CHAPTER 13
Fascination and Bonds

"Holy CRAP!"

That was the first thing that came out of Mark's mouth as he stepped out into the main room one morning several weeks later. It wasn't every day that one stepped out to see five, gigantic robotic dinosaurs, to say the least. But Mark could now definitely see why the Autobots and their allies had named these "legendary warriors" as "Dinobots" now. The gigantic T-Rex breathed fire into the air as a couple of Autobots tried to hold him off, but Mark none-the-less showed no fear and approached it quickly.

Almost at once, Hound was stepping in front of Mark. "Stay back, Mark. They're having a bit of a temper tantrum." Hound commented "If you come any closer, you may end up barbecued." Mark none-the-less tried to get around his guardian "Markus Franklin Savoy, listen to me!"

"Is Sideswipe trying to climb him?" Mark asked "Oh man, I bet riding one of them would be awesome! Can I get a ride, Hound? I want to ride one too!"

As Mark finally managed to get around him, Hound yanked the boy up by his waist and pulled him back. Mark noticed it was just in time as the out-of-control T-Rex had shot a straight line of fire at the floor where he'd been moments later. Sideswipe didn't fare much better as he was thrown violently from Grimlock's back. "That is so sick!" Mark shouted.

Hound rolled his optics, clearly not amused by Mark acting the way he was. For the first time since Mark had come to live with him, his optics looked down at his foster son with a stern look in them. "You see what I mean, now?" Hound asked "You may be the foster son of an Autobot, Mark. But you gotta remember you aren't one. So when I say something is dangerous, I mean it." He explained.

"When did you get so strict?" Mark asked.

"I'm not strict. But I'm not about to let any son of mine anywhere near an angry, one-hundred foot fire breathing t-rex." Hound looked at him with a raised optic ridge "I like to think of myself as a good parent, not a stupid one." He added "Lest your social worker and the rest of social services be given a reason to take ye away from me." He added bluntly.

Mark knew that Hound had a point, it was probably not only stupid, but dangerous. So as Hound set him back on the ground, Mark stood at his caretaker's side, and didn't move from the spot. "Grimlock!" Hound shouted as loud as he could to get the t-rex's attention "I'd appreciate it if you kept your fire breathing away from the kid. He's under our protection, all Autobot's protection."

"Not me Grimlock's fault him human get in me Grimlock's way!"

Mark jumped back at the gravely voice that almost sounded like a growl. If he hadn't seen Grimlock's mouth move, he might not have actually believed that the giant behemoth of a robot had talked. "They talk?" Mark gasped, grinning from ear-to-ear "Talking, giant, robotic dinosaurs." He managed to say "This is even cooler than..."

"Nothing "cooler" than me Grimlock." Grimlock growled "Me Grimlock, coolest!"

"Yeah, they're obviously the best things ever discovered." Hound joked to Mark, then looked at Grimlock and stepped forward cautiously "What seems to be the issue now, Grimlock? You and your team have your own slagging quarters. We've let you join our ranks." Grimlock's long optics narrowed "What in Primus's good name could you want now?"

"Me Grimlock no want to be Au-To-Bot no more." Grimlock fumed slightly "Me Grimlock no like sitting and waiting. Me Grimlock want crush them Decepticons now." The way he said that last part made Mark wonder what Grimlock must have been like in battle "No want to wait for useless new Au-To-Bot's to fight." He added with a flick of his tail.

Hound rubbed his foreplate slightly. "And what do your comrades say about this?" Hound grunted.

"Them Dinobots still not speak." Grimlock replied "Them Dinobots still downloading them human language."

"But you can." Mark pointed out "And I bet you can speak theirs too."

Grimlock exhaled a moment, and brought his head down towards Mark. Of course, Hound took a moment to carefully step in front of his charge in a protective gesture, although the t-rex offered him no aggression. "The Dinobots processors were scrambled from years encased in ice. So it takes them a longer time to learn these things." He explained "Grimlock barely was able to download the data himself." He then added "Even he doesn't know why yet."

"Oh." Mark replied, frowning a little "I guess that makes sense."

"Him human, curious one." Grimlock observed "Why you human smaller than other humans?"

"He's still a sparkling." Hound answered for him.

Grimlock stared between the two of them, and then let out what seemed to be a deep chuckle. "Me Grimlock wonder if that make you Hound him human's carrier." Immediately recognizing the Cybertronian word for mother, Mark snorted.

