CHAPTER 19, PATHS INTERTWINED
NORMAL P.O.V
Crickets chirped amongst the forest, thick branches high above providing darkness from a brighter night sky above. Two red beams appeared suddenly, followed closely by two human figures who held weapons activating the beams. They were joined by another pair of humans holding the same weapons.
One man wore protective goggles with orange lenses, unlike the rest clad in black masks. "Suppression fire only. We take this one alive."
The foliage lessened, trees more spacious than within the forest, full moon shining brightly. The soldiers carried on, before a sudden noise made them spin around in an instant. The centre man fired, hitting a tree. His fellow partner fired and missed their target as well. A third bounced into the air as he shot his shot, barely missing their target, sending a tree up in black smoke.
"Tight formation." The men leapt off the ledge at the command.
The group stalked through the canyon, past the sticky webbing around them. The man in front continued to watch through his goggles the location of their target, until the red blip on his map disappeared. Leaving him and his men at a standstill.
One by one, his men were pulled from the ground, glued to a large spider's web high above them. The lead soldier could only point his red beam upwards in search of how his men had gotten themselves up there, unaware of the being they were hunting hissing with sadistic glee.
Small rocks fell from the sky in front of the lone soldier on the ground, immediately firing at the pink-eyed Cybertronian crawling down to him. He fired only to miss, captor picking him up by his weapon, and throwing him into the nearby rock wall. He grunted as he was pinned by the same sticky webbing his soldiers were trapped in.
The spider-like Cybertronian scuttled up to meet him, "Don't tell me MECH never considered that an open channel distress signal from an injured Decepticon might be a trap."
"I'll bear that in mind next time."
Airachnid chuckled thoughtfully, "Next time? Decepticon radio chatter's all abuzz about the work over you gave poor Breakdown and Moonlight. As an Ex-Con myself, I really should eviscerate you for that!" Her captive failed to react to the proposed threat. "But an old acquaintance and her nasty little human destroyed my ship and skinned my knee. I mean to pay them back in kind. Both of them." The former Decepticon moved closer to the human. "You see, I make it in and out of places most Decepticons can't. But I'm still learning to navigate this planet."
"What's in it for MECH?" Silas immediately demanded.
"I'll let you live. And since you came to collect a… Transformer, was it? I'll throw in whatever's left of Arcee, after I've broken her."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"'Swept, you should've seen his face. Jack even laughed."
"I mean, who wouldn't have? If there's one thing I have to say about Miko I like, it'd be how fast she winds Ratchet up."
"Did you just admit you actually have something you like about Miko?"
"Arcee, what are you gonna do, tell her? She'll just tell me 'congrats, want a gold medal'?"
The long work days were hard, especially solar cycles like these, but being able to spend some time with two of my favourite humans and my partner at the end of them was well worth it. And it was something to cherish, really, since times were tougher than they had been in a long while.
Agent Fowler had serious concerns that MECH remained at large, which was unlike when we first met them, because back then, they had gone into hiding without a trace. He had even scouted where they had kept Breakdown and Moonlight, but apparently, it had been some kind of dead end. There was no trace of them even being there in terms of their research - it was like they had destroyed everything in a way even the human government couldn't retrieve them. But despite all that, he was convinced that there was still undetected MECH activity occurring, only he couldn't really explain how he knew that; something about 'off the book tracking'...
So because Agent Fowler wasn't giving us the all clear about MECH, Optimus wasn't taking any risks. There were three to a regular scouting mission now, and two on the same patrol route at a time. I didn't blame him for organising our roster this way; MECH were after us and they'd do whatever it takes to get what they needed. Breakdown and Moonlight were unfortunate examples of this.
It did mean Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and I were spending less time with our humans, but MECH didn't know about them like the Decepticons did. It was one less thing to be concerned about. I had a feeling Ratchet was starting to get annoyed about being their 'sparkling-sitter' more than usual. He just wasn't saying anything about it, which was a rare occurrence. Though, I imagined he understood the situation.
There was a… silver lining to some of this MECH situation though. We no longer had to be cautious around Jack and Carly since they were back to proper speaking terms. Though, we just chose not to mention or talk about their 'feelings' as it was pretty clear neither of them were interested in approaching that conversation. Beside that, it really felt like the team was getting to know each other better with the patrol team-ups and the three-bot scouts. We were really starting to work together well, maybe better than before.
"Maybe I could give you one for walking me home, Jack?" He had been walking beside Arcee and pushing her along the road with her handlebars for the last few kliks. "You're a real gentleman."
"Did you walk Sierra home?" …If my human wasn't balancing herself on top of my motorcycle seat… Primus Carly… "I… didn't mean to say that out loud… I'm sorry."
I wasn't certain her quick apology for her sudden snark was genuine.
"It's not like Sierra and I were actually together, you know... Uh-A thing that didn't work out," Jack was shrugging amidst his small stutter, "Between school, my job, and you guys…" He was giving her that look, like she was meant to understand… it lingered longer than it should've. "Anyway, I don't want Arcee revved up before bedtime."
We were on the driveway of Jack's house, where he was moving towards the door of his garage. Carly and I should've been on our way to her house but moments like these, when you're with the people closest to you, were ones I didn't want to end straight away…
"I understand." I don't think Carly minded the extra time spent with Jack either. "Mamá's a light sleeper too."
Mamá Esquivel really does hear everything in her recharge period…
"Exactly." Jack started pulling up the garage door. "And I don't think she'd understand about-."
"Understand what, Jack? You breaking curfew for the third time this month?"
In my mirrors, Carly's face was paling and her eyes were widening at the voice. "Hola, Miss Darby."
I moved my attention to the human standing in the middle of the garage. A female, dark-haired and wearing some kind of uniform.
Jack was walking backwards to us and also looking terrified, "Mom."
…Of course, this was his creator. They looked so alike, just like Carly and her own.
"Or why your boss called about you missing another shift at work?" Jack's… Mom, was it? Primus, why was human and Cybertronian terminology so different? Anyway, she looked rather mad at him, "Or maybe the email I received from your Art History teacher who's concerned that you've been falling asleep in class?"
"Well, two words, Mom: Art and History!" I wasn't sure if that was the right answer to the questions.
"Tell me the rumors aren't true, Jack." His creator looked disappointed. "Tell me you're not racing that motorcycle."
