Spectre: Yep, new chapter coming in and it's more of a continuation from the previous one. And this time, it focuses on Arcee.

gwb620: Duly noted...and ignored! Just kidding, yeah I'll take that under advisement.

Guest: We'll see. I have an idea for Airachnid's backstory since we haven't known yet in canon.

MindPower.KI: Not yet, but I fully intend to see it for myself!

Yubel578: Is it tho? Time to find out..

Yoyon586: Got the idea as to how will it develop! We'll just have to wait!

Chapter 5: Fitting in

Jack gently led her inside where she found the place to be quite simple and decent with what they could afford. The teen stretched for a while, his back crashing against the sofa to relax while Arcee took a seat next to him, finding the furniture's soft edges to be of her liking.

Arcee still hadn't gotten used of the human skin's sensitivities when it made contact to various objects. It just felt bizarre. The moment where she can feel just about anything that made contact with her. There is much that she need to know how her body functioned but that would have to wait when it was evident that both Jack and June were exhausted for the meantime.

"It's good to be home!", she heard her partner's remark as he slouched against the sofa, before he looked at his partner trying to figure out what to do. "So what do you think, Arcee?"

"It's actually nice in here...," the bluenette admitted, looking around the living room and of the ceiling. "I never really thought I'd get to see this part of your house myself until now..."

June hung her coat on the pole-like hangar near the porch, pleased of Arcee's compliments at the house. "Well, I say it's much better than in the garage. It's not much but it does pretty well for Jack and I since we're on a budget", she said, switching her shoes for a pair of flip flops and turned to both of them. "Hungry? I'm off to whip up dinner for the three of us"

The former Autobot wasn't sure how to respond at that at that; the concept of hunger never struck her. "How...do I know if I'm hungry?", she asked, genuinely curious.

Jack clicked his tongue, wondering as to how to properly explain it to her. "Well, it's like when you run out of Energon. You'll eventually feel the need to consume something until you can feel that you're fully charged. Case in point, at the stomach"

She was unconvinced at the claim. "But my stomach hasn't felt anything-"

The silent room was struck with a rumbling noise that echoed the area. Arcee reached out a hand, grasping her midsection as she noticed her partner silently laughing at her. "Come on, Jack...", her voice was evident to get to the point already. "What was that?"

"Hunger, at least in its vocal form", he explained to her. "It'll go away once you've taken up your fill at dinner. But I think it'll be ready soon"

"You two will have to wait till the lasagna's ready at the microwave in about five minutes", June's voice called out from the kitchen. Arcee couldn't help but let out an appreciative smile for their gratitude. But it fell right after, and she looked away from him, staring at her fleshed hands.

Once he had replied with a 'We'll wait!' to his mother, Jack looked back at Arcee, finding out that she gone back to moping as she had back at the car. "Arcee?"

Her eyes widened, realizing she had dozed off. "Ah! I-uh...sorry, Jack...", she said, but she refrained from making eye contact with him. "It's just...", she paused for a moment, shaking her head.

Her partner knew where she was getting at ever since they left the base and at the car. "Arcee...if this about what Airachnid had said earlier, just forget about it", he firmly, but solemnly, advised her. "It's not like she's going to fare any better than you"

"This isn't about her, Jack", she insisted grasping her hands together, slightly pinching her palm, feeling a minor sense of pain that she never experienced all throughout her life. "I've been fighting a war for all I could remember. I always thought that...I should help in any way for Optimus and the rest, even despite my own limitations in both the field and out"

Hearing that was enough for Jack to have a clear idea what she was talking about, but he didn't want to even think of associating those words to her right now. "And now that I'm literally a nanobot compared to them, I just don't know what to do anymore...", he could hear her voice slightly breaking, her breath making pace as she struggled to be open to her partner.

"Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Ratchet... they're all doing their part to make sure the Cons don't get their hands on anything that'll make things worse from there...and I'm just a liability for them..."

She felt her shoulder being grasped, and her electric blue eyes stared at Jack's, which had narrowed in frustration and disappointment of her claims. "Arcee, what you are right now isn't your fault. Nor you're a liability. For someone who could bring down several Vehicons without breaking a sweat if Autobots do have, I don't think something like this would be able to bring you down that easily"

Arcee tried to creep up a smile for his encouragement, but wasn't able to. "But I'm not the way you knew me before, Jack. Not anymore"

He gave her a solemn smile. "Maybe not physically, but you're still the partner who got me out of trouble a lot of times", he softly said. "One that won't back down from a fight whenever her friends were in trouble while being one of the people we could count on. So if there's anyone who'd be able to get through this one, that'll be you."

She felt her mind being soothed from those words. For all her dilemmas, struggles and turmoil that she had went through in a span of a day, this is what it took to sweep it away. Even in spite of her partner not being one of them, he had shown her from time to time that he had the biggest Spark out of all the beings she had met. Because of that, she was always glad that, he is by her side. "Thanks, Jack...", she responded, a smile gracing her lips that the teen naturally reciprocated with his own.

Ding!

"What was that?", Arcee suddenly asked, alarmed as she stood up. Jack couldn't help but chuckle in her constant alert in every instance possible. Old habits die hard I guess...

