CHAPTER 7
Sting of the Wasp

Jeff hated to admit that he was starting to like it there.

He'd convinced himself no matter where he went after juvie, he was going to hate it. He wouldn't let himself trust again, he wouldn't let himself fall for lies again... But at the same time, this place was starting to feel a bit more at home than he'd liked.

Prowl treated him so kindly, he was still trying to comprehend it. He'd introduced him to his brother, Bluestreak. He'd comforted him when he'd had his nightmare. He'd even seemingly treated him as he would any son of his own, or that was what he could gather, at least. But at the same time, Jeff felt weird because he wasn't used to starting to feel comfortable with anyone like this.

And so, here he was, about a week and a half since he got there, confused.

At the moment, he was mulling that confusion over on his bed in Prowl's apartment. The mech had allowed him a day off, seeing as he had been working hard. At the moment, he was waiting for his brother, Bluestreak to come over. As he had immediately offered to spend some time with his foster nephew. Though he had been waiting for some time and...

"Hey, Jeff! I'm here!"

Of course he would come in just as he was noting that. With a sigh, he hopped off the bed, but Bluestreak was in the doorway before long. "Hey kiddo! You ready for a fun day?" the mech asked him with a big grin. "Prowl says you haven't really had one so I figured who better to show you a good time?"

Jeff gave a small smile, still really liking Bluestreak. He was so friendly, and honest, that he could tell that he was probably actually going to enjoy the day. "Uhhhh. I think so," Jeff tried to look excited, but probably came off as a bit scared. "What are we going to do anyway?"

Bluestreak smiled widely, enthusiasm sparking up. "The local fair's going on the next town over!" the mech told him brightly. "It's going to be so fun! They've got lots of rides, games, and food! I hear that it's sooooo much fun. I thought you'd enjoy it!"

Jeff actually brightened at that. It was a fun thought at the very least, and he'd never gone to anything like it before. Of course he'd heard of it before, but not actually been to one. "Are you sure you want to take me to that?" he asked. "I mean... It sounds fun but-."

"Pshhhh, Jeff I like going to the fair anyway! But it's going to be even more fun with a kid," he told the young teenager in a bubbly tone. "Come on, let's go! I can't wait to get this started. There's gonna be tons of rides, cotton candy, funnel cake! You name it, you got it! Because today is a -you- day."

Jeff smiled, hearing a great bit of honesty in the mech's voice. And frankly, he was pretty inclined to take the chance to have a "him" day. Hopefully that wasn't a lie, as so many people had lied to him before. Still, he let himself crack the smallest of smiles. "I like cotton candy. When I was a little kid my dad would buy me some from a stand at this park," he explained - surprising Bluestreak at his openness. "What's a funnel cake?"

Bluestreak looked thoughtful and then chuckled. It had just hit him he didn't really know what a funnel cake was either. Really, this had been at the suggestion of his human friends for a fun activity they would both enjoy. "I don't know either - I can't eat human sweets! But hey, we'll find out, right?"

Jeff supposed they would.

The fair was a mish-mash of bright colors, fun games, and tons of rides.

Jeff was pretty dumbfounded by how awesome it all was. He'd never seen anything like it, but he was enjoying himself way more than he had even expected. He was biting into a hot dog that he'd requested at the moment, staring around and generally people watching. There were a lot of people on-site, families of all shapes and sizes, and even a few just plain adults.

Jeff took notice that he and Bluestreak seemed to stick out a little bit. There weren't a lot of human kids being accompanied by Cybertronians, so he did feel like there were a few eyes on him. But at the same time, he attempted to avert eye contact with anyone that did so. He hated to be the one sticking out, but at the same time, he had seen it coming - he always was.

"Don't worry Prowl - we got here just fine!" Bluestreak jabbered away on the com link from behind him. "Seriously, once you're off work, you should come down too! It's going until about ten I think... Yeah, I know that's late."

Jeff wasn't sure why Prowl was so concerned, but he had noticed a bit of intensity coming from him lately. He knew it had something to do with some rogue Decepticon. The one time he'd asked Prowl about it he had told him it was nothing for him to worry about - but he sure seemed stressed. A fact which couldn't help but make Jeff himself a little nervous.

