Jack looked at each gun that was in its proper place, never once touching one. Epps showed him how each one worked, having way too much fun with this to be normal.
"You know, you might want to be more careful with that." Jack warned as Epps picked up a missile launcher. Jack saw that the safety wasn't on, and Epps, thinking that the safety WAS on, lightly rested his finger on the trigger. The light touch was enough to set it off, the wall next to them taking the hit and pieces of metal flying everyone. Jack sent a quick, thick wall of ice over Epps, as well as his wings, protecting the Human from the shrapnel. The Wind blocked the heavier pieces from Jack, so Jack called it a win for the organisms.
He was not expecting suddenly being picked up and scanned thoroughly for injuries. "Hey! Put me down, I'm fine! Just…" Jack paused, assessing the damage to his body. "A broken arm, sprained wing, bruised rib, a couple of gashes, and a piece of metal in my skull. Maybe I'm not fine." Jack said. He landed on the floor and added a new injury to the count. "Oh, and I think I broke my leg, too." Jack pushed down the pain, letting another part of his mind deal with it. He limped over to Epps, who was sitting against the intact ice wall, coughing.
"Kid, you okay?" Epps asked, getting over his coughing fit. He saw Jack and swore. "Oh, slag. Lennox is gonna have my fragging aft for this!" Jack just chuckled and helped him up.
"I'm fine. It will heal on its own." Jack assured.
"Oh no it won't, youngling!" Ratchet snapped as he gently plucked up Jack again. Even though it was gentle, Jack let out a whimper.
"Hey, no need to cause more harm!" Jack protested. "I am FINE!"
"No you are not, fleshling. Your blood is dripping on the floor, your arm is not connected at the bone, and you currently have a large shard of metal in your head. You rib is now broken from your moving and you may have internal bleeding." Ratchet informed him.
"Bloody pit, what the slag happened?" Bunny asked, adopting the Cybertronian curses with ease.
"Um, accidental misfire is the proper term, I believe. Which is to say, some idiot left a missile launcher loaded with the safety off and Epps accidentally squeezed the trigger. He is currently hiding behind my ice wall worried that Lennox is gonna kick his aft for this." Jack wheezed.
"Ratchet! Hand the kid over, you'll make his injuries worse if you just let him hang there like that." Major Captain Lennox said. Jack was passed over to the soldier, despite his protests. It was hard to move with a broken rib, broken leg, broken arm, and other injuries.
Like a small child, Jack was carried back to the medical wing, threats of permanent offlining coming from Ratchet, directed at Epps. He bit his tongue to keep from protesting when he was laid back onto the giant examination table. Ratchet reset his bones and scanned him for internal bleeding. There was a tiny bit, near his heart, that greatly concerned the medic. It was going to need surgery, but first, Ratchet was going to remove the metal from his head.
Bunny was being forcibly held back from killing Epps where he stood. Jack also learned quite a few new Pookan curses, though Bunny had taken enough time from his rant to warn Jack that the Pooka had better not hear about Jack saying them. Ratchet was too large to do the stitches, and Bunny's fur might infect the wound, so that left Lennox. Ironhide wasn't allowing Epps anywhere near Jack now.
With the precision of a seasoned veteran, the metal was removed, leaving heavy bleeding and torn flesh. The only problem occurred was when Lennox grabbed the needle. Jack panicked, having to be lightly sedated for Lennox to sew up the torn flesh.
"Amazing. You get the slag beat out of you by an explosion and don't even flinch, even protest medical attention. But so much as the sight of a needle and you are acting like my not even a year old daughter." Lennox teased.
"Needles and I don't have a good experience. Let's just say that the spirit of Health and I had a disagreement and his solution was updating all my shots." Jack said. Lennox shuddered at the thought.
"Jack, we need to have a minor surgery to repair the internal bleeding." Ratchet informed him, getting a much bigger needle out. The sedative no longer was able to keep down his panic. Lennox and Bunny gently held him down while Ratchet administered a heavier sedative so Jack would not be awake during the procedure.
