Author's Notes
So, I'm briefly going to say this. This story will probably divulge into its own story in due time.
Overall, rather new to making fanfics, this one is only my second as I am taking a break from my first one.
Ordinary, that's how he would've described his life. Existing with no real purpose other than that to assist his mother with surviving in this world. To survive for so long only to have it all mean nothing in the end. What would it all have meant, if anything at all? Perhaps he was doomed to live a bland life devoid of any meaning.
Jack's thoughts often plagued his mind as he waited around at his job at the K.O. drive in. Reminiscing his life, remembering simple pleasures and his fond experiences. He believes his life would be blank, merely a notecard in history, compared to what the others have done. Miko is full of energy, wasting no time for the what ifs and charging towards the next stage. Raf with his unnaturally high intellect, someone that could revolutionize humanity if he wanted to.
He quietly thought to himself as he prepared the next order, 'What can I do now?' he pondered. 'Soon I shall be nothing more than a simple memory to them.' he continued while handing the order to the customer through his window. He gazed at the sky with its vibrant orange clashing against the calming blue.
He was interrupted from his gazing by a sharp pain that coursed through his lower abdomen. Hastily, he clutched his side and leaned over a counter to brace himself as the pain persisted. His breathing quickened as he tried to subdue the irritation in his side as it slowly began to fade away. He rose back up off the counter he was leaning on but kept his hand on his stomach as the pain never completely vanished.
He looked around, wondering what to do next. Looking at the clock on the wall, it read 6:55pm. '5 minutes away from clocking out' Jack thought drearily, praying his pain would subside in that time.
He began thinking about the autobots while preparing the next order. There was Bulkhead (Bulk), a 'wrecker' that enjoyed watching bloodsports after a long day of bashing some cons alongside his other friend Wheeljack. He and Miko often got along with their mutual fascination in destruction. Then there was Bumblebee (Bee), he and Raf were inseparable when it comes to gaming and their shared time together. Ratchet's expertise with medicinal applications were often obscured in human terms but rather in depth with cybertronian anatomy. 'If only mom knew about them, then he could receive a proper education in human medicines and ailments.' Jack thought, handing the now done order to an impatient customer before getting the next one ready.
Optimus Prime was the group's leader, admirable, strong willed, and trustworthy. Jack often looked up to Optimus as a role model, someone he could follow to the end. Jack was often confused by the near silent remarks of his similar behaviorisms to the young Optimus made by Ratchet. Although he came to recognize the gentle giant, he doubted he would ever be given the chance to prove his abilities.
And lastly, there was Arcee, his guardian and friend. Their original meeting and mandatory partnership were mutually detested at first. Arcee was originally suffering from the loss of her partner during their first meeting, however, they've both come to accept each other and their problems. But some secrets are still being kept from one another.
'I can't let them know.' Jack pondered, 'They've got enough on their mind.'
Jack looked at the clock again as it read 7:00pm. 'Finally, time to get out of here.' Jack thought as he clocked himself out and left the fast-food joint. He walked over to a parking spot where a slick blue motorcycle was impatiently waiting.
"Let's get going Jack." Arcee began, "We might have a possible scouting mission we can go on."
Jack looked at Arcee, stomaching the pain and mentally suppressing it as he got on her. "Are you sure that would be smart?" Jack said back.
Arcee continued, "It's low risk, and supposedly in a forest. Plus, you've got me for protection, we'll be fine." Arcee backed up and began speeding off to the base. "I guess we should be fine." Jack stated blankly.
As they continued to drive, Jack remained unusually silent and Arcee took notice. She adjusted her mirror to look at him before stating, "Jack, are you alright?" Jack was pulled from his thoughts, gasping suddenly before returning to reality. He replied by saying, "Arcee, I'm fine, I was just thinking over everything we've been through so far."
"Admiring your guardian, huh?" Arcee quipped. Jack unfazed coolly remarked, "Is there a problem with that?" Arcee simply remained quiet as Jack returned to his mental suppressive efforts. They both remained in contempt and silence as they arrived at the base.
