CHAPTER 3
A Glimmer of Progress

Five days. 4 hours. And twenty-two minutes. That was how long, by Jeff's estimates, he had been kept "prisoner" by the Autobots. If anything, at least they seemed to treat him well, he had a bed under him, a roof over his head, and enough stuff to keep him entertained. They were all nice for the most part too, nice, but still jailers, he would remind himself, he couldn't overlook the fact he was being "helped" against his will. Arcee and Sideswipe, on the other hand, were pains in the neck who couldn't put up with him if they wanted to. Jeff had tested them, and tested them, and they just seemed to fail every one of them with their lack of patience.

He was fairly certain that by the time by the time he was out of there, someone in the house was going to kill the others. And it was only a matter of time and place when it came to who would do it. "Jeff?" Jeff sat up on his bed as Arcee entered his room slowly "Just wanted to let you know I was home." Jeff only nodded his head towards her silently "Are you going to come out of your room today?" She questioned rather annoyed.

"Why? You guys would rather I wasn't here. So I'm giving you what you want." Jeff replied, shaking his head "The more I stay in my room, the more you can pretend that you and your... Whatever you call it, are still living alone." He laid his head back against the pillow "You're welcome."

Arcee tilted her head to one side for a moment. She nearly left the room once more, nearly, but to Jeff's frustration, she simply held behind at the doorway. "You know, don't tell Sideswipe I said this... But I was getting a little bored of it just being the two of us." Arcee stared at Jeff, who simply returned the stare "I wasn't frustrated when you were brought because I didn't like the idea of company." She then added "We've just never quite been the type to handle parenting." She added.

"I'm not asking for parents." Jeff muttered.

"Because you're better off alone."

"Exactly."

Arcee tilted her head a little bit towards Jeff, rolling her optics slightly. "If it helps, we're just here to be your friends, take care of you. Not be your parents." Arcee explained, looking at him calmly "And if you ask me, the sooner we all start getting along, the sooner this becomes easier for all of us." Jeff stared at the pattern of the bedding as if it was something amazing "You remind me so much of him." She commented.

"Who?"

"Sideswipe." Jeff stared up at her silently "It's no wonder that the two of you hardly get along. It's the personality clash of the century." Jeff snorted, hating the idea of being anything like that mech "Come on, you have to like somebody out there." She added "You can't go through life hating the world." She added, though Jeff continued to be silent "Hey, you like motorcycles?" She questioned.

Jeff seemed to perk up, the slightest bit, his eyes tracing her face, seemingly for what she was getting at. "Maybe, why?" Jeff questioned.

...

Jeff had never ridden a motorcycle before, only admired them from afar. Yet, riding Arcee was like an adrenaline rush that even he couldn't contain his thrill doing. If it was enough to keep him forgetting the fact he was riding a pink motorcycle in broad daylight, you knew it was something. The rush ended as soon as they came to a stop at a stoplight, allowing Jeff to catch his breath. "That... Was SICK." Jeff muttered, leaning against her handlebars "How fast can you go?" He asked.

"I could break the sound barrier." Jeff opened his mouth "Not happening." She answered, as if reading his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Jeff leaned back on the seat slightly, his eyes scanning his surroundings. New Chicago was sprawling, bigger than the old one, to be certain, he'd never been in it, but now, he was in awe. Moving through the sidewalks with only his eyes, he took it all in, silently amazed. The gaze of awe was short lived, however, as they fell again. If there was one thing he hated it was seeing what he saw that moment, a small family, parents, a son, a daughter. He grimaced, and leaned forward again, and if he were totally honest, wished silently that it could have been him.

It had been him at one time, he reminded himself, he had had a family, a mom, a dad... A life. But it was so long ago now that if he were being even more honest, he'd almost forgotten what it was like. "Jeffrey." Jeff stared down at Arcee "Hold on tight, kid. I'm about to take off." She added.

"Oh right, sorry."

It was the first time that Arcee hadn't heard a snarky response out of the young man. Though it seemed confusing, Arcee quickly took note of the family just feet from them. Undoubtedly, she understood why exactly his mind was somewhere else. "Hey." Arcee grabbed his attention quickly "The more you dwell on whatever's going on in that head of yours, the more it's going to bother you." She commented.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jeff commented "I'm fine."

