Oh there's gonna be some good content in this chapter I think. :) Anywho, on to the story.
Ch. 16
Jack looked ahead as he flew back towards the Autobot base; he was not in the best mood after the encounter with the Decepticons. 'Megatron, where are you!?' Jack had hoped that he would find Megatron so he could get a good idea of what he would be up against. 'You can hide behind your' troops all you want Megatron, but I will find you. And I swear on my father's grave, I will blow your' spark to scrap.'
Jack flew for a few more moments in silent rage as he was now about 10 miles away from the base. Jack powered up the long range communications and spoke into the comm. channel of his headpiece. "Optimus, it's Jack; I'm about 10 miles from base. I'll be there shortly." "Understood Jack, and on a side note…" Jack could hear Optimus lower his voice as he spoke up once more.
"You might want to prepare yourself, I sense Arcee will want to speak with you when you arrive." Jack understood this; he had left without giving much thought to what he and his lover had been talking about. 'This'll be interesting.' "Alright Optimus, I'll be there in a moment. Jack out." As Jack had been flying, he had flown another good 6 miles, and could now see the base in the distance. "Might as well get to the base quick, don't want to keep Arcee waiting. And with that, Jack poured on the speed and landed on the helipad within the next two minutes.
As Jack stepped out of the Helicopter into the daytime air, he walked over to the edge of the cliff. He stood close to the burial marker that had been set in place for Cliffjumper. As Jack look out over the barren red sands of Jasper, he can't help but feel an overcoming peace at the simple beauty held by the landscape. 'What I would do to have this kind of peace all the time…'
Jack was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he failed to hear the cargo elevator open; he did however hear the metallic footsteps approaching. 'Looks like it's time for that talk.' Jack turned around expecting to see Arcee standing behind him, but was surprised to see that it was Optimus rather than the blue femme Jack had been expecting. "Optimus, is something wrong?"
Jack kept a cool tone as he watched as the Prime kneeled down on one knee, effectively bringing him down to almost half the height he was while standing up. "Truthfully Jack, I came up here to ask you that very question." Jack was somewhat taken back at this, he had been expecting something along the lines of a speech about not running head first into a fight.
Instead, Optimus was concerned with Jack's feelings. 'I need to show that I can trust the team…' "It's… well it's me Optimus." Optimus, for the first time since Jack had met him, now looked quite confused. "What is it about you that has you troubled Jack?" Jack looked away from Optimus to look out at the red sands of Jasper once more.
"When me and Arcee first got to the coordinates of the energon signature… I felt fine; but when I saw the Decepticons, I… I felt like I wasn't myself anymore. All I felt was rage, and when I started attacking them I couldn't stop… I didn't want to stop…" Optimus could hear the pain and confusion in Jack's voice.
"Jack, it was the Decepticons that took your' father from you and your' mother; you have only seen them now for the first time since your' encounter with Airachnid." The mention of the demented spider-bot who nearly ended his life sent an unearthly chill down his spine as he remembered the look in her eyes as she was about to add Jack to her collection.
"That's just it Optimus, I let my anger control me the entire time, I couldn't control myself…" Jack hated that he allowed himself to lose control of his emotions. He was normally capable of restraining himself in even the most difficult of situations. So when he lost control, it agitated him; it disheartened him. "Jack, you lost control, but you are repentant of that fact; it is this quality about you that makes you different from the Decepticons, and it is that quality that makes you an Autobot. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
Jack looked up at Optimus with a look of relief and renewed peace on his face. 'He sounds like dad…' "Thank you Optimus." Optimus gave a smile to the young soldier and looked back towards the door of the elevator. "Now then, I think it's time you and Arcee had that talk." With that, Optimus stood up and he and Jack entered the elevator to descend into the base.
Leave it to Optimus to bring light to the dark times for his fellow Autobots. :) I'll get the next chapter up soon. Until then, TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT! ;)