Ch 10

Lately, Jack had been a light sleeper so it was little surprise when strange noises from down the hall woke him in the middle of the night. He credited his light sleeping with all the changes that had been happening lately; the Autobots had returned to Cybertron and shortly after they left, they had even recalled Ratchet to deal with some medical emergency or other. On top of all that, his mother was supposed to ship out for some special basic training in a few days.

He still wasn't used to their new house either; they had to move again when the military base near Jasper had been closed down after the Autobots left. Like their previous house, it was tract housing on a military base, but while that one had been near the second Autobot base near the remains of Jasper, this one was someplace else entirely, and neither house had felt like home the way their first house in Jasper did.

The TV was on in the den, although the volume had been turned down low. The glow from the set illuminated Miko, who was sitting on the couch.

"Miko, what are you doing here at this hour?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to watch that monster truck rally you recorded for me."

Jack sat next to her on the couch. "How did you get in here?"

"Fowler bridged me into your closet."

"What, really?"

"No, you dope! You gave me a key."

"Sorry, I forgot."

They sat in silence for a few moments, watching the television. On the screen, Bigfoot drove over several cars.

"I miss Bulkhead."

"I know..."

"I even miss Arcee."

Jack smiled and gave Miko a playful punch in the arm.

They watched another round of the different monster trucks speeding over a jump.

"I don't want to keep you up; you should go back to bed. If you want I can come back some other time to watch this."

"I don't mind that part, you could even take the disk with you. That's why I recorded it instead of just using tveo. It's just- You don't have to keep hanging around here if you don't want to."

"I didn't like it at home, so I did study abroad, but I didn't feel at home with my host family either. The only place I ever felt at home was with the bots... but I get it. The Bots are gone so there's no reason for us to hang out anymore. Can I still swing by to check on Raf from time to time?"

"It's not like that. I like you, Miko. I enjoy having you around. I've even gotten use to some of your music."

Miko shifted over to Jack and planted a kiss on his cheek before curling up next to him. "I like you too."

It seemed natural when he placed his arm around her. They had been through so much together in the short time they had known each other. He returned her overt sign of affection by placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Why don't you feel at home, well, at home?"

"You know what I'm like. My mom is always on my case. She doesn't like my music, my hobbies... anything about me. She keeps saying it makes me an unmarriageable girl. The only thing about me she seems to like is that I got accepted into a martial arts school that is so exclusive that it's impossible to for anyone to get in. You know, they have won every competition they have ever entered? On the other hand, can you imagine if my mom knew what the three of us did that time? She'd give up on me entirely, and lock me away in a convent! And she isn't even Christian."

Gravedigger appeared on screen with the announcer giving a rundown on the vehicle.

"Your mom has some odd ideas."

"No, just traditional... old fashioned, and definitely Japanese."

A legal aid commercial came on, talking about getting hurt at work. They didn't bother fast forwarding past the commercials.

"I think you'd be an amazing catch. English is your second language, but you don't even have an accent. I could never get have a girlfriend like you."

"Really? It's just that your so smart, handsome, brave... you could do anything you wanted, with anyone you chose."

"Except talk to Sierra."

"I wasn't going to mention that part."

The announcer was now talking about some truck-a-sarus that rolled into the arena to pick up the already mangled cars in its teeth.

Miko glanced away from the TV for just a second to look at Jack. "We could, if you wanted."

"We could what?"

She placed her hand on his chest, and felt the increasing speed of his heartbeat through his shirt.

"We could be a—do you have to make me say it?"

"You want to be a couple? With me?"

"Sure." Miko adjusted herself sot that she was snuggled up even closer to him.

"So, how is this going to change things?"Jack asked.

"Between us? If it does, this was a mistake. We can work our way up to PDAs."

Before long the credits were rolling and an announcer was talking about what was coming up next.

Next to her, Jack was breathing the regular deep breaths of sleep. Miko got to her feet and pulled Jack up so that she was supporting him on her shoulder. "Past time to get you into bed, sleepyhead."

She managed to half drag Jack down the hallway to his room. Jack ungracefully flopped back onto his bed. She gave him another quick kiss. "If you don't remember that conversation in the morning, Ill treat you like Hard Shell."

Miko covered him with his sheet, then turned off the lights and TV in the Den.

"That was touching. Good night, Miko" June Darby sat at the table, illuminated by the refridgerator's nightlight.

"Good night, Mrs. Darby, sorry about disturbing you."

"Welcome to the family?"

Her face turning a brilliant red, Miko quickly and quietly closed the door behind her.