Oraclesight:Sorry that it took this long to get an update but I had a lot of personal problems and was busy with my finals.

Chapter 2:

Once burned, twice shy

Jack sighed as he walked out of school , what happened yesterday had him extremely nervous. When he had thought he could finally live peacefully, those giant robots came along. He just hoped this would only be a one time occurrence and that he wouldn't see them again. Beside Predaking seemed to really dislike them, if not outright despise them. either way it was better for him to stay as far as he could.

"Hey Jack!" The human youth turned around to face Vince who was smiling at him. The former bully had been quiet the annoyance at first but following an advice from Predaking Jack had stood up to the bully and actually fought back. They both had detention, they talked, and that's how they got to know each other. Vince wasn't exactly a bad person , he was just arrogant, a bit of a hothead and easily angered. But in the end he just needed someone to keep him in check, a friend that wouldn't encourage his bad behavior.

"Hey Vince"

"What's up man?"

Jack shrugged "Nothing special at the moment...the usual in Jasper"

"Heh guess so, but you would be a little less bored if you accepted to give street-racing a shot" he said with a smirk.

Jack sighed rolling his eyes "Vince you know I don't own a car or anything motorized. Beside I'm not really into this, and it's not like I have the time"

"Yeah I know got a lot of obligations with your job, but really you should try to have fun. We live only once. anyway got to go home, see you next time" he said waving goodbye as he went to his car.

Jack chuckled shaking his head , he knew Vince meant well but he would just drag Jack into stuff that would end up with him getting into troubles ,and with how over-protective his mother is, Jack wasn't willing to give her more reasons to worry.

Jack was about to go home too when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around to see Rafael , the boy from yesterday. "Oh hi, Rafael, right? about yesterday let's just pretend nothing happened, okay?"

The boy smiled and nodded "Yup that's me...and I don't think that will be possible" he said pointing at a yellow and black camaro and a blue and pink bike which were all too familiar.

Jack shook his head immediately , he hadn't had the chance to talk about them with Predaking who didn't seemed to like those bots. So he was better off not interacting with them , he didn't knew them and they were fighting with other giant robots who could kill him by merely stepping on him. "Sorry Rafael but you will do whatever you want , but I'm staying out of this and I really advice you do the same" he says walking away , hoping to get home and forget they even tried to approach him.

That's when Arcee decided to stand in his way using what he guessed was a sort of hologram to make it seem like there was someone driving her, though she had the hologram disappear when they entered a small alleyway with no one to see them, or at least they thought there would be no one "Relax I just want to talk" Arcee said calmly.

"Well maybe I don't" Jack replied glaring at her, why did she have to be so insistent, this would only make things more needlessly difficult.

"Look kid, there's a lot you don't understand" she said moving forward making the human take a few step back as he eyed her suspiciously.

"I do understand, you and your friends are in the middle of something, something dangerous. I don't want to be part of this, whatever it is" he replied standing his ground completely unafraid.

Arcee went into bipedal form and knelt in front of him "Look, Jack is it? Your personal safety is exactly why Optimus Prime requested your presence"

Jack rose an eyebrow at that and shook his head "No thanks, I can take care of myself just fine" he replied.

This caused Arcee to stare at him , the way the boy stood his ground and didn't seemed even remotely scared of her or even intimidated really began to confuse her. she sighed "Listen you are one of the rare humans to have ever seen us and-"

Before she could say anything else she was interrupted by a voice coming from the other side of the alley "Oh Come on dude! what are you waiting for? Go with!" they both turned around to see the voice belonged to an overly excited Japanese girl who's hairs were partly dyed pink.

Jack recognized her as the transfer student that recently arrived, Miko Nakadai if he remembered correctly. She was too loud and eccentric, hence why Jack had always stayed away from her, she seemed to be nothing but troubles, he already had a trouble-maker friend he didn't want a second especially one that loud.

Jack sighed heavily as he climbed on Arcee's alt-mode with Miko who shouted as happily as they headed to the Autobot base. During the whole trip the boy grimaced , things were really spiraling more and more out of control with each passing second.

When they finally arrived to the Autobot base he had to agree that it was impressive , but then again so was the Predacon Lair the first time. Made him think he still had some stuff to fix with Skylynx..."damn it!" he thought as he realized that he was supposed to meet with the Predacons this afternoon! Oh well he would just send them a message and explain later...Predaking wasn't going to like it but he had no choice.

Ratchet gazed curiously at the three humans "I thought they were only two"

Arcee merely shrugged but she really seemed annoyed this was the second time she had her cover blown because of Jack "Haven't you heard?Humans multiply" she answered sarcastically.

