CHAPTER 21
Check-Ups and Introductions

"So about meeting my family on Saturday."

Tyler looked up at Fowler slowly as he leaned back in Breakdown's drivers seat. It was an odd sight, but since the incident with Starscream, the government agent had actually taken to driving, or rather, riding in the former-Decepticon. It made Tyler feel good, to have someone like Fowler waiting for him after school. Sure he had always had Breakdown waiting for him, but Fowler was the "guardian" he always talked about and it felt good to have him there. "How much do they know about me?" Tyler asked.

"I've told them a lot. My parents are thrilled that they might be getting another grandchild." Fowler shook his head a bit "They're all pretty excited to meet you, kid. But I wanted to make sure that you were still okay with it." He leaned over, and pulled an arm around Tyler's shoulders "I know you were pretty nervous when I first told you about it."

Tyler shifted a bit, not sure how to respond to his guardian's question. Was he nervous? Beyond words. But he still wanted to meet what could be his future family. He sighed quietly, and nodded his head a little bit. "I am a little nervous. I've never really had a "family" beyond my uncle." Tyler explained "I guess I'm just more worried that they won't like me." He paused a minute "You know I'm pretty shy and all."

Fowler smiled, and patted the boys shoulder gently. "They're going to love you, kid. You've managed to make Breakdown and I like you. I don't know why this would be much harder." He paused a moment, smiling a bit "Right Breakdown?"

"I don't know your family, so I can't really-."

"Right, Breakdown?" Fowler reaffirmed

Breakdown knew that Fowler wanted him to be encouraging. But at the same time, had never been that great at these sorts of things. Meeting potential "families" had always been the hardest part of being an orphan. Yet giving a rev of his engines lightly, Breakdown replied in earnest. "Of course it'l be easy, you're a likable kid." He then added "Besides, I'll be in the vicinity, I am your ride after all." He then added "Until all of this slag gets handled at least."

"You're welcome to come meet my family too, y'know."

There was silence from the mech for a long moment, and then he sighed. "I'll think about it." Breakdown explained "I've never been good in family functions either, Fowler. Ty has a shot to learn, but I'm too old to change my methods." He then added "And trust me, the first person that snarked at me, or made a strange comment-."

"C'mon you're a grown mech, you can handle a couple of hours." Fowler replied "I want you both there. I can introduce you as a friend of the family." Fowler patted his dashboard carefully.

As Breakdown took that in, he groaned quietly. He knew that Fowler was being nice, or at least that was what he had guessed. Yet he knew that there was no way out of it. And moreover, his presence would likely help Tyler to feel far more comfortable about the situation. "Fine, but I warned you ahead of time." Breakdown stated as he arrived in the Autobot base, letting them both out as he transformed "If I'm hopelessly anti-social don't get frustrated with me. I just... Am not good at the whole social hour thing."

"I'm sure you'll both be fine." Fowler explained "Anyway, I have work to get to. Get that homework done this time, Tyler. No more slacking on that project that's due next week."

"Yes, sir."

As Fowler stepped away, Tyler sighed quietly, putting his hands in his pockets. Breakdown could tell the boy was still greatly nervous, and that much was a given, being Tyler seemed to be a naturally nervous person at times. "Hey." Breakdown crouched to the young human slowly "You're going to do great, okay? Fowler's right, you have a way of being likable." He nudged the boy carefully "And on the off chance they don't like you? Fowler's not going to change how he feels about you."

"You don't think so?"

"Not for a minute." Breakdown explained "Trust me kid, you're gonna be just fine." He then added "Now, what do you say we go check on Ratchet. You have a check-up, and I have a training session." He carefully held out his palm, allowing Tyler to climb on "If you're lucky, maybe Ratchet will let you be my first human patient." He explained.

"Can I request someone else?"

