Guys. You've stuck with me for how long? You should be used to me pulling that kind of stuff.
REVIEW REPLIES!
wolverine12: Thanks. If you wanna know if Jack's fine, look below the solid line.
Airreon Princess: Read on to find out. ;)
josephguy217: Thank you.
3luv4eva: Thank you so much for understanding. And is he playing games?
Awesomo3000: Is he lying?
97: Thank you!
Deathstroke101: Might be a while before that happens, unfortunately.
Again. You should be used to it by now.
Again. I own nothing aside from my OC and any of my original plot points.
This chapter is going to be a little bit weird. It takes place between Talida's interrogation and when Starscream walks into her cell with the cloth of Jack's blood. Bit of Jodi Piccoult style going on here. For those who don't know her, she's a really good writer. I highly recommend My Sister's Keeper. For those who have only seen the movie and not read the book, be in for a bit of a shock.
Song: False Pretense by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. (Almost went with Lying From You by Linkin Park, but it didn't quite fit with the song.)
ENJOY!
…or not…
When Starscream walked onto the bridge in search of the Decepticon surveillance chief, he was feeling proud of himself, and he showed it through the way he walked with his head held high, shoulders back and that slight spring in his step, along with the cocky smirk on his face.
"Soundwave," Starscream greeted the surveillance chief as he approached Soundwave at his station, "It appears we have finally found a way to crack Talida Prime."
Wordlessly (as he always did anything), he grabbed the photo of Jack and Talida Starscream had taken from her during the interrogation.
"I need you to run a search for him. Tell me everything there is to know about him," Starscream ordered.
Starscream didn't comment on it at the time, but it almost looked as though Soundwave hesitated with the order before running a facial recognition program. Within seconds, he pulled up a social media page.
"Hmmm… Jack Darby. Age: 14. Lives in Jasper, Nevada. Her childhood best friend," Starscream sneered, "And I'd wager he knows nothing of our little war."
Together, Starscream and Soundwave scrolled through Jack's social media site. They found the usual posts teenagers did complaining about schoolwork (maths, or, more specifically, algebra, seemed to be a point of contention). But, more interestingly, they found a photo of Talida front and centre related to her disappearance.
"I was correct. He knows nothing of our little war," Starscream smirked, reading about how Talida's disappearance was being treated as a car accident, "Well, I think it's time to introduce him to the Decepticon cause."
What Soundwave showed him next, was not pleasing.
"What do you mean he's being shadowed?" Starscream demanded, "Oh well. We must simply wait for when he's alone. Send Laserbeak to do some shadowing of our own so we know the best time to strike."
Panting, Jack sat down on a rock that was so conveniently nearby, gulping down on the last remnants of water in his water bottle.
Five days. Talida had been missing for five days now. Yesterday, he had finally worked up the courage to call Agent Fowler – the man who had initially questioned him – to see if there was anything he could tell him about the investigation into her disappearance. Regretfully, the man gave him no answer, saying that he legally couldn't divulge anything about an ongoing investigation.
Now, Jack understood that. Really. He did. But the lack of answers angered him.
Especially since now, more and more the longer her disappearance dragged on, he became convinced that Talida had been hiding something from him. Looking back, it all made sense.
The one thing he couldn't figure out was the secret and what that secret entailed.
He heard buzzing. Thinking it was the beginnings of heat stroke, he shrugged it off. Jasper High had shut early due to some plumbing issues, so Jack took the opportunity to start his search for Talida earlier than normal.
Those thoughts were abandoned when the buzzing sound moved closer.
Looking up, Jack saw a winged drone approaching him from the clouds. For a few moments, he sat motionless. He had no idea what it was and wouldn't move until he felt he had to.
Then suddenly, the drone began opening fire.
Screaming, Jack scrambled to avoid the lasers, leaving his backpack and supplies behind. He ran in random patterns, trying to confuse the drone's line of fire. Unfortunately, Laserbeak was too smart for that trick and kept its focus on Jack.
As he went to run up a sand dune, Jack thought things couldn't get worse.
An explosion took that thought away from him.
Ratchet was going about business as normal. Running a check on the slowly healing Cliffjumper. Scanning for new Energon deposits to boost their dwindling supply. Searching for the individual unknowingly responsible for holding the team together.
Then he got an alert.
Hoping it was something related to Talida, he was quick to investigate. His hopes dissipated when he found that it wasn't Talida somehow escaping and calling for help.
They skyrocked again when he isolated the cause.
"Optimus! We have a situation!" Ratchet called, causing the Autobots to run into the room.
"New Energon deposit?" Arcee inquired.
"Better. Decepticon activity," Ratchet corrected, "In the desert outside of the base."
"Why would they attack there?" Bumblebee bleeped in confusion.
"It doesn't matter. It's the first lead we've had since Tally's been captured. We need to go out there and make them tell us where they're holding her!" Cliffjumper exclaimed, struggling to stand up from his berth.
"I have not cleared you to return to duty, Cliffjumper," Ratchet reminded him, "You still struggle to walk, let alone transform and hold your vehicle mode for longer than five minutes."
"I know how much you want to be involved, Cliffjumper, but your recovery is just as critical as Talida's," Optimus rumbled.
"PRIME!"
"Agent Fowler, this is not a good time. We're about to investigate a Decepticon attack," Ratchet cut in.
