Chapter 8

Sierra stared at the spot where Jack was eating lunch by himself, and heard Miko snort from her seat beside Maggie at their table. "You do realize how creepy you're being right now, don't you?"

Sierra blinked and glared at Miko, who only stared smugly back at her. "I'm not being creepy, I…I just can't believe he hasn't stopped by to see me." She said, censoring herself because Maggie couldn't know about the Autobots.

The blonde glanced back and forth, looking disinterested. "He says he's going to back off, 'cause he thinks it can't work."

Sierra looked stunned while Miko laughed, but the redhead glared at her again. "It's not funny." She said and looked over at Maggie. "And where did he say that? Are you sure you're not just saying it?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I don't need to make something up, especially with such a lame excuse." She retorted. "He told me when we were at work, after I heard him talking with Vince about it."

Sierra tilted her head. "Since when is Vince all buddy-buddy with Jack; I thought they didn't like each other?"

"Clearly their getting over it, 'cause they looked pretty friendly with each other." Maggie said and paused. "Well, maybe friendly is a bit of a stretch, but it didn't get as bad as it could have."

Sierra looked down at her lunch, as Miko seemed to have gotten bored with their talk and turned Maggie's attention toward herself, where they both began to ramble about their favorite songs. The redhead had other things on her mind to be bothered by this; like for instance, how Jack practically couldn't stand her now. She'd still seen him give her glances during their class, but he turned away when she caught him, and had avoided saying one word to her.

It was a strange feeling to be the one being brushed off, and she didn't like it. Arcee and Miko had been right about one thing, as much as she didn't want to acknowledge it; her reasons for wanting to save Jack were for her own shallow purposes, just to prove that she could get any guy she wanted.

As she glanced around the cafeteria, her pride refused to allow her to talk to Jack directly where there were people who would talk. It would seem like she was desperate; things had been different when there was no one else around to see her rejection.

Sierra caught sight of Raf walking over to Jack's table, and looked back down at her lunch to make it seem like she wasn't staring again. She still peered over to see how Raf was faring with talking to Jack, and for the first few minutes it looked to be going good; Jack wasn't tense and Raf was acting adorable.

"I know that kid," Maggie said abruptly and Sierra looked up to see the blonde was staring in Raf's direction, "he's like this genius eleven-year-old."

"He said he was twelve." Miko corrected.

Maggie gazed at her curiously. "You know him?"

Miko shrugged. "Yeah, I met him in some after school thing."

The blonde grinned at Miko slyly. "Well it wasn't detention, I know that for sure."

Miko snorted and smirked. "I hope you don't get too lonely without me, I'm trying to be on my best behavior this week."

Maggie chuckled. "Are you now?" she questioned. "Well I'm not too worried, because you'll be missing me."

Sierra couldn't stand this; it was like Miko was actually trying to steal her best friend from her. 'Ugh, great, now I'm getting paranoid and jealous on top of everything else.' She thought and turned back toward the table where Jack and Raf were, but her eyes widened when she saw that Vince was now at the table as well, and the three of them were huddled over a book, with Jack scribbling something down on a notepad. When had Vince gotten there? Did Raf actually talk some sense into Jack, or had he gotten distracted?

"Hey," she whispered to Maggie and Miko, who both stopped talking to look at her, "what do you think they're doing?" she asked jerking her head in the direction of Jack's table.

While Maggie didn't get the other implication of what Sierra was asking, Miko seemed to, and she looked annoyed. "Knew I should have talked to him instead." She grumbled.

Maggie raised a brow. "What was that?"

Miko shrugged. "Oh, I asked Raf to talk to Jack about working on our science projects together, but I think he kinda forgot." She said nodding at the table as well.

Maggie crossed her arms, her expression flat. "Is that so?" she questioned. "I thought you didn't like him either? Why do you both like him? What does he got that I don't?" she asked pouting.

Miko snickered. "Trust me, I don't like him." she replied. "As for your other question; you definitely have something he doesn't."

"Oh really," Maggie said, her brow rising as interest gleamed in her eyes, "and what would that be?"

The dark-haired girl grinned at her. "Me."

Maggie looked momentarily stunned, but her features smoothed out into a smile. "Point taken."

Sierra grumbled to herself as she continued to watch Raf talk with Jack and Vince until all the latter two's attention seemed to focus entirely on each other, and Raf quickly walked over to the three girl's table. "How'd it go?"

Maggie raised a brow once more. "I thought it was Miko who needed help?"

Raf flushed as the attention was centered on him. "I kinda got distracted; Vince came over with a book for Jack about engines and when Jack asked me what I thought, I just got sorta lost in it."

