'Gotta keep running, can't stop now.'

He ran through the trees, pushing himself to keep going and escape. Except he could hear her easily keeping pace with his much smaller legs. He couldn't keep this up, his lungs were burning and his legs were screaming in pain with each crash of his feet, pleading for a moment to slow down and rest. But he couldn't, stopping now would mean being captured. Being captured would almost certainly mean death at her hands.

'Where's Arcee?' he thought. He'd been running for what felt like hours in this forest. Why hadn't she rescued him?

"I'm growing bored of this Jack, I expected at least a bit of challenge but I haven't lost track of you once during this game," Airachnid called out; not at all far behind him.

His feet were suddenly pinned to the ground by a white substance. Jack struggled, trying in vain to free himself but all he could do was watch as she took her time striding towards him. With each step her limbs sliced into the ground, forcing his racing heart to beat faster. He never stood a chance, not without Arcee or any of the other bots here to protect him. Jack was just as Arachnid had described him. He was an insect, unable to do anything to change his fate. A fate that was sealed the moment he entered this forest.

A clawed finger dug into his skin, tearing the flesh, "I'd tell you to say hello to Arcee for me, but you aren't going to be seeing her again anytime soon."

She drew back her arm, aimed directly above his heart, "Goodbye, Jack."

THUD!

Jack awoke with a startle, nearly falling out of his chair. He tried to calm his fast-beating heart as snickers echoed all around him from inside the classroom. He took notice of the textbook on his desk, and his teacher now standing directly in front of him, impatiently tapping his foot.

"I understand that my class may not be the most entertaining, Jack but please refrain from letting this happen again," his teacher drawled out.

They picked up the textbook and walked back to the front of the class to continue with the lesson.

His heart felt like bursting and his entire body was still on edge. But still, Jack held himself together long enough to say something back. "I understand sir. It won't happen again."

A lot had been going on in the past week. However, there were no new spottings or encounters with a large robotic spider to ruin his days. At least, not in real life. But on the other hand, Megatron was up and kicking again after taking control of Bumblebee's body. And there was also the whole fiasco where Miko got herself, Raf, and himself trapped in an alternate dimension with a Decepticon zombie. Jack tried not to think about these recent 'adventures' too much.

He did however think plenty about his sleep cycle. He'd been feeling extra tired, drained, and unable to go through a whole day without feeling as if he needed to take a nap. It didn't make any sense, he'd been getting the same amount of sleep he always got, and nothing about his sleeping habits had changed. He never felt this way unless he was sick, and his immune system hoarded all of his energy to fight whatever disease had invaded his body. Jack knew he wasn't sick though, with no runny nose, coughing, sore throat, high temperature, or any other symptoms. It just didn't make sense.

Jack leaned on his hand, his fingers tracing over the new scar that adorned the left side of his face. Another reminder he'd never forget from that night.

"Hey, dude!" Miko not so subtly whispered, "You okay? You've totally been acting like a zombie for the past few days."

"I'm fine, Miko. Just probably caught something is all," Jack mumbled as he tried to keep his attention toward the front, where the teacher was going over the different types of paint used throughout history. Oh, joy.

Miko scooted her chair further away from him in response. "Well whatever it is, don't give it to me. I don't want to miss that Slash Monkey concert next weekend. By the way, do you have to work at that lame job of yours today?"

Jack groaned as he suddenly remembered that he did indeed have work after school. "I'm scheduled for today but I don't think it's a good idea with how I'm feeling. I've already called off my last two shifts though."

"Pfft, just call off and hang with me and Raf at the base today, it'll help you feel better!"

"I guess," Jack mumbled, resting his head on the desk. He didn't even pay attention to what his teacher rambled about, instead focusing on the clock that hung on the wall, watching as the seconds ticked by.

Eventually, the school bell rang and Jack pushed through the waves of other students. Stepping through the doors he spotted Raf waiting on the far edge of the parking lot. Jack sighed when he noticed Vince and his cronies also heading towards Raf. They were too busy teasing the boy, trying to coerce him into giving them his laptop to notice Jack approaching, but he made his presence known when he grabbed the back of Vince's collar and pulled him away.

"Darby! What's your deal?" snapped Vince, shrugging Jack off.

"Back off, Vince. I'm not in the mood for this today."

"Whatever man. You're no fun."

The bullies backed off, and Jack was left to wait with his friends for the Autobots to show up. Raf thanked him profusely while Miko tried to convince him to team up with her and bring the pain on them the next time they tried something. Jack politely declined, reminding her that they'd both get detention. And besides, even if he wasn't feeling like crap, Jack's certain he'd one hundred percent get his ass kicked if he tried to fight Vince.

The loud sound of engines approaching signaled that the bots finally arrived. Bumblebee and Arcee strode into the parking lot before pulling to a stop in front of the trio.

