CHAPTER 5
A Change of Plans
Not much time had passed before Hound found the theater marked "condemned". At first, he wondered if those who came to inspect it had found Mark and taken it away. But his answer came swiftly, as he found Mark lying in an alley beside the theater, his head rested against his backpack like a pillow. Activating his holoform, which was that of a rather burly man with a greying beard, he gently kicked Mark's leg as the boy stirred and woke up. "What happened?" He questioned, pointing to the theater.
"They came last night." Mark muttered "I went out to take a walk. And when I got here I found the notice." He commented, sitting up and trying to wipe some of the dirt and grime off of him "I heard them say something about mold and crap. They'll probably fix it up, and sell it." He commented, grabbing his backpack "Either way, I'm screwed. I could stay in there, but..."
"I know, breathing in mold spoors is dangerous for humans." Hound then motioned toward the alley "Though sleeping in filth ins't exactly a step-up, in my opinion." Mark frowned, shifting his backpack slightly "What are ye gonna do now?"
Mark shook his head, he hadn't figured that out yet. Usually, he had more time to formulate where he might go now. But he wasn't sure where the next stop was, or, better yet, how he was going to get there. It wasn't as though he had gone looking at the modes of transportation around the town yet. "You've got me." He then added "What's this anyway? How are you...?"
"Holoform technology." Hound pointed out "It's a physical manifestation of my subconscious in human form. Ye can even touch me and everything." Mark reached forward, almost expecting it to be a joke, but sure enough, it was very solid "I know, it's a little weird, you'll get used to it though." He patted Mark on the back lightly.
"I don't know if I'm going to stick around long enough for that." Mark replied "This is a small town. Without a place to lay low, I'm gonna get caught. And the whole point of this is that I can't get caught." Hound's holoform stroked his beard slightly, as Mark stared at him "What? Have you got another idea?" He asked as Hound frowned slightly "What?"
Hound shook his head slightly, and tried to straighten himself out. What he was thinking was a bad idea, a very bad idea. And one that he was pretty sure that none of the Autobots would approve of. Keeping a young human on the run inside Cade's old barn was not the worst idea, of course. Cade barely made use of it as it was. But several of the Autobots made use of it, meaning they would have to know about Mark, and the fact he was there. "Mark... Have you come to trust me, yet?" He asked.
Mark gave a "so-so" motion with his hand. "Why?"
Hound stiffened, he hated how this boy was getting under his plating. And what was more, he hated that he couldn't talk himself out of at the very least, trying. The door to his alt mode popped open, and Hound leaned against it. "Get inside, kid." Mark looked confused "I can't exactly promise that it will work out. Especially not given the circumstances... But there's only one other place I can think of that you'd be able to lay low."
"And that is?" Mark asked.
"The same place the Autobots and I are."
Mark's face fell slightly, he backed up clutching his backpack. "No way, that's a bad idea. You said there was a reason that the others don't know about me, right?" Mark asked, Hound nodded a bit "So your idea is to just surprise them with "Hey, my human friend needs a place to crash, can we keep him?"?" He questioned, putting his hands on his hips.
"If you have a better idea, I'm all audio receptors." Hound noted.
"We could just part ways?" Mark suggested "You've done a great job looking after me, Hound. Don't get me wrong." He explained calmly "But maybe this is a sign that I overstayed my welcome here... And with you." He explained "I mean, you didn't think this was going to last forever, did you?"
Mark started off from the alleyway, and for a moment, Hound sat there. Maybe the kid was right, and they were meant to cut their losses and quit while they were ahead. Maybe it was a bad idea for him to have interfered and gotten attached in the first place. But his spark tugged, and his engine revved. Something told him in the deepest part of his being that he was not meant to leave this boy at all. At least, not yet. He drove quietly towards Mark, and yet again opened the door. "Yer not getting rid of me that easily." Hound noted "If they won't let you stick around, I'll take ye out of town."
"Why would you do that for me?"
"It's what friends do." Hound noted "They help each other."
Mark looked thoughtful at that, his eyes staring up at the sky. But after a moment, he had reached forward, and clutched the door ever so slightly. It was a defining moment for him, if he went with Hound then, he had accepted him as a friend. He had accepted to leave the loneliness he felt behind him and possibly end up under full Autobot protection. But if he left now, he could again cut his losses, and forget about this whole little "adventure" all-together. He tapped his fingers against the door quietly, working this out in his head to the best of his ability.
