CHAPTER 21
Arrival

Jeff had never been outside of the country before in his life, so the entire idea of the passport he'd been given was new to him. The whole thing was new to him in a way, going anywhere out of the town without Sideswipe or Arcee, going out of the country. To tell the truth, Jeff didn't know what to make of any of it, and in that sense, he could feel his stomach twist in nerves. Sideswipe had of course, taken him to meet Sunstreaker, without much of a choice. But Prowl had wanted to take hi to meet his entire family on Earth, and that needless to say surprised him.

Pulling his backpack over his shoulder as they entered the hangar of the massive base, Jeff trailed slightly behind Prowl. The military man who had greeted them, who had introduced himself as Will Lennox, seemed friendly enough, but one could never be too sure. Prowl on the other end, chatted away with the military colonel, and Jeff had a feeling by the way they talked, he was pretty high up in the ranks of the Autobot's military allies too. "So Smokes and Blue are out on patrol at the moment." Will commented to Prowl finally "They figured they'd just let you guys get settled a little bit." He noted.

"I thought Bluestreak would be greeting us at the door for a rousing game of twenty questions." Prowl snorted "That's just as well, I miss them both but I believe that Jeff would most likely want to rest a bit. It was a long flight out here." He noted, hearing Jeff's groan at the mere mention of the six-hour ride on the deployment transportation.

"Jet lag getting to ye, kid?" Jeff nodded his head slightly at Will's question "That's cool, I know how that is, I've got a daughter that hates the flight over, too." Will put a hand onto his shoulder and patted it slightly "You're going to bunk with the 'Bots, I hope you don't mind. We'd put you up in the barracks, but we've got so many people on base." He then added "We moved a bed in there though." He added.

"I bunk with them back at the other base, so yeah, no biggie."

Jeff was thankful when Will returned his conversation to one with Prowl. Jeff had never been good with adult's, unless you counted the Autobots, there was always that slight apprehension with them that made him felt as though each one judged him. "Besides." Prowl suddenly spoke up "He's got me around to protect him, any punks who mess with my apprentice have to answer to me." He threw a wink over his shoulder at Jeff.

Though it wasn't the most comforting gesture, but it did comfort the young man oddly. Yawning and stretching a bit, Jeff barely paid half-attention to what was being said before Prowl turned his head again. "C'mon, Jeff, this is us." Jeff looked up as Prowl opened up a room with three berths, and a bed "You want to take a nap while I go oversee things in the strategic division?" He questioned.

"Nah, of course not I'll be fine." Jeff replied, he stared up at Prowl "The whole reason I'm here is to meet everyone there, right?"

"A nap wouldn't hurt though."

Jeff grunted a bit, but knew that Prowl was just looking out for what was best for him. It was odd, but with Prowl, he felt more compelled to listen to his suggestions, not minding as much s he would with others. Collapsing onto the bed, and letting his backpack slide onto the side, Jeff peered up as Prowl made his way over to him. "I'll come wake you up in a few hours." Prowl smiled a little, tapping the boy on the back gently "Get some good sleep, kid, we had to wake up early after all."

Prowl was almost certain Jeff was out cold before he'd even left the room.

...

"PROWL!"

Prowl hadn't been on the base for an hour before he'd nearly been tackled by his younger brother, Bluestreak. He quietly kissed the calmness he'd been welcomed with goodbye as he was tackled into a hug. "Primus! It's good to see you big bro! It's just not the same without you around Diego Garcia anymore." Bluestreak wrapped an arm around the mech's shoulders "How ye doing, bro? Your apprentice around right now? The one that may become my nephew? Can't wait to meet the little guy!"

"Calm down Bluestreak." Prowl chuckled "It's good to see you too, and no, Jeffrey is currently taking a nap after the long trip over." He then thought over his other words in his head "I'd appreciate if you didn't bring up the "adoption" thoughts around him either. I have yet to talk to him on the subject, it's far too soon to bring it to his attention." He noted.