With Jack asleep, the adults set to work, Ironhide being forced to allow Epps to assist. Ratchet made a holoform as well so he could actually know what was going on during it.
"Why didn't you do that while I was giving Jack stitches?"
"I didn't want to risk hurting him while trying to get him calm enough to actually do the stitches." Ratchet said. Lennox ground his teeth in frustration.
"And you were willing to let me do it?"
"You have a youngling of your own and are far more skilled in calming them down." Ratchet responded in a tone that clearly meant 'drop it'. Ratchet move the scalpel down Jack's chest, a thin line of blood blossoming from the cut.
The medic worked emotionlessly, stopping the bleeding quickly. The surgery gave him a clear view of Jack's heart, where the shard nestled deep within the muscle, blue liquid shooting into his heart then converted into blood. "Amazing. The Shard is providing energon for the heart and the heart is making it blood." Ratchet looked like he wanted to examine it further, but Lennox cleared his throat.
"Ratchet. We know that it is fascinating, but can we get this over with?" That got the medic back on track and soon Jack was sleeping lightly, his wounds healing slowly. Fast compared to others, but still slowly. Lennox noticed something that he hadn't noticed when he had been stitching up Jack's head. "Hey Ratchet? Is the kid's head supposed to do that?"
Ratchet come over and carefully looked at the wound. It was encased in a thin sheet of ice, going far past the end of the stitches. Ratchet grabbed a few locks of Jack's hair and carefully cut it, making it easier to see through. It appeared that the wound went all the way to the back of his head, which meant by the end of the examination, half of Jack's head was now in a military buzz cut and the other was the wild mop that it had been for three hundred years.
"I do believe that Jack's powers are acting much like a…" Ratchet paused, looking for the human word, "bandaid. It keeps out any dirt that might prevent the wound from healing." Bunny came over and saw Jack's hair.
"Ratchet. Please tell me that it was absolutely necessary ta cut his hair."
"Of course." Ratchet said, his holoform looking surprised at the statement.
"Then ya might want ta cut the rest of it ta make it look even. He might not freeze ya then." Bunny said, backing up.
"Why does it matter?" Ratchet asked.
"Our hair doesn't grow back easily. I think Jack said that his hair has grown a half inch since he became Jack Frost." Lennox got the meaning right away. Ratchet had just messed up Jack's hair and it wasn't an easy fix.
"Oh. I see. I will cut the rest of it." Five minutes later, Jack's silver white hair was very short, at about a half inch at the top and a quarter inch on the sides.
Jack woke up and automatically noticed that his hair was shorter. He took it surprisingly well, only freezing half of Ratchet.
"Why did you cut my hair!" Jack shouted, freezing the medic's legs to the ground.
"It was necessary. Your head wound extended past the hairline. I had to cut it to ensure no extra damage had been caused!" Ratchet boomed right back. Jack let the ice begin to creep slowly up the medic, stopping just under his chassis. Then he sighed and released the medic, sitting comfortably on his staff and a hand through his hair.
"At least now it won't be in the way when I fly." Jack said. It was only hair, after all, and it wasn't like he was bald.
"Jack, I was told to pass on a message from Optimus, Major Captain Lennox, Ironhide, and Bunny. You are not allowed to leave this room without an escort. Also, you are going to meet Sarah Lennox, Major Captain Lennox's…." Ratchet paused to look up a word, "wife. Please do not freeze her or her sparkling."
Jack groaned and then laughed as Sacha nosed his side. "Hey Sacha. Where have you been?"
"I have been waiting for you to wake up. You should not have gone with Epps. You were severely injured and you were not protected." Jack rolled his eyes.
"Is Epps okay?"
"Epps is physically fine, though he is feeling very guilty for blowing you up." Sacha informed him.
"Where is he?" Jack asked. He hated it when people felt guilty over an accident.
"He is currently waiting outside the door. Ironhide has not allowed him to enter the room since the operation." Jack leaped off his staff and opened the door, laughing as he saw Ironhide standing to one side of it, not allowing anyone to enter. He also saw a woman and baby arguing with Ironhide. Well, the baby wasn't arguing with Ironhide, just the woman.
