A more proper and full summary: Transformers: Prime AU. Loose Cannons never happened. After Wheeljack was attacked by Dreadwing, his damaged ship crashed into a farmland. Damaged, without a guidance system, or any means of communication with the others left, Wheeljack is helped by sixteen year old Jake Allan, whose Guardian owns the farm, but is dying of cancer. But when Dreadwing returns, and threatens Jake's life, Wheeljack has no choice but to drag him along as he seeks out Jasper, Nevada and the Autobots, for fear he will be hurt. As a bond forms between them, will Wheeljack be so willing to leave the planet, and Jake behind once again?

Pairings: Mentions of a former relationship between Wheeljack and his bonded. This is NOT a slash or WheeljackxOC story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize as actual canon, only my OC, and any others that may appear. If you want to use one of my OCs for something, just PM me and I'll see if we can work something out. :) Don't take my OCs without permission though, thank you. :)

A/N: So this is my second try at a story in the "Prime" universe. Though my last one didn't go so well, I have a REALLY good feeling about this one. If I get any facts that are mentioned in the actual SHOW wrong, please feel free to tell me so I can correct them. :)

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CHAPTER 1
A Chance Meeting

Jake Allan had known that Tom Davis was dying long before that night. It had only been that night that it had truly hit him how sick his Legal Guardian was. Even as he sat on the roof of the farmhouse, his hands on his chin, the sixteen year old felt his stomach twist and turn. The doctor had come to him with the truth, given it to him straight, Tom wouldn't survive another week. The only man who had ever cared enough to give him a second glance at the orphanage eight years ago was going to be dead now.

Jake didn't want to go back to the orphanage, he had told himself time and time again how he didn't want to. There was no use for a sixteen year old orphan in anyone's home, let alone one who'd been left on the doorstep of an orphanage. It'd taken him eight years to get adopted once, and Jake didn't have another eight to wait for it to happen again. If he had ever been in need of a friend in the hellhole that was the small town he called home, it would have been that night.

Little did he know, fate was about to reward him with one.

The streak of fire that shot through the sky was hard to miss. At first, the young boy had thought that, perhaps, it had been a shooting star. That was, until said star flew right above his head. The fire from the ships engine illuminating his pale skin, his green eyes shot up in shock. If that weren't an alien spaceship, then he was most certainly losing his mind. He could hear the violent crash, it was sickening, a sound of metal crashing into the soft Earth.

A smart kid would have run away screaming, a smart kid might have ignored it. But when you lived in a town with a population of nine-hundred, you took what excitement you could get. Making his way off the roof carefully, Jake slowly crept around the side of the home, creeping forward. Many trees had been knocked over and Jake was certain he had seen what appeared to be a crater just up ahead. The young brunette looked thoughtfully in the distance for a moment, but slowly, crossed towards the crater.

Of course, Jake had been right, as he came upon a large spacecraft. One that was heavily damaged at that, he couldn't tell the color, the make, or anything. What he could make out, however, was the fact that a figure was climbing it's way out of it. The boy blinked slightly, not moving from his spot by choice, but by a trip. Before he knew it had happened, he was sliding on his back to the center of the crater. If he hadn't fallen however, what transpired next wouldn't have happened either. He could see the sharp shape of some part of the ship, he knew he was headed for it.

He never reached it before a hand had reached out and blocked him. Jake looked up, but couldn't believe what he was seeing, a giant robot, big, green, red, and white in color, with blue eyes brighter than he had ever seen. "Primus kid, are you okay?" Jake's response was caught in his throat "Hey, are you ALIVE?" He asked, Jake's response was a scream "Hey, HEY! Stop that, you'll compromise my positio-"

"What the HELL are you!" Jake shrieked, his heart beating at rapid pace.

"The mech who just saved your life." The robot stated flatly.

Jake blinked, and finally realized that the hand belonged to the robot, he really had just saved his life. Jake was almost tempted to freak out again, but understood the robot meant him no harm. "T-Thank you." Jake trembled a bit as he struggled to his feet "I guess I'm sorry of screaming then." He added.

