CHAPTER 10

Jason awakened in a cold sweat, his breathing labored, and his stomach churning. He'd been sick for a few days now, in yet he still wasn't used to this. The stomach flu sucked, there was no way around that, yet he still wished the pain would go away. He shifted a bit, his head rested against his pillow. He felt two metal fingers on his forehead, knowing Jazz must have heard him shift positions. "Still have a fever." Jazz noted, he stared at Jason with concern "Are you feeling any better? If not, I really need to getcha to Ratchet." He noted.

"Please don't take me to Ratchet the Hatchet again." Jason groaned as he sat up, to stare up at Jazz "I swear, I'm fine. I just feel a little out of it. I'm fine Ja-." The boy hadn't even finished the sentence before he had vomited onto Jazz "Oh man, I'm so sorry." He quickly told his adopted Father in a panic.

Jazz pulled him out of bed calmly, that had settled it, they needed to see Ratchet. Jazz didn't know what was wrong with him, they had thought a stomach flu, but even with medicine it wasn't going away. "Sorry, son. But you're going to Ratchet, right now." Jazz told him as he carried the human out of the quarters, and started down the hallway "I know you don't like his bedside manner, but I could care less. I don't want to sit around while you're blowing chunks." He noted, then sighed "How bad is the pain?" He questioned.

"Not as bad as yesterday, but it still hurts." Jason commented as he snuggled into the palm of Jazz's hand.

The Med Bay was a slight distance from Jazz's room, so he was careful not to jostle the child around too much. As they entered, Jazz barely managed to avoid a toss of a wrench already whizzing by him, hitting the side of the wall nearby with a clank. Jazz barely got a glimpse of a retreating red blurr, otherwise known as Sideswipe, as he bolted down the hallway. The white and red colored medic known as Ratchet seemed to be ready to rip someone in two. "Don't tell me he got YOU too." Ratchet growled lowly.

"Not here for me doc bot." Jazz explained, and nodded down at Jason "I need you to do a second check-up on my little buddy here." He explained.

Ratchet attempted to calm himself down, knowing he was likely scaring the kid. Considering Jason had done nothing to aggravate him, not yet anyway. "Not feeling well still, eh little one?" Ratchet questioned, the boy shook his head quietly and timidly "Alright, bring him in, I'll do some more scans. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of it." He told Jazz with a small curt nod.

Jazz settled Jason down on a medical berth as instructed, and Ratchet started immediately. Initially, he found nothing, but eventually, he found a small virus, taking a deep breath. "Tell me, has your throat been sore?" Jason nodded his head calmly "Bronchidus, that's what he has. We've been giving him the wrong medicine, which is why he hasn't gotten better." Jazz frowned for a moment, feeling a little stupid "You'd be smart to get him some things to occupy his time with, Jazz. He's going to be staying in bed for at least a week." He noted.

"A whole week?" Jason whined.

"Unless you want to get worse, yes a whole week." Ratchet replied.

Jason groaned a bit, but knew that Ratchet probably knew best, after all, he was the resident medic. The best medic in the world according to most. He only nodded his head after a moment, giving in, he figured it was useless fighting. "Don't worry too much, bud. I'll keep you company and bring stuff into our quarters." Jazz smiled down at Jason, who smiled back up at him calmly "I can take a week of patrol off, just need someone to cover my shifts." He added.

Jazz carefully lifted Jason up and carried the boy out. Though a sinking suspicion in Jason told him there was more to this then just a sickness. It was a sense of dread, or perhaps, sadness, he knew something had happened, but he didn't know what. And if something had happened, he could only hope it did not involve Tony.

...

The day that they had to leave was a sad one for Alex. Though they hadn't spent a lot of time at the village, he was definitely going to miss it. It had been the place where he finally had a moment where he knew he had a family, and a home with Sunstreaker. So perhaps, that was one of the many reasons he was going to miss it. It had brought them together as a Father and a son, in its own strange way. Sparkplug had given him a few things for the long drive to the base, a softer blanket and pillow, some food, water, fresher clothing, and finally given him the jacket he'd allowed him to borrow. "You take good care of that kid, Sunstreaker." Sparkplug told the large golden mech "If I get news that you ditched him somewhere, I won't be happy." He joked.

