A/N: Gah! All this positive feedback, favoriting, and alerting is just awesome guys! I'm so glad that this was worth giving a shot! This all really does keep me going! :)

Awesome: Can't reply through PM so thank you, glad you enjoy the story so much.

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CHAPTER 10
Unforeseen Complication

Wheeljack probably should have given Jake his space that night, yet he still watched Jake for a moment. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain any of this, the journey, his charge... No, not his charge anymore, as far as he was concerned, Jake was now his youngest son. The boy was completely unaware he was even watching him sleep, his stomach moving in and out slightly. Jake was cute when he slept, he observed, even at sixteen the sight of peaceful slumber was something that made a smile tug gently at his lips.

Okay, so the boy had been right, he did care about him like a son, but he couldn't help his stubbornness. He almost wanted to say it was because he loved Jake, and hadn't been certain how to react to that feeling of parental love again. But he couldn't be too sure that was even the case, and therefore gently pushed those thoughts aside. "We can figure that part out later." Wheeljack muttered, as if talking to the sleeping form.

Thoughtfully, he leaned over and kissed Jake's forehead tenderly. It was something that he simply grown accustomed to doing with his kids. And whether Jake liked it or not, he wouldn't pass up the chance to do it just because this was still new. "Welcome to the family, young one." He stated quietly "I think you'll fit right in." He added.

He noticed that Jake smiled, but as his eyes never opened, he guessed he hadn't actually heard him. Wheeljack smirked, this was the most silent he'd ever seen Jake, ever, the boy usually always had something to say. "You know, I'm only barely asleep." Jake half-muttered, of course, Wheeljack should have seen that one coming "Whispering doesn't help much, 'Jack." He teased.

"I believe the proper response to what I said would be, thank you." Wheeljack teased back.

Jake turend over, his eyes slowly opening a bit, looking up at the mech's holoform. Jake just smirked a little at the Autobot, who sat, almost waiting for him, he supposed. "I thought you'd be annoyed at me thanking you for things by now." Jake replied honestly, Wheeljack simply gave a gentle shrug "Plus I'm not supposed to give you a thank you until we hit Jasper." He added.

"You're such a smart-aft." Wheeljack snorted.

"I'm learning it from the best."

Wheeljack chuckled, gently stroking the boy's hair a bit. Jake looked beat, but still not quite yet tired enough to go to sleep. Even if it was late, and Wheeljack knew he sincerely needed it. "You'll learn to be even better at it over the next few years, hopefully." Wheeljack grinned mischievously "But it's really late, son. You need to get some sleep." He added.

"Son?" Jake questioned.

Wheeljack only shrugged, eyes locking with Jake's. "There a problem if I use that term?" He asked.

"N-No, just caught me off guard is all." Jake admitted, he looked down "I've never... Been called that before." He stated, his face going red in embarrassment "Other then when we were at that diner, and that was just as a cover." He added.

Wheeljack frowned a bit, he understood Jake and Tom's relationship, so he had suspected as much. "Well, you just were. And I think you should get used to it." Wheeljack tugged the blankets over Jake a bit "Now get some sleep, Jake. It's late, and I need my own recharge." He explained.

"Not tired." Jake muttered.

"Doesn't matter, it's almost six in the morning." Wheeljack muttered "You need more sleep than that, kid."

"It's six o'clock, and you haven't had a recharge cycle yet?"

"Last I checked you're the child here, not me. You don't get to scold me." Wheeljack grunted, he stared at Jake slightly "I'm going to recharge as soon as you do, and we're going to have a late start." He added.

Jake thought to ask the reasoning for that, but figured it would be a bad idea. Either Wheeljack would become frustrated, or worried, possibly both. Jake nodded, laying his head against his pillow again. He felt yet another gentle kiss and smiled, he had to admit, he liked the Fatherly affection that showed him. Smiling a bit, he fell back asleep as Wheeljack sighed evenly, checking his com link again. Still, the signal was not working, whatever had hit it on impact likely had destroyed it beyond what even he could repair, unfortunately.

The mech really didn't like the looks of what was going on with the comm link. If nothing else, he really wanted to be bale to relax for however long it lasted. But he also worried that their tails had not yet given up. He was off the grid, but the Decepticons had their ways. Wheeljack sighed a bit, he peeked back at Jake a little, he was really worried about Jake. At this rate, they could run out of money for food, and that was the last thing he wanted. He needed to prove to himself he could handle Jake, and he couldn't do that if they ran out of money.