"I frightened you, no reason to apologize." The Robot, who now that Jake had a good look, appeared damaged, replied "I just was worried someone else had crashed after me." He paused "Did you see anything else?" He questioned, tilting his head, Jake shook his head in response "Thank Primus, maybe I lost the fragger." He noted "Not gonna matter much with my systems down." He muttered to himself.

"Who are you anyway?"

The mech turned his head, knowing that he posed a new problem. Humans were not supposed to know about them, yet this young human did. Unfortunately, there was no taking it back, so he felt inclined to answer. "The name's Wheeljack. And to answer your previous question, I'm an Autobot." Jake made note of how little sense that still made "I guess you could say I'm an alien." He then added "And you are?" Inquisitively.

"J-Jake, Jake Allan." Jake replied.

"Well, Jake Allan, you'd be wise to forget-"

As Wheeljack made an attempt to stand, he felt weak at the knees. Slowly, moving onto one of them, and holding his wounded side. "Hey, are you okay?" Jake asked, quickly noting to himself how dumb a question it was "Jeez, is that blood?" Jake stepped forward.

"Don't come near it." Wheeljack warned "It'll burn through you with ease."

Jake immediately took a cautious step back, he looked at the wound slowly. "You know, my guardian... He has power tools." He paused a moment, looking up at Wheeljack "Don't suppose that's going to help alien machinery, is it?" He questioned.

Wheeljack stared at the boy quizzically, how in the world could this kid be that brave? Most would be running off, screaming bloody murder by now. Yet the boy simply wanted to help. Groaning a bit, he shifted into a seated position. "They might, why don't you go get them, and I can tell you." Wheeljack nodded, Jake simply nodded "Don't tell him about me though." He added.

"He wouldn't believe me if I did." Jake replied honestly.

Wheeljack watched the boy rush off, expecting him not to come back. The kid was probably just itching for a chance to escape him, he figured. Yet, ten minutes or so later, Jake had returned with what appeared to be three boxes of power tools. "I got EVERYTHING from the shed I could find." Jake shifted a little bit "I got the regular tools too, if the power tools won't work." He added.

"You're taking this pretty calm for a kid." Wheeljack added.

"You kidding? You're not trying to kill me, and this is the most excitement I've had in my life." Jake admitted, gaining a smirk from the mech "Not to mention making contact with a alien robot? Not many sixteen year olds can say they've done that." He then nodded "So, will any of these help?" He asked.

Wheeljack did a quick scan of the items in each container, frowning thoughtfully. "They will do, they are very... Outdated by my standards, but they will do." Wheeljack grabbed a small wrench calmly "It's days like these I wish I had a holoform." He muttered.

...

An hour later, Wheeljack had fixed his wounded body to the best of his ability. Jake hadn't left, but not because of the tools, but out of fascination. The wrecker worked with the tools so easily for a mech who had called them "Outdated". When Wheeljack had finished, he looked better, but still not one hundred percent yet. "That'll do." Wheeljack nodded, he stared at Jake slightly "Anywhere around here that I can hide out while I fully heal?" He questioned.

"We have a barn about the right size." Jake noted.

"Won't your guardian notice?"

Jake's eyes fell to the floor, he chewed his lip, and shook his head slowly. "Tom's too busy dying... He hardly leaves his bed." Wheeljack gave a small look of sympathy toward him "He'll never notice that you're here. And it's pretty close to the house, in case you needed my help or something." He chuckled nervously "Not that you WOULD need my help, I mean-" He began.

"I thank you for your kindness, Jake." Wheeljack nodded, and smiled "So long as my enemy doesn't locate me, living in your barn should be safe." He nodded, standing up slowly, he pressed a button on his arm, which cloaked the crater and ship "Lead the way?" He inquired.

Jake almost hesitated to do so, knowing that so many things could go wrong with this. Yet, Jake didn't have much to lose either, if his enemy did find him, and he died, he would not be losing much of anything. Not with Tom dying. Leading him towards the large barn, he slowly slid open the doors, nodding. "I hope you don't mind hay." Jake muttered.