How in the world did she hear about that?!
Jack raised his arms, "No! No! Wait-wait, where did you hear that? I-"
"Small town, people talk," His creator shrugged, "I work in an emergency room, Jack. I've seen what can happen. So please, tell me you haven't fallen in with a bad crowd."
"Miss Darby." My human moved off my form and pretended to settle me on my motorcycle stand. She stood next to Jack, "I can assure you that Jackson is not in any bad crowd, at all. I-In fact, he's-"
"Stop calling me Jackson!-"
"Carly, sweetheart, I appreciate you for being my son's friend, but I need to hear that from him." Miss Darby faced Jack again. "So?"
"Mom, our friends are the good crowd! Seriously good!" He moved closer to Carly. "You really think my friend Carlotta would lead me astray?"
Carly glared at him, "My name is not Carlotta." I think she was more annoyed about being called his 'friend' than being called her full name.
"No, of course not, Jack," Miss Darby relented, "At least, I would like to think so." She was facing Carly. "I have known you and your family for a long time now. How are they doing, Carly?"
"They're very well, Miss Darby."
Apparently, Mamá Esquivel wasn't the only one who would happily approve of a relationship between her youngling and Jack if it were to happen… well, according to Carly, but I try not to encourage that conversation since that was a long time ago now.
"I'm quite surprised your Mom allowed you to have a bike of your own after what happened to Alejandro, Carly."
My human's features paled slightly, as if she wasn't prepared to answer such a question, "Well… I wasn't planning on getting one either." She looked Miss Darby directly into her human optics. "I had a friend who once said that sometimes things are destined to be."
I would've been smiling from both audios if I could.
"Your Mom and I spoke about your and Jack's motorcycles a while ago." Miss Darby raised a human optical ridge. "Quite a coincidence you and Jack both brought them home on the same night." The air felt tense for a moment as Jack's creator remained silent, before she turned to her youngling. "By the way, Jack-" Carly's quiet sigh of what I presumed was relief was loud to me. "I let you have that bike because you convinced me you were mature enough to handle it. But I think you may need a gentle reminder."
"Message received, Mom. Loud and clear." Jack grabbed Arcee's handlebars. "I'm glad we had this talk."
"I meant, let's see if a few weeks without the distraction of your motorcycle will do the trick."
…Uhhhh… was she implying-
"I don't think I heard her correctly, 'Swept, what did she say?" Arcee's tone suggested she did hear Miss Darby correctly.
"But-"
"No buts-" Miss Darby spun back to Jack, with her hands at her sides. "You are grounded from everything but school and work. And if you want to take a bike to either, you'll pedal!" She motioned to a pedal bike in the corner; it looked like the same one Jack had been working on when I picked up Carly from here when he initially left the team. "Serious face, Jack! If I see that motorcycle out of the garage…" I couldn't figure out why she decided not to finish her sentence and instead press a kiss to her son's forehead. "Say goodnight to Carly, go wash up and get some sleep. I love you." She walked away.
"Buenas noches Miss Darby!"
"Goodnight, Carly." The door to I presumed the inside of their house closed.
My human suddenly sighed dreamily, "I wish I could be scolded by your Mamá. I would be lucky to hear mine say she loves me afterwards."
Was she implying… oh never mind, that wasn't the issue right now.
"I'll miss you while you're grounded." At least Arcee sounded more amused now than before.
"Don't worry, Arcee. I'll visit you here everyday,"
I would've had a confused expression on my face if I was in my Cybertronian mode, and it would've been directed at Jack. What did he mean by that? Did he forget the strain we were under right now? "What are you talking about, Jack? Arcee's not going to be here."
Jack stopped pushing Arcee into the garage to look at my form, "You can't be serious, 'Swept."
"She's not wrong, Jack. Sitting on my fat tires for two weeks is not an option."
"No, no, no. You all saw Mom's serious face!" He looked ready to blow some kind of gasket, in Bulkhead's words. "Look, Arcee, I feel badly enough that I have to lie to her all this time. But if you're not here, she's gonna think that I'm blowing her off!"
"Jack, you need to calm down," Carly softly said, gripping his shoulders, "Take some breathes, okay?"
"Your Mom works late nights," Arcee pointed out, "I'll try to be back in the garage before she gets home. But, no promises."
"And, if you need someone to cover an excuse for you, I can… come up with something," Carly half-shrugged, "Do you remember that promise about you helping me keep this secret from Mamá?" Jack nodded solemnly. "It goes both ways."
I would've nodded had I been in my Cybertronian form, "I'll do whatever I can to help cover Arcee when you need her." I slowly rolled up into the garage beside Arcee. "It's only a few human weeks."
I wanted so badly to add that the task shouldn't be as strenuous as it appeared to be in Jack's optics, however I feared reassuring him about this when it could easily become a difficult task to manage. Considering our situation at the moment, there was no way I should even be giving him the suggestion that everything would be okay or work out in the end. Being realistic was a lot easier than being optimistic sometimes…
NORMAL P.O.V
The sun was setting on another day for Jack at his workplace, K.O Drive-In. The teenage boy flicked the stand down on his parked-up push-bike, and slowly walked it out of its parking spot. A loud ringtone came from his pocket, forcing him to pause in his backwards steps to grab his cellphone. He immediately opened it to press the answer button, bringing it to his ear, "Hey, Ma."
"Jack. I hope you're not planning to eat take-out tonight." June Darby grabbed the door handle of her white sedan parked in the hospital parking lot. "I took my break early so I could cook my grounded son a wholesome dinner."
The boy's facial expressions bubbled into panic at his mother's suggestion, "Organic tofu… awesome! Hey-uh, car beats ten-speed. I'll-uh, I'll be home soon. Love ya bye." The panic turned into fear as he began dialing a new number onto his phone before returning the device to his ear. "Come on. Pick up, pick up, pick up…"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
It's like every time we think our luck might change, it just… doesn't. We thought we had gotten the upper hand finding what Ratchet had believed to be an untapped Energon deposit, but as soon as 'Bee, Aqua, Arcee and I get there, it's just teeming with the Decepticon miners and soldiers as if they had been there for hours already.
I ducked down behind a small boulder, and activated my weapons…
"Arcee! …Uh, you wouldn't be in the garage right now?"
…Jack?!
