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CHAPTER 3
Shelter and Worries

Soon after he had eaten, Mark found himself asleep in the mech's vehicle form. Leaving Hound to drive them both to a secure location, namely an abandoned theater in the town. One which he had heard Cade mention more than once as where he had found Optimus, and as he understood, was owned, although old, and no one was usually inside. The day seemed to go by quietly, without any sign of Cyclonus, much to his relief. So he spent most of it watching the young boy asleep inside his form just in case he stirred or tried to make a break for it.

Luckily, the boy didn't even stir until some time later when he woke up. "Rise and shine." Hound jested "I figured that if you were going to insist upon hiding out. I may as well find you somewhere where we can keep an eye on you." Hound explained politely as he opened the door up "Cade says it's owned by someone. But they rarely, if ever show up here."

Mark unbuckled himself and hopped out of the car form. "How did you drive in here anyway?" Mark asked.

Hound transformed, taking out one of his missile cigars. "Must have been something else before it was a theater. Because there's a pretty wide exit around the back. I had to carry you in though." Mark frowned a bit "Hey I found you a roof over yer head, kid. If I were you, I'd be thanking yer ole pal Hound." He noted rather bluntly.

Mark had to admit, Hound had kept to his word, and it surprised him. Silently, he crossed his arms and stared around the mostly "abandoned" theater, what he guessed he could now call his "home" for the time being. "Thanks." Mark finally spoke up "You know, for not turning me in, the food... Everything." He paused a moment "I don't really have a way of paying you back. And I'm not really sure I trust you enough that I would trust you with anything in my backpack."

"No thanks necessary." Hound held up a hand "When I was yer age in my years I went on the run for a while too. Call me a sentimental fool if you want." He noted "The Enforcers - my planet's police force, did find me eventually." He explained "Have ye ever thought what you're going to do when that happens?"

"They already have. I always outsmart them." Mark crossed his arms "I get it, you think I'm some stupid kid on the run from his past, right? I'm not. I just don't want to be a part of whatever the whole damn world is turning into." He then looked over at him "In four years, I'll be eighteen and then I can be on my own without trouble anyway. It'll go by in no time."

Hound frowned a bit, looking at the human as he continued to examine his new surroundings. He certainly was a strong kid, that much he couldn't deny. And in that sense, he couldn't help but be reminded of the son he had lost. He'd been a tough customer too, one that didn't let himself get pushed around and had thick skin. Fortunately for him, however, he had not had the same issues that Mark was going through now. "Whatever ye say, kid." Hound finally spoke up again "But it's pretty hard to make it out there on yer own. You can take my word for it."

Mark didn't want to listen, even if he knew that the mech might have had a point. He didn't want to go into foster care, and he definitely didn't want to go back to being "that psychopath's son". What did the Autobot know anyway? He didn't know him, he didn't know what a tough kid he was. "I think I'll manage." Mark replied "But I appreciate your help, I really do." He then added "I can take it from here."

"You won't have to." Hound replied "I'm gonna keep my eye on ye as long as yer here."

"Why?" Mark asked, his hands on his hips "Don't you feel like you've done enough?"

Hound stared at Mark, deep in thought. He wasn't sure how to answer that, as on one hand, he felt like he had. Yet, on the other, the boy's resilience intrigued him. What was it with this boy? Why did he seem so fascinated with the son of someone who had, on multiple occasions tried (and sometimes succeeded) to murder his own kind, his friends. "Maybe..." Hound noted "But I like ye, kid. You've got spirit and spunk." He told him with great honesty "So we'll be seeing more of each other." He added.

"And you're not going to turn me in?" Mark asked.

"Nah, if only because something tells me..." Hound began "That yer gonna end up doing that yerself sometime." Mark frowned at that comment, very much doubting that would be the case "For now though, I need to get back to my own home." He explained "My comrades are probably already worried given I have been gone so long."

Mark nodded his head a bit, looking towards the exit. "You should go then." He told him "I already told you, I'll be fine on my own, so you can go." He then added "I guess I'll see you later?"

"Tomorrow." Hound replied "Maybe I'll even bring ye something to eat."