"I'll put up with it." Wheeljack shrugged, he entered the barn slowly, having to crouch over a little "You're too gracious a host, kid." He added.

Jake blushed a little, rubbing the back of his head. Wheeljack already had a strong feeling that Jake was a very shy young boy. Wheeljack smirked, he would break him of that in his time in the barn. "Yeah, well... I was raised to treat people with respected." Jake admitted "And though this is EXTREMELY bizarre, doesn't hurt to be nice to an alien robot either." He added.

"Good set of values to be raised on." Wheeljack noted.

"I hope to take that with me to the grave." Jake nodded, he sighed a bit "So, this guy following you-"

"Don't worry about it, in my weakened state, I'm hard to track." Wheeljack stated as he sat in a corner "Besides, if he shows up, I'll know. I won't let harm come to you. I owe you that much for your help." He explained, Jake smiled, and nodded "I am very sorry for your Guardian, by the way. Now that I have the energy to give my sympathies." He added.

Jake looked at the floor of the barn, as if something caught his fancy. "He fostered and adopted me when he was eight-six... He's ninety-three now... I guess it's just his time." He admitted weakly, looking up at him "He's been fighting Cancer a long time." Though Wheeljack had to look it up, he nodded in understanding "Though I really wish it could end up differently." He added.

"I do too, it's not easy to lose a caretaker." Wheeljack frowned a bit, speaking from experience "But a kid as kind as you won't have a problem finding another, I'm sure." He added.

Jake gave a somber look at Wheeljack, who regretted the statement already. "Well, there aren't a lot of people looking for a sixteen year old." Jake admitted quietly, he looked at him "But thanks for the vote of confidence, Wheeljack." He explained.

"Please, call me 'Jack or Jackie. All my friends do."

"You consider me a friend?" Jake asked, surprised.

"Well, hey, you've been pretty good to me so far, and I kinda like ya." Wheeljack poked the boy in the chest gently "I think I can call you my friend, so long as you don't change attitudes on me." Jake grinned at that "But, even if he is dying, I bet Tom's worried, it is late." He noted "I'll be okay in here, Jake." He added.

"Alright, I'll come by in the morning." Jake grinned "Goodnight."

As Jake left, closing the barn doors behind him, Wheeljack smiled a bit. Few people he'd met on Cybertron had optimism like Jake seemed to have facing almost the same exact odds. Wheeljack had always warmed up easily to people, but Jake and him had really hit it off in a way that caught him off guard. Without a word, he silently nodded to himself. Yeah, I can stay here a few days until I recover... No problem. He thought to himself.

Little did he know just how much that one decision would effect him.

...

Jake entered the home once more, carefully kicking off his shoes. He cursed under his breath as he realized it was nearly one in the morning, and prayed that Tom hadn't noticed it as well. Jake's curfew was twelve, and if he was out much later, the old man became very stressed. Not to mention he had enough stress as-is. Carefully creeping up the stairs, he tried his best to silently pass Tom's room. "Jake?" Jake closed his eyes.

"Sorry Tom, didn't mean to wake you up." Jake poked his head through the door "I was just coming in, lost track of the time." He looked at the unnervingly thin and wrinkled man "Go back to sleep, okay?" He added.

"Careful next time." Tom told him weakly "Goodnight.. Sweet dreams... Love you." He added quietly.

"Love you too, Tom."

Jake was quiet as he entered his own room, collapsing on his bed. He half expected that when he woke up the next day, this would be a dream, that he'd still be on the roof, having fallen asleep up there again. Yet, at the same time, he had a strange feeling that tugged at him and told him this was only the beginning of something much bigger.

...

A/N: This has been a Plot Bunny eating at me forever. But I wanted to finish my Hawaii Five-0 story first. With two chapters of that left, I decided to go for it. So what do you guys think? Worth continuing? I have two more chapters completed, but I want to see the response to the first chapter before posting the other two. :)