Chapter Two

May 5th, 2010

Jasper, Nevada

Autobot Outpost Omega One

"Ratchet, I'm on my way to the base right now. I'm asking for entryway right about now."

Optimus Prime, who had been reviewing the latest strategies to be implemented against the Decepticons in the next battle, looked up from where he was. He could hear the somberness in the human agent's tone.

"I'm granting you access right now." Ratchet asked with a frown, "Is everything all right, Agent Fowler? You're not in your skyborne craft and you're coming from Jasper as we speak from what I'm seeing."

"Yeah, that's a funny thing you should mention," Fowler replied awkwardly. "Have Miko and Raf there as well. I need everyone at the base as soon as possible."

Ratchet and Optimus shared a look. "It's almost one in the morning, Fowler. Could this wait until later in the afternoon?" Ratchet responded.

"Look, it's important, so just do it!" Fowler snapped back.

Ratchet almost reeled away from the controls. He looked to Optimus and the controls, unsure how to react to the agent's strange behavior.

"Allow him passage," Optimus told the medic. "I'll contact Arcee and let her know what's happening."

Ratchet released a sigh and typed in the command to allow Fowler entrance. When Optimus tried to get a hold of Arcee, he was quite surprised when she didn't answer straightaway. It sounded like when someone rejected the call. Why wasn't she answering?

Before he could alert the others, a car's engine echoed from the corridor. He turned around just as a black SUV pulled into the room. The Autobot leader became even more surprised when he saw the worn out state the government agent was in.

"Agent Fowler? Is everything all right? What has happened?" Optimus began to ask.

"MECH," came out of Fowler's mouth.

Optimus closed the shutters over his optics. Not too long ago, MECH had captured Breakdown and attempted to disassemble him in order to see how he worked. He now feared they had gotten a hold of Arcee. "Are Arcee and the Darbys okay?" he inquired.

"That's one of the reasons I contacted you, Prime," Fowler said anxiously. "they had a terrible situation not so long ago. Oh, and Jack had a buddy with him who now knows only of Arcee's existence."

Optimus frowned at this bit of news. He was about to further question Fowler's visit when he heard the ground bridge activate, allowing the others passage into the base.

Miko had stumbled out of Bulkhead as she rubbed her eyes. "What's going on? You guys made it like someone had died."

Fowler cringed, like he had witnessed a car accident. "Then you are not going to like what you're about to hear," he said.

All attention was on him now. Optimus took a step forward and knelt down before Fowler.

"Fowler, what has happened?" he asked. He watched as the agent bowed his head sadly, looking ashamed and guilty. Then he looked up and Optimus saw the pained expression in his dark eyes. The Prime knew that lineaments all too well, the toll and devastation of losing a close one due to the tragedies of the war.

"Jack contacted me earlier last night. His mom was killed by one of the Cons," Fowler revealed.

Optimus closed his optics and tried to keep a clear processor, but it was hard with all the guilt and anger that suddenly consumed his spark. He heard Ratchet gasp from beside him, but didn't turn to look at his old friend.

"Does Arcee know?" Bulkhead asked nervously. He knew that if Arcee was unaware of a sensitive situation, there would surely be hell to pay. The silence from the government liaison made it more unnerving.

"Where are they now?" Optimus asked Fowler. The agent pressed his lips together.

"Somewhere government issued and safe," Fowler said. "I don't really know who his friend was. We're still sorting a lot out right now." He looked over to the others and noticed that the two younger children. Miko was visibly upset while Raf was in tears.

Raf was the first one to run up to Fowler, throwing his arms around the older man and burying his face into his jacket, heavy sobs coming from him. Fowler was shocked, but he knelt down and placed a comforting arm around the young boy. He looked up from Raf and then to Miko, who was lacking her usual bravado, and he held out an arm to her. To most of the Autobots' surprise, Miko broke down into sobs and ran over to quickly embrace Fowler as well.

"They'll be coming back though, right?" Bulkhead said.

