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"Still no sign of Decepticon activity?"

"No, Arcee," Prime said, frowning. "And that has us worried."

Jack sat in his wheelchair and watched the 'Bots standing just inside the hangar door. General Sanchez had allowed them to use the hanger for their meeting since it was big enough to hold them all.

"Yeah, they could be planning something big." Arcee shrugged. "Or maybe they're still recovering from the last time they got their asses kicked."

"I'm sure that your wiping out a dozen of them single-handedly gave them pause, but we shouldn't make any assumptions."

"True. Especially with a weasel like Starscream in charge."

A light whap on Jack's shoulder drew his attention back to his mother.

"Hey, kiddo, can you take your eyes off your girlfriend for more than three seconds?" She tried to make it sound like a joke, but he knew how weirded-out she still was, even after having two weeks to get used to it.

"Gimme a few seconds." He turned back to Arcee and smiled as the early morning sunlight reflected off her freshly-polished surface, adding a nice gleam to her already considerable beauty. While waiting for the Autobots and their human friends to arrive, Jack and Arcee had taken a few minutes to watch the sun come up, which had become something of a morning ritual for them. This morning's sunrise was especially spectacular.

Though, to be honest, it was the second most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Arcee glanced over her shoulder, smiled and nodded at him before returning her attention to Prime. Jack grinned and nodded back before she turned away, and finally faced his mom and chuckled at the look on her face.

"Boys and their hormones," Miko said, rolling her eyes as she and Raf walked up, a cola in her hand and a can of Jolt in his. She and Raf had been cleared to visit the Groom Lake base, though they were only allowed into a few areas.

What? She knows? Jack tried not to blush. "Uh, what're you talking about?"

Miko snorted. "Come on. I saw this coming miles away. Don't know why you and Arcee didn't."

"Uh..."

Miko raised an eyebrow at Jack. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna blab it to everybody."

Jack sighed. "Thanks. We'd both appreciate that. It's, y'know, a private matter."

Miko nodded, smirked, leaned over to Raf and whispered, "Leverage."

Ah, hell.

Jack's mom glanced at Arcee and shook her head slowly. "She's an alien, she's a robot, and she's an older woman--by at least several hundred years. Jesus Christ."

"Well, that's one of the reasons I didn't tell her how I felt until I found out she already knew. And I can thank you for that, by the way." He smirked and reached over to prod her shoulder.

She looked away and ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, well, I wasn't trying to plant the idea in her head. I just wanted to find out if you two were already...you know."

"Well, relax, Mom. It's not like you have to worry about catching us humping it out, or anything. That's something we'll never be able to do." Jack shrugged. "And that means you won't have to worry about me knocking her up. So, honestly, it's a win-win situation."

"Except the constant danger you're in. Your life has been on the line for months, and I never even knew about it!"

Miko and Raf exchanged a glance.

"Uh, this might be a good time to go grab some more refreshments," she said under her breath, and he nodded--even though both of them had barely started drinking the ones they already had. They hurried over to the bench on the far side of the hangar, where a variety of sodas, fruit juices, and coffee had been set out.

A pair of airmen hovering nearby turned to follow them, leaving another pair standing a few feet away. Ostensibly, they were here to assist and protect the visitors, but their true purpose--keeping the guests out of off-limits areas--hadn't been lost on any of them.

Jack watched them go and turned back to his mom. She'd started this conversation with him several times over the past two weeks, but it always stalled before it could go anywhere. He wondered if it was because she knew, deep down, that he wouldn't budge, or simply because she hadn't worked out what she needed to say. What she'd learned after coming here was a lot to take in, after all.

June waited for the kids to get all the way over to the bench before continuing in a tightly controlled tone. "Knowing how many times you've almost been killed will give me nightmares for the rest of my life."

"It's not Arcee's fault. She picked a random spot to lay low, hoping the 'Cons would pass on by, and I just happened to walk up to her at the wrong moment. They attacked her, I got in the way, and she got me out of there. And since the 'Cons saw us together, I became a target, and from then on Arcee stayed with me to keep me safe."

"That worked out pretty well, didn't it?" June waved at his stumps. "And you act like you're not even upset about it."

"Sure, I am. But see, it could've been so much worse. If that Decepticon had fallen at a slightly different angle, I would've been pancaked." He shrugged and aimed a wry smile at her. "Obviously, I'd prefer to still have my legs, but I'm okay with this--because I'm alive."