"Negative, Jack." Arcee moved to my position to avoid the incoming firepower. "Can we talk about this later?"
Of all Primus-damned times for Jack to call needing Arcee back home, it had to be now? When we needed her to secure this Energon deposit? Energon… that we absolutely needed desperately right now?!
"No! Mom's on her way home!" Jack sounded like he was pedalling hard back to his house on that pedal bike his Creator had told him to use. Either that, or the phone call on our open communications channel sounded weird. "If you don't race back there right now, I will be grounded for life! A-And Mom will make me sell you for parts!"
…It wasn't like we could explain to Miss Darby how selling Arcee's motorcycle form in parts wasn't exactly an option.
Arcee looked over at Bumblebee and Aquastrike, "Can you guys handle it?"
"We got this!" 'Bee moved up to continue firing on our enemies.
"Ahhh, get on outta 'ere, 'Cee! We'll be thinkin' of ya when we collect this 'Nergon!"
"Just go!" I leapt over the boulder before she could look at me. She knew I had her back no matter what.
"Ratchet, I need a bridge."
Everyone at base knew about Jack's grounding, and how Arcee was really meant to be parked up inside the Darby garage instead of being out on field missions. We were working around it the best we could, even if it meant she had to drop out of this mission to secure the Energon to play inanimate motorcycle.
I fired onto our enemies as I closed in, before I deactivated my weapon and swung my fist at the first drone in front of me. He dodged it, so I quickly spun around with my leg up to knock him straight into Aquastrike's path. She knocked him away using her triple blaster. Bumblebee suddenly landed on him before he could stand properly.
I felt myself being tugged back as firepower began in the direction of 'Bee and the drone. Sudden explosions began from the Decepticons, blowing up into orange and black smoke. A crashing sound made me turn to Bumblebee now standing next to us, just as something rolled around in the corner of my optic so I looked back at where those offline Decepticon drones were…
...With one of them missing its helm.
I hope Arcee made it back to Jacks' on time.
NORMAL P.O.V
June Darby travelled blissfully in her vehicle, unaware that her son was in an immediate rush to try and beat her home on his push-bike. Despite the fatigue he was feeling from the exercise, he continued to pedal harder in his quest. The white sedan of his mother's turned and pulled up in front of the garage of her home, just as the boy turned the corner sharply onto his street.
The black-haired woman stepped out of her vehicle and into her home, still completely oblivious to the rush her son was in. She walked down a hallway, past a portrait of a dusk sky behind an old dirt road, and stopped in front of a brown door.
She released a heavy sigh, mind full of questions and wonders. Had her son disobeyed her and taken his motorcycle out? Had he followed her grounding requests and left his bike in the garage? Had he been sneaky and biked to school only to come back later and swapped to his motorcycle before going to work?
She grabbed the rustic gold door handle, turning it to open the squeaky door…
…At the same Jack pulled up onto the driveway, huffing and puffing, well and truly out of breath from the bike pedalling.
"JAAAAACCCCKKKKKK!" The boy cringed at the yell of his name before whipping his head to his mother coming from the front door. "Jack, I can't believe you disobeyed me! Where is the motorcycle?!"
"Uhhh…" Jack trailed off at the sight of the familiar bluey-green light flashing through the window panes of the garage door. "What do you mean?" He asked coyly, reaching into the driver's side window of his mother's car. "She's right where I left her?" Pressing the correct button, he removed himself from the car.
The door to the garage began to open, the suspicious June turning her head over her shoulder. A surprised facial expression overcame her as her son appeared to prove himself correct, the blue motorcycle sitting as if it had been there when the nurse had checked.
Her suspiciousness returning, she rolled her eyes and returned to facing her son, crossing her arms, "Did you get one of your crew to sneak it in? Or did you just walk it up again?"
There was nothing that came to the young teenager's mind to help him escape the questions he was presented with. He sighed, "Okay, Mom. Do you really wanna know?" His motorcycle guardian edged forward warningly, charge paying no mind. "Fasten your seatbelts…" He stepped off his bike. "My motorcycle is a sentient robotic organism from a distant planet. Part of a team stationed here on Earth fighting a secret war. And I spend most of my time after school hanging with her crew." He began walking his push-bike into the garage.
"Jack," June raised her eyebrow.
"Carly's also in on it. I-In fact she and I met them a day apart; that's why we both suddenly had motorcycles at the same time! Oh…! You remember Raf, Carly's little brother? He knows too! And her best friend-"
"Jack…"
"But the coolest thing about the sentient robots is that this isn't even her actual form." Jack motioned to his motorcycle. "She's really a giant robot who can transform into a vehicle."
"Enough, Jack," June shook her head.
"It's okay Arcee. Show yourself." June waited expectantly as silence reigned. "She's… shy. Arceeeee, really, no more hiding, no more lies…" The stone cold expression softened.
"Oh come on, roll out already," Jack grumbled, lightly kicking the motorcycle's side.
"So, uhm, the bad crowd you have been hanging out with is… a science fiction club?" June's tone filled with hopefulness and uncertainty.
Her son only remained quiet, glancing from his mother back to the motorcycle.
She checked her watch,"I have to get back to work. We'll continue this when I get home." She turned and walked to the driver's side door of her vehicle.
Once his mother closed the door, Jack side-eyed his motorcycle, "Thanks for the support, partner."
"Don't blame me. Remember-"
"I know. I know. You don't exist."
"Your ship's Black Box sustained serious damage in the explosion." Video footage of the altercation between Airachnid and a black-haired teenage boy played on the screen, zooming in on the human. "But our software was able to reconstruct a few frames of the security feed." The screen froze, an orange outline appearing around the boy, researching information.
"That's him," Airachnid confirmed confidently, leaning in with a curl of her fist, "My Jack."
"Our facial-recognition algorithm will send Jack's image across the web." Silas looked up at Airachnid. "Another kind of web." The screen beeped. "Ahhh, the mother lode."
"Government database?"
A blue page filled the screen, revealing Jack Darby's social network page. His message board filled most of the page, filled with many comments from friends. A mention about playing video games and 'going on an awesome ride' appeared from one girl, another talked about 'a race', while a third asked him in regards to a 'motorcycle meet-up' later on that day. On the left showed his profile picture and his personal details, including his age, location and family.
