Disclaimer: I do not own Cobra Kai or the Karate Kid. I only own Jack. Anything you may recognize belongs to Netflix and its creators.

Jack was out of the doors of school as soon as the bell rang. He had been anticipating it all day. He grabbed his things and raced out to the courtyard where his mother was waiting in the pickup line. "How was school?" She asked once he was getting into the car.

"Did you get the stuff?" Jack asked, ignoring her question.

Julie chuckled slightly. She knew she shouldn't be surprised. Her son had been talking about this all week. "Right next to you,"

Jack looked to his right and noticed the grocery bag and looked through it, seeing all the cookie decorations that she got at the store. He noticed some different colors of icing, sprinkles, and candies. "Are we gonna make sugar cookies, gingerbread, and chocolate chip?"

"Woah kid," Julie laughed. "That's a lot of cookies,"

"Can we?" Jack smiled cheekily. "Please…?"

Julie sighed, she knew she couldn't disappoint him. He had been looking forward to this all week. "I swear kid, it's not fair when you give me that look," And she was sure he knew it. "You better not eat them all,"

"I won't!" Jack nodded. "You're gonna eat them too,"

Julie laughed. She knew he probably wasn't wrong.

Julie drove them home and Jack raced into the kitchen with the bag of cookie decorations as soon as they got in. While he set them on the table, Julie got out the last of the ingredients they needed and placed them on the counter where they would be doing the prep. "Okay kid, your choice, which ones do you want first?"

"Sugar!"

"Are you sure?" Julie asked. "The dough for the sugar will need to chill, so they probably won't be able to get baked, or eaten tonight,"

Jack considered it. "Chocolate chip!"

Julie nodded. "Thought so!"

"I wanna decorate cookies though!" Jack liked chocolate chips the best, but he wanted to use all the stuff that his mother bought.

"Who said we can't?" Traditionally, maybe there wasn't any decorating when it came to chocolate chip cookies, but they didn't have to be traditional. Julie put as much flour as the recipe called for into a big bowl. "You wanna hand me the vanilla and the eggs?"

Jack got up on his stool so he could see where everything was. He handed each ingredient to his mother when she asked for it.

She stirred together the dry ingredients and then began adding the wet ones as the recipe instructed. "You want to help me mix?" She asked and handed Jack the spatula and he started mixing it.

"It's hard…" Jack said after a while.

"I can take it back—"

Jack shook his head and forced himself to stir a little faster.

"The best part about having my strong boy to help me," Julie said once it looked mixed enough. She gave it a few more whisks to make sure there was no flour sticking to the bottom of the bowl. "Now we'll get the cookie sheet," She got two sheets out on the counter where there was room. She and Jack began putting the dough onto the sheets. She saw Jack sneak some cookie dough every so often.

"I saw that," Julie turned around after putting the first batch in the oven, pointing at Jack as he was caught red-handed.

"I never got a snack,"

"That's because someone was too excited to make cookies,"

"Cookies are a snack,"

"When they are baked…" Julie snuck a small bit of cookie dough from the bowl and ate some.

"Mommy!" Jack gasped. "You did it too!"

"Now we're even,"

"Hey kid," The bus driver shook Jack awake. "This is the last stop, you have to get off,"

Jack opened his eyes a crack, looking up, squinting at the bright lights. He rubbed his eyes and then slowly sat up. He didn't stand up until a few moments later after the room stopped spinning. "Where are we?" He asked. His voice came out hoarse.

"California,"

Jack nodded slowly. "Thanks…"

Jack forced himself onto his feet and then got off the bus. He looked around and tried to figure out the best direction to go. But not knowing where he could go made it more difficult. Guess I'll just start walking and see where I end up… He knew it wasn't much of a plan, but it was all he could do. It was either that or going back to social services and he was through with that. He was on his own in the system and it was only slightly different now that he was out. He would rather be on his own completely. Fewer eggshells he would have to walk on.

Jack walked for a long time and he kept going despite the exhaustion. It wasn't for several hours later that he found himself wandering into a town. Jack kept walking until he managed to find a big mall. He figured that might be a good place to rest for a bit. His feet felt like they had been walking on glass and he could use a minute to warm up. Despite being in California, it was still cold and holes in his clothes did not help him stay warm.

He went inside, noticing a few people he passed giving him a few dirty looks. He knew it looked like a mess, but there wasn't much he could do about that. He put his head down and kept walking. Eventually, he got to the food court and figured it was busy enough that he could blend in unnoticed for a little while. He waited until some people left and took an empty table so he could sit down for a little while.

Not too long after he sat, he started noticing all the different smells and it made him realize how hungry he was. He knew that didn't matter, he didn't have any money left after using most of it for the bus tickets.

A little while later, Jack noticed a few teenagers come in and watched as they went over to another kid getting out of line with food. They waited a few moments before going to him and knocking the tray of food out of his hands.

"Hey!" The dark-haired kid exclaimed. "What the hell…" He blanched when he caught a glimpse of who it was. He seemed to recognize the other teenagers.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going," The shorter boy with darker skin remarked.

"Sorry…" The boy with dark hair got quiet. Jack noticed he seemed scared.

