Hey everyone out there in fanfiction land! This is a story that's been floating around in my head for awhile, so I thought I'd type up the first chapter and see what you all thought! Please leave reviews, telling me whether I should or shouldn't continue writing this, and if you think it's an interesting idea, if you have any ideas, or just like it!

This has Lockdown in it! You know, he was in Transformers animated and stuff? Total bad aft? Well, yep! He's a main character in this! I looked up 'transformers prime Lockdown' on devianart to see if there was any concept art, and there totally was! Go look it up on dA if you have the time, cuz some of the pics are so AWESOME! XD

If you also have any ideas on how Lockdown should act in this story if you don't think he should act like the TFA Lockdown, feel free to share those ideas!

Anyway, enjoy!

Jack had seen and experienced many strange things. He'd seen giant alien robots, fought in their war, even come face to face with an evil warlord.

But stumbling upon a strange, new Cybertronian who was dying in the middle of the only forest that penetrated the desert around Jasper? That was a new one.

Yet where Jack stood, he could clearly see a metal hide, dulled with dirt and grime.

Hesitantly, Jack set down his backpack beside a tree, then slowly approached the crater of earth the Cybertronian lay in.

"H-...Hello?" Jack asked quietly. "Can...Can you hear me?"

The mech's plating consisted of black with green flame decals. His face was white metal but black markings covered it. Tattoo's in a way, Jack supposed (if Cybertronians could even have tat's). There were spikes on his shoulder armor, to on each side of his neck plating, and two on each side of the mech's jaw. Scars littered the mech's form. Energon leaked sluggishly from the mech's side, where a gapping wound showed clearly through the plating.

Jack stopped once beside the mech's large head. He then slowly, hesitantly, reached out...

His fingers brushed against warm plating...

Bright, blood red optics suddenly snapped open.

Jack flinched away as the glowing optics bore into him, but he met the gaze evenly. He noticed that the mech's optics seemed fogged, most likely with pain and exhaustion. They remained there for a long, silent moment, then, steeling his nerves, Jack spoke.

"H...Hi."

Jack immediately felt embarrassed. He just had to say that, hadn't he?

The scary mech stared at him, then opened his mouth. But the only sound that escaped was a crackle of static that made Jack jump slightly in surprise. So...the mech's voice modulator was damaged?

Jack turned his gaze away from the Cybertronian's optics, instead looking at the mech's wounds.

While he couldn't fix the plating the circuitry, wiring and energon lines he could patch up. It wouldn't be too different from repairing his mom's car, and he'd helped patch up the 'bots now and then.

"I...Look. I'm going to try and stop you from losing more energon. Please don't, y'know, squish me under your hand like a bug?"

The scarred mech didn't move, only staring at him silently. Jack, deciding to take that as agreement, moved over to the worst of the injuries.

He was glad, now more than ever, that energon wasn't harmful to humans if it was already processed by a Cybertronian. As his thin, nimble fingers worked with the wiring, blue, faintly glowing energon coated his hands and the edge of his sleeves. So determined he was in his task, he never noticed the mech watching him with faint curiosity.

"Let's see...pinch the lines together...knot it to prevent more energon loss..." Jack mumbled to himself, doing it as he said it.

For a good, long hour, he worked. Repairing circuits and wires, and pinching energon lines. Now and then, the mech would flinch, and Jack would quickly apologize.

Soon, Jack had finished patching up what he could. He sighed, standing and rubbing his energon stained hands on his jeans. Now the mech needed energon, to replace what he'd lost, and so he wouldn't starve. He knew where the Autobots had hidden a secret emergency energon stash nearby. Surely they wouldn't mind letting this injured mech have a few?

"Alright. I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to get you some energon. So just...just stay here...What'm I saying?" Jack asked himself. "You can't move right now. Sorry."

Amusement flickered in the mech's optics and Jack huffed.

"I have a feeling you'd be laughing now if you could." He muttered. The young human then turned, grabbing his backpack before jogging off into the trees.

About forty-five minutes later, he returned to the mech. The Cybertronian looked to be in stasis, optics shuttered closed. Jack approached quietly, backpack sliding off his shoulder, the strap resting in his hand. The moment he was five feet away, the mech's optics opened. Jack hesitated, then smiled warily, holding up his backpack slightly.

"I brought energon crystals. I know it isn't processed into liquid form, but...well. You'll just have to eat them in raw form. Sorry."

The mech seemed amused and a bit bewildered that the teen was apologizing. As Jack fiddled with the zipper on the backpack, the mech took notice of the small burns on the teen's hands. He'd handled the crystals with his bare hands, even though it harmed him. How strange...

Jack moved over to the Cybertronian's head.