"Pffftttt, I won't be ditching him ANYWHERE." Sunstreaker grinned, cockily, he added "Whether he likes it or not, he's got me for a Dad now. Meaning he's stuck with me for the long haul." He smirked a bit, Alex only smiled back up at him in response "I'm kinda obligated to take care of the ones I love." He noted, roughing up his son's hair with a forefinger "If I find out what happened to Spike, we will find him." He told him calmly.

"It's much appreciated, Sunstreaker." Sparkplug nodded, then turned to Alex "Now you keep that Father of yours in-line. Don't let him try any Jet Judo with you around." He noted, Alex gave him a confused look "Oh believe me, wait until you cross pass with the Seekers if you do. You'll know what Jet Judo is." He grinned lightly "Hopefully from a SAFE distance." He added.

"Oh don't worry, I know how to keep my old man in line." Alex teased.

"Watch it, call me 'old' one more time punk, and you won't live to see your fifteenth birthday." Sunstreaker snorted.

Alex chuckled then turned to Carly who smiled a bit, and looked up at Sunstreaker for a while. "I guess I should wish the two of you luck. Even if I have bets on who kills who first." Alex chuckled lightly at Carly's joke "But in all seriousness, if you guys do find Spike. Tell him I'm still waiting." She stated, then turned to Alex, and hugged him calmly, Alex hugged her back, looking over his shoulder, and grinning at Sunstreaker with a thumbs up, which he returned "I saw that." She noted.

"Sorry." Alex chuckled nervously as she let go.

"And for the record, Alex. I'm twenty-six." She stated as if matter-of-factly.

Alex's mouth practically dropped at this, to say he was stunned would be an understatement. Sunstreaker patted his son on the back carefully, and grinned. "Tough break little buddy, better luck next time." Sunstreaker told him as he transformed calmly.

As Alex turned to shake hands with Sparkplug, he found himself unexpectedly pulled into a hug again. Alex hesitated, but awkwardly hugged back, as Sparkplug had been a good man, and he'd treated him well. "No hand shaking in this family kid." Sparkplug commented as he also let him go "As far as I'm concerned, you're as much a Witwicky as you are in Sunstreaker's family. So you'd better treat him well Sunstreaker." He noted.

"Yeah, yeah. Like I'd treat a son of mine anything less then well." Sunstreaker stated bluntly, though the first part was more joking a tone "Now you're sure neither of you want to come with us? It might help us find Spike faster if he really is taken." He added.

"I'd come, but... I have commitments here." Carly nodded.

Alex nodded, and climbed into Sunstreakers backseat, setting up his new bed items. He turned to look out the window one last time as Sunsteaker drove away. Silently he wondered if they'd ever see Sparkplug or Carly again. He sighed, and leaned against the seats, his mind drifting to the past few days. How much had changed. How much everything had changed on account of running into those two. "Hey, everything okay? I'd think you'd not be shutting up after that week." Sunstreaker commented.

"Just reflecting Sunstreaker." Alex replied as he leaned against the door "You think we'll ever see them again?" He questioned.

"Once we've overthrown the Decepticon scum. I'd be more then happy to take you to see the Witwicky's again." Sunstreaker told him calmly "After all, I'm sure you'd like at least human contact every so often, right?" He questioned.

"I... I would really like that." He noted.

"Though so, now... Let's get going now, we still have at least a month left on this journey." Sunstreaker noted as he drove along the path that he had downloaded into his memory banks "I'm itching to get home, and show off my new son." He noted, Alex rolled his eyes, Sunstreaker always was one to like to show-off, no matter what he was showing off "I have a feeling that Sides is gonna love you, kid. You're JUST like him when he was your age." He noted.

"You really think your brother will like me? He won't think I'm... Intruding?" Alex questioned.

"Of course not! It's been just the two of us for a long time. I think if anything he'll just be stunned I actually found a kid." Sunstreaker mused a bit, then added calmly "Needless to say, I'm not the having kids type." He explained.

"Really? I never noticed." Alex joked.

Sunstreaker drove on with a newfound confidence in his spark. As much as he knew it would be a challenge. Sparkplug had convinced him that he was doing the right thing. And perhaps, just maybe, being a Dad wouldn't be as bad as he had suspected after all.

...

A/N: Originally was going to do a full Jason chapter. But I wanted to put Sunny and Alex on the road again to progress their story forward. Reviews make my day! :D