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"Rise and shine, Jack."

"Grrrnnnffff...." Jack forced his eyes open and found Miko leaning over him and nudging his shoulder. He looked around slowly and rubbed his hand over his face. He was still on the inflatable mattress on the floor beside Arcee, but she had scooted closer to him during the night. Her hand rested gently on his chest, covering most of it. She smiled and kissed him.

"Good morning."

"Hi, honey." He sat up, yawned, and rubbed his face again. "Feels like I slept for about five minutes."

"More like two and a half hours, but still not very long." She pushed herself upright slowly and winced, still clearly hurting from her wounds. "I wanted to let you sleep, but Ashanti's team brought the Pretender body over a while ago, and we figured you'd want to be here for the link-up."

"Definitely." He stood, sniffed, and grimaced. Oh, I need a shower. But if Arcee's mini-me was ready, it could wait. "Did the body pass Ratchet's tests?"

"He checked every inch of it and found nothing. Ashanti's team will be standing by, just in case, but we're sure it's a blank slate. It'll just be a matter of copying and adapting parts of my software and establishing a wireless link."

"Good." He nodded and hoped he didn't look too worried. "Oh, hey, what'll you do for a power source?"

Arcee grinned. "We finally found a use for Ratchet's synthetic energon. Since it won't be in my actual body, we won't have to worry about nasty side-effects like the ones we saw when he tried it on himself."

"That's a huge relief." Jack picked up his armor and put it back on. "So, I assume you'll have to scan a human before the new body can transform?"

"If I were trying to pass as a human, yeah." She gazed down at him for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Is that what you hope for? I mean, would you want me to be human so we can be together?"

"We're already together. And honestly, it'd be pretty weird if you looked human. It'd feel like I'm with someone else."

"Besides," Miko said, "this is a dead Pretender we're talking about. Wouldn't that be like fucking a corpse?"

"Jesus Christ, Miko!" Jack shuddered. "Why did you put that image in my mind?"

Arcee shook her head, but chuckled. "It doesn't work that way with Cybertronians."

"That's right," a new voice said.

Jack turned around and found the Pretender known as Rosalina Mendoza walking into the room, followed by her human husband, Lucas Conrad. She was still in her robot form, but had put on a shirt, pants, and shoes, and was wearing a white lab coat identical to Conrad's. She was pushing a mobile operating table with a sheet-covered body on it.

Ashanti's team came in close behind them, keeping their weapons pointed at the floor, but making sure Mendoza was aware of their presence.

"Humans decay after they die," Mendoza continued, "but since we're metal, that's not an issue. You just install new components and software, and you have a whole new person. Or, in this case, a remotely-operated mobile platform."

Arcee aimed a not-quite-trusting look at her before turning back to Jack. "It was common practice before Cybertron fell. We'd upgrade our bodies, or sometimes transfer into entirely new bodies. The Vehicons, for example, start out with identical bodies, sort of like military uniforms." One corner of her mouth quirked upward. "Or the Stormtroopers in Star Wars. When they get promoted far enough, they're given unique bodies and software upgrades, and the original bodies are held in reserve for newly 'born' Decepticons. At least, that's how it was before Cybertron became uninhabitable."

"So it's not a corpse at all." Mendoza waved a hand at the body. "Everything that was once Allison Palmer is now gone. What's left is kind of like a CPU case without a hard drive, motherboard, and processor. Ratchet and I have already installed the wireless receiver and other hardware and software Arcee will need to operate the body remotely, as well as the required pieces of her own software. So, we're good to go."

"Ratchet, Optimus, Bee, and Bulkhead will join us as soon as you're ready to get started," Ashanti said.

Arcee grinned. "I'm ready now."

Ashanti nodded and tapped her radio mike. "Optimus? Colonel McKenna. Arcee's given the okay on the procedure, sir." She listened, nodded, and looked up at Arcee. "They're on the way."

"Thanks." Arcee smiled and reached over to stroke Jack's cheek. He smiled and held her hand in both of his.