Groaning quietly, he leaned against his seats calmly, there was no use worrying now. He needed recharge, and hopefully that would give him time to figure things out. Right now though, to his sadness, there really was absolutely nothing that could be done. And he'd just have to do what he could to accept that.

...

The next morning, Jake was up before Wheeljack was out of recharge. He'd silently climbed out of the mech's alt form, and quickly changed, as to make the day a bit easier. It was almost odd, he'd never been up before Wheeljack, and the silence made it feel awkward. It did however, give him time to think about everything that had transpired last night. After all, it was still a lot to take in, more than he'd expected it to be when he got his answer. But it was a good thing, and he was definitely happy, it just still had him stunned.

Jake sighed quietly as he started to make his way out of the rest stop they'd stopped by. Rubbing his eye tiredly, he'd almost made it to Wheeljack when he felt the arm around his neck. The knife came next to which Jake was both stunned and frightened. "Empty your pockets." He heard a voice hiss in his ear "Come on, don't keep me waiting, I need the cash." The voice added.

"I don't have any money." Jake's voice stated shakily.

"That's what they all say."

Without thinking, Jake immediately made a move, with an elbow, he quickly jabbed his attacker in the groin. Immediately the man recoiled and Jake began a dead bolt for Wheeljack. "'Jack! HELP!" He screamed as the man grabbed him again "Let me go you creeper!" He screamed again.

Wheeljack, being a heavy recharger, only shifted slightly. Jake, terror rising in his body, was thrown violently to the ground. He got a good look at his attacker, a tall man, much older than him, and only a little older than Wheeljack's holoform. He looked like someone you'd see from a horror movie and that didn't bode well either. "You shouldn't have done THAT brat." The man stated coldly, placing the edge of the blade against Jake's exposed neck "Kid like you? Helpless? All alone?" He chuckled.

"WHEELJACK!"

That got the mech's attention, the scream could have woken the dead. Wheeljack immediately saw the man, and didn't think twice in Transforming. He could have used his holoform, but this was faster, and easier. "Get your hands off my son!" Wheeljack snarled, the man had just moved down to slice Jake's shirt when he saw the giant robot before him "Get off of him and I might let you live." He added.

The man recoiled back, shock and fear filling his features. Wheeljack arm cannon was pointed right at him, intimidating as ever, even moreso on the other end of a very angry Wheeljack. There had been many things wrong with that scene, the man on top of Jake, the knife, and the look on his face. "I don't like pedophiles, my good sir." Wheeljack barked "So unless you want to be eradicated from this Earth, you'll forget you saw either of us and get lost." He added.

He'd never heard a man shriek so loudly or girly in his life. The man ran like the devil himself was on his heels, and Wheeljack didn't blame him, he might as well have been. Hearing quiet whimpering, Wheeljack crouched to see Jake holding his wrist hard. He did a quick scan to find he'd fractured his wrist. "Frag." Wheeljack muttered "Jake, easy, easy, don't touch it." he added.

"It hurts." Jake whimpered a little.

"I know." Wheeljack was thankful for his medical training, however minor, as he activated his holoform "Just let go of your wrist, and let me have a look, son. I need to see how bad it's fractured." Jake slowly did as he was told "He didn't hurt you otherwise, did he?" Jake shook his head "Alright, this is going to hurt Jake, but I need to feel the extent of the damage." He added.

Jake nodded, whining a little as Wheeljack felt the wrist gently. Frag it... I have nothing to set it with. Where am I going to find a doctor around here? Wheeljack cursed silently.

Transforming down into his alternate mode, he discovered it to be just in time. "Hey! Do you need help over there!" Wheeljack's head shot up as he saw a man making his way over "I heard screaming." The man added.

"My son has broken his wrist, he needs a doctor." Wheeljack stated calmly, or as calmly as he could.

"Well I'm not a doctor, but my brother is. I can ring him up." The man nodded "Hang in there kid." He added.

Wheeljack watched the man jog off and grimaced, this was not good. At this point he had to deal with two people spotting them. It was bad enough that the waitress, the ticket vendor, and a few store owners had seen them, and now that man. But now they were talking about an extended stay with a doctor. Wheeljack cursed under his breath.

He could only hope that for once, this would go smoothly.