Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was like any weekend at the base; the Autobots had received a signal that another relic had been found and were leaving to retrieve it before the Decpticons. And just like every other time this occurred while the children were there-

“Miko get back here!” Jack chased the mischievous girl, grabbing her arm at the last second before she escaped through the still open groundbridge. Raf worriedly watched both have a mini tug of war over which way to go, but it seemed to be at a stalemate neither willing to let the other win.

“No way! I want to see the epic throwdown! I need to get some epic pics; Bulks smashing was too blurry last time!” Miko wrenched with a sudden strength causing both to fall through the swirling portal.

They landed in an unceremonious heap at the edge of the battlefield, the groundbridge closing with a whirl. They laid there a groan leaving them from the impact of their abrupt meeting with the ground. Jack made a comment under his breath about Miko and her reckless thirst for danger, as they stoop up, when a shadow fell over them.

“Look out!” He rammed into her as a metal foot landed where they had been standing a hairs breath away. “Wow...” He really was not appreciating the awed tone from Miko.

 Jack grabbed her arm again, towing her to the underbrush away from anymore feet that could turn them into human pancakes. Her phone shutter snapped as the girl used her other hand to take pictures of their near-death experience as she was tugged along. ‘Yes, yes. No big deal just take pictures of the blaster pointed at us- never mind Bulkhead just crushed him, or the foot that almost squished us, or the rod that is probably the relic the bots and cons are fighting for that no one has grabbed yet…’ He halted his run as his thoughts caught up to him. “Wait!”

“Oof” Miko, at the abrupt stop, nearly dropped her phone as she ran into the young boy’s back. “Hey, you almost made he drop my phone. I won’t be able to-” “Miko.” The seriousness he conveyed in that single word silenced any protests she had. “Look.” Her eyes followed his gaze to the yet unclaimed relic sticking up from the ground in the underbrush at the other edge of the clearing. “no one has retrieved the relic.”

“We should go grab it!” She got ready to make a break across the battlefield, when she was unexpectedly pulled back.

“Hold it.” She got ready to voice her complaint. “We should go this way.” He led the way as they skirted the perimeter of the clearing staying just inside the tree line to go (hopefully) unnoticed.

“I can’t believe we are actually doing this! That you are doing this! Aren’t you always the one who says this it’s ‘incredibly dangerous to go through a war zone’ and all that jazz? Who are you and what have you done to Jack Darby?” Her rambling ceased at his withering glare.

“It is incredibly dangerous, that’s why we are going around a warzone, not through. Besides no cons are near it, we can grab it and call Ratchet for a bridge to go before anyone notices.”

A minute later, they approached the bronze relic in its own mini clearing. It stood about a foot taller than Jack from the ground up, but since it was partially buried the were unable to see the full size. On the staff was swirling lines riding up the side in glowing patterns all of them meeting at a raised symbol at the top that looked simple in design, just like both the Autobots and Decpticons, but more like that of a Cybertronian animal.

“Okay, let’s do this.” They grabbed the middle of the staff, tugging with all their combined strength. “Hey! I think it’s moving!” Both pulled harder, motivated by their success so far. However, both overestimated how deep the relic might be, when without warning it gave way. They fell causing the relic to fly across the clearing and out into the battle raging at its edge.

“No!” Racing after the relic, Jack forwent all precautions and raced out of the safety of the thick underbrush into to the thick of battle. Subconsciously he noted that Miko was following behind, and as he reached the relic and grabbed it before it could roll any further than the threshold of the clearing, she had stopped and was screaming for him to come back. He didn’t have time to as he didn’t anticipate for there to be another ha- no- servo to grab the other end, or to be lifted three stories in the air.

“Whoa!”

“Well well. Looks like the Autobots are using their pets to do the relic grabbing now.” Crimson eyes bore into the boy hanging from the staff. “It seems we meet again, human.” A vicious grin grew on his metallic face. With little warning, Megatron turned toward the battle, nearly causing Jack to lose his grip. Jack heard Miko squeak in fear when the warlord passed her hiding place.