Bluestreak nodded his head in excitement, grinning from audio-receptor to audio-receptor. "I got it bro, I understand, since it's only like been a month or whatever. Still can't wait to meet him." Bluestreak gave a thumbs up "Smokescreen is excited too, but he had to go in for some repairs." He peered over at Prowl calmly "Still can't believe you're actually serious about this, dude. I mean, seriously, I always thought Smokes and I would have kids, but you..." He paused, uncertain of what to say next.

"It didn't seem logical for months, I'll agree to that." Prowl commented "But this is a human boy who could use a family such as ours as well. He's a bit of a juvenile delinquent, and his issues vary." He explained, looking Bluestreak dead in the optics "Yet, somehow the closer I get to him, the more I feel compelled to help him." He noted.

"He went to juvie?"

"And several foster homes over his life, yes." Prowl nodded.

By the look on Bluestreak's face, he had the same thought Prowl often did. Why did he, a strict, by the books, and rule-abiding Autobot want to take on someone who had spent a lot of their time breaking the rules? "I think it's great, Prowl. I bet a kid like that could use a structured dad like you." Bluestreak commented "Primus knows kids like that need stability." He grinned a little "So, what do you say we grab an energon cube and wait for Smokes to get out of the med bay?" He questioned.

"Sure, but I should wake Jeff up if we're going to do that. He'd probably like some lunch." Prowl replied, shaking his head a bit "I'll meet you in the rec room in twenty, alright?" He questioned.

"Sounds good to me."

Prowl smiled as his brother headed off in a hurry. To say the least, Prowl had missed his siblings, something he hadn't expected to. It was nice to be around his family again after being stationed in New Chicago for the last year and a half. Now he just had to hope that their meeting with Jeff would go well, though he had a feeling it couldn't go bad at least.

...

Jeff found himself hiding behind Prowl again as they entered the rec room. Though Jeff wanted to be excited to meet a member of Prowl's family, he couldn't help but feel the nerves. It was odd, but he wanted them to like him, and he couldn't quite tell why. The mech that approached them looked friendly enough, and seemed a bit like Prowl, though with a darker silver hue and blue coloring. "There you two are." Bluestreak greeted with a wave, his optics looking down towards Jeff "You must be Jeffrey." He noted "I'm Bluestreak, Prowl's younger brother." He then began with "Jeez, you're a lot older than I expected. The way Prowl talked about you, I half expected someone a lot younger. Not that being older is a bad thing-"

"Yeah, I got you." Jeff quickly interrupted before the mech could talk him to death.

Bluestreak grinned a little bit, in a way that almost reminded Jeff of a cheshire cat. He already got the feeling that this was the type of mech that talked nonstop, but he reminded himself to bite back his tongue and bare it. "Well, it's great to finally meet you, like I said, Prowl's told Smokey and I a lot." Bluestreak commented "Smokey being our older brother, Smokescreen, obviously. I'm sure you heard about him too." He nodded over "Come on, we've got plenty of food, and we can wait for him." He stated as he headed off into the rec room.

Jeff stared up at Prowl, who smirked a little bit. "He sure talks a whole lot more than you even said he did." Jeff commented as they made their way towards Bluestreak "Seems pretty nice though." He shrugged innocently "Listen, Prowl, if you want me to back out now and not meet your family I get it. He seems nice and I don't want to you know, say anything wrong..." He paused.

Prowl only smiled down at the boy, carefully scooping him into his hand. Jeff had nearly expected the mech to tell him to leave, yet he was gently placed upon his shoulder. To say that Jeff was surprised would have been an understatement, but Prowl simply stared him in the eyes. "I want you to meet them, Jeff. If I didn't I would not have brought you here." Prowl replied firmly "Come on, we don't want to keep him waiting long, he hates not having anyone to talk to." He teased.

Jeff could only stare at Prowl after he said that, silently wondering if he was playing some sort of game with him. No one would willingly feel that way about it, at least not in his experience. Yet Prowl didn't take it back, and though Jeff was obviously confused, he couldn't help but smile a little himself, and wonder what this would mean in the end.