A/N: Yay! All of your reviews are showing up again! XD That was frustrating yesterday, but oh well. Moving onto the next chapter! :)

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CHAPTER 48
Plans

"Wow."

Hound grinned at the look of amazement that crossed Mark's features that night. They had gone a good distance and to a large hilltop, which was mostly hidden. He was thankful that Lennox had told him of this spot, as it truly was a wonderful place for it. He had Mark held carefully on his head, the boy's legs dangling just short enough that he could easily see himself. It was a little dangerous, but putting Mark at his full height gave the boy the best seat in the house as meteors streaked through the sky. And for Mark, it was definitely a breathtaking sight as well, even if he was scared that at any moment he could fall the entire length of his foster father to the ground. "Dad can you believe this?" Mark asked, his voice somewhat hushed. "It's amazing."

"Indeed, it is a beautiful sight. Especially from this high." Hound's optics traveled up to stare at his foster son. "I should probably let you down sometime, though. If you fall, you'll give me the spark attack of my life." He explained rather honestly. "I'll try and wait until the shower starts to die down at least, though. I want you to experience as much as you can."

Mark nodded his head, though he mostly kept his eyes up at the sky. Hound smiled, taking in a deep breath. He had thought before about all the firsts he missed with this one. His first steps, his first words, his first day of school, and sometimes it did bug him. But even with a teenager there were many first yet to come, and this was the first of them. "Dad," Hound shook himself out of his thoughts. "This is really cool of you to do this, you know you didn't have to."

Hound shrugged a little, and smiled. "Kiddo, I had the night off," Hound told him rather politely. "I missed many of your firsts, though I am glad your father got to share them with you. But I also want to create some "firsts" of my own," Mark smiled a little at that. "I thought this was a nice start. Given that meteor showers hae always been a breathtaking sight to me."

Mark nodded again, too focused on the sight to do much else. They sat in silence again for several minutes before the brunt of the shower slowly began to die down. Finally, Hound deposited him onto his shoulder, despite the groaning from the boy. "Hey, you've still got a nice view," Hound offered, motioning to the sky. "And besides, it's growing late. We'll need to head back home soon."

Mark nodded his head and sighed, leaning into the crook of the mech's neck. "I wish we could just be like this forever," Hound raised an optic ridge in confusion. "Just the two of us, doing whatever we want to. Not having to go back to this war and all," Hound frowned, knowing he wished for the same thing. "I know it's a dumb wish, because it's your job. And you guys are saving the world and all of that," He admitted. "Just thinking out loud, I guess."

Hound shook his head, and gently patted Mark on the head. "Not dumb at all, I have the same wish some days," Hound replied. "I look at what some of the humans have with their children with envy." He explained. "I know that you are happy with me and all. But I know that we both wish we could have a more "normal" lifestyle," He then added. "Growing up on a military base cannot be much fun."

"Are you kidding me?" Hound stared at Mark in surprise. "It's a blast! That's not what I meant at all, big guy." He tried to assure him rather politely. "I meant because I wish you had less stress. And besides, we'd get more time to do this stuff." Hound nodded, understanding his meaning now. "Dad?" Hound looked back at him. "I've been thinking..."

"About what?" Hound questioned. "Has it hurt?"

Mark laughed, and tugged a wire in response. "No, you jerk," He replied, his smile slowly fading. "I was wondering... I haven't... I mean, I haven't gotten the chance to visit my dad yet." He paused a moment, and Hound raised an optic ridge. "I mean his grave, not the super-crazy middle-of-the-night visit. But you know, I just... he can't be getting too many visitors."

"You want to go and visit his grave?" Mark's only reply was a slow, quiet nod of his head. "Mark, that's in DC, right?" He questioned, his optics never leaving the boy, who again nodded. "That's gonna be a tough one to sell to Mearing. DC's quite the drive for something like that," Mark's brow furrowed slightly in response as he took a deep breath. "It'd be easier if we had a planned trip to DC already. Or if the president needed to speak to Prime, but just something out of the blue..."

"No, no, I understand," Mark cut him off. "It was probably a stupid idea, sorry. I just had been thinking about it ever since he "visited" me is all." He gave a half-smile at that. "Don't worry though, I can take it, I'm a big boy. Maybe next time you guys take a trip to DC I can come with you then."

Hound was silent a long moment, seeing through Mark's attempts to hide how upset he was. Could he convince Mearing to allow him and Sideswipe to accompany Mark on a short trip to DC to visit his father's grave? It wouldn't be easy, but he had a feeling it would be worth it. "I'll take to Prime, and maybe he can talk Mearing into it," Hound finally answered. "Chances are he'll be able to talk her into it, even if it's a while from now." He explained. "After all the insanity with the attack on your old neighborhood has died down."

"I understand," Mark smiled, his eyes traveling up. "You're the best, dad."

"Hopefully "the best" can get ye what ye want." Hound replied with a pat on Mark's head.

Mark then looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned to him again. "By the way, dad. I wanted to ask you to talk to Optimus about something else," Mark replied, as Hound raised an optic ridge. "It's about Lexi, you know, the girl I'm hanging out with?"

