CHAPTER 14
Found

Jake was back in the forcefield, cage, whatever it was, again. He kept his knees to his chest silently, he just wanted out of there. That's all he wanted at this point, off this ship, away from the Decepticons. All he could think about was Wheeljack. Would he actually come for him? He wasn't sure, but he really liked to think that he was. He wouldn't leave him alone on this ship, would he? Jake kicked at the energy, it didn't hurt, but it didn't have any effect either, who was he kidding? He was just some kid Wheeljack found, coming to find him would be too much trouble..

He wasn't coming for him, and he had to accept that. The sound of footsteps made Jake cringe, whatever Megatron wanted him for must have come up. Or worse, he'd decided he wasn't worth the trouble and was there to kill him. The energy disappeared, and he found himself staring up at Dreadwing slowly. "What the hell do you want?" Jake groaned.

"You really are a brave little human." Dreadwing admitted, Jake was silent "How can you not be scared right now?"

Jake shot a glare in Dreadwing's direction, shaking his head. "Are you kidding me, I'm nearly pissing my pants right here." Jake said flatly "But I'm not about to let your creeper of a leader know that." He added, standing up "Now did you WANT something?" He asked flatly, when Dreadwing tossed him a piece of meat, Jake blinked "I don't understand." He muttered.

Dreadwing was silent for a moment, looking away. "If you have to be a prisoner, rather than a pet. I won't allow you to be treated in such a way." Dreadwing muttered quietly "Decepticon, or not, I refuse to starve a child." He then added "I have a son about your age in our years. Two or three years younger." He added "Though he's with his carrier, you still remind me of him." He added.

"So I'm not an animal to you." Jake asked in disbelief.

"If you were, would I bother to give you something to eat?" Jake looked at the meat, blinking, then looked up at Dreadwing "If I could, I'd free you. Megatron went back on our agreement. And the way that you're acting, I can see... We aren't too different as a species." He sighed a little, uncertain for a moment "But I cannot do that." He added.

"You murdered 'Jacks friend without a second thought. So why would you want to help me?" Jake questioned.

Dreadwing was silent for a moment, it was a good question. Unlike most Decepticons, he truly did have a sense of honor to him. And if his son had been taken by Autobots, he'd like to think that perhaps, they might show him some kindness, even if only one of them. "Because I'd hope, if my son were taken prisoner. Someone might spare some energon for him." He admitted, he turned his head a bit "And as for his friend, we must not forget, we are at war. And war is a VERY ugly thing." He added.

As Dreadwing moved to turn the electric cage back on, Jake hesitated a moment. "Thank you." Dreadwing turned in surprise "You're not as bad a guy as I thought... You're not a great guy either, but..." He looked down a bit "At least someone doesn't see me as some sort of pawn." He explained.

For a moment, Dreadwing moved to turn the cage back on, but he didn't. Frag it all, he hated having honor sometimes, but he was not going to watch a kid be killed like he knew he'd be when Megatron's use for him was done. "There's an extra com link right by you." Dreadwing told him flatly as he started to leave "I suggest you use it to get a hold of your Autobot friend before Megatron returns." He explained.

"What?" Jake asked, confused.

"Don't make me change my mind about helping you." Dreadwing stopped in the doorway, but turned his head "You can take my pity, or leave it. But I'd suggest you take it and get back to the mech." He added as he left.

For a moment, Jake considered if it might have been a trap. But then again, Dreadwing did seem to genuinely show concern. Finding the spare com attached to the wall, and carefully putting in the com number Wheeljack had once told him, he began to speak. "W-Wheeljack, can you hear me?" He whispered quietly "Please tell me you can hear me..." He repeated.

...

The words filled Wheeljack's audio receptors faster than he could take them in. When Jake's voice hit him, it took him a few minutes to process but his spark lept with joy. "Jake, where are you? Are you hurt?" He said frantically, his voice very quick and panicked "You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice."

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Both Wheeljack and Bulkhead, who had heard his friend's comment waited intently for a reply. "I'm not hurt." Came Jake's cracked voice, it was low and full of terror "I'm afraid but I'm okay, they haven't done anything to hurt me yet. But Megatron... He seems to be have something planned for me and I don't know what it is." His voice was low "'Jack, I'm scared." He whispered.

"Hey, hey. Just relax Jake, I'm in Jasper with the Autobots. We're tracking your location right now." Wheeljack attempted to calm him down as best he could "Jake, have they said anything about where they've been over, at all?" He questioned.