"Social networking page; everything worth knowing about Jack Darby is right here," Silas revealed, "Age: sixteen… Jasper, Nevada… Mother: June Darby, a nurse..."
In the quiet of the night, June Darby walked to her vehicle parked outside the Jasper Emergency Hospital, her mind swirling with how to deal with her son.
"Maybe I'm being too hard on Jack," She began talking to herself, digging in her pocket for her car keys, "But he lied, and the only way he's gonna learn is if I stick to my-."
A screaming van quickly pulled up to a stop beside June and her car, surprising the woman as she looked at the vehicle. The door slammed open, revealing two masked men with weapons. A gasp was the only thing that escaped the woman before a cackle of blue electricity zapped at her…
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"I wish we had bet on who was gonna tell their parents about our motorcycles. You would've been a long shot, for sure."
"To be fair, it doesn't have to technically count since Mom didn't believe me. Now, she thinks Miko's in a science fiction club."
"I'm not sure if Miko would allow that as a cover story, even if it's fake."
"You know what Mom's like… Hey, I don't see her car yet."
"Told you 'Swept would get us here before her!"
And Miss Darby would've had a head start too.
Jack's bike had a flat tire when he had left his workplace; lucky for him, Carly and I had been planning to go for a quick ride up one of those desert roads when he rang my human. At least we hadn't been far up the road, because it would've taken a while coming back if we had.
I don't know how we would've explained it if Miss Darby had arrived before us and saw Jack on a motorcycle. But… she didn't exactly specify what kind of alternate arrangements her youngling could make if something was wrong with his pedal bike, after all.
I turned onto the driveway at the same time the garage door pulled up from the top. Arcee was in there as if she hadn't been on a scout with Sunburst and Bulkhead earlier in the day.
"Arcee, is Mom home yet?" Jack swung off my vehicle form. "I didn't see her car."
"Don't know. I just bridged from base to beat her here." Arcee's side mirrors twitched at me. "If you needed a lift, Jack, I could've come."
"And risk Mom finding you not where you should be again?" Jack shook his head and gave Carly what I believed was an amused expression. "Not sure if she'd believe the 'science fiction club' story a second time around."
Carly got off my form and folded her arms smugly, "You think?"
"Oh! Jack! There's a package for you."
Jack grabbed a yellow envelope on a work desk and tore it open. I could hear something drop onto the surface lightly, but from my position, I really couldn't tell what it was.
"What is that?" Carly's tone had me immediately concerned.
"Hello, Jack."
…By the All-Spark.
"Silas."
"What is it? W-What's going on?"
"MECH," I growled, and rolled closer to Jack and Carly.
I would've transformed had Arcee not already been sitting in her Cybertronian form. And I wasn't certain if this garage was big enough for two of us to be in our normal forms… even if we were two of the smallest ones of our team!
"They know where you live?"
"We know things about Jack's family that even YOU don't know, Carly." My Energon was boiling; they knew my humans' name too?! "For example, Jack, do you know where your mother is?"
…They had Miss Darby… Scrap, scrap, scrap!
"What did you-"
"Understand, Jack, we have no intention of hurting her. In fact, we'd like to reunite the two of you as soon as possible. I just need you and Arcee to follow the GPS coordinates programmed into this communicator. It'll lead you to the temporary facility I've set up."
I had to call Ratchet. There was no way we were going on our own to deal with this threat, let alone the humans getting involved in this. I rolled backwards slightly from the desk and activated my comlink, "Ratchet."
Pain erupted from my audios. Primus above! It hurt so bad! It felt like my processor was frying from inside my helm! Make it stop! Please!
"'Swept!" I could barely hear Carly's voice nearby.
"Did I not mention our communicator scrambles the signal AND your brains?" …Really… Silas…? "Any break in communication or attempt to reach the other Autobots and Miss Darby…" Finally, the pain was subsiding… "Well, I wouldn't want to feel responsible for the outcome."
…If I ever get my servos on that evil, evil human, I hope Optimus could forgive me for breaking the rule of not harming humankind…
"Oh, and I wouldn't recommend bringing your friends along with you, unless you want to bring me more work by tagging along, Windswept." Chills flooded my form. My name in his mouth felt bitter. "Besides Jack, you wouldn't want to lose both your mother and a childhood friend in one night, would you?" The communicator cut out, no doubt ending our conversation.
"We've resorted to empty threats." There was no way Arcee and Jack were going on their own, not when I knew about the situation. I would never stand by and watch anyone go into a battle on their own when the odds are against them.
Carly clutched her helmet determinedly, "We're going to save your Mamá, let's go."
"We?" I cringed at Arcee's tone, but I understood why.
"'Swept?" I wanted to turn away at Carly's expectant look. "Tell them we're going with them!"
Silas was threatening her life on top of Miss Darbys'. The situation was bad enough as it was. It was an easy answer, "No."
"'Swept?!"
"Come on, I'll take you home." I pointed my wheel at Arcee. "Then I'll meet up with you on the road."
"You're not coming either, 'Swept."
Excuse me? "What did you just say?"
"Silas personally requested Jack and me. I'm not dragging you into this."
Frustration boiled up inside me so fast and heavily, I transformed and scowled at Arcee, "So you expect me to lay back and wait on your call while you deal with the same people who nearly tore two other Cybertronians to pieces?" Her features weren't budging. "You said it yourself, 'Cee; sitting on our fat tires is not an option in any circumstance. I am not letting you go on your own, and that's final."
"Are you pulling rank on me?"
I shook my helm at her knowing tone. "No, but you know better than to risk me doing such." My arms folded over me. "I don't need to when you know you don't have a choice."
"If 'Swept's going, I'm coming too!"
Primus above… "Carly…"
"You're not-"
"Jackson Darby, I need you to listen to me." It was like Jack had frozen on the spot the moment Carly referred to him in that manner. "You know how I feel about you, therefore waiting and worrying at home isn't going to work for me either."
"D-Didn't you hear Silas? He was threatening your life too!"
"I don't care. Please let me come with you."
Carly was so passionate about a lot of things in life, but I don't believe I had ever seen her as ardent as she was in this moment. It felt so familiar, maybe because I've been in positions where I had reacted the same as her, And if she was as similar in this moment as I had been in the past, then there was no doubt an undertone in her voice that suggested she would do anything to help Miss Darby. Even if it risked her life.
