When Wheeljack first started watching the videos, he was taken out of his time and sent into the past. They became like pockets of memory, rather than shadows of what was. As time went on, he started to see them how... others must have seen them—as remnants, left by a ghost.
That didn't make it hurt any less.
It just made it more... manageable, somehow.
So, on the day that everyone agreed would work for the burial on Cybertron and the funeral on Earth... about fifteen months after she had died... Wheeljack woke up early in the morning and made his way to the Jackhammer.
To get through the day, he felt like he needed one last reminder that... yes, it was in the past...
And this was the first real step towards moving on.
This was the real, real 'goodbye'.
He picked the video at random, and... he couldn't have picked a better one, even if it ached.
In the video, Jenna sat on her bed—humming quietly as she appeared to tune a large, brown, acoustic guitar.
:... If you ask Jack, I never really figured out how to play this stupid thing as well as I'd have liked to,: the girl spoke quietly. :I knew the basics, but I never mastered the various skills and techniques. He'll say that I didn't have the patience for it, that I just up and quit... Little did he know, I mastered this thing a while back.
What frustrated me was when I tried to write my own music, and I never got the hang of it—it never sounded right, never said all that I wanted said.: She looked up at the camera. :Good news is, there are a lot of songs out there that've already been written—and some of them get my messages across for me.: Slowly, Jenna began playing the guitar, lightly bobbing her head as her fingers moved across the strings. :And a week ago, I woke up after a month-long coma and I got some bad news.
I haven't been able to get it off my mind despite everything I've tried to do to just... make it go away, even completing my bucket-list—so this is me, sorta trying to figure out a way to accept it so that I can go back to living...: She took a deep breath. :For as long as I can, which is... a grim sentiment. Anyway... here we go...
If I die young: bury me in satin,
Lay me down on a bed of roses,
Sink me in the river at dawn,
Send me away with the words of a love song...
Uh-oh, uh-oh...: The girl's next breath shook. :
Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother—
She'll know I'm safe with you when
She stands under my colors..! Oh, and
Life ain't always what you think it oughta be—no.
Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby...: She shook her head. :Sorry, Mom...
The sharp knife of a short life...
Well, I've had just enough time...:
"No, you haven't," Wheeljack murmured, frowning at the screen as he sat back in his chair. "Not at all."
:If I die young: bury me in satin,
Lay me down on a bed of roses,
Sink me in the river at dawn,
Send me away with the words of a love song...
The sharp knife of a short life...
Well, I've had just enough time...: Jenna picked up the song a bit more. :
And I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom—
I'm as green as the ring on my little, cold finger!
I've never known the lovin' of a man,
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand!: She actually gave a small smile, nodding with the music. :
There's a boy here in town, says he'll love me forever.: Her expression softened. :
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life..!
Well, I've had just enough time..!: She nodded. :
So, put on your best, boys—and I'll wear my pearls!
What I never did is done...: The girl looked up, giving a wry smirk. :
A penny for my thoughts? Oh no, I'll sell them for a dollar—
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner!
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'!: She looked down at her guitar. :
Funny, when you're dead... how people start listenin'...:
"Haha." Wheeljack closed his optics. "Very appropriate kid. Thanks, for that." He opened his optics, and he sighed. "But yeah... I'm listenin'."
:If I die young: bury me in satin,
Lay me down on a bed of roses,
Sink me in the river at dawn,
Send me away with the words of a love song!
Uh-oh, uh-oh...: The music slowed, the musician taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She was barely holding it together... :
The ballad of a dove...
Go with peace and love...
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket...
Save 'em for a time when your really gonna need 'em, oh...: The girl opened her eyes, gazing at her guitar. :
The sharp knife of a short life...
Well, I've had just enough time.
So, put on your best, boys—and I'll wear my pearls...: Jenna looked up at the camera, frowning as she set her guitar aside. :... I'm going to die, aren't I? After everything I've put everyone through, after all of the promises I've made—I'm going to die.
I don't know when, but I do know how... And it's okay.: She gave a small, sad smile. :I looked pretty young, and I wish I could have had more time—but a wise writer once wrote 'Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened'.: She took a deep, shaking breath as she nodded to herself. :There are worse ways to go, I guess...
I'm the idiot who gets to go out saving a planet.: She looked up at the camera, grinning as she shrugged. :I won't get to see what will become of it once it's saved, I won't get to see my friends and family grow old, I won't get to tell our story... I'll have to leave that up to you, 'Jackie.: She closed her optics, beaming as a tear raced down her face. :Make it good, okay?:
/\
They all knew what the burial on Cybertron was going to be: pomp and politics.
Only members of Team Prime really knew the gravity of what had been done, what had been lost—and worse still, there were many on Cybertron who still held the old days' discomfort with organic lifeforms. Techno-organics were a whole other kind of oddity, even with Optimus having ensured through legislation that they would always be equal.
The humans did not attend the burial.
The Autobots had been both surprised at the decision, and... not surprised at all, really. Ratchet had, evidently, delicately relayed the state of Jenna's body to June during the planning process and expressed his helplessness in the face of making repairs or cosmetic changes that would hide the Allspark's effects and whatever damage she had received from the spark of Primus during her final moments. In the end, it was decided that a viewing would be in poor taste—and it would be best to simply entomb the girl unseen, and let the funeral on Earth be a simple memorial where they could remember her as she had been in life.
Knockout and Ratchet had been the ones to place her body in the tomb and close it; Ratchet laid her down, and Knockout's smaller digits arranged her broken wings and limbs to be comfortable and then moved her hair out of her face. He had always been uncomfortable with organics, but he did that without complaint.
Having Knockout, Soundwave, and Breakdown present with Team Prime at the burial was a statement regarding unity—but what Knockout did, out of the public's sight, was what Wheeljack felt spoke loudest.
Ratchet looked ready to cry when they came out of the tomb, but Knockout placed a servo on his rotator-cup and smiled gently—then they both fell back into line as the door was sealed, hiding the little body from sight, and Optimus addressed the amassed crowd. Having him out in public was a risk, but he insisted that it was necessary to show that he was not hiding, that he would speak directly to Cybertron, and that he would honor all of their fallen.
The speech was in a typical Prime fashion.
Optimus thanked everyone for being there, and he expressed his gratitude for the progress that had been made in the last year towards rebuilding a unified Cybertron. He then acknowledged all of the hardships and losses it had taken to reach that point, on both sides, but noted that there could be some comfort taken in the Well that they stood before. The Well was awake again, bursting with life, and bringing old and new sparks to Cybertron.
Optimus then indicated that the little inhabitant of the tomb at the Well's edge was the one who had made it all possible. He told Jenna's story like he was reading a set of bullet-points, keeping it short and simple: she was a protoform sent to Earth who became a techno-organic, she eventually joined the Wreckers, she fought in the final great battles for Cybertron, and she sacrificed herself to defeat Unicron's army and restore the Allspark to the Well.
He didn't tell the crowd of strangers how she liked to draw and paint, who her friends and family were, how reckless she was in a fight, or how it sounded when she sang. He didn't mention the bullying she endured, Project Solus, the disaster at Christmas and how she opened her arms and begged her best friend to wake up when she couldn't bring herself to fight him, or how she learned how to speak Cybertronian and fix a spaceship while she thought she was human.
The heroic young techno-organic warrior who took the leap could belong to Cybertron.
Jenna Darby, every sharp edge and crack and speck of paint, belonged to her family.
Wheeljack didn't speak. He just stood between Bulkhead and Ultra Magnus, and he kept his optics on the rest of the Wreckers where they stood in the crowd. They looked right back at him, smiling encouragingly and nodding along as they watched their friend stomach a shitshow. It helped, a little bit.
Wheeljack could imagine what the kid would think of all of this.
'Geez, who died?' She'd joke, looking around at the gathering—stiff friends, bored or confused spectators, a tomb at the edge of the very place where she had taken the leap.
The Star Saber still laid pierced in the ground, separating the tiny tomb from the Well. Wheeljack thought the Prime was insane, leaving the weapon there—no one could take it, but still: it was the fragging Star Saber.
But... Wheeljack wondered if it was the Prime's way of making amends. He'd never forgive himself for what happened to the girl, so... he gave up his greatest weapon forever, to make sure Primus never touched her again.
Wheeljack never saw Optimus as spiteful, but that was the best word he could think of for it—and he didn't blame the Prime. If anything, he admired him more.
Once it was all over and the crowd disbursed, the Team could finally 'breathe' again.
"We made it," Arcee murmured, relieved.
"Yeah." Bumblebee nodded. "But... here comes the hard part."
The Wreckers, Cliffjumper, Knockout, Breakdown, Prowl, Jazz, and Soundwave watched as the members of Team Prime gathered, and Knockout gave a small smile. "We'll watch over things while you're away."
"What he said." Springer gestured to Knockout with his helm, then he glanced at the crimson medic. "... Ten creds says we don't last four hours without a problem."
