Ratchet hadn't recharged a single bit from the night before. He worked until the stars no longer shined and the sky shifted from an inky black to a fusion of red and orange as the planet's star rose above the horizon. When Optimus asked what he was doing up so early, Ratchet lied, saying he was studying human medicine to better aid their human friends. The Prime merely smiled, happy to see that his old friend was coming around to their human allies, but the truth was that he needed confirmation that what he was observing was true. Well, more confirmation than what were the obvious signs of blood cell degradation.
Ratchet hoped that he was wrong, that the obvious was simply not true. He ran test after test, observing the cells under a microscope for hours, watching as the same process repeated itself again and again, destroying any doubt he had. Jack's blood cells were being destroyed by the minute, that was normal human biology. The problem lay in the fact that they weren't being replaced quickly enough, not normally at least. Hemolytic Anemia was the closest disease the humans had that Ratchet could compare to Jack's current affliction. The medic sighed in despair as another test finished, confirming the same results as the last twenty or so tests concluded.
His attention was drawn away from the test as the proximity alarm triggered and sounded an alert. Walking to the main control panel, he shut off the alarm and brought up the camera feed that observed the outside area surrounding their base. Arcee was approaching, with both Jack and his carrier. He operated the controls to let them in and waited as his audio receptors picked up the noise of Arcee entering the command center.
Jack watched in slight amusement as he observed his mother's reaction to everything. First, it was the false rock wall of the mesa that lead to a secret tunnel, and now it was the wonder that was visible in her eyes as she gazed upon the marvel of alien robots located less than fifteen miles from her home. He and his mom stood off Arcee, allowing her to transform and begin introductions with the rest of the team. Miko and Raf introduced themselves first, with June surprised to see how young Raf was. Jack never actually mentioned how old he was, just that they shared the same math class.
Introductions with the bots were quick. Bulkhead gave a simple wave while introducing himself. June was perplexed upon first hearing the beeps and whistles come from the yellow bot, before Raf translated and introduced him as Bumblebee. The medic had seemed gruffer than usual, giving only his name and his role on the team before quickly returning to his workstation. As Optimus began his introduction and explanation of who they were and what they were doing on Earth, Ratchet called out to Jack, asking for him to come over for a moment.
"Need help with something, Ratchet?" Jack asked as he craned his neck upward to look at the medic.
Ratchet shook his helm, "No. I have the results of your blood work, and I must speak with you regarding them."
Jack watched as multiple screens were brought up and Ratchet lowered his hand. Jack climbed on as Ratchet lifted him upward.
"Jack, there is no easy way to say this," the doctor hesitated, shutting his optics and turning away as he spoke with sincerity. "The test results suggest that your blood cells are rapidly decaying, being destroyed faster than your body can replenish them."
Jack stared at the screens in front of him, watching as the recorded footage displayed his blood cells slowly withering away. "I've heard of something like that before. My mom has helped patients with it. It's treatable and most people can live with it."
Ratchet softly shook his helm, preparing to break the worst of the news. "Normally yes. Known as Hemolytic Anemia by your doctors, it's where the body's red blood cells are destroyed faster than they are replaced. Which can result in heart murmurs, fatigue, and low blood pressure among other symptoms. I fear what ails you is far worse."
He switched to another video feed, displaying a red blood cell being consumed by an object that looked like a blue deltahedron.
"Your red blood cells are being destroyed faster than they're replenished, but that's because they're being replaced not with ordinary blood cells, but instead a mutated form containing cybernucleic acid. It is similar to your deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA as it is more commonly known, except this cybernucleic acid is exclusive to Cybertronians."
The medic paused as he finished his explanation before continuing with his thoughts. "Which is what baffles me, how you could have come into contact with CNA, let alone how it could've infected your bloodstream."
Jack stood still, frozen as he processed the information that was just unloaded onto him when he heard the last part of Ratchet's explanation. His mind immediately went back to more than a week ago, when he was at the mercy of her, and when she had clawed at his skin with an acid-dipped digit.
"Airachnid," Jack whispered, barely audible. "It was Airachnid. I said I was fine that night when I first met her, that she didn't do anything to me. I lied. Her finger was covered in acid when she gave me the cut on my face."
A heavy silence fell between the two for a few moments before Jack spoke up again. "What happens now? What exactly is going to happen to me?"
"I'm going to need to run tests on you regularly, to determine the best course of action. My worst fear is that this could be lethal. Eventually, your body will have no more healthy blood cells, and all bodily functions will cease without it." Ratchet replied as he began shutting down his workstation. "For now, I suggest it best that we tell your mother and the others about-"
"What!? No, no, no, no." Jack quickly interrupted. "My mom was already worried sick about me before. I can't go and tell her I could be dying the same day I gain her trust again and when she thinks I'm safe here with all of you. Plus, I know Arcee would flip, she'd blame herself for this."
