn't want to do it!' Suddenly Jack sat up and kissed Arcee passionately but simply before pulling away leaving her a bit puzzled; but when Jack started speaking, Arcee paid attention to what he said.

"Believe me, I know what you wanted to do Arcee, and I want to do it too." Arcee heard this and spoke up with a confused tone. "Then why did you stop me? We both want it and…" Suddenly, Jack raised a hand for her to stop talking. She stopped just as Jack started speaking again. "Arcee, think about it; I'm seventeen years old, your seventeen mega cycles old, but you've never been in a relationship either; we're basically two teenagers running off the heat of the moment, I don't want our first time to be like that; I want the first time to be special, to mean something."

At this, Arcee realized that Jack was right, it wasn't the right time to try and bond like that. Arcee was thinking again when she was pulled out of her thoughts by Jack's voice. "I want to do it Arcee, but I think we should wait a bit, just until we're both able to think a bit clearer." Arcee smiled at Jack's words, she was amazed at the maturity he showed even in situations like this. And so she nodded and with that they shared one last kiss before falling asleep in each other's arms.

Arcee smiled at the memory of that night; but the thought was interrupted as the area behind her feet exploded and she went flying to the ground about 50 yards away, she turned around to see a black helicopter flying right at her and readied her blasters as she growled out the name of the Decepticon femme flying towards her. "Airachnid!" The dark colored femme transformed in mid air and landed right in front of Arcee.

"Hello Arcee, how's dear sweet Jack been lately?" Arcee was suddenly filled with an uncontrollable rage; she remembered how Airachnid had nearly killed Jack and with all her rage charged at Airachnid with her blasters blazing. She got in close and activated her wrist blades and tried to hack the crazed spiderbot apart, but was unable to as Airachnid used her spider legs to block Arcee's attacks.

Suddenly, Airachnid jumped into the air and landed directly behind Arcee, she gave the blue femme a slash to her upper thigh and when Arcee turned around, she was met with a black boot like, metallic foot to the face plates. Arcee landed on the ground with a hard crash and found Airachnid's foot on her throat as the spiderbot looked down at Arcee with a sadistic smile before speaking up.

"Don't worry so much Arcee; once I'm done here, I might show Jack what a real femme is capable of in a berth, and then I'll send him to be with you at the Well of the Allspark." Arcee knew she couldn't escape the death that was above her and so she closed her optics and gave what she knew would be her final thought. 'Goodbye Jack, I'm sorry…'

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and Arcee's eye's flew open, she saw Airachnid lying on her back about 60 yards away with a look of shock on her face as she looked into the distance behind Arcee; the blue femme turned around and saw what appeared in her data banks as an Apache attack helicopter that belonged to the United States Army.

The chopper suddenly opened fire on Airachnid who in turned transformed into her own helicopter mode and flew right at the American pilot. The Apache suddenly turned tail and started leading Airachnid around in basically a giant circle around Arcee. Airachnid began firing off multiple missiles which the Apache dodged easily. Eventually she ran out of straight line missiles and was left with heat seekers.

The Apache began a steep climb in altitude just as Airachnid fired her missiles, suddenly as the missiles neared the unknown pilot, he flipped the chopper in mid air and flew directly towards Airachnid who was making a fast flight towards the Apache, 'Who is this guy?' Arcee thought to herself as she saw the two helicopters approaching each other. Suddenly Arcee realized that the heat seekers were still chasing the Apache.

The two choppers were getting closer and closer; but suddenly the Apache seemed to flow underneath Airachnid as it flew down and as it began to ascend, it deployed flares. Airachnid must have been focusing on the Apache as she turned just as the Apache deployed his flares. Arcee was looking as the Apache turned just in time to see the heat seekers hit the very Decepticon that had fired them.

'Whoever this pilot is, he's got skill.' Arcee watched as Airachnid transformed just before hitting the ground; the psychotic spiderbot looked up to see Arcee was priming her blasters and the Apache was coming around for another shot. Arcee saw Airachnid begin to drill into the earth with her spider legs and fired off a group of shots; each one hit its mark but Airachnid didn't stop drilling and a few seconds later, Arcee was looking down a hole left by the one femme she wished she could rip the spark out of more than any bot in the universe.

Arcee was brooding over the large whole when she heard a propeller behind her, she turned to see the Apache was low enough for her to see into the cockpit and look right at the pilot. He had a black visor covering his face and she couldn't see his hair as it was covered by a helmet. 'What is he thinking?' Arcee was wondering if it was one of Agent Fowler's boys come to assist her but suddenly she felt as if she knew the pilot in front of her.

