FicWad

Jack woke suddenly to find himself soaked in sweat again for the fifth night in a row since they picked up Zaeed and Soundwave from Omega. He got up and looked out of the window to the stars as they zipped past while the Defiant travelled in hyperspace. It had been the same nightmare, he could not help but think about what he had seen. He wondered why he had been brought back, why he deserved this second chance and not his friends who had given their lives in the fight against Sovereign. He couldn't help but feel that he shouldn't be there, that his time had passed. He sighed as he turned and went into the bathroom and cleaned himself up before getting dressed.

'Since I cant get any sleep, might as well go for a walk.' he thought.

The elevator opened on the Engineering deck as Jack stepped out and looked down the corridor. He had not been on this deck yet since he had come aboard and decided to take a look around, see if that could get his mind off of the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind lately. He entered engineering and saw only a handful of crewmen going about their duties.

'Must be the night shift.' he thought as took note of the time on his holo-tool. It was still early in the morning (earth time) and he walked back out of the room to find a staircase leading to the bottom level of the ship. Jack walked down, just a little curious to see what was down there. When he reached the bottom a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Can't sleep Jack?"

He looked to find Airachnid lying on her berth, looking at him in a way that still baffled him.

"What makes you say that?" he replied as she sat up, looking him up and down.

"Well here you are walking around the ship at just past three o'clock in the morning, and by the look of your eyes, this isn't the first time either. Am I right?" she asked in a gentle tone.

"Look I'm sorry for waking you, I'll be going." he said as he turned to leave, feeling like he needed to get out of there quick.

"What's the rush Jack?" she asked back casually. He turned round and looked back at her.

"What is going on, why are you acting like this around me?" she continued, getting slightly annoyed by the Prime's behaviour.

Jack looked at her confused by the question, before his face suddenly became serious.

"Well for one, the last time I saw you. You tried to kill me and my mom, then after that you tried to Arcee god knows how many times." he said with anger building in his voice. Airachnid just looked at the ground in response to Jack, her face a mixture of emotions that Jack could not believe he was seeing. She looked shocked and hurt. The Prime now felt a little guilty despite it being for someone that a number of years ago had been trying to kill him, so he walked over to her and sat beside her on her berth.

"I'm sorry." he said sheepishly. She looked back at him, then nodded in appreciation.

"It's my fault, I should have known you would act like this even after all this time." she replied.

"What do you mean? Airachnid don't take this the wrong way, but you are confusing the hell out of me right now."

She then looked ahead for a moment before sighing and looking back at the Prime.

"Let's just say I am not the same Airachnid that you knew."

Jack was now more confused than ever.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean that I….." she was cut off by Hotrod's voice coming over Jack's com link.

"Sorry if I woke you Prime, but I have the Director on the line. He says it's urgent." the Autobot said. Jack tapped his com link and answered.

"Okay I am on my way, Prime out." he replied before looking back at the femme sitting beside him.

"Back on the MECH station, you said you would tell me everything, I am going to hold you to that." he said, gaining a nod from her as he stood up and walked back to the stairs.

"But Jack, I want something in return." she answered, making him look back at her.

"What's that?" he asked.

"You tell me what has you walking around at this time of the morning." she said. Jack looked away for a moment, mulling over what she had just asked. He didn't know why, but he felt he could trust this version of the femme if that was the best way to describe her. He also knew that the best way to deal with the nightmares he was having was to talk about them, and for some strange reason he felt that she maybe the best one to talk too on the Defiant. He looked back at her and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Alright then, I guess I'll speak to you later then." he answered before turning and leaving the area. Airachnid then just sat there, a smile gracing her lips as she thought about what had just transpired. She knew that Jack would be hesitant to trust her at first considering their history, but maybe if he knew the truth about her then maybe that would change.

Silas stood, basking in the illumination of the orange holo-globe as he waited for a call. Then Jackson Prime appeared as a hologram just behind the him.

"Prime, I think we finally have them." he said as the orange orb took on the look of a planet.

"The former Alliance colony on Horizon just went silent. If they are not under attack, they soon will be. Has Soundwave found anything that could help us from all the data MECH has on the Quintessons?"

Jack crossed his arms and looked back a little disappointed.