Ratchet scoffed in response. "You don't really think you could keep this from everyone, do you? The symptoms can grow worse with time and-"
"Ratchet please, not now," Jack pleaded. "I'll tell them when I'm ready. Everyone already has enough on their plates with your fight with the Decepticons. I don't need to add to that right now. Besides, I assume Cybertron has patient confidentiality too?"
"Yes, we do." Ratchet huffed in annoyance. "Fine, I won't speak of this to anyone else right now. But if this continues to get worse, and I believe it is for the best, I am going to tell the others."
"Thank you, Ratchet," Jack said as he was lowered back to ground level and began walking away.
Ratchet watched as Jack returned to his friends, a smile on his face as he spoke with them as if he wasn't just given life-altering news just minutes ago. The old bot sighed before returning to his work, scanning for Energon signals to replenish their rapidly declining reserves. Everyone needed to be at their best.
"One dollar and twelve cents is your change, and here's your meal. Have a great day." Jack suppressed a yawn as he watched the car drive off, and looked to the nearby wall with the clock.
'Just a few more minutes,' he thought to himself.
It was nearly a week ago that he'd been given the news. And here he was, working the old nine-to-five for minimum pay. He felt exhausted, more so than he'd normally be after a day of dealing with rude customers. And during his lunch break, he could hardly stomach his meal. It felt as if at any moment, his stomach would force it back up. These were likely the symptoms that Ratchet had predicted would arise. He could hide this from his friends and his mom, but if it got worse? Jack didn't know how he'd ever tell her about this.
"Hey Mom, I've been poisoned by a Decepticon and am possibly dying? I'll see you after school and we'll talk about it some more."
Great conversation starter that'd be.
He didn't even want to think about how Arcee would handle the news. She was his Guardian, and Jack had no doubts that she'd blame herself for this. If he became extremely ill or in the worst case, died, she'd take his death just as hard as his mom.
When they first met, she had tried pushing him away and keeping him at arm's length from herself. Although Arcee would try her best to deny it, he knew he had grown on her. She'd started to open up more, and tell him stories about her previous partners, Tailgate and Cliffjumper, and the missions they went on. No longer was he just a liability to her. Jack knew that they could call one another a friend.
The sound of a motorcycle engine revving drew him from his thoughts. Outside, Arcee was patiently waiting for him. He clocked out and climbed aboard Arcee, wasting no time in taking off toward the base.
Minutes went by without a word being said between the two before Arcee spoke up.
"Doing okay, Jack? You're awfully quiet today."
"I'm fine, Arcee. Just tired a bit after work is all," said Jack.
Arcee hummed in response and spoke again as they got closer to base. "Ratchet picked up an Energon signal before I left to pick you up. Should be low risk, wanna come with?"
"Sure, that sounds good," said Jack. He did his best not to fall asleep as the two traveled well over the speed limit on the open road.
This rock was not comfortable in the slightest, but Jack wasn't going to let that stop him from getting some shut-eye. He breathed in and shut his eyes. He could smell the trees and soil as they filtered through his nose, the sounds of birds calling to each other, and the heat of the setting sun against his skin. Jack let out a yawn as he let himself relax for the first time that day.
The moment was suddenly ruined as Miko began yelling.
"This sucks! We're supposed to be at a rock concert, but all I see is rock!"
Jack threw Miko a look as he tried not to roll his eyes. "Relax Miko, the show doesn't start for another two hours."
"Do you know how long I've waited to see Slash Monkey? Forever! And it's their only US date!"
"Shocker. Who doesn't love obscure Bulgarian shriek metal?"
Miko was about to yell something back when the loud pedesteps of Bulkhead and Arcee signaled their return from the cave. Jack eyed her from the corner of his vision, watching as she turned her head repeatedly from the bots to the entrance of the cave. Bulkhead and Arcee discussed their findings, and how they didn't make sense when Miko finally decided to make a break for it. Jack watched as she made it further into the cave without the bots noticing, deciding now was the time to speak up.
"Uh, guys?" Jack pointed toward the cave as Miko disappeared into the dark cavern, shouting with glee.
"Unbelievable, she went in," Arcee said in annoyance.
Bulkhead shouted for Miko to come back before rushing in himself shortly after.
"You've met Miko haven't you?" Jack threw his guardian a smirk. He looked between Arcee and the cave, a thought forming in his mind. "It would be kind of interesting to see. You know if it were"
"Safe?" Arcee interrupted and shot him a look. "A stripped mine can be structurally unstable, Jack."
"I promise to step lightly," Jack said defensively, raising his hands in mock surrender.
Arcee sighed as she put her helm in her servo in thought. "Just don't tell your mother."
With her endorsement, the pair began walking through the entrance of the cave, stepping into the dark abyss.