Mendoza pulled the sheet off, revealing a slightly Giger-esque Pretender. Jack noticed right away that the bullet hole in its chest had been repaired. There wasn't even a trace of the wound.

"So," Miko said, "I assume this body's, like, anatomically correct?" She walked over to the table to take a look for herself.

Mendoza chuckled. "Lucas and I have been married for ten years; if Pretenders didn't have all the necessary parts, he would've noticed at some point."

Jack took a quick glance at the body part in question, blushed, and looked away.

"Yep, it looks right." Miko raised an eyebrow. "It's metal, though. Wouldn't it feel like metal? Y'know, when you're doin' it?"

"Well, no, I mean, I would've noticed that, too." Conrad's face turned red. "It feels like a human's ... well ... you know."

"When we're disguised as humans," Mendoza said, "our skin and hair and everything else is indistinguishable from real humans. This particular part is no different."

"Huh. So you're part organic, then?" Miko cocked her head.

"No, our bodies are equipped with a liquid polymer that has mimetic properties. Just analyze a sample and a very convincing copy can be made. Skin, eyes, sexual organs, and so on." She grinned and wiggled her brow plates. "We also have nano-factories that can reformat any substance into any other substance. Male Pretenders, for example, can manufacture synthetic semen. And, of course, females use the same process to make the proper, um, lubricants."

"Heh." Miko grinned at Jack. "Think of the possibilities."

"Oh, I am." Jack's face grew hotter and he cleared his throat.

"Me, too." Arcee laughed and brushed a fingertip over his lips. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though."

"Right. Of course." He tugged on his collar and tried to divert his attention so his blush would fade away.

Fortunately, four pairs of footsteps began vibrating the floor, their thumping rhythm growing louder as they approached, and the four other Autobots emerged from the tunnel. Jack smiled at them, grateful for the interruption.

Arcee rubbed her hands together. "Okay, let's do this."

#

"Hey, Jack." June walked over to him, carrying two cups of coffee. She held one out to him.

"Hi, mom. Oh, thanks." He took the cup, sipped, and rubbed at his left eye. "You look like you didn't get much sleep, either."

"I kind of did, but it wasn't that restful." She yawned. "I actually intended to head back to Groom Lake and bring you a change of clothes, like I promised, but I decided to sit down for a few minutes and let everything sink in. The next thing I knew, it was morning."

"Still better than I did. Arcee said I slept about two and a half hours, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't in one solid stretch." He shivered and took another sip of his coffee. "Kept having nightmares about Arcee--" He winced. "Arcee dying in her fight with Airachnid. I'd wake up, go back to sleep, and have a dream even worse than the one before it."

June put her arm around his shoulders and turned to watch the Autobots and their guests. Mendoza and Conrad stood at one end of the table, talking in low voices about info on their tablets. Optimus sat beside Arcee and rested his hand on her shoulder. Bumblebee stood nearby, fidgeting. Raf sat on a stack of crates that put him at Bee's shoulder level, and pecked at his laptop keyboard while staring at Arcee and Jack. Bulkhead crouched nearby and Miko leaned against his right foot. Ratchet stood at the monitoring station, watching the readouts intently.

"Okay," Conrad muttered, "looks like we're ready to go."

"I'm initiating the link," Arcee said.

The Pretender's optics glowed red, flicked around, took in their surroundings. Arcee raised a brow plate.

"Whoa, this is weird. I've remote-piloted drones before, but this is...I can actually feel sensations. I can feel the table under my back. Her back. Its back. Whatever." She leaned forward and prodded the body's shoulder. She glanced at her own shoulder and chuckled. "This'll take some getting used to."

The body sat up, looked at her and pointed at the damage on her chest plate, where Airachnid had stabbed her yesterday. Ratchet had repaired it, but it would take a while to heal completely.

Arcee's mouth fell open. "That looks a lot worse from this angle."

"It's far better than it was when Optimus carried you back to base," Ratchet said. "But given enough time, your autorepair system will have it looking as good as new."

"Glad to hear that." Jack took a step toward the Pretender body. "So, uh ...." He trailed off and sipped his coffee again, possibly just to have something to do other than stare awkwardly.

