Chapter Thirteen
June 13th, 2010
Washington, DC
Little Island
"Bumblebee!" Jack called out as he landed in front of the building on Little Island. He looked around through the trees for the young Autobot scout, hoping to find him before any unsuspecting S.H.I.E.L.D. agent did. He ripped off his mask, hoping to find the scout by himself and not with any of the others. "Bumblebee!"
He looked around the remote area. Except for the warehouse, the entire island remained untouched, but he knew that Bumblebee was around somewhere. But the density also meant that Toomes' men could be lurking as well. He honestly would rather have them around than a trespasser.
"Bumblebee, I'm going to give you to the count of three. If you don't come out, I'm going—"
He was cut off when a war cry broke out. He jumped as a small figure came rushing out of the warehouse and started swinging at him. When he caught his bearings, Jack was shocked and then amused to see Miko in battle mode, trying to attack the intruder in her territory with a branch.
"You'll never take me alive, copper!" Miko exclaimed with each swing.
"I'm pretty sure that I can." Jack folded his arms up and tilted his head.
Miko halted in her assault and looked at him. Her honey-colored eyes blinked at him before she laughed nervously.
"Hey, Jack-O," she greeted. "How's the weather?"
"Where's Bumblebee?" Jack questioned her.
"Bee?" Miko asked.
"Miko…Wait, what are you doing here?"
"I came to see you in action. Duh," she said.
"Oh, my god. Please tell me that you didn't come here alone."
"Um…I did?" But as Jack glared at her she caved in. "I might've brought company."
Jack shook his head as he pulled out his phone. "I'm calling Ratchet."
"No, wait!" Miko snatched his phone away from him. "Don't send us both back to base! Bulkhead and Bumblebee didn't know we followed them out here. It's been so boring at the base ever since you left…until last night."
Jack froze.
"It's just that I miss how things used to be before June died, before you moved away…when it was just the three of us. We just wanted one day to hang out with you," Miko admitted.
Jack didn't answer. He used his web-shooter to take his phone back. "Don't make me regret this."
Miko cheered as she pumped her fist before running back into the trees. A full minute hadn't passed before she returned, this time with Raf and Sierra.
"Um, hi," the former greeted as he nervously waved at him.
"Jack?" Sierra said, and he quietly drew in a breath, noticing she assessed him in his outfit. Then he realized that this was the first time they were seeing him like this, prompting him to pull of his mask to confirm that it was actually him. He tried to hide his laughter at her reaction.
Sierra hesitantly moved forward, and Jack realized she was wearing that exact same biker outfit. He honestly wanted to pull her closer and hold her, telling her that it was actually him, but a part of him didn't want to seem like…well, you know.
"Pretty surprising, huh?"
"I'll say." Sierra looked around at their surroundings. "This isn't too bad of a place. My grandparents would kill to have a place like this."
"It's a garage," Miko said.
"Actually, it's a warehouse," Raf pointed out.
"It's also an observatory for the city. If you used the stairs and a ladder up on the second landing, you can get to the roof." Jack pointed up. "You can even see into Arlington from up there."
Miko gasped as she scrambled inside. A now curious Raf followed behind her.
Jack's mouth twitched at the corners before turning to Sierra. She was doing an inspection of the place, as if trying to decide whether it was her thing or not. He could have used the moment to steal a few minutes with her, but what would he accomplish? She was with someone else, and he had more respect than that to drive a wedge between her and a childhood friend.
Jack scratched his neck. The prickling feeling had returned, something hadn't felt in four years. "So, whose idea was it for Bumblebee to tag along with Bulkhead?" he said.
"No one's. Bulkhead just easily caved in." Sierra shrugged at this.
"Figures." He wrung his mask in his hands. He could ask her how she and Vince were doing, given that she hadn't said much since they had last seen the other one in person, but he would be violating his own terms. If she wanted to talk for advice, he'd wait.
"Man, this sucks," they heard Miko say from inside. "So much clutter — ooh, is that an air rifle?"
Raf's frightened cries followed, and something shuffled inside.
"Speaking of weapons," Sierra started with a frown.
"Who got hurt this time?"
"No one did, but I've got a feeling that Miko probably already got Raf hurt. But since we're on that subject, something happened to Bumblebee."
Jack nodded sadly. "Yeah. Last night I called the 'Bots because I found something I thought would be important, only for us to be ambushed.
"That would explain a lot of things," Sierra said thoughtfully.
