Transformers: A Matter of Fate

NO CHOICE LEFT

"I don't have time to explain." Hound noted "He's been hurt pretty slaggin' bad. I need to take him to a hospital." He noted.

"Let me take him, I can take him." Cade motioned forward "If any of you guys show up-."

"I need to-!"

"Hound, listen to me." Cade held up his hands "I don't know who he is, but he's a kid. And if he's hurt enough for a hospital, I'm your best bet. I'll take Bee, he's the most inconspicuous of you guys." He stated as he pointed towards Bumblebee "You gotta trust me, Hound. You don't want to make a scene."

Hound looked down at Mark, who was fighting to keep awake, and then down at Cade. Slowly, he crouched down, and deposited Mark into his arms as gently as he could. The man looked up at Hound for a long moment, then at the boy. "Mark, you can trust him, Cade's a friend." He noted at Mark's look of utter fear in his eyes "I'll be right behind ye, kiddo. It's going to be okay."

"They're going to ask for a name." Cade commented.

"... Mark." Hound told him slowly "His name's Mark Savoy." By the look on his face, Cade seemed to make the connection.

No more words were exchanged as Bumblebee transformed down, throwing open his car door. Hound could feel his spark nearly beating out of his chest as Cade wasted no time flooring the gas and driving down the road. "Hound..." Sideswipe spoke up as he noticed Hound starting to shake "You couldn't have seen that coming. That missile came out of nowhere, we're just lucky-."

"I'm going to kill Cyclonus." Hound muttered "Mark could have died!"

Crosshairs looked thoughtful. "And since he lived... We all know he's going to try again." Crosshairs commented "Now do you see why we shouldn't have brought him into this, Hound? Because this is what the Decepticons do!" He shouted, his voice sounding loud and frustrated "Primus, if Cyclonus has a target on his head..."

"This isn't my fault!" Hound rebottled "If I hadn't come into contact with him, he would be dead right now!"

It was then that Tessa spoke up for the first time, her voice wavering. "Do one of you guys think you could fill me in on what just happened?" She asked "Who was that kid?" She asked louder this time.

Hound wouldn't stick around to answer the question. As the next thing that anyone knew, he had transformed down and taken off, his anger slowly, but surely building in him. How could this have happened? Mark had done nothing to Cyclonus, how could that mech be so cowardly as to attempt to blow up a child? His engines roared once again as he felt another bit of rage build up. Cyclonus wouldn't get away with that, he swore. He would not get away with attacking one of his friends like that, a cowardly deed like that would go punished.

But for now, with Cyclonus at the advantage with jet engines. He could only tear through the scenery of Texas, and try and resist the urge to shoot everything in sight.

...

When he returned later that day, he found himself greeted by a woman who introduced herself as Dana Walsh. A member of the human group that called themselves the Department of Social Services. And none to his surprise, the group had not let the fact that a young boy from an amber alert had just turned up in Texas, having nearly been blown up. "So let me get this straight..." Dana commented, sitting on a log outside the home with the group of Autobots standing in front of her, with the exception of Bumblebee, who was still on guard at the hospital. "You've known that Markus Savoy was here for almost three weeks and never thought to-."

"Only I did." Hound interrupted "No one had any idea that he was even here until I brought him to the barn..." Dana frowned at that, taking a note on her clipboard "I'm still waiting for you or Cade to explain to me whether he's alright or not." Dana was silent at that, taking the glasses off her face "Despite what you may believe, I am worried out of my processor."

Dana sighed, and looked thoughtfully back up at him. "If you're going to insist on asking, Markus is fine." Hound sighed in relief "He's a lucky kid, very minor burns, a broken arm, and a few broken ribs." She then added "If this so-called "Decepticon"'s missile had hit any closer though he wouldn't have made it." Hound looked down, guilt pulling at him.

"If I may ask..." Hound paused "What will happen to him now?"

"He'll recover in the hospital, and then he'll go to a foster home in his home state." Dana explained "Like he should have been in months ago."

Crosshairs immediately stepped forward at that, shaking his head. "I'm afraid that's out of the question." Dana raised an eyebrow at that "Ms. Walsh, the mech that nearly killed him today, Cyclonus, will target him again when he finds out he's alive." The woman frowned "As much as I disliked his father, Markus now needs to be under protective detail. And I don't suppose we can just assign him a guardian in this case."

"No shit." Dana replied "But what do you expect me to do? I can't just throw you on every foster home he goes to. If he needs protective detail... Well, I'm afraid that's out of the question." She explained "Unless I can guarantee every home he goes to is affiliated with you people. And honestly, I can't exactly promise that... No matter how much of a threat this "Cyclonus" poses."

"That's an unwise direction to take." Drift told her calmly "He nearly died today."

"On your watch."

"Because at this point we thought Cyclonus had forgotten him." Drift argued "It would not happen a second time."

Hound was silent as this discussion went on, turning around and walking a small distance. This was a terrible position he had put them both in. Mark was okay, yes, but if he went to a foster home now things were going to go to hell quite fast. For a moment, he looked into the distance, and then he finally turned around. "And what if one of us took him ourselves?" He spoke up, his optics rotating "We'll be at NEST Base here in Texas soon. We have plenty of room to convert one of the barracks into a bedroom." He then added "And until he could move in, we could get one of the NEST operatives that do foster care to take him with Autobot supervision. Most of them don't do long-term, but I'm sure they could take him for a few months."

"Hound-." Crosshairs began to interject before Hound threw up a hand.

"You can't actually be serious." Dana laughed.

"What would one have to do?" Hound noted "Hypothetically if we wanted to take it upon ourselves to protect and take care of him."

"As in, you...?" Dana noted "The Autobot that harbored a runaway and practically kidnapped him?" She asked.

Hound looked down at her, then back at Crosshairs. The mech looked none-too-happy, but even he had to understand. At this point, they had no choice if they wanted to be certain that they would not be responsible for the loss of an innocent life next time. And after a moment, it was clear that Crosshairs had come to that conclusion himself, as he slowly backed off. "Yes." Hound noted "I am suggesting myself to take legal guardianship of Markus Franklin Savoy."

"You can't be serious."

"What would I have to do?" Hound insisted.

Dana stood there for a long moment, her eyes focused on Hound. "Come with me." Dana finally spoke up "I'm going to need to talk to my superior before I can even tell you if it's possible." She noted "This is not a typical case."

"Call who you need to." Hound insisted.

As Dana walked towards her car, and Hound started toward her, Crosshairs held his arm out. "Think about what you're doing, Hound." Crosshairs told him in a low voice "If you do this... If you go through their legal proceedings to become a "foster" parent, you can't take it back without hurting him."

Hound stood there for a long moment, mulling the thought over in his head. "I already have thought about it." Hound told him quietly, pushing Crosshairs' arm down "Trust that I know what I'm doing, Crosshairs." He told him calmly "We no longer have any other choices."

Hound only hoped that this would work.