A minute later, he had seated himself in Hound's passengers seat. "You'll take me anywhere I want to go?"
"Within reason." Hound replied.
"Okay." Mark replied, buckling in "Then drive."
...
"Have you lost your processor, Hound?"
It was certainly the reaction Mark had expected, but the way Crosshairs delivered it nearly made him jump out of his skin. He sat on a platform in the large barn, or at least, what was left of it. It looked like they had started to fix it from where Optimus had practically blown it up, but had stopped and moved onto other things. And to be honest, it was probably exactly what had happened. But it still had four walls and most of the roof, which was enough to keep him hidden. "Listen, now that they're building an actual lab attachment to the home, this is going to be nothing more than a barn." Hound commented "Mark won't even be here for its completion. He'll be long gone then."
Drift stared between Hound and his human friend, stroking his chin in thought. "The boy doesn't appear to be a direct threat. He carries no weapons." Drift circled where Mark sat silently "I do not see why we cannot simply allow him a couple of days stay..."
"Two weeks." Mark stated "That's how long I planned to stay. So after that I'd be gone."
Crosshairs crossed his arms, and stared down at Mark, his optics narrowing slightly. He took a few steps forward, and looked down at him with a look of fire in his optics. "Kid, no offense, but I don't even know you." He explained "You could have fooled ole Hound into thinking you're a good guy for all any of us know." Mark frowned slightly "So I'm going to need to hear more of a reason to keep you around."
"Because we're part of the reason he's an orphan in the first place."
Mark cringed, having hoped silently that Hound would not have mentioned this at all. "What does that mean, Hound?" Drift asked, confusion now filling his optics "Who are you?" He asked Mark.
"Mark Savoy..."
There was silence among the group, though Crosshairs looked very stunned. From his corner, Bumblebee stepped forward himself, and tilted his head, as if trying to see the resemblance. "The kid looks alright to me." He piped up using a variety of sound clips "Remember we're supposed to be the good guys here." He added for good measure.
"He's the son of-!" Crosshairs began loudly
"Judge not the son by the actions of his father. But rather his own actions." Drift told him politely "I see no problem in housing him for a short while. And Sensei would quite likely put this to a, how you say, Democratic vote." He then turned towards Sideswipe, who was in another corner "Sideswipe?"
"I'd have my optics on him." Sideswipe noted "But if he doesn't cause an issue, I won't have an issue with him."
"I agree with Crosshairs." Mirage stated honestly "He's the son of a murderer, a cold blooded one at that." He explained, crossing his arms "My trust of the human beings already wears thin. I'm not about to jump on the "bandwagon" of welcoming a Savoy into our home for the moment."
"You know my vote." Hound noted "So I think it stands that the boy stays." He eyed Crosshairs, who looked none-too-pleased "We'll watch him for two more weeks to be sure that Cyclonus won't target him. And then I'll drive him where he choses." He then added "Until then, I'll take responsibility for him while he's here." He then added "Cade won't even ever know he's here."
"Fine." Crosshairs grunted "But he is your responsibility, Hound. I don't babysit, and most certainly not humans at the present time." He noted, then stared at Mark with a warning glance "And make no mistake, boy, I have my optics on you." Mark shifted uncomfortably at that "In the meantime, someone needs to get him a bath, and change of clothing. Primus almighty, boy, when was the last time you showered?"
"Last month." Mark blushed slightly.
"I'll go and hose him down." Bumblebee replied, as Mark's eyes widened.
"He's not serious is he?" Mark asked.
"He can only talk through voice clips and music, Mark." Hound chuckled slightly "Cade and his family are out of town for the next few days. I suspect he intends to take you back the running part of the house for a shower." He noted "They did just turn the plumbing on for the first time last week." He explained "I'll handle the clothes part of it so the grumpy one over here will lighten up."
