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Jack maybe wasn’t the smartest, but he knew for sure that blood was supposed to be inside a human’s body. Just like he was sure that one wasn’t supposed to cough blood.
Yeah, this is not good.
And boy, was that an understatement.
Jack was well aware that their lives were dangerous. He came to terms with that fact a long time ago and every day they spent with their alien friends was just a reminder of that. Jack had always known that he’d end up in a war one day, one way or the other, so he didn’t really mind. The Autobots fought for justice and freedom, for their home, and how could he possibly just turn around and pretend he saw nothing when the Transformers were just as human as the people of the Earth?
Jack had known just how much was at stake when they remained by the Autobot’s side. He was older than Raf and Miko, and while they knew that the possibility of dying was there, they didn’t really get it. And he was glad for it, because that allowed them to keep their innocent, child naivety.
He was glad because that meant that when everything inevitably came crashing down, deciding if one life was worth losing a war wasn’t on them, but on him.
Breaking the glass container was surprisingly easy. But maybe it wasn’t that surprising – after all, the Transformers could shatter military-grade glass as if it was paper, and the Decepticons hardly expected the humans to break the only barrier that kept them from dying.
When Jack hurled himself against the glass, punching and kicking as hard as he could, he went right through the glass and landed on the hard ground of the Omega Lock. The shattering of the glass was deafening. He felt some shards dug deep into his palms, but he barely noticed.
For just a moment, the whole world stopped.
And Jack knew he had to make use of the one deep breath he’d taken and held when it was safe before his time runs out.
So while everyone else froze, he didn’t. He had planned it since Megatron captured them, and sprung into action when Miko and Raf were traded and safe in the Autobots’ hands. He had known that the Autobots would never sacrifice them, but Jack wasn’t willing to let them lose their home over the lives of some teenager.
Making the decision was easy. Jack would be damned if he didn’t make it to the end.
“Get out!” he yelled, breaking the stunned silence that felt like eternity, but in reality lasted a mere second. “Space bridge! Ratchet, space br –”
He didn’t get any further, as he run out of breath.
Jack instantly choke on the next one he took.
Cybertron’s atmosphere was toxic to humans, and he could feel it. At first it made his skin itch, heat building up beneath, but then something shifted and it was starting to feel more like burning than a simple fever. He was sure, though, that he will choke sooner than the toxicity manages to kill him.
Finally, they moved. Arcee made a move towards him but she was stopped by Smokescreen, who wrapped his servos around her chest. She threw her hands, trying to hit him, but Smokescreen held firmly.
“You damned human!” Megatron’s screech was music to Jack’s ears. Who could claim that they managed to piss off an alien warlord by just dying? How cool was that?
Miko is going to be so jealous.
He blinked. Miko. Miko and Raf.
Jack moved. Or maybe he just barely shifted, he wasn’t sure – he felt like his consciousness was floating away. His eyes found his two friends easily. They were staring at him in profound horror, Miko banging on the glass of her cage, but he noted with relief that the hits weren’t strong enough to do any damage. They were shouting, but he couldn’t figure out their words. Whether it was because of the cages that were keeping them isolated, or because of the fact that Bumblebee and Bulkhead didn’t stay idle and took off, together with Wheeljack who covered them, he wasn’t sure.
Not like it mattered, anyway.
The Decepticons sprung into action, jumping over him and coming after the Autobots. Arcee was still fighting with Smokescreen, who was struggling with dragging her away. Jack wanted to scream; wanted to yell at her to leave him and go, to save herself and Cybertron, but he couldn’t find the strength.
He was pretty sure that breathing shouldn’t hurt, but maybe that would explain the blood on the ground in front of him. He hadn’t even realized that he’d coughed, not until his lungs spasmed as they were filled with toxic chemicals.
Flashes caught his attention. He couldn’t do more than just shift his eyes, but it was enough to see that they came out of Optimus’s canons. Prime stood as a barrier between the Decepticons and the Autobots, and even slowly loosing consciousness, Jack easily recognized that he was torn between helping Arcee free herself and helping Smokescrean hold her.
In the end, the decision whether they should leave him here wasn’t made by any of the Autobots.
Jack felt as if his whole body was set on fire and then doused with acid, and the feeling even intesified when cold metal touched him.
Arcee yelled as Megatron’s fingers wrapped around his body, and then the warlord squeezed.
Jack might have screamed, but the sound drowned in the sound of him choking on his own blood. There was ringing in his ears, and maybe it wasn’t ringing at all – maybe it was the sound of his vertebrae snapping one by one.
He hadn’t even realized he’d closed his eyes, not until something forced them open. “Look,” Megatron hissed, “look, you worm, as your beloved friends leave you here to die.”
Sparks. He saw sparks and a familiar blue and green shine of the space bridge. Optimus was by Smokescreen’s side, helping him drag Arcee away, stricken grieving expressions on their faceplates.
But he also saw the two Omega Keyes attached to Smokescreen’s hip strut, and the knowledge that both Earth and Cybertron could still be saved was strangely calming.
So much, in fact, that when another wave of pain shot through his body and made his muscles convulse, he didn’t feel a thing.
Megatron might have still held his eyes open, but not even he was strong enough to make him see anymore.
Jack’s last look was filled with blue, green and white incredibly blinding glare as the space bridge closed.