Knockout looked back at him, smirking. "With you lot on this assignment, we won't last two."
Springer chuckled. "Oh-ho-ho. You're on, 'Con."
"... This is a fraggin' nightmare," Breakdown said, his face blank but his optic wide as he looked at Bulkhead and Wheeljack.
Wheeljack put on a grin. "Yeah. Have fun with that."
"Tch." Breakdown looked away, then he looked back at Wheeljack with a frown. "... Just-..."
"Yeah." Wheeljack nodded. "Thanks."
Soundwave's screen lit up, and he activated a space-bridge.
"... Ready?" Bulkhead asked, moving forward to stand beside Wheeljack.
The white Wrecker blinked, then he frowned.
...
Wheeljack extended a servo, grinning.
"Ready?"
A tiny figure flew up and landed in his servo, their wings collapsing into their back before they looked up with shining optics and nodded.
"Ready." Jenna Darby beamed—and Wheeljack smiled right back at her as he reached up and carefully set her on his rotator-cup, where she belonged. The space-bridge opened, and she blinked before biting her lower lip. "... Is it bad that I'm kinda nervous?"
...
Wheeljack closed his optics and took a deep 'breath'—and when he opened them, the others had taken the lead and started to disappear into the portal.
Bumblebee, Sari...
Optimus, Elita-1...
Smokescreen, Arcee...
...
"No... I am, too. My planet's been dead for millennia, and now the war's over and I actually get to go home... but that's okay. Wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"... My partner gets to see the best of Cybertron, and I'll be there to see it."
...
Ultra Magnus glanced back at Wheeljack worriedly, but Bulkhead gestured for him to go on ahead.
The commander hesitated, then he nodded and vanished.
"'Jackie?" Bulkhead tried again. "You ready?"
...
Jenna blinked, then she raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, did you miss a memo?" She asked, like she thought he was an idiot. "I've seen the best of Cybertron."
Wheeljack squinted, confused. "Wait, what?"
"Tch." Jenna smirked, knocking on his rotator-cup twice. "What would you do without me, you big gray moron?"
Wheeljack blinked, then he looked at the portal with wide optics before his smile returned. "Heh."
...
Wheeljack's servos clenched into fists, then... they just fell open.
"... Yeah," the white Wrecker agreed, looking up at Bulkhead with a small smile, then he gestured with his helm. "C'mon."
Bulkhead blinked as Wheeljack turned and vanished into the space-bridge, then he quickly followed behind him.
/\
Wheeljack hadn't been on Earth since he had left it with his partner.
He had a whole host of reasons for not going back, but... none bigger than what faced him when he exited the portal.
Jenna once explained to him that it was custom, in America, to dress in black for funerals—so there all of the humans were, dressed in black.
It threw Wheeljack off, how much time had changed them—but then again, he knew Jenna for two years and it had been one year since she had died...
Jack was twenty years-old, and so was Miko. Raf was nearing sixteen, the age Jenna was when she and Wheeljack had met.
Fowler, June, and Professor Sumdac were full-grown adults, but even they were showing the sure signs of aging; June's hair had a few gray streaks swept into it, Fowler's hair had grown lighter as the lines on his face deepened, and Professor Sumdac's hair was almost completely gray.
It was amazing, but... it also twisted something in Wheeljack's chest, as he recalled a talk he once had with his partner about human lifespans.
It had been a year since he had been on Earth. He knew he would regret that, someday—not giving them that time.
The people you love deserve all the time you can spare.
Two tiny figures approached Wheeljack, just as he knew they would. They had made all of the preparations with Ratchet, they'd received visits from all of the others over the last year, and they were probably sick of all of Optimus's apologies... but he hadn't seen them since the last time they had seen their sister, their daughter.
"... Hey, June," Wheeljack greeted, putting on a small grin. "Jack."
The two gazed at him, silent, then June slowly walked over to him.
"Wheeljack," she replied quietly. "It's been months." Wheeljack blinked, then he looked away. "We-... We never heard from you."
"I... didn't know what to say," Wheeljack admitted, closing his optics. "I mean... what could I have said that would have made any difference?"
"... Wheeljack, you meant everything to my daughter," June told him, and his fists clenched. "That makes you family." Wheeljack opened his optics and blinked again, surprised—then he looked down at June as she placed a hand on his leg, her eyes tearing up. "Just tell me you did everything you could."
"I-I-..." Wheeljack hung his helm. "My ship crashed, I-... I was right there, but I didn't know—and then-... Then, I wasn't there—when she-... A-And then, she was just-..." June patted his leg twice, and he looked back at her forlornly. "I'm... so sorry."
"I know." June nodded, tears falling from her eyes. "Me, too... I know how much she meant to you, and that you would have never just let this happen. She didn't tell anyone what she was planning... I don't blame you, Wheeljack. I did at first, but I don't anymore."
"... I wouldn't blame you, if you did," Wheeljack told her softly. "I was supposed to protect her. I promised, and... I failed."
"You didn't fail," June tried, and Wheeljack looked away. "When that girl got something in her head, nothing could stop her. It was her best and worst quality." Her hand curled into a fist. "... I asked you to look for enemies, monsters, natural disasters... but you can only do so much to protect a person from themselves."
Wheeljack looked at her. "This wasn't her, June. She would've found another way." His optics narrowed. "He put her in a box, made her think she had no choice and couldn't talk to anyone.. and I didn't see it until it was too late. I-" He stopped himself, then he sighed. "Sorry."
"Don't be," June insisted gently. "This is going to be... a difficult day for all of us." She glanced at Jack, who had been completely silent. "Jack?"
The young man looked at her, then he sighed and looked up at Wheeljack with a frown. "... You're an idiot, you know that?"
"Jack!" June's eyes widened, then she looked up at Wheeljack apologetically. "I'm sorry, I-"
"No." Jack stepped forward and looked up at Wheeljack in annoyance. "I mean it, you're an idiot." He crossed his arms. "And I know that, if my sister was here, she'd tell you the same thing—except she wouldn't be as nice about it, because Mom went easy on the family baby and let her develop way too much attitude."
Wheeljack blinked, then he huffed out a laugh. "Hey-"
"She'd call you an idiot, probably with more than a fair share of curse-words and dramatic flair," Jack went on, glancing up theatrically. "The dramatic flair, she would've gotten from me. Did she ever mention theatre camp? I doubt it. We were nine and ten respectively and we did a low-budget Shrek: the Musical, and she was thrilled because she got cast as the Dragon and insisted that she could light me on fire because I was Pinocchio...
And I'm now realizing that being a dragon was so very appropriate. I mean, wow—Miss Thompson called it." He snorted, then he looked up at Wheeljack with a grin. "But yeah, she would look at you right now and she would call you an idiot with that same dramatic flair she used to play a very enthusiastic Dragon at nine years-old—one who, I must note, kept asking the director why she had to keep blinking and smiling at Donkey so much when she could just eat him—and then creatively insult literally every single Decepticon she ever encountered because that's just who she was."
"And why, exactly, am I an idiot?" Wheeljack chuckled. "Because I clearly must've done something wrong to merit all of that."
"... You're blaming yourself," Jack replied, his expression unchanged. "You're blaming yourself, and it took you this long to come here and talk to us because of that. Mom's being gentle with you, but... Jenna wouldn't have been." He shrugged. "So, I'm not gonna be. I'm gonna say what she'd say... You're a fucking idiot, Wheeljack."
"Jackson Darby!" June protested, her eyes narrowing as she placed her hands on her hips. "Language!"
Jack looked at her. "What? It's what-"
Jack and June both blinked, then they looked up.
Wheeljack lowered his servo from his mouth, his optics closed as he laughed.
Professor Sumdac and Raf looked away from Sari and Bumblebee, and Miko looked away from Bulkhead. Optimus, Elita-1, and Ratchet glanced away from where they had been catching up with Fowler, who turned his attention onto the white Wrecker as well. Arcee and Ultra Magnus, who had been watching over the reunion between Wheeljack and the Darbys, both seemed just as surprised as everyone else—but then, Ultra Magnus smiled.
"... You're right." Wheeljack opened his optics and looked down at Jack, smiling warmly. "That is... exactly what she would have said."
Jack blinked again, then he smiled. "Well... you and I knew her better than anyone else, right? We'd know."
"Heh." Wheeljack raised an optic-brow. "Shrek: the Musical? Really?"
Jack snorted. "She would never forgive me for telling you." He smiled deviously. "But if you want to see a really confused nine year-old running around a stage in a cheap, pink, felt and cardboard dragon costume and scrunching her face up because of all the smiling and blinking she has to do whenever she looks at Donkey, we do have it on video."
"She thought she destroyed all of the discs," June continued, starting to smile. "She didn't. We just let her think that."
Wheeljack smirked. "How bad did Jack look?"
"He's not allowed to know where all of the discs are," June admitted.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Mom, I found all five of them."
June glanced at him. "Only five? Some junior agent you are."
