Hey everyone! So, I know I haven't been on for a loooong time, I'm so sorry! Life got in the way, and so did writers block x.x But I'm back now!
So, I think you all know by now that I love to hear any ideas you all might have, especially now since I'm having writers block! So please share some ideas!
Enjoy reading! Please review!
Jack sat quietly, knees hugged to his chest as he stared at a wall.
Lockdown stood quietly in the doorway, looking at the teen with a grimace.
For the past week, Jack had been like this, and it worried Lockdown to no end (not like he'd ever say it aloud). He hadn't drank any water the first day, and it had taken a few well placed threats to get him to take even a drop. He hadn't eaten for a good three days, and the only reason he had any food on the fourth day was because he had been too weak, and Lockdown had given the food to him while he couldn't resist (it had been like when they had first gotten aquanted, though their roles were reversed).
Lockdown had tried to explain, tried to tell him he meant no harm, that now he wouldn't have to wear the metal collar that kept his signal hidden, how the tech had many advantages. But the teen never said a word. Lockdown was now no fan of the 'silent treatment'.
With a sigh, Lockdown turned, letting the door slide shut behind him as he went down the hall. He had no clue what to do. He'd never had to deal with a sparkling, and while he'd been one once, that was, well, vorns ago.
A human sparkling? Now that was more than diverse. He had not even an inkling of an idea on how to handle a human kid. He figured he'd been doing good...but now he supposed he was wrong.
But he'd had to do it! The tech he had placed in the teen was to protect him! It formed a smaller, less clunky version of the apex armor, as well as blocked the teen's life signal (nixing the need for the collar that Jack so hated). For a limited time he could live without even a single breath of air, and, if all had been done correctly (which Lockdown sincerely hoped), the youth would live much, much longer.
With a sigh, the hunter entered his quarters, picking up his formerly adandoned cube of high-grade from the nearby metal table. He then sat down on his berth, thinking while he took a swig of the blue liquid.
What was he supposed to do now?
Jack felt along the metal on his chest, expression blank. The wires and circutry spread from the top of one pecktoral to the other, and right through the center, horizontally, was an indent from which a soft green light glowed dimly.
The teen's shoulders fell slightly, and he lowered his head, hair shielding his eyes. He blinked rapidly, trying to ignore the sting in his watering eyes. No, he wouldn't cry, he had to stay strong. The 'bots, that's what they'd want, right? He'd stayed strong when facing Airachnid, facing M.E.C.H, and even when he'd found Megatron in the collapsed cave. He wouldn't break over this. He couldn't...
He ignored the sound of the door sliding open. Lockdown probably just needed to grab one of his 'trophies'.
But to his surprise, he heard the heavy footfalls go over to the controls, then a grunt as the mech settled into his seat there. Then silence fell once more.
Jack didn't turn, merely sitting still, staring at the workbench beneath him.
It remained like this for a good half-hour, neither saying a word. Finally, though, Lockdown took it upon himself to break the silence.
"I'm sorry I had t' be so sneaky 'bout gettin' th' Cybernetic in ya, Jay."
No reply, and the hunter continued.
"I know it don't seem like it righ' now, but like I told ya 'fore...all this scrap I've done...it's fer yer own good."
"And who said you have any clue what's best for me?"
Lockdown blinked, surprised at the dark tone in the teen's hushed voice. His expression then became impassive again.
"No 'ne said so." He replied. "But I figure havin' been 'round fer a good lon' while, I know 'nough t' figure it out fer myself."
The human turned his head and full out glared at the mech. The teen's eyes blazed with an angry fire that Lockdown had never seen even in his most stubborn targets.
"It wasn't your choice to make!" Jack snapped, pushing himself to his feet. He continued to glare at the mech with pure hatred. "It's my life! Not yours! I make my own desiciouns you fragging scrap heap!"
Lockdown stared in shock at the youth, then his optics narrowed. He stood, his aged gears groaning (he hadn't gotten a good cleaning in awhile) and he moved a few steps forward.
"Look, I ain't sayin' that it ain't yer-"
"Shut up!"
The bounty hunter recoiled, optics widening, then narrowing once more. He growled, a hand slamming down upon the side of the workbench.
And yet...Jack didn't even flinch, as though the prospect of being crushed was a threat he had already faced so many time's before. A long silence fell, in which neither male spoke. It was Jack who finally broke it.
"I helped you, and you kidnapped me." His voice was low, barely above a whisper, and wavering. "I try to get home, and you dislocate my shoulder, you break my ribs, crack my head! You keep saying you just want what's best for me, but right now, the stress and pain you keep shoveling on me? We'll be lucky if it doesn't kill me in the end."
Lockdown stared at the teen with shocked optics, unable to reply. Jack turned away, sinking back down to sit on the workbench, his shoulders hunched.
For a good ten minutes, nothing was said, the only sound the soft hum of machinery. Finally, Lockdown spoke, voice low.
"Ya jus' don't get it, do ya?" He rasped, optics narrowing. "This, all of this scrap is fer ya, kid! Did th' bots ever do anythin' t' protect ya?! Huh?! Frag no, they dragged you into their fraggin' war!"
Jack jumped when the mech's fist slammed onto the work bench, making a loud bang.