Breakdown flicked the point lightly, but chuckled all the same. He carefully deposited him on his usual perch on his right shoulder and started for the med bay. They found Ratchet working with some tools, which was no surprise. "Alright, set him on the berth." Ratchet spoke up, not even turning around to face them "How are you feeling today, Tyler? The cast doing it's job well enough?"

"Yeah, it's feeling better." Tyler replied.

Ratchet immediately turned to give a scan, and nodded his head slowly. "I believe the fractured bone is healed, so allow me to take your cast off." Ratchet explained "As for your broken ribs, they appear to be healing at a slower rate. I will need to inject some more of our drugs into your bone marrow." He explained calmly "Take off your shirt for me please, Tyler."

"I hate needles."

"Would you rather be in constant pain?" Ratchet questioned "Broken ribs are known to be excruciating."

A long moment passed before Tyler exposed his body. It was still scarred, and the sight still made Breakdown and Ratchet both cringe. But there was a certain comfort in knowing that the man who did it was now suffering behind bars. Though Tyler felt the pain of the injection, he quickly found the effects to be near-instant, as the pain that had been his ribs since that morning slowly subsided. "That's crazy. I didn't realize that's how you fixed my ribs." Tyler added "Why not my arm?"

"Larger bones. Much harder." Ratchet explained as he carefully used a laser to cut off the cast "THAT would cause you far more pain than I could subside." He sighed quietly, placing the small needle on the table beside Tyler "I'm giving Fowler more of those painkillers, take one whenever the pain becomes unbearable and not a second sooner." He then added "Now scat, I have to train your partner here how to administer shots."

"Not on me?"

"I said scat, didn't I?" Ratchet questioned.

Breakdown rolled his optics as Tyler made his way out of the med bay. Breakdown crossed his arms slightly, and Ratchet turned to him. "How's he doing psychologically?" Ratchet questioned "The nightmares getting any better?"

"Less and less every night." Breakdown sighed "Fowler's signed him up to see a psychologist. He has his first meeting with her next week." He shrugged his shoulders "Hoping that'll help him get through it. Because even if he has less of them, they're not getting any less violent." Ratchet frowned slightly "I'm worried the deal with Starscream isn't helping him out either."

"He has you to defend him. He has nothing to worry about on that end." Ratchet then added "He'll be even better off if you know how to heal him on the battlefield this way." He prepared their supplies quietly "But I am glad to hear that plans have been made to help him out." He turned to Breakdown slowly "Now tell me, do you at the very least know what a syringe is?"

At the shake of his head, Ratchet only let out an annoyed sigh. Already, Breakdown could tell it was going to be a long session from that alone.

...

"Remember, just be yourself."

Tyler looked up at Fowler quietly as they stepped out of Breakdown with the mech's holoform behind them. The teenager had spent most of the car ride into California keeping to himself, focusing on the football that Fowler had tossed him. Even now, Tyler found himself tossing it up and down, staring out into the park and the large family that he guessed was Fowler's that ware setting up some seats a few feet away. "Okay. If you say so." Tyler explained "Can you go in first, though?"

Fowler smiled a bit, and pulled an arm around Tyler. "We'll go together."

Breakdown too stared thoughtfully over at the family. "Maybe I should stay behind." Breakdown replied "That is-."

"Both of you need to relax." Fowler told them both calmly "Come on."

Breakdown lingered back by the car for a moment, watching as the two stepped away. Yet again, he felt awkward imposing upon Fowler's family get-together. As a possible future member of the family, Tyler belonged there. But he was a stranger, simply there because he was their guardian, and he didn't feel as though he belonged. And yet still, he found himself following the two, not wanting to insult Fowler, or his family, by not appearing to have shown up. "Well look who finally showed up!" A tall, burly man with grey hair shouted as Fowler and Tyler approached "Kept us waiting long enough."

"Traffic." Fowler chuckled "We're both late risers too."

Immediately, the man pulled Fowler into a hug, separating him form Tyler. The boy stood a good distance, not wanting to get in the way. "It's good to see you son." The man, who was undoubtedly Fowler's father, spoke up "Your mother and I have missed you, you need to come by more often." His attention then turned to Tyler "And you must be young Tyler Beers."