Arcee pointed at her smaller body. "That won't do at all."

The body looked up at Arcee and a green light came out of its eyes and washed over her.

"And...scan complete. Let's see if this works."

The Pretender transformed. Its surface split up into hundreds of tiny square sections, shifted around, changed color. Seconds later, it was identical to Arcee, only human-sized. And, June noted after giving it a quick look-over, it had a feature the real Arcee didn't have.

Uh-oh. That means she and Jack can ... oh, boy. June caught Jack checking out the area between Mini-Arcee's legs and nudged his shoulder. He blushed again and kept his eyes aimed above her waist.

"So." Arcee smiled nervously at him. "What do you think?"

"This is exactly what I was hoping for." He stepped closer, still looking apprehensive but trying to push himself past it.

"That's a relief." Mini-Arcee slid off the table, shifted from one foot to the other, raised her hands and flexed her fingers. "Everything seems to be working."

Miko grinned. "So, Arcee, this means there's two of you now, right?"

"Kind of."

"I can't even tell you what I'm thinking right now." Jack looked from one to the other and back, his mouth hanging open for a moment. Finally, he placed his coffee on the table and slid his palms slowly over Mini-Arcee's chest. "Sorry, I just had to get this out of my system."

Arcee grinned and raised her hands to her own chest. "Oh, I'm liking this."

"Heh. So am I."

"And just out of curiosity ...." Arcee reached down and traced a fingertip over Mini-Arcee's crotch. "Oooh! Now that's weird--feeling sensations in a body part I don't actually have. But I like it already." She grinned and continued exploring for a moment.

"Looks like we've got a solid connection," Mendoza said with a chuckle, looking up from her tablet and smiling at Conrad.

"Hmm, yes," Ratchet muttered, keeping his attention focused on his monitors. "Data flow is nominal. Still no malware detected. Everything appears--" He glanced over his shoulder and stared blankly at Arcee. "Um...what in the name of the All-Spark are you doing?"

"Oh! Uh ..." Arcee turned abruptly, as if she'd forgotten everyone who was watching. When she regained her composure, she arched a brow plate and said, "Playing with myself, obviously."

Miko snickered.

June cleared her throat. "Listen, if you two are thinking about--"

"We already agreed to wait a while," Jack said. "This whole thing will take some time to get used to, so we're not rushing it."

"That's good to hear."

Arcee nodded. "Until then, Jack and I can take care of whatever urges we might have, ourselves. Now that I'm starting to understand how good it must feel, I'm definitely trying a few things when I have some time to myself."

Jack's face turned bright red again.

Miko took her phone out of a pocket and poked at its screen. "Arcee, in case you need any help with that, I'm sending you a website address. It's where I got my favorite dildo."

June, Jack, Raf, Conrad, Mendoza, and Ashanti's team turned to stare at her. She looked at each of them and shrugged.

"What?"

"Heh. Well, first things first." Arcee smiled at Jack. When she spoke next, her voice came out of her smaller body. "So, Jack, there's one thing I definitely want to try now."

She embraced him. When he recovered from the surprise a few seconds later, he hugged her right back. They held each other for a long moment.

"This feels really good," she said softly. "It's not all awkward like it was before."

"Yeah. It's really nice to be able to actually put my arms around you." He held on for almost a full minute longer, then stepped back far enough to look into her optics. He inched closer, as did she, and their lips met. Both of them closed their eyes and held the kiss until a bright flash and loud clicking sound startled them.

June twitched and looked around. She spotted Miko holding her phone up and grinning.

"Just had to have a picture of that."

June reached over and flicked one of the girl's pigtails.

Jack cleared his throat, stepped back, and held Arcee's hands. "I really should take a shower and grab something for breakfast, but after that, maybe you can take the day off. We could take that walk along the beach you mentioned. And whatever else comes to mind."

"That is a good idea," Optimus said. "You've both earned some downtime after recent events."

"Yeah." Arcee aimed a lopsided grin at him. "Under normal circumstances, I hate sitting on the sidelines, but just this once, I'm okay with it."

