Enemy of my Enemy

Chapter 1: Mission Prep

"I really wish you'd reconsider, Jack." Arcee kept her voice barely above a whisper even though Jack was the only other person in the repair bay. She sat in the same spot she'd occupied since Ratchet attempted to fix her near-fatal damage from yesterday's battle with Airachnid. Jack stood in front of her with his hands enveloped in hers, gazing up into her softly glowing optics. The Pretender body she'd begun using as a remotely-operated platform sat across the chamber, its eyes closed, waiting for her to link up to it again.

"Not happening." Jack reached up to her, and she leaned down to meet him halfway. He stroked her cheek and blinked rapidly, trying to hold back more tears. He'd done enough crying since finding out how dire her condition was.

"Jack, please." She brushed a lock of hair away from his face. "When we board the Nemesis, I won't really be there. You'd be risking your life, but--"

"I've been doing that since the day we met." Jack smiled and patted the back of her hand. "Honestly, I'll be able to handle this a lot better if I don't have to worry about you getting killed right in front of me, for once."

She sighed. "And I have to worry about the same thing happening to you--while I'm stuck here."

"You're not exactly helpless." He pointed at her Pretender doppelgänger. "You'll be there, right beside me. You'll have my back, like you always do. And I've got yours." He stepped forward and embraced her. "Besides, you're not exactly safe, either. If we can't get the parts you need, you'll--" He cut himself off and held his breath for a moment. "If I stayed behind and ... things didn't work out, I couldn't live with myself."

"I know." She rubbed his back gently. "Jack ... if the operation isn't successful, as a last resort I could upload part of myself into my Mini-Me. It doesn't have enough storage capacity to hold everything, but I could pull it off if I only transfer the most important files."

He stepped back and frowned up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Software for my basic functions would fit into its memory core, and my most recent memories. I'd have to give up a lot, like most of my memories of Cybertron." She shrugged. "But given what happened to my planet, maybe forgetting it would be more of a gift than a curse. Anyway, even if the worst happens, I could survive, in a way. You'd still have me."

"Hold on." He shook his head slowly. "I'm no computer expert, and I don't know if Cybertronians are even remotely similar, but when you transfer a file, you're not actually moving it; you're making a copy and the original stays right where it was before. Is that how this would work?"

She glanced away for a split-second, enough for him to know she was full of it.

"No, it's not like that. I'd--"

"Don't lie to me, Arcee."

She winced. "I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to .... Okay, you're right, it'd just be a copy of me. But still--"

"No. If it's not you, I don't want it at all." He shook his head frantically. "I can't lose you. I can't ever lose you. And I sure as hell wouldn't ever want to replace you."

She closed her optics and hung her head. "I didn't think--I just wanted ...."

"I know, honey." He took a breath and smiled. "Come here."

The corner of her mouth quirked upward. She started to move closer, then glanced off to the side. "I hear footsteps; the rest of the team will be here any second. With Starscream."

"Let 'em get an eyeful, then; it's the least of our worries."

"True enough." She leaned over, getting close enough to kiss him. He rested both hands on her smooth metal cheeks and lost himself so completely in the moment that he didn't even hear everyone else enter the room.