Mark sighed quietly, and stared up at Bumblebee calmly. The young yellow mech simply kept a friendly, wide smile on his face as he led him outside of the barn. Mark looked at the home, which was only half finished in some ways, just like the barn, and smiled a little. It wasn't exactly what he had planned on, but he had to admit a warm shower sounded good right about now. "You guys don't have to worry about Cade noticing. After I'm done and all, I'll just clean the towels and leave it the way it was." He shrugged "It's the least I can do."
"You're a good kid." Bumblebee replied.
"I try to be at least." Mark replied, watching as Bumblebee pointed to the doormat, which he checked under and found a spare key to the house "Perfect." He noted "Uh, thanks." He told the mech.
"It was nothing."
Mark wasn't sure he was ever going to get used to the changing voices this one had.
...
Later that night, Mark was clean and dressed up in clean clothing for the first time. He did exactly as he promised, cleaning the towels, and setting things back as they used to be. He spent most of the day getting better sleep than he had the night before. When he did wake up, he spent most of his time on his own, being a bit shy. And only after some time had passed, and night fell, he found Hound outside, smoking another of his "cigar"'s silently, and watching the stars. "You are... One crazy guy, Hound." Hound turned his head towards his human friend "I wouldn't have even half the guts to do what you did today."
Hound stared over at the young human quietly, and shrugged. "Yes, well, I felt bad that your other arrangements didn't work out." He told him, resting his arm on his knee slightly "Plus, to be honest, things would get a lot more boring without ye here." He then added "Cyclonus was the first shred of "excitement" we've had since Hong Kong."
Mark nodded his head slightly, seating himself down beside Hound, he laid back in the grass. "Crosshairs is kinda right about you. You're a little too much of a softie." Hound snorted, and turned to his friend with a raised optic ridge "I mean, yeah, I'm a good guy. But some day that's going to get you into some serious trouble dude. People take advantage-."
"Boy, I'm well aware of that." Hound noted "I may be a soft sparked mech, but are you forgetting the arsenal I carry around?" Mark gave a slight smirk at that "I'm a kind mech, not a fool. If you ever did anything to betray me..." He then began "Well, I might give you a head start, for example." Mark shook his head, staring up at him again "But I don't take you for the double-crossing type."
At this, he playfully tapped his knuckle against Mark's arm. The boy rubbed it, and looked towards the ground with a slowly growing smile. "Nah, I don't think I could do that to the first person that showed me any... Real kindness since dad died." He admitted "I'm just not sure if I can trust all of you, yet. Especially not that one guy, Crosshairs, or Mirage. They didn't seem to like me at all the second they heard I was..." He explained "I mean, I guess I kinda trust you, but that's pretty... Shaky at best."
"We've gone through much, Mark." Hound replied "Give them time."
"I guess..."
Hound sighed, as he watched the boy, who seemed to be forcing himself to stay awake. No doubt he was still tired, after all, it had been a long few weeks of probably getting far from enough sleep. "I don't expect you to trust me fully yet." Hound admitted "The fact that you've even got a wavering trust for me astounds me. But all that took is time." He then added "Maybe you should give us all time."
Though Mark was silent, Hound sighed. He was hoping he would heed his advice, and even make friends with the other Autobots as he was slowly making friends with him. Mark needed to learn that others besides himself in this world could be trusted, and perhaps the more chance he got to put his trust in others, he might. After a few moments of waiting for an answer, Hound turned to find that Mark had finally stopped fighting, with his light snoring filtering up to him. "Oh well, I'll have this conversation with you another time then."
With great care, Hound carefully scooped his young human friend into his hand, and headed back into the barn. He immediately carried him towards a corner of the room where he had set a pile of hay, a blanket, and pillow. He settled Mark there, pulling the blankets over his body before patting it in a "goodnight" gesture and turning to see Crosshairs watching. "You really like that kid, don't you?" Hound was silent, though Crosshairs knew the answer anyway "You can't keep 'im, Hound. He doesn't seem to want to be kept." He explained "So you should stop getting so close to him before he breaks your spark."
It didn't sound like Crosshairs was being negative this time, but rather, being concerned. And he supposed it was with good reason, he did have a point, after all. If he became close to the human, could he honestly let him go? It was a question he had to ponder as he started off to get his own recharge.
...
A/N: I had initially planned to keep him in the theater. But I think it's more interesting with the other Autobots involved too and it didn't change anything story-wise. So here we are. LOL