CHAPTER 9

"School will be good for you."

"School sucks."

That was the first argument that Dylan and Optimus had on their first day as foster father and son. Optimus supposed he should have been ready for this talk, no matter what species, children found school boring it seemed. Dylan definitely didn't want to go that morning, but as he said was "bound" to listen to Optimus now. The Prime wasn't sure if it was in a good way, or bad that time. But he supposed he would learn how a teenage mind worked eventually.

The boy was seated on Mirage's hood and looked flustered. "Come on, Prime. I can just go to online school or something," He insisted. "Private school kids are rich. I'm going to have literally nothing in common with them."

Mirage transformed, causing Dylan to cry out, startled. But the shit-eating grin on his face said it all. "I mean, you sure about that, little guy? You're now the kid of a Prime. A big, political figure and warrior. Sounds like you'll fit right in," Dylan flipped him the bird and mouthed "Not helping." "What? I'm just saying. Give it a couple of weeks and you'll all probably have the same problems!"

Optimus held up a hand and turned to his foster son choosing his words carefully. "Any youngling of mine will be an educated youngling at least through this "high school". It's both important to your mental growth, and in order to keep you socialized with your peers," He got an eye roll at that. "Once it's over, what you do with your education is what you wish. But these are rules I will not "bend"."

Dylan huffed he had had so many arguments before he'd signed that paper. Now it kind of was up to the Prime about whether or not he did this thing. "I guess I just hoped it'd be a few weeks," He admitted. "I just got used to this place... And it's only been...?

"Exactly one week and four days." Arcee offered.

Damn, it had already been that long? Go figure. Either way, Dylan relented as he grabbed the backpack he'd filled up. "Fine, I'm going..." He moaned. "But this isn't over!"

Mirage gave an optic ridge waggle. "Hey, what if I drove you at least? You show up in a Porsche, all the girls will dig ya!"

Dylan might have been down for that, but relationships were... Complicated for him. All things considered. And girls reduced him to a stuttering mess anyway. Optimus must have caught the look on his face, because he spoke up for him instead. "I believe Dylan doesn't desire to explore relationships yet. And perhaps may want to keep a low profile his first day. We can discuss who will be in charge of chaparoning him to and from school later," Dylan sighed in relief. "For now, come young one. Arcee... Is it ready yet?"

"Put the finishing touches on it this morning!"

She tossed Optimus a small device that he seemed to insert... Somewhere. Dylan didn't know exactly what it was but figured he'd find out soon enough. Mirage seemed mildly annoyed, but Dylan was thankful to have Prime drive him there. He was right, the last thing he wanted was for all eyes to be on him. "So, what did Arcee give you?" He asked curiously. "Some sort of new weapon?"

There was a chuckle, and then Dylan jumped. There was a man in the cab, in his mid-forties, tall and burly, with a twinkle in his blue eyes. The man was dressed in casual clothing and wore a smile on his face that seemed comforting. Dylan noted that his face looked familiar enough that he started to realize. "Holy shit," He breathed out. "How did you do that?"

Optimus chuckled again - and the figure turned to him. "It's called a "holomatter avatar" or "holoform" for short," His foster father explained calmly. "A combination of very small nanomachines and holographic technology that Wheeljack and Arcee developed. They had one made for each of us, but until now Arcee used it only. She needs a rider after all."

Dylan's eyes flicked up. "Nanomachines? So it's solid... Like I can touch it?"

Optimus held out an arm and allowed Dylan to do so. While Dylan thought it felt a little unusual, it wasn't enough so that anyone would particularly question it. He removed his hand after it started to tingle a bit and just breathed. "That's cool..."

Optimus nodded, then explained further. "I had asked for some tweaks - it'll be able to travel a little further as long as I am within range of sight to the building. Hopefully there will be no glitching," He explained thoughtfully. "I was quite fond of the idea anyway. Now that you are more than under my protection, I can use this to do more things with you."