Jack looked at his mother with wide eyes. "Wait, what?!"
Wheeljack chuckled, and the underlying tension in the hangar fell away.
They could do this.
They could say 'goodbye' together.
A projector played an old, nearly-muted video of elementary-school kids and middle-schoolers in cheaply made costumes, running about on a ramshackle stage and screaming song lyrics while their parents watched from a crowd. If anyone was wondering why Pinocchio and the Dragon were holding hands, they didn't question it.
The humans and Sari had all moved to the lounge area, and the video was being played on a section of wall above them. The kids and Sari all squeezed onto the couch, just like in the good old days, and June and Fowler each got a chair.
Miko had changed her hair; it was braided over her right shoulder with a single puff-pigtail on the left side of her head, the tips of the braid and the pigtail both dyed blue instead of pink. Both she and Jack were attending a local university while interning for Fowler at Unit E, preparing for their careers upon graduation; everyone had been surprised by Miko's choice to push forward, but her grades had been solid when she left high-school and she had remained determined.
Fowler had helped her through the process to obtain dual-citizenship to ensure that she could remain in the States, and she stayed with the Darby family over her shorter breaks. Wheeljack didn't know what it was like for her when she went home to her family in Japan, but she didn't seem to mind making a life for herself in Jasper.
Raf, nearing sixteen, would soon be attending college himself. He had already skipped grades in order to be a Freshman at twelve while Jenna was a Sophomore at sixteen—so at that point, he was almost ready to take that step. It was crazy, how fast he had grown up.
"... When my sister and I were little, we dreamed of being astronauts," Jack spoke up after a while, giving a small smile. No one said anything. "I remember how, every year on my birthday, she'd make hot-chocolate with whipped-cream, marshmallows, and chocolate syrup—the same thing we drank the night we met—before taking me out to the garage to show me a toy spaceship she'd made out of anything she could find." Hehummed quietly, folding his hands. "The spaceship used to just be a big cardboard box or storage container with drawings all over it—and we'd climb in and pretend to be exploring the universe, making up stories in our heads.
As we got older, and Jenna became more creative, the spaceship became more elaborate—glue, spray paint, duct-tape, cardboard cut-outs, plastic. The last year she did it, when I turned seventeen, she-... She made a shopping-cart look like a rocket, rigged up some basic steering, and convinced Mom to let us borrow the car. She said I'd promised to teach her how to drive, but... really?" He laughed. "We- We tied the cart to the back of the car, found an empty stretch of road, and took turns driving each other up and down it in that stupid shopping-cart rocket. She kept saying, 'we should go find a hill'—and I kept saying, 'no, you're crazy.
But we were both crazy, doing something like that. We could've gotten hurt or caught at any time, but... it was fun. We didn't have a lot of money, so that was how Jenna made my birthdays special—and it worked, every time." He took a deep breath before looking up. "My sister was awesome, like that. She was brave, and she made life an adventure without us ever leaving Jasper... And she was my little sister, but she acted like a big sister more-often than not." He shrugged. "I mean, she helped me with homework and picked fights with my bullies... She taught me how to dance, and cooked dinner when Mom worked late.
And she really was brave, y'know? I mean, seriously: that girl was fearless, to the point where it terrified me." He huffed out another laugh. "I mean, I was four when I suddenly had this three year-old sister—I was nervous enough. But then, she was determined and smart but also reckless, stubborn, temperamental, and impulsive—but she was amazing... and it was the greatest honor of my life, being her brother and growing up with her by my side." His face fell. "I didn't appreciate it as often as I should have. If I could turn back time, go back to my seventeenth birthday, I would've said 'let's go' and gone looking for that hill... for an adventure, just for us.
I would've painted with her, watched Marvel movies, gone to combat-class... Anything, to get just a few more hours as-" Jack choked on his words, then he took a deep breath. "As a big brother. The big brother she saw me as, the big brother she deserved... But Jenna, she would tell me I was being stupid—an idiot. I don't need the extra time, she'd say. You don't have to make anything up to me... That's the kind of little sister she was. There was no hurting with her, if you were hurting too. She was built to support others, and she did." Jack gave another small smile. "She didn't have to, but she did. She was always there, for everyone... to the end of the line."
Miko placed a hand on his shoulder, frowning, and he reached up and rested a hand on hers as he closed his eyes.
"... True enough," Bumblebee spoke up, giving a small smile. "I mean, the day we met... she tasered a 'Con to help me." Jack opened his eyes and looked up, and the young warrior raised an optic-brow. "You remember that?"
"How could I forget? I could have killed her," Jack remarked, and there were weak laughs around the room.
Raf smiled, then he sighed as he reached into his jacket to retrieve something. "She, um... She gave me this, after she came back from space." He turned the energy slingshot over in his hands. "I asked her for a souvenir, and... she made sure I got one. Six months, and she didn't forget." He looked up. "She taught me how to use it, y'know? Even let me try one of her bombs in it. It was... a lot of fun." He shrugged. "My family's always so busy, and so loud... but she listened, and made time for me."
"That was Jenna's love-language," June said quietly. "She wasn't always confident in her words, so... she would show you how she cared." She smiled softly as she glanced down. "Little things that piled up, so easy to miss..."
"But no less meaningful," Optimus said, and the humans looked at him in surprise. "... When Jenna first came to the base, she was oftentimes off by herself. I was as well, so I—out of concern—changed my habits to linger near her... and she changed her habits and started lingering near me." He gave a small smile. "And she told me, after she had returned from space... that she worried about me being alone, while she was gone."
"She worried about everyone," Miko noted, taking her phone from her pocket and turning it on. "We, um... We stayed in touch, after Bulkhead got hurt. We mostly talked about music, exchanged playlists over Spotify... She had such weird taste." She laughed quietly. "But she listened to everything I sent her, and I listened to everything she sent me... We had our own conversations, like that. It was really nice."
"... The first other human techno-organic I ever met," Sari murmured, looking at the floor. "Proof that I really wasn't alone." She closed her optics. "I was always saying that she was nerdy, or reckless... but I guess I just wanted her to be like me, y'know? And to be safe. I didn't wanna be alone, again." She sighed, opening her optics. "She was a great friend, just as she was... And now, I don't get to tell her what I've learned. I know where we came from." She looked down at her hands. "But she's gone... except this time, Onyx managed to save Solus—every time." She gave a small, sad smile. "She broke the cycle... and I think she'd like to know that."
"I think she does," Bumblebee assured her gently.
Fowler sighed. "That kid gave me gray hairs. I mean, a sixteen year-old US citizen running off to space with a loose-cannon giant alien robot? And then, it turns out she's mostly alien robot? And oh, all the trouble she got into—it makes Miko Duty seem simple."
"Love you too, Fowler," Miko teased, and Jack nudged her with a smile.
The agent rolled his eyes, then he smiled too. "Hm. I didn't want her to go off again, and I was prepared to keep her from going off again—whether or not she got permission from June. But before that little road-trip, that girl comes up to me and says... 'Fowler, you're seventeen years-old and you have the chance to see the world and maybe even change it for the better. You're partnered with an Autobot, and you know more about space and aliens than any other human will ever know. You've been asked to keep going, to keep on chasing a life no one else could even imagine... Fifty years from that moment, don't you wanna say you got in the car and didn't look back?'."
"And that convinced you?" June asked, surprised.
Fowler glanced at her. "... The year was 1984. I wasn't seventeen, but I got in the truck."
The humans' jaws dropped, then Miko burst out laughing as Jack let out a loud "ha!" and Raf clapped his hands over his mouth.
Sari just grinned, and June huffed and shook her head.
Meanwhile, Optimus just looked at Fowler and smiled warmly... then, the Prime's face fell.
"... I do not believe I will ever forgive myself for this," he admitted quietly. "I know that it is not my fault, but... all the same, I promised to protect everyone who was in my care—Autobot, human, techno-organic." He closed his optics. "I remember that, in the quiet between missions, therewas a television program she used to watch around the base—and a quote from one character, Sherlock Holmes, conveys my emotions rather well: In saving my life, she conferred a value on it. It is currency I do not know how to spend." Optimus opened his optics looked down. "She was a child..."
"Yes, she was," Ultra Magnus agreed, and Optimus looked at him. "But she was also a soldier." He glanced down. "And... she was stubborn and reckless... but she also showed intuition, creativity, and courage the likes of which I have never known before—and she was loyal to a fault." His rotator-cups raised. "I... always thought that she would one day step forward to lead the Wreckers with her partner, once they wiped out those rebellious streaks." He gave a small grin, not looking at Wheeljack as the white Wrecker looked to him in complete disbelief. "But... I believe that it is almost fortunate that the time for that never arrived.
Miss Darby was a rebel to the end, and I shall remember her for every order she defied... and every life that she saved, including my own." Ultra Magnus's face fell. "She was a good soldier. Not in the conventional sense, but... her spirit was unwavering, unbreakable. If she could move, she would fight—she would place herself on the front lines, take every hit if it meant shielding someone else. Miss Darby was—above all else—kind, and... I wish she was here."