Hound smirked at that, this he knew was going to be good. "Oh? Should I be worried?"

"Nothing like that," Mark smiled a bit. "If anything I'm a little worried for myself. But I think it might get me a little closer to an actual relationship with her."

Hound could only imagine where this was going.

...

"Hey, Lexi!"

Alexis turned her head at the sound of Mark calling her name, shifting her purse further onto her shoulder. Of course, she quickly caught sight of the sleek, corvette form of Sideswipe as he drove steadily up beside her on the road outside her work. She smirked somewhat at the fact that Mark was in the driver's seat this time. "You do know you can't actually drive until you're sixteen, right?" She gently teased the boy. "If someone caught you there, you'd both be in heaps of trouble."

"Technically, Sides is the one driving," Mark cracked a grin at the redhead. "I'm just testing him on for size, seeing how I feel in the driver's seat. He rides nice and fine, but I think he'd ride even better with a passenger," He raised a suggestive eyebrow.

Alexis rolled her eyes, she definitely had to teach Mark tact. Yet at the same time, she didn't want to. There was a certain adorableness to the way he would try, in vain, to be a smooth operator. "You know, I dated a guy who actually acted like that once," Alexis told him with a grin. "My dad almost beat him half-to-death with a tire iron for it when he dumped me."

Mark paused a moment, though Sideswipe seemed to be chuckling. "The more stories I hear about your dad, the more he scares me," Mark gave a nervous chuckle, staring at her in the eyes. "But no seriously, you off work? Maybe you want to go to the movies? Catch lunch?" He questioned, the girl didn't seem to answer. "Come on, we haven't hung out in a week, I miss you."

"Do you miss me or the idea of dating me?"

Mark chewed his lip, but his answer came rather quickly. "You," Mark replied with an honest smile. "Who else is going to give me witty banter to keep me in line, right? And it's like you said, we're just friends." Alexis smirked a little as Sideswipe popped open the passenger's side door. "Plus, I was talking to the 'Bots the other day, and they gave me permission to... Ahem, bring you over," Alexis finally stopped at that. "Said it was about time they met you."

All semblance of playing hard to get slowly left Alexis as she turned to look at him. "You're kidding, right? How did you get that past the government?"

"That much was easy," Sideswipe commented. "We kicked Coulton's aft to the curb, temporarily at least. And Mearing, well after talking to her she basically said. "She can come in supervised but if she says a word of this, she'll do time for treason"." Alexis rolled her eyes at that. "Don't take it personally, Lexi, she says that to most people if she lets you on-base."

"And this was after Optimus talked her into it," Mark replied with a small chuckle. "She was dead-set against it. So if I were you I'd take the chance, chances are this could be a one-time deal," He put up one finger out the window for emphasis. "So are you coming, or what?" He questioned as Alexis now turned around fully to face him.

She bit her lip, and looked thoughtfully to the diner. Her dad would definitely need to be called and informed, yet how could she pass this up? This wasn't just the chance to meet the Ferari, it was the chance to meet them all. "Alright, Savoy, you win," Alexis stuck her tongue out playfully. "They aren't going to like grill me about our entire friendship though, right?" She questioned.

As Alexis climbed in, Mark turned to her slowly. "I don't think "grill" is the right word," He answered honestly. "They might get a little protective, but don't worry. Prime made them promise to be on their best behavior when he talked to them yesterday," He explained, shrugging his shoulders. "But you're going to get that whenever you meet them, so..."

"Got it, I'm putting my poker face on," Alexis smirked a little, crossing her arms. "If anything, they're guys, right?" She questioned, and Mark nodded. "Maybe I could use my feminine charms to MAKE them okay with me." She joked.

"Oh God, Lexi, bad mental image," Mark shook his head, though he couldn't help but laugh. "Please, I'm begging you, no dirty jokes in front of my dad when you meet him. I'm pretty sure you're liable to give the poor mech a spark attack," It was Alexis's turn to laugh. "But maybe, just maybe you can talk Mirage into finally giving you that ride you want so badly."

Alexis gave Mark a look, her eyes narrowing jokingly. "I knew you were just after a date," She jested.

"Too late, you're already in the car," Mark replied. "Step on it, Sides."

But Alexis didn't seem to mind, knowing that Mark was only kidding. Yet as they drove, Mark could barely keep his eyes off of her. When was he going to get that date from her? Everything felt so natural and right about their relationship, and yet, they took it so slow. It wasn't that he minded that much, but in the end, he hoped his chance would come soon. And perhaps, this day would be the one thing that he needed to put him over the top. "So, is there anything you should warn me about?" Alexis asked suddenly. "Before I find out the hard way?"

"Yeah, don't piss off the giant t-rex and you'll be fine."

Alexis's eyes nearly bulged out of her head at that. "There's a t-rex? What the hell?"

"Don't question it, just go with it," Mark waved his hand. "You'll see what I mean."

Or at least, he hoped Alexis would make it that far.

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A/N: Yep, the 'Bots are going to get to meet the girl who has our little Mark smitten. XD Oh the fun that next chapter will bring. :P