"Alright, then." Bulkhead stood and shifted into his vehicle mode. "I'd be happy to give you a lift."

June took a step toward him. "If you don't mind, I'd like to tag along, too. At least on the way back to the Lake. This armor's starting to chafe."

"As long as you don't keep hovering over us," Jack said with a chuckle.

"My team will be nearby," Ashanti said. "Just in case."

"Fair enough." June nodded, though a bit reluctantly. I'm not thrilled with the thought of leaving them alone, but I can't stop trusting either of them after everything they've already survived. And I have to let Jack grow up sometime. She opened Bulkhead's back door, sat, and closed it.

Jack slipped his arm around Mini-Arcee's waist and smiled up at Real-Arcee. "Shall we?"

She grinned. "We shall."

#

"This is so weird," Arcee muttered.

"What is?" Ratchet glanced at her and back to his monitors, searching for new anomalies.

"All of this in general, but in particular ... riding in Bulkhead's front seat." She laughed and shook her head. "I'm sitting inside Bulkhead."

"I suppose that would put everything in a different perspective."

"Yeah, it does." She leaned against the wall, crossed her ankles, and closed her eyes. Miles away, Bulkhead parked outside the building that housed Jack's and June's quarters at the Groom Lake base. June got out first, stretched, and patted Bulk's hood.

"Thanks for the lift."

"Anytime, Ms. D."

"Time for a nice, hot bath." June raked her fingers through her hair and climbed the front steps. "Have fun, kids--but not too much fun."

"I promise to be on my best behavior." Arcee held Jack's hand as they followed June up the stairs.

Bulkhead transformed back into his primary mode. Arcee glanced at him, craned her neck to look up at him, and stared.

"Whoa. Now I know how humans must feel around us."

"Yeah," Jack said, "it can be little unnerving when the guy walking past you has a foot that's bigger than your entire body."

Bulkhead chuckled. "Heh, yeah, makes me wonder how Miko can be comfortable getting anywhere near me."

"Well, I don't think Miko's capable of experiencing fear," Arcee said.

"Either that, or she does feel fear, but gets a rush out of it." Jack shrugged. "Not that I'm complaining. If she hadn't gone running into danger without a second thought, Arcee, my mom, and I might be dead now, and Airachnid would still be out there, murdering people."

"Well, I'm glad she could help. She sure has come a long way." Bulk pointed at one of the buildings across the base. "Well, you guys enjoy your day off. I'll just pick up a couple things while I'm here; Ashanti said the cleanup crew found a few pieces of Airachnid at the explosion site, so I'll be hauling them back to the base." He looked into Arcee's optics. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Sure thing, Bulk. See you later."

He waved and walked off.

Arcee and Jack entered the building, passed June's door, and stopped outside Jack's quarters at the end of the hall. He slid his ID card through the lock beside the door and was rewarded with a soft beep and the click of the door unlocking. He pushed it open, stepped aside, and waved Arcee on in.

"After you, my dear."

She smiled, walked past him, and took a look around. It was a standard room with a bed in an alcove at the far end and a bathroom, closet, and tiny kitchen through three doorways in one wall. A TV hung on the wall near the door and a small desk with a laptop sat against the wall on the right.

She'd talked with Jack through the window a few times, but actually standing inside his room was rather surreal.

Jack closed the door and took his armor off. "I'll just be a few minutes." He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Take your time." Arcee kept her optics on his ass until the door closed. She grinned and almost immediately shook her head at the sensations her new body suddenly experienced and the thoughts they sent flitting through her mind. She considered taking a quick look at the website Miko had mentioned in the silo, but decided not to get herself all worked up right now.

The muffled sound of running water came from the bathroom.

Arcee walked over to the window and gazed out at the brilliant blue sky and a few wispy clouds here and there. She let her mind wander for the next few minutes.

Back in the silo, Arcee frowned. Something in her chest had grown noticeably hotter. She opened her eyes and looked to the right.

"Hey, Ratchet? Feels like something's overheating."

He grabbed his tools and ran over to her. He ran a scanner over his body and frowned at the readout. "Part of your cooling system is failing. I'll have it whipped into shape in no time."