So he diverted his attention towards what appeared to be a dunk tank game. Jeff had heard about these games, where you threw a ball and tried to knock over a target to knock someone into the water. It sounded rather funny and interesting, and as a result his interest was peeked. "Hey, Blue. Can we do the dunk tank?" Bluestreak looked curiously over to him, and then the game. "I used to throw balls really well, I bet I could win it!"

Bluestreak nodded. "Sure, squirt. Go head over and I'll be right there, OK?" Bluestreak asked as Jeff scarfed down the rest of his hot dog and began to jog over. "Don't worry about it, Prowl. I've got things under control, we're still far from the last sighting, after all, right?"

That was the last thing that Jeff heard before things went south. Everything was cool for a moment, as he jogged over and informed the game attendant that his friend would be there soon to pay for the game. But sometime between the waiting and Bluestreak walking over, the sound of a loud wingbeat and a gust of wind nearly sent him flying over.

Jeff was surprised by the loud screams of frightened people, but it didn't take long to see why.

His blue eyes immediately and sharply turned to look over at what had created the wind at such a velocity. It was a giant... Well, a giant bug really. Looking like a giant, hunched wasp with green fur, and purple wings. Its equally purple optics were turned on him as each of its four clawed hands snapped slightly.

For a moment, Jeff expected the giant creature to take his attention elsewhere.

But no.

The creature had both of its narrowed optics directly focused on him. "Founddddddddd you!" the voice that came from it was shrill and loud as Jeff struggled to his feet and staggered back. "Yessss Waspinator told Spider-Lady he'd find you, and he did! Waspinator found Jeffrey Devlin!"

Spider-lady? Waspinator? How the hell did this thing know his name? He didn't know, but Jeff's first reaction to this was to run straight for Bluestreak. Who out of the corner of his eye could already see had dropped his com link, and brought out a gun. "Jeff!" Bluestreak shouted with a hint of recognition toward Waspinator. "Get away from him!"

Jeff's run from Waspinator was a waste, because within moments he felt a tight grip on his waist. The buzzing sound of the bug's wings filling his ears. "Not your business, Autobot! Jeffrey Devlin is Waspinator's!" the shrill voice replied. "Stay out of it!"

Fear and adrenaline filled every muscle in Jeff's body. He struggled violently, but only found that the bug tightened his grip to the point he could only scream. "Let me rephrase this then! Get your fragging claws off my nephew or I'll take that fragging head off your shoulders!" Bluestreak snapped, firing a warning shot that clipped the surprised bug in the wing. "NOW!"

"Waspinator can't do that," Waspinator replied giddily. "Waspinator have plans for him!"

The bug leapt from the ground and began to take off when Bluestreak struck again, this time hitting him directly in the wing. It was enough to send Waspinator crashing as several humans darted out of the way. And thankfully, in his surprise, he had let go of Jeff and he was given the quick chance to run. "Jeff, get out of here!" Bluestreak shouted as Waspinator began to pull himself to his feet. "Blend in with the crowd, I'll find you!"

Jeff looked between Bluestreak, and the angry Waspinator and didn't argue. Instead, he sprinted, even as he could hear the loud roar of the wasp in an attempt to go after him. Bluestreak, however, took the time to leap forward, and tackle him as well. Clearly, he knew what was up, and though he hadn't been prepared, he did know what to do.

It was his first reminder of just who his foster family was.

"Get out of Waspinator's way!" Waspinator hissed as Bluestreak punched him repeatedly, fighting to keep him from going after Jeff. "Autoscum have no idea who he's dealing with!"

Bluestreak gave a fierce kick that sent him flying into a (luckily) unoccupied tent with a loud crash. His blaster was out and leveled, and he kept his optics firmly on Waspinator. "I don't care who you are. You just tried to attack a little boy - my foster nephew none-the-less," he explained. "If you think I'm letting that slide, you have something else coming!"

"Bluestreak!"

He turned quickly to see that Prowl, who he had been on the com with at the time of the attack, had clearly called other Autobots. As Mirage and Bumblebee's forms - both probably at the fair as well, could be seen rushing over. "One of you needs to go get Jeff! He's a little stocky kid, brown hair, blue eyes. That's his target!"

He hadn't even finished the sentence when Bumblebee - guardian instincts kicking in, had transformed and taken off to find him. Leaving the Decepticon in question to him and Mirage. The latter of whom had been sure to bring stasis cuffs. "What the pit is going on?" Mirage asked in a thick Italian accent. "I didn't even feel a spark signature like that coming!"