"Hi, Mr. Fowler." Tyler held out his hand "It's nice to meet you."

Immediately, Tyler was pulled into a hug, without warning. The man chuckled, and after a moment, let go. "None of this "Mr. Fowler" nonsense. It's grandpa." The man spoke up "I'd tell you to call me Perry, but that doesn't seem right. Seeing as all the other grandkids call me "Grandpa"." He then added "I expect the same from you, got it?"

Tyler turned his head to look up at Fowler, as if for approval. With a smile, Fowler nodded his head in response. "A-Alright grandpa." Tyler smiled sheepishly "It's still nice to meet you. Bill's told me a lot about you." Tyler explained, chewing his lip slightly "Thanks for inviting me along." He added.

"Every Fowler's invited son." Perry replied, turning his head "But it's a pleasure to finally meet you too." He could see the glint in Tyler's eyes and the smile that followed "And this man is...?"

Fowler turned, having nearly forgotten that Breakdown had followed them. "Sorry, dad. This is "Brandon", he's a close friend of mine. From work." Fowler only semi-lied "You know, the one we talked on the phone about."

"How's it going?"

Breakdown held out his hand slowly, to which Perry gave him a handshake. He smiled a bit, nodding his head in response. "One of your "special" friends." Perry hinted, Breakdown's optics widened "Don't look so surprised. I was a government official as well, I was one of the first to get to meet you guys." He put his hands on his hips "How do you think Billy was lucky enough to get the job as liaison in the first place?"

"Well, that'll make this whole thing much easier." Breakdown replied "I'm sorry for intruding on your festivities."

"Don't be." Perry waved a hand at him "You're protecting my son, I want to thank you for that. So please, enjoy your time here. For the day, our family, is your family." Breakdown allowed himself to smile slightly in response to that "Now, Tyler. I don't believe you've had the pleasure of meeting any of your new family yet, have you?"

"No sir." Tyler replied, as Perry looked down at him firmly he corrected himself "Sorry. No, grandpa, I haven't."

Perry chuckled, pulling an arm around Tyler's shoulders gently. Tyler could see a couple of boys around his age, and younger, playing nearby, and Perry nodded. Patting the boy on the back gently. "Vera, your grandma will want to meet you first. But as soon as that's done, I'll introduce you to your cousins." He then added "I saw you brought the football. They love it. And I'm sure your uncles and father will be quick to get a game going after lunch."

"I've never played before." Tyler replied.

"That's okay, we'll teach you." Perry noted.

As the older man led Tyler towards the lunch table, Breakdown smiled. Tyler had undoubtedly worried about meeting Fowler's family for nothing. If they were all like Perry, Tyler would be a full-fledged member of the family before he was even legally adopted. "Well then." Breakdown snorted "Your sire is a rather loving and accepting man." He then added "Already having Tyler call him "grandpa"."

"That's pops for you." Fowler replied with a grin "They're all like that. By the end of the day, Tyler's liable to be best friends with all of them."

Breakdown chuckled, and Fowler nodded his head towards the table. "C'mon. You need to meet the rest of the clan too. And don't go saying "no" again. You're a guest, accept it, be social." Breakdown smirked at that "Being serious all the time can't be good for your health." He then added "And trust me, I know, because I was the same way up until-."

"Yeah, I get it, Fowler." Breakdown chuckled "Let's get this over with."

Breakdown could hope that at the very least, he might understand the man better by the end of the day. As scary as it was to be back in a situation like this, he knew it could happen now, or later, and it was best to get it over with. "Primus, just don't let me make a fool out of myself." He whispered into the air, taking a deep breath.

Something told him though that everything would be just fine.

...

A/N: Major bonding time for Tyler, Fowler, and Breakdown coming your way next chapter, along with more of Fowler's family! :)