"Not yet, he as been at it for the last five days."

Silas turned around and looked at Jack, his yellow optics glowing brightly.

"Well since he used to work for Megatron, he should know how to work well under pressure. Also there is something you should know. A member of your former crew is on Horizon, the Autobot called Arcee."

Jack's eyes widened at the mention of her name.

"Why would she be at the colony?" he asked, trying to hide the worry in his voice.

"It seems that she was sent to the colony to oversee the refit of its defences. Sort of an olive branch to the colonists by the Alliance, since the colony broke away due to the Council taking control of them." He then saw the worry that Jack was trying hard not to show.

"But what I am more interested in is why the Quintessons would choose to attack a planet, knowing your former team mate is there."

Jack's face then became serious.

"I think that is way beyond coincidence. We'll head there now." he answered stoically.

"Just make sure you stop them, because this is the most warning we have ever had Prime." Silas said as Jack's hologram then ended and left the Director on his own again.

Jack walked into the science lab and was immediately met by Ravage who stood in his way, growling at him. Jack though had no time for this and walked straight past it, making it look at him confused while the Prime carried on towards the spymaster who was typing at a console with Laserbeak perched on his shoulder.

"Soundwave do you have anything that can help us, because we are about to have a run in with the Quintessons." Jack asked, the only reaction the former con showed was to point to another screen. Jack walked over and looked at the data on it. After a moment of reading, a smile appeared on his face.

"Do you really think this will work?" he asked and Soundwave turned and faced the Prime, his face still emotionless as he nodded back.

PRIME EFFECT 2

At the colony two women were walking past one of the grey, simple looking buildings. One was a Caucasian woman with long brown hair and the other was Arcee in her blue and black armour.

"How is refit going?" the woman asked. The femme sighed before looking back to the Human.

"Not well, we are still having trouble with the guidance systems. Jessica, it would help if some of the colony's engineers would lend a hand." she answered irritably.

Jessica just shrugged.

"Sorry, but the others just want you and the Alliance engineers gone. They just don't trust them anymore."

Arcee looked at her disappointed.

"That is understandable, even I don't like all the rules and procedures that the Council has put in place since the Alliance joined them. I just know things would be different if only…" she stopped as she looked out over the to the mountainous region that surrounded the south west area of the colony, she held the dog tags that she was wearing around her neck tightly. This did not go unnoticed by Jessica.

"Your thinking about Jack again aren't you?" Jessica decided to ask seeing the pain that the Autobot was trying to hide. Arcee just ignored her and looked away, but that wasn't going to stop the human who pushed on.

"You have been here for the last six months helping us refit, and I have never seen you take off those dog tags."

Arcee looked down at them as she held them in her hands, she saw the name inscribed on them and all the memories came flooding back. A single tear rolled down her cheek as Jessica placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You know you can talk to me Arcee, we are friends after all." she said in a gentle sympathetic tone. The femme wiped the tear away before looking back at the Human woman.

"I know and thank you, but I am alright." she replied trying to smile back at her friend.

"Arcee I know you loved him, but it has been two years, surely its time to let go. I don't think Jack would want you to do this to yourself for the rest of your life." she replied. Arcee's face became stoic as she looked at Jessica.

"No, I cant. You see the last thing I was about to speak to Jack about before the Normandy was attacked…" she took a breath before continuing.

"…was about bonding, becoming spark mates."

Jessica looked at the femme thoughtfully.

"Is that like getting married?"

Arcee continued to look at Jessica, but then shook her head in response.

"No, its more than that. When two cybertronians become spark mates, its not just their love that binds them together but also their loyalty. They have to stay loyal to each other, even after one of them dies."

Jessica looked at Arcee, shock evident on her face.

"Wow, that's a big step..." she then looked away before looking back.

"...I don't know if I could make a decision like that."

Arcee smiled at her.

"If you met the one, then you would know with absolute certainty. Just like I did with Jack." she said with a slight smile as she remembered him. Jessica was going to reply but then noticed the sound of thunder in the distance. They both looked around confused as dark clouds appeared on the horizon.

"I thought the weather report was clear skies today." Jessica observed as the sky continued to darken.

