CHAPTER 51
Change of Dream
When he came home, Jeff nearly tackled Prowl into a hug. The mech hadn't seen it coming, but hugged his son back tightly in response. It had been a good week, but it was definitely nice to be able to hug the young human again. "Primus, I didn't know you'd miss me this much." Prowl noted as he deposited the young human on his shoulder "I know you've been missed quite a bit here though." He noted
Jeff had in truth missed the mech a great deal, he'd missed all the Autobots in fact. Leaning against the crook of the second-in-command's neck, he sighed inwardly to himself. "I missed you a lot, man. You have no idea." Jeff replied with a happy sigh of relief "Uncle Blue and Smokey are awesome. But nothing compares to this right here." He admitted.
Prowl smiled a bit, admittedly, he was quite glad to have him there too. Ever since the incident with the two mechs, Prowl had worried about how he may be treated from then on over there. Dipping his head, with a slight nuzzle against Jeff's cheek, Prowl chuckled. "On that, I could not agree more." Prowl replied gently "The apartment has felt very empty without you at home." He noted "Tell me, did any of them bother you again?" The boy shook his head "Good."
Jeff could tell that had concerned Prowl a great deal. Then again, Jeff knew that Prowl was protective, that was not news for him. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back against the shoulder plate of the mech, and looked over at him. "I'm sorry that I brought so much... Drama into your life." Jeff finally spoke up "I didn't realize that I'd get so many optics turned to you in that way." He added.
"Nonsense." Prowl grunted "Many did not like me to begin with. They simply used you as an excuse." He vented quietly "They would do that whether they were my own metal and energon, or were simply my ward." He noted, pointing to him gently "Do not let them get to you, if anyone talks that way again they'll find themselves in the brig faster than they can say "oops"." He noted.
"You didn't tell Ratchet what happened, did you?"
Prowl snorted at the mental image of telling Ratchet what had happened. He could easily picture the fit of rage the mech would have gone into, which was exactly why he had avoided telling him. After all, he was Jeff's secondary guardian, or "godfather" if you will. If the way Ratchet treated his own adoptive sparkling, First Aid, was any indication one would be wise to fear Ratchet that angry. "I fear you wouldn't have had a base to come home to if I had." Prowl admitted "I don't suggest telling him either if you don't want to see a very angry side of him." He noted.
"As opposed to?"
"I heard that." Jeff grinned a bit as Ratchet came out of his med bay, rolling his optics a bit as he did "Remind me to teach you a thing or two about manners on the days or weeks you're staying with me." He commented quite bluntly "Because something tells me that someone has slacked in that department." He stated as he stared at Prowl "Have you even done his training lately?" He questioned.
"Of course." Prowl spoke up "Just because I'm in the human's so-called "honeymoon" phase of fostering does not mean I am no longer his mentor." He turned to Jeff slowly "He had a week-long break, but he will be returning to it." He added.
Jeff groaned a bit at that, the thought of the self-defense parts of the training already made his muscles sore. But as the hostage situation had proven, it was more than worth the sore muscles. If nothing else, it would help to prepare him for when and if that happened again. "Way it's been going, dad's thinking I'm probably not good for tactics though." He then added "Something more human, lawyer, defense attorney..." A pause "Doctor." He noted.
Ratchet glanced over at Prowl expectantly, the second-in-command shrugged slightly. "He doesn't just have a sharp eye for reading people. He notices the little details too." He then admitted "You'd be the better judge of that than I would be, however." He noted.
Ratchet seemed to consider his words for a minute, much to Jeff's confusion. He wasn't sure why Prowl had even said that, but the glint in Ratchet's optics gave him the smallest hint. "Mmmmm. Meet me in the med bay tomorrow before school, Jeffrey." Ratchet finally spoke "I'm quite interested to see if your guardian may be correct." He then added "Don't be late." He noted.
Somehow, Jeff had a feeling that Prowl had planned on just this.
...
"So let me get this straight. If I really want to be a doctor, you'd become my mentor?"