"Ultra Magnus?" Bulkhead asked, a little worried.
"But she's not," Ultra Magnus continued, a little hoarse. "And that was a choice she made, to take on an impossible task so that others would not have to." He looked at Optimus, his optics narrowed. "... You want to know how to spend it? I know what she would say... Live."
"... Y'know, I'd say she'd argue with that and insist upon more drama and cursing as she chewed him out, but wow," Wheeljack remarked, his optics wide. "That was intense. She'd definitely approve of that one. Sheesh."
Ultra Magnus smirked, looking away as Optimus stared at him. "Hm."
"Heh." Bulkhead shook his helm, then he sighed. "I, uh... I didn't know her all that well." He was honest. "I should've known her better... but what I did know of her was pretty great. She would go out of her way to try and make things better for others, whether it was pretending to like Christmas for the sake of a girl who had only experienced the bad in that holiday or putting up a grin on her worst day to make everyone laugh...
Girl woke up from a coma, and her first thought was everyone else." Bulkhead smiled, looking down. "Kid was a tough little thing, a true Wrecker." He looked back at the gathering. "I would have gone into the scrap with her as my backup, any day; that kid could take on any challenge given to her, and she'd never stop until she'd taken care of it." He raised his rotator-cups. "Girl could handle 'Jackie, so she could do anythin'."
"Hey." Wheeljack shot a look at his friend.
Bulkhead snickered. "How she yelled at you for how you were handlin' the Jackhammer repairs-"
"Okay, enough!" Wheeljack rolled his optics.
Ratchet scoffed. "Well, you deserved that. She was right, every time she complained about you leaving scratches on that blasted ship." His face fell. "... She was right about a lot of things, and... she had much to learn, but also much to teach." He shook his head. "I used to wonder what would happen, if she hadn't gone to space. I wondered what trouble she would have caused here, what she would have done and had to say..." He sighed. "But we'll never know, because she went to space... and she was better for it, in the end." He nodded. "She found where she belonged, and she-... She chased it, and never looked back."
"... I wonder if I could have done better, for her," Arcee admitted. "I was responsible for the whole Darby family, and... I didn't take care of that girl. I left her behind, because I preferred partnerships and not teams." She looked down. "I let her slip away, and she was happy... but I don't think I'll ever stop regretting the fact that I wasn't there for her. I was supposed to protect her, and... I didn't." She closed her optics. "Thank the Allspark that Wheeljack showed up, and he did... because it scares me, just imagining what would have happened if he didn't. Whatever it was, it would have been my fault."
"She wouldn't have seen it that way," Raf disagreed, and Arcee opened her optics and looked at him with a frown.
"No, she wouldn't have," June insisted, and everyone looked at her. "... Before all of this, my daughter wasn't happy. She was distant, she would shy away from your touch and your attempts to reach out to her, and she would be there one minute and gone the next." She shook her head. "I would be lying if I said that I was never worried she might just... disappear, one day—run away, get lost or taken.
I didn't know where she came from, and—I thought—there might be a time when I didn't know where she had gone. That scared me, because she was my baby—my daughter, my little girl." She sighed. "I always worried about how I would raise a daughter, in this world. I worried about both of my children, but... how do you tell a little girl that things will be hard for her? How do you tell her to chase her dreams, but there will always be something in your way that you'll either have to break down or... just let crush you, because it won't move out of the way?" The nurse laughed softly. "I wasn't ready for that, and... I thought, for the longest time, that Jasper had crushed her. I would hear the pessimistic comments, see how sad she was-...
I thought my baby was hurt, and I didn't know how to help her." June took a deep breath. "But before she disappeared, there was this spark—I didn't know what it was, where she and Jack were always rushing off to, but I saw it. And I was grateful... then, she was gone, and I thought it was my mistake—but she wasn't crushed and buried or drifting aimlessly in the wind, she was flying." Her next laugh had much more life. "She was flying! And I was so worried, so angry... I almost missed the fire in her eyes when she came back. She was rushing off again before I knew it, and it scared and hurt me that she so desperately wanted to be gone... but she wasn't gone, was she? She was flying, because this... all of it... didn't kill her. It brought her to life.
So, she never would have seen anything that happened to her as anyone's fault." June shook her head again. "No... Because she chose this, all of it—the adventure with the danger, the joy with the pain. She lived more in two years than some people do in their entire lives, she was happy..." Her next breath shook, and she reached up to wipe her eyes. "She was happy... because she was flying. She was free."
It got quiet, after that.
The images being projected continued to flicker. The Three Little Pigs had gotten into a fight on stage, and a pink dragon and Pinnochio were laughing as a pair of camp counselors tried to break it up. Then, the dragon looked at the camera—and she pointed it out to Pinnochio before she smiled and waved, which had him swatting her hand down before he launched into a lecture.
"Heh." Wheeljack watched it with a grin, shaking his head.
Nine years after that moment, that little dragon would have real wings—and yeah, she'd be flying.
There was nothing she loved to do more than fly.
"... Wheeljack." Jack looked up at the Wrecker and smiled sadly. "It's time to say 'goodbye'."
Wheeljack blinked, snapping out of his thoughts, then he took a deep 'breath' and nodded.
Everyone was looking at him.
He supposed that it was lucky. He'd only have to do this once.
"I-..." Wheeljack looked around the room, frowning, then he took another deep 'breath'. "... The first day I knew Jenna Darby, she took threw a paint-bomb in some evil clone of me's face. That night, she tasered a 'Con who'd come to kidnap her—took him down, all on her own. She'd paint-bombed him, too." He cracked a little smile. "When I asked her to become my partner so that we could travel and take down monsters and bad-guys, she barely hesitated despite the danger. I spent six months training her as we flew around the universe—and by the end, I had a hard time keepin' up with her. She hit the ground runnin', that reckless girl.
She saved my life, time and time again—and she never gave up on a fight, even when she had no chance of winnin'." The words just kept coming. "I got captured a few times, and it was that kid who always showed up and bailed me out. She was a tiny thing—but she was fast, strong, and -heh- did she pack a punch, or what? She faced every challenge that came at her with her fists raised and a grin on her face, and we had each other's backs in everythin'. She was smart, fierce, and loyal...
And I would do anything to spend just five more seconds with her. Just five more seconds... Just enough time to see one more smile, hear one more laugh." Wheeljack hung his head and closed his optics. "She'd know how to make five seconds last a lifetime... and Pit, I wish they did."
The quiet returned.
Then, there was this rustling—and Wheeljack opened his optics and glanced to the side.
June was taking a piece of paper out of an envelope and unfolding it, and Jack wasn't happy about it. "Mom, I really don't want to-"
"Jack," she protested quietly. "It's time. You need to hear this." She looked around the room. "... All of us do."
So, as the nurse began to read, everyone listened.
And Wheeljack must have fallen into one last little pocket of memory, because he didn't hear June.
He heard his partner, so close that she was sitting on his rotator-cup.
...
Hey, Jack.
Do you remember when we were kids and we dreamed about going into space?
We pooled our allowances together when you were eight and I was seven, and we bought a telescope. We'd go out, sit in the sand, and take turns watching the sky. We'd use my window to sneak out sometimes. Mom was furious when she caught us, but we never cared. We wanted to see the stars.
I remember getting older and wondering why it suddenly wasn't cool for my big brother to hang out with me all day. The people you thought were cool never seemed to be the sort worth knowing, but I figured you knew better. You were my big brother, and I looked up to you. I wanted you to be happy, you and Mom.
I had to do some things to look after myself, but that's alright. I liked keeping to myself; I knew people thought I was weird, and that made them not the sort worth trying too hard with. Besides, we had other things to think about—and going to combat and music lessons was enough socializing for me.
Or, I thought it was.
See, years after our telescope started to collect dust, my idiot big brother geeked-out over a motorcycle and sat on it even though it didn't belong to him. That day, the stars came to us and they came swinging. But I'm glad they did. We met Bumblebee, Arcee, and Raf that day. It all changed.
The next day, we met the others. Miko sorta crashed in too, Wrecker-style. Optimus gave you guys your guardians, and I just sorta did my thing while you guys were out doing stuff. That's fine, though. It just wasn't my time yet, and messing with Optimus and Ratchet was pretty fun. They're great.
I know I worried you, but let's face it: I've always been reckless, Jackson. The world moved too slow and too fast at the same time; I always felt like I was waiting and being left behind all at once, and I struggled with it. Bending the rules and tearing off my filter served as an outlet for everything that got pent-up inside.
I think that that's the real reason why I painted with bombs. It wasn't that I was going to explode. It was that everything I ever held back had been pressurized, and I thought I might just pop, fizzle, and go out. That was all on me, just to be clear. I made choices that made me, and... I don't regret any of them.