"That was what I heard too." the femme replied as they noticed that everyone around them was looking towards the storm clouds that were closing in. Arcee stood up and looked up to see something in the clouds and getting larger.

"What is that?" Jessica asked as a giant ship dropped below the clouds and hovered over the colony.

"Get all the colonists into the safe house now!" she urged Jessica as she equipped her SMG's. Jessica nodded before running over to a group of colonists and ushering them away. Then Arcee's eyes went wide when she saw a group of colonists disappear in a green flash of light. Then as Arcee noticed more of the colonists vanish, she suddenly thought of her friend and ran back.

"Jessica, Jessica!" she shouted as the colonists who had noticed the others vanishing had started to panic and run amok as the colony descended into chaos. The femme then spotted her friend near the colony's square.

"Jessica." Arcee called out gaining the Human woman's attention. Then suddenly as Jessica looked back at the femme, she became engulfed in green light before she disappeared right before Arcee's eyes. She stood there completely shocked before being snapped out of it by a gunshot going straight by her head. She then dived behind cover as another one went right over her as she hid. She peeked over to see what had shot at her. It had green and purple metal armour and spikes on it shoulder pads, its face was covered by a green visor that had two horns, one either side of its head.

The only feature of it's face that could be seen was it's bright red optics as it stared in her direction. Arcee then noticed two others join it as they moved close to her position. The femme then took a deep breath before firing on the three as more of the colonists were teleported away and more enemies appeared on the ground was the mysterious ship remained above the colony.

The Defiant jumped out of hyperspace above the planet as the shuttle bay opened and a shuttle left the ship and descended into the atmosphere. Onboard was Jack in his Prime armour along with Garrus and Jacob who performing final checks on their weapons.

"Defiant to shuttle one, we have activated the teleport disrupter that Soundwave attached to our sensor grid. It should stop the Quintessons from teleporting any more of the colonists, as long as the Defiant remains in range of the colony." Hotrod said over the com link.

"And with the their cruiser hovering over the colony, we have to find a way to make it land so we can extract the colonists it has already taken." Jack replied.

"Yes, the colony has a population of fifteen thousand colonists, but we are only detecting six thousand and two hundred still down there. Do you want the Defiant to try and bring it down?" the pilot asked.

"No, keep the ship where it is. Can't risk anything happening to the Defiant while it keeps their teleporters offline, plus with what happened to the Normandy I think it's best to play it safe. Maybe we can use the colony's defence cannon emplacements against the cruiser, that's what they are there for."

Jack then heard Teletraan over the com link.

"My scanners show that the defence cannon guidance systems are not operating efficiently. If you can make it to the control console and give myself a direct link. The I believe that I can correct it."

Jack nodded in acknowledgement.

"Okay then that is the plan, landing team out." he answered as he turned to Jacob and Garrus.

"Right the here is the plan, we have detected that the Quintessons have soldiers on the ground, so we land and make our way to the defence network and turn it on the enemy cruiser. Understood?"

Both nodded back as Jack turned to the window and watched as the shuttle hit the atmosphere.

PRIME EFFECT 2

At the colony, Arcee found her self besieged by more of the enemy soldiers as they had her trapped in one of the supply buildings, she had to dive in there to get out of the line of fire since more of the enemies had appeared. Then as a group of them kept her busy, the rest are rounding up the remaining colonists and escorting them back to the ship which had landed at the edge of the colony. She wanted to try and help them but she could not get out of this damn building. She peek out from behind the cargo container she was using as cover to see one soldier at the west side window, and one at the north side entrance and one more at the east side window. She knew there were two more soldiers about, but did not know their locations. She then thought she heard the distinct sound of a sonic boom in the sky.

'Sounds like a ship breaking through the atmosphere at speed.' she thought.

'Could it be help, I don't see how, I never had the chance to send a distress signal.' She then heard the ship fly over the building towards the north end of the colony as gunfire followed, the soldiers outside firing at it, taking their attention away from her.

