HAPPINESS: Well thank you very much! I'm so glad that you find such enjoyment in this story. :D

HELLO: I really appreciate your constructive criticism and want to thank you for making me aware of this stuff. I appreciate it, and will try to work on all of it as best as I can. :)

SHADOWLEADER: I know, I'm still stunned about it myself! XD Glad you're enjoying it so far! :)

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CHAPTER 37
A Sense of Belonging

In fact, they didn't have to worry about Mark being taken away at all. By the next day, the world had blown up over the news of what the Autobots had done. Both in order to protect the group in that charity event, and ultimately to save "the foster son of one". It had in fact blown up to a point where Mark could only guess the implosion and backfire that social services would get if they decided to take him away. Needless to say, they never heard a peep from them while Mark was inspected in the med bay, to the day following the chaos.

Luckily for him, Mark's injuries were minor, with a few cracked ribs and bruises being the only things noteworthy. Most of the Autobots still worried, with Sideswipe refusing to leave his side the first twenty-four hours, and Grimlock having to be calmed after seeing the state that his young friend was in. Grimlock himself had actually woken Mark up, and to say the sight of a t-rex on a near-rampage was frightening might have been the understatement of the year. Yet, things calmed down the day after, with Grimlock at the very least calmed down, and most of NEST having relaxed as well.

Mark quickly noted that morning that Knock Out hadn't been released from the med bay when he and Hound passed it. "Dad?"

Hound smiled widely, his spark warming a little. Mark had settled into calling him the term ever since it had slipped out the day prior. With the exception being when he was in his exhausted state after the battle, of course. The word was music to his audio receptors to hear again, even if it still surprised him to hear it out of the boy. "Mmmm," Hound replied. "What is it?"

"That 'Con," Mark paused, his eyes barely lifting up to the mech. "What are you guys going to do with him?"

Hound growled a little at the mention of Knock Out, still not over what he had done. "Keep him in stasis cuffs until he's healed, then lock him up securely in an underground brig," Hound explained, his optics softening as he stared down at the boy. "Don't give him any thought, Mark," Hound explained."He can't touch you as long as we're around."

"Yeah, I definitely don't doubt that now that I've seen you guys in action," Mark gave a small laugh. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a badass, dad? Because I'm pretty sure I've never seen someone kick that much butt."

"A time or two," Hound teased, with his smile widening. "You do know you're still calling me dad, right?"

Mark frowned a little, he was still calling Hound dad. But after the day prior, he honestly felt that the mech had earned the title. Even with all his hatred of the Autobots, he was almost certain that his biological father would have agreed. "Yeah, I am," Mark chuckled nervously as he rubbed his sore arm. "Are you okay with that? I know I never did before..."

"Mark," Hound stopped him. "I've been waiting for ye to call me the human word for "sire" since the day that you came home."

Mark blushed, but mostly just nodded his head in response. "Well, it took me a while to kinda grasp the idea," Mark admitted solemnly, his eyes retreating back to the ground. "You know, for a while, I thought my dad would be mad at me for replacing him." He explained quietly.

"I don't want to replace your father, Mark."

"I know, that's what I realized," Mark looked up at Hound slowly. "You're not trying to replace my dad, and you probably never will. But you can still be my dad, you can still be the guy that tucks me in at night and makes me feel safe," Mark stopped and so did Hound, who looked at him with surprise and wonder his optics. "Because you already do, every time I'm with you, I feel safe, loved, and protected."

Hound nodded his head, his optics softening as he thought about it. After all this time, he was a "sire" again, even if a new word was, understandably, involved. With a long sigh, he carefully picked up the young human and set him on his shoulder again. "Well, you should," Hound replied. "If you don't then I'm not really doing my job."

Mark sighed, leaning against the crook of Hound's neck. Something about calling Hound "dad" really solidified their relationship for him. It felt as though for the first time in a long while, he truly felt like he was at home in the NEST base. "So, have you guys seen Coulton around," Mark asked, his eyes lifting up to him. "I feel like he's been just a little TOO quiet."

Hound frowned slightly, his optics filled with a level of worry. He hadn't heard a peep from the government official since the entire incident at the park. And that was disturbingly unlike him to do. Surely, he would have at least tried to get Mark taken away. Did this mean he had given up? He doubted it, being the man had barely let up on them yet. "No," Hound finally replied with a hint of frustration. "And quite frankly I don't like it. If I know that man, and I do," Hound grimaced. "Then it could mean nothing good."

Mark frowned as well, especially as he heard the "tip, tap" of shoes. It was that moment that Mark remembered that speaking of the devil DID let him appear. Coulton took a few steps forward towards them, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "If you're here to take me away, you're probably gonna have to go through Grimlock," Mark told him with blunt honesty. "And I don't know if you want to go through a hundred foot T-rex that we JUST got calmed down after yesterday."

Coulton grimaced, his eyes averting his gaze slightly. "I already talked to social services. All things considered they CAN'T take you away," Coulton replied cooly, his eyes now returning to look up at them "They say since it's an occupational hazard they talked about... Well, it'd be like taking away the child of a police officer, or firefighter," Mark smirked almost smugly at him. "But if you ask me, this just proves that you're a terrible parent for him."