In Jack's quarters, the water stopped. A minute later, he stepped out of the bathroom, finished drying his hair, and tossed the towel onto the bathroom floor. He blushed as he walked past Arcee.

"I forgot to grab some clothes before I started showering." He crouched by his bed and lifted the sheets, revealing three drawers built into its base. He opened the one on the right and picked up a pair of briefs.

Arcee gazed at his ass and grinned, trying to pretend nothing was wrong. "Mmm-mmm."

His face turned an even darker shade of red. He laughed, stood, and faced her. "And that wasn't even my good side."

"So I see." She slipped her arms around his waist and kissed him.

At the Autobot base, Ratchet adjusted one last setting and sighed. "That should do it. Now, let me run one more scan to be sure I didn't miss anyth--"

Something in the center of Arcee's chest snapped. She screamed at the sudden sharp pain.

Ratchet jumped slightly, but regained his composure in less than a second. He put a hand on her back to help support her and eased her gently down until she was laying on the floor.

"By the All-Spark," he muttered. "I heard something break off and slam against the inside of your chest."

"Arcee?" Jack said. His face had turned white.

I must've screamed here, too. Shit. "It's ... it's nothing. Just a couple things Ratchet needs to patch up."

"It sure as hell didn't sound like nothing." He cupped her face in his hands. "What's wrong?"

Ratchet checked his scanner again and his optics opened wide. "Oh, no!"

"What?" Arcee grunted. "Don't say, 'Oh, no.'"

"Arcee!" Jack stared at her, his expression growing more horrified as the seconds passed. "What's happening? Did Ratchet miss a booby-trap?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just damage from the fight with Airachnid--Ratchet didn't repair it as well as he thought, that's all."

In the silo, she grasped Ratchet's wrist. "What the hell do you mean, 'Oh, no'?"

"Airachnid caused more damage than I thought." He shook his head. "Damn it, how could I have missed this?"

"Beat yourself up later. How bad is it?"

"Your primary systems are damaged beyond repair. I thought I could keep them working until we could figure out a more permanent solution, but ..."

Arcee stared at him. Oh, you'd better not be saying what I think you're saying.

"There's ... nothing I can do." He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face.

"How long have I got?"

"Unless we can get our hands on the parts you need ... perhaps ... a few days."

She gasped. "What?"

In Jack's quarters, a voice at the window startled them both.

"What's going on?" Ashanti said, flicking her gaze all over the room. "I heard Arcee scream." She noticed Jack's lack of clothing and raised an eyebrow. "And it wasn't the good kind of screaming."

"Arcee was just about to tell me what's wrong." Jack stared into her optics. "Right, Arcee?"

"I'll be fine. Ratchet just needs to tweak a few things."

"Goddamn it, tell me the truth!"

She stared at him, not wanting to drop this on him but not knowing how to avoid it. "I ... I didn't want to worry you."

"I think that ship has sailed. Please, tell me what's wrong."

"Alright, alright." She took a moment to compose herself. "My wounds are worse than we thought. Judging by what happened a few seconds ago, I'm pretty much falling apart on the inside."

"You mean you're ..." He stared at her and trembled.

"Dying, apparently. He said I have a few days."

"Wh--" He collapsed onto the bed and Arcee tried to grab him. His face twisted up and he burst into tears.

Arcee put her arms around him. "This is why I didn't want to tell you."

He shook his head. "There's got to be something we can--"

"We don't have the parts I need, and can't make them in time. All Ratchet can do now is turn off my pain receptors so at least I won't hurt anymore." She stroked his cheek and leaned forward to kiss him. "I'm sorry, honey, there's nothing--"

"No." He stood and paced to the door and back. Arcee watched him, and swore she could see and hear the gears turning in his head.

"I won't accept that," he mumbled as he continued pacing. "I'm not losing you."

He stopped abruptly and his expression changed subtly. Arcee had seen that look before--it meant the pieces had clicked together in his mind.

He pointed at Ashanti. "Bulkhead said pieces of Airachnid were found. I need one of them. A big one."

"Why?" Arcee said.