“Autobots, how nice of you to present me with one of your pets.” He swayed the staff, causing Jack to give a shout as one hand slipped off.

The Autobots, having just finished the last of the Vehicons, looked over to see what the leader of the Decpticons was talking about.

“Jack!” Arcee activated her blasters about to rush forward, when the Decpticon having seen the action, sneered before casually swinging the staff again causing Jack to give another vocalization of fear. His right arm strained from being the only thing holding his body weight up.

“Autobots stand down.” Optimus, seeing how this could quickly turn bad, ordered, “We must approach this cautiously to insure Jack’s safety at all costs.”

They all deactivated their blasters but stayed ready to spring into action should the mech do anything.

“Megatron, let Jack go. He has nothing to do with our conflict. This war is between Autobots and Decpticons.” Optimus implored.

“You should have thought of that before sending him onto a battlefield.”

As the two factions decided his fate, Jack reached up with his left arm so he could at least grip the staff with both hands. His hand reached the top of the relic, landing on the upraised Cybertronian symbol. He felt it depress flush into the staff, and it was then he realized it wasn’t only there for looks but was actually an activation switch. A slight vibration started, and the lines blazed a subtler blue. ‘That’s probably not good.’

This all occurred in seconds, right as Megatron reached a decision.

“I don’t feel like taking prisoners today, however.” He relished in the horror on his enemies’ faces as the mad titan flicked the end of the relic causing Jack to scream as he was thrown to the border of the clearing close to Arcee who ran forward to catch him. What no one was expecting was the relic lighting up and a brilliant beam flying out hitting Jack in the chest, propelling him past the two-wheeler toward a tree at the edge of the clearing. An inhuman yowl sounded right before a loud thump. “Jack!” Arcee raced over to him.

“As exciting as that was,” Megatron grinned, having recovered from the light show, and armed with the knowledge that he had dealt a blow to the Autobots. “I believe I will be leaving now.” He transformed rocketing into the sky avoiding all the blaster shots targeting him, taking the relic with him.

The others turned toward Arcee who was nearing them cradling, presumably, Jack in her servos.

“Arcee how is Jackson?” Optimus queried.

“Yeah! Jack is alright… right?” Miko ran from her hiding place, hoping that he was, feeling guilt start to well up. Bulkhead stooped down so she could get in his servo. ‘Please be alright…’

Arcee looked up with her optics dim with worry before showing what she was carrying.

In her hands was a large black wolf. And it could have been mistaken for a normal Earth Wolf if not for the small bright blue symbol imprinted in the fur on the wolf’s chest. One that any Cybertronian would recognize.

The symbol of the Maximal.

Chapter Text

‘What- what happened? Ugg my head…’ A headache pounded, as Jack slowly came back to awareness. He could hear nearby voices that sounded like they were arguing, but the headache was interfering with the process that came with understanding. An eye opened, Jack regretting it as the sudden light burned his retina and his headache increased marginally, a light whine sounding from his throat. He waited a few seconds before trying slower this time taking in his surroundings. ‘I’m in the medical bay…’

His head slowly turned to see the Autobots nearby, realizing vaguely that they were the source of the earlier sound, although they had seemingly been calmed down by Optimus. He tried to put his arms under himself to sit up, but it was like they weren’t where he knew them to be, which was silly because they were always in the same place.

He shifted awkwardly for a second, baffled as to why his body felt different, when he happened to turn toward the Autobot’s glass decontamination chamber seeing a reflection of a large black wolf. He whirled his head behind him as his heart sped up thinking that somehow an apex predator had made its way into the base, but there was nothing there only the Autobots, Raf and Miko. He turned back to the glass still seeing the black wolf lying down with a curiously confused look on its face. A sudden thought occurred to him…

He looked down.

“What the  ?!”

When the Autobots arrived back to base, they immediately took Jack to the med bay to be examined. Ratchet was skeptical at first but after seeing the symbol on the wolf’s chest that no ordinary Earth beast would have, and the fact that Arcee had seen the last of the transformation convinced him entirely.

