Darkness of the Soul

Betrayal

Those kids had to be blind. He could have reached out and grabbed the girl, but she was completely obvious to his presence as she tore after her partner-in-crime. He glared at the boy. He recognized that face.

The pair of interlopers ran by, an entire force of police on their tails. Instead of joining the hunt, he calmly walked to the upper floor, trying find somewhere quiet. He happened to step out onto the first floor, just in time for the kids be caught by the Secretary of Defense himself.

Instead of intervening as the brats begged for mercy, he pulled out a phone. He dialed a number and waited. It was answered.

"I have sights on the Darby kid," the agent reported. "You're not going to believe this..."

Jack and Miko walked a good two miles from the Pentagon's expansive parking lot, coming up to an empty construction site. Not a soul in sight, Jack sent a text to Raf, requesting a groundbridge. Then he opened up another conversation.

He stared at the phone for a long time. His chest felt tight and heavy. The weight on his hip felt even heavier. He swallowed and replied to the blocked number.

I have it.

The reply was instantaneous, like they were practically waiting on the line all day. It wasn't a dry comment or fake praise or even instructions. Just a series of numbers and letters, that it took Jack a moment to realize were coordinates. Swallowing again, he closed the flip phone and stepped through the groundbridge.

Only to be greeted with a furious Arcee.

"What were you thinking?" the two-wheeler seethed, fixing them with burning, bright glare.

Jack's heart stopped. Oh, no. The Autobots figured it out. They knew. They knew.

"Uh..." the boy stumbled, his tongue rooted in place.

"Going on a live battleground?" the Autobot scolded.

"Oh..."

Arcee didn't seem to appreciate his cluelessness, because her optics brightened. "We were looking everywhere for you! What if something happened to you?"

Jack's chest tightened and his fists balled. Miko spoke up before he could, her face impassive and her arms crossed in defiance.

"Oh, please!" she dismissed. "We were perfectly fine!"

"That was reckless," the little Autobot replied.

Jack looked over Arcee's head to see the rest of the Autobots looking down at them. Bulkhead sent a scolding glare to his partner, Bumblebee looked hurt, Ratchet seemed solemn, and Optimus's expression was ever stoic, even without his battlemask. They all had dents and scraps from the recent battle, but instead their attention were fully on the mischievous children. Raf was perched on the platform leading to the main computer, his lip quivering and eyes conflicted. Jack couldn't hold his tongue and the knot in his chest uncoiled.

"Oh, so now you care all of a sudden?" he spat at Arcee, forcing his way by without even looking at her. The device was hot in his pocket. Could the Autobots sense it? Weren't they sensitive to their own technology? He hoped it had an impressive cloaking device.

"What is that supposed to mean?" the motorcycle demanded.

"You've been ignoring me for days and don't even bother to shoot me a text, and now you're just going to scold me like I'm some little kid."

Arcee's optics widened and her jaw slacked. "What are you—Wait, is that what's this is all about?"

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but didn't have the chance as a baritone voice interrupted.