Finally. A chapter where I don't have to put the disclaimer about canon dialogue!

I don't own Transformers or the Riordanverse; they belong to their owners.

Chapter 18: Piper Was Right; Jane is Evil.

I ended up staying the night at Camp Half-Blood. Even if she hated me now, I at least wanted a chance to say goodbye to Piper.

We said goodbye alright, but the way Piper said it made one thing pretty clear.

She wanted nothing to do with me anymore.

I just stood there and stared. I saw her fly off on the mechanical dragon Leo called Festus. Trying to savor every last moment I could see her; I was scared I was never going to again.

After she disappeared from our view, I noticed that Annabeth was staring at me with an angry expression.

"Leave," she ordered me in a stern and cold tone.

"Come on, Annabeth, relax," one of the boys from the Aphrodite cabin intervened. "He's alright. You saw how he stood up to Drew."

"I don't care if he stood up to Drew, Mitchell!" Annabeth shouted. "You haven't seen what I have. You haven't seen him creating thunder blasts that scatter everyone, and then the other Decepticons start picking them off one by one!"

"But he's funny..." protested a girl with pigtails and braces, looking confused. "How could he be a bad guy?"

Annabeth remained silent.

"It's okay, Annabeth," I said. "I was leaving anyway."

"Good," she replied. "We don't want you here. You don't belong anywhere."

She had no idea how right she was.

I found myself traveling aimlessly in jet mode after that, just flying over the United States. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care much.

I had no idea what to do. Piper had rejected me, Tristan was still missing, and I wasn't ready to go back to the Decepticons.

Even writing The Trident Robber didn't feel right anymore.

What was I supposed to do now? Should I return to being an average grunt for the Decepticons? How could I? Without Piper and Tristan, I wasn't sure I could bear it.

Piper was right. I was a monster. Maybe I hadn't directly killed anyone, but I was a part of it. I was a part of this campaign on Earth that had lasted for nearly nine years by now. A campaign that had taken so many lives—Autobot and Human.

And for what? Pushing Cybertron forward? Creating a new Cybertronian Empire?

Whatever it was for, it wasn't worth it. None of it was.

I just kept wandering the skies for the next few hours, hoping an answer to my problem would come to me.

Eventually, when my vision started clearing, I realized I was back in Malibu and near the McLean mansion.

Maybe my subconscious was guiding me here so I could see this place one last time. That's how I took it, at least.

When I got closer, I saw Jane's SUV parked outside the mansion and Jane herself on the front lawn talking to someone on her phone.

Which was weird because today was supposed to be her day off. What was she still doing at the mansion?

I engaged my stealth cloak and got in closer, hovering over the yard right above Jane. She didn't notice.

"I think they must have finally come for her." She said, "She hasn't come back from her trip with that Transformer yet."

I was about to kick myself for forgetting to call Jane and tell her Piper would be gone for a while, but that's when the next thing Jane said sent chills down my mechanical spine.

"Yeah, C, the final preparations are in place. Tristan's kidnapping was the perfect opening."

"Whenever you're ready, just say the word, and Tristan McLean will be ruined."

Jane's gloating was interrupted when she heard the sound of a crash.

When she turned around, she got a good look at where the sound came from. It was me transforming into robot mode and landing on her SUV, wrecking it in the process.

"Yes, tell me, Jane, how will Tristan McLean be ruined?" I asked, looming over her.

Jane looked terrified. I heard someone faintly yelling over the phone before Jane dropped it in horror and tried to make a run for it. It was easy to catch her; I just reached forward and grabbed her by the collar.

Jane struggled, kicked, and punched as I raised her to my eye level. "Let me go!" she ordered.

"Not a chance!" I said. I repositioned Jane in my hands, putting her whole body in my fist. "Now. Tell me." I ordered, "What's going on here?"

Jane scoffed, "Please, I know who you are, Thundercracker; I know you're a Decepticon. You think I don't keep up with the news? And I also know you're one of the few Decepticons who doesn't hurt humans. You wouldn't harm-"

I tossed Jane up into the air. She screamed in horror as she flew upward into the sky. She waved her arms and legs widely.

I engaged my leg thrusters and got back to eye level with her. "Ready to talk?"

"OKAY! OKAY, I'LL TALK! JUST PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" she begged.

I caught Jane in my left arm and continued to hover in mid-air. "Alright then, I said, "Let's try this again. What's going on here?"

"And remember, it's a long way down."

Jane looked down at the ground below us and gulped.

"Spill!" I ordered.

Jane paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and speaking up. "My boss has been keeping a close eye on Tristan for many years."

"Why?" I asked.

Jane replied, "He likes to monitor all potential demigods in his territory."

I was surprised. "So, you knew about..."

Jane cut me off. "Yes, I know about them. I am aware of the world of gods and monsters. My boss comes from there. When Piper began stealing things by charming various clerks, we suspected her to be a demigod for some time."

So, Jane knew all along that Piper was a demigod? And she didn't say anything about it?!

"How are you going to ruin Tristan, exactly?" I asked.

"It's something that's been in the works for years."

"What?"

Jane smirked; it looked like she was starting to get some confidence back. "You see, Tristan has unknowingly been committing tax evasion and fraud for the past five years. I've been messing with his financials and falsifying records since I started working for him."

I didn't know much about human tax stuff, but even I knew that committing tax fraud was one of the biggest "no-nos" on Earth. According to Batman the Animated series, even the Joker wasn't crazy enough to go up against the IRS.

"Where is Tristan!?" I demanded.

Jane hesitated.

"Where!?"

She cursed and started talking. "Somewhere in the Bay Area," she confessed, "a woman came by. She wanted Tristan for some reason. She tried to charmspeak me, but I was all too happy to help her out. Getting Tristan out of the way gave me the perfect opening to lay down the final preparations my boss needed."