Fowler stiffened before he let out a sigh, "I think I'll tell you about it later."

May 7th, 2010

Knoxville, Iowa

The Barton Farmyard

The first thing he realized, as soon as he started to gain consciousness, were the voices. They sounded soft, distorted. Other than that, his surroundings were quiet. He could barely move. Well, more like he didn't want to. The very thought of moving made him want to throw up. He didn't want to open his eyes to see where he was at. It had been a very long time since he felt real pain. And he used to take it at school.

Jack found himself unable to bear the pain anymore and whimpered. It hurt so much that he could barely fall back asleep. The room became quiet suddenly. Any longer, and Jack thought he had gone deaf. It was a wonder that he was still alive from the damage that he had taken. He could've ended up dead like his mother had. His sleep ridden mind tried to make out why his subconscious said those words until the memories came running back at him.

Right. Airachnid had killed his mother.

He wanted to lay there, not caring where he was at the moment. But he had to remind himself that Arcee was out there somewhere. That meant he had to leave, and that also meant he had to get up right now. He reached to throw off the covers, but he stopped and held up his hand. It was wrapped up in gauze, and a brace was secured over it.

Guess they did the surgery, he thought to himself. His eyebrows shot up when he started to wonder how long he had been out. This room did not look like it belonged to a hospital, but to a home. He tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea hit him hard, forcing him to fall back onto the pillow. He held a hand to his face.

"Why do I feel…?" he began to ask. He felt a hand gently brush the hair from his eyes.

"Stay down. We don't know how bad you took it."

Jack almost panicked at the voice, but he had to keep calm so he wouldn't sustain a whiplash or anything related.

"Do you have something to drink?" he rasped.

"I can't give you anything," the woman said. "Your body is still trying to work with the anesthesia. It'll make you sick."

Jack groaned. "Where am I and why?"

"Somewhere safe. We didn't know how serious your situation is yet, so we brought you here."

That made Jack groan inwardly. The Autobots were going to have a field day about this.

"Ah, so Sleeping Beauty awakens."

Jack turned his head, giving him a whiplash. There in the doorway stood a woman with brown hair cut in a pixie style, revealing a rounded face, and eyes like sapphires. To his surprise, she wore a suit that reminded him of an insect. On the back were glassy customized wings. She had on a black suit with yellow on the chest and abdomen, having a couple of red highlights on her neck, legs, and arms.

Jack watched with carefulness as the woman walked into the room. The woman at the bedside said, "Thanks for coming here on a short notice, Janet. I'd thought we'd lose him before you got here."

"What?" Jack squeaked.

"It's not a problem, Laura. When you called over the phone, I thought Clint did something stupid for a second." Then she turned to Jack and waved at him. "Hi. I'm Janet van Dyne. You must be Jack."

Jack blinked at the woman before nodding slowly.

"Janet?" Jack looked to the door and saw a man coming into the doorway. His blue eyes had a penetrating gaze and his hair was a lighter shade of brown. He also wore a bizarre outfit, all black and red. Tucked beneath his arm was an oddly shaped gray helmet. He stopped when he saw Jack. "Oh, he's up."

Jack's eyes flashed between the women and the man. He didn't know what to do or say. He lowered his gaze to avoid feeling uncomfortable.

"Kid? Will you look at me please?"

There was a long moment of silence, which made Jack finally look up. The man still stood in the doorway, with Janet seated next to him. Laura was ready to change the bandages on his hand.

"Can you tell us what happened out there?"

"I…" Jack stopped himself, then shook his head.

"Mom." A young boy's voice broke through as he appeared behind the man. "Mom? Dad wants to know if—"

Jack didn't know why, but he couldn't help it. He started crying, even though he barely had the strength to do more than a whimper.

"Hey, hey, hey," he heard the man say in alarm. "It's okay. You're all right."

"Don't say it's all right," Jack practically screamed. "Not when my mom is gone."

