CHAPTER 37
Worst Case Scenario

Jeff was silent as he stepped into the kitchen that morning, he couldn't help but be shaky. It was his normal routine to be as quiet as he could be as he woke up and snuck around. Without much light through any of the windows, Jeff had to mostly feel his way around the room and toward his kitchen. The sound of a groan and the stench of beer told Jeff that his uncle was asleep on the couch again, most likely drunk off his rocker. It wasn't unusual, Jeff had even become accustomed to it.

Except this time, Peter wasn't asleep. The sound of footsteps caught his attention just in time for him to dodge a thrown beer bottle. "I found forty dollars missing out of my wallet last night." Peter growled quietly, his voice dangerously low "Now I know you aren't STEALING from me you little punk." Jeff was silent "After all I've done of you, after I took you in... You would not steal from me." He snapped.

Jeff cringed as Peter came up close to Jeff, his teeth gritting at him. To say the least, Peter was angry, moreso than he'd ever been with him before. Jeff had stolen money, for the first time in his life, he had robbed someone. But it had been for nothing but food, the food that his uncle refused to cook for him. "I... I had to eat. We're out of food!" Jeff barked back shakily "I don't know how to cook... What else was I supposed to do?" He questioned.

"So you did steal from me?"

Jeff clenched his teeth, doing what he could to control himself. But slowly he looked up at Peter, and found his courage. "Yeah, I stole from you to take care of myself, something you can't do..." Jeff clenched his fists "You dumb, sad, little drunk!" He shouted.

The next thing Jeff knew, he tasted blood in his mouth and he was on the ground. He spat out a tooth quietly and felt his sore and quite obviously pained jaw. He couldn't believe that Peter had done it, that he had punched him. Tears welled up in his eyes as Peter leered down at him, he rubbed his jaw gently, shakily standing to his feet. Peter had hold of his arms thrusting him against the wall. "You never steal from me you little piece of shit!" Peter shouted "Do you understand me?" He questioned.

Jeff heard him alright, and his response was the hardest knee to the groin possible. Using what he'd learned from Prowl, he managed to knock the already pained man off his feet as he bolted for the front door. He could hear Peter shouting after him, his anger probably rising higher and higher, nearly tripping down the stairway, he made it to the front door of the complex, running out. The sound of a loud engine grabbed his attention, his eyes shot up as Bumblebee's form drove down the road, without even a moment's hesitation Jeff ran for it.

"B-Bee! BEE!"

Bumblebee haulted at once, seeing the bleeding and terrified form of Jeff running towards him. Quickly throwing open his door, he allowed Jeff to crawl into his passengers seat before flooring it. "Jeff, what in the name of Primus is going on?" Bumblebee questioned "You're bleeding, missing a tooth, and-" He began.

"He hit me Bee, he fucking hit me."

It took the mech a few minutes to process what the young boy was saying as Jeff gently set his backpack on the ground. He could feel the boy tremble on his seat, his body growing more and more tense as the seconds passed. "Peter... Hit you? And did that kind of damage?" Jeff slowly nodded his head in response "... I'm taking you to base, don't be afraid Jeff. It's alright." He noted.

:Bumbleee to Prowl, come in Prowl.: Bumblebee spoke over the com link.

:Prowl here, what's the matter Bee?:

:Get Ratchet for me, Jeff needs a medic.:

On the other end, there was absolute silence followed by what sounded like something being thrown. :Affirmative. On it.: Prowl barely managed on the other end.

The sound of a THUD! on the roof had Jeff's attention at once, but not before the sound of said roof being torn did. Bumblebee had felt it too, but had little time to react to the ambush before his roof was brutally torn off. Jeff's eyes shot up at the sight of the large Decepticon looming over him, his optics filled with joy. "Scouts are much easier to deal with." Tarantulas mocked, reaching in for Jeff "Come here, Jeffrey."

Bumblebee however did a quick spin, throwing the Predacon off before he had any time to react. He quickly transformed, setting the young human on the ground, and putting himself protectively in front of him. "Jeff, run." Jeff crawled to his feet, staring up at Bumblebee, who seemed clearly hurt from the brutal ambush he'd just endured "Run, now!"