"Like what?" He knew Ratchet mentioned Bumblebee being found handicapped, but he never revealed what it was.
"Well, they took his t-cog."
"His…huh?" Jack was suddenly confused.
"It's something that allows them to scan a vehicle and transform into it. But that's only half of the problem."
"Okay." Jack crossed his arms. "So, what is it?"
Sierra looked at the entryway before saying, "I'm not sure if I should be telling you this, but we think the guys you went up against with last night might have aligned themselves with the Decepticons."
"What?" Jack looked at the doorway and back at Sierra. "What are you talking about? I don't see Megatron doing that anytime soon."
"That's what Ratchet said as well. But then he found something on Bumblebee. It looked like one of the holographic devices, like the one Leia used in A New Hope. It had a recording of Megatron saying what he did was a warning for humiliating him. Banner and Thor deduced that this alliance happened between the two incidents."
Jack groaned, and he ran his fingers through his hair. "This cannot be true."
"I was really hoping you wouldn't say that."
"Why?"
"Because that's all Ratchet's been saying last night."
"And that's why you guys are here?" Jack tried to sound irritated, but he was laughing at the annoyance Sierra had in her voice.
"It's not really that funny."
"You have no idea how funny it is."
"Jack, where's the stairs to the laboratory?" Miko hollered from inside.
"Observatory," Raf corrected her.
"Whatever!"
They started for inside the building, but Jack stopped Sierra before reaching the threshold. "So, what's Miko's deal lately? She was acting kind of hostile when she came out of the woods."
Sierra's forehead crinkled. "Not sure, but she was pretty extra moody the last couple of days. I thought there was a grudge, but she's been directing it to almost everyone."
"She hasn't made a target out of Arcee and Tiger, did she?"
Sierra started to cross to the stairs. "Not since Arcee threatened to have her abandoned in China."
Banner watched as Ratchet paced around the room, but not too far from the terminal in case any of the others had called. He wasn't showing it, but he was probably eager to hear if Bumblebee was located and safe. Just why he chose to tell Jack about his absence and not the others had puzzled him. Unless he truly missed the absent teen.
Jack's sudden departure had left a rather dull feeling in his place. Banner didn't know him that well, but he could tell that Jack had left an impact on them somehow. Enough to leave Ratchet even more cantankerous than when they had first met. Then the days were confronted with an abnormal silence. Those two and a half weeks hadn't been too kind.
He could remember those four days of being on the edge, waiting for news about Jack's whereabouts. Long before learning the death of a comrade, they were clearly shaken up when he had disappeared. So the phone call was a big sigh of relief to them to learn that he was still alive and safe. He only wished that he told at least one of them instead of just taking off.
Banner looked to the couch and shook his head. Only Tiger was occupying it, given that she had somehow woke up not feeling well. No doubt the kids had followed Bumblebee and Bulkhead to the relic's location. But the separation had been especially hard on them, and for good reason.
Until the night before and the phone call, the children had not taken Jack's absence well. Raf was more silent than normal, only speaking to Bumblebee when the scout pushed for conversations. Miko had become louder and more outgoing, as if she was filling in the empty space. Sierra would come by when she wasn't working or going out, but she still kept her distance, feeling left out. Tiger lashed out at anyone who suggested the worst.
The Autobots hadn't handled it better. Bulkhead had an anxious air about him and was more willing to comply with Miko's wishes. Bumblebee was worried for Raf, going to Optimus for advice on how to help his small charge. Unfortunately, Optimus was inexperienced when dealing with kids, so he didn't have much guidance to give. Ratchet was, well, difficult to talk to.
Arcee was the most difficult to communicate with. From what he had learned, she and Cliffjumper had been the newest additions to Team Prime, arriving a little over three years before they had met the children. She was more emotionally damaged in comparison to the others, her scars still visible and fresh. She had taken the death of her first partner Tailgate close to spark. Cliffjumper's death should have pushed her past a limit, but it didn't.
Jack's sudden appearance in her life had been her healing factor. Even when she tried to close him off, Jack would claw his way back and get her to open, not giving up on her. But Jack was gone for now and she had resorted to the same quiet nature she had developed to shield her spark from more heartache.
The others, even Banner himself, had tried to talk to the two-wheeler, but she would dodge any inquiries about her personal state, preferring her time to go out for a drive just to keep her processor clear. Optimus had feared that she would close herself off again, only for her to come out of her shell when Jack alerted them where he was, followed quickly by that phone call.