"What gives for being late, and where's Bulkhead?" asked Miko

Bee says something in electronic beeps and whirls, leaving Jack and Miko guessing as to what he could've meant before Raf translated.

"Bee says that Bulkhead is recovering back in Ratchet's med bay but that he's fine. He's not seriously injured, and the bots just lost track of time," Raf explained as he looked toward Miko. "So I guess that means you'll be riding with me and Bee today."

As Miko joined Raf, Jack walked up to Arcee and climbed on, putting on his helmet as she greeted him.

"How was school? You ready for your shift today?"

"No need, I'm not feeling the best today so I'm calling off. I'm going to rest up at the base."

"Isn't this the third time you've done this? Aren't you going to get in trouble with your boss or your mother?" Arcee asked, pulling out of the parking lot and following Bee back to base. "I don't think it's normal for you to feel unwell for this long. Are you sure you don't want Ratchet to look at you?"

Jack groaned as they slowed down at a stoplight, placing a foot down to keep himself balanced. "Again with this Arcee? I don't need to bother Ratchet with this. I'll be fine."

Arcee said nothing in response, opting to instead ignore the human speed limits in irritation once the light turned green.

Jack awoke from his nap in the total darkness of the base, the only light coming from the old TV. Sitting up and stretching his back he noticed Agent Fowler on an adjacent couch, dozing off. He didn't know how long he'd been out. The last thing he could remember was everyone except Bulkhead leaving on a rescue mission. Ironically, it was to rescue the wrecker's rival, Breakdown from the terrorist organization, MECH.

The cheesy Kaiju movie was still playing. The black and white screen cast an eerie light through the darkness, illuminating Raf and Miko, the latter taking notice of their no longer sleeping friend.

"Dude, you're finally up! You just missed the best parts of the movie!"

"How are you feeling Jack? You were out for hours," said Raf.

Jack groaned as he tried to crack his still-aching back. Perhaps sleeping on the couch wasn't the best decision. He did feel a little bit better, though. Not as tired as before but still noticeably groggy.

"A bit better, Raf. Thanks for asking."

Jack craned his neck to look around and noticed the disappearance of a certain large green bot. A bot that was supposed to be resting from his injuries. "Miko, where's Bulkhead?"

"He left to join the others in rescuing the con. That was like twenty minutes ago or something." Miko replied casually. Not even taking her eyes off the giant lizard that rampaging throughout the model city.

"Well, I hope they get back soon. It's getting pretty late and it's almost past curfew," Raf added.

Jack nodded in agreement. If he broke curfew again, he'd never hear the end of it from his mom. Sometimes he wished he could just tell her the truth and stop with the lies. It would make things so much easier and take the guilt off his shoulders. She would always worry about him even before he got tangled in an alien civil war. She worked too many hours to support both of them for him to keep this from her. He'd gotten that job at KO Burgers to help alleviate her stress, but here he was skipping work and most likely about to break curfew again.

The voice of Optimus suddenly boomed through the base's main computer, startling them all. /"Rafael, please open a ground bridge at our entry coordinates."/

'Guess I won't be breaking curfew again after all.'

Raf quickly shot up and ran toward the ground bridge controls and soon after, swirling green and blue lights illuminated the base. The roaring vortex and industrial-grade lights of the base coming back on awakened Agent Fowler as the bots came through. Raf and Miko rushed to greet their guardians as Bulkhead began recounting the story of how he busted down MECH's front door and kicked their tailpipe. Jack himself strolled over to the railing to ask Arcee about the mission.

Ratchet however immediately called everyone to the med bay to begin inspecting them all for injuries. When Bulkhead and Bumblebee's evaluations were complete, they quickly left the base to take their charges home. Arcee was the last to be finished with her examination.

Jack packed his bag and grabbed his helmet, making his way down the stairs to meet her. "If we leave now, we'll make it just before curfew," said Jack as he reached the bottom of the steps.

Arcee shook her head and crossed her arms as she looked down at him, "No can do, partner. Ratchet still has one more patient to look over."

"What? Who?" Jack asked, bewildered.

"It's you. And don't try and get out of it. I'm pulling rank, guardian's orders," Arcee declared as she picked him up and walked over to the medic's workstation. "Ratchet, could you look over Jack? Despite what he may say, he isn't feeling well."

Ratchet scoffed as he released Optimus from the berth. "I am not a human doctor, Arcee. Shouldn't he be going to his mother if he's having issues?"

"I told you, he's lying about his health, insisting he's fine. He's not going to go to her," She retorted, placing Jack on the large table.

Jack grew concerned as Ratchet's eyes gleamed with that statement. This wouldn't be good.

