CHAPTER 50
Warnings and Aft-Kickings
To say the least, Jeff seemed off to his uncles for the remainder of the day. Though Jeff put up his usual wall of being happy, it was clear that whatever had happened had been a punch to the gut for him. Inside, Jeff himself was contemplating whether or not what happened was a serious matter. Jeff did not want to be a burden on anyone, he had made that perfectly clear before, but he couldn't help but feel a sadness about what had been said. The sound of his phone ringing got his attention, as he quickly answered the phone. "Hey, dad." Jeff answered knowingly "What's up?"
"You tell me." Prowl commented in a way that stunned Jeff "Your uncles tell me you have been acting off right now, son. You wouldn't tell them what is wrong... But will you tell me?" Jeff was silent in response, but that didn't stop Prowl "Son, whatever is wrong, you know that you can talk to me." He told him softly "Please talk to me." He added.
Jeff leaned back against his bed in his uncle's quarters, frowning a bit. As much as he wanted to tell, he didn't want to get anyone in trouble either. Yet, he knew Prowl well enough now to know he'd be dumb to keep it from him. "It's nothing dad.. I just..." Jeff paused "I overheard some mechs talking about me. Some of the stuff they said kinda hurt. Talking about how you have to be desperate. And that I'm, well..." He took a second to continue "Broken."
On the other end, Jeff heard Prowl give the darkest growl he had ever heard out of an Autobot. A chill went up his spine as it split right through to his core, Prowl was angry, that was for sure. "Which mechs said such a thing?" Prowl questioned coldly "I want their names, I want to know their stations..." Catching his breath, and trying to calm himself down, Prowl finally spoke directly about Jeff "I am not desperate, and you are not broken. Do not listen to such immature and cruel words." He noted.
"Dad, are you mad?" Jeff questioned.
"Furious." Prowl commented "But not at you, at the pieces of scrap metal who said such things." He told him honestly "That is unacceptable on every level, and very punishable." He noted "People who speak that way are no better than the Decepticons. For those are most certainly their ideals on such matters." He paused a moment "Point them out to your uncles, and then have them report who it is to me." He then darkly stated "I'd love to have a little word with them."
"A-Alright." Jeff commented "Love you?"
"Love you too." Prowl commented calmly "Don't listen to them, alright? We'll handle it."
As Jeff hung up, he looked up to see the very angry forms of Smokescreen and Bluestreak over him. No doubt, they had heard everything and were just as angry as Prowl had appeared to be over the phone. "Blue, you may want to have your sniper riffle ready with a couple of tranqs." Smokescreen commented with a growl "Because that's the only way you're going to get me off the two little fraggers who-" He began.
"Uncle Smokey, calm down!" Jeff leapt to his feet "I-"
The look that Smokescreen gave him almost scared Jeff himself. The mech shook his head slowly, and cracked his large metal knuckle. "Nobody, nobody talks about my family like that." He told him flat out "I want you to point these punks out to me. And don't make a mistake because the mechs in question are liable to end up in a coma by the time I'm through with them." He noted.
Though Jeff opened his mouth to argue again, he found himself plucked up by the back of his shirt. They marched out of the room angrily, and almost immediately, Jeff caught sight of the mechs. The two of them were nearby, much to his charging, as he didn't want to cause any trouble. Noticing the looks Jeff gave the two mech's, Smokescreen carefully set him on the ground. "Guys!" Jeff shouted as his uncle's seemed to march over "Guys, seriously, this isn't worth it!" He shouted out loudly.
"Pedline, Strikefast." Smokescreen put his arms around the two mech's slowly, ignoring Jeff "You know, I've been talking to my nephew lately." The two mech's stared at each other, seemingly knowing where this was going "I hear you two little fraggers have an issue with him." Strikefast and Pedline continued to be dead silent at this "In fact, I even noticed him crying a little bit when we got back to our room." He then added "You know boys, he isn't broken." He squeeze their shoulder plates hard "But you're about to be."
Neither had a second to react before they had literally been thrown headfirst through a wall. Nearly half of the mechs and military personel had turned their heads by this point to the large, mech-sized holes in the wall. The two mech's stepped out, rubbing their sore heads as Smokescreen grabbed hold of both of their scruff bars. "I want to make one thing very clear gentlemechs. If I ever hear you talked about Jeff that way again, your head will be up your afts, literally." He stated with a growl "If you have a problem with him, you have a problem with me." He added.
"And me as well." Bluestreak spoke up loudly "And don't forget I'm not just an interrogator." He then added "I'm a trained sniper. And lately my fingers just been itching to fire a bullet into something." He noted.
"We're sorry! Honest! We didn't know he was listening!"
The sound of metal being dented as Smokescreen bashed both their helms in with a fist was defining. The next thing anyone knew, the two mechs had been punted, quite hard, into the large walkway that hung overhead. Sending it, and them crashing down, though luckily no one had been on it. To say the least, neither mech moved, lying there in stasis lock that would take days to come out of. "Now that we've got that settled." He spun around towards the remainder of the Autobots nearby "Does anyone else have a problem with my nephew?" He snarled.
He had never seen so many mechs run for the hills in his life. Jeff merely stood there, his mouth dropped about eight inches to the point it looked like it may drop further and hit the floor. Smokescreen merely smirked, making his way towards Jeff. "They won't be bothering you again, and if the rest know what's good for them, no one will." Smokescreen snorted "Anyone here does that again, and the first thing you do is come to me or Blue, got it?" He asked.
"Y-Yes, sir." Jeff muttered.
"Good, now come on." Smokescreen nodded "We should get you to bed while I'm still not confined to the brig."
As Jeff quietly followed Smokescreen towards the room he and Bluestreak shared, he tried to process what had just happened. No one, and that meant no one had ever stood up for him like that. Prowl had protected him yes, but only when he was physically harmed. To have someone stand up for him like that was new, and it felt good. Slowly, he smiled a bit, allowing himself to quietly relax to himself, he turned to Bluestreak. "I never knew anyone cared that much about me." He admitted quietly.
Bluestreak merely smiled back at him. "You're family now, kid." Bluestreak stated calmly "We'll always love you more than you'll probably ever know."
And somehow, Jeff didn't doubt that for a second.