Hound looked as though he could have smacked the Dinobot for that obvious joke. But he just put his hands on his hips, and looked up at the t-rex with narrowed optics. "If you want to go, then go. We obviously don't have a way of keeping you here." Hound replied "I'll send Crosshairs to see you out."

"Mmmm. Me Grimlock no want to leave anymore."

"Why?"

"Me Grimlock annoy you Hound. Me Grimlock think that funny." Grimlock commented "Me Grimlock stay."

Mark grinned a little, and crossed his arms with a nod of approval. "Well, I like him."

"Remind me not to let you two be in the same room often." Hound replied "I have a feeling I'm not going to like that."

Grimlock looked at Mark and snorted, the steam rushing over the human lightly before he lifted his long head again. Grimlock yet again seemed to regard the young human for a while before turning around. "Me Grimlock like human. Him human funny."

Yep, Hound now definitely knew he needed to keep them out of the same room if he could.

...

Later that day, Mark set forth to drawing these new Dinobots out of pure curiosity and amazement. To his surprise, Grimlock didn't even seem to notice, or if he did, didn't care enough to confront him on why he was spending a long time staring at him. "Do you have a crush on him or something?" Mark nearly jumped out of his skin, turning as Crosshairs approached him from behind "You're even doing one of those little drawings of yours of him."

Mark closed up his sketchpad to hide his now finished picture, standing from his seat against the wall of the hangar. "I like girls, Crosshairs. And besides, I just find them... Crazy cool." Mark looked over at Grimlock and the others calmly "I mean, have you seen them? They're so big, strong and scary... Imagine having that kind of power at your disposal, man."

"You have a thing for dinosaurs, don't you?" Crosshairs asked.

After a moment, Mark shrugged and gave a small nod. He had always been a fan of dinosaurs as a kid, mostly thanks to most of the movies made up about them. But none-the-less, the giant behemoths did awe him, and to be in the presence of the Dinobots really did feel like a dream come true. "I just always kinda thought they were cool." Mark admitted "I know, I'm a nerd, laugh it up."

"I actually find you a bit more interesting now that you've started to open up."

Mark glanced up at the green mech, his eyes widening in shock. "Really?"

"I said a bit."

Mark still kept the smirk on his face, it was the closest thing to "I like you" he'd gotten from the mech before. And though it wasn't those exact words, he'd take that as, at the very least, a start. "I guess you're not that bad either." Mark replied "So, what's up, did you need me for something? Or were you just coming by to give what could barely be considered a compliment?"

Crosshairs snorted a little bit, and looked down at him. "Hardly." Crosshairs put his hands on his hips "I'd actually come to retrieve you..." Mark turned to him, confusion in his own eyes now "We've all had our medical check-ups but you." He added "Every member of the base apparently needs at least one every three months." He noted.

"Why? I'm not a soldier."

"Doesn't matter, you're still a member of the base." Crosshairs noted "And Doctor Filter is waiting for you."

"I'm not seeing some random doctor I don't know."

"C'mon kid." Crosshairs groaned "Hound's busy and I can't call him to convince you."

"Don't you guys have a medic of your own? Why would you..." Mark began in an attempt to stall.

"Don't bring that up." Crosshairs fumed a bit "We lost our last medic to your father and his goons." Mark frowned, and looked down "Until another lands on Earth, we have Dr. Filter who was taught by Ratchet on how to handle our medical needs and read our bio signs." He then added "So he's the best one we got, and like it or not, you're going to him."

Mark shuddered a bit, he hated doctors, he always had since he was a little kid. Normally, he might have made a break for it, but something told him that Crosshairs would catch up to him, ad he wouldn't be amused if he did. "Is there one on their way to Earth?" Mark asked.

"First Aid should be here in two Earth months, why?"

"Just making sure that it won't be a problem for long." Mark replied.

Crosshairs tilted his head, and after a moment, an amused smile spread over his face. "Are you... AFRAID of medics?" Crosshairs finally asked as the boy's face turned red "Are you kidding me right now, youngling? Medics help people! Why would you be afraid of something as gentle as a medic?" Mark looked away "Come on, man up and act your age. I haven't got all day to take you."

"Shut up!" Mark stamped his foot "I'm not scared!"

"Then why won't you come?"

Mark paused a moment and grumbled under his breath. It was clear to Crosshairs that it was not going to be easy to convince Mark that he had to go through the medical examination. He quietly wondered how he could possibly do it, tapping the side of his arm. "I don't suppose that if I promised you a lollipop after this that it would help?" He asked as he looked over human solutions on the internet, and Mark gave him a harsh look at that "Figured as much, it seemed more like something a sparkling would need."