'Frag me, not again.' Jack mentally groaned to himself as he pulled himself out of the rubble. 'Why do I keep wanting to do these things when all logic points to it being a very bad idea? And why do these low-risk recon missions always lead to me almost dying!?'
Jack watched his footing, eyes still adjusting to the darkness and lungs burning as he breathed in a mouthful of dust lingering in the air. Jack still couldn't believe their luck, or rather bad luck they had in walking in on the middle of Megatron about to execute his Second in Command, Starscream. The resulting gunfight that followed brought down the entire cave on all of them. Jack didn't know how long he'd been unconscious underneath all the rubble, or where everyone was or if they were even still okay.
Periodically he'd call out his friends' names, hoping to hear something in response. Always receiving the sound of his echo in return. He ventured on, determined to find them and make sure they were safe.
His eyes and throat burned in irritation from the dust in the air as he continued to call out to his friends. Receiving nothing again, Jack stopped and considered his options on how to best move forward from here. Wandering around and yelling wasn't going to get him anywhere, especially with Megatron and Starscream possibly still being around. It wouldn't be the best idea to bring attention to himself without Bulkhead or Arcee around.
The shifting of rubble nearby nearly gave Jack whiplash as he turned his head quickly to find the source of the disturbance. There, fully intact and upright, was a Decepticon mining drill. He quickly ran over, pulling himself up onto the massive machine. He brought himself up again to stand atop the control panel, and quickly realized he had no idea how to operate this thing.
'When in doubt, just randomly press the buttons I guess.'
By chance, the control interface and screen came to life with light. Jack took control, pulling levers, experimenting, and noting what each one did before he found the one controlling the drill. With a loud whine, the drill spun as Jack maneuvered forward.
Jack kept drilling, trying to erase the image of those crimson optics away from his mind. He didn't have time to dwell on if what he did was right, he needed to find his friends before that monster got free.
A bang and crash echoed through the cavern, and Jack began drilling in the direction it came from. The banging continued, leading him closer to the source. A dead end lay in front of him, but he could clearly hear sounds emanating from the other side. As he got closer, it became clear that it was the voice of Bulkhead, and what sounded like… Starscream?
He opened the throttle on the drill, rushing forward. He broke through the rock, smashing into Starscream. To his right was Bulkhead, floodlights on and holding up the ceiling.
"Jack! Get Miko out of here now!" Bulkhead shouted, straining under the weight of the tonnes of rocks above his head. He groaned as the ceiling shifted slightly, signaling its impending collapse.
Jack quickly jumped down onto the treads of the drill, reaching down and calling out for Miko. The girl stood still unmoving and shocked until Bulkhead shouted at her to go. With tears in her eyes, she reached up and Jack quickly latched on, pulling her up and began maneuvering the drill away.
"Arcee will save him, won't she?" Miko asked as the drill reversed into a larger tunnel.
Jack looked back to her as he answered and drove the drill forward. He could see a speck of light in the distance, hopefully it was their ticket out of this death pit. "You and I just need to find a way out of here before Megatron digs himself free."
"Megatron's here too!?" Miko shouted as the drill came to an abrupt halt.
A large figure appeared in their path. Jack feared the worst and waited for the dust to clear out. He stood ready to drive the drill forward to defend himself and Miko if need be. The figure stepped forward into the path of the drill's lights and revealed Arcee with her blasters armed, and aimed in their direction until she spotted who was at the controls.
Arcee ran forward as she called out his name. Jack quickly explained what was currently happening with Bulkhead and pointed her in his direction. Arcee left to rescue the wrecker, quick to tell them both to stay still and wait for her return. For once Miko listened and didn't object as the pair waited anxiously for their bots.
Tense minutes passed as Jack watched the tunnel. The loud pede steps of Bulkhead were heard long before he was seen appearing with Arcee. The pair ran up to the drill, transforming and ordering their charges to climb aboard. They raced out of the cave to see a rising sun as they screeched to a halt, Jack and Miko giving their guardians room to transform as they looked back at the cave that had nearly been their tombs.
"We could finish them. Here and now," said Arcee as they stared into the cave.
"Shame we didn't bring any grenades," Bulkhead commented from beside her.
Jack looked up at his guardian. "Would Optimus finish them?"
"No, he probably wouldn't," Arcee sulked. "Not like this."
"But Optimus wouldn't rescue them either right?" Miko pointed out.
"Let's just go home," Bulkhead sighed. /"Bulkhead to base, gonna need a ground bridge."/
Ratchet's voice came over the comm link as he answered. /"Bulkhead!? Thank Primus you're okay. We've been trying to contact you and Arcee for hours now. You've been missing all night and June has called me repeatedly about Jack's whereabouts."/
/"We'll explain everything back at base, don't worry."/ Arcee cut in, watching as a powerful whirlpool of light appeared in front of them.