Ratchet titled his head at Jeff's obvious confusion, but slowly nodded his head in response. It was a lot to ask of Ratchet, taking on an apprentice, but he had his reasons. "Prowl is trained for tactical procedures, and he has a great deal on his plate as-is." Ratchet explained "Whereas if you truly have the sharpness of a medic, or as you call it "doctor", I will be able to help you use the skills you have to do so." He noted "Though the self-defense training would still be Prowl's job. As I am trained very little in hand-to-hand combat." He admitted.
Jeff looked timid at the thought of apprenticing under Ratchet. He had considered the doctoral profession more than once, as he wanted to help with the war effort, but knew Prowl would never agree to him enlisting. He looked down a bit, kicking his legs back and forth slowly, looking up at Ratchet slowly. "Well, I'd love to be a doctor. But are you sure you want to teach me?" Jeff questioned "I mean I could go to school, become a doctor by some other means." He noted.
Ratchet gave a hardy laugh at the thought of Jeff not starting training such as this with him. Crouching low enough to look the child in the eyes, he gave a tiny smirk. "I'm your godfather, you may go to school for this, but frag it if I'm not teaching you all I know first." He noted calmly "Look at First Aid, I taught him everything I know and he's one of the most respected Autobot medics we have." He explained.
Jeff shifted a bit, his eyes looking into the Autobots soft blue ones. If he didn't know any better, he might have thought that Ratchet may actually be excited at the thought of taking on teaching him the field. "Well I guess, I could you know... Use a few pointers." He shifted in his seat a little bit, uncertain "I just don't know if I'll be any good and I don't want you to feel any more stress because of that." He added.
Ratchet smirked, standing to his feet again, chuckling lightly. There was one thing that he did have patience for, and that was teaching. It was perhaps the one time he didn't completely act gruff and authoritative in his med bay. "No stress at all, you're my "godson" as you humans call it." Ratchet stated calmly "It will be my honor to teach you everything I know." He then turned again to look at him "However, you must do everything I say, and follow my lead exactly." He noted "It will be a lot of hard work." He noted.
Jeff chewed his lip, knowing that he was right, without a doubt. He didn't imagine that being a medic would be easy, or learning to be one would be the least bit easy either. But at the same time, Jeff saw it as an opportunity to explore a profession he was greatly interested in, as well as an opportunity to get to know his godfather even better. "Alright, Ratch. You've got yourself an apprentice." He then added "I just hope I don't let you down or anything."
"You won't, Jeffrey." Ratchet noted "Of that I am certain."
Jeff smiled a little bit, inside, he could feel excitement and nervousness all at once. But even so, he was more than certain that he would enjoy it, somehow, it felt right and he was certain this was what he supposed to do. Perhaps it was strange, considering he had wanted to be on the front lines for so long, but it did feel right. "Yeah, well, I'll tell Prowl about it when I get home from school." Jeff noted "I need to get going quick, I'm gonna be late." He noted.
Ratchet nodded his head, setting down a few tools he had attached to his hip plate. "I will drive you to school as well as tell Prowl of my decision, Jeffrey." Ratchet noted "By driving you to school I can also explain your tardiness. Primus knows you have too many tardies on your record already." He then added "Something you need to work on, big time."
"You've been reading my school records?" Jeff crossed his arms a bit "Such a breech of personal space."
Ratchet smirked a bit. "Get out there, pit spawn." Ratchet noted "You've got ten minutes."
Jeff jogged towards the door, but stopped a bit in the doorway. He turned to the greenish yellow mech with a small smile. He took a moment of thought in his next words, but ultimately went for the blunt approach. "Love you big guy." As he headed out the door.
Ratchet was silent, not being one to outwardly say "I love you" to many people. But what mattered was that by the statement alone, Jeff did understand how much he cared about him, and indeed, felt a sort of love towards the boy. Smirking to himself now, Ratchet had a feeling that these next several years of training were going to be very interesting.
