June Darby [Being Human AU] (Transformers: Prime)

Chapter Fifteen | Decisions, Decisions

"Waiting hurts. Forgetting hurts. But not knowing which decision to take can sometimes be the most painful . . ." 

~ José N. Harris, MI VIDA: A Story of Faith, Hope and Love 

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June woke up from her recharge to a servo on her snout.

Optics flaring to life, she flared her armor only for Jack to yelp in shock and stumble backwards, falling back on his butt.

"Whoa, whoa! Mom, it's just me!" He waved his arms, the child terrified of her. The femme relaxed, transforming into her bipedal mode and scowling at the young man.

"You couldn't try to wake me?" She crossed her arms and cocked her hips, a move Jack knew all too well. His mother was preparing to thoroughly chew him out.

He stood up, instinctually placing a hand on the back of his helm. "I tried," he answered. "You were pretty out of it. Optimus said a lot was on your processor?"

Primus, do any of the Autobots keep any secrets? June thought bitterly, sighing. Optimus had probably only said such a thing when Jack inquired to where she was. He was her son, and he did worry. "I do. It's . . . complicated."

"Are you still 'confused?'" Jack looked incredibly worried at that. "Is there something wrong?"

"I don't know if wrong is the right word for it," she admitted. "I . . . well, do you want me to break it to your gently or outright?"

Jack eyed her with suspicion, wondering why on Earth his mother - who rarely kept him out of the loop on things - would ask such a question. "Just tell me, mom."

When the femme took a vent he wondered if he had made the right decision. "When I was a Predacon, Megatron was the first to make physical contact with me. Optimus and Shockwave believe that is why I am now so . . . weird around Megatronus. They think I imprinted on him."

"Imprinted?!" Jack shrieked, several octaves higher than what his vocalizer should have allowed. "Like, Twilight imprinted? Or ducklings imprinted? Please tell me it's the latter, please."

"It's neither," June rolled her optics a little, "and don't you ever compare our . . . thing to Twilight ever again. It's painful enough thinking about it in any other way. But, Optimus believes it is more territorial than anything else."

Jack let out a half-sigh, looking at his mother in disbelief. "So . . .?"

She shrugged at him, looking completely baffled. "So what? Nothing I can really do about it; I can ignore it sometimes, but other times . . . another part of me is constantly chasing the need to be around him, and protect him. I'm sure you heard about the Starscream incident?"

"Yes," Jack's optics brightened, becoming steely. "Are you alright? Ratchet said you were fine, but I know you can sometimes be . . . resistant to help."

June rolled her optics. "I truly am alright, Jack," she promised. "Aside from everything that has been going on, I've never been better. Now that I can make sense of why I'm feeling the way I do, I will give myself less headaches; and hopefully Ripclaw stops pestering me about checking up on him."

Her son raised an optic ridge. "Ripclaw?"

The femme nodded. "She is . . . My Predacon body. Another consciousness that is in my head, sort of. She isn't fully aware; it's more instinctual and sensations of thought rather than an actual, living creature."