CHAPTER 36
Stress

Prowl's home was much smaller than Josh had expected. Rather than flashy and huge, it was clear that the former second-in-command had gone moreso for subtle and understated. The house was in the heart of Iacon and stood one story tall, inside, the walls were mostly the color of steel, remaining unpainted. Josh set his backpack down and sighed quietly as he looked up at Prowl. "Prowl?" Josh turned to the mech calmly "Are you going to tell me what's going on? Because I know something's wrong."

Prowl closed his door and locked up as he turned to Josh. He frowned slightly, and waved the boy off as if he were crazy. Though he knew well enough that Josh was right, something was wrong. And he was almost certain that before long, the boy would figure it out too. "Nothing that you need to concern yourself with, Josh." He noted "for now, just consider this a vacation."

The look on his face told Prowl that it wouldn't be long before the boy started snooping around. He knew the face of a troublemaker when he saw one, and as much as he cared about him, he knew Josh had one. The boy crossed his arms, but nodded his head and yawned quietly as he started towards a human sized couch. "You have all this stuff for when Terry is over?" He asked, noticing much of the human-sized furniture noting as Prowl nodded "Wow I didn't realize he even spent a lot of time here." He muttered.

Prowl looked down at Josh, shrugging. "Though Terrence likes to say otherwise, he and I are quite close." He explained "He spends some of his weekends with me. I enjoy the company, and once in a while he just likes to get out of the house." He explained "I quite enjoy the company given my single status." He then noted "You're welcome over here whenever you'd like as well, you know." He then added "Given both of you are now my godchildren."

A godfather. That was still something that Josh would have to get used to. A few months ago, he'd only had a couple of so-called "parents". Now he had a father, godfather, grandparents, and if they counted, a godbrother and it was still a lot to take in. "Prowl, can I ask you a question?" Josh turned his head, to which Prowl nodded "You're going to be my godfather, right?" Prowl nodded "So why won't you just tell me what's going on? I deserve to know the truth..."

Prowl was silent a moment, but after a moment, sighed inwardly. "Please believe me when I say this, Josh. Because I do not want to lie to you, you're right." Prowl explained "Something did happen out there. But for now, your father feels it's best that we do not talk to you about it until he is out of the hospital." Josh looked at Prowl calmly "If I could tell you, I would. But I am bound to your father's wishes. So can I convince you to respect that?"

Josh could have argued, but knew that there was no point. Prowl was a very by-the-books mech, and the chances he would relent if he continued to pry were between slim and none. "Alright." Josh sighed, putting his hands in his pockets "I shouldn't be worried or anything though, right?" He asked, looking up at the mech with worry in his eyes "Dad wasn't hurt worse than you said or anything, right?"

"Primus, no!" Prowl held up his hands "It's something the rest of us need to worry about. But not you, that's why we don't want to talk to you about it yet." He took a deep breath "Now, are you more hungry or tired? Because I can heat you up something or prepare your bed depending." He explained.

Josh seated himself down on one of the human sized couches quietly. To tell the truth, he just wanted to curl up into a ball until Magnus was out of the hospital. After all, he was worried about him, and about what this all might have been about. "I don't know, Prowl." Josh shook his head "Can I maybe just take a nap on the couch and figure it out later?" He asked.

Prowl's optic ridge furrowed as the boy stretched out and he laid his head on a pillow. Prowl approached the couch slowly, reaching down and running two of his fingers along Josh's spine. "It's going to be okay, Josh." Prowl told him quietly "I'll be in my office if you need anything, just holler." He added calmly "And I do mean, anything..."

"I'll be fine Prowl." Josh assured him, though in his head he added an uncertain I think.

His eyes closed, and he allowed himself to quietly drift off into sleep. Not even noticing as Prowl continued to watch him from the doorway, his arms crossed and his doorwings folded down in silent concern. It was clear that the day had already drained much from the boy, and it had only hardly begun. "Prowl?" Prowl activated his comm link as Smokescreen came on it "How's Josh doing? I heard you brought him home..."

"He's sound asleep right now." Prowl replied "I believe the "excitement" took its toll on him. So I'm going to allow him to recharge as long as he desires." He noted, stepping into his office calmly "Any luck finding who in Primus's name is behind this calamity?"

"None." Smokescreen replied "But I'm glad we got Josh out of there when they did. I just got back to Mangus's place an hour ago. Someone broke an upstairs window; apparently the guard was late to discovering it." Prowl's optics narrowed "I think Magnus was right, bro. Someone's coming after Josh... Because it was in his bedroom."

"Someone's looking for a ransom." Prowl muttered "Primus..."