"Telling me how much worse it could've been isn't exactly convincing me to go along with this."

Jack sighed. "Our entire world is in danger. If the Decepticons win this war, I'm dead anyway. And so are you and everyone we care about. I have a chance to help stop them, and I'll do everything I can."

"You're a kid, not a soldier." She leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. "It's not really about you and Arcee. I mean, it'll take me a while longer to get my brain around it, but I guess I can live with it. What I can't accept is you putting your life in danger every day. I should just ground you until you're eighteen."

Jack maneuvered his wheelchair closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Arcee told me what you told her--that sometimes things happen that no one can stop." He waited for her to look up at him and meet his gaze. "This is one of 'em."

She sighed and slumped forward. After a moment, she threw her left hand up. "Obviously, nothing I say will get through to you."

"Finally. Progress!" He grinned and patted her shoulder. "It's okay. Really." He nodded at Arcee. "She's got my back. And I've got hers."

June looked away and said nothing, but at least she didn't object again.

Jack pointed at Raf's laptop, sitting on a folding conference table a few feet away, and held up an SD card, deciding to change the subject before she tried to keep arguing. Copies of the video on the card had already been sent to Fowler and those above him in the chain of command; Jack had asked Arcee to make one more copy for him.

"This is Arcee's log of her fight with the Vehicons. I wanted you to see her in action, so you'll know I'm in good hands."

#

When the video finished, everyone stared at the screen with wide eyes.

Miko grinned and shook her head slowly. "That was badass! That one 'Con looked like a Pez dispenser when you were done with him!"

Arcee, sitting beside Jack with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms around them, managed a brief smirk. The clip had ended after she had used Jack's phone to call for help, and reliving that couldn't have been easy for her.

His mom covered her mouth with both hands. Her face had turned pale. "Jesus," she whispered.

Jack put his arm around her and hoped she wouldn't notice his trembling. Living through that had been bad enough, but seeing it through Arcee's eyes--actually witnessing the Decepticon falling on him, crushing his legs under tons of metal--was almost more than he could handle.

A movement in the corner of his right eye caught his attention and he looked up and found Arcee gazing at him with a sorrowful expression. Her left arm moved toward him but stopped, as if she wanted to comfort him but was holding herself back for the sake of decorum.

The mere sight of her lifted his spirits. He smiled and gave her a small nod, and her face regained some of its usual confidence and hint of humor.

One of the guards behind him whistled softly. "You're right, kid, that's pretty impressive."

"See, Mom?" Jack grinned. "I couldn't ask for a better partner."

"I guess you're right about that," his mom said softly. Reluctantly. "Nobody else would hand out that kind of curb-stomping for you. Well, nobody except me," she added with a wink.

Jack laughed and patted her shoulder. "I'm glad you're both on my side."

"Damn right." She managed a small smile, and looked up at Arcee and gave her a quick, small nod.

Arcee's brows lifted, then she grinned and nodded back.

Finally. Jack let a long, slow breath out.

"I'm curious," one of the other guards said, "the changing-into-vehicles thing; how do you do that?"

"Huh," Arcee shrugged. "Never had to explain it before. It's just...something we can do. Parts shift around into a different configuration."

Miko reached over to poke Jack's shoulder. "Hey, if you could turn into a vehicle, what would it be?"

"Uh..." He arched an eyebrow. "It never occurred to me."

"Fail." She laughed. "Me? Something fast and hot. Like a Lamborghini." She prodded Raf between his shoulder blades. "How about you?"

He aimed a smirk at her. "A TARDIS."

Jack facepalmed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"You probably have your mind on other things." Miko flicked her eyes toward Arcee, and Jack tensed up. When she didn't elaborate, he relaxed again.

"I think I'll go grab a drink." He wheeled himself toward the bench, but hesitated, wondering what Miko might say while he was out of earshot. Nah, Arcee can handle her. He continued on to the bench, poured a cup of coffee, and turned around. Uh-oh. Gonna need both hands on the wheels. He grabbed a lid and fastened it to the top of the cup, held the cup between his thighs, and returned slowly to Arcee and the others. That'd be just what I need now--spill hot coffee and burn my junk off.

As he approached, he spotted another airman walking toward the group. Arcee greeted her with a smile.

"Hello, Carla."

"Hi. I've got some good news for Jack; his new legs are ready."

Jack increased his speed. "Right on."