'This is my chance.' she thought as she ran out from cover and fired both her SMG's at both soldiers to her left and right, killing them instantly. She then equipped her arm blades as she pounced at the soldier at the door and slashed at it as they fell through the entrance and onto the ground outside. As it lied dead, she then rolled onto her back and fired her weapons at the two soldiers who were hidden to her before, but she could see them clearly on the building's roof. She then stood up and looked toward where the shuttle had headed as the two bodies landed on the ground either side of her. She then took off in that direction, hoping to meet up with whoever the newcomers were.

The shuttle landed on the ground and as the several Quintessons gathered near the shuttle's hatch, it suddenly sprang open and Jack, Garrus and Jacob rushed out, guns blazing as the enemies had not time to react as one after the other, they fell. As soon as they had the immediate area cleared, the shuttle took off and headed back out into the sky. Jack looked out over the colony and saw the Quintesson cruiser on the ground on the other side.

"Well that has made things easier, don't you think?" Garrus observed as Jack nodded.

"Yes, but we can still use the cannons to make sure it stays down. Now we know why they have feet on the ground, its so they can grab the remaining colonists."

He then looked back at both his team mates.

"We have to hurry!"

They then ran into the Colony grounds as they made their way to the Colony's defence mainframe. They came across many of the Quintessons as they worked their way through the colony, but each and every time the enemy fell to team as Jack lead the way, taking out enemies at range with his mattock rifle or cutting down any who got to close with his energy blade. Garrus used his sniper rifle to blow the heads off any Quintessons who tried to flank them from the distance. And Jacob used his shotgun to scatter the enemy's insides out on to the ground behind them.

It was at that moment that Jack caught the attention of a group of Quintessons escorting some colonists to their ship. The Enemy instantly fired on the would be rescuers who dived behind the nearest cover as the colonists watched in fearful hope.

"Careful with your shots, we have friendlies mixed with hostiles." Jack observed, the others nodded. Jack looked to his right and saw a path littered by cargo containers that he could use to sneak behind the enemies.

"You two, keep their attention on yourselves while I sneak behind them."

Garrus smiled back at Jack.

"Do you want me to show them my scars while we are at it?" he replied jokingly.

"We don't want to scare them off Garrus." the Prime chuckled.

"Very funny Jack." the Turian replied. Jacob looked back at Jack.

"We've got this, go Prime."

Jack acknowledged and started to move along the cover, staying low so that the Quintessons would not notice him. The colonists cowered as the enemy surrounded them, continuing to exchange fire with the two newcomers. One was a small child who was being cradled in the arms of his mother.

"I'm scared mommy." he cried as she held him close.

"Everything's going to be alright." she replied, her voice trying to hide the fear she had for her child, it was at that moment she saw something in the corner of her eye. A figure sneaking up behind one of her captors, he looked somehow familiar as he then stabbed one enemy in the back, making it spasm as the others turned to face him. The man then used the body he was holding as a shield as they fired their weapons at him. He fired back with his own, taking out another one as two of the others were shot through the back of their heads by the two attackers hiding behind cover. The last Quintesson then charged at the man who threw the corpse he had been using as a shield to the ground and swung his energy blade at the enemy's throat, slicing it's head off as it bounced along the grassy floor.

With the Quintessons dead, the colonists stood up and looked at their rescuers. Jack stood in the middle of the group as the mother looked up at him.

"It's alright, you are safe now." Jack said to the group as Garrus and Jacob joined them. They then ushered the group into one of the empty buildings as the mother and child looked at Jack.

"Who are you?" the mother asked.

"I am Jackson Prime." Jack answered gaining a lot of gasps and talking through out the group.

"That's the first Human Prime, I thought he was dead."

The mother smiled back before turning away, Jack then noticed the child in her arms wave back at him.

"Hey, guess who has a new fan." Garrus observed, gaining a chuckle from Jacob. Jack though looked back to the defence mainframe, his face reaming stoic.

"None of this will matter if we can not get the defence systems on-line. Lets go!"

When they made it to the Defence mainframe, they found that the console was out in the open with only a scattering of possible cover around it. Jack moved over to the control console and immediately accessed his holo-tool.

"Teletraan I am connecting an uplink between the colony's cannons and your systems. How long will it take for you to correct the errors in their sub routines?" he asked as his team mates kept an eye out.

"It should take a few minutes for me to alter the code and then power up the cannons…you should take cover and prepare to defend your position, I have detected a large number of Quintessons approaching you from all directions."