"That makes two of us," Bluestreak noted. "He just swooped down out of nowhere. He would have made off with Prowl's charge if I hadn't been there."

As if on cue, Waspinator pushed himself to his feet again. Now facing down the two Autobots with a deep scowl. "Waspinator have no time for this! Where is Jeffrey Devlin!?" he shouted, voice louder than ever.

"Why the pit does it matter to you?" Mirage asked, taking a defensive stance.

That's when Waspinator uttered the words that confused Bluestreak the most. It was only a sentence, but it was enough that it even caused confusion in Mirage. "His mommy missessssss him," Waspinator replied. "JEFFREY DEVLIN! Don't you want to come with Waspinatoorrr to see your mommmyyy?"

Shaking it off, Bluestreak leveled his gun and again, firing off a volley of shots in an attempt to subdue him. Mirage, for his part, charged, and made a direct sweep attack at his legs. The Decepticon shot back and tripped, but was quick to dodge another swift attack from Mirage. It was clear, however, that the grunt wasn't much of a fighter, and they had already gotten the upper hand.

It took a moment, but after a long moment, Mirage slapped the stasis cuffs hard onto two of his wrists. After a hard shockwave through his system, the giant Decepticon wasp finally went down, hard. "You're not hurting anyone," Bluestreak replied. "And Jeff's going nowhere with you, either."

Waspinator looked defeated a moment. But after some time of silence, his optics lifted slowly to meet Bluestreak's optics. "You're gonna make spider-lady angry," he hissed. "You won't like her when she's angrrrry."

Somehow, he didn't like the sound of it.

"Jeff, you need to think hard on this."

"My mom though? My mom abandoned me years ago. She signed away her rights to me and disappeared."

The bad thing was that Prowl believed his response as they stood in Autobot HQ nearly four hours later. Waspinator had been since turned over to them to handle - of course. But it didn't help that now that they had this mysterious Decepticon, there were more questions than answers. And what's more, Prowl's worst fears were deemed true: they HAD been looking for Jeff.

Bluestreak and Bumblebee had long since left. Prowl knew it was for the best really, since they had a lot to talk about right now. And given Jeff was probably shaken by the entire event, it was best left to his guardian. "So you haven't seen her since you were five?" Jeff shook his head in response, causing another sigh from Prowl. "And as far as you know there was no connections between her and the Decepticons?"

"I didn't even know they existed!" Jeff replied. "I... I don't know..."

Prowl shook his head, stress building in him. This was not a good situation all around, given Prowl had a lot on his plate. And now that they had the Decepticon in custody things were getting worse. His foster child and protege had a mother out there - seemingly behind this whole thing. And what's more, they still had no idea what or who this "Waspinator" or the "Spider Lady" he talked about was.

The papers would have a field day with this. And while Prowl could handle that himself - he worried about what they would say about Jeff. He could already hear the cries of Decepticon spy from a mile away. "Prowl?" the mech turned to the boy quietly. "Do you... I mean... Do you think she sent that Decepticon to take me?"

That was a loaded question if there ever was one. Frankly, that was one of two options. The other was that they were holding her prisoner - but he really doubted they could have done that for years... Could they? "I don't know what is happening, Jeffrey. But I assure you we'll get to the bottom of it," he explained. "I think it's best for the moment, however, that we stay low. Avoid anyone who will try to spin this in a negative light."

There was a long silence that followed that. "You don't think I'm with them, do you?" Jeff asked, surprising Prowl. "I promise I don't know what's going on Prowl. I'd never even seen that thing before in..."

"Jeffrey, I know you're innocent to this," Prowl explained. "I've been with you almost every minute of the day since you were released, it would be impossible for you to have orchestrated this..."

Jeff felt himself relax a little, at least he didn't have to worry about this mech turning on him. But with his next words, he couldn't help but feel his gut twist a little. "And that makes me all the more worried of what he intended to do with you..."

Jeff hated to say it, but he did too. "So what's going to happen now?" He asked quietly.

Prowl shook his head. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with. This is our duty to handle. Regardless of how close you are to the subject," Jeff was silent at that, knowing he was probably right, but frustrated. "I promise you though, Jeff. As I did before. We will get to the bottom of this."

Jeff could only hope he was right.

A/N: Yeah, I know this was a twist near the end of the original story. But I decided to make it a plot point here instead. LOL Hope it worked out well.