Banner sighed and stood up, abandoning his latest book and claiming to go get some fresh air. Not a lie, but the silence was starting to annoy him. All they had done was get updates from Fowler ("The Yalta Conference reached an agreement faster than this," he'd said). Banner wouldn't lie; even he was eager and nervous to come face-to-face with Fury.
Banner sighed as the elevator doors opened, and he stepped outside into daylight. It was partly cloudy outside, blocking out the sun time after time. The surrounding landscape looked lifeless and barren, save for the town that laid ahead of the base. It brought back a lot of memories from his time on the run. None of them contained one with a star approaching.
Banner frowned in confusion. The star appeared to be drawing in closer. He realized that the object wasn't a star at all. It was a female humanoid encased in a radiant halo! Whatever Banner assumed was answered as she slowed down and landed in front of the runaway. Like others before him, Banner was caught off guard by the person.
"Where's Jack?" she asked.
"This place looks boring," Miko groaned. "Seriously, does S.H.I.E.L.D. just mean So Helplessly and Insufficiently Exciting-less Like Damn?!"
Jack looked down from the steps and gave her a funny look.
"What? Dude, look around you! This place looks really empty. Your guys should put up some furniture here to stylize it."
"If you think that, why don't you give it a try?" Jack smiled.
Miko gasped. "Really? You'll let me?! I have so many ideas."
"You know she's going to make this place look like a punk convention, right?" Raf looked at Jack.
"I will not!" Miko objected.
"Jack!" Sierra said suddenly. "Can we really see the Arlington National Cemetery from up there?"
Jack smiled again as he opened the hatch to the small observatory on the roof. He helped others up it before saying, "See for yourself."
Raf gasped at what he was seeing. On one side of the small domed room was a stretch of a garden bed with small, leafy greens growing. On the other side were desks and a billboard covered in books and papers. Mounted on the wall was a small screen with a couch and two recliners. There were also pictures on the wall. A bookcase was also set up. But it wasn't the only thing that was intriguing.
A spiraling staircase led up to a catwalk circling up above them. The room was covered by a glass ceiling installed with shutters to cover the roof in case of severe weather. You could almost see into the next town across the river from both sides.
"Okay, this isn't so bad now." Miko jumped over the couch and plopped onto it. "Add in the 'Bots and this is a club."
Raf didn't answer. He only scrambled up the stairs to get a view of the cities.
"I still can't believe your mom was an agent here," Miko said. "Like, for someone who works with the men in black, she calls you a lot."
"Hey, my mom wasn't always like that," Jack remarked. "Just until I turned twelve."
"Why? Was that when puberty kicked in?" Miko smirked at him.
"Uh, sure."
Miko fiddled with the radio on the table next to her. She managed to find a station she enjoyed and turned the volume up, making Jack winced. Yet she set her backpack down, pulling out her notebook and coloring pencils before she began to doodle.
It was soon after that his ears started to itch. He reached up to rub them, but he quickly remembered that he was wearing his mask still. He yanked it off and rubbed his ears to try and alleviate the feeling, and it worked until he looked at the counters.
He sighed as he unbuckled his utility belt and placed it on the desk. The teenager began opening drawers until he found what he was looking for. He placed an array of tinkering tools onto the desk and a small box. When Jack ripped off his gloves was when he stole a glance at Sierra.
Her back was facing them, and her eyes were focused on the wall. Pictures of various agents were framed and hung up. Sierra seemed fascinated by them. Either that, or else she was using them as a distraction, but from what?
Jack's phone buzzed on the counter. He looked down to find that he had received a text. He swiped the screen and saw the words: Just go talk to her.
Jack blinked in surprise before looking over at Miko. She only waved at him. He scowled and sent her a message: And do what?
Dude, people call it a crush, but it's obvious that you're developing something for her. Even Doc Bot and Prime notice it.
"They what?" Jack squawked. His hand flew up to his mouth, but it was too late. Sierra whipped her head around to look at him, and Miko was hiding her giggles. "Arcee thinks she's funny now."
"Huh. I guess a few hours of Kevin Hart did help," Sierra said. She turned back to the wall, and her gaze moved to a long case hanging on a wall hook. She had to be purposefully ignoring them, or else she would have at least turned around without a reason from them.
"Um, guys? I think you might want to see this," Raf called from upstairs.