"Fine." I would've cheered at Arcee's relenting if the situation was different. "But you two are laying low unless otherwise."
My scowl remained as I transformed back into my motorcycle form, "We'll see."
It felt like a long time since I had been racing down the Jasper streets at this time. I could feel the memories of speeding along these roads with Cliff and 'Bee come back to me. Those were the days; simpler, because threats like the one we were about to face hadn't yet revealed themselves. Simpler, because we didn't have human lives to stress over. But here we were, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I'd do anything to keep them safe, and anyone they cared about.
Arcee and Jack turned a corner sharply ahead of us, so I followed them and sped up to be alongside them.
"If anything happens to her because of my connection to all of this, I-"
"Jack, MECH is only interested in me and 'Swept. Once they get what they want, they'll let your Mom go."
"That's not exactly reassuring. You're both family too."
I had already felt like I was a part of Carly and Rafael's family, which had already been a true honour as it was. It felt different hearing Jack say I was also a part of his, considering I wasn't as close to him as Arcee was; maybe it was because I was close to Arcee instead? I didn't know what it was; it was just a good kind of difference. It just felt good that I had some significant impact on him to refer to me as part of his family too.
"Jack?" I flicked my mirrors up at Carly looking in Jack's direction, "We're going to be okay."
Arcee turned right, leaving Jack unable to respond, if he had one. I followed them around the bend into some abandoned area of Jasper. The full moon shone brightly ahead of us, giving us plenty of light at the area we were heading into. It looked like some old factory that was no longer in use…
…Sounded perfect for a MECH warehouse.
We pulled up together, just as red beams appeared from nowhere onto Jack and Carly. Countless humans in black clothing and masks were standing everywhere on a stack of shipping containers with sniper weapons
I heard Carly gulp nervously, "What's the plan?"
"The usual." To give context to Arcee's words: stay quiet and do what the bad guy orders until we turn the tables on them…
Something appeared in my vision on my right so I pointed my tire in that direction. Silas was standing there with men and sniper weapons at his sides. I could see the smirk appearing on his face the closer Arcee and I got to him; he was no doubt thrilled about my joining the 'meeting'. I'd say he was almost expecting it.
"Now."
Arcee and I revved up at the same time and reared up onto our rear wheels. Silas' men immediately fired up on us, but there was no way we were going to let them even get close to our humans. Arcee sped off first and I followed her around the corner into the building behind MECH. This was going to go our way, or else we weren't going to play nice.
Jack took his helmet as he and Carly got off us, "Mom?!"
"Miss Darby?!"
…There was a weird noise, like something scuttling on metal… it made chills go up the back of my spinal strut.
"Looking for June?" My attention turned to a creature high above us. "She's hanging around here somewhere."
The creature… was Cybertronian. Gold and black with pink highlights… and so many limbs… Oh.
Arcee suddenly transformed ahead of us, "Airachnid!"
This was the 'Con that took Tailgate's life.
I could feel Airachnid's pink optics on my form, "And you've brought another partner for me to kill. What does this one go by?"
Anger flooded through me as I transformed, "The one who'll scrap you for you did to my friend."
"Ohh, I'm sure." Airachnid shot something out of her servos straight towards us. My arms were suddenly pinned against my body by a sticky and thick webbing. Arcee was in a similar predicament beside me.
"What's she doing here?!" I glanced down at Jack standing in front of Carly protectively.
I glanced around us; Silas and his men were honing in with their weapons. Airachnid was standing with them… By the AllSpark, she had aligned herself with these sick humans! …A perfect partnership, really, given how corrupt both sides were.
"Help them. please. They're human like you." Arcee was struggling against the webbing. "You can't let Airachnid-"
"A few human lives are a small price to pay for a miracle of science like yourselves." Silas looked my way. "I must thank you for joining us, Windswept, as your contributions are unnecessary, but much appreciated." Glaring at him seemed like the only appropriate response.
Two men stood at either side of Silas, and fired their weapons…
"Arcee!"
"'Swept!"
NORMAL P.O.V
Jack and Carly gasped at their unconscious Cybertronian guardians collapsing to the ground from the tranquiliser shocks.
"You and I will have a private session later," Airachnid whispered to her unconscious enemy, "Promise."
"Gentlemen."
Two men clad in black, clutching at their weapons, stalked the pair of teenagers. In similar fashion, the men reached into the pockets of the pair, pulling out cellphones and, in Jack's case, the communicator used to lead them to their current location.
"I'm still learning about humankind, but one thing is clear to me, Jack. You people care deeply about family." The spider-like Cybertronian bent down to the boy's level. "Therefore, the sweetest revenge I could possibly devise would be to make you watch." She leaned close to him, causing him to turn away. "As I take your family apart."
Jack bravely returned his features to his mother's captor with determination, "If you hurt my mother, I-"
"You remember how much I enjoy sport, don't you Jack?" Airachnid questioned rhetorically. "So I'll give you the opportunity to save your mother. I've stashed her close by." She looked into an orange screen behind the humans, eyes mirroring what was on it. An immediate and repetitive beeping sound made the pair turn to the screen, a red clock counting up every passing second. "If you can rescue her before the stroke of twelve, I will let all three of you go unharmed. Deal?"
Carly was the first to look back at Airachnid with a fierce expression, stepping out from behind her friend to beside him, "And if he can't?"
Airachnid gave the girl a glare, "What do you think?" She leaned away slowly to take in the appearance of the female. "My, my, Jack, you never told me your girlfriend was pretty. Had she not been well protected by her own Autobot, perhaps we could've taken her on an adventure too."
The young girl's body was wracked with fear on the inside, a feeling she couldn't allow to be seen on the outside. With steel nerves, she kept her angered glare on the Cybertronian as the latter backed away.
As Airachnid moved, Silas reappeared into Jack's view, "Please!" The boy rushed up to the man, "Don't let her do this!" His fists smashed onto the grey-haired man's chest. "You can let us go! W-We won't tell anyone!"
Silas shoved him to the ground single-handedly, "Enough."
Airachnid bent down to the boy's level, "Yes, Jack. Man up already." Her head turned to Carly rushing to Jack. "Your pretty girlfriend's watching." Her eyesight moved higher at the orange screens. "Six minutes."
