Enter Dante, The Rev-9: Book 1: Rogue

Chapter 13: Sick Mind

3rd Person POV

On the Road

As Arcee drove toward Dante's house, she wondered about her partner. After their showdown with Arachnid, the two of them had gone back to their usual playful banter. Even though she had apologized for the way she had acted during that mission, Arcee couldn't help but notice that Dante seemed a little more distant lately.

Arcee mentally shook her head as she sped along the dusty Nevada road. And on top of that, they had to deal with the new player in the game: Ace. She couldn't understand how he could have gotten his hands on Cybertronian tech. Not to mention the fact that Ace seemed to be showing up whenever they needed help the most.

These thoughts kept on circling in her head as she drove up the driveway before stopping outside the front door. "Dante?" she called.

No response.

Frowning, she transformed, walked over, crouched down, and knocked on the door. "Dante?"

Still nothing.

Standing up, Arcee walked over to one of the nearby windows and peeked inside. To her surprise, Dante was lying on top of one of the beds, clothes still on, looking exhausted.

Momentarily surprised at seeing her partner so tired, Arcee was tempted to just let him sleep. Then, a wicked idea occurred to her, and she snickered slightly before taking a deep breath and shouting, "Dante!"

His reaction was hilarious. Dante leapt nearly seven feet in the air, almost hitting his head on the ceiling, and fell off the bed, landing in a heap on the ground.

Dante groaned and got to his feet while Arcee laughed. "What the heck, Arcee?" he groaned.

"Sorry," Arcee said, trying to smother a laugh. "Couldn't resist."

"Sure," Dante grumbled.

Arcee couldn't help but notice that there was still a tired edge to his voice. "Hey, you doing alright?" she asked in concern. "Normally, you'd be up long before I even got here."

Dante shrugged and stretched all in the same moment. "I'm fine. Just a little tired after last night, that's all."

Arcee frowned. "What were you doing last night?"

"Working on something," Dante replied cryptically.

Arcee sighed. "You aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"Nope," Dante said cheekily. "Think of it as payback for waking me up like that."

Arcee rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Now come on, we should get to base before the others start to worry."

Dante nodded. "Alright, I'll be out in a second," With that, he walked out of sight.

Arcee went around to the front and met him outside just as Dante walked out the front door attaching a hunting knife to his leg. "What's with the knife?" she asked, gesturing to the weapon.

Dante shrugged. "Just got a feeling, you know?"

Arcee looked at him for a moment before shrugging and transforming. "Get on."

Dante did so, and the two of them peeled off down the road. After a few minutes of driving, Dante decided to break the silence. "So, anything new happen while I was asleep?" he asked.

"Not much," Arcee replied. "Ratchet managed to locate the Decepticon Warship."

Dante gave a small start in surprise. "Wait a minute; you call that 'not much'?" he demanded. "This is the perfect chance for a sneak attack."