While he ran a deep medical scan on their comrade, Optimus contacted June who arrived through the groundbridge in record time skidding to a stop in the middle of the base.

“Where is he?” She demanded, slamming the car door shut. “What’s wrong with Jack?”

“June… there was an accident. He was-” Arcee cut off unsure of how to explain it. June’s eyes widened thinking the worst had happened. “He was turned into a wolf.”

“Wait? What?” She looked at them blankly, before saying incredulously, “You’re saying that my son has been… turned into a wolf. That’s not possible…”

“It’s true Mrs. Darby!” Raf called down from Bumblebee’s hand, “The relic that was detected earlier was set off and Jack was hit by it.”

“Yeah and now he’s like Jacob from Twilight!”

“Miko werewolves are not a thing.” June said absently, still in disbelief.

Bulkhead looked at Miko for explanation to June’s comment.

“Man, who was bitten by another werewolf, then turns into one during a full moon and eats people!”

The Autobots glanced at each other, some slightly disturbed by the tale.

“I think it is better if we just show you.” Arcee reached down with her servo up for June to hop on. Once both her feet were on and she was steady the two-wheeler stood, moving over to the med bay.

June gasped, tears threatening to fall, seeing the canine that was apparently her son. “How did this happen?”

“Megatron happened.”

They gave her a rundown on the events that had taken place. The nurse took a few minutes to let the information sink in. “We can change him back right? Where is the relic, can’t it just reverse this?”

“Unfortunately, June,” Optimus walked over. “Megatron has the relic. But rest assured that we will do everything in our power to retrieve it. Until then Jackson is more than welcome to stay here.”

“Whoa, hold the phone. You think that I’m just going to let my son stay here! He’s been…” She trailed off with a gesture in the direction of the med bay.

“June, I know this is hard,” Arcee tried to placate her. “but you know that you can’t take Jack home. If someone sees him, they are going to wonder why you have a wolf in your house. Or even how you got one since they aren’t exactly native to Nevada.”

“Also, we are going to have to keep a watch on him at first since we don’t know how this relic affects humans,” Ratchet took over coming from where he had finished scanning Jack. “We don’t even really know what the Maximals used it for! Until then we need to make sure it is safe for any of you to be near him.” He indicated to the three humans in the base.

“What are you talking about, Ratchet. Why wouldn’t we be safe around Jack.” Raf pushed his glasses up, his face scrunched up in question.

“Yeah! It’s just Jack.” Miko exclaimed. “He’s just got more hair now.”

The medic looked over to the three humans, “We don’t know much about our ancestors since a lot of that information was either locked up or lost to time. However, as every Cybertronian knows, that instead of vehicle modes they acquired the use of beast modes. And although it is uncertain on how they acquired these forms, depending on their beast mode, it gave them similar aspects of the mechanimal they chose, including their instincts.”

“So, you guys had dinobots?” Miko questioned half-jokingly to relieve the tension that filled the air after the admission that Jack might not be, Jack.

“Pretty much.” Bulkhead shrugged as Miko’s eyes widened.

Ratchet interrupted her before she could start asking questions, and waved his servo toward Jack, “So for all we know that creature there has only the base instincts of an actual wolf. Even if Jack has retained his memories and is for all intents and purposes himself, if he has those instincts, they could override his at any time, with little indication.”

“But we don’t know this for certain, right?” Arcee looked at her charge laying on the med berth worried.

“No, we don’t but just to be safe, I though I should bring this information forward. After all it wasn’t like he was turned into your average house pet. I don’t know why the staff caused Jack to be transformed into this animal, or why it even affected organic material at all -especially to the extent of turning him into an organic wolf-, but I might have a slight idea… and if my scans are correct, that staff might be the only thing to be able to turn him back.”

“What did your scans indicate, Ratchet.” Optimus asked gravely.

“From what I can see Jack was hit by a powerful energy blast. One… almost similar to the signature of the Matric of Leadership.”

