The next few days were the best in Jennie's life, while they weren't exactly the best for Ratchet, they were what officially binded the two of them. In those days, where Ratchet went, Jennie was right on his heel, following him everywhere and doing everything with him, always talking to him and conversing even though he couldn't respond. Whenever the others tried to speak to him, Jennie was the one that responded for him, and translated Ratchet's silence. It was the best thing that had ever happened to Jennie. She was upset he lost his speech, and they didn't have a way to fix it, but now she was close to him, and he wasn't neglecting her like before. She was happy.

The one thing that was bothering her was that she wasn't getting enough to eat. All she had was whatever was left from anything the other kids had been eating in the base: chips, candy, occasionally donuts. Hardly satisfying her needs. Jennie tried her best to keep that from Ratchet, though. She didn't want to bother him, and after the abduction, she didn't want to be captured again because they were outside the safety of the base.

Currently, Ratchet was working on the monitors, as he did rather often, while Jennie sat next to the keyboard, watching. She'd begun to learn about much of the things involved in his job by watching, though it was far from fascinating, she took some interest in it.

"So what does this symbol mean?" She asked, pointing to a small icon on the screen, and looking back at him.

Ratchet mouthed 'com patch audio'. Whatever that is.

"Mm." Jennie nodded, and sat down, crossing her legs. "So... how safe do you think it is to be out an about? Maybe in town, or something."

He shrugged.

Great. Jennie sighed, as her stomach growled quietly. What she wouldn't give for a double bacon cheeseburger. Her guardian nudged her with his index digit, tilting his helm in curiosity, sending her a concerned look. "I'm just a little hungry." She explained. "I'm fine." Ratchet raised an optic ridge disbelievingly, and gently picked her up.

"Ratchet?" Jennie looked up at him. "What are you doing?" He transformed without answering, making sure she landed safely in the passenger seat; Jennie yelped in surprise as she landed, immediately gripping the edges of the seat. "Ratchet! Warn me before you transform, I'll get fragging whiplash!"

Ratchet's engines started with a roar, and inside, the glove box swung open in front of Jennie, and right away she noticed the small roll of paperbills next to a first aid kit. "You'll take me somewhere to get food?" She asked, perking up. That cheeseburger could become reality. Ratchet couldn't really answer; he just pulled out of the base and headed down the road. Jennie smiled, patting the dashboard. "Your the best, Ratch."

He drove down the road; it was around noon, and the sun was high in the sky along with the occasional cloud. Nice day.

After a few minutes, Ratchet turned into the parking lot of a grocery store, and his holoform activated, straightening his coat. He looked at Jennie expectantly. She grabbed the money out of the glovebox, and hopped out of the car, and skipped enthusiastically into the store, followed by a slower and less thrilled Ratchet.

Jennie raced down the aisles, grabbing anything she wanted; might as well, while they were there. Ratchet surprisingly had quite a bit of money. She came into the frozen products section, and grabbed a box of microwavable burritos, smiling big. She never got to eat these, her father never really fed or bought things for her. Whenever she got the burritos, it was because he wouldn't be home for a while, and he'd be too drunk or high to notice. Ratchet was officially her favorite bot.

He followed slowly, rolling his eyes but wearing an amused smile. As Jennie ran around the corner, laughing excitedly, she slammed into someone, a rather muscular form. The impact sent her backwards and onto her butt.

"Ouch!" She whined. "That hurt!" After a moment she looked up. "I'm really sorry Sir-..... uh oh." Jennie froze, blood becoming as cold as ice, and her eyes widening in terror.

Jason stood before her, teeth gritted, hands balled into fists, and eyes squinted with fury. He dropped the sixpack of Budweiser that was in his left hand; the bottles hit the ground and shattered.

"You damned little hellchild," he hissed, reaching into his pocket. "Fancy seeing you here, brat! I'll beat the crap out of you right here!" When her father's hand withdrew from his pocket, a switchblade was in it, flicking open, silver blade shining.

"N-Ngh..." Words caught in Jennie's throat as she desperately crawled backwards, away from him. "R.-RATCHET!" She screamed, as he swung his leg back and kicked her hard in the ribs.

A pained cry followed by another scream caught Ratchet's attention, who had been staring at a can of tuna with a confused expression; he immediately raced down the aisle and turned the corner.

Only for a blade to be swung at him, missing his face by a centimeter or two. Jennie had gotten to her feet, but was clutching her ribs, tears streaming down her cheeks. Jason swung the switchblade at Ratchet again, who grabbed his wrist to avoid getting stabbed.

"You son of a- HEY!" The crazed man screeched as Ratchet kicked him back, hitting his back against a tall shelf containing many bags of potato chips.

"Ratch!" Jennie whimpered, leaning against the aisle for support. "M-My ribcage..."

Ratchet would've gone to her if Jason hasn't leapt at him, and swung the blade downward for Ratchet's chest. The older medic held him by both his wrists, holding the blade a good four inches from himself. The two of them stood, pushing against one another, Jason screaming obscenities and curses, while Ratchet was silent. (Duh.) Finally, Ratchet wrenched the switchblade from Jason's grip, and shove the writhing demon off of himself, eyes narrowed and lips set in a firm frown.

"I'll shoot you in the goddamn face!" Jason screamed, but chose not to attack again, deeming it unwise now that Ratchet possessed the knife.

"C-Cops are on th-their way," a salesclerk with curly red hair stammered, clutching a phone in pale hands. None of them had noticed him watching. "It's uh.. illegal to display violence in this store! Umm... you'll get arrested!"

"He attacked me with a knife!" Jennie exclaimed, pointed to Jason, as Ratchet came to stand beside her. "I'm sure as hell not going to jail because of my abusive dad! Ratchet, you won't let him take me to jail, will you?"

Ratchet didn't answer, only picked up what Jennie had grabbed, took her hand, and led her back down the aisle, sending one last glare at Jason. He silently paid for what they needed, and carried it out to his vehicle mode, followed by a reluctant Jennie. When she climbed into the passenger seat, he pulled out a small human sized scanner out of the back, and scanned her, while she sat, watching in awe.

He showed her the results.

"Aww, he cracked my rib?" Jennie whined, clutching her side. "Stupid jerk."

Ratchet nodded in agreement and started the ambulance.

"So where are we going now?"

He mouthed 'hospital'.

Jennie nodded, buckling herself in. "Thanks, Ratch. Your the best." As he drove off, she pulled out a bag of chips and started eating; Ratchet silently screamed when she spilled half the fragging bag all over his seat. "Sorry." She shrugged, scooping them back into the bag. "I'll clean that later."

Ratchet just sat there and wished he could speak. You don't want to know what he would've said.