The man looked away. No one noticed the broken look on his face. Since the very moment he joined S.H.I.E.L.D., Hank had done everything in his power in the past year to track down June's whereabouts. But there was only so much that he could do. And when Barton told him of the incident, every attempt was all moot now. He should have put all of the grudges aside if he weren't so damn stubborn.

When his crying faded to sporadic sniffles, Janet offered Jack a box of tissues. The teenage boy accepted the box and wiped away the mess left on his face.

"Mom?" The boy shuffled past Hank. A little girl followed suit, and Jack had to fight a laugh lest he wanted to start hiccupping. Both of them were carrying containers full of food and bottles of drinks with them.

"We didn't know what he would want, so we got a little bit of everything!" the girl claimed enthusiastically.

"Uh, thanks," Laura said, unsure of what else to say. "Might as well be everything, but I'll need coolers until the anesthesia completely wears off in another hour." She asked Jack, "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't really know." Jack really didn't. He didn't know if it was before his mom's death or the morning of the surgery.

Laura frowned a little at this, and Jack turned away to reflect the past few days. He had no idea how Arcee, along with the others, are reacting and coping with June's death. But he overlooked how they would react that he was not in Jasper at the moment. He only hoped that Arcee was back at the base, with Ratchet doing everything in his power to revive her. The only relief Jack had was that MECH did no further damage to her. He believed that if Barton and Romanoff weren't there, he would have been dead along with Sierra.

Oh, he had almost forgotten about her. She had to be as worried about him as everyone else. No doubt she was traumatized by the events as he was. He wished now that when Arcee recovered herself that she would not point her out until he got there. There was so much they both could do.

"We'll take care of him," Hank said. "Barton's back from his briefing, and he'd probably would want to see all of you at once."

Laura stood up, and Jack nearly surprised at the bump of her stomach. He bit down his lip to point it out as Laura ushered herself and her kids out the door. Janet stood up and followed them out, leaving Jack alone with Hank.

"I don't really think we've met before," the older man said as he offered a hand. "Hank Pym."

Jack reached out with his uninjured hand and shook it. "I'm Jack."

"I know. You're quite famous in S.H.I.E.L.D. right now."

Jack blinked. "I am?"

"Well, just the ones in Fury's inner circle."

"Something tells me you're not, though."

Hank scratched the back of his head. "Well, Fury still to this day thinks Stark has been hacking into the systems."

Jack let out a snort, only to wince. He should have laughed to relieve some of the stress, but he couldn't bring himself to. But he wouldn't cry either. He did enough of that at the hospital, and he wouldn't allow himself to until the wake.

"Hey. There's no shame in shedding a tear or two. You did just do that."

"Unintentionally."

"Doesn't matter if it was intentional or not. Point is, you don't have to keep things bottled up like how you feel."

Jack looked away for a moment. Then Hank said with a teasing voice, "You know, it's not as if the boogeyman exists."

Jack snapped his eyes up at him. At first, he thought he would say something caustic. He was instead met with a look of sadness and death.

"Yes, he does."

The halls of the main building resembled nothing like the ones Sierra had seen on TV. Rather than looking dark and intimidating, there were benches that lined against the halls. The entire corridor was filtered with sunlight. A few pictures of decorated war veterans were displayed on the walls for all to see. Sierra could have sworn one of the pictures was a mushroom of a bomb test.

Word got out fast around Jasper. Apparently one of the overnight nurses had witnessed June being kidnapped by the thugs and had called the cops. Just why there was no mention of it that night from Vince's dad was a puzzle.

That same day a military officer had shown up to her house. Escorted her to the nearest military base for interrogation. At first, Sierra dreaded the worst when she was brought to the base. She couldn't remember any names, but she answered questions about the night June Darby was murdered and what happened. All of the sudden, she wished she wasn't there anymore.