“Wait what doe-“

“The Matric-“

“What’s the Matric of-“

Everyone started talking over each other. The humans since they didn’t understand why everyone was shocked. The Autobots because the only way for the relic to possess a similar signature was for it to have come from the same source as the Matric. The Well of the Allspark… from Primus. And now Megatron had it in his possession. They could only hope that he didn’t find out it’s purpose before they did.

This continued until Optimus finally told them to quiet down and explained what it was so they could understand why the Autobots were in a frenzy.

“It could be that this relic was one of the ways that the first Maximals and Predacons gained their forms, or something of a similar nature-“

Ratchet’s speculation was cut off by a loud yelp from the med bay, followed by a thump as something crashed to the floor with a whine.

Everyone whipped their heads in that direction.

Jack was on the floor seemly trying to get up but failing spectacularly as he couldn’t get his legs working. As soon as he would get his hind legs up his front would slide away and cause him to fall back down. He continued this unaware that the conversation had abruptly ended with his fall. He continued panicking as the Autobots finally realized what was happening and hurried over.

“Whoa Jack calm down.” Arcee knelt down to reach for the boy turned wolf, briefly noticing his fur raise around his neck, ears folding down to the side, as she neared. A growl ripped from his throat as his head swirled teeth snapping at her servo as it fled his incisors. Arcee felt hurt burn through her before the aggressive angry look fled replaced by a surprised look that soon turned guilty. A whimper sounded as Jack hid his head underneath his han- paws seemingly ashamed by his actions.

Before anyone could stop her, June -still in Arcee’s other servo- jumped down to the berth her son was on, kneeling beside him.

“June! Wait we don’t know if he won’t hurt you!”

June wasn’t listening though. This was her son, and he would never do anything to hurt anyone, let alone her. What was the saying, ‘The bark is worse than it’s bite’? She reached out a hand, hesitating slightly, putting it on top of his head in-between his ears which were laid back in distress.

“Jack, honey-oof.” As soon as Jack had heard his mother’s voice, he had gone on innate instincts alone and plowed straight into her arms knowing that it was the safest place. He almost out sized her now barely fitting in her lap as he sat trembling with his head buried in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him, petting his fur without thinking. He let out some different vocal sounds that they didn’t know how to describe. Something between a whimper and a mild bark.

“Jack don’t worry we will figure this out. Arcee knows you didn’t mean it.” June whispered.

A few minutes went by like this, everyone watching as June calmed Jack down. When he was calm Jack turned his head toward June giving her cheek a small wolf kiss before backing up a bit, so he was sitting beside his mom when he finally noticed everyone watching. His ears swiveled to the side in an almost embarrassed manner, avoiding eye contact.

Miko and Raf who were standing beside the berth climbed on and ran over. The Autobot’s let them, feeling it would be fine since it did seem that Jack was aware, though still wary incase something like earlier happened.

“Jack!” They both tackled him nearly throwing them over, and they probably would have if Jack didn’t suddenly know how to shift his weight almost as if he knew what to do to stay steady if he was knocked into. Which to Jack made no sense since he hadn’t even been able to walk properly a second ago. He sat there as they hugged him, and if he was big compared to June, they were dwarfed next to him. His tail started waging reflecting his happy emotions of seeing his friends, his ears perking up.

“Hey guys.”   He heard himself make a brief huff. For some reason, instinct demanded he lick them both in the face. He resisted knowing it would only make it weirder. He let them pet him -strangely liking it- as the Autobots and June went back to assessing what they should do, though they were keeping an optic on them incase something happened.

“Jack,” Raf had stopped petting and decided to ask some questions to see if he could help in the effort to get his friend back to normal faster. “Can you understand us at all or…” He trailed off.

“Yeah I can understand you perfectly” He nodded his head after all that came out was a snort. Weird I can tell I’m saying things but whatever I say is being relayed in just a few short ways.

Raf’s eyes lit up. “I think I have an idea.” He got up suddenly and ran to the edge of the berth, going to where he last left his laptop and bookbag. He came back with a pen and his laptop. *

“You can use this to type what you want to say.” He explained when Jack cocked his head in the age-old way of confusion. “It will probably be impractical at some points but at least this was you can still tell us things. Oh! And I can turn on the reader mode so it will read whatever you write.”