"Hey, Ironhide! Stop arguing with her, you won't win." Jack warned. The bot and the woman turned to face him and Jack gave a smile. She smiled back, not at all startled by his angelic apearance.
"Hi, I'm Jack."
"Well, you must be the kid that Will told me about last night. Though I guess three hundred years is a little old to be called a kid. Oh, I'm Sarah Lennox and this is Annabelle." Sarah said.
"Well, if you ask anyone else, they would disagree. Hi Annabelle." Jack said The baby didn't react and Jack sighed. "Forgot, she doesn't believe in me."
"What do you mean?" Sarah took a step forward. Jack did as well and raised his hand. Oh so carefully he passed his hand though Annabelle's should, blue light rippling.
The old ache of being passed through made him lose his breath, even after all that time he had to get used to it. "See? She doesn't believe, so she can't see, hear, or touch me. It's like I don't exist." Jack smiled at the baby sadly, removing his hand.
"Oh, I have an idea! Annabelle, do you want a story? This is a true one." Little Annabelle nodded, cooing happily and clapping her little hands.
"Yayayaya!" She gurbled.
"Okay. There once was a boy named Jack Frost. He brings the winter to the world. He has white hair, big blue eyes, and he loves kids. If you want to see him, though, you have to believe. Do you believe in Jack Frost, Annabelle?" Annabelle seemed to think, then nodded decisively. It surprised Jack how serious the baby looked.
"Annabelle, do you see Jack Frost anywhere?" Sarah asked, Annabelle looked around, eyes resting on Jack. With a happy shriek, she reached out to Jack.
"Hi Annabelle. I'm Jack." Jack said softly, barely breathing. Annabelle scowled and squirmed.
"I think she wants you to hold her." Sarah said. Jack smiled and happily held the baby, rocking her softly and humming a lullaby that he hadn't thought about in centuries. Annabelle cooed softly, happy where she was. Soon she was fast asleep, drooling slightly on Jack's still bare shoulder. He didn't know it, but Sarah had taken a picture of Jack holding Annabelle, his wings curled slightly, completely relaxed, and his glowing blue eyes softened with the delight of being with the child.
Jack looked down and realized that his deer skin pants had been replaced with denim blue jeans. These people seemed intent on changing what he looked like! Jack stopped humming and looked around, a habit that he had always had, probably from training with Lennox when he was young. Seeing nothing but Sarah, who was smiling at him, and Ironhide, who looked a bit miffed, he went back to humming.
"Jack. Did you have younger siblings? You look very experienced." Sarah noted.
"Yeah, I had a little sister, Amy. I saved her from falling in a pond near my house, but I fell in instead. That's how I became me." Jack said. "Of course, I also was used to holding her when my uncle scared her and she refused to let go, so this is very easy." Jack said.
"Oh, was your uncle a prankster?" Sarah said with a laugh.
"No, he was a highly trained soldier who thought setting elaborate and highly dangerous traps were great for teaching us to pay attention to our surroundings and more often than not, it would scare her because I was bleeding heavily." Jack said. Sarah stared at him in shock, surprised by his honesty. "But I was an… what do people call it nowadays, army brat? So I was used to it."
"Well, I am glad you can take that so easily." Sarah said.
"Yeah, so getting blown up by a missile is really nothing for me." Jack said, looking at Ironhide.
"Bl-blown up?" Sarah said, turning to Ironhide.
"I guess Captain Lennox didn't tell you…. oops?" Jack said. Sarah looked like she was about to blow up in anger.
"WILLIAM! GET YOUR AFT IN HERE!" Sarah screamed, waking Annabelle. Jack busied himself with sending the child back to sleep.
"Sarah, what's the problem?" Lennox said as he raced into the corridor.
"When were you going to tell me that the REASON that he was in the there was because he GOT BLOWN UP!?" Sarah said. Jack gave up trying to get Annabelle back to sleep and simply distracted her.