Jeff pulled himself to his feet just long enough to see Waspinator land in front of him with a dark chuckle. "Waspinator told you you'd see him again. Waspinator good on his word." Waspinator teased as he drew closer to Jeff "Fleshy have nowhere to run from Waspinator this time." His optics flashed "Waspinator have you now." He added.

"Bee!"

Bumblebee spun around, turning his left arm into a cannon and firing a stun blast for Waspinator. The Predacon went down within seconds, but it was long enough for Tarantulas to dig his own claws deep into Bumblebee's back. "BUMBLEBEE!" Jeff screamed as the mech dropped to his knees and collapsed, forced stasis lock falling over him "B-Bee.. BEE!?" Jeff questioned.

Tarantulas turned to Jeff with a wicked smile on his face, making his way closer and closer to the young and terrified human. As the Predacon chuckled darkly, Jeff could do little more than scream bloody murder as he was plucked off the ground and carried off just as the sun began to rise in the sky.

...

"What do you mean you didn't find Jeff with Bumblebee!?"

Sideswipe backed up a bit against the med bay wall, his optics looking up at the second-in-command. To say the least, Sideswipe had not wanted to be the one to deliver this news to Prowl. It was bad enough after an hour that Bumblebee had not shown up after getting ahold of Prowl, but this only made it worse. "Bumblebee's in emergency surgery right now. They were ambushed, by two Decepticons it looks like." Prowl's optics widened "He managed to stun one, that bug thing... We have him in custody... But the other one must have taken Jeff with them." He added.

Prowl felt nothing but rage at the thought of Jeff being in Decepticon hands. Everything they had worked to do, all the time spent protecting him, ended by allowing him to go with a man he was more than certain hurt him. "Where the frag is this Decepticon?" Prowl growled "I want to be the one to interrogate him." He added.

Sideswipe shook his head. "Prowl, you need to chill. In this state of mind, you're likely to murder the mech." Sideswipe shook his head a bit "Allow Prime and I to handle this, I swear the second he says anything about Jeff, I'll tell you." Prowl had a look of utter defeat on his face "Prowl, I'm worried about him too. But you know better than all of us that anger... Can make people do stupid things." He noted.

Prowl felt his body tremble, trying to control his anger, rage, and fear all at once. He shook his head slowly, peering down at the floor, he nodded his head slowly. Sideswipe slowly pulled away from him, rolling down the hallway. Prowl still could not believe what had just happened, he should have been there to protect Jeff. He shouldn't have ever let the boy he considered his son leave the base. "Primus Jeff, please... Stay safe."

Deep down, he knew that chances were, that would be an impossibility.

...

Jeff was thrown unceremoniously onto the cave floor. His head throbbed and the pain shooting through him wasn't making matters any better either. Blackarachnia sat on her makeshift throne, a wicked smile upon her face as the boy attempted to stand to his feet. Tarantulas had firm hold of his arms again, keeping him from doing anything, or so much as making a run for it. "Let me go you giant eight legged FREAK!" Jeff shouted "When Prowl gets his hands on you, you're both DEAD!"

Behind him, Tarantulas scoffed, whereas Blackarachnia only chuckled quietly. She stood to her feet slowly, walking up until she was close enough that Jeff could literally feel the hot air of her breath. "You're feisty... I like that." Blackarachnia hissed "So much like your mother, I don't suppose that is such a compliment though." She commented.

"You shut up about my mom!" Jeff shouted.

As if to emphasize that he needed to learn respect, Tarantulas pinched the back of his neck, hard. Jeff cried out, falling to his knees as Blackarachnia disappeared behind a corner slowly. "You need to shut up and learn your place here, youngling." Tarantulas hissed quietly "No one's coming for you. You are alone here." He then added "Now, shut up!"

"Don't hurt him too much, we need him alive..."

For a few seconds, Blackarachnia was out of sight, then she came back. Dragging behind her a horribly dissolved woman, Jeff's eyes moved towards the woman, and slowly, but surely, they widened. Her hair moving just out of her face, the woman's dark blue eyes widened ever so slowly as well. "Jeffrey?"

Jeff could barely control the mix of emotions that filled his heart. But slowly, surely, he managed to breathe out a single word. "Mom...?"

...

A/N: Yep, I think I'll just leave you guys right there. Reviews make my day!