As they arrived at the base, Jack dismounted Arcee allowing her to transform into her bipedal mode. She walked over towards Ratchet in order to get the go ahead for their mission. "Ready for the bridge Ratchet." Arcee stated. Ratchet turned towards Arcee, sighed as he realized what she was about to do, then flipped a switch turning on the ground bridge to their mission coordinates.
28 Minutes Later…
Jack was running for his life, ducking and jumping over logs while hiding behind trees. Arachnid was tracking him through the jungle, trying to capture him for her malicious doings. Eventually Jack sat behind a knocked over tree to catch his breath.
As he sat there pondering his options, he felt a sharp pain trying to resurface. Preparing for what he knew would be painful, he cupped his stomach and began trying to maintain a steady but silent breathing pattern. He quickly looked around, realizing there was only one choice for him if he wanted a break.
He slowly began to walk away as he noticed Arachnid approaching, barely hearing her say, "You're starting to bore me, Jack. And I do not enjoy being bored." She jumped towards the log he had been handing behind, noticing his recent tracks and following.
Jack had quickened his pace while picking up a rock to squeeze as the pain slowly increased. He continued to move, not wanting to stop in order to stay ahead of his malevolent hunter. He paused for a moment, bracing himself against a tree as he began to puke on the ground. Wiping his mouth quickly, he continued his hopeful march towards his target.
Jack looked at where he wanted to bring Arachnid, her ship. He quickly analyzed the ship's exterior, spotting a leaking engine in the process. Realizing he had a way to win against his unnerving opponent, he ran towards the ship and kneeled down behind a support beam to wait for Arachnid to show up.
Arachnid was slowly catching up to Jack's tracks. She grew irritated as she went because of the easy tracks her prey left for her to follow. She looked up over a ridge to realize she had made her way back to her ship. Still following Jack's trail, she walked to the entrance of the ship before exclaiming, "If you wanted a tour Jack, you could have just asked." she walked slowly before starting, "Did you notice the blank space on the wall? It's where you'll soon hang your head." She continued into the ship afterwards, not noticing a separate, more hidden, trail coming away from the ship's entrance.
Jack watched as his pursuer entered her ship in a false confidence before slowly making his way to the leaking engines. He began scraping the rock he had against a metal rod he fished out of his pocket. Sparks began to fly off slowly catching the exposed energon on fire.
Arachnid noticed noises coming from outside the ship and began sprinting outside. She jumped on top of the ship in order to look for her prey and where the noise was coming from.
The flames grew in size, making their way into the ship's energon supply. Jack began to run away, not looking back in order to maintain his focus on suppressing his pained breathing. Suddenly, the ship erupts into a huge explosion, but Jack continues to run regardless of if his plan worked or not.
Jack ran for several minutes before taking a break against a tree to catch his breath. Placing his hand against his side, he tried to maintain a steady breathing pattern. His breathing slowed, the pain subsided, and he thought he was in the clear. Pushing himself away from the tree, he began to walk and search for Arcee.
But before Jack could get very far, he felt like his leg couldn't move. Looking down to analyze what was preventing him from walking he noticed an unusually large web constricted around his leg. He looked up to the trees and spotted an enraged Arachnid.
Arachnid lunged out at Jack, prepared to tear him limb from limb. But before she could get within arm's reach, Arcee managed to land a flying kick to her side. Arachnid flew backwards, managing to land on her spider legs and began drilling away. Arcee pursued slightly by firing some well-aimed shots towards Arachnid, but she gave up in favor of returning to her charge.
As Arcee began cutting the webbing around Jack's leg she asked out of concern, "Are you ok?" Jack simply looked at her face, full of concern, and stated, "I'm alright, thanks to you." That simple affirmation calmed Arcee down as she stood back up and began to contact their base.
"Ratchet, we need a bridge." Arcee started, "Need to get my partner away from any oversized insects." she looked down at Jack once again, noticing his hand firmly placed around his abdomen.
Jack looked back at Arcee before remarking, "Partner huh?" he asked with a sly smile adopting his face.
