EmeraldMoonGreen, who owns Jay and Kristin, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)

Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing.

Calmer Because Of You

Jay was searching around the base, looking for the new Autobot Optimus had told him had arrived while he and Kristin had been in school. He really wanted to meet the new arrival. Ever since Optimus had reassured him sometime back that he'd never abandon him and the Twins had even stepped in to be his adoptive protective big brothers, Jay had been working on being a bit more open and not so terrified of meeting someone new.

He of course avoided asking the Twins about the newcomer because while he loved them as his older brothers, he knew they would tell him something that would make him afraid of the newcomer, as had been the case with Prowl and Ultra Magnus.

Jay made it to the central command center and saw a bot he realized must be the newcomer looking at the screen and he looked worried. Curious about that, but still wanting to make a good impression, the boy went up to him. "Hi, welcome to the base," he said politely.

The new Autobot jumped in shock and looked around sharply. "Sideswipe. Sunstreaker, I asked you two repeatedly to not play pranks on me," he said, sounding a bit paranoid.

"Um, I'm neither of them, sir," Jay explained respectfully. "And I'm down here."

The red-and-white Autobot looked down and jumped back in alarm, making the floor shake when he landed again, making Jay flail a bit before the boy caught his balance. "A Scraplet!" The bot said, and the horns on his head began sparking like crazy, making the bot grab his head and back up a bit.

Jay was a bit startled at this. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly and instantly decided it was wise to call Ratchet in, but before he could even start to look for the medic, a hand grabbed him and lifted him up, making him yelp.

"You're not going to escape, Scraplet," the bot said firmly to him.

Jay tried to squirm, but the bot's grip was unmoving. "I'm not a Scraplet!" He protested.

"I'm not fooled by lies," the bot said to him and his grip tightened on the boy. Jay felt the bot squeeze him harder and saw bruises start to form on his arm.

Suddenly, the boy's mind went blank as a flashback hit him and he screamed loudly. "NO! STOP! DON'T THROW ME DOWN THE STAIRS! NO!" He cried out.

Kristin, who was looking for Jay with Optimus, heard the familiar scream. "Jay!" She cried out in alarm.

Optimus also recognized his son's scream and raced down the hall, scooping Kristin up in his hand as he ran to the center control room.

At the child's screaming, the bot had winced and his grip loosened, but some instinct helped him make sure he didn't drop the boy as his horns sparked even worse now and he went down on one knee, the hand with Jay in it moving closer to the floor, but stopping a few inches above the floor.

Jay somehow got out of the bot's hand and began running, only to practically body-slam into Kristin, who caught him and hugged him. "Jay, don't fight," she said softly. "Blue whale."

The boy instantly stopped fighting her and clung to her, recognizing the code word they had come up with so that he'd recognize her voice if he happened to get caught in a flashback.

Optimus saw his son calm down and looked to see Red Alert groaning and holding his head as his horns stopped sparking and he stood up, instantly noticing Kristin and the boy. "Another Scraplet!" Red Alert said in shock.

Kristin saw Jay's bruised arm and realized her friend was breathing as if in pain and she glared up at Red Alert. "We're not Scraplets!" She said sharply. "Do we have metal skin?! Do we have razor-sharp teeth?! No! We don't!"

She saw him actually flinch a little, but she wasn't done yet. "You just hurt my best friend!" She yelled at him. "Thanks to you, he's stuck in a flashback! A flashback of his abusive parents!"

Red Alert flinched again and grabbed his head as his horns began sparking again. "Please, stop yelling," he asked as the sparking grew louder.

Optimus, though upset, knew Red Alert would pass out if his horns sparked too much. "Kristin, why don't you take Jay to Ratchet?" He suggested, keeping his voice calm. "I'll speak with Red Alert."

An hour later…

Red Alert was in Ratchet's med bay and received a good reprimand from the medic right after Optimus reprimanded him. After he learned at the children were actually humans and not some form of Scraplets and Optimus had revealed to him that Jay had been abused prior to coming into Optimus' care, the paranoid bot felt terrible and then felt even worse when he remembered the young girl had told him Jay was suffering a flashback because of the scare Red Alert gave him. He apologized to Optimus and expressed earnest in apologizing to Jay. The commander had accepted his apology and agreed that if Red Alert apologized to Jay, Optimus would forgive him.

Finishing up with Ratchet and inquiring as to where Jay would be, the medic pointed him in the direction of the quarters and he headed there, running into Kristin along the way. She glared up at him angrily and he flinched before placing his hands up in a surrendering motion.

Seeing this, Kristin's face softened a bit, especially when she saw him place his hand down, palm-side up, in front of her. She carefully stepped into his hand and let him pick her up.