Jack simply observed as Miko and Raf interacted briefly with the Autobots, before their leaders arrived. "So that's Optimus Prime?" he thought, there was no mistake possible, the way the bot carried himself , the way he spoke. Definitely a leader, but much more gentle than Predaking, he was charismatic, but definitely vastly different from Predaking who had to assert his dominance over the other Predacons at all time because such were their ways, only the strongest was fit to lead. Jack listened as he explained the reasons why they, the "Autobots" as they called themselves, were here. When they talked about the energon he realized they meant the blue crystals the Predacons consumed. That wasn't good, Predaking was territorial and the energon was a vital resource. He wasn't sure how things would turn out from now on.

He really needed to discuss this with Predaking, after all the Autobots seemed genuine when they talked about protecting Earth. They shouldn't be fighting potential allies while there was a really big threat around, one they could fight together.

he grabbed his phone only to discover he didn't have any signal bars, that was bad "Okay, I think we all understand why you are there...and are thankful for the offer of protection , but could we go home now?" Jack asked really wanting to leave before the Predacons could start to worry and go searching for him. which could only result into a misunderstanding and possibly more unneeded hostilities.

But Miko had to speak up "Are you insane? I'm living a dream here in Bot-swana and I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it!"

Jack began to massage his temples, that girl was becoming more and more of a headache, she wasn't even realizing what she was doing.

Then Raf decided to voice a question that he had during the whole explanation about the Cybertronians "And what about the others?"

Optimus rose optic-ridge "The others?" he asked clearly confused, as he didn't understood what the young human was talking about.

"Wait there are more of them?' Miko asked excitedly with even more stars in her eyes than before, if such thing was possible.

"Yes those dragons like cybertronians who came to our help yesterday, I don't see them here and they certainly aren't Decepticons since they took down the ones attacking us" Rafael explained as he certainly was getting more curious seeing the expressions and the looks the the Autobots exchanged.

Miko squealed in delight hearing about this "Dragon-bots?! Awesome! I must see them!" she shouted excitedly.

Jack shook his head , it was absolutely out of question to let that girl any near Predaking or Skylynx, Jack wouldn't give them more than a few minutes before they go crazy . That girl was just bad for the sanity of those surrounding her, and if she met Darksteel...God have mercy upon the souls of those who would be there.

Optimus sighed heavily "They are called Predacons, and they belong to neither factions. They are an ancient race of Cybertronians who went extinct during a terrible calamity called the Great Cataclysm , a solar eruption from a rogue red star that wiped them out off the surface of our world..." Optimus explained but before he could say more what seemed to be an alarm rang through the base.

"What's that?" Jack asked getting an answer in the form of beeps and various computer generated sounds from Bumblebee.

"Proximity sensors, there is someone on top of the base" Rafael explained having visibly understood what the Autobot explained even if it was in a language that made no sense for Jack's ears.

"This has to be agent Fowler, our liaison to your government, it is better if you don't meet at the moment" Optimus stated making it clear for the kids that they would have to hide while the special agent was they did , much to Jack's despair things always seemed to get more complicated, now they were involved with the government too.

The children listened as team prime dealt with the annoying human agent, and Jack noticed that thankfully they made no mentions of the Predacons being a different faction, guess that would have gotten them more troubles than it was worth. And agent Fowler already seemed in a fool mood because he had to cover for the Autobots when they failed to keep a low profile it seemed, and adding the Predacons to the mix had not helped. Only more reasons to stay hidden, safe from the agent.

When the agent finally left, Jack decided he had seen and heard enough, he had to find his way out of here. No matter how well meaning the Autobots were they would only get troubles if he didn't get out of here before the Predacons came looking for him. Thankfully another event happened, the Autobots had to look for one of their own they had declared KIA, a certain Cliffjumper.

While Ratchet was busy with solving the computers bugs with Rafael's help, Jack sneaked away. He made a mental note of asking Raf for help when he encounters trouble with MECH's computers at the Lair. If Jack knew how to fix electronics and and machinery, he knew nothing of programming and other computer science stuff.

After a few minutes of looking around the base he finally found his way out and sent a message to Predacons and a few minutes later Skylynx arrived to pick him up "Hey Jack, that's a weird place you chose. Well at least it's remote enough so no one will see us ,but still a strange choice" the predacon said a little curious about this location, it really wasn't often that Jack left Jasper on his own, usually he would pick up the teen on the edge of town.

Jack shook his head "Not my choice, I'll explain once we are at the lair. I need to talk with Predaking, because things are getting really out of hands " he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

Skylynx nodded understanding that whatever happened was big, he growled as he smelled the scent of the autobots on Jack "It has to do with those cybertronians, the Autobots?"

Jack nodded "Yeah but as I said I'll explain everything once we are at the lair, Predaking will want to hear about this"

Skylynx nodded "Of course" he answered and let Jack climb on his back and then he took off, he had to slowdown a little so Jack wouldn't be falling off his back.