"You going to do anything about it?" The other boy got closer, inches away from his face. He was trying to get a rise out of him. "No?"

The dark-haired boy shook his head quickly, attempting to back away, tripping and falling back.

"Shithead's a big pussy," One of the other boys muttered before laughing.

"Don't call me that..." Despite it being a mumbled, the three others seemed to hear it.

"What was that?!" The shorter boy grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"N-Nothing!"

"Maybe we need to teach him another lesson," The older teen that seemed to look Asian suggested and the blonde one next to him nodded in agreement. The short one smiled, seeming to really like the idea, whatever it was that they meant.

"No! No…please…" The dark-haired boy begged as the bigger boys grabbed him and followed the shorter boy. "Please no…"

Jack hesitated as he heard the kid's voice getting harder to hear as they dragged him away. He knew it was not his business and shouldn't get involved. He shouldn't risk getting into trouble, especially when he wanted to avoid going back into another foster home. He shouldn't care, but somehow, he found himself getting on his feet and going in the direction they went, with each step going a bit faster so he could catch up.

"Please Kenny…don't do this!" The dark-haired boy yelled as Jack saw them drag him into one of the Men's restrooms. He waited only a few moments before following them in.

"I would keep your mouth shut if I were you," The shorter boy snickered. "Believe me, I would," He looked to the others who kicked open all the stalls. "Find a good one, Kyler?"

The tall one came out of the handicapped stall with a disgusted look on his face. "We have a fresh one,"

"Perfect," The kid named Kenny smiled devilishly. "Do it,"

"No!" The dark hair kid screamed as the other grabbed him and started taking him towards the stall. Despite his efforts to grab onto another one of the stalls, it was three against one and it would only be a matter of time before they took him in.

Jack didn't have the guess what they were about to do. He quickly took a few steps forward, getting in between the taller teenagers and the stall.

"What the fuck…" Kyler swore. "Get the hell out of here!"

"You first," Jack crossed his arms, not budging.

Kenny looked pissed. "You should leave if you know what's good for you,"

"Are you going to make me?" Jack challenged.

"Look at him," One of the other boys said, taking a quick look at Jack, noticing he looked like a mess in his ragged clothes. "Maybe he wants a turn," He let go of the dark-haired kid, going to make a move for Jack. He gave him a side look before, taking hold of his arm and then flipping the guy over.

Kenny and Kyler blinked as they watched their other friend hit the ground.

"Maybe you two should leave," Jack made it sound like a suggestion, but it was like a warning.

Kyler and Kenny looked at each other. Kenny took hold of the other kid while Kyler lunged at Jack, who dodged the punches and then threw a few kicks, one of them hitting him in his private area, which put him on the ground.

"You want a turn?" Jack looked at Kenny.

Kenny was enraged, he threw the kid to the ground and went for Jack. He threw a few punches. Jack took a hit to the jaw, which sent him back, going through the stall and the stench hit, making his head pound and giving him the urge to vomit. Kenny grabbed Jack by the hair and smirked. "Had enough?"

Jack didn't hesitate before getting out of Kenny's grasp and threw a few punches of his own and then used the stall door to hit Kenny in the head and he went down on the floor. "No, but I think you have," He quipped. "Stay down if you know what's good for you,"

Jack went out of the stall and over to the other kid. He offered his hand to him. "You okay?"

He took Jack's hand and got to his feet. "Yeah," He nodded. "Thanks, you really saved my head,"

"I can see that," Jack cringed, looking back at the stall. He would almost say it was more than just that. "You don't want to see what's in there,"

"I have a pretty good idea,"

"They did this before?" Jack asked, gathering this wasn't the first time. The kid nodded. "What the hell?"

"It's a long story…" He wasn't sure he wanted to explain.

"Well, we should get out of here," Jack looked back at the three boys on the ground. He was sure they wouldn't have long before they got to their feet. They went out of the restroom and back to the food court. "I would get out of here before they follow," And he planned on doing the same. He didn't want to risk the cops being called and him having to go back into the system.

"Wait!" The kid followed Jack. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know…" Jack shrugged. "Out of here,"

"That's a good idea," The kid agreed. "Do you want to come to my house?"

Jack arched an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked. "You don't know me,"

"You don't know me, but you still stopped them from making me a shithead," He pointed out. "I mean, if you come with me, I have food at my place," He wanted to do something for the kid. "Are you hungry?"

Jack was going to refuse, but his stomach reminded him. He wasn't sure it was a great idea, but thought maybe as long as he didn't overstay his welcome, then it couldn't hurt. Especially if he could get something to eat. "Yeah, a bit,"

"Come on," He said. "I'm Anthony, by the way,"

"I'm Jack,"

A/N: Well, it's certainly not Christmas anymore...but who doesn't like a good story? It has been a while as life has been crazy these last couple of months. First off, the few college classes have been keeping me busy on top of work and then adopting a little puppy. But now I'm on break for the summer and I couldn't be more excited to have a little time to breathe and write.

So, Jack arrived in California and then intervened in a fight to help out Anthony. And now he's taking Jack to his house. There will be more to come.

Don't forget to review.