"Miko...I am so sorry," Jack whispered. "I shouldn't have..." he trailed off. "Nobody saw it coming...but it's still my fault you were hurt. I...I hope you can forgive me."

Currently, Jack and Raf were with Miko in her hospital room, with her host parents just outside the open door. Jack was trying to be discreet on saying he was sorry he had let go while they were in the cave while keeping up the excuse of being in a car crash. Raf was silent, though quietly whispering a "I hope you'll be okay" when Jack finished. Miko was out, sleeping off the anesthesia. The doctors had said she'd make a full physical recovery, but of course, in the words of Optimus,"It is the external wounds which heal the quickest". Jack worried how Miko would take seeing her guardian from their dimension. All Arcee had done to him was drop him into a pod and sprain his ankle, but, as twisted as it was, he could see Arcee as evil, not that he would want that or anything, he just could figure out her personality if she had turned to the "dark side", and he wasn't too fazed. Bulkhead, on the other hand, or even Bee, was much harder. Granted, he didn't have as close of a relationship with either, but they just were too nice to even think about being evil, and yet...it was an alternate reality. Even though they had been stuck in it, Jack still found it hard to believe it even existed. If Miko hadn't come through injured he would have mistaken it all as a dream.

But it was very real.

Miko proved it.

He shuddered slightly, grateful that that reality wasn't the norm, but realized that the other Jack Miko and Raf probably felt the same way about their world. He sighed, and that's when Miko coughed and stirred, startling the two.

"Miko?" Raf asked.

"Guys?" she replied groggily. "Where are we...?"

"The hospital...you're safe. You'll be alright," Jack informed her. She smiled weakly, and Jack and Raf returned the smile. It was silent for a few seconds as Miko closed her eyes again.

"Jack?" Miko asked.

"Yeah?"

"One question..."

"Yeah?" he asked again. She finally opened her eyes and looked over at him, seeming a bit concerned.

"Where...where are we?"

***

The halls of the Ark were similar to the ones of the Nemesis; dimly lit long stretches of hall with an occasional door or hall in another direction. The main color theme however was not purple, but rather a dark red, giving the ship an additional creep factor in Starscream's opinion.

"So, where, exactly, are we going?" the seeker asked, his wings fluttering slightly in nervousness as he looked at the Autobot femme walking at his side.

"We're not going anywhere, really," she replied vaguely. "Though, I could use some energon. Do you need energon?"

"Is it different like everything else in this place?" Starscream asked, raising an optic ridge.

"Is your energon blue?"

"Yes..."

"Then you're in luck, Screamer," Arcee replied, changing her direction and suddenly turning down a hall. Starscream kept up, and she stopped at a door. It opened for her, allowing the two inside before she grabbed a cube for Starscream and herself. She turned to look at him.

"I need to talk to you."

"You've told me that twice now, but you won't tell me what about," he replied.

"If you'd be quiet, I'd tell you faster," she replied.

"I've hardly said anything," Starscream defended. She only rolled her optics, before staring at him directly in the optic.

"Be honest, how many times have you tried to scrap Megatron?"

"W-what kind of a question is that?" Starscream asked, giving her a look. She continued to stare until finally he gave in.

"I don't know, alright? I don't keep track. Stop staring at me."

Her gaze didn't let up however.

"How did you do it? Or attempt to do it?"

"Why do you want to know?

"So I know what to look for in case you get any ideas while on this ship," she replied, poking his chest chassis.

"Are you sure it's not because you're looking for ideas?" Starscream replied with a smirk, brushing off the spot she had poked him. "We could work together, end both of their lives and rule both universes."

Arcee narrowed her optics. "You think I'm willing to event attempt an assasination?" she hissed quietly.

"Please, I saw the scowl on your face as you stared at your beloved leader."

"That's just my face," she replied. Neither of them had touched their energon; they weren't really in need of it, but Arcee wanted to talk to the seeker in a more private area. Starscream gave her a skeptical look.

"I don't think so. I can tell what your true intentions are, Arcee."

"Oh so you're a mind reader now," Arcee replied casually.

"Would you quit staring at me like that?" Starscream replied. Arcee's optics narrowed further.

"Try and assassinate Megatron all you want, I don't care. But if you even touch Optimus Prime-"

"You're either extremely stupid or sickeningly loyal, just like you are in my dimension," Starscream sighed, rolling his optics. Arcee's optic twitched and she growled lightly when Starscream interrupted her.

"Even if I wanted to betray Optimus, who said I'd want to work with you?"

"It would be easier, wouldn't it? Think of it, the power, the glory, all yours. You can control an entire faction they way you demand it. And with the both of us working as allies, we could be unstoppable!"

"You do realize that if either of us are heard participating in such a conversation-much less acting upon it-Optimus would have my spark before anything else," Arcee replied.

Perfect. Starscream simply nodded, smiling internally.

"So you are interested. Precisely why you need my guidance."

"Follow your own advice before you give it to someone else," Arcee snapped. "If you followed your 'guidance', you probably would have succeeded by now and we probably wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Are you always like this?"

"Define 'this'," Arcee replied. Starscream shook his helm.

"So, do you want my help or not? You're the one who wanted to talk to me, weren't you? Wasn't it about this?"

Arcee hesitated.

"I'll admit, it was."

This would seal her fate, and she shouldn't trust him. Not with this.

"Then...?"

"Fine. But if you double cross me, I'll rip out your spark and make you eat it."

And something told Starscream this was no empty threat.

***

"Do you have a plan?" Megatron asked Optimus once they were in a private area. Optimus smiled. "Indeed. Do you recall a prophecy in your timeline from the covenant of Unicron, that 'when the forty-seven spheres align, a perpetual conflict will culminate on a world forged from chaos'?"

"'And the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness'," Megatron finished.

"Precisely. Don't you see, Megatron? We are the 'rising darkness' of which the prophecy speaks! Earth scientists have discovered that this very same planetary alignment will occur in one of their weeks. With our combined forces, we will be unstoppable."

A smile slowly formed on Megatron's face.

"Unstoppable indeed."

And then after this I can possibly get rid of you, they both thought at the same time.

***

Yay! It's picking up a bit xD

So the majority of this one was still Arcee and Starscream, but that'll change I swear

But writing their conversation was fun though xD

So Megs and OP don't seem to like each other's company as they both originally thought, hm?

Also, what's up with Miko? :>

aNYWAY, guys have another picture.

I like to view this as a "teaser poster", y'know, the things they do for movies.

Except for a fanfiction.

...Even though this has already been up for a year.

I did NOT draw this, and I don't know the artist's Wattpad (if she has one), but she sent me this after reading my book and my jaw dropped. She's really talented.

I am posting this with her permission, please do NOT steal (or I will come after you).

The text has been edited by moi, with her permission as well.

I honestly love everything about this

I think SG Jack is my favorite, and the Rafs' facial expressions to each other are pretty awesome.

Thank you, artist! (I'd say your name but I don't know If you'd be comfortable with that so)

Thank you guys for reading and sticking with this book, too! I know the updates are pretty bad but hopefully I'll get better (even though I keep saying that). Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

-BP