The brown-haired girl helped her friend to his feet at the same time he took one of her hands into his, and began running out of the building, pulling her along with him. Once the pair were safely out of the building, the brunette stopped in place, making the boy stop too as their conjoined hands disallowed him to run further.
"What are you doing?"
"Telling you that we should split up." Jack's features turned into a look of panic, taking a step to his friend and opening his mouth to protest against her idea. A hand pressing onto his shoulder stopped him. "We can cover more ground this way. There's not much time left."
The girl moved to sprint into another direction, quickly finding her hand was still tightly wrapped in the other's grip, "Jack…"
"Be safe… please…"
Carly took in the fear-filled eyes of her childhood friend, where hidden words were not ready to be expressed. She knew he was not ready to speak on anything more until his mother was safe, however, she suspected a much-anticipated conversation was going to be had once the ordeal was over. She gave a determined nod, feeling his grip on her hand release at last. Her body dashed into a sprint immediately, hearing her friend doing a similar thing while calling out for his mother.
"Young love has an interesting way of manifesting itself." Silas mused, watching the teenagers split into different directions on the orange screens. "It can only remind me of what I had and created… before my desire for technology became stronger." The presence of his men nearby reminded him of the present. "Now I know we promised the spider-bot that she would have first crack at you, but something tells me she plans on turning our mutual crisscross into a double cross."
The scar-adorned face glanced over his shoulder at the pair of female Cybertronians laying on makeshift benches.
"Silas, we don't have the means of transporting it right now."
"We'll have to cut and run." Silas stepped forward, arms folded behind his back. "Open her up." The light of the activated saw lit across his concentrated features.
As the seconds grew closer to the stroke of twelve, Jack Darby continued his search for his mother. He was forced to pause in his running to heave in large breaths, standing in the shadow of the familiar spider-like Cybertronian before it leapt into the night. He returned to his jogging, knowing very well he was being stalked during his quest.
He stopped once more to take in his surroundings, a water tower sitting idly ahead. He turned away with uninterest, preparing to dash back into a run when the unnerving sight of the smug Airachnid appeared before him. He backed away slightly with uncertainty as she raised her arm up to a water tower nearby, where hanging down from the walkway was the web-covered prisoner known as his mother.
"MOM!" The boy immediately rushed into a sprint at the sight. "MOM!"
June Darby lifted her head with a whimper, curiosity growing over the yelling nearby. The figure running on the ground was a fair distance away from her, however, as a mother who could recognise her son in an instant, she quickly recognised the boy coming to her rescue, "Jack?!"
As the boy ran to the ladder of the tower and began climbing, Airachnid could only hum thoughtfully at the upcoming reunion. She was preparing to leap from her post when another human figure dashed across the area, racing to the water tower Jack was quickly scaling up. Eyes widening in delight, she jumped from her position after the figure while Jack gasped breathlessly as he reached the top of the water tower
"Jack! What are you doing here?!" June immediately cried out to her son. "Who are these people?! How did I get in this…stuff?"
"Don't worry, Mom. I'm going to get you out."
A large thud against the tower was followed by a spider leg reaching to the mother made the latter whimper. Airachnid chuckled, joining the human pair with a hand wrapped around a struggling Carly, scuttling up the tower.
"Jack? The robots are real?!"
"Put me down!" Carly screamed, sweaty palms attempting to push herself out of the hold the Cybertronian had on her. "Let me go!"
"If you insist." The former Decepticon held the girl away from the tower and across the abandoned factory, where the only thing that stood between Carly and the ground was air. She quickly grew aware of how Airachnid took her words, immediately clutching onto the latter's hand with a terrified gasp. "That's what I thought."
"I beat your deadline!"
"Afraid not, Jack! The task wasn't for you to find your mother by midnight. You had to rescue her." Jack's eyes could only widen at the realisation. "And time's up! Now."
Airachnid shot her webbing towards the boy, easily capturing one of his hands in it and tackling him to the ground. In her other hand, her palm wrapped webbing around her other captured prey in sadistic delight.
"Take a seat, sit back, relax and enjoy the horror show."
Silas watched the escalating events on the orange screen unfolding, "Make haste, gentlemen" He turned to his men. "And don't worry about making a mess."
Jack struggled against the webbing pining his hand to the ground, desperately fighting to no avail. At the sound of Airachnid moving closer to him, he froze and instead watched as his childhood friend was placed onto the walkway near him, her legs entangled in the same webbing.
"You know, Jack, she's your Mom." The Cybertronian scuttled back onto the water tower. "Why should I have all the fun? So you get to choose. Agonizing or excruciating?" Her open mouth drooled with acid, sending it spitting onto the walkway near the bound teenagers, allowing them to watch it burn though the metal with ease.
"Nooo!" The metal it burned through was close enough for June to be concerned, as anymore would be enough to send her falling without mercy.
Carly looked away from the scary sight to find Jack grabbing a metal pipe and tearing it free from its position.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
…Ugh… Primus… Did those humans really just use tranquiliser darts on me?!
The sounds of sawing were waking me up the louder they got. I could feel I was on some kind of makeshift berth, so these humans had obviously moved me and clearly were nearby. If I moved a single digit, they would know that I was alert. I couldn't let on.
"Arcee?" Please be awake enough to use the private comm…
"Jack, your mother wants to know." …Airachnid? "Don't leave her… dangling."
"Awake." Arcee's tone was one that suggested she was not going to be messing about when we freed ourselves from this… webbing. Yuck. "You?"
"You monster! STOP THIS!"
"Alive." There was a tearing sound above me… my body no longer felt constricted. They must've torn the webbing. "On my signal?"
"We only have time to take one part. Go straight for the heart."
"Make it quick." Drilling noises filled my audios… edging closer to me…
Oh, I'll make this quick, alright!
I snapped my optics open and sat up, shoving the drill away from my body before it could even get close to my spark chamber. My fist met a nearby soldier, so did another one. I looked around for my friend, where she was still lying in webbing beside me. There was another saw above her, so I moved to it - without needing to disarm any more humans, which was good because Optimus was so going to have my helm - and activated it gently over the webbing.
It cut through just as I felt firepower along my back. Arcee leapt up and dragged us away from them before she transformed. I followed her in my motorcycle form out of the building. There was no doubt in my mind where she was going, or rather, who she was going for, but she wasn't going alone. Not when the same person was chasing my human somewhere around here too.
