Chapter Text
The streets of New York City were alive under a sky darkened by late autumn rain. Neon and streetlight reflections scattered across the wet asphalt as a lone man walked down a quiet street. His name was Daniel Cross, a motorcycle mechanic who, after a long day at work, just wanted to get back to his tiny apartment in Brooklyn.
A metallic sound echoed in the alley to his left.
Daniel stopped dead in his tracks. He blinked, his vision sharpening in the dim light. He thought he saw a strange silhouette moving between the dumpsters, but when he looked again, everything seemed normal. He snorted and continued on his way, unaware that he had just brushed the edge of a reality that was about to devour him whole.
----
Arcee watched from the shadows, her camouflage system partially activated, merging with the darkness of the alley. It was not wise to expose herself, much less with the hunt for the Terrorcons still fresh in her memory. He had been left on Earth by order of Optimus Prime, who insisted that they maintain a discreet presence.
But she hated this city.
The humans were a noisy, unpredictable, fragile swarm. It had barely been a month since the final battle against Scourge, and paranoia was still in the air. The news reports spoke of 'unexplained phenomena', of 'mechanical beings sighted on the periphery'.
Then, he appeared.
Arcee had been watching him for several days. Not because she was interested, but because his workshop was right in the neighborhood where he was hiding. She had seen him repair motorcycles with meticulous dedication, his skin stained with grease, his face shadowed by exhaustion.
But that night, when he had almost discovered her, something in his expression made her hesitate.
"Don't be stupid..." she muttered to herself.
She stepped back, but one of her joints brushed against a loose metal pipe in her movement. The sound made Daniel stop again.
“Hello?” she called, her voice laced with caution.
Arcee remained silent. If she remained still, he would continue on his way.
For some reason she didn’t understand, however, she couldn’t take her eyes off the human. Her sensors registered a steady but alert heartbeat, and an expression of curiosity that didn’t seem tainted by fear.
Interesting.
Before her reason could stop her, she deactivated part of her camouflage and allowed her glowing eyes to be revealed in the shadows. Just for an instant. Just long enough to see his reaction.
Daniel felt a chill run down his spine as two points of light flickered in the darkness. It wasn’t the reflection of any headlight. It wasn’t normal.
His first instinct was to back away.
But instead of running away, he said something that would seal his fate:
"If you're out there and need help, just say it!"
Silence.
Arcee frowned. It wasn't the reaction he expected. Almost every human he'd shown his true form to had screamed, run away, or tried to attack her. But he…
"Stupid" she whispered. Her curiosity was still kindled, though.
Daniel sighed and shook his head.
"Maybe I'm just tired…" he muttered before continuing to walk.
Arcee watched him walk away and forced herself to look away. This meant nothing. He was just another human. Nothing important.
----
Daniel Cross couldn't get those points of light in the darkness out of his head. It wasn't a reflection of the city, nor an illusion brought on by tiredness. Whatever was hiding in that alley, it was real.
The thought tormented him throughout the night. He tossed and turned in bed, but sleep never came. He got up with a groan, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and sat at the window of his small Brooklyn apartment. The city lights flickered on, cars whizzed by in the distance. Everything was normal. Everything, except the feeling that there was someone—or something—watching him.
The next morning, he arrived at the shop with just enough energy to turn on his coffee maker and throw himself onto the engine of a beat-up Harley. Old rock music blared through the place, the sound of tools and the smell of oil filled the air. He tried to focus, but his mind kept wandering back to the figure in the shadows.
"I need answers…" he muttered, putting the screwdriver aside.
And as if fate was playing tricks on him, the answer was quick to appear.
----
Arcee had returned to the alley, watching from the shadows. She had hoped her curiosity would fade as the days passed, but every night she found herself returning, like a recon cell unable to deactivate its protocol. There was no logical reasoning for this.
“Why am I still here?” she wondered.
She hadn’t received orders from Optimus to watch any particular human. Nor were there any strategic reasons to get involved. And yet, that night, she decided to get a little closer.
She changed shape in a dark corner of the street. The chassis reconfigured, the plates slid over themselves, and in less than a second, instead of a mechanical figure, there was a red motorcycle, shiny and perfect.
She waited.
And it wasn’t long before Daniel appeared.
----
The mechanic left the workshop in the middle of the night, as usual. He walked a few meters and then he saw it: a red Ducati 848, parked in the alley where she had felt that strange presence. He didn't remember seeing her before.
He approached cautiously. The bike didn't look abandoned or in bad shape. On the contrary, it was a beauty. Something about it immediately attracted him. He ran his hand along the handlebars and felt a strange chill. The metal wasn't cold, but warm, almost as if it were breathing.