I know you were scared when I ran off to space. I was scared, too. We had gotten more distant lately, but I'd never been without my brother and my mom. Leaving terrified me, but... it also felt right. I guess that, in the end, going to the stars actually meant going home. Being mostly-alien's just kinda like that.
I never thanked you enough for helping me, Jack. What I asked of you the day I left was in no way fair and you clearly weren't alright with it, but you let me go. I guess you probably realized I would've left no matter what, but... having your support, even if it was kinda reluctant (and by 'kinda', I man that you wanted to beat me over the head with a shovel and were probably glad to see me go at the end of the day with everything I put you through), made all of the difference.
It occurred to me after that you might've been jealous.
Well, you beat me to Cybertron, you madman. I see this as an absolute win.
Jack... Your sister's a lousy communicator at the best of times, but you always seemed to have me figured out. That's why I wrote this letter to you, y'know? You always knew what I was trying to say, even when everyone else thought I was bonkers and I was driving you crazy. It's what made you such a good big brother.
I'm glad we found them. I'm glad that I got little brothers out of Raf and Smokescreen, big sisters out of Miko and Arcee and Sari, a mentor like Ultra Magnus, and friends like Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Lupa, Leona, Elita-1, Optimus, Ratchet, and Fowler. I'm glad that I met Wheeljack. I'm glad our universe got bigger.
But you and Mom? I would be nothing without you guys. Anyone else in the situation you found yourselves in that night would have handed me off and forgotten about me, but not you. Mom fought to keep me—and you made me feel like I had always been there, like I belonged. You made me Jenna Ann-Marie Darby.
And I am Jenna Ann-Marie Darby, daughter of June and sister of Jack, at the end of all things. You guys made me who I am; you're strong, kind, selfless, and brave and that's exactly what I always wanted to be. It took meeting Wheeljack for me to get the full hang of it, but I think I finally managed. I know who I am.
Evidently, someone else figured it out too. I guess I'm supposed to save Optimus and a planet, now. So... that's a thing... I think. It might've just been some weird dream, but the last time I disregarded a dream Primus spoke in, I was stabbed and I spent a month in a coma. Message received, y'know?
That dream... I'm trying to remember it. I heard Primus, and he told me that I was meant for great things and that I would save Earth and Cybertron because I was some sort of... bridge, I guess. He told me that, as long as I did what he was about to show me doing, everyone else would live and 'everything lost will be restored and everything to be gained will be claimed'. He also told me that he was sorry.
I saw a battle taking place on Cybertron. I saw the Nemesis and Ultra Magnus's ship crashed on the ground near the Well of Allsparks, and I saw Team Prime fighting alongside three Predacons and Knockout of all folks against an army of the undead led by Megatron. Wheeljack was hurt, and Optimus was opening some sort of container to release this energy, and I think he wanted to take it... but he didn't.
I did.
I took the energy and I used it to defeat the army.
Megatron and Starscream got away, and I just... let myself fall into the Well.
When that happened, it released old and new sparks onto Cybertron, and I got to see three in particular: Cliffjumper, Seaspray, Prowl. Primus told me that they could come back, them and everyone else our friends ever lost.
I know that, when someone dies, you're supposed to move on. That's what I'm asking you to do for me, after all. But this isn't just about the old lives. This is about protecting Optimus, stopping that army, and finishing what we started by achieving the final revival of Cybertron. And I know that, if any other member of the team was put in this same position, they would make this same choice.
Of course, I'd step in and take that choice from them and do it myself anyway. You know your sister, Jack. That's just how it works. I know I've changed a lot these past few years, but some things never change.
Family comes first.
Miko gets my radio and C.D. collection, even though she'll probably make fun of how ancient the tech is. I shared my Spotify account with her, so she can track those playlists down. Getting to know her was a privilege, and being her friend was an honor. Here's to never growing up, sis.
Raf gets any of my books and tech he thinks can help foster that big brain of his. Just keep him away from anything 'Jackie 'improved', okay? It's about a one-in-five chance that it'll explode, and those aren't exactly the kinds of souvenirs I want the kid to have from me.
I wrote some things down in a journal for Fowler about space and some non-weaponry tech 'Jackie and I encountered that could help a thing or two here at home. It's under my mattress. Tell him 'thanks' for taking care of my alibis and school, and for putting up with the nonsense... considering I wasn't a citizen.
Sorry, that's still funny.
The rest, Jack, is for you and Mom. Try to take that telescope out every now and then, okay? I know you can actually go to the stars now, but... looking at them is still something else.
Even when you're up there, you're still so small and young and everything seems endless and forever. I traveled for months, and I never got used to it and I doubt I ever would have.
But the crazy thing is that having this big, crazy family was probably even more unbelievable to me than reaching those stars was. It made me feel alive, and... I think, somehow, that will last forever.
I love ya, big brother.
Jenna.
...
June was in tears when she looked up from the paper.
"... Don't get all lovey-dovey on me now, Snow Queen," Jack whispered, giving a weak grin as a tear raced down his face. "I was just starting to tolerate you."
June let out a quiet laugh at that, then she hung her head as Jack pulled her into a hug.
The quiet returned, and... they let it stay.
/\
Wheeljack honestly couldn't remember the exchange that brought him there, but there he was: back in his holoform, wandering around the Darby House.
Looking back on it later, he figured that—since Arcee was giving Jack a ride—June had asked him to take her home. Who would he be to refuse?
Arcee seemed to leave not long after, but Wheeljack lingered like a ghost. He didn't know why.
Maybe he figured that if he kept the memorial going, he wouldn't really have to finish his 'goodbye'. He knew he had to do it, he felt ready—perched on the edge, ready to drop and just get it over with... but he just kept holding on, for some reason. He kept twisting the knife in his chest, making the pain go on.
He didn't know why.
He just found himself in a familiar room, after a while—clutching something he'd brought in his storage-compartment to his chest, just trying to forget why he had it and what he was going to have to do if he was ever going to have any peace. He was ready, so ready... and yet, he wasn't.
He just kept holding on.
"I figured you'd be sick of this room," a voice said, and Wheeljack looked back. Jack was there, leaning in the doorway—and he looked tired. "You spent a month here."
"Yeah." Wheeljack glanced around the bedroom. It hadn't changed at all. It wasn't even dusty. "I guess I did."
"What's that?" The young man raised an eyebrow, noticing what Wheeljack was holding—because of course, he would.
And if that wasn't a sign from the universe, he didn't know what was.
"Oh, uh..." Wheeljack turned around to face the boy, then he shrugged. "I found this, and.. I think she would want you to have it." Wheeljack managed a small grin as he offered it to the boy. "What's an old 'bot gonna do with it, anyway?"
Jack slowly reached out and took that old, green hoodie in his hands, stunned. Wheeljack's servos burned when he let it go.
It felt like a cord had been cut in his chest.
Then, he watched as Jack hugged that old, beat-up, thinning mess of green fabric to his chest and closed his eyes.
And the cut didn't hurt so badly anymore.
He could barely feel anything at all, actually.
"Thank you," Jack said quietly, opening his eyes again to look up at Wheeljack.
"Yeah." Wheeljack nodded, trying not to give away how numb he felt. "'Course."
Jack just looked at him, then he walked over to Jenna's old desk and took something off of the chair. He looked down at it for a long moment, then he walked back over to Wheeljack and offered it to him.
Wheeljack blinked, then his optics widened as he took an old, blue backpack into his shaking hands. He brushed a thumb over a yellow patch of dye that was supposed to be a lightbulb, read the white text on black that said "POLICE -PUBLIC CALL- BOX". It was small, but it had some weight to it—and it made noise as the objects held within moved about. And... it was dusty, scorched.
"Agent Fowler found it," Jack told him softly. "While they were picking up the wreckage of Darkmount... If she'd want me to have that hoodie, she'd want you to have this."
Jack reached over and opened it, and Wheeljack's holoform's eyes widened as he saw several paint-bombs inside, along with some souvenirs from their year and a half of traveling together through space and on Earth: a Polaroid camera with some photos, some rocks and crystals he'd called 'useless junk' back then...
"Thank you, Jack," Wheeljack spoke only a little bit louder than a whisper. "I appreciate this."
"I know you do." Jack nodded, frowning. "... My sister thought everything of you, you know?" Wheeljack looked up at him. "When she met you, she never trusted anyone... You changed her life, you changed her—and I was so proud of the woman my sister became, thanks to knowing you." Jack took a deep breath. "I was always worried about her, thinking she'd get in trouble or even end up getting herself killed one day. She was so reckless... but you took all of the qualities I used to fear in her and turned them into some kind of superpower, and that was amazing." Jack held his hand out. "Thank you, Wheeljack."
"... Yeah." Wheeljack reached out and shook Jack's hand. "Sure, Jack."