"Now, I know you probably hate me, since I'm organic, but you can't really move, so you don't have a choice but for me to give these to you by hand. If you could maybe just...?" Jack trailed off, and the mech caught his drift.

Jack was thoroughly surprised when the mech obligingly opened his mouth, waited for the energon crystals. Shaking off his shock, Jack's hand delved into his backpack, and he pulled out one of the energon crystals. He ignored the burning sensation on his skin, carefully slipping the crystal into the mech's mouth.

It was soon followed by two more large shards, and for a moment a crunching filled the air as the mech chomped on the crystals. Jack waited patiently, trying to push away the pain he felt in his hand. The mech swallowed, then opened his mouth again, silently demanding more energon.

Jack quickly pulled out a few more crystals, putting them in the Cybertronian's mouth.

The mech continued to watch Jack, seeming to be examining him with much interest. Jack didn't mind all too much, simply continuing to feed the mech.

It was mostly silent, except for the crunching as the scary mech ate. Finally, the teen's backpack was empty. Jack grimaced apologetically to the mech.

"Sorry, that's all I brought. I'll bring more tomorrow though! And I might be able to sneak some tools to weld your plating!" He said, hoping to make it up to the injured mech.

No reply was given, but the mech's lips quirked slightly.

Jack hesitated, then gently patted the Cybertronian's shoulder plating.

"Just get some rest. I'm sure a nice long recharge will help you feel better." Jack said, voice trying to be reassuring. "I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Maybe in the morning, even. Don't worry, you'll be safe. None of the 'bots come here, and neither do the 'cons. So you just focus on getting better."

Again there was no reply, not that Jack minded.

For the next few days, Jack returned to the injured mech, and every day, the Cybertronian's condition improved. While Jack would sit with the mech, checking his injuries and -if he had managed to sneak welding tools from home- mending the mech's plating, he'd talk with the scary Cybertronian. Sometimes he'd talk about a recon he'd gone on with Arcee and the others. Now and then, he'd also share lame jokes he'd heard from Miko, Raf, and sometimes Bulkhead and Wheeljack, because he noticed how the mech's lips would always quirk upward in amusement.

And everyday, after he'd mended some plating and checked the mech's injuries, he'd go to the emergency store of energon that was deeper in the forest, and every time, without fail, he'd bring a backpack full of the crystals. Now, armed with thick welding gloves, he had no problem placing them into the mech's mouth. The mech never seemed to mind that he had to eat the energon raw, and would simply chomp on them while he watched the teen.

Jack had to admit that the scarred mech was good company. More and more, his friends had become much too busy to hang out, or even have an idle chat. This Cybertronian, though, had all the time in the world. He was a captive audience, Jack had joked once.

Jack told the mech about how the 'bots were now always busy, hunting for relics, and more often then not, he'd not see any of them for an entire week. How Miko was occupied with some new friends she'd made with a small group of other teens who enjoyed shriek metal, pranks, and always got detention at school. Jack would talk about how Raf had gotten an internship and was always there, working on expanding his already expansive knowledge. He'd even explained (though only once, with a bitter tone) how the hospital had cut down on how much they paid, so his mom was always at work.

And the mech listened to every word as he ate the energon the teen supplied. Sometimes, when he'd talk about the 'bots, 'cons or relics, Jack would see recognition flash through the mech's red optics. Though Jack wasn't surprised. This was a Cybertronian, after all.

So that was why Jack sat beside the mech now, talking about his trip to Cybertron in search of Vector Sigma. The mech seemed quite interested in the tale, for he had yet to look away from the teen much at all. Jack of course didn't tell him the location of Vector Sigma, he was smarter than that, but he did tell the mech about the insecticon attacking, and the scraplets and such.

"So I managed to get the scraplets on the insecticon, and there were so many that it couldn't see and fell off the side." Jack said, placing a few more crystals in the mech's mouth. "The scraplets followed it down. The download finished, with Vector Sigma still intact, thankfully."

The teen moved to the robotic being's neck plates, examining them.

"Still no luck talking...maybe you just got a rock stuck in there..? That happened to 'Cee once. I had to help Ratchet get it out. I don't think I can check it myself, though. I don't want to make things worse. Can you move at all?" He asked, glancing up at the mech's face.

He caught a subtle twitch from the mech's fingers and smiled.

"Well, that's better than before, right?" He said, trying to be optimistic.

A twitch of the lips was the only reply he got from the mech, but Jack smiled back all the same, patting the mech's plating.

"I need to get going. I've got tons of homework to do this weekend, and if I'm going to keep coming by, I need to get it done. Stay safe, okay? See you tomorrow." The teen said in farewell. He then jogged off into the trees, backpack in tow.

The mech watched him, then his grin grew. A gruff, slightly scratchy voice then filled the silent air.

"Looks like I'm gonna get me a nice little pet."