Red Alert curiously looked at her and one finger on his free hand very gently brushed over Kristin's head and back. "Hmm. I'm afraid I was mistaken earlier." He said. "You're much too soft to be a Scraplet. Cuter too."

She smiled at that last one. "Flattery can be a good start to an apology," she said.

To her surprise, he chuckled. "That obvious, hmm?" He asked, looking a bit sheepish.

Kristin smiled, gently touching one of his fingers with her hand. "I am sorry, for frightening you and your friend," he said sincerely.

She smiled again. "I'll forgive you, on one condition," she said. "You have to apologize to Jay too and make it up to him."

He nodded. "That is why I was searching for him just now," he explained. "Can you tell me where he is?"

She pointed down the hallway. "The door marked 'Jay'," she said.

"Thank you. Kristin, correct?"

Kristin nodded and Red Alert carefully set her down. "Oh, by the way, you're familiar with tickling, right?" She asked.

He turned to her in confusion before his eyes got a distant look, which told her he was doing a web search. He then looked down at her. "I now am," he said with a smile. "Young ones like yourself are ticklish?"

She nodded. "Jay's very ticklish," she said. "Trust me. Tickling him is one of the ways to show him you're not scary and is a good way to earn his trust."

Smiling, Red Alert nodded and then gently poked Kristin's side, making her giggle softly. "Yeah, like that," she said. "Just make sure he's able to catch his breath, or he'll pass out from laughing too much."

"Alright," he said and went to the young boy's door, but before he could knock, Jay came out, looking for Kristin, but as soon as he saw Red Alert, he became panicked and raced away. "Wait!" He called out to the boy, deciding to follow after him carefully. Running after the kid would nullify his efforts on trying to not terrify the boy further.

Thankful that humans were easy to track with heat sensors, Red Alert followed Jay's trail, finding him a few times before the terrified boy took off again. After probably a half-hour, Jay began tiring and saw he was near the sleeping quarters, and quickly went through the first door, hoping to find one of the others to help him, but the room was empty of anyone.

The door suddenly shut behind him and he turned to find the very bot he was running from behind him. Red Alert saw the boy was looking very terrified. "Jay, wait," he said softly, but the boy instantly began running and hid behind some empty crates.

Red Alert walked over slowly, keeping his sensors alert and knelt down carefully, removing the crates one at a time and effectively boxing Jay in to prevent him from escaping. And to give the paranoid bot a chance to convince the boy he meant no harm.

Finally, he saw the boy behind one box and carefully removed it, making the boy shrink back into the corner and start to tremble. Carefully, Red Alert moved his hands closer to Jay, who tried to shrink farther back into the wall, but wasn't able to and he felt his legs give out, which gave the bot the perfect opportunity to catch him.

Very gently, Red Alert cupped his hands around the teenage boy and, with the upmost care, lifted him up and stood up carefully, moving towards his berth and setting Jay down on it while he kneeled beside the berth in front of him, his arms folded in front of him on the berth.

Jay tried to take a few deep breaths and saw the bot was being very gentle with him and one black finger was very gently brushing over his head. His breathing became a bit easier and then he giggled when he felt the black finger gently poke his side.

Red Alert smiled, continuing to gently poke Jay's side before seeing the boy's stomach was open for a tickle attack and he gently wiggled his finger into Jay's stomach.

The boy let out a squeal and began laughing, which made the bot chuckle. "Looks like you're more ticklish than your friend, Kristin," he said in amusement.

Jay let out another cute giggle as Red Alert poked his side again gently before stopping so that the boy could catch his breath. "I'll stop tickling you if you don't run from me and give me a chance to apologize to you, Jay. Deal?" He asked.

Catching his breath, Jay sat up and nodded. "Deal," he said in agreement.

To Red Alert's surprise, Jay accepted his apology and forgave him instantly and learned about Red Alert's horns. Due to him being paranoid, if danger was nearby, the Autobot's horns would spark in warning.

The boy felt sympathy for the bot. "That's gotta stink, always getting headaches and never knowing when your horns are going to spark," he said sympathetically.

"It does," said Red Alert as he saw Jay's arm was looking better. "I imagine it's not easy for you either with your terrible flashbacks."

Jay shook his head. "I never know what will cause them either, although usually getting badly scared does trigger a flashback for me," he said.

Red Alert gently picked him up. "Well, I promise you, I'll never frighten you again like that," he promised.

The boy nodded and then smiled. "How about in return, I'll keep the Twins from pranking you?" He suggested, knowing that his brothers would love to prank Red Alert and make him fritz.

The Autobot smiled at him. "Thank you. I would greatly appreciate that," he said.

Jay smiled, hugging Red Alert's fingers, and the bot brought the boy up to his shoulder and very gently hugged him back, feeling much calmer because of the boy and he could tell his new young friend felt the same way.

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GoldGuardian2418