Jack gave a small smile when he pulled away, then he glanced around the room. "Mom's probably gonna keep everything just like it was, knowing her—ready for Jenna to walk through that door, like nothing's changed. We all have our ways of coping." He looked at Wheeljack again. "Personally, I'm gonna try to find a way to remember her while moving forward—that's my job at Unit E, and... the drawing class that I'm enrolled in, Thursday nights."
"Heh." Wheeljack grinned. "Another artist, huh?"
"Nowhere near as good," Jack assured him. "But... yeah, I'm trying. Keeps her close."
Wheeljack nodded, then he glanced around the room again. His gaze fell upon an old guitar, and Jack noticed.
"She never learned how to play that old thing." The boy shook his head. "I'd hear her practicing sometimes, but she was impatient... Visual art was always more her style."
"... She could play," Wheeljack said quietly. "It was song-writin' that frustrated her." Jack blinked, then he looked at Wheeljack in surprise. "She sounded good... If I hadn't picked her up, she could have had a future in it."
"No," Jack disagreed. "You know how shy she was, Wheeljack. And don't-... Don't say you regret any of it." Wheeljack blinked as Jack looked away, his eyes tearing up. "I know my sister... She wouldn't want us to regret one second of it, because she wouldn't." He looked back at Wheeljack, his watery eyes narrowed. "She loved it, every moment. She loved the fighting, the explosions, the danger, the adventure...
You, Wheeljack. You were her whole world." Jack walked over and grabbed the guitar. "You know why she jumped into that pit... It wasn't for Cybertron, it wasn't even for the Autobots." Jack walked over to Wheeljack. "With so much at stake, a battle to end and a planet to save... It was for the guy who noticed the girl who used to get thrown into lockers and beaten-up in alleyways, the guy told her that she was meant for more.
It was the first guy who ever convinced her that she was believed-in, the guy she was willing to die for... But more than that, it was for the guy she was willing to live for." He held the guitar out, and Wheeljack shakily reached out and gripped it. "You might think that you got my sister killed... but I just know that you saved her life. All of us do, Wheeljack—and above everything else, you need to know that."
"I-..." Wheeljack's eyes were wide as Jack released the guitar. "I don't-"
"Wheeljack." Jack placed his hand on the holoform's shoulder. "If you don't remember anything else from this talk... know that if there was one person in this universe I would have trusted my sister's life to forever, it was and still would be you."
"... Why?" Wheeljack asked.
Jack sighed, patting Wheeljack's shoulder twice.
"Because I know you loved her, too," he said, and Wheeljack's eyes widened again. "And as much as I would have denied it, if she was still around... I was okay with it. You were good for each other."
With that, Jack turned and left the room.
Wheeljack watched him go, stunned, then he sat down on the bed and set the guitar aside, grabbing the backpack and looking through the pictures.
He came across one and blinked, surprised, before sighing quietly.
He remembered this picture, and he'd probably have laughed at it if his partner was there to laugh with him.
It was a 'selfie' as she'd called the type of picture when he asked, and she was grinning and flashing a peace sign while his face was frozen mid-yell, his optics narrowed...
...
"Hey, 'Jackie! This is my first time on another planet! Picture time!"
"Seriously, kid?"
"Come on..!"
"Fine! Ugh... Just don't expect me to smile."
"I don't. You're a real grouch, you know that?"
"Why, you little-!"
FLASH!
"Ha! Perfect!"
...
Wheeljack gave a small smile, then he looked up.
"I still miss you, Jenna Darby... and I think I always will," he announced, putting the picture back into the bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder and grabbed the guitar, then he glanced around the room one more time... and he nodded. "See you around, kid."
With that, he left the room and closed the door behind him.
He didn't let his smile falter.
/\/\/\/\
Before Wheeljack even knew it, it had been another year since Jenna Darby died.
It seemed longer than that, but... only because of everything he did in that time, and the hole he had to pull himself out of as he did it.
The others were there, of course—watching over him, servos on his shoulder, doing all that they could to keep him from sliding back into that dark pit.
But in the end, the work had to be his own. He had to fight for it, for a life beyond the grief. He had to fight to move on, like he always had to fight for everything.
And as understanding as his partner could be, he knew she would never forgive him if he lost this fight... but he couldn't just be fighting for her.
He had to fight for himself.
Once he realized that he had made it to the two-year mark since she had died, that she had been gone almost as long as he had known her, he couldn't believe it.
The time seemed too long and too short all at once.
His partner was such a huge part of who he had become that it didn't seem possible that she had only been there for two years.
The grief had been so awful and had drawn the days out so much that Wheeljack was sure that it had been longer than two years.
Time could be funny like that.
But it could also be funny in other ways, like when Team Prime—in spite of being pulled every which way by the new lives they were trying to forge on Cybertron, everything from integrating the newly re-protoformed and new arrivals to rebuilding the world in other ways—gathered to welcome a new addition.
The sparkling was around Raf's size and was built like the Cybertronian version of an infant. The protoform was pudgy and moved like a newborn baby, and it was honestly adorable. Jenna's (likely) words, not Wheeljack's.
He—for Elita-1, after a long moment of looking into her sparkling's optics and reading his spark like only true caregivers could, had told them to call the child 'he' for the time being—had two big, blue optics in a rounded silver face with a pointed chin and a pair of small, fanged dentas. He was silver and black underneath his armor, like most Cybertronians, and his armor was red, blue, and gold. He possessed two thin legs coming from his rotator-cups and an extra body-segment coming from his back, indicating that he had inherited the physical characteristics of his mother's mutation even if he wasn't a true 'techno-organic'—and his little helmet was shaped a bit like Optimus's, with the audial-fins flicking back and forth as he cooed.
"Aw, he's so cute!" Sari beamed, looking up at Optimus and Elita-1. "What are you gonna name him?"
"... Parker," Elita-1 spoke quietly, and everyone blinked. "His name is Parker."
"Like..." Raf adjusted his glasses. "Peter Parker, as in Spider-Man? Isn't that one of the names J-?"
"Nope," Elita-1 said quickly, though she could not conceal her smile. "Not a chance."
Optimus merely let out a soft chuckle, his optics shining as he gazed down at his sparkling. With the population rising and no sustainable reports regarding Starscream's plotting in recent months, the Prime was constantly looking worn-down—but there, in that moment? He was so alive.
Wheeljack crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway in the protoform chamber, smiling gently as he watched the rest of his team fuss over the sparkling.
He wondered if his partner would have fussed, especially after hearing that name—or if she would have been the awkward sort, not approaching but instead being all nervous as Elita-1 came to her and allowed her to interact with the Cybertronian infant. The latter image was the strongest.
And his spark ached, but it was also warm.
Ultra Magnus found Wheeljack sitting on the Jackhammer's ramp.
The ship had sat there, ready to fly but grounded, for over a year. As much as Wheeljack loved to fly, he needed to be grounded.
And he knew that it wouldn't be the same.
Ultra Magnus sat down beside his fellow Wrecker, and he silently gazed at the floor for a while before looking at the smaller mech.
"... I miss her, too," Ultra Magnus admitted quietly. "More than anyone knows." Wheeljack looked at him, frowning. "I never admitted this to anyone, but... I did get to see her one last time, before she died."
"What?" Wheeljack asked, confused.
The commander sighed. "After I was injured, I woke up briefly to find her in the medical bay. I was too weak to move or even speak, but I could listen. And... that was what she wanted, someone who would listen but allow her to carry out her mission. She told me about what was to come, and how she had accepted her fate." He looked forward. "She knew about you would crash my ship, and how you would survive... After that, she rambled a bit. She apologized for the 'trouble', and asked me to look after everyone—especially you, Wheeljack."
"Really?"
"Yes." Ultra Magnus nodded. "She said... she wanted us to live to be old."
At that, Wheeljack looked away, his optics narrowing. "Ironic."
"Agreed," Ultra Magnus said, and Wheeljack looked at him. Ultra Magnus's expression was grim. "There-... There were other things she said, about family."
"Like what?"
"... Things that hurt, with her absence." Ultra Magnus closed his optics. "Admittedly, I... had grown very fond of that young soldier." His fists clenched, then they fell open. "I was never certain if I was doing it right, when it came to being part of a 'family'—but... she seemed to think that I was."
Wheeljack blinked, then he looked back at floor. "... I do, too."
Ultra Magnus opened his optics and looked at him, surprised, then looked away again. "I meant what I said at the memorial on Earth. I thought that, one day-..."
"I'm no leader," Wheeljack told him. "But I dunno... I think she could've done it." He gave a small smile. "But she wouldn't have. She wanted to fly. That was the plan."
At that, Ultra Magnus smiled in return. "It was a good plan."
"Hm." Wheeljack cast his gaze down, then he looked back at the commander with a weak grin. "Yeah. It was."
/\/\/\/\
The humans had told Wheeljack where to find it.
There was a little place outside of Jasper, fenced-in with a driveway off of a lonely road that went around in a small circle. Jasper, Nevada was situated in rocks and sand, so a cemetery on the land was hardly going to be anything different. It was a field of reddish-brown under a sky filled with stars, and dotted with its own scattered monuments.