"Those bots 're idiots! They drag a kid, a kid, int' their stupid war! They don' even care tha' there's nothing left t' fight for! An' you told me stories, when ya were helpin' me." The mech pointed at the shocked, slightly frightened Jack. "How they made ya take care of yer frien's, when it was their own fraggin' problem."
Jack was on his feet, backing away slightly when the mech lashed out, sending a shelving unit crashing to the ground, the workbench trembling as the floor shook.
"I actually give a scrap abou' what happens t' ya, an' ya'd rather run back t' those glitch spawned...!"
Lockdown began muttering angrily under his breath. He was sick and tired of his attempts to befriend the teen being continuously ignored. He gave the human freedom, offered the boy what he'd never had before, but Jack still refused his friendly approaches.
The bots had a hold on the teen that even Jack didn't know.
"I..."
Blazing optics flickered down to the work bench, were a shocked, nervous Jack stood, trying and failing to form a sentance.
Scrap, the human looked so scared, Lockdown hated it.
"Frag kid, I..." The mech groaned, running his hand over his helm. "Frag I know how t' screw things up, don' I?"
Jack flinched when a holoform suddenly appeared, the false human pulling him close.
"Jay, I...I'm sorry, kid."
Blue grey eyes widened, the teen hardly believing what he'd heard. Had Lockdown just...Apologized?
The bots all stood in the main room of the base, Arcee, Wheeljack, Smokescreen and Bulkhead were all fidgiting, itching to go out and search for their human friend, and 'Bee was shifting nervously. Ratchet stood nearby at the main console, continuing to search for Jack.
"Ultra Magnus, you have had experience dealing with Lockdown." Optimus said, standing across from the other mech. "Do you know of any way we could track him, or Jack?"
The mech thought for a long moment, rubbing at his chin.
"Lockdown is untracable. He's unpredictable and follows no sort of pattern for daily activity, the only chance of finding him is if we happen to cross paths once more at an energon deposit."
"How do you even know him?" Smokescreen piped up, interest on his faceplates. The larger mech turned to look at him, expression unreadable.
"My first encounter with him was when I was escorting a group of suvirors to a refugee camp after the Decepticon's bombed one of the smaller settlements. Among the group was a mech who had a bounty on his head, and he had the misfortune of having Lockdown after him.
"I attempted, at first, to convince him to allow the mech to live, but Lockdown does not have any code of honor, no morals. He attacked, and I intervened, but he is a skilled fighter. Not only that, but he is armed with many modified weapons that he knows how to use effectively.
"He...managed to temporarily paralyze my systems. He got to the mech he was after...and dragged him away."
The large mech grimaced, optics falling to the floor.
"He has no honor, he enjoys the thirll of the hunt. Which is why...why I do not understand why he has kidnaped young Jackson." The mech's confusion showed clearly on his faceplates. "He is not the kind to hold any sort of sentiment, least of all to another living being."
"Jack saved him." Bulkhead pointed out. "Maybe he figured the kid was worth somethin'."
Ultra Magnus shook his head.
"No, if he thought the boy was worth something, he would have refered to Jackson as a 'trophy', not a pet. And even then...He looked as though he wanted to refer to him as something else. He holds the boy in higher standards than 'pet'." The mech began to pace, deep in thought. "Companion, perhaps, or maybe a partner, like the relationship between Jackson and Arcee."
Ultra halted, looking up at the others.
"Either way, Jack is safe, for the time being. But we must try to find him as soon as we can."
Jack quietly watched as Lockdown moved about, reading a datapad while drinking a cube of something called high-grade. The mech glanced up, feeling the teen's dark eyes on him.
"What?"
"What're you doing?" Jack asked. The question, so blunt and truthful, coaxed a bark of laughter from the hunter.
"'M readin', what's it look like?"
Jack scowled slightly.
"Well that's obvious. I meant what are you reading?"
The mech smirked crookedly, optics returning to the datapad.
"I like t' keep tabs on things, jus' in case."
A raised brow from the human.
"In case..?"
Lockdown huffed humoredly as he turned to the main console, setting the high-grade down.
"In case a job crops up."
"You work with the 'cons?!"
"Hm?" Lockdown looked up, vaguely surprised, then realized the teen was probably lost, that he didn't have enough information to follow. "Oh, no, not fer vorns, Jay. I get bored, so I hunt after human's that've got prices on 'em. Keep's me occupied, y'know? Some of 'em are smart, so it's pretty fun."
Jack glared at him.
"You're sick, you know that?" He muttered, turning away. Lockdown's grin widened.
"Gotta admit it make's me interestin' company."
"No, it makes you creepy."
Lockdown guffawed, setting aside the datapad and taking a quick swig of energon.
"Only in yer opinion, kid." He replied, turning to the shelves that held his mods. "I've got some prey t' go after. Stay outta trouble, yeah?"
Jack nodded quietly, hugging his knee's close as the mech left. He had to find a way out of here, had to contact the bots some how.
But for the first time, Jack just didn't know what to do.
His hand strayed to the circuits and wires that knit across his chest, the cold metal making him flinch. He didn't feel so human any more. He felt like...Like some sort of experiment. But he knew Lockdown wasn't lying when he said he did it for Jack, the mech thought all of this would help him! But why, why would the mech want to help him? Why did Lockdown want him around for companionship?