Carla turned around and grinned. "I thought you'd like that." She unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it off. "Since I have firsthand experience with that type of prosthetic, I figured I could explain the basics."

"Well, I am a little curious." Jack parked beside his mom, removed the lid and sipped the coffee, winced and decided to wait for it to cool down a little more.

"Well, check this out." Carla pointed at her left arm. "Not my original one."

Jack leaned forward for a closer look at it. "You're kidding."

"Nope. I always figured, if I was gonna be wounded, it'd be in combat--but no, this happened when I was on leave, visiting my family. Drunk driver swerved into my car just as I was getting out of it. Took the door--and my arm--clean off." She stepped closer to give him a better look at her arm, flexed her elbow and wiggled her fingers. "The skin appears pretty real until you look closely or touch it. You can use makeup to hide the 'seam' where your limb ends and the prosthetic one begins, but I hardly ever bother since I'm wearing a shirt or jacket most of the time. And as you can see, it has the same mobility as a real arm."

"Nice. How does it work?"

"The artificial bones inside are surgically attached to your real bones, right where the amputation was done, and they fuse together."

"Oh, right," Raf said. "I remember seeing something on the news about a cat who'd lost its leg getting a prosthetic that fused with its bones."

"Yeah, this is kind of a more advanced version of that. There's also a neural link that ties in with your brain, which allows you to operate the limb as if it really is a part of your body, and it also lets you feel sensations. It's not exactly like the real thing; it's pretty rudimentary at this stage, but you will be able to feel things on your artificial skin. And it should continue to improve as the team develops new upgrades."

"Sounds good."

"Hold on a sec." Arcee raised a brow. "I just checked; there's nothing even remotely like this on the market right now. So exactly how experimental is this?"

"It's the kind of thing we do here. A few of us volunteered to test these new replacement arms and legs, and the team working on this project is still making improvements, but I've had my new arm for almost a year and haven't had any problems with it."

Arcee pointed a finger at her. "Just so you know, Jack is not to be used as a guinea pig."

"Don't worry. There's a couple dozen people here who have prosthetics like mine, and none of us has had any side-effects." She put her jacket back on.

"That's good to know."

"It's okay, Arcee, I'm willing to give this a shot." Jack turned toward the door. "Okay, let's get started."

#

"Uhhhh..."

"Oh, he's finally waking up!" Familiar voice.

"M...Mom?" Jack forced his eyes open. Everything was blurry. He blinked slowly and his eyes focused gradually.

He was in bed, in a hospital room. His mom on the right, leaning over his bed, smiling. Arcee on the left, sitting on the floor yet still towering over him, grinning and reaching out to take his hand.

Oh, that's right. New legs. He looked down and grinned at the sight of what appeared to be two complete legs under the white sheet.

"How ya doing, kiddo?" His mom rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Uh, groggy."

"Guess they had you on some good stuff."

"Feels like." He fumbled for her hand, patted it, and turned to smile up at Arcee. "Hey, gorgeous."

"Hey, yourself." She stroked his cheek with a fingertip. "How are you feeling? Other than groggy, that is?"

"Really gotta take a leak. How long have I been out?"

"Four days." Arcee held a hand up to calm him before he could freak out. "The doctors said the procedure is painful and they had to keep you sedated for a while."

"Still hurts a little." Jack pulled the sheet down and stared at his legs. After a few seconds, he found the spot where his stumps ended and the prosthetics began. The ends of his real legs were sore, and below that...he wasn't sure. He thought he could feel the mattress under him, but couldn't help wondering if it was just phantom limb syndrome again.

"They said the worst of it is over, but you'll be sore for a while longer. They took you off the IV this morning, but you'll still need to keep taking the pain meds in pill form."

He nodded and took a few deep breaths. His head cleared a little more. He tried to flip the whole sheet back, but it flopped across his lower legs. "Aw, crap."

His mom and Arcee pulled the sheet off so he could take a look at his new legs. He stared for a long moment and finally let a goofy grin spread across his face.

"Huh. There they are. The skin looks the right color." He tried to wiggle his toes, and laughed when it actually worked.

"How does it feel?" his mom said.

"Not like before. The sensations are...I dunno, dull, I guess. But at least I can feel something." Still laughing, he tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed; they jerked and twitched and he frowned.

"I imagine it'll take some getting used to."

"Probably. Might as well get started, though." He managed to get his legs over the edge and place his feet on the floor.