Before Mark could argue, Hound had made his way through the exit he'd entered through. Mark watched the exit with confusion in his eyes, Hound was certainly a strange mech. Keeping an optic on a young human he didn't know, let alone the son of one of his (now dead) sworn enemies. What did he matter to him? What did he matter to anyone now for that matter? He tried his best not to dwell on it as he began to inspect his new "home", he had a lot of work to do, work he needed to start now.

...

"Where have you been, Hound?"

Hound stopped near the edge of the still to be completed home, and transformed before Crosshairs. Stepping forward, he patted the mech on the shoulder and shook his head. "Nowhere. I chased the signal, ended up being Cyclonus." Hound noted "We need to alert the others. He got away, so we now have a new Decepticon incursion on Earth." He explained "Luckily he didn't hurt anyone, gave one of the locals a mighty good scare though."

Crosshairs crossed his arms slightly, staring at his friend with sideways optics. Hound could tell that Crosshairs wasn't buying his "nothing happened", he never usually did buy it when Hound would lie to him. "What did you do this time, Hound?" Crosshairs questioned "Did you interfere with the humans again? You know that's not a good idea. And definitely not one that Prime would approve of!"

Taking another one of his many "cigars" out, he stared at Crosshairs with a frown. "I only got him out of the line of danger, Crosshairs." He explained "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him too. Make sure nothing goes... Awry." The mech crossed his arms at him "What was I supposed to do? Leave the petrified little guy there? That's not something Prime would have approved of either, y'know."

"There's more to it."

"Nothing more to it." Hound waved him off slightly "Don't worry about it, Crosshairs... I have the situation under more than enough control." He looked him square in the optics "If anything goes wrong, y'all will be the first to know. But right now, just trust me."

Shifting his cloak-like fabric plates slightly, Crosshairs nodded. Though by the look in his optics, Hound could tell he was not ready to let it go. But even so, he knew that he wouldn't take the news he was helping the son of a former enemy well either. "So, Cyclonus? On Earth? REALLY?" Crosshairs asked, Hound nodded his head in response "Well slag, that isn't a pretty picture to paint now is it?"

Hound shook his head. "He's just as much of an afthole as ever, too." Hound noted "I think we should try and contact Prime again. Because with Cyclonus on Earth and Galvatron still on the loose..." He shook his head "Well, we may outnumber them, but I highly doubt we can take two heavy hitters on alone like that. Not without a leader." Crosshairs seemed to nod in agreement "What do you think?"

Crosshairs stroked his chin slightly, then stared off. "Well, I'd be all for bringing Prime back to Earth. But you heard him a few weeks ago, he definitely isn't interested in coming back and endangering the humans." He leaned against the remains of the Yaegar's old barn and sighed quietly "We may just have to go it on our own for this one, Hound."

Hound didn't want to say it out loud, but Crosshairs was right. Even if Optimus got the message, there was no telling if he would still come back. He looked at the mech, and then shook his head. "It's still worth a try. After all, who knows what other 'Cons could be on their way as they speak." He noted "If Galvatron's building an army again, we're going to need a leader." He explained.

"At least we found some reinforcements who had simply stayed in hiding."

Hound nodded slightly, Sideswipe and Mirage reemergence had certainly been a relieving event. If only to know that they were not, in fact, the last remaining Autobots on Earth. But neither was a leader, or even leader material if they were going to speak with honesty. "It's definitely a start, yer right." He nodded his head "Hopefully once the humans finally reinstate NEST things will at least become easier as far as reinforcements go." He added.

"If we can actually trust the humans this time." Crosshairs replied.

Hound nodded his head, to that sentiment he couldn't argue with Crosshairs at all. He stroked his beard a little, and took a deep breath. "Listen, I've had a long and pretty rough day. I think I'm gonna get myself some recharge." The burly mech stretched his arms and legs slightly "Wake me if anything goes wrong though. Ye know I'll want at least a little piece of the action."

"Yeah." Crosshairs nodded "Night, Hound."

"Night."

As Hound transformed down, and drove to his usual recharging spot. It had definitely been a long day, at least that much, he hadn't had to lie to Crosshairs about. As he thought of the lies, he thought back on Mark. He wondered if he was getting any sleep that night, and better yet, if he had already made a run for it. He almost expected the latter, but something told him it was not the case either. "Eh, Hound, you ole soft spark." Hound murmured to himself "Don't worry yerself over a boy ye hardly know."

Yet for some odd reason, he did anyway.