Flush against the ground would have been just asking for the memorial to disappear beneath the sand or dry brush that just barely managed to survive in that area of Nevada, so the headstone stood upright—a simple half-oval of gray granite with white flecks, with a brief inscription:
Jenna Ann-Marie Darby
Age 18
Daughter, Sister, Friend, Partner
Artist
There was nothing beneath the sand. No casket. No body.
It was a resolution for the girl's life on Earth, a questioned answered for the people of Jasper, Nevada. Where did Jenna Darby go? She died.
A two-word answer, plain and simple. Nothing that she had ever been.
It was the greatest insult to his partner's memory that Wheeljack could think of, but it was necessary. She did not begin when Wheeljack came around.
The humans of Jasper needed their neat and tidy ending; they weren't ready for the real, messy story that deserved to be told.
As frustrating as this was, it was still easier to face than the tomb on Cybertron—at the edge of the Well, holding that little body.
Wheeljack wondered if his partner would have liked this better, being buried in the Earth in a quiet ceremony held by her family.
But no, he decided. In the end, both burials were just for show.
What they did alone, in the hangar? That was what she would have wanted.
And still so much less than what she deserved.
Wheeljack's holoform sat down in the sand, facing the tombstone and staring at those words. He did not know how long it would take for the desert to weather the words and eventually the whole stone away, just as he did not know how long it would take for all of the kid's paintings around the world to be washed away, painted over, or faded.
He did not know how long it would take for no on Earth to remember that his partner had even existed. When the last human with any memory of her would pass on.
Had anyone even contacted her grandparents, down in Wimberly?
Wheeljack wouldn't, he decided numbly. It was probably the wrong choice, but they had just been given their hope back. They were old, and he would not take it from them-not when he could quietly just let them spend the rest of their lives believing that one good thing left of their lost family was still out there, even if they never saw her again.
The Wrecker almost wished he had taken his partner up on that offer, after Scotland-flew away, spared her of Christmas, and then just gotten to imagine that girl winning the war and having the best life. Again, so selfish and not who he was-not who she helped him to be-but... easier. But Jenna Darby never made anything easy on anyone.
Wheeljack knew that from the day he met her. He knew it every step of the way, and it didn't matter-he took her as, not in spite of.
"They say it takes at least half the time something lasted after its over for the pain to start going away," a voice noted, and Wheeljack finally noticed the sound of approaching foosteps on the sand. He'd been too lost in his thoughts to hear the car approaching. "Between us, I always thought that was bullshit."
Someone sat down in the sand beside Wheeljack, and his holoform closed its eyes. "... She should be here."
June ljust ooked at him, frowning, then she gave a small smile.
"She is," she spoke softly. Wheeljack opened his eyes and blinked, then he looked over at her. "Wheeljack, she promised that she would never leave... Do you honestly think she would have done what she did if she didn't think that, one way or another, she would be with you forever?"
"I-..." Wheeljack did not know what to say.
June hummed softly, then she looked at the grave. "She's here, Wheeljack. She'll always be here. She's with us, urging us to keep going." She hugged the flowers she had brought along with her close; they were bright, an explosion of color in the desert. "And she's probably furious. She was never one for special occasions or sentiment, yet here we are. We're visiting on her two-year anniversary, talking about these things... Could you imagine what she would say?"
"... Yeah." Wheeljack gave a small, forlorn smile. "She'd be real mad at us for a while, but she wouldn't be able to keep it up."
"Hm." June nodded. "She was never good at staying angry at people she loved."
"You... do know she's in the Well, right?" Wheeljack asked her. "She's Cybertronian."
"My daughter wasn't just Cybertronian. She was human, too," June reminded him. "And she was never one for rules."
"Heh." Wheeljack shook his head. "No, she wasn't."
"Besides," June went on. "In spite of what logic would tell you... you're here, not there."
Wheeljack sat back in the sand. "Fair enough." It got quiet. "... It's time to move on, isn't it?" He sighed, closing his eyes. "I've gotta let her go." June did not respond, but she closed her eyes. "I just-... I thought she'd come back, y'know? She always came back."
"Not this time." June opened her eyes and looked at him sadly. "No matter how many rules you break, everyone's luck runs out eventually... My daughter was no exception."
"She should've been," Wheeljack insisted, then he went silent for a moment. "... But she wasn't. She knew that, and she made her choice." June nodded, and Wheeljack took a deep 'breath'. "She made her choice... I don't hafta like it, but I gotta accept it. And I gotta do right, by her."
"We all do," June agreed, then she blinked as Wheeljack looked at his vehicle-mode. "What is it?"
"I'm deletin' somethin', on my data-pad."
"What?"
"... My 'goodbye'," Wheeljack confessed, looking at June as something in his spark twisted sharply before relaxing. A wave of calm, not numb, washed over him as he watched her face go from confused to wide-eyed. "If I'm going to do right by that girl... I've gotta commit. I've gotta be here to do it."
"Wheeljack..." June stared at him, then she set the flowers aside before she leaned over and hugged him.
Wheeljack blinked, then he slowly hugged back.
"I-... I miss her," the Wrecker whispered, closing his eyes. "But everyone's right, I-I hafta let her go. It-... It just really hurts, more than anythin' ever has."
"Oh, Wheeljack." June sighed quietly, closing her eyes and resting a hand on the back of his holoform's head. "... She would be the same way, if it had been you."
"Would she let me go?"
"... Never completely," June admitted, then she pulled away and looked him in the eyes. "But she'd move on enough, to live for you."
At that, Wheeljack managed a small smile. "Yeah... That's my girl."
"Our girl." June took his hands in hers and squeezed them, giving a small smile of her own in return. "... It's going to be okay, Wheeljack."
"... I know," the Wrecker admitted, glancing down, then he looked back at June and took another 'breath' as he nodded. "I know."
The sound of a roaring engine moved down the desert road and past the cemetery, but Wheeljack barely heard it.
Nothing else mattered in that moment.
He had said 'goodbye'.
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The End
of
Part 2: Wheeljack
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Next:
Part 3: How She Lived
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So... it has been eighteen months.
And, from the bottom of my heart... my bad.
If anyone is still hanging onto this story, thank you so much for your patience. I sincerely appreciate it.
I only own my OCs. Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks! :)
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Comments Hall of Fame!
I'm Just Here For The Memories
"Oh my god, you back! Welcome back!"
(Oh, well-
After all this time, this is certainly awkward! XD )
"I've recently taken to listening to this story while I work, and wow it hits different listening to it instead of reading it after about a year (since the last time I reread it that is) I read to quickly sometimes and the slower pace of text to speech really made me feel some of the things I kept missing. I can't believe how much I was missing all this time.
I'm also writing this comment as I read because I keep leaving out half of my thoughts every time XD"
(You may have "missed" certain things because I went back and made a lot of revisions.
The older I get and the more I learn, the more I like to go back and fix things.)
"Wow, Ratchet really did care about Jenna, you could tell but at the same time he never really let on and now that she's dead... I'm gonna cry"
(One of the big things that I wanted to accomplish was making this story about more than the relationship between the two main characters. I wanted these two to have a strong relationship with each other, but also others.
I had to establish the dynamics of the Darby family, naturally—but with our artist, I found myself writing her with close bonds with Miko, Sari, Ultra Magnus, and Ratchet.
I always figured that Ratchet had a soft spot for all of the children, and I liked the idea of him growing fond of a little human without a partner who liked her space and quiet. He wouldn't be too keen on becoming a guardian back in those early days, but... in another life, where Jenna stuck around, he might have eventually taken her in.
I find that hilarious, and... heartening.
Ratchet ending up with this kid who secretly takes too much weight onto her shoulders, exasperated by her recklessness but impressed by her loyalty and the courage she doesn't believe she has. One minute, he'd be yelling at her for painting in the base or chasing after Miko to make sure that the older girl didn't get hurt. The next minute, he would be patching her wounds and quietly asking her questions about art.
I think it would have been nice.
But Ratchet knows that she had to get out of Jasper.)
"Did I read that right? Is Jenna ace? I really hope so, I don't find many stories where the main character is like me (excuse me while I cry also I absolutely love that Miko is bi, I wasn't expecting representation here and that makes it all the better)"
(Our girl is ace. :) )
"That last line of the flashback how dare you I'M CRYING AGAIN"
(You have realized by now that I am mean, correct?)
"PROWL OH MY GOD ITS PROWL MY FAVORITE BOT OH MY GOD and he went back for Jazz (I'm sobbing, I'm straight sobbing now thank you)"
(*insert the "I abandoned my boy" meme here*
But yeah, that scene was important to me. I think that the guilt that Jazz likely feels regarding Prowl's death is often overlooked, and that Prowl would make resolving things his priority... especially after seeing what Wheeljack's going through.)
"I never thought I would feel emotional over Breakdown and Knockout reuniting (Thats a total lie don't believe me)"
(KOBD Nation unite!)