Wow, Dylan hadn't thought of that. It could almost be like being a normal family in a way, ALMOST. He was sure there were absolutely limitations to this, but at the very least. He could bring him to places like the movies, or school functions... Not that he had any desire to join any teams or anything. "It's cool... But I'm still not sure about this school thing. I don't care what Mirage says. I don't know the first thing about being around kids who have rich, powerful families," Dylan admitted. "Do I have to do this?"

The Prime refused to budge. "Your education is important," He explained. "Besides, you need to make friends with peers your own age, Dylan. If you are to live in our care for the remainder of your childhood, we cannot be your only companionship. You will become lonely."

Ugh. Why did he have to make good points? But then again, Dylan had always been bad at making friends. Which made him even more nervous about this whole thing. Still, he knew he didn't have a choice - so he kept his mouth shut and let Optimus drive.

It was somehow worse than he'd made up in his mind.

Optimus would argue otherwise, but after they'd met the principal without a hitch. Dylan had been given a uniform that made him feel way out of place and thrown to the lion's den. Rhet Hall was a big private school, and everything just screamed "rich" - too rich for Dylan's liking. He felt awash in a sea of different kids, and honestly? Wasn't sure what to say or do when he'd filed into the classes - hell, he'd practically zoned out in all of them.

His only salvation, if you could call it that, was lunch. At least there he could be alone, away from other kids. No one wanted to sit by the new kid, right? He hung up his blazer on the back of his chair and took a quiet table in the corner and attempted to keep quiet and unseen. Usually, it worked... Today it didn't. "You never showed up where my dad told your dad to tell you to meet me," Dylan jumped as a tray landed in front of him. "So you're lucky I know most of the school."

The guy that sat down in front of him had to be the son of that General Hawk guy, he figured. Dylan had tried to avoid being "shown around", and the awkwardness he'd felt at the idea. But obviously, this kid was stubborn. Add to the fact that he looked a couple of years older than Dylan, and was built like a marine, and well... "Oh, did I miss that? My bad," Dylan replied, trying to play it cool. "That must make you, Shawn..."

Shawn Abernathy ran a hand through his blond hair and gave him a look. Clearly, not too impressed with Dylan's lying skills. Still, he straightened and kept his auburn eyes locked on him. "It's fine. I get it, first day jitters," He explained. "Dad thought you'd just need a friend. Says they picked you up off the streets or something...?"

A friend. Dylan would believe anyone here could be a friend when he saw it. "Well, he didn't lie about the streets part. But I'm fine. I don't usually make a lot of friends at school," He bit into an apple and gave the other teenager a look. "I appreciate the effort. But I didn't grow up rich like most people here. You'll get bored of me fast."

Shawn raised an eyebrow as he said that. "And you think I did? Ha. Dad is smarter than that," Shawn explained. "I was adopted too, man. Six foster homes over five years, what about you?"

Dylan looked incredulous. "Probably as a baby right?"

Again, a laugh. "Five years ago. When I was twelve."

OK. Dylan was intrigued now. Though he wasn't sure how much he believed the guy, he could give him the benefit of the doubt. Dylan shifted in his seat and shared. "Nine years, fifteen foster homes, and three group homes," He saw the look on Shawn's face - and looked down. "Yeah, I uh... I haven't had the best track record since they took me away, I guess. Judge away."

Shawn crossed his arms and shook his head. "That's messed up. No wonder you ran away," Dylan peered up at him, surprised by his response. "So how's the guy who wants to adopt you treating you?"

Dylan didn't know how much he could say again, if anything at all. He wanted to say a lot about Optimus - but he also has to keep it coy. No one could knew he was with a detachment of Autobots, or aliens in general. "He's... Interesting. I guess I'm the age his son would have been if he was alive," he explained honestly. "He really wanted to be a dad so he treats me well enough. Actually seems to care about me."

Dylan hoped he did, at least. Either way, Shawn seemed to be smirking still, and looked him in the eye. "You're good at keeping secrets," Wait, what? Dylan's eyes widened. "Don't worry, my dad didn't tell me who the guy is. But apparently I'm supposed to make sure you don't slip up. Even to me."