Jack looked up to the observation deck. He quickly scrambled up the stairs to see what had caught Raf's attention. The younger boy pointed up towards the sky. When he looked up and searched for the source, Jack only saw a birdlike shape gliding past. But he wasn't fooled. He knew that even gliding birds flapped their wings on occasion, while this bird remained immobile — and it gave off a glint that no bird could no matter how glossy their feathers.
"What's up?" Miko prompted as she joined them. "Is everything okay?"
Jack scrambled down the stairs and dashed for the ladder, but he put his gloves and mask back on. He hurried down the ladder when he heard a sharp sound. It made him wince by its sharpness. As he landed on the floor, he looked around wildly for the source before he noticed a blinking red light on an object — with a Cybertronian glyph stamped on it.
"Oh, scrap."
"I still don't understand how you talked me into this," Bulkhead said as he and Bumblebee searched the island for the signature's source. "You're just as worse as Miko."
Bumblebee responded with some snarkiness.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But not every mission ends with a high-speed pursuit. And without your…"
Bumblebee hissed.
"Okay, okay. I won't bring it back up. But if Prime finds out, this was not my idea." Bulkhead looked at his tracer and frowned. "Signal's getting closer. Good news is that it hasn't moved yet." He heard a pair of voices and muttered, "Guess we need to hurry it up."
"Get up there, now," Jack hissed as he pushed Miko back up the ladder.
"Ah, but I want to see the action," Miko whined.
"Not now. Just get up the ladder and don't come out until I get you guys." Jack shook his head before closing the hatch back up. He used his skills to crawl up onto the ceiling and wait for someone to enter.
"Hey, Knock Out?"
Jack held a breath. The voice he didn't recognize, but the one Cybertronian who entered and responded he did.
"What?"
"Um, do you really think it was a good idea for Megatron to be proposing an alliance to those humans?"
This caught the teenager's attention. He repositioned himself until he was looking down at the pair that entered.
"How should I know? I don't see why he would want a human alliance to begin with. The thought of having to work with the fleshies." Knock Out shuddered. He pulled a device out from behind him and said, "Anyways, we're here to secure the beacon and its contents. The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"What about the humans?" his partner asked worriedly.
"Breakdown, this is a facility that so happens to be ignored by them. And besides, they're of little concern to us. Besides the inventions made by our now human allies, what can they do?"
Inventions?
Shock had sucker punched Jack as he quickly put the pieces together. That only confirmed the team's suspicions, but surely…no, he wouldn't so such a thing if he had a family of his own. Would he? If he did it for them, how desperate was he?
But what he had also said about humans ticked him off. He had stopped a getaway car before with his bare hands, right? Well, let's see how Knock Out felt about it when he tried that trick.
The hatch opened just a crack to allow his friends to peek out and see what was happening. They watched as Knock Out walked up to a pile while Breakdown looked around. The latter looked distracted, but his partner didn't seem to be paying attention to him.
"I must be getting warmer," Knock Out purred. He sorted through the many objects, tossing carelessly aside before he held something up. "Gotcha! Alright, let's get out of—" He stopped upon seeing Breakdown's distant look. "Oh, come on. You still can't be thinking about it, are you?"
"Don't you just find it weird," Breakdown said, "about all of this at all?"
"Not really. Although, Megatron has been coming to me recently about some spark problems. But it could be from a number of things…like consumption of too much dark energon," Knock Out muttered underneath his vents. "But we've got what we've came for. Let's get out of here before the Autobots show up."
Jack positioned himself above them. His timing had to be perfect. Another reason why he was glad math existed. He watched as Knock Out transformed, cushioning the device in the interior of his vehicle mode, and prepared to take off. Jack released himself and fell towards the ground. Landing would hurt, but the pain wouldn't matter now. As he landed in front of Knock Out, he held his hands out, slamming them into the Decepticon and forcing him to a screeching halt just by the entryway.
"Whoa," Miko whistled, but she wasn't the only one. Bulkhead and Bumblebee had emerged just in time to see it happen.
"Bee? Did you see that too?" Bulkhead asked, to which Bumblebee confirmed.
Knock Out transformed, looking at the damage Jack had done. "I just…I…prepare for surgery!"
Jack laughed, saying, "You'll have to catch me first."
Knock Out brought out his saw, and Jack saw that this was suddenly serious. He cartwheeled away just as the Decepticon brought it down to the ground. He leaped up onto the warehouse and scrambled up the wall.
"Whoa, look at him go," Bulkhead mused.
The other three had scrambled down from the observatory, before rushing to the door. It was a bit of a stretch, but they wanted to see Jack in action for the first time.
