A/N: I apologize for not updating this story for so long.

Chapter 4

Bumblebee and Raf stood dutifully as Optimus informed them they would be looking after Jack while the others went on patrol. Miko was helping June at the hospital as "punishment" for scaring Jack, thought the Asian girl didn't seem to mind. Optimus had gently prodded Arcee to join them at base and trust Jack's safety to the others. Reluctantly, she agreed and had already followed Bulkhead through the ground-bridge. Ratchet monitored their progress as Optimus joined them.

This left the twelve-year-old and his guardian to watch over the five-year-old, who was currently occupying himself with the television. Raf racked his mind over what to do; he wanted to be something they could both enjoy, but wouldn't frighten Jack. There wasn't much a twelve-year-old and five-year-old could agree upon. They could agree on a television show that wasn't too violent; he seemed really interested in Spider-Man for some reason. At least he was distracted.

Raf took a seat by Jack, Bumblebee taking up the space behind them and observed them. He'd promised Arcee he'd keep Jack out of trouble, not wanting to risk her wrath. He loved her like a sister, but she could scary when she wanted to be, especially when it came to Jack. When the television show went to commercial, Jack took notice of them, "Raffy! 'Beebee!"

"Hey, Jack," Raf smiled sheepishly. "What do you want to do?"

"Play!" he smiled.

"Okay, what do you want to play?" Raf asked. Bumblebee chirped and whirred, Raf nodding in understanding, "Okay, what about a remote-control cars?"

"Okay!" he jumped off the couch and followed Raf to the floor, Bumblebee kneeling down. He opened his chest to reveal two toy cars and handed Raf and Jack their remotes. Jack drove the small toy car in circles while Raf moved his around, smiling at Jack's amusement. It was good thing most five-year-olds had a short attention span. As the Autobot watched over them, the alarm blared, Optimus' voice radioing in, "Bumblebee."

The scout stood dutifully, beeping and whirring in response, "We require your aid. Ground-Bridge yourself to these coordinates at once." Without another word, Bumblebee ran to the control panel and typed in the coordinates, the bridge cycling up. Once activated, Bumblebee ran towards it, transforming mid-run and disappearing through the bridge. Raf shielded his eyes from the bridges glowing light as it died down.

"Be careful 'Bee," he said to no one in particular. "What should we do now, Jack?" He turned to find no one there, "Jack?"

Child's Play

As Bumblebee emerged from the ground-bridge, he failed to notice a small toy car follow him as he sped towards the coordinates. Following the car, Jack stumbled out of the ground-bridge, his stomach suddenly hurting. He gave a small whine before the contents of his stomach spilled all over the ground. He sat on his bottom, rubbing his stomach while looking around; he wasn't in the Autobot base anymore. "Raffy?" he looked around, "'Beebee?"

The sound of blaster fire caught his attention and he got up and followed the sound to its source. Watching from behind a small rock, he saw the Autobots battling the Decepticons. He watched as they advanced on Arcee, the femme striking them down in a fluid motion. "'Cee'Cee!" he squealed happily, leaving his hiding spot to go to her. Along the way, he failed to notice several Vehicons falling to the 'Bots.

He was almost to her when Knock Out fell in front of him, shaking off the punch to the face he'd gotten from Bulkhead. He looked at the young human, raising an optic ridge, "What are you doing here, fleshling?" The boy merely stared as the red 'Con got on one knee, "Get lost, meat bag. You're gonna get yourself killed." The boy simply tilted his head before Knock Out sighed, pulling out his buzzsaw, causing Jack to stumble back, "See this? This will hurt you, so get back!"

Jack gave a small whimper, tears swelling in his eyes as he cried softly, earning a groan from Knock Out. Human sparklings were so annoying, "Look… I'm… Sorry?" The child ignored him, continuing to cry as Knock Out sighed, picking him up. "There, there," he mumbled, uninterested before walking to the femme, who'd just been knock back by a blast. Taking notice of him, she readied herself for fight as he extended his arm, "I think this belongs to you."

"Jack?" she gasped, quickly but gently taking the boy from him. "What did you do to him!"

Knock Out put his hands up in defense, "Don't get your wires in a twist, femme. I didn't hurt him. Besides, isn't keeping these little meat bags away from this part of the 'Autobot code'?" Arcee shot him an incredulous look before backing away from the battlefield and hiding behind a rock.

Child's Play

Once they returned to base, Optimus demanded an explanation, Raf and 'Bee standing shamefully before him. They offered their apologies for not keeping Jack away from the fighting and almost costing them precious energon. Arcee looked ready to berate them, but a sharp look from Optimus stopped her. The femme settled for taking Jack to her quarters and sitting the boy for a "timeout" as June suggested. He'd complied without complaint and sat in the corner, his shoulders slumped.

Arcee hated to see him like this, but June insisted they use "tough love" on Jack to keep him from doing something so wreckless again. The femme merely sat in silence, her optics shifting from Jack to the clock and vice versa. Never in all her lifetime had ten minutes gone by so agonizingly slow. This gave new meaning to the term "This hurts me more than hurts you." It seemed more like she was the one suffering rather than Jack.

But June said this was how it had to be and the femme wasn't going to argue with her on this, not after all she had to deal with since this whole thing started. Finally, ten minutes came and went, "Time's up, Jack." The boy removed himself from the corner and hugged her leg.

"I sorry," he replied, earning a small smile from the femme.

"It's okay, partner," she knelt down so he could give her a small hug.

Child's Play

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Next time: Jack spends the day with Ratchet. Any suggestions?