Dylan swallowed. Damn, he should have figured that. Either way, he wasn't going to be intimidated, even if he already felt it with this military brat staring him down. "Cool, well I'm good at keeping secrets. So don't expect a peep out of me," Dylan explained point blank. "Hell, I still don't know what YOUR dad does exactly."

"That makes two of us."

The teens shared a laugh at that, but seriously, who didn't know what their dad did? How secret was GI JOE really? Dylan wanted to ask him a dozen questions, but instead of doing so... Let himself get lost in conversation from that point forward. He hated to say it, but he actually thought he might like school with someone his speed around.

"So school wasn't torture?"

Dylan turned to give Prime a light glare when they'd gotten home that afternoon. Of course, it was just as much a torture after lunch as it was before. But he figured that Optimus was just being playful - so maybe he should just indulge him. He seated himself down on the couch and sprawled out. "I mean, it was, but school is literally prison for kids," Dylan admitted, Optimus rolled his optics at that. "Hawk's kid, Shawn, is cool though. But he's like, a senior. I don't think we're gonna be best buds."

Optimus hummed thoughtfully, and Dylan guessed he had to look up what a "senior" was before giving a nod. Mirage was the next to speak up - of course, Dylan had pretty much learned that he didn't know how to not butt in. "I'm telling ye, kid. Let me drive you tomorrow, people will ask every question you can think of. Instant street cred," He announced. Though Optimus' look caught his optic. "What!? The good kind of attention! I wasn't going to advertise myself as a giant robot or anything."

Optimus looked like he didn't trust Mirage, not that Dylan blamed him. But Mirage did have a point... Even if Dylan wasn't sure he wanted that kind of attention on him anyway. "Dylan is supposed to be keeping a low profile, Mirage," Optimus explained. "A scholarship student being driven in a Porsche will draw enough attention to bring the Decepticons right to him."

Again, a good point. But Mirage had an even better one. "Oh yeah? What about the giant blue and red truck?" Mirage asked playfully. "You stick out to them like a sore thumb, boss bot."

His leader's optics narrowed, but turned as Bumblebee entered the room. A thoughtful look crossed his face, as he looked from Bumblebee, then to Dylan. What did he have going on in his processor? "You have a point... Perhaps, what he needs is a more low-key conversation starter," Bumblebee turned to Optimus, confused. "Bumblebee, you will be in charge of driving Dylan to and from school."

Wait, the Camaro? Well he guessed it was more conspicuous than the Porsche... Or the brightly colored truck. But Dylan had to wonder as the youngest among the Bots if that wasn't putting Bumblebee in a bad position? "Uh... Prime, are you sure about that? Mirage said Bee's the youngest," Dylan asked. "That's a lot of pressure."

He wasn't sure if Bumblebee took offense to that, but the mech did step forward. And give him one of those looks that said "What is that supposed to mean?" Optimus filled in for him, however. "Bumblebee is young, yes. But he also served as protection for a human in the past," Dylan would have to ask that story later. "If there is a mech beside myself I trust to keep you safe, it would be him."

Bumblebee looked proud, standing straighter. "It would be my honor!" A flurry of clips came out of his radio, as usual. "And this way, you'll really be riding in style!"

Mirage looked offended now. "He could have been in a Porsche!"

Optimus looked at Mirage with his hands on his hips. "You already look after the Diaz family on a regular basis. As my son, foster or not, he needs a "bodyguard" who is not already spread thin," Dylan figured that was true. Plus, he figured Optimus with all of his hard work would probably get spread just as thin if he did it every day. "I will take him when I am able to as well... And to outside functions."

Wow, so he was still going to try and keep up with him. That was good, but he couldn't believe he'd need an actual "bodyguard" for when Optimus couldn't do those things. "Whatevs. I guess I do dig being Noah's guardian a bit too much anyway," Mirage replied. "And I'm taking him on dates... So he doesn't die of embarrassment."

Dylan was not about to tell Mirage for the millionth time that wouldn't be a thing for a long time. Instead, he just smiled up at Bumblebee and wondered just how well this partnership would work out.

A/N: Yeah, I missed Bee as Sam's "guardian" so I thought I'd give him a similar role to Dylan here for when Prime isn't around for a fun dynamic.