Jacks tail start wagging in seeming agreement his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he gave the equivalent to a doggy grin. “Sounds good to me!” Although you’re probably right about it being slow.” He noticed this time that he made no sound, it seemed that even body language counted as words. It was official being a wolf was odd.

He was brought out of his musing when Raf held the pen to his mouth. He gently took it aware now that he had very sharp incisors. His nose wrinkled at the strong taste of the plastic along with the smell of ink, but he kept it since as of now this was his only way to communicate outside of yes or no questions.

“Okay now let me just turn on the program and… there we go! Now we can ask questions, and you can answer. Plus, this will be a good way to see how much of a wolf’s instinct you’ve gained.” The genius turned the laptop toward his furry friend. “I’ll also make sure to research some information too.”

“Oh, oh! Let me ask a question first!!” Miko raised her hand waving it wildly. When they both stared at her, she took that as the sign to go ahead. “Do you only see in black and white? Is it hot inside all that fur? Can wolves really hear long distances? If I howl will it make you want to howl too? Do you think wolves really howl at the moon? What about going to the-”

"Whoa! Miko too many questions!" An electronic voice interrupted Miko’s triad. Jack’s ears were laid back, having been overwhelmed by all the inquiries. His tail had stilled from its constant wag and was now still beside him.

“Opps… sorry.”

"It’s fine. Let’s just go for one question at a time this go around okay?"

After settling that, they started again from the top of her list. It went slowly as the pen slipped many times from his mouth, Miko or Raf having to help him put it back in properly, but soon Jack answered almost all of Miko’s questions.

 He could still see in color like he always could, but he didn’t know if that was because he was technically a human or if wolves actually see in color. He wasn’t hot inside the fur, he almost felt that he was wrapped up in his own personal blanket. He wasn’t sure about his hearing but considering he could hear the discussion happening across the base he assumed so.

 His ears flattened at the topic they were disputing. He didn’t know much about wolves, but he hadn’t felt any instinct toward aggression except during that one moment of panic when he had only seen something large coming closer in his peripheral. In the blink of an eye he knew what he needed to do to scare away the larger threat. Only it turned out to be Arcee.

He was glad when he heard his mom defend him stating that most animals attack while in a state of fear and that probably was why he had snapped at Arcee. The femme readily agreed with her since she had been the closest to Jack and had seen the shift in his eyes when he realized it was her. Optimus agreed with both about that but stated they should be aware that if another moment such as that happens, they shouldn’t let anyone be in harm’s way should the animal instincts override Jack’s.

Jack appreciated that sentiment since he didn’t want to be the one to inflict harm, even accidentally. He looked away when he saw Bumblebee and Bulkhead look over to check on their charges. They had taken a break after the last question, so Raf could use the computer to research some information about wolves to compare to what they had already gathered and some other information to ask about later. Miko was peering over his shoulder trying to get him to do something.

He laid down, relaxing, his mind deciding that now was maybe a good time to take a nap.

 “AwooooOOooooo”

The Autobots glanced over at the sudden sound, taking in the scene and seeing that all was okay before going back to how they were going to recover the relic working with Ratchet’s idea of tracking its signature.

Jack just lay there, a singular eye opening to observe his surroundings. Miko stopped the video when she saw that Jack wasn’t affected, he even yawned as though to say he wasn’t impressed.

Miko was about to give up, disappointed, until she turned to Raf and told him her other idea.

“Come on Raf at least try one time, if it doesn’t work this time then we can move on to your questions.”

“Well… okay, but it’s just because we’re testing his instincts.”

So, they both started an off-key chorus of howling, Raf a little awkwardly at the start. At first it seemed to only be them, but when they reached the crescendo, they almost stopped out of shock when a haunting cord join them, before bringing the sound to a close.