"Your mama gots some lungs on her, that's for sure." Jack cooed. Annabelle looked at her parents and nodded. "You know, you're pretty smart, aren't you?" Annabelle clapped happily.
"Um, I was going to tell you before you met him. Epps took him to the gun range and accidentally fired the missile launcher into the wall."
"And your daddy is very good at calming her down." Jack said.
"And why is Epps not in there as well?"
"Because Jack put an ice wall in front of him so he didn't get harmed." Lennox said.
"Hmmm." Jack knew that 'Hmmm' well. It was never a good thing. Sarah turned to him, and Jack took a small step back, shifting slightly so that Annabelle was shielded if he were to be attacked, closing his wings to protect them as well. She smiled at him kindly and Jack relaxed slightly.
"Jack, sweetie. Next time one of these two blows you up, tell me, okay?" Jack gave a slow nod and winced as Annabelle suddenly screamed in his ear.
"Ow, Annabelle. You have to be careful, my ears are sensitive." Jack said as he began his humming again. Annabelle glared at him and hit his nose with her tiny fist. Jack chuckled and caught her hand easily as she went to do it again. "How about you go hang out with Ironhide, kiddo, hmm? You can hit him all you want and it won't hurt." Jack tried to set her down so she could crawl over to the bot, but she refused to left go of his now very short hair.
"Nononono! Want Jack." She said. Jack sighed and plopped on the ground, Annabelle grumpily sitting on his lap. Jack absently made snowflakes for her to play with, making her giggle.
"Well, now we know who to call if we ever need a babysitter." Sarah commented dryly. Jack smiled at her.
"Hey, where is Epps. Or Bunny, for that matter?" Jack asked.
"That…. is classified." Ironhide said after a moment.
Jack froze, listening. He could hear shouting, far away, a very distinctive, very angry Australian shout, to be exact. "Oh no." Jack said. "Please tell me Epps isn't with him." Ironhide snorted, giving Jack the answer he needed.
"Annabelle, you have to go back to your mama. I have to go save Sergeant Epps from the Easter Bunny, okay?" Annabelle began to cry as Jack set her down, but Jack was already gone, the Wind flying him to where the shouts were coming from.
Breaking open the door, Jack burst in, anger clear on his face. He got in between a very upset Pooka and a very scared soldier, glaring up at his teammate. He looked like a very young, very pissed off avenging angel.
"Bunny! Leave him alone, it was an ACCIDENT!" Jack said. Bunny glared down at him and moved him back out the way.
"Stay out of it, Frostbite." Jack glared and flew up, grabbing one long sensitive ear and pulling back, forcing Bunny to go back as well.
"No. Knock it off, I am FINE." Jack yelled.
"Oh, really, Jack? Because it looks ta me like ya got half yer body in bandages, ya have stitches up the side of yer head, and ya just had an operation ta stop internal bleedin'! How is that fine?" Bunny spat, easily getting Jack's hand off his ear.
"Well, I'm not dead or worse, am I?" Jack countered, tugging on the ear again. Bunny growled and, yet still kept to gently pushing Jack away. It annoyed Jack to no end how everyone treated him like a china doll.
"You could have been! Then what would we do? Do you know how many spirits I would have hunting me down because you got hurt?" Bunny asked.
"None." Jack spat. His normally blue eyes were a colorless grey, almost blending in with the whites of his eyes. When combined with the glow it was scary.
"Oh really? Because I know of at LEAST twenty that would hunt me down, seven that would attempt to kill me, and three that would take shifts in torturing me for the rest of eternity." Bunny yelled.
"Uh huh. And I am besties with Pitch." Jack said sarcastically. "Now leave the terrified soldier alone! He basically does our job but has a much higher risk of dying while doing it." Jack said, landing a swift kick to Bunny's shin, making the Pooka yelp.
"What, ya don't think that even the other seasonals would be worried about ya?" Bunny asked.
"Well, saying as they try to kill me on a regular basis, no, I don't." Jack said. Bunny glared at him, but only shook his head.
"Fine. I leave the sorry Human alone." Bunny snapped, storming out of the room.