When they arrived to the predacon lair Jack noticed that Predaking seemed a little concerned , Jack sighed sending an annoyed look at Skylynx who obviously contacted the predacon leader while they were flying. The huge draconic cybertronian merely shrugged at the teenager.

"So what did you want to tell us about the cybertronians?" Predaking asked annoyance sipping into his voice as he said 'cybertronians' clearly he didn't like them at all.

"Well I met the Autobots' leader, Optimus Prime" a growl escaped the tall black predacon as Jack spoke the title of the autobot leader, causing the teenager to gulp heavily really starting to wonder what kind of past the Predacons had with the cybertronians. From the little bit of information given by Optimus it didn't seem like they had a reason to be so hostile "They are not our enemies, they are fighting the Decepticons, those who attacked us so maybe you could consider helping-"

Predaking roared in response his optics shining brightly with anger "No. I'll stop you right there Jackson, an alliance is out of the question. Autobots or Decepticons, it doesn't matter, they are trespassers, they brought their conflict to our territory and are after its resources. Beside we cannot trust them, you should remember this, never trust a cybertronian "

Jack seemed confused "What have they done to you? I mean from what they said the Predacons were gone from their planet a long time ago because of a cataclysm-"

Predaking snarled his growls getting deeper and more threatening,the sharp plates of his armor bristling making him seem bigger and more dangerous because of all those sharp edges. But he calmed down noticing how badly the teenager flinched at his display of anger. Predaking took a deep breath and calmed down "Jack, the Prime, consciously or not left out part of the story. We Predacons have a genetic memory, and I am the clone of a clone, so I perfectly remember what happened since the original Predaking was the leader of his kind at that time. During the great cataclysm Prima the leader of the cybertronians at the time left my predecessor and his people to die out of spite and hatred. That I can accept, the ancient predacons brought this upon themselves since they constantly hunted and scorned the Cybertronians. But all Prima's talk about their supposed moral superiority and honor...nothing but lies" Predaking said with a snarl, he greatly resented Prima for his hypocrisy, if they had been so morally superior as they claimed, they wouldn't have left his ancestor to burn.

Jack looked away clearly now he started to understand how the Predacons felt, even though he could understand that the ancient cybertronians hated the predacons leaving them to die was wrong. Then the teenage boy rose an eyebrow as he was intrigued by something that Predaking said "Wait, the clone of a clone ? so there was another scientist who recreated you before my father?" he asked now a little confused.

Skylynx scoffed "Of course there was little one, it's the same for us, how could fossils of our kind be on Earth otherwise? Think of it, our race is not native to this planet and went extinct millions of years ago on another one. I guess we can thank that bastard Shockwave" he said with disgust clearly whoever was that scientist, Skylynx didn't like him.

"Yeah, Shockwave...we were just another project of his..." Darksteel said shuddering a little, there was a hint of fear in his voice, he still remembered how his predecessor had been vivisected by Shockwave, he had never told anyone because it was an humiliation to be at the mercy of a being weaker than himself.

Predaking nodded "Shockwave the mad-scientist of the Decepticons. He resurrected our species to protect the energon resources stored on this world and left us to die... again. He and the decepticons made many promises to us, all were lies in the end. This is why we refuse to help cybertronians, the decepticons are liars, as for the Autobots, they are led by a Prime who has no doubt been modeled after the example of that glorified hypocrite Prima" he explained now trying to rein in his emotions not wanting to scare Jack again, but it was really hard for him since it was not a natural thing for a predacon to do "Jack you have to understand that they still fight after destroying our planet, and Primus knows how many other worlds, what is the point in a fight when there's no territory left to fight for? They still fight when they are nearing extinction. Involving ourselves in this war can bring us nothing but pain and destruction."

Jack was standing there not moving at all, looking at his feet. He now understood the reasons behind the Predacon refusal to help the Autobots. He was feeling the emotions of Predaking as if they were his own, and the anger he felt seemed legitimate "But what about the Decepticons?" he asked.

Predaking sighed "Make no mistake Jack we will fight the Decepticons, but it is out of question to trust the Autobots." the answer was spoken firmly making it clear that the decision was final.

"I understand..."Jack nodded slowly, he couldn't change the mind of the Predacon leader. Not now, not with how things are at the another question came to his mind "Why did you trust my father? after being betrayed by Shockwave and the decepticons , what made you feel like you could trust him?"

