A/N: Well now, this is quickly becoming one of my most popular stories! And I currently have one more chapter completed that I will be publishing next week, I promise! And you will be learning about Sam's story and connection to Jack, but it's not going to happen until I hit Season 2 and the hunt for the Iacon relics, sorry. I just need to decide WHEN in Season 2.

More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter II: Darkness Rising Part II

April 20, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV

Within five minutes of Raf fixing the computers, the trio had decided that if they were to spend any amount of time at the base, they would need to bring something to keep themselves busy as the only thing even mildly entertaining was exploring the base, and Ratchet didn't want them touching anything. They were just discussing which games would be appropriate to bring when, without warning, Jack felt a jolt in his spark. Great, now he had a bond with Arcee, what would he get from Sam's life next?! Well, at least he can understand his sparkmate easily, unlike Sam-who'd been bonded to Bumblebee. Then another, far more painful tug hit, and Jack knew that something terrible had happened. "Ratchet, open the ground bridge to the team, now!"

Ratchet turned to glare at him. "And why should I do that? We brought you here to protect you, not so that the Decepticons could kill you or so that you could have some thrills."

"No, it's for Optimus and the team, they're going to need it, and soon!"

Ratchet just scoffed at that. "Puh-lease. How could you possibly know that? I mean it's not like you could know what's going on there."

Just as he finished speaking, the comm sounded and Optimus called out "Ratchet, bridge us back! Use the arrival coordinates, now!"

Only centuries of experience kept the shock from showing on Ratchet's face. Miko and Raf on the other hand had no such experience to keep their shock in check. Raf just thought it was cool, while Miko demanded to know how he knew they'd need the bridge. Jack though could only focus on Arcee. Despite his worries about the possible consequences of knowing the Autobots, and how short a time he had known them, Jack was already starting to care for them, especially Arcee. When the groundbridge opened, the four 'Bots came in just ahead of an Energon explosion, with Optimus just barely avoiding getting burned. "Cutting it a bit close," Ratchet noted. "How about Cliffjumper?" he asked, noting that the other Bot wasn't there.

Miko immediately started asking a hundred questions, but Jack quickly shut her up with a hand to her mouth. Optimus asked Arcee what she saw and she answered "Not Cliff, at least, not anymore. He was mutated, butchered, like something from those 'Con experiments during the war." Then, to Jack's surprise, Arcee nearly fainted, and he ran to her, only for him to collapse when he got close. Ratchet was justly concerned, wondering what could have happened to cause both Jack and Arcee to collapse and started scanning Arcee. He quickly found a strange liquid, but the only answer he was given about it was where it came from: "Cliff was covered in it, leaking it," Arcee told him.

"Go take a decontamination bath," Ratchet ordered after taking a sample. Then, noticing Jack's reaction, deliberately moved the sample past the other kids. He was shocked to find out that they reacted as if it was nothing more than water, despite being much closer to the sample. Hmm, this would take some investigation. Then, while Jack recovered, Raf noticed the time, and the fact that there was no cell reception. So, in order to protect them and to accommodate curfew, Optimus assigned each of them a guardian 'Bot. Miko got Bulkhead, while Raf was assigned to Bumblebee. Optimus tried to assign Ratchet to Jack, but due to his work on the substance passed him on to Arcee-not that Jack minded. He far preferred the passionate ninja to the doc-bot who had earned a well-deserved nickname of Hatchet in Sam's reality, and seemed well on his way to re-earning it here.

After ground-bridging most of the way home, Jack rode Arcee the rest of the way. Inside the garage, Jack tried to sympathize with her about Cliffjumper, but she wasn't having any of it. "What could you possibly know about loss?" she demanded.

"More than you could possibly know," Jack whispered. Though he himself had only lost his dad, and that was about ten years ago, he felt Sam's losses as his own. Jazz's disappearance in Vegas, Optimus' first death in New York, Sam's parents and Mikaela in Egypt, then the Twins and Ironhide in Washington, the mess that was Chicago, the planet Earth, his friend and CO Will Lennox and countless others. But Arcee either couldn't or refused to hear the pain in his voice and brushed it off as girl problems. "Please, the only girl problems I have are all because of you, Arcee." Just then his mom showed up, very upset at seeing Arcee (in motorcycle form,) and only allowed Jack to 'keep her' if he promised to always wear his helmet, and to occasionally allow her a ride.