Arcee looked Jack in the eye before stating, "Junior Partner, I can still pull rank." And with that, a bright mix of green, blue and purple light began emitting in front of the duo.
Jack looked towards the ground bridge before calmly looking at Arcee and gesturing her forward, "Senior partners first?" he said as he raised an eyebrow. Arcee simply smiled before remarking, "Alright, smooth operator." They then walked towards the ground bridge in tandem before entering together.
Upon coming through the ground bridge, which closed shortly after their entrance, the pair went over to Ratchet in order for him to evaluate Arcee's possible injuries. Jack walked up to the common area that the humans had set up as a relaxing area from their day-to-day activities.
As Ratchet performed his scans analyzing her damage, Arcee watched her now partner as he slowly made his way towards the human's common area. "Hey Ratchet, mind if I ask for a favor?", Arcee asked as Ratchet was finishing up his scans. Ratchet annoyingly replied, "And what is it that you want?" he looked towards his screen to look over the new data being shown.
"Would it be possible for you to run a diagnostic over Jack?" She asked dryly.
Ratchet looked back towards Arcee in both shock and eagerness. "You expect me to analyze an organics physiology without proper experience?" Ratchet asked in annoyance, trying to suppress the excitement in the opportunity. "On top of that," Ratchet started, "Why do you think I should analyze Jack's biometrics?"
"Well," Arcee began while looking over at Jack, "He seems to be struggling physically and this encounter with Arachnid may have resulted in an injury he doesn't wish to discuss."
Ratchet sighed as he looked back at his screen. "If you can get him to agree to a checkup, I'll see what I can find." Ratchet stated as he began typing on his console. "And as for your diagnosis, only cosmetic, nothing more." He finished before halting his typing momentarily.
Arcee walked towards Jack slowly, analyzing his movements to spot any discrepancies. Jack noticed her gaze and walked over to the railing that surrounded the common area. "So, you ready to head back home?" Jack asked as he watched his guardians stare go from observant to interrogative.
"You've got two choices Jack," Arcee stated coldly, catching Jack off guard, "You can either tell me what's wrong or you can let Ratchet look you over." Jack took a step backwards out of shock from his guardian's straightforward statement. "Well?" Arcee glared at her charge.
"I- think I'll go with an appointment from Ratchet." Jack stated while looking away from his partner. Jack began walking towards Ratchet at his console as Arcee watched over him with an undying focus.
"Hey Ratchet-" Jack started before being cut off, "You actually agreed?" Ratchet remarked with a slight amount of enthusiasm. "Uh..." Jack pondered over his choices, watching Ratchet fetch vials and syringes alike.
Ratchet then held up a syringe with a rather large needle, "We should start with a blood sample"
42 Minutes Later…
During their drive to the Darby household, Jack continuously rubbed his arm, a side effect from Ratchet's inexperience with a human subject. Arcee took notice as she adjusted her mirrors to get a better look at Jack's face.
"Before you start," Jack started with a slight irritation, "I am fine, nothing to worry about."
"Noted" Arcee replied as she sped up slightly.
Their drive together remained quiet as they rode to Jack's home. Once there, Jack dismounted Arcee, opened his garage door, and slowly led his partner in her alt mode inside. "So," Arcee began awkwardly, "Anything you want to talk about before you go to bed?"
Jack looked back at his partner. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" Arcee remarked with an unusual amount of care. "Arcee, there is a lot going on right now." Jack stated while rubbing his forehead softly, "From hiding this secret from mom to the newest incursion with Arachnid, there is a lot going on between you and me" he finished sounding colder than he wanted to.
"Well, I'm here if you need to unload anything off your mind." Arcee said while looking towards Jack. "I know partner, but there are other things you should prioritize right now."
Jack walked inside the house, planning on heading straight to sleep in his bed. Arcee was left alone in the garage with only her thoughts to provide some solace. She pondered over what might be troubling Jack to keep secrets from her. Hopefully she can provide a way to offer assistance and clear up some of the things that make him stressed.
Leave a review if you want, hope you enjoyed reading my fanfic.