Her phone was confiscated, so she couldn't call anyone or text or anything. She looked outside the window. The sun was out, but the place nearly looked deserted, save for the occasional jeep that drove by. She hadn't been to a military base since—

Sierra jumped in her seat as the door opened and Agent Fowler stepped outside, the door closing behind him. She watched as he came over and sat in the empty chair beside her, sighing heavily. She eyed him suspiciously before asking, "What's going on?"

"Well, my superiors are having a field day that you've been involved in a conflict that someone your age shouldn't have been a part of. But I've managed to convince them to go to great lengths to make sure MECH isn't a threat to you."

"But what will happen to me?" Sierra was more worried about that than anything. "And what about Jack? Is he okay? I haven't seen him since that night?"

Fowler sighed. "I don't know. All I do know is that he just finished up surgery and he won't be back here for another couple of days. As for you, you're given the clear just so long as you don't say a word of this to anyone."

Sierra glared at him. "Don't say a word about this?"

"Don't take it as an offense—"

"Who in their right mind would even believe me that I just met an alien robot? And if the whole world knows about this, what are you going to tell them about how Mrs. Darby died? That she took her own life? Do you know how insulting that is? You won't just be dishonoring her memory; you'll also be disregarding how Jack feels. Or are you just like how the rest of America feels about their government?"

Fowler watched as she grabbed her bag before storming out of the room and down towards the exit angrily. He shook his head and got up to follow her. "Miss Ortzman," he finally said when he caught up to her. "I'm sorry that you're upset about this. We're not trying to offend June's memory."

"I know. Because they don't exist," Sierra grumbled.

Fowler shook his head. He didn't know how to handle kids, but he could sympathize with them on the subject. "Come on, I'll take you back to Jasper."

Sierra bowed her head. It seems like no matter what was said, nothing would change the fact that nothing will change until something is done about it.

A familiar black SUV pulled up in the driveway. Coulson barely had the car shut off before he rushed out of it and bounded for the house. Romanoff was sitting outside with Barton and Laura.

"Where is he?" Coulson practically shouted. He was tired, but he really needed an answer. "Is Jack okay?"

"He's fine," Barton waved at him. "Upstairs in the guest room."

Coulson nodded in gratitude before heading inside. Hank and Janet were on the couches entertaining Cooper and Lila. The pair's presence only confirmed what he didn't want to believe.

Sweat plastered Coulson's sleeves to his arms, and his jacket weighed him down like Stark's armor, but he didn't slow his pace. Janet shouted something as he passed them, but he ignored them and headed up the stairs. The guest room wasn't too far, and he peeked into the room.

Jack was sitting up on the bed, eating a sandwich, and drinking a bottle of apple juice. A striped white cat was curled up next him, fast asleep. He seemed fine, but his right hand was bandaged. He pushed the door open, and the pallor of the boy's skin rammed into him. His face was pale and bloodless, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Mmph!" Jack almost choked on his sandwich, but he put it back down. "Phil? What are you doing here?"

"I got the call. What other reason would I be here?"

Jack looked away, looking completely embarrassed, but Coulson said, "So what is the deal?"

"My mom's dead," Jack whispered.

"I figured that. I meant how was she murdered?"

Jack looked away. His eyes were growing wet, and he wiped his hands on the pants he wore.

"Hey." Coulson pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. "What's up, Tiger?"

The truth rattled in Jack's head. It was the same truth that got his mom killed, but he figured that Coulson wouldn't believe him. He wiped his eyes and said, "A terrorist group."

Coulson looked disturbed.

"I don't even know why they took her. They just did and they left me a message to meet with them if I ever wanted to see her again. It was their twisted way of hide and go seek. When I found her, it was too late to rescue her. They pushed her off of the structure all tied up and…and…" He inhaled a shaky breath.

The disturbance left Coulson's face. "Nice story, but try again. This time with the extraterrestrials."

"What?"

"You forgot to add the part where Clint and Natasha were there and they witnessed it all. They had photographic evidence of the thing as well. Plus, your parents were also good at lying as well. You are too, but you're no match for them."