"You might want to take it slow."

"I'd like to, but I really need to get into the bathroom." He pushed himself up, lost his balance, and staggered.

Both his mom and Arcee reached out to steady him. He regained his equilibrium and let out a slow breath.

"I'm okay. Just need to get the hang of this." He took a single step, waited to be sure that he would remain upright, and took another. "Okay. So far, so good. Still not sure if what I'm feeling is actually real, though."

Suddenly, something metallic yet warm trailed up the back of his left calf, and he shivered and grinned. "Ohhh!" He looked over his shoulder and found Arcee leaning toward him. He realized that she'd just brushed a finger along the back of his leg. "Okay, that settles that. Me likey, by the way."

"There's more where that came from." She winked.

"Gyahh!" His mom grimaced, looked away, and rubbed her hands over her face.

Jack laughed and continued on to the bathroom, taking each step slowly, but stopped when his mom snickered. He glanced over his shoulder.

She looked away again, trying to hide her grin by holding her fist in front of her mouth and clearing her throat. Arcee cocked her head and raised her left brow.

Oh. The hospital gown. It's open in the back. And I'm not wearing anything else. He blushed and shrugged. Eh, what can ya do?

"Nice ass," Arcee said with a smirk.

He grinned and played a quick drum solo on his ass cheeks before stepping into the bathroom and closing the door. Arcee burst out laughing and his mom snorted. When he finished, he opened the door, stepped out, and leaned his shoulder against the wall.

"Well, I'd like to get dressed now, so..."

His mom headed for the door and pointed at the closet behind her. "They put your stuff in there. I'll wait outside for you."

"Thanks." He waited for her to close the door behind her, and looked up at Arcee. "So...I, uh, need to get dressed. Which involves taking this gown off."

"That's about how I figured it'd start." She gazed at him for a moment. "Oh, you want me to turn around?"

"Well..."

She grinned, scooted over to the wall, sat cross-legged and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. And stared straight at him. "I'm not allowed to see my boyfriend naked?"

Oh. Right. "Ah. Good point." His face grew hot. Again. He shrugged and slipped the gown off. Okay, what the hell.

That smirk reappeared. "Interesting."

"Interesting? Good 'interesting' or bad 'interesting'?"

"Remember, I have no frame of reference for any of this. At all." She wiggled her brow plates. "I like what I see, though. You're in pretty good shape."

He glanced at his arms; they did appear slightly more muscular than they used to. "That's probably from pushing the wheelchair around and lifting myself into and out of it." He walked over to the closet and slid the door open. Then he laughed. "I'm walking! Been a while since I could do that."

Arcee's expression changed from its mixture of curiosity and amusement to relief. "I was afraid it'd never happen."

"That thought crossed my mind." He put his underwear on, losing his balance in the process and bracing his hand against the wall to hold himself upright. "Well, even if prosthetics like these weren't available, there are plenty of others that'd work." Another thought struck him and he winced. "Oh, man, I really don't want to see the bill for this."

"Well, since they're still kind of in the experimental stage, the cost might be waived."

"I hope so. On what I get paid at KO, I'd never be able to pay these things off." He shrugged and finished dressing. "So, what now?"

"I imagine you'll need breakfast."

"Oh, right. Guess I am kinda hungry." He cleared his throat and took a breath. "Then maybe we can, um, catch a movie or something?"

"Oh, our first date? Sure, sounds fun."

He grinned and picked up his coat. His left leg twitched and he grabbed onto the edge of the closet door. "Whoa. Can't do any dancing until I get used to these."

"Oh, Carla mentioned some exercises she did to help her adjust to her new arm. She and a bunch of the others found them quite useful. Maybe you can join one of the classes?"

He thought it over, nodded, and smirked. "Interesting."

#

After breakfast--well, lunch, technically--Jack decided to check out those exercises Arcee had mentioned. Arcee contacted Carla and asked for some info, and later that afternoon Jack found himself standing on the pavement outside the same hangar the Autobots had used for their meeting a few days ago. Carla--having apparently been assigned as his and Arcee's official liaison because of the friendship she'd formed with the 'Bot--was there with two off-duty personnel.

"Hi, guys," Carla said as they walked over, and nodded at the other two. "This is Airman Trent Wilkes and Airman Bobby Delaware. Trent, Bob, Jack Darby and Arcee."