Back at the base, the group was bombarded with questions once they walked through the bridge with the rest of their team. After explaining the situation and the events that transposed, Optimus had been quick to lightly scold Miko for what she had done but decided that what she had gone through was more than enough punishment.
Just as quickly, Ratchet began medical evaluations on everyone involved with the incident, beginning with the humans. Miko's was finished quickly, just slight lung and eye irritation from breathing in too much dust. Jack was worse for wear, covered in bruises and cuts; he didn't have the luxury of having Bulkhead act as a shield for him. Although cleared by Ratchet, the medic was quick to remind him of his condition and that injuries like these would only make it worse before releasing him. Bulkhead and Arcee only suffered minor cosmetic damage. Nothing a wash and buff to their armor wouldn't fix.
Jack sat in the human recreation area of the base, reflecting on his encounter with Megatron. He couldn't help but question his decision. Had he made the right call? He had a chance today to possibly end the war, who knew when or even if an opportunity like that would ever become available again?
He needed to speak with someone about it. Bumblebee wasn't available, out with Raf racing his toy cars, and the language barrier would make it difficult anyway. Bulkhead already left to take Miko home, and Arcee was in the wash racks. Ratchet was an option but Jack felt that his current health situation and their making a secret of it made it difficult to discuss anything else between the two of them.
That left only Optimus.
Jack had declared to Megatron that Optimus wouldn't have taken the opportunity if he were in the same position. The Prime was everything Jack thought a leader should be. He was strong and firm, but he knew when to be gentle. Jack could see it every time Optimus spoke with Raf. Jack had a hard time believing that Optimus would take the life of someone defenseless, but who better to ask about his doubts than the bot himself?
Decision made, Jack waited until Ratchet left the command center and stood off the couch. He walked toward Optimus, who stood at the computer terminal in the center of the room.
"Optimus," Jack called out, slouching slightly before straightening back up as the Prime's gaze turned to him. "Could I ask you about something?"
Optimus' optics filled with seemingly slight worry, as the corners of his mouth curled downward in a slight frown, barely noticeable. "Of course. Does it have something to do with your experience in the cave?"
"Yeah, it does actually," Jack answered as he nervously began rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry if this is too personal, but have you ever had an opportunity to kill Megatron before?"
Optimus blinked his optics in confusion, questioning what would bring this up. "Pardon?"
Jack quickly began speaking before he could second guess himself any further. "I found Megatron while I was drilling before I found Miko and Bulkhead. He was trapped and defenseless, pinned by the collapse. He tried to bait me into killing him."
Optimus watched as Jack paced back and forth, continuing with the story.
"I didn't know what to do, he was right there. It would've been easy but I couldn't, no I wouldn't do it. I had thought about what would happen if I went through with it. The war could've ended or at least made it easier for you guys to fight. But then I thought about what you would've done. I'm not sure if what I did was the right thing, and it's been bugging me ever since then. So what I'm asking is, would you have done the same thing?" Jack finished as stared at the floor, unable to look at the Prime in the optics.
Moments passed in silence, as Optimus studied the young man in front of him before speaking. "I am unsure, truthfully. I have had many opportunities to kill Megatron, far too many to list them all. There isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think about those decisions and their consequences. However, I cannot condone the killing of someone unable to defend for themselves. I had always hoped that Megatron would see reason, and cease his path of destruction. That, unfortunately, did not come to be." Optimus paused for a moment as Jack averted his gaze from the floor and back to him.
"The question I believe you should be asking yourself, Jackson, is whether you could burden the knowledge, knowing that you killed someone who had no real chance of fighting back. One's morals are one of the hardest possessions to keep and not lose to the fog of war. Hold on tightly to them Jack."
He gave a slight nod in response and he took in what Optimus had told him. He felt more at ease with himself over his decision, and the slight smile on Optimus' face made him give one back in return. "I understand Optimus, thank you."
Shortly after, Arcee returned from the wash racks and left to take Jack home. Optimus watched from his terminal as the pair drove off, the sounds of an engine fading further and further away until the silence was all that remained in the base. Ratchet returned moments later, heading toward his workstation.
"The humans keep managing to surprise us," Ratchet commented as he approached his workstation. "Idealistic, and his spark is in the right place. Like yourself when you were younger." Ratchet said softly as he typed from his terminal.
Optimus raised an optic ridge as he turned to face him. "You heard our conversation?"
"My pistons may be old, but my hearing is as sharp as ever." Ratchet quipped.
"So it would seem old friend." Optimus lightly chuckled, turning back to his terminal to continue his work.
I beat my deadline! I'll be busy the rest of this week however so no promise when the next chapter will be out.
Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave your reviews. If you have any questions, just ask or PM me, and I'll be sure to answer them. Any criticisms or suggestions are appreciated too.
4/19/23
Chapter revised
10/14/24