"Oh? Someone who's not a medical professional is suddenly an expert on their health? We're not going to have any of that here," Ratchet began rummaging through his workstation, looking for tools. "I'll need to start with a blood sample and perform other physical tests since I haven't yet configured the scanner for organic life."

Jack's concern grew tenfold when Ratchet pulled out a very large needle. He contemplated whether it'd be worth it to break his legs in a getaway attempt but Arcee seemed to know what he was thinking. She placed her palm in front of him, blocking his escape as Ratchet stepped closer with the syringe.

"You know, I could've told you I just needed more sleep. Didn't need Ratchet sticking a needle in me and shining a light in my eyes to tell me that," Jack grumbled as he walked Arcee up the driveway and rubbed the spot on his arm where Ratchet had stuck the needle. "He also didn't do it right. He left a bruise."

"Human medicine isn't his forte, Jack. Though, better to be safe than sorry. And thank you for walking me home Jack, you're a true gentleman," Arcee replied smugly.

"Well I wouldn't want you revved up before bed, even after what you just did to me," said Jack as he began lifting the garage door. "I wouldn't want to wake my mom if she's already asleep, she wouldn't understand-"

Jack froze mid-sentence as his mother appeared from behind the door. Arms crossed, waiting and glaring daggers at him. Yeah, she was pissed.

"Understand what Jack? You breaking curfew again after I gave you that warning last time? Or why your boss called about you calling off from work again?" she asked, berating her son as she stepped out of the garage. "Or the e-mail I received from your art history teacher about you falling asleep in class? What's your excuse this time about why you're out past curfew again?"

Jack tried to keep his cool as he rolled Arcee into the garage, stepping past his mother. "Study group at Raf's house again went on longer than expected and I had a bunch of homework to do. School took priority over answering a drive-thru board."

June was not amused, "That's funny, you know, Mrs. Esquivel stopped by the hospital today. One of Raf's brothers was sick, and she told me that Raf hasn't had anyone over for a study group all month. So do you want to try again?"

'I told him that wouldn't work for long,' Arcee thought as she quietly observed the verbal beat-down her charge was receiving.

Jack was frozen, unable to muster a response, and June's face softened as her expression shifted from anger to concern.

"Please tell me the rumors aren't true Jack. Tell me you aren't racing that motorcycle."

"What? No! Wait, where could you have heard that?" Jack asked, face agape, and bewildered.

June shrugged, "It's a small town, people talk. I work in the emergency room, Jack. I know what can happen. So, plea-" She stopped mid-sentence, noticing Jack had been repeatedly rubbing his arm.

"What's wrong with your arm? Roll up your sleeve," she instructed. Her earlier feelings were temporarily pushed aside with worry over her son's well-being.

Jack reluctantly obeyed, aware of what his mom would think when she saw the bruising Ratchet accidentally left when his blood was drawn. He hated the way the color seemed to drain from her face. He hadn't done anything wrong, he wasn't out late on purpose or breaking any more laws after the racing incident. But she doesn't know that, how could she after all? He's been lying to her about where he's been for weeks now.

"Jack, please tell me you haven't fallen in with a bad crowd. Your new friends didn't wrap you into anything did they?" June asked with dread.

"No, no, no, no! My friends are the good crowd, seriously good," Jack quickly stammered back.

Her tone turned serious as she turned around and walked back into the garage. "I let you have that bike because you convinced me you were mature and responsible enough to handle it. You're grounded from everything but school and work for the next month. I don't want to see that bike out of the garage."

She opened the door leading into their home and looked back at him. "I love you, Jack, remember that. Now go wash up and get some sleep. We'll talk about this more tomorrow."

The door shut and Jack could only sigh in frustration as he rubbed his hands against his face. He trudged forward and collapsed on the couch pushed up against the wall. "Scrap, this is bad. I've really let her down right now, even though I didn't do anything. I can't mess this up again."

Arcee slowly rolled herself into the garage and turned her front tire in his direction. "Sorry about this, Jack. I'll do my best to be here in the garage before your mom gets back."

Jack shot up in panic. "What!? Arcee, you don't understand, she can't see you outside this garage, or else she'll flip! I've just broken her trust tonight enough already, I can't mess up again."

"I can't sit here on my fat tires for an entire month Jack, there's still a war going on. It's not an option. Your mother works late nights, I'll ground bridge back here before your mom gets back. And I'm sorry about this again. We wouldn't have been late if I didn't force you to have that check-up with Ratchet."

"I understand Arcee," sighed Jack as he began pulling down the garage door, "And I don't blame you for a moment. I just really hate letting her down like this." He walked back and opened the door that led to inside the house, "Goodnight, Arcee."

He flipped the switch and shut the door without another word.

"Goodnight, partner."

Edited on 01/26/25