"This way!" Arcee sped up a ramp in front of us.
A sudden scream had me looking up. Airachnid was nearing in on someone wrapped in a web cocoon above us… Miss Darby.
Arcee revved her engine loud enough for Airachnid to stop any threatening move she was making against Miss Darby. She drove off the ramp and transformed to kick Airachnid off the tower. I got to the edge of the ramp and transformed so I could push myself off to the water tower nearby where Jack's mother was trapped. Once I was secure, I looked onto the walkway where Jack and Carly were, getting themselves out of what looked to be the exact webbing Miss Darby was in.
Carly stood up as webbing fell from her legs, "Are you guys okay?"
I nodded, "You?"
Jack moving to his Creator in front of us distracted Carly from giving me an answer, so I was only going to assume they were somewhat okay.
"Jack? Carly? Your motorcycles?" I flicked my optics at Miss Darby glancing at
"I can explain, Mom." Jack tugged on the webbed cocoon from one side.
"You did, already." The 'science-fiction club' story.
The sounds of activating weapons made me look away from the humans at a nearby structure Arcee and Airachnid were standing on… It was poetic-like seeing the full moon as a backdrop while they stood preparing for no doubt another match… one I was ready to jump into if Arcee needed me. And I would do so as long as Jack and Carly were able to keep Miss Darby stable and calm.
"MECH lost Breakdown and Moonlight. What were the chances they could hold onto you and your partner?"
Airachnid made the first move to Arcee first, but my partner was quick to leap away from the divebomb. That spider 'Con was so much quicker though, grabbing onto my friend with one of those weird limbs to pull her back. She swung at Arcee but she dodged quickly, the force sending her skating along the chute.
Arcee sprinted back up to her and threw punch after punch at her before swinging her leg around and sending her to a lower chute. She leapt down to join her, but doing so was going to make her exposed to another attack. Airachnid immediately took advantage of that exposure with a hit on her via her extended limbs, sending her fully to the ground.
I felt the urge to follow Airachnid to the ground after my friend, but I had to reign myself in. I needed to stay here and make sure the humans were safe. MECH agents could be nearby, ready to strike if I let my guard down one nanoklik, and I wasn't going to take that risk.
Sudden firepower flew by me, nearby screaming making me look over at Miss Darby becoming terrified at the blaster shots Airachnid was shooting. The platform her webbing was attached to was bending and breaking, the metal screeching. It slammed down, Jack barely hanging onto the ledge and Carly clutching onto his slipping hands.
"JACK!"
"MOM!"
Airachnid suddenly appeared in view, scaling up to her hanging cocoon.
"JAAAAACK!"
"Hey!" My voice came out before I realised it, but it got Airachnid distracted. "I'd back off if I were you."
"If you were m-" Arcee smashed a hit on her before she could finish her sentence.
Airachnid gave a hit back in return and sent her down to one of the lower platforms. She leapt off like she was going to attack Arcee, so I leapt too, and tackled her away from us to a nearby tower. We slammed into it, with her taking much of the damage. I jumped back to the opposite platform where Arcee was now standing after likely recovering from that hit.
"You should've told me you had another partner for me to slaughter, Arcee. I'm inclined to believe Cliffjumper and Tailgate would love more company."
"Not a chance." I activated my blasters and fired at her jumping over us to attach herself on something above us.
She immediately swiped at us with her limbs. She was fast, but Arcee and I were faster. I moved to the left when a weird whirring noise suddenly activated. I glanced over at Jack looking at something behind them. It was a chute spilling some kind of substance into a barrel. The structure suddenly moved and there was more noise below me, so I looked down at a pipe spitting out the grey substance into a truck…
Wait, that substance was concrete… and if it does the exact same thing it does on Cybertron when in use…
I switched my attention to Arcee; she was looking at me with the same expression, like she was reading my processing unit.
Airachnid's limbs swiped again hard at my partner before they stopped. I glanced up in time to see her jumping down and landing on Arcee to send her off the platform.
"Arcee!" I screamed.
"Now that I have a chance, Autobot." My helm snapped up to Airachnid. "Prepare for your destiny."
"You don't know who I am." I charged at her first with a closed fist.
She immediately dodged it with a limb, and swung another one on my other side. I spun away and threw my leg up to try to roundhouse kick her. It landed, but she grabbed my leg and pulled me into the air. Her smug expressions were close to my terrified ones.
"I know exactly who you are, Windswept." Airachnid suddenly swiped at something underneath me.
I moved my helm to Arcee leaping up into the air and coming back down, kicking Airachnid hard enough that she let me go as she plummeted into an open trailer below. I was almost certain I was going to join her in that truck had Arcee not grabbed my servos and pulled me to some beams on the water tower the truck was under. She landed onto the pipe beside me, and nodded her helm up.
I followed her line of direction where Jack was with a thoughtful expression. He must've done something to the control panel because the whirring noises were back. Arcee moved off the pipe and kicked it hard enough to send it sitting over where Airachnid was. I jumped over to the pipe with my own smug expression, watching Airachnid's optics widen in no doubt terror as the grey concrete poured all over her. It covered her entire body, but she was able to climb up to her pedes and scream angrily… before the cement began to harden until she could no longer move.
A sudden loud scream made me look up; it was Miss Darby still in the webbed cocoon, and still hanging precariously close to immediate danger if that webbing broke.
"It's okay Miss Darby!" Carly was still on the support railing, holding onto it while trying to reach out to Jack's creator.
"Hang on, June." Arcee began running to the water tower and climbing up it.
I ran after her when something sticky - familiar sticky - caught my arms and pulled me away from my friend. I landed hard on the ground; no doubt there was dent in the concrete from my landing. There was another scream and another crash nearby, making me turn my helm at Arcee trapped underneath a thick web.
Sinister chuckling made me look above me at Airachnid, still covered in cement, but I could see her pink optics and palms above me… looking ready to finish me off.
"Swept!"
Whirring made Airachnid stop chuckling and looked behind her, at the sky. Maybe it was more cement about to come out of that pipe… but why did it sound more like a helicopter than the cement pipe? …Because it was; flying high above us in the dark sky were three dark helicopters… hopefully coming to our rescue.
Orange chain fire rained down, closer and closer until finally hit Airachnid. She had to cower from the firepower being too strong.
…Agent Fowler?