That night, Jack was unable to sleep well as his night was troubled by nightmares, all featuring a single being: an enormous Transformer with purple eyes and large horns coming out of his helmet, and Megatron . . . as a faithful servant? "Megatron, what have you done?" Jack whispered.

April 21, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV

The next morning, Arcee started revving her engine to wake Jack up at seven in the morning telling him it was time to go. Just before they left though, she told him to leave a note for his mom. Huh, who knew that she'd sympathize? Later, out on the open road, she opened up, saying that he might enjoy the ride since they weren't being shot at. Jack couldn't help but grin at the suggestion and by the time they arrived at base, they were both in very good moods.

But Arcee's mood dropped as Optimus took Ratchet out on a mission and left the other three behind, and Arcee in charge. And though Optimus claimed it was mere reconnaissance, both Jack and Arcee heard the worry in his voice: this mission could be very dangerous. But the two left anyway and out of sheer frustration, Arcee simply left on patrol and took Bee with her, leaving Bulkhead in charge. Miko immediately decided to try and turn them into a band, but Jack refused to join that disaster-waiting-to-happen. He quickly found an unused room near the main hall for him, Miko and Raf to use for themselves, and decided to try something. Reaching deep within himself, Jack found the AllSpark energy and tried to use that to recreate the Cube, or at least, part of it.

He had just managed to create a corner of the shrunken Cube when the proximity sensor went off. He ran to the door, only to find Agent Fowler there already. He yelled out for Prime, only for Bulkhead to tell him he was the only one there. "Well, where the hell did he go? Wait, don't tell me, he's out pancaking a mini-mall. Now I don't know what language you 'Bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons, and blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is not what the word 'handle' means in English! So you tell Prime-" Then he noticed the cord that led from Miko's guitar to the speaker. "Since when are you 'Bots electric?" he asked curiously. So they had no choice but to reveal their presence to an already upset Fowler. And as Jack expected, he was far from happy. "Contact with civilians! Team Prime has really gone off book this time. Wait, don't tell me, you're running a day-care center!"

At this, Jack nearly lost his temper at Fowler. "Listen, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a slight case of the 'Con's being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The 'Bots did the responsible thing and decided to protect us to the best of their abilities, something I doubt that the government would be able to do. Besides, we've already been able to help them out, and we'll give them a more personal reason to protect Earth. Now, let us be, or you'll have to explain yourself to Optimus."

Fowler scowled at Jack. "I don't answer to him, I answer to the Triskelion. And I'm taking all three of you into Federal custody. It's for your own protection."

Fortunately for the kids, Bulkhead put his foot down, literally. "We're protecting them."

"Is that so? Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors," Fowler stated in a rage as he walked to an old corded phone. But again Bulkhead interfered by crushing the phone with a single, large finger. That simply enraged Fowler all the more. "This isn't over, Bigfoot, not by a long shot!" Then he stormed out of the base, obviously intent on telling his boss about Jack and his . . . could he call them friends yet?

Then not ten minutes later, a blaring alarm started going off, shrill enough that it hurt Raf's ears. Bulk quickly identified it as an SOS from Fowler, but "Location scan was incomplete. Oh well."

Jack could not believe his ears. "Oh well? Seriously?" Was Bulkhead really suggesting that they leave Fowler to the Decepticons? Bulkhead's explanation was simply that Fowler was a jerk. "Whoa! Whether you like the guy or not, and believe me, I don't, the Decepticons may have him!" The others were quick to add their own objections, as Raf realized that Fowler knew where they were, and Miko figured Fowler would back down from any Transformer after his confrontation with Bulk.

Fortunately for them, Raf managed to hack into the government database in order to track down Fowler and Bulkhead immediately bridged there, leaving Jack in charge. Jack turned to the others to find other ideas about what they could do, and immediately discovered that Miko was gone, through the ground bridge with Bulkhead! She couldn't have worried Jack more unless she had bridged herself straight to Megatron himself! "Miko hasn't seen the 'Cons in action like we have," Jack mentioned to Raf. "She has no idea what she's in for." Luckily, Bulk's coordinates were still locked in, so Jack decided to go after her, but not before turning to Raf and telling him "You're in charge."