"You're telling me." Smokescreen replied "I gotta go bro, the other enforcers are here to get a statement. But yeah, definitely keep Josh with you for the moment. I wanna believe it's just unconnected. Maybe some extremist group about the whole inter-species adoption thing." His voice strained again at his next point "But I think we both know that's definitely not what happened here."

"You got it." Prowl nodded his head slowly.

And that's when he turned around to realize that Josh was now standing in the doorway. "How long have you been there?" Prowl questioned "I was just on-."

"Someone's after me?" Josh asked "Who? Why?"

"Josh, you're supposed to be napping."

"You were loud enough to wake me up." Josh shook his head "Come on, Prowl. You can't lie to me now, I could hear the "ransom" part. Dad wasn't taken so this has to be about me, doesn't it?" He crossed his arms "Prowl, I-."

"What part of I can't tell you do you not fragging understand!?" Prowl snapped, throwing his arm up in frustration.

It was an action the Autobot immediately regretted doing as the boy ran. The mech quickly realized what Josh had been expecting, and took a moment to take it in. "Josh!" Prowl shouted "Joshua, I wasn't going to hit you. I didn't even mean to yell like that!" He shouted loudly as he made his way into the hallway, which he found empty "Joshua?"

He made his way down the hallway an into the living room, finding Josh standing his ground. Or rather, the closest that the terrified boy could come to standing his ground. Prowl had doubted that Josh had had anyone raise their voice or hand like that since his parents had been around, or he had lived with Kyle. "Josh... I apologize." Prowl noted "The last twenty-four hours have been stressful, but I was not intending to hurt you in any way."

"You sure didn't look happy!"

Prowl sighed quietly, and took a few steps forward. "Because I'm scared for you and Magnus." Prowl explained as calmly as he could "Joshua, you must understand that I don't want to lose either one of you." He told him calmly "But between the attack on Magnus, and now... Well... Apparently someone tried to break into your room tonight." He paused "Which means they were looking to snatch you and that scares me."

Josh looked at Prowl, his eyes filled with suspicion. Backing up as Prowl crouched low to him. The mech sighed, and rubbed the back of his helm silently. "Josh, I would never hurt you just because I became angry. No one would." He explained "If you must know... I'm worried because it's the Decepticon Terrorists... A group that has openly attacked and destroyed many buildings. And killed many more people." He then tilted his head "Do you understand how stressful this is on us?"

Josh looked down, kicking the ground a bit, he looked back up at Prowl. "You really weren't going to hit me?" Josh asked, his voice low and quiet as Prowl shook his head "I'm sorry, I just... I'm used to..." He paused a moment "I didn't know whether-."

"I know." Prowl replied "I knew my mistake the moment I made it. And therefore, I once again apologize." He looked at Josh slowly "Please don't tell your father that I told you the situation. He will not be happy, and I do not want to feel his wrath." Josh couldn't help but giggle a little about that "Oh you laugh now, but you haven't seen your father angry." Josh nodded his head "Are we alright, youngling?"

"Yeah, I think so." Josh replied "Just... Don't do that again."

"I'll make it a point to watch out for my reaction to stress around you next time." Prowl replied with a nod "Are you going to be alright knowing this information, Joshua?" Josh stared up at him, uncertainty in his eyes "Don't be afraid, I do not make where I live public. The chances of the Decepticon terrorist cell attacking here are very slim."

"So I'm safe?" Josh asked.

"Yes, as safe as you possibly can be at the moment." Prowl agreed with a nod "Now, do you still want to take a nap on the couch, or would you perhaps prefer to nap in my office. I do have a human sized couch in there too. And considering the circumstances, perhaps you will feel more at ease." He added "It's open to you if you'd like."

For a moment, he wondered if Joshua would even trust him again to join him. After a moment, and after he had rubbed his eyes tiredly, Josh gave in, making his way towards Prowl calmly. "Yeah, I think I'll feel better if I sleep there at least." He looked at Prowl "As long as you promise not to do that crap again." He noted.

"I apolo-."

"Prowl, I was kidding." Josh put a hand on his godfather's leg "I trust you to take care of me."

Prowl didn't reply, even though he smiled a little as they made their way into his office. He made sure that Josh was comfortable first before returning to his desk, and data pads. Within moments, Josh was asleep again, albeit restlessly, which put Prowl at least somewhat at ease. He knew it was going to be a rough day, and later, night of recharge for both of them. And perhaps neither of them stood a chance of relaxing until this whole situation blew over and Magnus was home on thursday and they could celebrate his birthday on Friday with no trouble.

But until that day came, Prowl would keep every sensor he had on him on. No one was going to take this boy, no matter where they attacked, or who they attacked. Prowl was determined to keep him safe.

...

A/N: Oh how I love writing for Prowl in fluffy situations. :3 Hope you guys enjoyed reading this little bit of Prowl fluff too. :)