"Dinner's ready!", June's voice called out from the kitchen, creeping up her head to find Jack and Arcee still at the couch. "Come on! Get it while it's still hot!"

Arcee paused for a moment, glancing at Jack. "You know about this did you?", she asked, her tone carrying a tinge of annoyance.

He merely raised his hands up. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Arcee!", he jokingly replied, standing up and guiding her into the dining room where June had placed the pan of lasagna on the table. Around the table were essentials that Arcee recognized, such as plates three mugs as well as utensils that humans use for eating.

"Now that I thought of it...", she pinched her chin for a moment. "Wouldn't Airachnid go through process back at the base?"

Jack finished his cup, looking right at here. "Yeah, but Miko and Raf managed to get some food for her at KO before they went home. We can't really have anyone starving even as a prisoner"

She didn't say anything further about their prisoner; she'd rather not get her mind on the gutter by thinking about that blasted Con anyways. Jack pulled a chair for her, allowing her to take her seat between him and June. "Glad you could join us for dinner, Arcee!", the nurse was quite pleased at the statement. "It's not everyday that we have guests joining the both of us at the table"

"I guess so...", Arcee wasn't sure how to respond to that. "First time for everything I guess".

June brandished a knife and sliced a smaller rectangular portion of the meal out of the pan, placing the slice onto Arcee's plate and later to herself and of Jack's. Once she had seen that the two began to eat their meals, it was quite compelling to do so. She held the spoon by her right hand and plucked some of the food on her plate, moving it close to her mouth where her tongue made contact.

Clang!

June and Jack were taken back and saw their new guest covering her mouth with both her hands, clearly in pain. "Arcee!" he immediately tended to her, as did June. "What happened?"

"It hurts...", she seethed out, feeling her tongue being afflicted by a burning sensation. "It felt making contact with hot metal"

The two humans quickly got the gist of what was going on, and June softly rubbed Arcee's back to support her. "Food must be a little too hot...", a mug of water was passed to Jack, offering it to Arcee. "Here, drink some this so it could go away"

She did as she was told, and sure enough the pain subsided. "How do you manage to eat like this?", the former two-wheeler asked, bewildered on how easy it looked for both Jack and June.

"We take it slowly, Arcee", Jack then brought up his own spoon and scooped it with the lasagna on his plate, blowing it with his mouth a few times before he took a bite out of it. "Just do what I do"

She wasn't the type to often be shown with a demonstration but it was better to be safe than sorry, Arcee's lips blew on to her own spoon with the lasagna. After a few tries, she took a bite out of the instrument, no longer feeling the singed texture and she could feel her tongue tasting the different condiments put into the meal, taking her time to taste every edge of the substances used.

"So...how is it, Arcee?", she heard June's inquiry, curious of her verdict, as soon as she realized that she had finished her plate before them.

"It'll take a while to get used to it", the bluenette admitted, but a sense of both enjoyment and satisfaction began to arise within her. "But it's really good, June. Thanks for having me over to your place"

The mother and son smiled at her. "Hey, you've got us out of trouble more times that I could count. This is the least we could do"

The feeling was mutual, and she filled up her mug with water, which reminded her of Energon when she drank the cold liquid. From what she could understand, it's likely the equivalent of the old source she had taken for the humans, as it rejuvenate their senses and their capacity to function.

She looked up to find June standing up and opening the upper part of the fridge, noticing her pulling a medium-sized tub where its cold moist could be seen seeping out from it. Retrieving three small bowls from the cabinet and a larger spoon than the ones they use, she scooped up the snow-like substance and filled one of the bowls with it. "Here, Arcee..", the former two-wheeler looked up to find June offering a hand that held the bowl she filled. "A little dessert for tonight"

She observed the 'dessert' for a moment, seeing how cold this is. "You eat snow?"

Jack chuckled at that, making her even more curious. "Kind off, we call that ice cream", June explained to her, putting a teaspoon on the bowl for her to use. "If the lasagna was hot, then this one is the opposite. And kind of sweet too"

She held her spoon for a moment, hesitant that feeling may happen to her again. Trusting their words, she scooped up the white snow-like sweet with her spoon, and her tongue slowly swirled around it.

It tasted delicious.

Accompanied by the cold texture and the flavor she hadn't experienced, Arcee's eyes closed shut as she indulged at the desert that June had given her. She didn't know what she was doing, but she kept taking one spoon and another of her ice cream, savoring every moment she could with it and wished that it would last longer.

Jack and June chuckled with one another, likely knowing what was going on with Arcee's mind especially when it was clear that she enjoyed herself with the meal. Wouldn't be too far fetch if it turn out to be something that she would come back to from time to time.

"Here", Jack reached out the cabinet, pulling an identical tool that Jack was using to clean the insides of his mouth, in a darker blue color compared to the gray one he had. "You can use this for the meantime."

As soon as dinner was concluded, it was time for cleanup and June stayed behind to clean the dishes downstairs while Jack now had the job to teach her about basic hygiene every after meal before turning in for the night.

She stared onto tool in complete thought. "So...how do I brush my teeth?"