"In charge of who?" he asked.

"Not who, what. You're going to run the ground bridge for us. Optimus and Ratchet are still out there, and when Bulkhead realizes Miko is there, he'll either call for support or a bridge, which means you're needed right here." Raf nodded, and activated the bridge, allowing Jack to join Miko and Bulk on the other side.

April 21, 2012-McCullough Range, NV

Jack had to say, so far he preferred this kind of bridging over Jetfire's bridge, there was a far smaller chance of getting hurt. Unfortunately the first thing he laid eyes on was the Decepticons ship, not Miko or Bulkhead, and the 'Cons had spotted him. "Scrap," he whispered, and, unbeknownst to him, in perfect unison with Miko and Bulk. The 'Cons immediately opened fire, and Jack immediately started dodging the shots with inhuman agility. If he knew where Bulk and Miko were, he'd have started shooting, but he wasn't quite ready to reveal his secret to them and so, he resorted to simply dodging, while vowing to himself to get some human weapons, whether he stayed with the Bots or not! Bulkhead quickly showed up, allowing Jack to jump in. "Wh-What are you doing here?" he asked in shock.

"We were worried about Miko, she's not at base. Have you seen her?" Jack asked.

Then, as cheeky as you please, Miko popped up in the back and asked "What's she look like?"

Before they could continue the conversation, Bulk drove up behind a large pile of rubble so that the rubble was between him and the ship and kicked them out. Jack was grateful to get out, but just as Bulk drove off, he realized that Miko had stayed in Bulk. "Oh, she is so going to regret that," Jack grinned, remembering how Sam had fared during the Beltway battle. He quickly ran to the side of the rubble to watch Bulkhead work. The muscle car drove to a point under the ship before turning around to use a rise in the ground as a ramp so he could climb up to the ship where he immediately threw one of the . . . were those drones? off the ship. Once on the top of the ship, he beheaded one drone with his maces before using the body as a shield and body-slamming another drone. Only then did he realize that Miko wasn't with Jack. Both of them were incredibly surprised to find that Miko was still inside Bulkhead at the time! "Miko?!" Bulk asked in surprise when he revealed her insider his chest.

"I heaved on your floor mats, sorry," she told him (clearly still suffering from motion sickness,) just before he set her down. "Remind me never to do that," she continued, just before he was tackled by another drone. Bulk quickly crushed the drone, but not before more drones appeared and started firing at him. He shot another one, but realizing he would never last against their numbers, quickly tore what appeared to be a satellite dish off the ship and used it as a weapon to take down the remaining reinforcements.

But while Jack watched Bulk in action, another drone appeared behind him and picked him up, carrying him into the ship as a second prisoner, though not before running into . . . was that possibly Soundwave? He sure looked different from Sam's memories! The 'Con seemed to scan him, then, apparently making a decision, took his phone, did something to it, but then just gave it back to Jack before walking off. "Bring him to the brig, Commander Starscream is keeping the other prisoner there," a drone ordered to the one holding Jack. Jack grinned at that, and even more so when he noticed that Bee and Arcee had arrived to back up Bulkhead. Once the two drones were down, Jack turned to the duo and said "Thanks, you couldn't have timed that better."

"We appreciate you clearing the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list," Arcee told her charge.

Naturally Jack could not resist replying "Tell me about it. But you have to admit, there wasn't an activities list. You left before we could create one. Besides, at least I managed to convince Raf to stay behind, right?"

Arcee had to agree with that, and they turned to find Bulkhead. They eventually found him by Arcee nearly shooting him. "Brought the humans, huh?" Arcee joked.

"You try getting them to stay behind!" Bulkhead protested.

"Hey, I'm only here because Miko refused to stay behind!" Jack retorted.

"Well, we need to find Fowler and get you two out of here," Arcee responded.