Now Jack felt really embarrassed. "What gave it away?"

"Besides the witnesses? I can't tell you because then you would have an easier time lying next time."

That was good enough of an answer. Jack crossed one leg over the other and straightened his posture. "I was there, but I wasn't alone. A classmate of mine was there too. She shouldn't have been but we were just hanging out that night. My partner — her name is Arcee — was rendered unconscious by the guys who were responsible for Mom's kidnapping. And the bot who killed her is Airachnid."

Jack looked down at his hands. He couldn't believe he was telling Coulson this, but the truth couldn't be hidden any longer. Trying to make it all a fantasy was too dangerous.

"The worst part about it was that right before I ditched her, I accused her of hypocrisy. That she was a liar herself and how she never truly cared about what I want or how I felt. If I had known…"

"Okay, let me stop you right there," Coulson said. "See that snack pack right there? Eat it."

"What?"

"Eat that pack right there. Fruit is nature's best source of sugar, and you're going to need a lot of it."

Jack looked at the snack pack. It contained apple slices and a small dipping bowl of caramel sauce. He picked up the packet and opened it up.

"I don't know what happened in the last nine years, and frankly, I don't know if I want to or not. But the first thing you need to do is not blame yourself for what happened. And I am going to get uncomfortable with what I have to ask you."

"Then don't," Jack croaked.

"It's just something I've been discussing with my superiors," Coulson said, "but their opinions on the matter aren't as satisfying enough for me. You know how much I love to annoy them, and you always did get a kick out of it whenever we were over, but your mom's choice of moving all the way out here and keeping you in the dark—"

"Coulson, stop. That argument was the one that drove me away from her that night."

"No, the lies and the secrets were what — look, I just need a straight answer for once in these past years. Your mom only called me once after you two disappeared, and I haven't heard from you or her until now. She didn't disclose anything to you, did she? Or were these independent people? And were you dragged into something a kid your age shouldn't have been? Because your case wasn't the first one that I came across on, and we all know how a majority of them ended."

"Uncle Phil—" Jack's throat felt like it was closing up. He should have gotten out of there, but Coulson's fear soaked up his own. He adored the man, almost believing he was an uncle of his own. Coulson never abandoned him, and he couldn't do that to him. "There is an intergalactic war that started on the planet Cybertron. A civil war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Megatron is the Cons' leader and Optimus Prime commands a small group of Autobots here on Earth. I got tangled up with the Autobots on accident and, one day, Arcee and I ran into Airachnid. But she and the Cons are out for conquest and war, while the Bots just want peace and a home."

Coulson frowned. "Sounds familiar."

"It does?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter. It's just that…" The older man swallowed. "Your mom is a woman of many secrets. That part of her life, whether work related or not, is private and should be kept that way. But most of those secrets that I do know are what drove you two all the way to the other side of the country. Apparently, they didn't protect you two like I thought they would. What they're doing is isolating you from the rest of your family."

"Coulson, it's not my place to share what she hasn't said, but…" There really wasn't much he could say. Her ability to avoid was always frustrating. Those secrets made her too protective of him in his childhood, that when he finally was trusted to go out on his own that he noticed how awkward he was. The only question was: what happened if the secrets she held came to light and went after him?

"But it feels like I don't know her anymore," he finally fessed up. "Why would I? She works all the time, and I rarely see her except for Sundays and every other holiday."

Coulson leaned back in his seat. "I suppose you're right. The only one who knew everything was…" He looked up at the ceiling. "We don't have to like it. We just have to accept it and honor her now."

Jack nodded because he had to do the same. Despite his need for answers, despite the whispers and rumors, he had to accept that he would never know what truly drove him and June away to Jasper.

"Now, is there something you would like to ask me before I start?"

Jack looked up at him. "Do you really want to know what I want to know?"

Coulson shrugged. "Why not?"

Jack looked sheepish as he said, "I want to start with my parents…"