A sad smile crossed Predaking's feature when Jack asked about his father, the teenage could feel the mix of sadness, fondness, and regret in the predacon's spark "He was very different, Shockwave had no emotion, he was driven only by cold logic and cared only about learning more of our biology to create more weapons for the decepticon cause. Your father was the exact opposite, he cared about us on a personal level. I still remember the long time we would spend talking once he had managed to teach me your language, he was curious about everything. When I explained our society, our way of life, he didn't call us savages or beasts, he was genuinely curious and wanted to understand us. And most importantly he respected us, treated us as equals unlike Shockwave and the decepticons." It was painful for Predaking to talk about this because of how much he valued the bond with the human named Alexander Darby "This is why I accepted him as my...friend" he said hesitating before using the human word, the concept of friendship seemed so alien to him at first, being at the top of the hierarchy of the predacons his previous incarnation never trusted anyone so fully. And yet he couldn't think of a more apt word to name his relation to the man who brought his kind back not as mere beasts like Shockwave did, but as their original selves.

Jack mirrored the sad smile, he truly missed his father, he was glad that he had Predaking to tell him more about why the man died. It didn't lessen the pain, but in a way it made Jack proud of the legacy he carrying, or at least trying to, he had yet to really understand the biology of predacons. Maybe the Autobot's grumpy medic could help, if Jack was allowed to approach their base again and got the chance to speak with them.

Then he heard a small beeping sound, he reached for his phone to know what time it was "Uh oh...it's getting late, looks like we will fix the electric grid of the western sector another day" he said looking at Skylynx who chuckled.

"Yeah that will have to wait, but its not really a big problem, it's mostly storage units and I doubt there will be anything interesting there" the predacon said with a shrugged as he extended his hand for Jack to climb on as he walked toward the exit.

As they were about to leave Predaking decided to say one last thing "And remember, stay away from the Autobots, I mean it...I've lost your father , I won't lose you too" Even if the Predaking's voice was firm,but his optics had visibly softened.

Jack nodded "I'll do my best..." was all he said feeling uncertain, he couldn't promise since the Autobots decided they had to protect him, he might found himself approached by them again. He knew how much Predaking cared for him, cared for him in the way a sire would care for his only because of the bond they shared, but also because of his guilt over being unable to protect Jack's father, Jack was all he had left of the only friend he ever had.

Jack could feel the worry of his guardian over the bond they but again there was nothing he could do about it. He would just have to try to stay out of trouble as much as he could but in his defense it wasn't that he was looking for troubles, it was troubles that always seemed to find him because his awful luck.

Skylynx left the teenager on the edge of the city making sure to not be sighted again. The predacons already had been sighted once , no need to cause more agitation. So Jack walked home alone, and when he arrived he had the surprise to see a familiar two wheeler in front of his home.

The teen sighed heavily opening the garage door to let Arcee in, and once he closed the door and was alone with her he heard the familiar sound of metal shifting against metal.

Arcee was kneeling in front of him, glaring at him "You really are an annoyance you know that? what were you thinking disappearing like that?" she hissed.

Jack sighed yet again "Listen, I don't need your help to be safe. I'm already safe. More than you can imagine, your presence here will only make thing needlessly complicated" he replied.

The autobot femme rose an optical ridge at that statement , why had the boy so confident in his safety against the Decepticons "Tsk, you are really going to be a pain..." it was now her turn to let out a sigh, she shook her helm "Anyway I got orders , and I will follow them" she said keeping to herself the fact she would also watch the boy, he was really suspicious.

Jack facepalmed and groaned 'Great! just great! now she is going to be around me so often that it will certainly get on Predaking's nerves if he hears about it...but I can't let her know about the Predacons, she is with the government and there's no telling what their reaction will be!' he thought trying to find a solution to the problem but finding none, he would have to do his best to keep his ties to the predacon a secret "Fine, guess we don't have the choice"

The only answer Jack received was a shrug, then he thought of something "And about this Cliffjumper guy-" before he could finish to formulate his question he was rudely interrupted.

"He is dead" she stated , though the harsh tone made Jack flinch.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Jack replied feeling genuinely bad for the autobot, since seeing her reaction this Cliffjumper might have been someone important to her.

She scoffed "As if you could understand what it feels like to lose someone"

"I do...I know this pain,I've already lost someone. if you feel the need to talk later do not hesitate " Jack said softly, the look in his eyes showing genuine sadness for the two wheeler. he left the garage, leaving the femme alone, he couldn't help her for now, she needed time to herself.

Arcee was confused this human showed a maturity she had not been expecting from a teenager. The more she talked with him the more curious she was. This boy really a strange one, she would need to keep an eye on him.

Meanwhile Jack sat in the living room as he began to think of how he would explain to his mother how he suddenly owned a bike, an explanation that would involve as little of the truth as possible. His mother would freak out if she heard he was now caught in the middle of an alien war.

Oracle: there finally done, hope you enjoyed it, I should update this story in a more regular way from now. Or at least I will try.