"Mr. Coulton, Mark is still here," Hound motioned with his hand towards Mark. "We all put our slagging lives on the line to save him. And guess what," Coulton growled as Hound continued. "We did. So I suggest you take your bigotry somewhere else. I'm frankly tired of listening to it."

Coulton noticed rather quickly that Mark wasn't taking his crap anymore either. Mark had stood to his feet, and crossed his arms with a frown. "Well then, you get a little good publicity and it goes to your head. I see how it is," Coulton snarked, rolling his eyes "It still doesn't change the fact that you don't belong here," He pointed at Mark, then at Hound "And that you and your kind definitely don't belong here."

"How did you even get the liaison job Coulton," Mark asked with a grunt "Had they already scraped the bottom of the barrel?"

Coulton definitely looked angry at that comment, but bit back a retort. His eyes traveled up towards Hound, and then he threw his hands up slightly. It was clear that he wasn't getting to the two of them today, but he knew someday, he would. "Alright, you got lucky once, congratulations," Coulton sneered slightly. "We'll see if you get so lucky next time, eh? Mr. Savoy."

With that Coulton walked off, much to Mark's relief. His eyes traveled back up towards his foster father with a nervousness in his eyes. "You don't actually think there's going to be a next time," Mark questioned. "Right?"

Every inch of Hound's body tensed at the thought of Mark getting taken again. Next time, who knew if the Autobots would even be around to save him in time. Hound raised his finger up towards Mark, and rubbed him gingerly. "Over my offlined chassis," He told him without any hesitation. "If anyone comes after you again, they're going to wish they were in as good of shape as Knock Out."

Mark grinned from ear-to-ear, even though he twitched only slightly at the mental image. He had no doubt about that threat anymore, not after he had seen the mech in action. "Alright, enough talk about this today," Hound told him, less than willing to talk more about it. "I have work to get to in a couple of minutes," He picked the boy up and set him on the ground. "Care to join me in the rec room for some video games later? I'm due to get my aft kicked in Super Smash Bros. by you again."

"Definitely," Mark nodded "Catch you later, dad?"

"Of course."

And with that, Mark was actually alone for the first time since the incident the other day. And to say the least, he was thankful for that much. As he turned around, Mark started towards the other side of the base. "You're just a burden to them, you know that," Mark stopped as he heard Coulton's voice. "They had to stage a whole rescue mission for you right after an attack," Mark's face fell a little at that. "I bet they're resenting taking you in just a little bit right about now."

"You're wrong," Mark grunted, as his eyes narrowed.

"Am I? You're not one of them, kid, you never will be," Coulton sneered as he walked closer to Mark. "You're just the trash that they picked up off the streets. Something to get rid of their guilty conscious after what happened to your father," At this point, Mark's brow started to furrow. "You think you're special? That you really mean anything to them?"

"I do!"

"You're an even bigger idiot than I thought you were," As Coulton started off again, Mark moved to throw a punch. "Go ahead, get yourself arrested and thrown off the base. I'll be happy to see them take you away in handcuffs," He looked over his shoulder with a wide smirk. "Probably what you'll end up like too. Just like your old man would have if he hadn't gotten-."

"You human be QUIET!"

Mark nearly jumped out of his skin as the loud rumble signified Grimlock's entrance. And by the looks of the other Dinobots nearby, he wasn't alone either. Coulton visibly tensed as he backed up slightly. "Grimlock," Coulton pointed to him. "By order of the NEST treaty you are not allowed to hurt me. Optimus sure as hell wouldn't like it."

"Him Optimus not boss of me Grimlock," Grimlock growled lowly, bringing his head close to Coulton's body "Me Grimlock boss of me Grimlock. And me Grimlock no like how you human talk to me Grimlock's friend," It was at this point that the growl became a very, very frightening snarl. "Me Grimlock say you human LEAVE. HIM. MARK. ALONE."

Coulton barely had time to jump out of the way as Grimlock shot a breath of fire inches from his feet. Mark grinned, his eyes looking up at the Dinobot leader. It was obvious that the mech wasn't backing down. And if the way that Coulton's legs were wobbling was any indication, he definitely had won the argument. "Alright, alright," Coulton's voice trembled. "I'll leave him alone, I swear to God."

"LEAVE. NOW."

As Grimlock snapped his jaws closed inches from his face, Coulton shrieked. The man couldn't run away fast enough, his shrieks like that of an animal. Mark grinned as Grimlock chased him off a few more feet before being satisfied. As the T-rex approached, Mark could practically feel the anger in how violently the ground shook. "Thanks Grimlock," Mark smiled, his voice filled with surprise. "That was AWESOME."

"Him human talk to you Mark like that again," Grimlock lowered his head to his young friend. "You Mark get me Grimlock. Me Grimlock barbecue him human."

As Grimlock trudged off to return to his fellow Dinobots, Mark sighed with relief. If he hadn't been convinced Coulton was wrong before, he was now. This was home, this was family, and this was definitely where he belonged.

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A/N: I'd been waiting for the chance to write Grimlock vs Coulton for a while now. Glad I finally got the chance to.