"And I don't look like I'm four, do I?" Mark asked.

Crosshairs may have just grabbed him, and carried him there if he knew Mark's protests wouldn't annoy him. After a long moment, he inhaled carefully, and looked down upon Mark. "Fine then, here's what I propose. If you're really that scared of the doctor I'll go in with you." Mark's eyes widened "It's annoying, but at the very least it will get us both through it quickly. And if he does anything that gives you an actual reason to fear him, I'll be there to handle him?" He asked "Will that work?"

"I guess..." Mark replied.

"Good, then let's get this over with."

As he finally made his way towards Crosshairs, the large mech sighed heavily. This boy was definitely going to be the death of him.

...

"My, my. This is most interesting."

Mark shifted uncomfortably on the medical berth as the tall, dark haired man known as Doctor Filter looked him over. The man looked him over, and then turned around, scribbling things down on a notepad. From a corner of the room, Crosshairs raised an optic ridge and frowned. "What's interesting, doc?" He questioned "The kid doesn't actually have anything wrong with him, does he?"

As Filter made his way over, and felt his chest, Mark squirmed again. He definitely didn't enjoy the man touching him, made fairly obvious by the fact he had been fighting him every step of the way, fidgeting and flinching. "No, no. Markus is very healthy and his ribs are continuing to heal nicely." Mark relaxed slightly at that "I just wasn't aware that Hound had started to form a guardian bond with him..." He noted "I can see the tether through my scanners."

"A what?" Mark asked.

It was Crosshairs who answered the question. "A guardian bond is between a caretaker, or adoptive parent, and their surrogate child." He explained "Like what we do when we meet our soul mates, our bonded. Except, in this case, it is when we take a youngling or sparkling as our own." He explained "It gives you both a spiritual and telepathic and empathetic connection, like an invisible tether to each other. It connects their sparks." He explained "Didn't you know that he formed it with you?"

"No..."

"He must have formed it while you were asleep one night then." Crosshairs stroked his chin "Some caretakers decide to do that at first. That way they don't have to bring it up until they've been with their wards a while." He glanced towards Filter, who appeared apologetic "Jeez, I hadn't even been aware we could form one with humans."

Mark looked confused, so Hound had tethered his spark to his heart by some strange, alien way? Was he that concerned for him? Could he actually know how he was feeling? And was it true they could contact by thoughts, since he knew that was what telepathy was? "So he can hear my thoughts and stuff? And know how I feel?"

"The first part is only when you allow him to." Crosshairs explained "Or he allows you too. It's a mutual thing with the empathy link as well, though that's only when they allow you in. Or if it's such a strong emotion it breaks the barriers of the bond." He explained "Hound really should be explaining this to you himself." He looked over at him "He'll at least teach you how to use it."

Mark looked over between the two of them, that was definitely going to be a thing. After all, he wanted to know how to work these newfound abilities if he was going to have them. "Right, I'll talk to him about it later." He replied as Filter carefully removed his hand from his chest, and he noticed for the first time he had a device in his hand "What are you checking for anyway?" He asked.

"Simply making sure your bond is growing at a healthy rate." Filter replied "And it seems to be going just fine. Which means you're welcome to leave now." He explained "You're in tip top shape, everything healed properly, so yeah." He then blinked a bit "Crosshairs, have I done your check-up yet? I don't remember seeing you come in?"

Mark gave a smirk, and stared at Crosshairs, who frowned back at him. "Oh, so you didn't do it either. But you gave me the hard time?"

"Mute it." Crosshairs replied "I was nice enough to come in with you." He stated "And plus I thought I might be able to get out of it myself."

"Are you scared too? Do I need to stay?"

"I will fragging punt you out of this med bay."

Mark laughed as he started towards the door to the med bay with a grin shot towards Crosshairs. After a moment however, he let it turn into a sincere smile. "Thanks Crosshairs, I did feel better." He admitted "Good luck with yours." He gave a thumbs up.

Though Crosshairs didn't respond, Mark noticed as he looked back with a smile. Though it was quickly replaced with a sigh, and a large frown as he started back towards the medical berth. He knew that the mech wasn't scared, but he also knew that he didn't like check-ups either, so he did wish him a good check-up. But slowly, his thoughts trailed back to Hound, and the bond. What would this mean for the two of them, he wondered? What would a relationship with this deep a connection entail?

It was time to see Hound, and find out.