Autobots and June had reached a final decision on what to do, when another round of howling broke out, this one louder. Ratchet was about to tell the children to knock it off when the third howl joined them. They all turned to see Jack with his head thrown back, laying stock still where he was until the song ended. He peered around shocked as though he hadn’t meant to join in.

The base was eerily quiet after that. Miko was the first to break the silence jumping up from her seated position to pound the air with her fist.

“Yeah I knew it would work! That was sooo awesome!” Jack seem to absorb some of her excitement because his tail swung, and he gave a short yip in seeming agreement.

June and the Autobots looked at each other. It looked like Ratchet was right about the instincts taking over when they least expected it. At least in this moment it appeared to have manifested in a calm, if eerie way.

Miko chose that moment as the perfect time to continue her questionnaire.

“Hey… where is Jack going to use the bathroom?”

Chapter Text

It was sometime later that the base cleared out. June had to return home for some needed sleep before her next shift the next day, but not before giving Jack a hug telling him she would be calling to check on him, and that she would return in the morning with food for him. Miko and Raf of course had to leave since they had a curfew that they couldn’t skip (Even though Miko insisted she didn’t care and that she would gladly freak her host parents out.) both giving him a hug before leaving with their guardians.

After they had let, Optimus had returned to scouring data for more relics, while Ratchet went to work on scanning for the relics signature.  So that just left Arcee and Jack to hang out. Which was nearly impossible since Raf had to take his laptop home, because he had a project due Monday. So, Jack wasn’t able to communicate with Arcee… unless she wanted to play Wolf Charades.

Arcee awkwardly hovered next to the human’s recreational area where Jack was currently making himself comfortable. He headed to the couch planning to use it for a bed for the night. His nose twitched at the familiar smells on the couch, ones that smell very similar. It was something he hadn’t noticed at the time, but after a few hours of getting used to his new body and senses, he had zoned in on the fact that everyone had their own unique smell. He had ‘told’ Raf about it just before they left…

"Hey, I just noticed that all of you smell different.”

“Wait are you saying we stink?! I took a shower!” Miko replied offended.

“What? No! I’m just saying that you have a distinct smell.” ‘I really could have led with a better sentence.’

“Hmm… when I was doing research earlier, I found that scientists believe that wolves are able to tell each other apart based on unique smells that they produce. Kind of like a fingerprint, but with your nose.” Raf explained.

“Ohhhh. So, what do I smell like, Wolfy?”

Jack gave her a deadpan expression, his ears folded back to the sides.

“Don’t call me that.”

Miko stuck her tongue out.

“Umm, I not sure how to describe it. I don’t really think there is something I can compare it too…”

His head tilted in thought, before turning toward Miko and sniffing the air around her.

“You smell like wood shavings, and Raf smells like… chili peppers? But there is also an underlying scent that I can’t explain…”

He finished typing letting them listen to the electronic voice speak. Raf was the first one to speak up.

“Well I guess that makes sense, my mamá did make chili last night for dinner,” He said thoughtfully, “And Miko does a lot of coloring with colored pencils… the other smell could be more of our body odor? Maybe?”

“Ohhhh… Hey you should see if the Autobots have a unique smell, too! I want to know what Bulk smells like!”

She waved her arms, nearly smacking Jack in the head had he not ducked, his ears dropping to keep from being in the path.

“Hey! Watch it!”

Jack was startled to realized that their smell was on the couch. He even could detect his mother’s perfume slightly, along with one other scent he couldn’t identify. He had heard before that a person’s smell could be left behind, but no one ever really thinks about that.

However, with his sense of smell being greater than it had been it was hard to ignore. Pretty sure it couldn’t hurt, he followed the wolf’s instinct that said to roll over and started rubbing his back over the couch. His paws waved every which way, as his tongue lolled out of his mouth causing little garbles of noises to come from his throat. As he did this, he noticed the smell he associated with his friends got stronger, almost like he was wearing their scent. His nose snorted at the smell as he continued.

“Jack? What are you doing?”

Jack snorted one more as he abruptly stopped, embarrassment burning through him, ears folding to the side.