Arcee was brought back to the present when the pilot snapped off a crisp salute before bringing the chopper up and flying away. Arcee was a bit shell shocked to say the least as she raised a hand to her helm and activated her communicator. "Arcee to base; Ratchet, you there?" "I'm reading you loud and clear Arcee, what is it?" The rough old medic had a neutral tone as he spoke over the open comm. Line.

"I need a ground bridge, you are not gonna believe what just happened." Not a minute later, Arcee saw the ground bridge vortex open up and she quickly walked through the opening to be greeted by both Ratchet and Optimus. "What has happened Arcee, did you discover something?" Arcee heard a tone of concern in Optimus' voice which she found both endearing and amusing. 'He really is like a father.'

Arcee was always a bit amused when Optimus would check on her constantly like an over protective father would do with his own daughter; but Arcee explained to Optimus how she had been ambushed by Airachnid and was saved by a lone American attack chopper. "It would seem the Allspark is watching over you Arcee." Optimus had a happy as well as relieved smile on his face plates; but the mood changed as Ratchet spoke up.

"Arcee, did the pilot see the ground bridge open up?" Arcee could hear the slightly worried tone in Ratchet's voice which was understandable given that the Autobot's cover might be blown. "No, he had already flown off southeast for a few minutes by the time I called in." This puzzled Ratchet as well as Optimus. Arcee went on to mention how the pilot had come down to her level and saluted her before flying off.

Ratchet seemed as though he were about to speak when there was a sudden beep, Optimus turned to the central console as it was a communications link coming in. 'Probably Fowler, knowing him he probably knows about the pilot already.' Optimus reached the terminal and activated the communications relay. "This is Optimus." "Prime, this is Agent Fowler." Arcee rolled her optics at the rough voice of the old human. 'I knew it.'

Arcee was pulled out of her thoughts as Agent Fowler continued. "I got a bit of a surprise for you and the team. Head up to the top of the base, all of you, even the kids. Fowler out." The three Autobots present were a bit puzzled at the cryptic message, but Optimus called the other Bots to the control center as well as their human charges. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Miko and Rafael walked up and the yellow scout spoke up. "What's going on Optimus?"

The confusion in Bumblebee's voice and on the other's faces was evident as Optimus spoke up. "It seems that Agent Fowler has something for us at the top of the base. Let us go up and see what it is." With that said the group entered the two cargo elevators and a few minutes later they walked out onto the red dirt at the top of the old missile silo that was their base.

They stood there for a few seconds; suddenly they could make out the sound of a helicopter approaching. Arcee's eyes went wide as she had a thought pop up in her head. 'It can't be; is it him?' Suddenly, the very Apache that had saved Arcee flew overhead. Everyone present watched as the helicopter did a barrel roll before spinning around and flying towards the landing pad on the top of the base.

Arcee had her optics glued to the cockpit of the chopper, wondering who it was in the pilot seat. The Apache touched down and the pilot looked over at the group before powering down the engines and moving to the back of the chopper to come out. The pilot didn't appear immediately; but when he appeared, the entire team went wide eyed.

The young man was in a blue Army Service Uniform; decorated with seven rows of ribbons, four medals, a red cord with a golden lance-ending around his left shoulder, and a similar cord colored black wrapped around his right shoulder. On each of the lapels on his chest was a silver eagle and on his right chest pocket, in plain view of the entire team, was a nameplate with the name Darby engraved on it.

"Jack!?" Rafael shouted out loud when he saw him in his uniform, Arcee was so shell shocked at the entire situation. It was only when Jack spoke up that she was brought back to the present. "It's good to be back guys." The smile on Jack's face spread to everyone present, suddenly, Jack locked his eyes with Arcee and walked up to her. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, Jack had changed so much in the five years he had been gone.

When Jack left; he was 5 ft. 9 in. and he weighed around 165 pounds, he was well built for his age and had an air of simplicity about him. Now, Jack was 6ft. 5in. and he weighed an impressive 250 pounds. He had a poised and confident air around him that showed that he was not a kid anymore; he was a soldier, and a force to be reckoned with. Jack suddenly spoke up and Arcee nearly burst at the seams with joy at his words. "How've you been partner?"

YAAAAY! 12 CHAPTERS AND STILL HOLDING STRONG! ^_^ Anywho, I hope everyones enjoying the story so far. :) Read and review, let me know what you think and I will get the next couple of chapters up as soon as I can.