Jack flew down to Epps. "You okay?"
"Man, I just got my aft handed to me by the Easter Bunny. I am NOT okay." Epps responded, but accepted Jack's extended hand.
"Don't mind him. He gets grumpy when stuff like this happens." Jack assured him.
"Oh, this stuff happens often?"
"Yeah, about twice a day. You'd be surprised how often I have had to stop Bunny from beheading other spirits because of it. If you think that Bunny is good with a boomerang, you should see him in hand to hand combat. Scary." Epps put that on his list of not to dos. Do not piss off the Easter Bunny.
"So, I think Sarah Lennox is looking for you…" Jack said as they walked, well, Jack flew, down the hallways.
"Slag it!" Epps swore. Sarah Lennox was by far scarier than anything he had ever faced, and that sadly now included the Easter Bunny.
"Just don't patronize her and it will be easier." Jack said as Epps led them to the door to the medical wing, opening the door slowly.
"Um, don't shoot?" Jack asked, not stepping in.
"We're not shooting." Lennox called. There was a series of clicks that put Jack on edge. Instead of going in the normal way, Jack flew up to the vent that seemed to be randomly placed in between the hall and the room. Everyone there was calmly sitting or standing, no sign of any distress. So what was that clicking sound? Jack looked around and spied a camera at the edge of the room. That was it.
Concentrating, Jack sent ice at it, encasing the device without alerting the Autobots, Humans, or Bunny. Then he sent it over any other camera in the building. The clicking annoyed him and put him on edge.
"Okay, I think that it is safe to go in…" Jack said, flying into the room. Nothing happened, only Annabelle demanding the he pick her up. But when Epps stepped into the room, Sarah landed a mean right hook to his jaw, making him stumble back.
"Ow! What the-" Epps stopped talking with her glare.
"If I find out that Jack or Will or Annabelle or Sam or ANYONE is in here because of your idiocy, I will end you slowly and painfully. Understood?" Sarah asked, shaking out her hand. Jack laughed and winced. Laughing hurt.
"Hey, if Bunny isn't allowed to kill him, you aren't either. It's not nice." Jack said simply.
Bumblebee beeped happily. Jack laughed, then stopped as he felt a tingle on his skin. He shuddered and glared at the source. "Don't do that. Feels weird." Sam nodded in agreement.
"He is scanning you to ensure no extra damage has been caused by your flying or your fight with Bunny." Optimus said. It sounded like he was trying to hold back a chuckle.
"I told ya, it wasn't a fight! Bloody gumby wouldn't let me kill the Human is all." Bunny grumbled.
"No, I just saved you years worth of nightmares. I hate killing." Jack said. "But that's something I have to deal with with my powers. You are supposed to be new life. Kind of goes against that if you take it away." Jack quipped.
"Shut it, Frostbite. Before I tell Ratchet about that little quirk in your powers." Jack was on him so fast it was a blur. Bunny was reeling from the hit to the stomach.
"Don't. You. Dare." Jack hissed.
"Tell me what?" Ratchet asked.
"Jack-" What ever was going to be said was stopped by the Pooka being encased in ice. Not even just his feet frozen to the floor, he was completely encased in ice.
"Whoops. Happened again." Jack said fearfully.
"Jack, why is Bunny completely frozen? I scanned you and you put out very little power behind that blast. It should not have been enough to create that much ice." Ratchet said. Jack hummed and ignored the question.
"We should probably get him out of that." Jack said, tapping the ice. It cracked, luckily, making Jack sigh in relief. 'Not too bad then. Lucky me.' He thought.
"Jack, why did your power fluctuate?" Ratchet demanded, gently tapping the ice and releasing the shaking Pooka.
"My powers are deeply connected with my emotions." Jack said simply. Ratchet continued to question, but it seemed that Jack was going to be very tight lipped.
"What he means by that, is that if ya upset him in any way, chances are ya are gonna get frozen by accident." Bunny said.
Jack glared at him.
"Why were you reluctant to tell us?" Ratchet asked.