"That's why I'm calling in. The Decepticons found out about Jack."
The optics of every Autobot in the room widened in horror. They should have been prepared for the fact that the Decepticons would try to use Jack to get to Talida. Especially if she was withstanding all of their interrogation techniques.
But they honestly did not think they would attack Jack in broad daylight. Even in an isolated place like the desert.
"Ratchet, lock onto the coordinates and bridge us out there!" Optimus ordered.
"Optimus, we're on low supply and the location is within driving distance. Shouldn't we save the Energon?" Ratchet argued.
"I understand your concern, but Jack is in danger. We cannot afford any delays. And we also cannot afford to risk the Decepticons finding our base," Optimus said firmly before adding as an afterthought, "Prepare sick bay. Just in case."
The last few words were unsaid, but they hung in the air nonetheless. Just in case they are able to rescue Talida.
With a final cry of, "AUTOBOTS, ROLL OUT!", Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee raced through the swirling GroundBridge portal.
Coughing and spluttering – both from the smoke of the explosion and the sand that got knocked around as a result – Jack struggled onto his hands and knees, his arms buckling as they struggled to support his weight. His ears ringed from the sound of the explosion.
With the smoke, he could hardly see a thing as he slowly, but surely, worked his way to standing on his own two feet.
However, when the smoke cleared, and his ears finally stopped ringing, he decided he would rather be blind from the smoke and deaf from the explosion.
As Starscream stood before him.
"Hello, Jack," Starscream sneered.
"How do you know me? Who are you?!" Jack demanded.
"I am Starscream, and we have someone in common," Starscream, surprisingly, answered his questions.
"What are you?" Jack then asked.
"I believe I am what you humans would call an alien," Starscream shrugged, "I would like you to come with me."
"Like that's gonna happen," Jack scoffed as he went to stumble away from the Decepticon's second-in-command.
"Oh. So I'll tell Talida that you don't want to see her," Starscream simpered.
That made Jack freeze in his step. He could feel his blood run cold as he slowly turned around to face Starscream with a menacing look in his eyes.
"What are you talking about?! How do you know her?!" Jack yelled.
"You mean you haven't figured it out? Her disappearance? My interest in you?" Starscream scoffed.
Slowly, but surely, the pieces of the puzzle came together. Talida didn't simply get into a car accident and disappeared as Agent Fowler had told him. She was kidnapped by…whatever Starscream was.
And now, he had to wonder if her family weren't working on a top-secret project for the military, but rather were the top-secret project. It was a bit of a stretch, but considering what he was currently facing, he considered it to be a logical solution.
"You took her," Jack said in horror.
"She has been our…guest for the last few days. A rather uncooperative one at that," Starscream smirked, "I was hoping you would make her talk."
"If she's not talking to you, she must have a good reason," Jack spat.
"I was thinking more stubbornness," Starscream retorted.
Despite himself, Jack shrugged a little bit. Talida had a pretty strong stubborn streak and it spent more time getting her in trouble than anything else. Something that was clearly being demonstrated, one could argue.
"Where is she?" Jack demanded.
"Come with me and you'll find out," Starscream offered.
"STARSCREAM!"
Jack had gotten enough of a shock when he saw Starscream. He got another one when he saw four more of these…creatures race through the desert with their guns drawn at their enemy.
"Glad you could join the party, Prime. I was just wondering if this little pest would be more cooperative than your daughter," Starscream simpered.
'Did he just say daughter?' Jack thought to himself, wondering how someone who, from all appearances, was human come from these…he didn't know what they were.
"What have you done to her?" the blue femme growled.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her anymore," Starscream waved his hand dismissively, "You know what happens to Autobots who don't cooperate in Decepticon interrogations."
When Jack would be asked to recall this moment later, he would struggle to tell whoever asked which alien fired first. All he knew was the sand was getting kicked up once more and he was once again running for his life.
He heard Prime tell another – Arcee, her name was? – to protect Jack while the others dealt with Starscream.
It was in that moment that they realized that they had forgotten about Laserbeak, who had taken the opportunity to swoop down and try to take Jack as Starscream fired another missile, sending them hurtling through the air. Screaming, Jack found himself leaving the ground in the claws of the drone, with Arcee chasing after him as a…did she just transform into a freaking motorcycle?!
Determined, Arcee raced up a nearby sand dune, giving her the leverage to fly into the air. Transforming mid-air, she fired upon Laserbeak, stunning him enough to release his grip on Jack. He heard the distinct sound of fabric ripping and felt the pain of something cutting into his side as he felt the metal claws loosening. He would have fallen to certain death if Arcee had not caught him in her hand before landing on another sand dune, tumbling down the hill before coming to a stop on a flat stretch of desert.
Jack could see the black spots beginning to block his vision. He could hear the distant sound of gunfire and the sound of Arcee radioing for transport back to her base. He could see her distinct form blocking the bright sun above him before his vision went completely hazy.
The last thing he heard before it all went dark was Arcee screaming his name.
The last thought he had was, 'My best friend lied to me.'
Yeah, needless to say, I struggled with this chapter for months. Hence the long wait.
Writer's block. What can I say?
Well, you guys know the drill. Review. Fave. Alert. Whatever. Can't promise speedy updates. Last week of uni. Overseas holidays with my parents coming up.
SEE YA!