CHAPTER 11
A New Friend

"Yeah, I've heard about that creep, you're really lucky."

These were the words that Doctor Mark Hunter spoke as he was helping to fix up Jake's broken wrist. The man was probably one of the friendliest people he'd ever met, needless to say. He actually reminded him of a younger Tom, in his fifties, kind faced, warm, and welcoming. It was odd, he really reminded him of Tom in fact. "Yeah, well, I don't feel really lucky." Jake admitted "That really hurt." He added.

"Yeah, well, you'd have been hurt a lot worse if your Dad hadn't shown up. So you're lucky in that respect." Mark replied with a shrug "So are you guys just passing through our small little town?" Jake nodded his head "Figured, I've never seen anyone actually move here." He added.

"I grew up in a town not much bigger than this." Jake shrugged "Before, my Dad took me in anyway." He added.

"So you're adopted?"

Jake nodded in confirmation, he figured that it was the best way to go. Wheeljack had said their cover story was he was his son, not that he was his biological son. And frankly, they looked nothing like each other so it made more sense to go with that. "Figured, you two don't look anything like each other." Jake nodded his head a bit "So why are you guys-"

"We're moving to Nevada, this town called Jasper." Jake answered, knowing what he'd ask already "We don't have a lot of money, so we couldn't get a flight, and, well.. You get the idea." Mark nodded his head a bit "It was pretty sudden, which didn't help. As soon as he adopted me, he got a job transfer." He shook his head "You could say things have gotten complicated." He added.

"Well no one said life was easy." Mark smiled a bit, but shook his head "And there we are..." He finished the splint off slowly "Alright, you should be able to take it off in six weeks. Just get any doctor to take it off, pretty much." He smiled and nodded "Listen, you and your Dad have any plans today?" He asked.

"Not really." Jake shrugged "Why?"

"Wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch with my wife and I." Mark questioned "I'm meeting her in an hour, and I take it you haven't eaten today. What with what happened and all." Jake's growling stomach answered that question "Sounds like I have an answer. You think your Dad would be up for it?" He asked.

Jake looked thoughtful for a moment, they really did have to get back on the road. But at the same time, he knew Wheeljack wouldn't mind hanging around for a few more hours at the most. A knock on the door came before Jake could answer, and Wheeljack poked his head in. "I can see you're worried." Mark chuckled "He's going to be fine, Mr. Jackson. it's actually a sprain, and a doctor should be able to remove the splint in six weeks." The mech sighed.

"Doctor Hunter invited us to lunch." Jake brought up "Can we go?"

Wheeljack stared at Jake, he really wanted to get back on the road. But then again, the chances of that man's story of a "Giant Robot" being believed were slim and none. "Sure, but we can only stay a few hours at the most." Wheeljack nodded a bit "No offense meant, Doctor Hunter. But we're on a tight schedule on our-" He began.

"Of course, not a problem at all." Mark stood up "Just follow me in your car, the wife and I are meeting at this small cafe down the block." He nodded.

As Mark went out in front of them, Wheeljack put a hand on Jake's shoulder. The boy turned his head, and Wheeljack frowned a bit. "Are you okay, you're not too hurt, right?" He asked.

"It hurts, but the painkillers helped." Jake nodded, then smiled a bit "Thanks for saving me."

"No need to thank me, that's my job." Wheeljack pulled an arm around the boy's shoulders "So, you two hit it off, eh?" He asked.

"Yeah, he's really cool, you'll like him when you get to know him too." Jake grinned.

Wheeljack quite liked the thought of making another human friend. If only because after all the stress he'd been through, he needed some relaxation and calm. Sure, he had to keep an eye out for that creeper, but at this rate, he'd be smart to just avoid the town at all. Taking a deep breath, they made their way outside, today would be interesting, that much he could tell.

...

"So Will, what do you do for a living?"

Wheeljack stared up at the woman who sat across from him at the booth, Mark's wife, Donna. He smiled a bit, racking his brain for a cover job. "I'm both a Military Engineer and Special Forces Officer." He explained, using the two classifications that he'd be on Earth "For the most part, I'm the latter, but I'm quite the engineer so I often am called upon for engineering." He explained.

"Impressive." Mark nodded his head a bit, taking a sip of his coffee "So you move around a lot?"

"I used to." Wheeljack replied "But the base I'm headed to now is a much more permanent station. I requested to be moved there so that Jake and I wouldn't be constantly moving around." He explained "I didn't want Jake to spend his time with me without a permanent home or school, you know?" He asked.

Mark nodded his head and turned to Jake, who looked full as possible. Mark smiled a bit, and nodded. "So at sixteen you'd be a junior?" He asked.

Jake shook his head a bit, his eyes moved to the table, then up at Mark. "I'll have to restart from Freshman Year. Before I was adopted by Will, I lived with an elderly man who got cancer." Jake chewed his lip a bit "I didn't go to High School because of it. He was too old, and I needed to take care of him." He then added "I want to get a full High School Education." He explained.

"Very selfless of you." Donna smiled a bit "I'm very sorry for your loss."

Jake did what he could to not make it obvious how recent the loss was. He shook his head, and looked at Donna calmly. "He's in a better place. Tom was a good man, but I knew it would happen eventually. He was ninety-three, if Cancer didn't take him, something else would have." He didn't like to think of it that way, but he knew it was true "Will and I actually met a little before he died..." He admitted.

"And you two just hit it off?" Mark asked.

"It's a long story." Wheeljack admitted, and shrugged "But it wasn't as simple as me just deciding to try to adopt him right away." He admitted.

Mark nodded his head, he tilted it towards the window, noticing the storm clouds rolling in. "And y'all plan to drive through a storm?" Wheeljack nodded in response "Nonsense, bad idea out here, lots of mud on the road out. If you'd like we often rent out our extra rooms." He said politely "I think it'd be much safer for you to leave in the morning. The forecast this morning siad it was going to be the worst storm we've seen in a while." He explained.

"We can't really spare any money to rent." Wheeljack looked for an excuse "I need to get to an ATM and I haven't seen one in town."

"Yeah there isn't one." Donna nodded "But we can give the rooms to you anyway, if you'd like. I'm sure you both could use a nice bed to sleep on after sleeping in your car for so long." She explained.

Jake gave the mech a gentle kick from under the table before he could say "no". He really liked the sound of sleeping on a soft bed for the night, getting a home cooked meal possibly, and having some more company. Wheeljack already got the idea, and sighed slightly, looking at them. "We greatly appreciate it, I suppose one night couldn't hurt." He smiled a bit "But we really have to leave once the storm has passed." He explained.

"Not a problem, I figured as much, but still wanted to offer." Mark nodded "Waitress, check please."

Wheeljack mentally hated himself by doing this, by putting these good people in danger. But then again, it was free bard from the storm, hopefully with a garage included in the offer. Jake needed this, he'd been such a good sport about all of this and one day of a regular night "at home" wasn't going to hurt anything. And besides, no Decepticon would travel out in this storm. He knew the Decepticons, they'd take one look at the cloud and go around it or bridge back to base, not go through it.

It could give me a chance to learn more about human home life too. He thought to himself.

As they got the check and departed the cafe, Wheeljack put all his fears and worrying aside. They could do this for one night, he told himself, as it was the one night nothing could go wrong. It wasn't even in a "jinxing" way, he was ninety-nine percent sure no Decpticon would travel in the rain. And so long as the two humans had no hidden agenda (he nearly scoffed at that thought), he was certain this would all go off without a hitch.

...

A/N: Thought it was about time they met someone on their journey. :) Reviews make my day.