"Uh, he's in the brig," Jack explained. As the trio of 'Bots fought their way to the brig, Jack was constantly pulling or pushing Miko out of the way so that neither would be crushed by the flying debris, or, on occasion, falling 'Bots. Fortunately for the duo, Arcee quickly realized that it was too dangerous for them and cleared a room for them to stay in. "Wait in here," she ordered. Bee tried to object, but Arcee shut him down. "They're slowing us down, easy targets, and it's too dangerous for them. They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay put," she finished, looking directly at the teens.

"That was intense!" Miko exclaimed in joy.

"Was? What were you thinking, Miko? We could all have been killed because of you!" Jack admonished her.

"Did I ask you to follow me?"

"I was simply trying to do what Optimus would have wanted, keep you safe!"

"But you're not Optimus, and you can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you very much!" To Jack's surprise, she was mad enough to actually hit him! And she didn't just hit him, she punched him in a place that, if he were fully human, would have left him gasping for breath. Unfortunately for Miko, he wasn't fully human, and she was left with an aching hand. "God, Jack, that's not a six-pack, that's a steel keg! I know guys like to say that they have muscles of steel, but I didn't think they meant it literally!"

Jack turned his head so that she wouldn't see his smirk, then his eyes widened as he saw something that the 'Cons were working on. He quickly pulled out his phone and called the base, but not before telling Miko to take a picture of it. "Raf, Miko's about to send you a picture of something. Tell me what you make of it."

Within seconds of Miko sending the picture, Raf replied. "It's important. I don't know what it's for, but I know math when I see it, and that is one serious equation. Any chance you could download it?"

"Sorry Raf, no can do. Even if we had a flash drive, there's no place to plug it into. This ship is pure Cybertronian, no human-compatible tech anywhere." Just then another drone came into the room. "Sorry Raf, but I have to go now. We're on the Decepticon's warship, and another drone just came in here!" Unfortunately for him, he took too long ending the call and the drone spotted him, forcing him and Miko to leave the room or be killed.

But just before the drone could shoot again, Bulkhead showed up just in time to crush it, and the other 'Bots were not far behind. Arcee had one thing to say to her charge: "I told you to stay put!"

"Hey, we did until the drone found us. What were we supposed to do, let it kill us?" Arcee had to give him that, and quickly led them off the ship and into Raf's waiting ground bridge.

April 21, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV

Within minutes of their return to the base, Optimus and Ratchet also returned, and it was clear that they had also returned from a battle, and a bad one if the damage on Ratchet was anything to go by. Miko actually sounded worried when she asked what happened to them, and Ratchet explained that they had fought a whole army of undead Transformers. Then she was back to her old self as she exclaimed "Zombies? You fought zombies and I missed it?"

"Miko, don't you think what we went through was intense enough?!" Jack asked in shock. Miko simply ignored him. Optimus then chastised Bulk for letting them go with him, and Miko tried to defend him. Jack then turned to Raf and asked "Haven't you shown them that equation yet?"

"No, actually. I haven't had a chance to yet."

"Equation? What equation?" Ratchet demanded. Miko picked up her phone to show him, but when he looked, he pulled back in confusion. "I . . . don't understand."

Miko, also confused, took a look at the picture she had pulled up. "Oh, that's the 'Con that tried to blow Jack away. Or at least that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grille!"

Jack finally lost his temper with the girl again. "Miko, we were almost killed! This isn't a game, this is war. When are you going to get it through your thick skull?"

"Um, we were all almost killed. You, me, Fowler, even them."

Then Jack made the hardest decision of his life. "Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore. God, I didn't even want to be a part of this to begin with!"

"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never out intent," Optimus stated. "However, it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk from Megatron, but the safety of the entire human race. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."

Immediately after Optimus finished speaking, Ratchet opened the ground bridge. "No point in long goodbyes, here's the door."

Jack really wished he could teach the medic a lesson before he left, but he knew he couldn't. Then, making one last attempt at protecting Raf, he asked the younger boy to come with him. Raf just turned to look at Bee's pitiful look (one that Jack knew all too well,) and said "I'll be okay, Jack. See you at school."

"Sure thing," he replied, and walked to the bridge. But before he could leave, Arcee stepped in front of him. "I know, you don't exist," Jack said, cutting her off.

"Don't make me hunt you down," the femme replied as he walked past her. But because he never looked back, he missed the sadness in her eyes. He never turned back, despite the pain in his spark that he knew came from her.