"Because it isn't something I like to broadcast. I already deal with enough ridicule for being a Guardian, if others knew that I have very limited control over the entire force of Winter, there would be an uproar." Jack snapped. He was taking deep breaths so as to not freeze Annabelle in his arms.
"Jackjackjack." She said. "Jack sad?" She asked. Jack was amazed by her. She was a year old! She should not be this smart!
"No, not sad. Don't worry, Annabelle." Jack said. "I just need to set you down or you are going to get very cold." Jack said.
"Not likely. Your body emits a constant amount of power that surrounds you and everything you touch. Essentially, it keeps you from ever feeling anything above or below seventy degrees, that same happens when you are touching something." Ratchet explained. Jack thought about this but still shook his head.
"Well, I don't want to take any chances. Who do you wanna go to?" Annabelle scowled.
"'Hide." She finally said. With extreme care, the weapons specialist picked up Annabelle. Jack flew around aimlessly, wishing for something to do.
"So… what's up with the war? Why did it start?" Jack asked. The next hour was used explaining every question Jack could think of for the bots.
Finally, Jack ran out of questions, and Bunny ran out of patience. "Gah, I'm getting Sandy." He finally grumbled, hopping into a tunnel.
Jack visibly relaxed once the Pooka was gone.
"Hey Jack, what's with you and Bunny? Don't get along?" Sam asked.
"Not really. I prefer to work alone and being on a team isn't really easy. Bunny thinks it's dumb for me to be so distrusting of them, but they really haven't given me a reason to." Jack said.
"So why aren't you worried about us doing the same?" Mikaela asked.
"Because you guys I can just avoid until you forget about me, and the Autobots could have killed me, but they haven't. Well, not killed, severely injured to the point of putting me in a coma." Jack amended.
"Wow, tough life." Sam said.
"Tough month, more like. I was just fine with being on my own." Jack said. He felt his leg finally finish healing and landed on the ground. Moments later, the rest of his body was completely healed, much to his delight.
"Well, I'm going to cause trouble, maybe make a few soldiers think they've gone crazy. See ya!" Jack zoomed out of the room, laughing happily.
"Should we stop him?" Lennox asked.
"Do YOU want to stop him? He has been stuck in this room for a very long time. I am surprised none of you fleshlings have left to get fuel for your bodies yet." Ratchet said.
As though awakened by the mention of food, stomachs growled loudly. "Pizza, anyone?" Lennox asked.
"If you try eating that anywhere near me, you will find yourself on an all vegetable diet for the next orn." Ratchet threatened.
"Um, maybe we should go out to eat. I can't live off of green leaves." Epps said. "I am not willing to do so." Epps snapped when Ratchet buzzed in denial.
There was a large crash and shouting somewhere in the middle of the base, alarm bells ringing. "You guys have fun with Jack." Sarah said as she snatched Annabelle and the Humans left the base, going very quickly for ones that were so small.
"Who wants to get Jack to stop terrorizing the base?" Optimus asked.
None volunteered. Optimus sighed. "Ironhide, please go retrieve Jack."
"Why do I have to get the fleshling?" Ironhide protested.
"Because you have more experience than the rest of us, you raised Bumblebee, after all." Optimus reasoned.
"Slag it, fine." Ironhide stormed out to find the youngling.
"He can't be worse than Bumblebee, right?" Jazz asked. Bumblebee hit him on the shoulder. "Not that you were that bad, Bee!"
Ironhide winced as he saw Humans slipping on ice, falling down and papers falling. This was definitely worse than anything Bumblebee had ever done, mostly because the little bot couldn't create ice in his wake. Ironhide finally found the boy in room full of books. A quick search identified it as a library. He was reading.
"What are you reading, youngling?" Ironhide asked quietly.
"Um…." Jack checked the cover of the book, "War and Peace, the original Russian version." Jack said. "Some soldier lent it to me and told me not to terrorize the base anymore."
"Why don't you take your book back to the medical wing?" Ironhide asked hopefully.