I couldn't believe this. I knew Jane was a jerk, but I never thought she'd stoop so low as to help ruin Tristan's life and get him kidnapped.

"Look!" I said. "Keeping tabs, I can understand, but why ruin him? What does bankrupting a random celebrity's life accomplish? What does that have to do with Piper being a demigod?

"To get a potential troublemaker out of the way." Jane explained, "Ruining Tristan would be a good way to get rid of Piper, should she ever become a problem."

"Who's your boss!? Who's C?!"

Jane didn't answer that; I couldn't tell if her scared expression meant she was scared of me or him. So I moved on.

"Why are you doing this!?" I asked,

"I just told-'

"No, I mean, why are you doing this?! Why are you helping ruin a man's life? Tristan didn't do anything to you!"

Jane remained quiet, her eyes fixed on me with a piercing look. "Do you know what clear sight means?" she asked me.

I shook my head.

"It means being able to see through the mist," Jane explained. "It's the veil that typically hides the supernatural world from mortals. But some of us can see right through it with ease."

"What's your point?" I asked curiously.

"I grew up seeing all sorts of monsters and terrible things. Innocent people were killed by monsters they couldn't comprehend, and I watched as uncaring gods smote humans like they were ants in their backyard. I even had to see my close friend get tricked and eaten by a Cyclops! And no one ever believed me," she said bitterly, recounting her experiences.

I felt a twinge of sympathy for her, but also a sense of anger.

"And then?" I asked her.

Jane's facial expression hardened. "I realized that the only way to survive in this world is to follow the rules of the supernatural. As a mere mortal, there's not much I can do, but aligning myself with someone high up on the supernatural ladder is the perfect way to protect myself. So when one of those people offered me a chance to be part of their grand empire once their plans came to fruition and was looking for a spy, I said yes," she explained, shrugging her shoulders.

"Who was it?" I asked her again.

"I'm still keeping some secrets to myself, Mr. Cracker," she replied with a sly smile.

"So you're willing to ruin someone's life for your own selfish, cowardly ambitions?" I asked her with a hint of disapproval.

"I'm just trying to survive in a world of gods and monsters! I don't have a choice!" Jane insisted.

"There's always a choice..." I said quietly

"It's not that simple."

At that moment, everything seemed to come into focus for me. I had been in this conversation before, but I'd been on the other side of it then. Now I understood what Piper had been talking about.

I knew what I had to do now. It was time to stop running from who I was—the real me.

"No Jane. There is a choice. Stop being evil. It's the choice I'm going to make." I floated down and put Jane back on the ground.

"What are you going to do?" Jane asked scornfully.

"I'm going to fix Tristan's tax records, quit the Decepticons, and then I'm going to find him," I said.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," she said in an oily voice.

"Why? I'm a walking computer. It'll take time, but I can fix a few falsified records."

"Oh, I have no doubt you could fix it. The question is, should you?"

I hesitated. "What are you talking about?"

"We've planned this out very carefully." Jane explained, "Tristan will be ruined, but he will still have what matters most to him, his family's land in Oklahoma."

I remembered that piece of land. I'd visited it with Piper and Tristan a few times. It was a nice, peaceful area with a cabin. Tristan had tried to sell it a while back but ultimately couldn't bring himself to go through with it. The place had too many memories of his father with it. "What does that have to do with this?!" I asked.

"Think about it, Thundercracker," Jane answered. "Has Tristan's life as a celebrity made him happy? Has it made Piper happy?"

I had to admit it hadn't. Tristan was proud of his career, but he always carried a sad aura around him. Even at the top of the world, he wasn't able to find true happiness, and despite me helping father and daughter spend more time together, Piper still wanted a normal life; she'd made that clear many times.

"If you let this go through, you can give them what they need. Sure, there will be a moment of embarrassment and pain for them, but when it clears, they will be able to move back to Oklahoma and have a normal life. My boss is being very generous by doing this to them."

"You don't know that!" I protested, "You don't know that's how things will turn out!"

"No, I don't," Jane admitted. "But you know what I'm saying is true. A normal, much more simpler life would be better for both of them."

I just stood there contemplatively. Jane was right; maybe it would be better for both Piper and Tristan to have this life taken away from them. Piper could go to a normal school, and she and Tristan could have more time to spend together without me needing to be the middleman.

Besides, Piper hated me now; maybe she wouldn't forgive me. This wasn't my problem anymore.

But I remembered what Piper had told me last year; her words echoed in my head.

"Because sometimes, Thundercracker, when you know something isn't right, when you know in your heart that something is wrong, you stand up. You do the right thing. Even if it means facing the consequences, no matter how unfair."

I shook my head, "No. Not like this. Piper wouldn't want a normal life if the cost is her dad losing everything!"

I turned to get to work.

"You idiot!" Jane sneered, "This is not how things are supposed to go!"

"Get out, Jane! Before I call the police!" I shouted back.

Jane took that as her cue to leave; she picked her phone off the ground and ran down the street.

As for me, like I said, I knew what I had to do now.

I grabbed both the Decepticon insignias on my wings with my hands.

And then I crushed them in my fists.

Maybe Piper wouldn't forgive me, maybe she would never see me as a friend again.

But it didn't matter.

I was going to be a better bot anyway, for her.

Gotta admit, when I first started writing this, I didn't expect to give Jane a backstory.

This is another moment where I altered something from the Riordanverse canon consciously. Lost Hero makes it pretty clear that Jane was charmspeaked by Medea in order to kidnap Tristan. However, given the later reveal/retcon that Jane helped ruin Tristan's life in Burning Maze, I've altered things a bit so that Jane was in on the plan to kidnap Tristan willingly.

I hope you enjoyed it, and as always, please leave a review!