Darkness rising

Airachnid

Jack was lying on the berth. His hands and legs were still strapped. He was semi-conscious of his surroundings. His body was weak from malnourishment and the torture he had been through. He wondered how long it had been. How the bots might be doing. How his mother is handling all this. Why haven't the bots rescued him yet? His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door leading to his cell opening. Jack mentally groaned and looked up to see Silas coming inside the cell.

"Ahh, Silas. I was starting to think you forgot about me." Jack cockily said.

"Two months and a week of all this and yet you're this cocky. You must have been rather annoying." Silas grumbled.

"Who? Me? Mah, Miko is much more annoying than me. Wonder what would you do if you had to listen to her all day." Jack said in a teasing manner.

"Save your witty remarks Jack, because there's someone who wants to meet you." Silas said with an evil smile.

Jack slightly frowned at the statement. Just then the huge metal door opened for the first time. On the other side of the door , there was Airachnid standing. She came inside the cell which was big enough for her to stand inside. The huge door closed after she was inside. Jack gasped when he saw the Decepticon femme. But there was something different about her. She was just staring at him instead. Jack was expecting her to be smiling and taunting him but it never happened. He looked into her optics and they only showed what he supposed to be concerned and pity. That only further confused Jack. He couldn't understand why the very same Decepticon femme who wanted to mount his head on a wall as a trophy just few moths ago would feel pity for him. Even more so when the main reason for her to be hear is to torture him.

"Get him a medic." Airachnid suddenly said.

"What?..." Silas said.

"I said, get him a medic. He is in pain right now." Airachnid replied, turning to face the human.

"Well, that's the whole point of torturing. To keep your captive in pain and force them to give up information. That's why I asked you to come here. To help me get the information out of him." Silas said.

"Look at him!" Airachnid angrily said, pointing at Jack's battered body "He is way too injured to continue all this. If we torture him anymore without providing him proper medical treatment, he might die. And I don't suppose you have any way of getting information out of a corpse."

While they spoke Jack was listening to them.

"Hmmm….. you do make a point." Silas said as he touched his chin "Fine, I will send someone in a minute."

With that Silas left the room. Airachnid looked down at Jack and kneeled beside him. She looked at him with concern.

"Jack, how are you? Are you okay?" She asked.

"Mah, have been better. And I don't suppose I can say I am okay at the moment." Jack replied.

Jack Still couldn't understand why Airachnid was showing concern. He was waiting in anticipation for her to start hurting him. But she never made a move.

"Why aren't you torturing me?" Jack suddenly asked.

"Wh-why would I do that Jack!? I care about you." Airachnid said, responding to his question.

"Care about me? The last time we met you were chasing me around, trying to kill me. I blew up your ship. I am Arcee's partner, so by hurting me you can hurt her. I can't understand why you aren't taking advantage of this situation." Jack bitterly said.

"Jack, I may have wanted to kill you at one point of time, but believe me. I don't have any ill intentions towards you. I would never hurt you." Airachnid said.

Jack didn't want to believe her, but there was something in her voice that made him realise she wasn't lying. Jack for some reason felt some kind of connection towards her. Maybe it was because of what he has been through during his captivity. Maybe it was because of his loneliness. But for some reason he felt it. And he would be lying if he said he didn't like this feeling.

"Well, you don't need to. There are enough people to do that for you." Jack said as he looked away from her.

"Why don't you just give them what they want? Why are you doing all this for those Autobots?"

"I… I can't. I can't betray them. They're…. they're like my family…" Jack said while looking up at the ceiling.

"Even when they abandoned you?" Airachnid questioned.

"They didn't abandon me! They.. they would never do that." Jack retaliated.

"You don't know that Jack. The Autobots might look like they are the Nobel sparks. But I have had a personal experience with them and in some factors, they are no different than Decepticons. They won't mind letting you fall if it means they are safe." Airachnid said, her voice edging in the last part as she looked down at the floor.

Jack looked at her. He was reminded of what Optimus told him about Airachnid. He could see the hurt and betrayal in her eyes. At that moment Jack realised that she was no different than him. Deep under all that hatred and evil, she is just a broken person who wants someone to just comfort her. But at the same time she was afraid to let anyone in either. Just like him. When Jack's father abandoned him and his mother Jack had sealed himself away, put up walls around his heart to prevent anyone from reaching his true self. Arcee was the only person whom he had let inside.

At that moment Jack truly felt a connection between him and the Spider-bot sitting in front of him. Airachnid looked up to see Jack staring at her. Their eyes met and for a moment they forgot what was happening around them. Airachnid knew about Jack's past, thanks to Silas doing some investigation. She realised that deep inside they are very similar. Their moment was interrupted by the noise of the smaller mechanical door opening. A couple of MECH agents entered the cell, bringing medical equipment with them. They soon started working on healing some of Jack's wounds to sustain his life. With one last glance at Jack, Airachnid left the cell. Outside she came across Silas.

"So how your meeting with Mr. Darby went?" Silas asked.

"He had nothing to say." Airachnid said.

"So you still wanna help us get information out of him?"

"No. As I had said before, I won't harm Jack in any way. The only reason I agreed to come here today is so that I can check on him." Airachnid said and left the place.