The Hunt (TFP Book 2)

Chapter 5

Raf walked down the hallway as he looked for Miko. The boy heard someone talking just ahead and he looked into the room. Miko was talking to Wheeljack, who was wearing welding goggles. The wrecker was bent over a table as he worked on something. The girl looked up and waved at him. Raf walked over and looked at the wreckers project.

"What are you building?" He asked curiously.

"He's building a bomb!" Miko said excitedly. Wheeljack put the goggles on top of his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you building another bomb?" Raf asked, knowing the wrecker had a bunch already.

"It's a waterproof bomb." Wheeljack said as he picked it up and inspected it. He smirked and set it down carefully. Raf frowned and looked up at him.

"Why would you want to blow up water?" He asked. "It doesn't ignite." He said. Wheeljack smirked again.

"Everything blows up silly." The wrecker said as he started working on the bomb again. Raf reached out to touch a smaller bomb.

"Don't touch that." Wheeljack said without looking up.

Miko saw a small bomb that was the size of a grenade, and she quickly picked it up. She turned it over in her hands and looked at it curiously. The wrecker glanced up and his eyes widened as she accidentally hit a button.

"Dont-" there was a blinding flash followed by a loud bang. Thick black smoke covered the room.

Optimus was in the main room talking to the others when he heard the loud bang. They looked up and saw a cloud of black smoke roll in from the hallway. Miko and Raf ran in shortly after. The two kids coughed hard as their guardians ran to them. Wheeljack came into the room a few minutes later.

"Wow! *cough* *cough* that worked a lot better than I thought. *cough* *cough* Dang..." He said smiling mischievously.

"Wheeljack! What did you blow up?!" Rachet yelled.

"Relax Doc *cough* *cough* nothing got destroyed." The wrecker said waving away the smoke. The medic grumbled and huffed as he glared at the man.

"Wheeljack, explain." Optimus said as he looked him and the kids over.

"Well... the kids came in while I was making a waterproof bomb." The wrecker said as he brushed himself off. "Then Miko.... sort of set one of my bombs.....er.... it exploded." He said as he continued to dust himself.

"You let the children handle a bomb?!" Rachet yelled as his eyes grew wide.

"Calm down Doc." He said slightly annoyed. "It was an experimental bomb. I simply put a flash bang and a smoke bomb together." He smiled.

"It didn't destroy anything. Though it can clear a room." He smirked and scratched his chin thoughtfully. The doctors eyes widened again.

"By the All Spark! I'm surrounded by idiots!" Rachet yelled angrily, he turned back to his computer. "Giving children experimental bombs." He growled. Optimus sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

~~~~~

Wheeljack, Bulkhead, and Miko went to the mall with Jinx. The two girls laughed and giggled as they wandered around with the wreckers. Miko and Jinx joked with each other and went into the instrument store. The two men waited outside, Bulkhead sat on a bench as Wheeljack leaned against a pillar.

"Ugh....I hate shopping." Wheeljack grumbled. Some women passed and giggled at him. He smirked at them and they giggled again.

"It's not that bad...." Bulkhead said as he looked around. "Miko doesn't spend much time here, so we'll be gone shortly." He smiled at his friend who rolled his eyes.

A little later the girls came out and walked over to the two men.

"Come on!" Miko said as she grabbed Bulkheads arm and pulled him up.

Jinx grabbed Wheeljacks sleeve and pulled him along. Miko took Bulkhead into a clothing store, but the others held back. Wheeljack leaned against another pillar and sighed heavily.

"So.... Miko told me you have a sweet jet." Jinx said as she sat on the wall next to him. The wrecker looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh she did?" He asked as he smirked. "What else did she say?" The girl thought for a moment.

"She said you like to blow things up." She replied smiling big.

"Huh...." He said and looked around.

"I got mad once and accidentally blew up the dishwasher." She said staring at nothing. He looked at her for a minute. "Then I accidentally blew up the dryer and oven." She smiled mischievously.

"What were you trying to do?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't even remember." She said smiling up at him.

He looked at her blankly for a minute, and burst out laughing. She laughed a little with him.

"You're alright Kid." He said as he ruffled her hair.

She smiled up at him and he smirked. They talked to each other for a while longer as they waited. When Bulkhead and Miko finally came out of the store, the other two were laughing at something.

"Sounds like someone's having too much fun." Bulkhead said as he smirked. The other man laughed and ruffled the girls hair again.

"Ha! This Kid is pretty cool." He said as they walked to the exit. He put an arm around her and gave her a noogie. She laughed a little.

"Can you show me how to make a real bomb?" She asked as he let her go.

"I don't think that's such a good idea..." Bulkhead said as he thought of earlier.

"Sure!" Wheeljack said smiling mischievously. "Maybe you can learn to fly my jet too!" He sarcastically. She smiled big and gave him a sideways hug.

"That would be awesome!" She said. He laughed again as they walked out of the building.

"Hey Jinx I'll race ya to the car!" Miko said as she ran towards it.

"No fair!" She said as she ran after her. The two men laughed as they watched them go.

"This wasn't so bad." Wheeljack said as he smiled at his friend. Bulkhead chuckled as he walked to the car.

The two girls stood by the vehicle and talked to each other. Suddenly a black van pulled up next to the car and some men jumped out and grabbed the two girls. The wreckers ran forward.

"NO!" Bulkhead yelled as he got closer.

He punched one man that had Miko and kicked another that approached. Bulkhead grabbed the girl and shielded her with his body as the men threw more punches. Wheeljack fought some men as they threw Jinx into the car. She screamed, punched and kicked as they got her in. Wheeljack punched and fought a few more men as he tried to get closer.

"DRIVE!" one man yelled.

"JINX!!" Miko screamed.

The tires screeched as the car pulled away. Wheeljack narrowed his eyes and ran after the van as Bulkhead fought the other men. Wheeljack managed to get a hold of the rack on top, but struggled to pull himself up. The car turned sharply and he fell off, he rolled a couple of times before stopping. The wrecker groaned as he stumbled to his feet. He winced and rubbed his arm as the car disappeared.

"Ugh..... Kid." He groaned as he winced in pain.