NORMAL P.O.V
The helicopters appeared on the orange screens for Silas in his warehouse, arms crossed with frustration, "How did they find us?"
He reached for his utility belt for an item he always carried, only to discover it not on the belt. His mind cast him back to the moment the young teenagers had begged for mercy.
"You can let us go! We won't tell anyone!"
Silas remembered swatting him off, assuming he had fallen to the ground. Instead, he had reached for and swiftly grabbed the communicator from his belt, leaving an angry expression on his face as his own carelessness allowed his and MECH's plans to be foiled.
Jack watched the helicopters fire down at their target with relief, bringing Silas' communicator up, "Thanks for coming, Agent Fowler."
"Had I known 'Cons were involved, I would've called in Prime."
"That would have been too much for Mom to handle in one night." Agent Fowler saw the eldest teenager point down, finding the latter's mother wrapped in webbing and dangling. Beside her was Carly sitting on the fallen platform's railing, and giving him a nervous wave. His only response was a nod of understanding.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The blaster fire kicked up so much dust in the area that I could barely tell where Airachnid was anymore. Clearly, still around otherwise the helicopters would've stopped firing, but the dust was likely coming from the hardened cement on her form.
The blaster fire stopped and the dust cleared.
Airachnid was free from the cement… and sending her optical scanners up to the helicopters… Scrap, she was scanning a vehicle form!
She transformed into the same helicopter and took off, fleeing and leaving us… the battle was finally over. I could finally exhale.
"Noooo!"
I turned my helm to Arcee; she was no doubt frustrated that Airachnid had escaped… though there was a small victory somewhere in this. We had saved Miss Darby, and we all were going to live at least another day. I knew my partner was going to be angry about her enemy fleeing, but I also knew she'll eventually see that her escape was a good thing… in this moment, at least.
NORMAL P.O.V
Having watched the process Airachnid had enacted to acquire her new vehicle form, transforming into it and flying off, Silas was nothing but intrigued. He switched off the screens, "So that's how it's done. Genius."
With a snap of his fingers, the lights went down on MECH for another day.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
I drove to the helicopters stationed on the ground. Arcee and I had scouted the area in search for MECH or anything we could use to find them, but unfortunately, we'd both come up short. It was just like the last time; gone without leaving nothing behind to show they'd even been here. Primus, I don't know how they do it, though one solar cycle, we're going to figure it out.
…It would likely come when it would the last time we'd ever see MECH too.
There was another reason why Arcee and I had left to scout, and that was because Jack had suggested we'd let Miss Darby recover for a moment. It had been no doubt a traumatic couple of joors for her and she needed to rest, so did Jack and Carly. The three of them were sitting on crates, Miss Darby wrapped in a blanket to keep her warm. I zoomed in my vision at one of Jack's human servos sitting on his Creator's shoulder. His other… was holding Carlys'.
…Interesting.
"Miss. Darby." I pulled up beside Arcee within hearing range of Agent Fowler. "I'm Special Agent William Fowler. It's time you knew the truth." Somehow, I had a feeling he wasn't exactly going to tell the truth. "For the past several months, Jack and Carly have been… interning for me at the agency."
"How likely is it she'll believe that?"
"Absolutely no chance." I snorted at Arcee's answer.
"Agent Fowler, Mom's not gonna buy it."
"He's got that right."
"You didn't have to come with us tonight. Jack and I could've handled this ourselves."
I was in that much disbelief of Arcee's words I transformed, "Carly couldn't have said it any better. Sitting back and waiting, without being able to reach out to contact the others, was not an option." Arcee was out of her vehicle form too now, so I deactivated the private comm. "You're my best friend, therefore we tackle anything and everything together."
She gave me a funny look, "That includes dealing with each other's arch enemies."
"Scrap yeah it does," I laughed softly; she was chuckling quietly too.
"Let me guess. Without a trace." I turned to Agent Fowler walking away with a frustrated sigh.
MECH must've been well and truly gone…
Arcee nudged my shoulder like she was planning to walk up to the humans. I walked with her, cautious of how Miss Darby might react. She'd been through a lot and there was a chance she wasn't ready to meet us properly.
"And they would be your…?" Miss Darby trailed off with uncertainty.
Jack stood up when Arcee knelt down, "Motorcycles, guardians…"
"Autobots… and best friends." I grinned at Carly.
Miss Darby appeared… open to an introduction; it was promising.
"Call me Arcee."
"And Windswept."
Miss Darby stood up slowly and looked between us, "Thank you, Arcee and Windswept."
"I think it's time for that ride you once made me promise."
Jack was right; it was time she met the rest of the team. Whether she wanted to be a part of it or not - and based on the look she was giving Jack, she was very uncertain about the idea - she was in on knowing about us now. So, it was time to welcome a new addition to the team.
"That Ol' Windy comin' on in?"
"Carly, where have you been?! Mamá's been worried sick!"
"Not like you to not remind us of you still being alive by not turning up last night." I would've rolled my optics at Ratchet if I could.
Arcee and I had informed Optimus of bringing in a new member of the team, so here were all the team, just at ease and likely eager to hear what made Arcee and I so busy that we couldn't even communicate with them until now.
Carly stepped off my form so I could transform. Sunburst moved to make a step towards me so I raised up a servo, "At ease. It's been a long night, and we don't want to spook our new member to the team."
I got confused looks in response, but the sounds of Arcee lightly revving her engine made me look away. I could explain everything to them soon, one step at a time. After all, Carly and I volunteered to enter the base first to allow Miss Darby to not be so crowded upon her arrival, because she was about to be overwhelmed now.
Arcee pulled up slowly with Jack and Miss Darby. Much of the team were with Miko and Rafael, and all of them were now looking at who had arrived. Ratchet turned away from his controls, no doubt curious about the 'new member'. I wanted to look at everyone to see their reactions, because things were going to change again, and I hoped everyone was ready for it. Especially for Sunburst, Aquastrike and Starlight, since this was going to be the first time they were going to be here and introducing themselves to another human who hadn't already known about us.
Loud footsteps made me step away so Optimus could come into the room. I glanced down at Miss Darby's shocked reaction. …Yeah, Uncle Optimus was preeeeettty tall.
"Mom, meet my science fiction club." The team gathered around Optimus at Jack's words.
Welcome to Team Prime, Miss Darby.