"Dude, he's faster than he was on TV," Miko said. She sighed as she fished out her phone. "Smackdown for the scrapbook."
"Breakdown, a helping hand here!" Knock Out shouted at his partner.
Jack paused halfway up the building's wall and glanced down. He brought his fingers into position over the triggers of his web-shooters, took a moment to hope that he had a good angle, and then, in one quick moment, positioned his hand and fired. The 'Con got a gob of webbing right to his right optic. Both Knock Out and Breakdown were taken by surprise, giving Bulkhead an opening. He charged forward and swung his wrecking ball at Breakdown.
Bumblebee rushed up and kicked away at Knock Out. Knock Out yelped as he tumbled to the ground. Jack leaped off of the building and landed on the ground. He was in a crouching position as Knock Out stood up on his pedes. He would have called for backup if his partner wasn't occupied with one of the two Autobots.
However, as he looked up, he found an opportunity to at least deepen a wound. "Well, well. If it isn't the infamous Bumblebee. Come for round two?"
Jack quickly glanced over at him. Bumblebee was looking at Knock Out with anger, his servos clenched tightly.
"Oh, come on, Bee. No shots or your famous horsepower. Where is all of your…oh, that's right. I heard your t-cog is missing. My bad."
Bumblebee's optics flickered. He made ready to tackle the Decepticon before Jack stopped him.
"No, don't. He's trying to get you riled up. Speaking of which," he turned to Knock Out, "you have a stain on your paint."
Knock Out looked down for the imaginary stain, giving Bumblebee the opportunity. The Autobot scout surged forward and tackled Knock Out to the ground, and the relic went flying. Jack leaped away in case both fights became hectic.
Bulkhead had brought out his wrecking ball just as Breakdown brought out his hammer. Their weapons clashed with loud clangs of metal as they fought for control of the relic recovered from the warehouse. Both fights Jack had to take turns in to help Bulkhead and Bumblebee, firing a web to distract the Decepticons so the Autobots could lay a hit on them. Jack's own acrobatic skills saved me countlessly during the fight.
Bumblebee was able to shove Knock Out to the side and he made a mad dash for the relic. He picked it up as Breakdown pushed Bulkhead back. The former Decepticon Wrecker turned and surged towards Bumblebee, letting out a war cry as he raised his hammer. Bumblebee brought up the relic as a shield, and a force field generated from the staff just as soon as Breakdown brought down his hammer. The Con was sent flying back next to Knock Out, taken by surprise.
"Wow," Bulkhead said. Even his partner was amazed at it.
"Bulkhead, I suggest you hand that over now," Knock Out shouted.
"Yeah? And just what are you going to do about it?" Bulkhead challenged.
Knock Out scowled before he saw something in the corner of his optics. The other kids froze upon being discovered. Before they could react, Knock Out reached out and snatched Raf up. Both girls screamed, and Jack froze. Bumblebee cried out.
"Knock Out, let him go!" Bulkhead shouted.
Meanwhile, no one noticed how a figure clad in red and black stumbled out from the brush. Five more figures came following right after him.
"Aha! I knew we'd find him. See, Hank? I told you he would be—" Stark stopped his babbling as he took in the scene before him. "Oh."
"Knock Out, I'm serious," Bulkhead snarled.
"Oh, and I'm not?" Knock Out looked at him boredly. "I'm only doing you a kind favor, Bulkhead, so I suggest you give up the relic. Then we can talk."
"Um, KO? Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?" Breakdown asked.
That only seemed to prove Bulkhead's point. "See? Even he agrees with me, and there's more bad energon between us than there is to you and Bee!"
"Would you like to test that theory?"
Bumblebee looked at Bulkhead desperately, torn between having to lose the relic and Raf's life. The former Wrecker sighed before disengaging his weapons. The Autobot scout tossed the relic at Breakdown's feet in frustration, and he picked it up.
Bulkhead held out a servo. "Now, the boy…"
Knock Out pretended to think about it before shaking his head. "Actually, I think I might hold onto him a little longer."
"What?" Bulkhead howled angrily.
A ground bridge vortex opened up behind the Decepticons, and fear pricked at Raf's friends.
"Thanks for contributing to the winning team — our team," Knock Out taunted.
"Jack!" Raf cried as he was carried away.
Jack felt his eye twitch as the pair ran for the bridge. They were slow from the beating they took, allowing Jack the chance to surge forward. The last thing he heard was someone shouting after him as he had disappeared through the swirling vortex.