Miko tilted her head, but she waved dismissively. "Don't sweat it, I'll do it myself later."

"Are you sure you want to?" Sierra questioned. "He doesn't even know you."

"I said I'll do it myself." Miko repeated forcefully.

Maggie shook her head before her attention focused back on Raf. "Vince didn't say anything to you, right?" she asked, her brow creasing with worry.

"Well," Raf said flushing at the attention again, "he did ask why I was talking to Jack, but then he just kinda ignored me afterwards when he and Jack started to chat, so I slipped away."

"Sit down; you must be starving or something." Maggie said gesturing to the side across from her. "Miko's a big girl; she can handle asking for help herself. Though I am glad I don't have to do this science thing."

Miko grinned slyly at the blonde. "Why, afraid I'd beat you?"

Maggie stared her down. "Oh, I would so tell you to bring it. I'm more than just a pretty face after all."

Sierra ran a hand over her hair, tuning out Miko and Maggie again and Raf looking at them both with wide eyes. Instead, the redhead's attention was directed once more on Jack, whose own attention still looked to be caught entirely by Vince as the other redhead was speaking and pointing at stuff in the book-no doubt about what Raf said they were discussing.

Why would Jack make an engine of all things? Did this newfound affinity for cars come from the Vehicon he had, or with those weird powers?

As much as she wanted to deny it, seeing Jack and Vince together made Sierra feel something she'd only recently begun to experience. The most popular and prettiest cheer captain in school did not get jealous after all.

It simply didn't happen, even with all the evidence supporting it.

If Jack didn't think Vince would find it weird, he could have kissed him. That was probably the third time now that Vince showed up when Jack needed someone. It wasn't that he didn't like Raf; he thought the kid was bright and rather pleasant to be around, but he still couldn't trust anyone with Autobot ties. If he'd been able to get to Raf sooner, could he have managed to get him away from them?

He didn't know, just like he didn't know whether anything would have happened with Sierra, but it was too late to think about such things now. The chances had come and gone, and he'd dropped the ball on each of them.

He could try to strike up a friendship with Vince though, as the redhead hadn't actually done anything to him in a few days now. Why not make this a lasting thing? It would take time to fully work through all the teasing and cracks about Jack's job, but whether by desperation or need, he wanted this to work.

Jack wanted a friend that wasn't his mother, or a weirdly fixated alien bodyguard.

So when Vince stopped talking and had given Jack all the useful things to take note of in the mechanics book, Jack took his chance. "Hey, I called my mom earlier; she said I was ungrounded for this afternoon." He said, hoping his mother could forgive this. He knew he'd have to do a lot to make up for it.

"Really?" Vince asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, so where do you wanna meet up?" Jack questioned.

Vince still looked rather incredulous, but he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Your house, I still think your car engine would be the best bet. A goody-goody like you would want an A to show his mommy, right?"

Jack scowled, but reigned in his temper when he realized the tone wasn't as harsh or mocking as it had been before when Vince called him a Momma's Boy. It sounded almost teasing. "Um, yeah. Don't try to steal it, okay? I'm sure your delinquency rapt sheet doesn't need more stuff added to it."

Vince snorted. "Why would I want your car when I have mine? Seriously, me and you gotta race one of these days." He said and waved lazily at him as he left. "Keep the book."

"Uh, thanks." Jack said surprised, but when he closed it, he found that it was a library book. He rolled his eyes and went back to eating his lunch.

When Jack finished, he packed up the book, his notepad, and took out his cellphone as he walked out of the cafeteria to call his mother.

"Jack, what is it?" June asked worried. "Do I need to come and get you?"

"No, nothing like that." Jack replied reassuringly. "I actually need to work on my science project, since you know; I still have to do it. Anyway, I've been starting to hang out with Vince, you know him, right? Really knows cars and stuff. Well, he offered to help me, so I was wondering if I could get the rest of the day off from being grounded to work on my project with him."

"Why do you sound so nervous then?" June asked suspiciously.

"It's because I blurted to him about my car engine and he wants to use that as a model." Jack rushed out, trying to cover up his deceptiveness with anxiety, but his nervousness about getting caught didn't make it feel any less real.

His mother sighed, though when she spoke she managed to keep her frustrations restrained. "Jack, you are aware of what Cory is, right? He's supposed to protect you; he's not your new toy."

"I know, but Vince and I are really starting to get along; this might be just what's needed to put our differences behind us." Jack said earnestly.

"Well, I suppose." June replied uncertainly. "Just be careful, okay? Vince doesn't need to know about this, so try not to cause a scene or a fight."