Jack paused for a moment. "You guys... don't have dental work?"

"We don't back at Cybertron", she answered him. "At least not habitually like humans do"

Jack let out a quiet humm. "Guess I'll have to show you the basics. Here, put some toothpaste on the brush itself", Arcee did as instructed, a white substance squirting out of the tube and over the brush, careful as to not overlap. "Okay, then?'", she asked, watching as the teen took a sip of water from a cup next to him.

Jack spat out the gargled water and foam out of his mouth. He gestured his toothbrush over his mouth, glancing at her. "Follow my lead, partner", slowly he brought the brush above the teeth on the left side of his mouth, brushing it slightly.

She couldn't help but chortle at the witty request. "That's my line, Jack"

The session didn't take long as expected. If Arcee was to be honest, she find it to be relaxing. The interior of her mouth felt refreshed, and she liked the smell of her breath when she exhaled onto her palm. It was already 9pm, meaning it was bedtime for the humans at least.

Jack spent his time cleaning his room, storing a lot of his things into the closet while clearing out the floor of whatever trash or dirt that could be a sight for sore eyes to just about anyone.

That is until he heard the door knock a few times. "Arcee?", he called out behind the door. "Is that you?"

"I'm right here, Jack", he received her response from the other side. "June gave me some of her old clothes, so I just finished changing for the night. Can I come in?"

"Sure", Jack replied, putting away the box into his closet. "Just finished putting away some of the stuff around the room so it wouldn't that crowded here". He then heard the clicking of the door opening, he looked to find his guardian at the entrance.

It took all his willpower not to have his jaw drop as she stood by with what people could refer to as her sleepwear. She was wearing a white sleeveless tank top and dark blue pajama shorts that he recognize to have belonged to his mother during her younger years that she had stored in her closet. But they seemed to fit Arcee's well built form really well, especially when it hugged her curves that Jack found it hard to look at without looking like an idiot.

He had to admit. She looked too good at those clothes. Okay, just relax, Jack. Remember, she's a ten foot robot who just so happens to have the body of an Olympic athlete for the meantime. So try not to get any funny ideas...

"You alright, Jack?", the teen's eyes snapped into attention, watching as Arcee crossed her arms below her chest at his prolonged silence. "You've gone quiet"

"It's nothing!", he quickly said gesturing her to come inside, trying to compose himself at the same time. "Here, you could sleep here"

"But where would you sleep then?", she asked, a bit concerned as to where he would go.

"At the floor, but I got a sleeping bag so it wouldn't really be a problem", he assured her, pulling out the rolled fabric out of his closet and proceeded to undo the ties that kept it in place.

"Are you sure?", the bluenette quipped as she didn't want her partner to be at the lower end of the stick because of her as she took a seat on the bed. "It seemed to fit the both of us here and I wouldn't mind sharing it with you"

Luckily, Jack wasn't facing her when he was setting up his sleeping bag. Because a scarlet hue had appeared onto his cheeks. "N-no, I'm alright, Arcee. I am", he stuttered, causing the former two-wheeler to quirk an eyebrow to his response. "Just make yourself comfortable in the meantime"

She then laid down onto the bed, reminding her of the berth she used back at the base (And hoping Bulkhead doesn't end up breaking it somehow). The former two-wheeler found the bed's surface to be so soft for her touch as she groped the cushion between her. "So, how do you sleep?"

Jack paused for a moment as he finally set his sleeping bag on the floor, trying to think of a simplified answer to that. "Well, we just close our eyes and basically wait until we've shut down for the night"

Arcee was puzzled at that. "So it...happens just like that? Not some sort of a manual shutdown within the system or a stasis lock?"

"It kind of works that way", he trailed off, pondering. "We don't really have anything similar to a stasis lock when we're going to sleep. And unlike a stasis lock, we don't really know what's happening around us when we're sleeping"

"That sounds dangerous...", she commented dryly, concerned that there could be a threat in any moment and that she wouldn't be able to sense it. "What if something happens all of a sudden?"

"That's basically where the part where the doors are locked every night so no one can come in. So there's no need to worry about that", he then yawned, seeing the need of sleep for the both of them. "We'll catch up by morning. Since I don't have class tomorrow, we could go around sightseeing right after we paid Optimus and the rest a visit, how's that sound?"

"It's a sound idea, I'll give you that", she agreed, finding the soft surface of the bed to be tantalizing for her senses, but before her eyes could close for the night, she mustered her remaining strength to do one last thing before going out. "Hey, Jack?"

He rose from his sleeping bag a little, and looked at his partner. "Yeah, Arcee?"

"Thank you...for just about everything"

He smiled at her sincerety, switching off the lights and wrapped himself in his sleeping bag. "You're welcome" he replied before his eyes closed. "Good night, Arcee"

"Good night, Jack", she felt her eyes closing on their own. And before she even knew it, the sweet embrace of sleep had taken her.

Spectre: I'll be honest, I feel like this is a bit similar to one of the old fics that inspired this work. But I gotta tackle some of the realism parts regarding Arcee's dilemma, while expanding her thoughts and her experiences while being human. We'll go for the next chapter, where things might go a little awkward...