"Whose are you, precious?" he whispered, almost without realizing it.
At that instant, the engine roared softly, like a warning whisper. Daniel took a step back, surprised. But instead of running away, he smiled.
"So you can understand me, huh?"
Arcee, in her motorcycle form, remained motionless, watching. He had expected many reactions from this human, but not that one. Not fear, not rejection, but something else...
Interest.
Silence stretched out in the alley, interrupted only by the distant echo of the city. Daniel looked at the red Ducati with a mixture of wonder and doubt. It was an impressive machine, but what bothered him was the feeling that it was not a simple motorcycle. Still, his fascination grew.
"Well, if no one comes for you, I suppose I could give you a home" he murmured with a smile, running his hand over the fuel tank.
As soon as his fingers brushed the metal surface, an almost imperceptible vibration ran through the body of the motorcycle. Daniel frowned and leaned in to inspect it better. It seemed intact, with no signs of damage or any faulty electronic system that could have caused that reaction. But something inside him told him that this bike was not normal.
On the other hand, Arcee watched in complete silence. She had calculated different possibilities: that the human ran away, that he tried to dismantle it, or that he simply ignored the signal. However, Daniel did none of those things. Instead of fear, he seemed to feel curiosity and a kind of admiration.
'Interesting' he thought.
As Daniel assessed his next move, a patrol car slowly drove down the nearby street, illuminating the alley with its headlights. Acting on instinct, the mechanic climbed onto the bike and turned the handlebars. He wasn't expecting anything, but then, to his surprise, the engine roared to life with a smooth, precise roar.
Arcee had allowed the activation. He didn't know why, but he'd decided to play along.
Daniel let out a low laugh.
"Wow, girl, you're a blast"
Without thinking too much, he accelerated slightly, feeling the immediate response of the motorcycle beneath him. Something about that ride felt different to him. It wasn't just the power or the smoothness of the engine, it was like the machine responded to him in a way he'd never felt with any other motorcycle before.
The patrol car drove off, and Daniel, not missing the opportunity, decided to take the bike back to his shop. As he pulled out of the alley, he couldn't help but smile.
"I don't know where you came from, but I think we'll get along just fine"
Arcee didn't answer. She was still trying to understand why she hadn't stopped that human. And more importantly, why she had allowed him to lead her.
The night had only just begun, and what Daniel didn't know was that, with that simple act, his life was about to change forever.
----
The roar of the red Ducati's engine echoed through the streets of Brooklyn as Daniel rode it with instinctive mastery. Even though he hadn't tried it before, he felt it respond to his every move with perfect precision.
Arcee, in her vehicular form, analyzed the human's every action. She didn't just go with the flow, but she also subtly adjusted her steering, acceleration, and stability, making sure Daniel felt like the bike was a part of him.
"You're different…" Daniel murmured as he rode down a quiet avenue. "I've tried many bikes, but none respond like you"
For a split second, Arcee was tempted to respond, to reveal her true nature. But she didn't. Not yet.
They arrived at Daniel's shop without a hitch. Carefully, he parked the bike in front of the entrance. His hands ran over the handlebars with an expression of admiration.
"Someone definitely left you here for a reason… but until your owner shows up, I'll take care of you"
He opened the door to his workshop and pushed the bike inside. The place was an organized mess: tools strewn across a workbench, motorcycle parts piled on shelves, and the smell of oil permeating the air. Daniel felt excited to have something so unique in his space.
Arcee, for her part, was scanning her surroundings. Her radar picked up the place as safe, with no obvious threats. However, she remained alert. She knew that her decision to let herself be carried away by this human could bring unexpected consequences.
"Well, gorgeous, let's see what you have inside"
Daniel took his tools and began to inspect the bike. But as soon as he tried to remove the fairing, a slight shock ran through his fingers, making him recoil in surprise.
"Ouch! Damn, that's not normal"
Arcee knew she couldn't let him take it apart. It was too big a risk. Still, she couldn't help but feel intrigued by him.
Daniel rubbed his hand and looked at the bike with a lopsided smile.
"Okay, I see how this is. You don't want me touching you too much, huh? Fine, I respect that"
Arcee, in her inanimate form, just watched. It wasn't fear she felt, but something else. Something like trust.
The night passed quietly. Daniel fell asleep on his workbench, a half-empty beer beside him. Arcee remained silent, watching him.
For the first time in a long time, she allowed herself to let her guard down. Maybe, just maybe, this human wasn't like the others.
Will continue...