“Ummm… nothing?” A grumble in his chest was his only physical answer. He rolled over, sitting up and tilting his head away, acting as if he hadn’t just been doing anything. His fur on the couch, along with the cushions being out of place, however, gave away what he had been doing.

Arcee arched an eyebrow, almost as if she could tell what he had not said. He could tell that she wanted to ask a more extensive question but knew she wouldn’t be getting an actual answer.

His head fell. It was hard being a wolf; he couldn’t communicate unless he had a laptop and a pen, nor could he go home, and he had these new instincts that overrode his own when they become too strong. It was all a little overwhelming. And now he had no way to explain anything until Raf returned with said computer.

A whine left his lips that had nothing to do with words, his ears falling and his tail stilling. ‘What if I’m stuck like this and have to rely on computers just to communicate. What if I can never go home? Will anyone in town wonder where I am? And what about these canine instincts? What if something like earlier happens? What if I-’

“Jack,” She reached over with her servo, lightly touching his head, “we’re going to fix this. Ratchet is already looking for the Nemesis. It’s only a matter of time until we find them.”

Jack looked up, appearing to hold on to every word she said.

“Just trust that we will be doing everything in our power to change you back.” She took her servo off her partners head, intending to leave the awkward air, not sure how to comfort her charge.

Jack seeing this, licked the retreating servo, the only way he had to relay his trust. “I trust you Arcee, I know you guy are doing everything you can.”

 Arcee froze, and whether she could tell exactly what he meant, she didn’t leave, staying with Jack until exhaustion finally won out.

Arcee watched as her friend fell asleep on the couch, curled up nose to tail tip. It was still strange to see Jack as he was now, and she hoped that Ratchet hurried and found the Decpticon warship soon so she could give Megatron a piece of her fist before she took back the object that had done this. As she went to go recharge for the night, she decided that even if somehow, they never could get the relic back that she would still do everything she could to keep him safe.

 The next morning, true to her word June showed up bringing a variety of food with her. She also bought some dog dishes for said food and some water she brought. She had fixed a diversity of meals with, to her dismay, meat. She wished she could just give him tofu, but considering his digestive system had probably changed, and the fact she couldn’t find online that it was safe for wolves to eat, she ended up cooking several dishes. However, each meal did include some vegetables that wolves were able to eat. (She was his mother, she had to make sure he got all his nutritional values.)  

Jack was still asleep on the sofa when she arrived, which was understandable considering it was 6 in the morning. However, after putting down the dishes and opening one of the containers, his nose twitched. He pealed one eye open slightly, peering around, until he found the food near him.

He got up stretching his back, a jaw widening yawn escaping, tail swishing from the movement. He padded over to the bowl, before noticing his mom. He turned directions, tail wagging low. He went over to her, slightly leaning on her leg. “Thanks mom!” A quiet woof.

“Good morning Jack! I have to go to work soon, but I brought you breakfast. In the containers over there is lunch and dinner in case I can’t make it back before then.” She leaned down to hug him, patting his velvety head, giving him a kiss on the forehead, “Stay safe sweetie, and please try to stay out of any more trouble.”

“I will, promise.” He watched her till she left through the groundbridge, back to their house to get ready for work. Ratchet went back to his scanners, imputing various calculations, that Jack could only hope to understand.

He approached the dish, when the thought suddenly struck him, ‘How am I supposed to eat?’

Without the use of hands, there was no way he could use utensils, which meant he was going to have to use his mouth. Upon reaching it thought, all thoughts were driven away by the smell that reached his nose, causing his mouth to water. He didn’t realize he had already started eating with no problem till the bowl was already halfway empty. ‘Must be the instincts…’

He wolfed down the entire dish, licking clean any excess he could find, the bowl being pushed around as he did so. All the flavors in the meal were strengthened, most likely due to his heightened senses, making the food almost heavenly. Sniffing for any left overs, he shifted toward the water bowl to get a drink of water, surprised at the way his tongue cupped to draw in water.

Finished, it was now time to see what he could do until Raf and/or Miko arrived.