Jack the gestured to Garrus and Jacob to take positions on either side of the console as he saw the enemies approaching.

"Okay we just need to hold them off until Teletraan has control of the defences. Choose your targets and make each hit count."

They then crouched behind their respective cover and held their weapons ready. The enemy troops then charge into the area.

"Open Fire!" Jack shouted as the three of them fired at the Quintessons who fired back as their ran towards them. One after one, the emery fell as Jack and his team held them off. It was like this for a number of minutes, longer than Teletraan had told them.

"I though it would be done by now, I am running low on ammo." Garrus said he took down another Quintesson with a head shot.

"We just need to hold on a little longer." Jack called back as he shot the legs from under one enemy as it fell to the ground before having its head riddled with bullets from Jack who turned his attention to another which was charging at him from his left.

" I am nearly out." Jacob exclaimed as the enemy forces began to surround the team. Jack took a quick glance at his weapon's ammo read out and shook his head gently while still firing at the enemy.

'This will be cutting it close.' he thought just as, like something had answered his prays the giant cannons, that surrounded the colony turned towards the Quintesson cruiser and opened fire on it. The ships hull was covered in explosions from the impacts upon its hull. The enemy troops stopped and looked back before falling dead to the ground.

Jack and his team then felt a rumble along the ground as the Cruiser's engines activated and the ship lifted off the ground while still taking a pummelling from the colony's defence cannons. They watched as the cruiser then turned and flew back out into space leaving the colony behind.

Jack then turned back to Jacob.

"Go and make sure the colonists back there are alright."

The operative nodded and ran back the way the team had came.

"Jack, come here and look at this." the Turian called to the Prime.

Jack turned around to see Garrus kneeling down and examining one of the Quintesson corpses.

"What have you found?" he asked as Garrus scanned it with his holo-tool. He then looked back at Jack, his face surprised by what he saw.

"Jack, these things are just drones. They are completely synthetic, not even alive."

Jack looked down at the body.

"Still doesn't tell us what they are doing abducting human colonies, but at least we stopped them this time."

Garrus nodded as Jack's com link activated.

"Prime, thought you would like to know the cruiser has jumped away, didn't even say hello to us." Hotrod answered.

"Be thankful it didn't. Not quite ready to lose another ship just yet."

"Not to worry, I wouldn't let them sucker punch us again like last time." the pilot chuckled.

"So how much of the colony have saved?" Jack asked.

"Well the number of life signs at the colony is less than seven thousand, so the Quintessons still managed to get away with at least half of the colonists."

Jack's face went sombre at that comment as Garrus stood beside him.

"Jack, its better than the whole colony." he said sympathetically.

The Prime sighed heavily, knowing that his friend was right. He then placed his hand to his com link in his right ear, he was about to speak when…

"Jack?" a voice that he knew only too well spoke behind him. Jack's eyes widened and his body went stiff for a moment before he slowly turned to face a woman with blue hair and electric blue eyes staring back at him in shock. For a long moment the two just stared at each other in silence before the Prime decided to speak first.

"Yes Arcee, it's me." he answered, his voice a little shaky. The femme walked over to Jack and placed a hand on his cheek, as if to check that he was in fact real. Then suddenly she jumped him and wrapped her arms around his torso in a tight embrace as she buried her face in his neck. Jack returned the embrace as he felt tears wet the skin of his neck as Arcee gently cried. He could not explain how good it felt to have his lover in his arms. He felt complete again.

"I cant believe it, your back. But I saw the Normandy blow up." she said in disbelief as she looked back at Jack who wiped away the wet streaks on her face, making her blush slightly.

"I did die, but I have been given a second chance." he replied, gaining a confused look from his lover.

"What do you mean, what happened to you?" she asked.

"It's a long story and I want to tell you everything but we should get back to the ship, we can talk more there." he replied. Jack knew that his resurrection and who he is working with now would be a dangerous topic to speak to her about, but he had faith that if there was one person in his life that would stand beside him, it would be her. He smiled at her and she returned it in kind as they held each other for a little while longer.

"Prime the rest of the colonists are fine and they send their thanks." Jacob called to the Prime as he approached the group. Arcee looked at the man coming towards them.