"Good afternoon," Delaware said, and Wilkes simply smiled and tossed off a quick salute.

"We're meeting out here because Arcee wouldn't fit in the gym." Carla chuckled. "There's no reason she can't join in if she wants."

"Thanks." Arcee stood off to the side and clasped her hands behind her back.

"No problemo." Wlkes pointed at his left leg. "In case you're curious, that's the one I had to get replaced. Lost it when an enemy rocket hit a little closer than I would've preferred."

"With me, it's both legs," Delaware said. "Plane crash. Luckily, I wasn't the pilot at the time, so I don't have to take the blame for it."

"Ah. Well, nice to meet you guys." Jack chuckled and waved a hand at his legs. "Both of 'em. Twenty-foot-tall robot fell on me."

Wilkes whistled softly. "Now that's a story you can tell the grandkids someday."

Jack chuckled and exchanged a wry smile with Arcee.

"Well," Carla said, "since you two are new to this, we'll start at the beginning. I found that Tai Chi helped calm my mind after the accident, and it's a good way to adjust to new limbs like the ones we were given."

"Ah, martial arts?" Arcee suddenly looked a lot more interested. "I've picked up quite a bit from the Jackie Chan movies Jack got me hooked on."

"Fantastic. Love Jackie Chan." Carla grinned and rubbed her hands together. "Okay, let's get started."

Jack watched her slow, graceful movements, and did his best to mimic them. His legs weren't quite as twitchy as before, but he still had a way to go.

"Not bad, Jack." Carla stopped for a moment to point at his feet. "Remember to keep your feet in full contact with the ground. If you put all your weight on your heel or the ball of your foot, you can lose your balance."

"Okay, thanks." Jack kept going, gradually noticing his movements becoming smoother as he lost himself in the balletic motions.

"One of the things that drew me to this," Carla said after a long while, "is that it looks almost like a dance, but when you think about its true purpose, it becomes totally badass. This, for example." She swept her arms around, stepped back, then forward, and thrust her right hand out with her palm up and her fingers straight out. "The first motion deflects your opponent's blow, and the second jabs him in the eye or throat."

"Okay, I'm sold." Arcee grinned and began moving along with Jack and the others. Jack soon found himself standing still and simply watching her. She makes it look like she's been doing this for centuries.

But then, she'd probably searched YouTube, analyzed a bunch of Tai Chi videos, and incorporated the results into her combat suite.

Too bad humans can't learn things that easily.

A distant rumble approached, growing louder. Jack frowned and looked over his shoulder, and relaxed when he saw Bee driving up. He smiled and waved, and turned back to watch Arcee.

"Beautiful," he said softly. I could watch that all day. And all night. And the next day.

Bee stopped and one of his doors opened. Footsteps approached, followed by the sound of Bee changing into his primary mode.

"Hi, Jack."

"Hey, Mom. What's up?" Jack kept his eyes on Arcee.

"Wow." His mom stopped beside him and watched her for a moment. "I never thought a robot that big could be so graceful."

"That's my girl." He finally tore his gaze away from Arcee and looked at his mom. He frowned at her troubled expression. "Hey, are you okay?"

At the same moment, Bee walked over to Arcee and emitted a series of beeps and buzzes. Jack didn't understand any of it, of course, but it sure as hell sounded urgent.

Arcee stopped moving and her jaw dropped.

Jack glanced back and forth between the two 'Bots. He pointed at Bee. "Okay, what did R2D2 just say?"

"He said that Prime and the others just got a message from Fowler. Someone--"

"Someone broke into our house," Jack's mom said, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as if hugging herself. "Fowler had some of his people staking it out, keeping an eye on it while we were away, and they spotted a half-dozen or so people in some sort of armor picking the locks and slipping into the front and back doors."

"What?" Jack stared at her and shook his head slowly. Other than burglars--who probably wouldn't be wearing armor--he could only think of two other groups who'd be interested in his house.

"Fowler's men went in after them, and now they're in the hospital in Jasper." She shivered. "Multiple gunshot wounds."

"Shit." Jack put his arms around her and looked at Arcee. "Sounds like professionals. MECH, maybe?"

"Could be. I can definitely see how they'd have a grudge against us, given what happened the last time we ran into them." Arcee shook her head, clearly troubled by the implications. "If it's not MECH, then somehow the Decepticons managed to recruit some humans."

"Either way," Jack almost whispered, "they know where we live."