He walked over to the area closest to Ratchet, since he was the only one in the main part of the base, assuming that the others were either in recharge or on curbside duty. Having no way to converse that was understandable, and knowing that the medic wouldn’t appreciate being interrupted, he decided to just observe. He watched for a while, but it was boring after just a few minutes.

 He sighed, before wondering if there was a way to turn on the TV to watch something. He had seen YouTube videos of dogs that were trained to do that among some other absurd stuff, so he assumed he could do the same.

Going back to the sofa to find the remote, he realized after not immediately seeing it, that they must have misplaced it again. He dropped down, to look under the couch, but all that did was end up making him sneeze when he forgot that his nose was now far away and would end up right in the dust down there. Forgoing that, he decided to look under the couch cushions, but either he would have to stick his paws between them and probably get stuck (or his head, but again probably not the best idea.).

 So, he did the only thing he could… he pulled the cushions off with his teeth. It was surprisingly easy. Once he had them strewn around, he looked in the space… but there was nothing!

“How am I supposed to watch TV so I’m not board if there’s no remote!”  An angry huff escaped as his ears drew back. “I guess I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.” He dropped his head for a moment, before walking over to the TV. After several attempts with his nose to press the on button, before finally getting it on with his paw following even more tries.

It turned on to the last channel it had been on, which was the channel that they had the game station hooked up to, so that meant he had to use his paw again to press more buttons. With an annoyed growl, he did the same thing he did earlier, giving up after he had only changed it a few channels over. It was on commercials, so there was no way to know what was on, but at this point he really didn’t care, so long as it was nothing weird or wrong, it was fine.

 He went back to the couch not even trying to put the cushions back, and just laid on them leaving the couch bare. It finally returned to the program that was on, which turned out to be the national weather report on The Weather Channel. They were discussing a snow storm that would be moving into the northern Rockies near the beginning of next week. Jack tuned out when they turned to the science part of why this was happening. It wasn’t even his weather, so it didn’t really matter if he listened or not.

He ended up going to sleep, and it must have been awhile, because at some point the base had become a hub of activity. His friends were both sitting on the cushions beside him, uncaring that they were on the floor. They had turned the channel back to the console and were playing a round of the car racing game. Raf of course was winning.

“Hey guys.” His tail wagged, hitting Miko slightly in the face, causing her car to drift off the road, allowing Raf to finish easily.

“Hey! I was about to pass him!” She jumped up, pointing to Raf, “I call interference due to flying tails!” She turned pointing to Jack.

“Hehe, sorry…” His ears flattened but his tail kept wagging.

“Hey Jack,” Raf put down his controller turning toward his backpack, unzipping it before pulling out his laptop, setting it up, and the pen from yesterday (It now sported several teeth indents.). “I finished my project, so I can leave the computer with you. Just in case you need it.”

“Thanks!”

Miko suddenly turned to Jack and seized his paw. He jerked it back, dropping the pen as he lightly grumbled at her, “Hey, what are you doing?!”

He started at her, waiting to see if she was going to try again. She pouted.

“Come on let me see it. Raf said that wolves have webbed feet, but that can’t be true! You weren’t turned into a duck!”

‘Webbed feet?’ Miko grabbed his front paw again, this time with little resistance, and spread the digital pads apart, showing the skin stretching between them.

“What?! He does! Well… sort of, it’s not exactly like a duck’s, but it’s pretty much the same.”

Jack examined his paw, before looking at Raf for an explanation.

“Well,” Raf took the moment to adjust his glasses, “When I was online yesterday, I found that a wolf’s webbed feet act like a sort of snow shoe during the winter to help them to be able to run through the deep snow. It also helps them to swim great distances if needed and some wolves have been documented to have swam up to 8 miles in one go.

“That makes sense, I guess.”

The rest of the day consisted of the three playing video games… not that it went that well. Miko thought it would be cool if Jack tried playing. He tried various ways, but they gave up after he almost crunched through the controller when it slipped from the table. It now bore a small crack down the side. Needless to say, Jack ended up as a spectator for the rest of the time.