"Who is that?" she asked curiously.

"His name is Jacob and he is a member of my crew." Jack replied somewhat sheepishly, noticing her face go stern as she looked the newcomer up and down. Her eyes then arrowed and focused on the symbol that was on his chest. Her eyes suddenly looked angry when she recognised it and pulled one of her SMG's out and aimed it a Jacob who looked back in shock. She was about to pull the trigger when Jack pulled the gun away from the operative, making Arcee look back at him in angry confusion as they separated.

"He is with MECH, why in the pits of Kaon is MECH here." she shouted at Jack as he tried to remain calm.

"Arcee, it was MECH that brought me back." he answered, Arcee looking back at him confused.

"They brought you back." she replied as she looked at Jacob with daggers before looking back at her lover.

"Yes, and in return I am helping them to stop the Quintessons from attacking any more Human colonies. That's who the aliens were that attacked this planet."

Arcee just looked at Jack.

"Quintessons? I thought they were a just some old legend." she said.

"They are working for the Reapers, Arcee." the Prime continued.

Arcee looked back at Jack and crossed her arms.

"And how do you know that Jack, I mean how do you know that MECH aren't messing with your head to make you believe that it is the Reapers?"

Jack's face became stoic as he stood in front of her.

"Because I saw them in the vision that the beacon at Virmire gave me. There is no way that Silas would be able to gain that information." he replied, which made Arcee's eyes widen in shock.

"SILAS, he is alive!, why in the all-spark would you work with the man who tried to kill you, me and your mother. Do you remember what he did during the war, and yet you can still work with him." she snapped, her voice filled with anger.

"Arcee, I don't have choice here." he replied as he tried to get his point across.

"Of course you do. don't give me that scrap." she bit back, as Jack became more anxious.

"No I don't. I am a Prime remember, and it is my duty to protect this galaxy from any threat, even if that means that I to choose a side to do it." he bit back, making the femme lose some of the anger she was showing as she started to close the distance between the two of them.

"But Jack, you said they brought you back. Isn't it possible that they could have altered you in some way, so that you would be willing to help them."

Jack's eyes widened at the comment.

"How can you say that?" he replied in shock.

Arcee though tried to stay calm.

"It's just that the Jack I remember, the man I fell in love with. He Would never work with a monster like Silas."

Jack looked away for a moment and thought about her words. It was true, before he had died he never would have considered working with MECH after everything that he had seen them do. So why was he now so willing to help. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Arcee placing a finger on his chin, bring his attention back to her.

"I am that same person Arcee. It's just that with the Alliance unable to do anything because of the Council's inability to believe in the threat posed by the Reapers, I have to work with the ones that are willing to do something about it."

The femme's eyes widened as she pulled herself from him, backing away slowly .Her mouth hung open slightly at the shock of his words.

"I can't believe I just heard you say that." she answered, her voice becoming angry, but also with a sadness to it.

Garrus decided to jump in to Jack's defence.

"Arcee, believe me it is Jack, we…" he said before being cut of by the femme.

"Garrus don't, you don't know what MECH are like. Not like I do..." she answered back before looking directly at Jack again.

"... and like you do."

Jack could feel that he was losing her and so stepped forward and held out his hand to her. She looked down at it for a moment before her eyes met his again.

"Arcee, please come with me, I need you." he said gently as he saw the internal struggle that she was fighting but trying to hide.

"I cant do this without you." he finished as she looked back at him. A single tear running down her cheek. She then shook her head and stepped back, increasing the distance between them.

"I can't, you might be able to put the past behind you for the sake of the mission, but I cant. Not like this, I cant be with you while you are with them. I am sorry." she replied her voice breaking as she looked at him one last time before turning around and walking away from the Jack who suddenly found himself very lost as she gripped his dog tags tightly. He just stood there and watched as the woman he loved left him behind. He felt like his heart had just been shattered into a million pieces by the one he cared about the most. Garrus stood beside his friend and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder sympathetically, as Jacob kept his distance, mentally kicking himself for what just happened. Jack then sighed heavily as he reached up to his com link.

"Hotrod send the shuttle, I have had enough of this place."