"Nothing, I haven't seen or heard anything." Jake said shakily.

Wheeljack could tell by the tone of his voice Jake was likely telling the truth. After all, Jake was hardly ever scared, but when he was it was very obvious. Wheeljack looked at Bulkhead, who looked at him with worry. "Alright, Jake. You should get off the com, or they might notice. Don't be afraid, Jake. We're coming for you." Wheeljack replied "Try and find somewhere to hide for me, okay?" He asked.

As the line went dead, Wheeljack knew Jake was doing as he was told. "Wheeljack." Wheeljack jumped slightly, spinning around to see Arcee at the end of the hallway "We have a fix on the location, but we need to move now." She explained.

Wheeljack turned to Bulkhead, as if wondering if he was coming or not. At once, Bulkhead cracked his metal knuckles, and looked at Wheeljack with a nod. "Let's go get your kid." Bulkhead confirmed with a nod.

They could both only hope that they wouldn't be too late.

...

The long halls of the Nemesis were the hardest part of finding a hiding place. Jake had no idea how the Decepticons could possibly navigate it, each hall just seemed to get longer and darker. Yet, he kept pushing on, his body trembling slightly with every step he took. Jake did his best to swallow his fear, doing everything he could to keep calm. You just need to find somewhere to hide while Wheeljack finds you, Jake... Keep moving. He mentally egged himself on.

Clang!

Jake felt his body tense up as he turned around. The Vehicon looked down at him, no emotions on his face to read as it was made up of barely an optic. "Hey, what are you doing out of your holding cell." The Vehicon brought out his arm cannon for a moment, pointing it down at him "Come with me, immediately." It demanded.

Jake took a couple of steps back, swallowing hard as a lump formed in his throat. "Duck!"

Jake took a second to register the new voice, but did as it told him. The sight of a large green mace came into view, smashing the head clean off the Vehicon within seconds. Jake spun around slowly to find Bulkhead standing there, retracting him mace. "W-Who are you?" Jake asked, a little fearful that he was misreading the save "A-Are you with Wheeljack?" He asked.

"Sure am, it's okay now, Jake, you're safe." Bulkhead sighed with relief, crouching down "You are Jake, right?" He questioned, Jake nodded his head and the mech smiled a bit "Bulkhead." He introduced himself "Any other Vehicons on your tail, kid?" He asked.

Jake looked thoughtful, turning his head and looking around. To his relief, there didn't seem to be any others, but he was sure the mech would have noticed if there was. He turned around just in time to see Bulkhead swatted aside, much to Jake's shock. Megatron stood there, much to his surprise, grinning a bit. "Well, well, well, you most certainly did your job, bringing the Autobots here." Megatron grabbed hold of Jake violently "But did you really think you would escape?" He asked flatly.

"Better question, did you really think you could take MY son?"

Megatron spun around as Wheeljack appeared at the end of the hallway. Megatron growled, bringing out a blade an holding it close to Jake's neck. "Not another move, Auotbot, or I'll kill your precious pet." Megatron sneered, Wheeljack's optics slowly narrowed in disgust "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. As I would have told Prime. If he just hands himself over quietly, I might spare him." He added wickedly.

"Not happening."

Megatron turned, just in time to get a large mace to the faceplate. The mech collapsed, straight into stasis. The blade fell just inches from Jake's face, the boy relaxing slightly. "He's the big baddie of them all? That's kinda-" He began.

"I just got lucky by catching him off-guard." Bulkhead nodded "Come on, move, no telling when he'll wake up."

Climbing over Megatron slowly, Jake trembled a bit on Bulkhead's hand. Bulkhead brought Jake towards Wheeljack slowly, and handed him over. "Now let's get the frag out of here." Bulkhead stated bluntly, looking over at the now groaning Megatron "Before he decides to wake up." He added.

Holding Jake protectively to his chest, Wheeljack nodded slowly. "Yeah, let's get him home." Wheeljack nodded, feeling Jake's gentle tremble "It's okay, son, you're safe now." He whispered.

Jake felt exhaustion set in slowly, passing out after that statement. Heaven knew he needed the sleep, but he had only been able to relax at that moment. Lucky for him, he he could finally relax without an insane amount of fear. Even if, though he didn't know it yet, his troubles were just beginning.

...

A/N: Meh, not my best chapter, but not my worst either. LOL Hope it was at least good. :P