"Wheeljack regretting philosophy is such a mood"
(That one was based on personal experience...)
"Soundwave can now only legally be refered to as The Internet, sorry I don't make the rules"
(Neither do I.
But wait... if I'm not making the rules, and YOU'RE not making the rules, then...
Who's in charge of this story?! XD )
"Dear god all those amazing questions with well thought out answers and a deep speach from Prime... Then theres me in classic Gen Z style XD
Thank you for matching my energy with the answers!
Miko just immediately wanting to fight robo god just lol (If there's anybody Primus should fear it would be her and Wheeljack right now)
I'm CACKLING that is the exact response I crave everytime I mention the centaurs and octopus thing THANK YOU!"
(Happy to oblige. :) )
"Now, since I always ask at least one question...
I think I've asked enough questions XD"
(Oh, ya think? XD
I'm just messing around. Looking forward to this!)
"It's kind of funny though... I just started listening to this story a few days ago, and here you are! I'm glad your back :D I've really missed this story. You really put me through my feels with this chapter, but at the same time I couldn't be happier just to have a new one to read."
(I'm sorry it takes so long for me to update.
Life is weird, and getting weirder.)
"Can I just say again how amazing it iIt'ss that Jenna is ace?"
(I'm glad you think so. :)
*poorly concealed sigh of relief*)
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Starflower525
"Chapter update, chapter update, chapter update, chapter update, CHAPTER UPDATE! SO, worth the wait. I hit the link on my email to this fic so fast once it popped up to read it, and I have to say it blew me away."
(Good to hear! :) )
"I really liked the idea of Ratchet's connections to Jenna and him almost being her guardian. In a way I feel like he sorta has joint custody, and will always be an important part of how Jenna grew as a character."
(Yes! THIS!
Hm. "Almost" is a really sad word, isn't it?
She had to go with Wheeljack to get away from Jasper, but...
Ratchet would have been a really good guardian.
And in a way, he still was.)
"I LOVED, all of the reunions, glad everyone was getting a bit of their broken sparks fixed in those moments. I think Prowl's return was my fav. So glad, my serious, stoic, ninja finally got his second chance. Unlike in the Animation that left him on display in a pretty glass Snow White box, and in my book that makes this fic already 1000 times better."
(Prowl was probably the first cartoon character whose death I was old enough to understand.
Had to bring back my boy.)
"It's also good to see Wheeljack healing a bit thanks to Prowl. It's still a long road of healing, but at least he's started walking it. (And there's a part of me that hope Wheeljack won't have to wait another life time to see crazy Jenna again)."
(Well... we're now past the two year mark, and he's doing... okay.
Please, don't hate me. XD )
"Sorry for the novel, this was actually the cut down version of my comment. Bottom line, warm, fuzzy, and spectacular chapter like all the others before. Going to reread this several more times. I'm already excited for the next chapter whenever that roles around, this is definitely a story worth waiting for. (Hopefully, there will be an ending one day, I'll be heart broken to forever wonder, lol. But no rush, take as many months or years as you need)."
(I am hoping that there will be an ending, too... eventually... but it seems like there's a long road ahead.
I have been concerned recently about rumors I've heard regarding this site. Any truth to those?)
"Thank you for answering my questions from last chapter, I loved Primus and the Wrecker's responses, it made me laugh."
(I'm glad. XD
And no problem!)
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redemption293
"Oh gods, it's so good to have you back, I was honestly afraid something had happened."
(Sorry! Again...)
"Thank you for another amazing chapter, gods, this chapter hit home for me a bit, but it's really nice to see the support that the bots give each other and how they try their best, so fragging cute."
(Having a good support system is really important.
These 'bots have been to Hell and back together. I wanted that bond to mean something.)
"Gah, I'm so glad you came back and continued this, it made me really happy to see this at the top of my favorites list again."
(Welp, looks like I'm back! Again...)
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merendinoemiliano
"Great portrayal of various characters as always. This is luckily one of those periods where several authors return after a long hiatus, and for some reason is always near my birthday( and 2021 was definitely an year). Cannot wait for the Cons' plans, best of luck with everything"
(The 'Cons are taking their time, this time around.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.)
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Prime808
"This was so good I cried and I'm hoping that you will update it again soon"
(... Define "soon".)
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Ask a Character!
I'm Just Here For The Memories: "For everybody from the Detroit team (Now that their all here (WELCOME BACK PROWL AND JAZZyou guys ARE going to go visit professor Sumdac, right?"
Jazz: "I've been keepin' a close optic on the professor, over the years. He's family, after all-Sari, too—so while things got quiet on my end after Prowl died, I always kept tabs on everyone still in Detroit."
Bumblebee: "Also, we still need to tell Professor Sumdac that Prowl is alive."
Sari: "Yeah, that."
Prowl: *staring*
Professor Sumdac: *staring back*
I'm Just Here For The Memories: "For Primus now that I know you're an option, (I really want to hate you but you seem like a genuinely good person even though the way you go about i s) w h y did you just leave her body there? NOT COOL DUDE"
Primus: "If her body had remained within my spark, it would have been destroyed entirely—by my energy as well as that of the Allspark. I removed it to preserve it."
Knockout: "Wait, why did you care so much about preserving it?"
(Primus has left the chat.)
Smokescreen: "... We're standing in a room. How the frag did that even work?!"
I'm Just Here For The Memories: "(Side note I hope somebody calls him a primordial bastard again I miss that XD)"
Wheeljack: "Primordial bastard."
Jack: "Primordial bastard."
Ratchet: "Pri-"
Miko: "Not three times! We just got rid of him, don't summon him back!"
I'm Just Here For The Memories: "Jenna and Wheeljack: Thoughts on No Way Home? (I'm still bitter and I feel like they Get It)"
Jenna: "I'm dead, so my movie-watching privileges have been revoked."
Wheeljack: "Hold on, kid."
(several hours later)
Jenna: "UNNECESSARY."
Wheeljack: "Kid-"
Jenna: "WAS IT GREAT TO GET ALL OF THOSE INCARNATIONS BACK AND ON-SCREEN TOGETHER? YES."
Jenna: "DO I STILL ABSOLUTELY ADORE DOC OCK? ALSO YES."
Jenna: "BUT KILLING AUNT MAY AND WIPING EVERYONE'S MEMORIES OF PETER PARKER? UNNECESSARY."
Wheeljack: "Oh, so you're against killin' an important female character just for plot and character development?"
Jenna: "TONY STARK IS STILL WARM IN THE GROUND. MAY GOT FRIDGED."
Wheeljack: *looks into the camera like he's on The Office*
I'm Just Here For The Memories: "Miko! Have you ever been to a pride parade? Have you ever dragged one (or all!) of the bots with you to one?"
Miko: "No, not really. My parents wanted what was best for me, but... they still don't really know me. And Jasper, Nevada isn't exactly a place where you find any big Pride celebrations."
Ratchet: *already firing up the space-bridge*
Sari: "Aw! You big softy!"
Ratchet: "Shut up and go through the portal. All of you. Now."
I'm Just Here For The Memories: "Jenna, how do you feel about all those siblings?"
Jenna: "I've lost count of them, but I would die for them."
Everyone: "DO NOT."
I'm Just Here For The Memories: "Soundwave, honestly I respect the silence btw, sooo when Knockout said you were The Internet, exactly... how much... have you seen? There's some cursed stuff out there man..."
Soundwave: "..."
Knockout: "Oh, he knows. Trust me, he knows."
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Starflower525: "Here's a question I thought of if you have the time or interest to answer it (if not, totally cool); A bunch of bots managed to get second chances and reunions with those they love. What are they each going to do with this second chance at life now? Any regrets they're hoping to fix or maybe just some everyday tasks or activities they missed while they were...gone...for a while."
Prowl: "I hope to help Sari complete her cyber-ninja training, and to catch up on all that I have missed. I also look forward to exploring the Earth again, and seeing more of it... hopefully, with my family."
Seaspray: "I'm hopin' to reunite with more of the Wreckers, then start workin' on ships again. The sooner I can take to the stars again, the better. My planet-legs are startin' to come back."
Breakdown: "Well, I'm not entirely sure about what I'm gonna be doing. Knockout and some of the Vehicons made it—but while the Wreckers and I seem to be on good terms, there's still a lot of hurt on both sides. It's gonna take some time for me to figure out what I wanna do. I just know who I wanna do it with."
Cliffjumper: "I kick the bucket while we're still at war. I come back, and things aren't perfect-but the war's over. Best I can figure, I'll stick around with my partner and the family-and if anyone tries anythin' with any of them, they'll get the horns... That, and Bee needs to catch me up on all the cartoons I missed."
Dreadwing & Skyquake: *deadpan*
Dreadwing: *holds up a sign that says "STILL"*
Skyquake: *holds up a sign that says "FROZEN"*
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Thanks for reading! See ya! :)