Jack grabbed his underwear, put it on, and picked up his armor. "I want to have a little talk with Starscream."

#

"You sure you want to do this?" Arcee said softly.

"Open the fucking door." Jack glared at the door, a three-foot-thick chunk of metal that stood between him and Starscream. It, and a number of other new security features, had been installed in the abandoned missile silo before the Decepticon defector had been incarcerated here.

Ashanti sighed and nodded at the guard, who leaned over his console, typed in a code, and pushed a button.

The door unlocked with a deep, echoing thunk.

Arcee glanced at Ashanti.

Ashanti nodded. "We're ready."

"Wait here, Arcee. I need to stay focused if I'm gonna pull this off." Jack hefted the bit of Airachnid that had been recovered--a partial segment of one of her spider legs, nearly as long as his arm. He propped it on his shoulder, partly to look confident and casual, and partly to put his hand a bit closer to the two rifles on his back, one an EMP gun and the other loaded with Cybertronian armor-piercing rounds.

Arcee sighed and held his hand for a moment, then walked over to Ashanti's team. "If he makes the slightest move toward you--"

"I know." He smiled. "I'll be fine."

The door swung open and Jack strode into the chamber beyond.

Starscream sat, leaning against the far wall, staring blankly until Jack stepped through the doorway. His expression cleared and his red, glowing eyes tracked Jack with every step. He aimed a sinister smirk down at the young human.

"Well, a visitor at last. Not one I expected, though."

"I'll get right to the point. We need your help."

"Well, I am here to serve." He kept the smirk on. "What do you require my humble assistance with?"

"Arcee's badly injured and needs a lot of her parts replaced. Parts we don't have." Jack scowled up at him. "Parts we can only get from one place--the Nemesis. And you're going to help us track it down, board it, and take what we need."

Starscream stared back at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. "You're insane! What makes you think I'd go anywhere near that ship now that everyone onboard wants me dead?"

"If Arcee dies because you refused to help, you're next."

"Oh, yes, it would be such a shame if she were to--"

Jack tossed the spider leg out in front of him. It hit in the middle of the chamber and scraped a few more feet across the floor. Starscream stared at it, recognition dawned on his face, and he looked back at Jack.

Jack didn't let his glare falter.

"That looks like--" Starscream began to stammer. "Is--is--is that ... is that Airachnid's?"

"She didn't need it anymore."

"Arcee ...?"

"No."

"You?" Starscream laughed again, but this time it was less certain, and tinged with sudden fear.

Jack continued glaring, but smirked at the same time. "They'll probably be finding pieces of that bitch for the next month." He drew the EMP rifle from his back and aimed it at Starscream. "And just in case you still don't take me seriously ...."

He zapped Starscream, knocking him out long enough to holster the EMP rifle and pull out the other gun. He walked up to Starscream's slumped-over body and waited for him to reboot.

Starscream grunted and twitched as his systems gradually came back online. His eyes flicked around, locked on to Jack's assault rifle, and opened wider.

"You've already seen what our new ammo can do to you. So, to make sure there's no misunderstanding--if I lose Arcee because of you, I will fucking kill you." He shoved the barrel of his rifle into Starscream's face. "Is that clear?"

"Jesus Christ," Jensen muttered in the corridor outside. "He is nuts."

"Yes! Perfectly clear!" Starscream flinched, scooted away from Jack, and for a moment appeared to be trying to push himself through the wall behind him. He managed to pull himself together somewhat a few seconds later. He smiled and laughed nervously. "As I said, I am here to serve."

"Be sure you stay that way. We'll be in touch." Jack picked up Airachnid's leg and left him there, trembling and shifty-eyed.

The door closed and locked.

"Wow." Ashanti shook her head and grinned. "Jackson Darby takes no shit."

He walked over to Arcee, leaned against the wall, and stared at his shaking hands. His heart pounded and he took a few deep breaths.

Arcee took his hands and said, "I love you!"

"I love you, too." He let out another long breath, kissed her, and waved Airachnid's leg at the door at the far end of the corridor. "Okay, let's go save your life."