"But this is comfy. Everything in there is metal," Jack complained, "and Ratchet keeps scanning me and it is getting annoying." Ironhide rolled his optics.
"You can sit in my cab, then." Ironhide transformed and honked at the boy. Jack looked uneasy but got inside. Once he was, Ironhide fastened the seat belt. He had read up on Human car accidents and the effects of the younglings not wearing the safety belts. He wasn't taking any chances.
"I've never been inside a car before." Jack said.
"No? Why?" Ironhide asked, keeping the obviously nervous child distracted.
"No need. I can fly." Jack reminded him. Good thing the hallways were wide.
"No flying in the base." Ironhide ordered.
"Why?" Jack countered.
"Because it scares the Humans that CAN see you and it is dangerous." Ironhide snapped in a tone that left no room for argument.
"Fine, I won't fly in the base." Jack grumbled. Ironhide grumbled back and sped up slightly, getting to the medical lab quickly. By the time that he pulled in, Jack was comfortably reading again, eyelids drooping slightly.
::Where is Jack?:: Optimus asked.
::Reading in my cab. I think he's falling asleep as well.:: Ironhide responded to the comm link.
::Can you get him out? I wanted to do some more scans on him.:: Ratchet asked.
::No. Says the scans are annoying.:: Ironhide said.
"Slag." Ratchet complained out loud.
Jack's head drooped down again. The book was difficult to read, Jack having to translate it from Russian to English and odd wording making little sense. Plus, the cab was comfortable, even if the seatbelt was annoying at first.
His eyes closed then snapped back open. Sleeping was bad, he reminded himself. Of course, his body fell asleep anyways, leaving him to his memories that he wished were locked away in a vault and the combination lost.
Ironhide monitored Jack and chuckled when the youngling finally went into recharge. He carefully shifted to his bi-pedal form, Jack being safely tucked away in a compartment next to his spark. If there were a sudden attack, they wouldn't have to worry about Jack being lost in the confusion.
::Prime, we have to come up with a better plan for keeping watch on Jack.:: Ironhide warned.
::I know, but until then, we will simply have to keep him from destroying the base or getting severely injured again.:: Optimus replied.
Bumblebee joined the comm. ::Do you think that Megatron would hurt him?:: The young innocence in the statement made the Autobots pause.
::Yes. Not severely, but Megatron would hurt him to keep him in line if he ever got him. But I do not believe he would risk damaging the new All Spark to cause major harm.:: Optimus said.
::So, we keep Jack safe? What are we going to do when it is Winter again and he has to go out? And he won't take kindly to being cooped up at this base.:: Bee pointed out.
::He has teammates that can protect him. He will be able to do his job without harm, I hope.:: Optimus assured. Jack began to whimper in his sleep.
::What's wrong with him?:: Jazz asked.
::He has PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His memories are painful and often viewed in his sleep while his mind is vulnerable.:: Ratchet explained using Human terms.
::Should we wake him?:: Jazz asked, listening to the youngling's whimpers.
::Most references show that waking them is not a good plan. They might not recognize the situation and try to attack without realizing what they are doing, resulting in many accidental injuries.:: Ratchet explained.
Ironhide very carefully removed Jack from the space, laying him on the cool examination table gently, not waking the sleeping spirit.
::Do you think that he will be okay?:: Jazz asked.
::Yes. The memories often fade to being forgotten, only appearing in recharge as a way to protect the Human from going insane.:: Ratchet said.
::So, he suffers from memories he can't remember?:: Bumblebee asked.
::In a way.:: Ratchet said. Jack twitched and whimpered. It looked like he had just raised his arm to block a hit, but the wince indicated he hadn't been fast enough. Ironhide decided to try the same thing he had done to get Jack to calm down when he had first recharged around them.
Ironhide sent out his holoform and gently stroked Jack's head, large fingers soothing the frightened child. ::Human younglings and Cybertronian younglings are not that different.:: He commented.
The others agreed and decided to search the internet for more information on Earth. There was a variety of conflicting information, but they stuck to the government sites and easily hacked into secret organizations to get information that might be needed.