Jack sighed this time, as he knew that in the past both he and Vince got into rather loud screaming matches which sometimes only ended when Jack lost control of his powers. True, it had never gotten to the point of physical violence, but there was no telling what Cory would do if Vince or Jack did something he didn't like. Just how far was Cory ordered to go to protect him anyway?

Jack knew that this was a scary thought, and it was just one of the many things he'd have to think about later. Right now though he needed to call Cory about not freaking out when Jack and Vince poked around in his engine, so he had to force all those unpleasant thoughts away until that time came. He held up the cell to his ear after calling back the number Cory had used.

"Jack? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" Jack questioned, but gave his head a little shake as he realized how that sounded. "You see, I have this science fair project due next week, and I wanted to give you a heads up that Vince and I are going to be looking at your engine again today. He thinks it would be a good model for my project."

"I draw the line at removal," Cory replied, "it may escape your notice, but there are just some boundaries you do not cross; mine is taking my engine out or allowing the other human to touch it."

"Would it be like touching your spark?" Jack asked, trying to empathise with the Vehicon for why this was a sensitive area. Was it like organ removal?

"Very much like that." Cory replied. "I will contact the Commander-Lord Starscream to request a spare engine for your later use. When will it be needed?"

"I guess tomorrow." Jack explained. "Is that too short notice?"

Cory seemed to be thinking over his answer with the long pause that followed. "No, I'm sure I will be able to provide one for you. May I inquire as to why you couldn't use an earth engine?"

Jack flushed. "Well, I sorta-kinda- promised Vince that he could see yours-specifically."

Cory was silent for a long time, but when he spoke, there was an unmistakeable underlining of irritation in his voice. "Next time you think about making a promise-don't. I'm not here for your amusement, after all."

Jack winced, he really had to keep Vince from mentioning the racing now. "Right, I know that." He said and he knew that his nerves were starting to get the better of him when the lights flickered and the phone began to gather static. "Gotta go, class is gonna start-don't wanna be late!"

When Cory heard the dial tone, he knew that if he was able to at the moment, he'd want to be in bi-pedal mode just so he could shake his head. He didn't need sensors to know that the human boy was obviously nervous about something, but the what had him suspicious. Was it this Vince? When the two humans were in his presence, they acted belligerent, yes, but also with a strained sort of civility.

For a moment, Cory wondered if Jack was nervous that he'd been annoyed with him. It had been easier to swallow the boy's anxiety and deceptiveness when Cory had been new with his 'emotions', which he now looked back on with faint embarrassment. How could he have so eagerly wanted Jack to touch him? It left him conflicted; on the one servo, he still wanted that energy, but on the other, he wanted to preserve what little dignity he apparently had.

He was still cannon fodder though, and Cory could admit that Jack was all that stood between safety and the end of blaster. Oh, he knew he'd likely have to fight at some point, but if Jack was stationery, then there was a higher chance of survival.

Cory hesitated about calling the comman-er, Lord Starscream, but knew that he had also made a promise to Jack, and he intended to deliver. Bracing himself, Cory opened the line to his superior. :Lord Starscream, I have a request from Jack.:

:What is it?: Starscream asked, his tone grumpy.

'Well, this is a change from before. How could I not have noticed just how random his mood swings have been?' Cory thought. :Jack has a project due in one week's time, and he needs a Cybertronian engine to work on by tomorrow.:

Starscream was silent for a while, and Cory wondered if perhaps he had cut the link. :Very well, I will give into this indulgence just this once. When you come to retrieve it though, I want you to bring his progenitor with you-she and I have important matters to discuss.:

:Wouldn't it still be too soon?: Cory questioned, but internally winced when he realized just how that could come across.

:Do not question me! I can still have you scrapped and replaced with another drone.: Starscream hissed. :Let me make myself clearer if it did not penetrate your dim processor of just what you are to do in exchange for the engine. I want you to bring the femme here when her son is at his educational facility-is that clear enough?:

:Yes, Lord Starscream.: Cory said, managing to make his voice sound chastised and cowed. When the communication line was cut unceremoniously, the Vehicon felt the stirrings of being offended once more at the rudeness. 'Still, he's the top bot right now, so I guess he can get away with it.' He thought, and he wondered if the relatively simple-mindedness of his fellow drones made it easier or harder to deal with Starscream.

Still, beyond his speculations, there was a bigger problem he now was left to deal with. How was he supposed to get June onto the Nemesis again? She hadn't been exactly pleased with the previous mention of upheaving her and Jack's lives, and he doubted specifically mentioning that was why Starscream wanted to see her.

Right about now, as he felt a processor ache coming on, he wondered if gaining a spark was such a good thing.