Arcee wanted to reply with a snark to that, but deciding it best not to, she held herself back. Taking a deep breath, she thought through her next words carefully. "You know, it's alright to show emotions. I can tell you're sad, and there's nothing wrong with that." Jeff remained silent "You may talk tough kid, but I'd bet that's just because you're hiding." She added.

"From what?" Jeff scoffed.

"From your emotions, from life." Arcee commented "I've been there, I don't think there's an Autobot alive who hasn't."

Jeff shifted a bit, it was odd, but he knew what Arcee was trying to do, she was trying to relate and offer advice. It had been a long time since Jeff had had someone who did that. Mostly, when he was tossed around from home to home he was mostly just there, no one really cared enough to speak to him let alone offer comfort. "Arcee?" Jeff hesitated a moment "Thank you."

There was a long silence from Arcee, uncertain of what she had done to deserve such a statement. She felt Jeff rest his head against the upper half of her bike form, and shuddered a bit. It was a side of the child she had never seen before, and never expected to see for that matter. "You're welcome." She decided on the reply of.

For the first time since he had come to live with them, she felt a small semblance of hope that it wouldn't be all bad.

...

Jeff had woken up from his sleep plenty of nights on his own. But it was the first time he woke up with a roof over his head, and somehow, that did make it different. Rubbing his eye tiredly, he pulled himself into the den. The small apartment was mostly quiet, other than the various noises, his body was worn, but he was obviously not going to sleep that night. "I thought we told you bed by eleven." Jeff turned to stare at Sideswipe, who was standing in the kitchen "It's nearly five in the morning." He added.

"Who cares?" Jeff scoffed.

Sideswipe stared at the boy calmly, his optic's softening a bit as he saw the rather timid look on Jeff's face. Moving forward a bit, and hesitating a bit, he looked upon him while trying to keep up a bit of intimidation. "What's wrong, small fry?" Sideswipe commented "And don't tell me nothing, because this is the first time I've seen emotion on your face."

Jeff seated himself on a human sized seat, shaking his head and shrugging silently. "I had a nightmare, it was no big deal." Jeff grunted, avoiding eye contact with the mech "I have 'em at leas twice a week and I've dealt with them on my own just fine." He shifted a bit, looking at Sidesiwpe "What are you doing up so late?" He questioned.

"I have work in two hours." Sideswipe replied, tilting his head "You wanna talk about that nightmare."

"Why? You don't care."

Sideswipe didn't in all truth, but knowing he'd have to try to get through to this kid in some way, he sighed. "What makes you think I don't?" Sideswipe seated himself in front of Jeff calmly "In case you've forgotten, I've been in the same place you are now." He pointed towards Jeff slowly "I probably get what's going through your head better than YOU do. So talk." He added.

"I can't talk about it." Jeff sighed "It's too embarrassing."

"Try me."

Jeff wanted to reply back with a snarky retort, but as he stared up silently he saw something. Sideswipe might not have genuinely cared, but he wasn't leaving, he wasn't getting irritated. There was a patience to him that seemed almost foreign to Jeff. "It wasn't one I had before... It was about that bug." Jeff shifted a bit "I guess I'm more scared of him than I thought. because I imagined him just... Eating me, torturing me... Making me suffer." He shuddered a bit "I didn't realize... How scary that thing actually was."

"Ugly too." Jeff snorted quietly at that, feeling a large hand gently placed on his knee "You shouldn't be afraid of him though. He's why you're here, and you've got a whole base of Autobots between him and you." He then peered at Jeff calmly "Besides, I wouldn't let anything happen to you. You're a pain in the butt, but it'd be against my morals." He added.

Jeff gave a small smile at that, staring up at Sideswipe. "You're so full of yourself." He shook his head.

"And it's warranted." Sideswipe leaned forward "I'm here to protect you, and I'll do it." He stood slightly "If that's the only thing keeping you from sleeping than you should go back." He nodded towards his bedroom "While you're not being quite as much of a pain in the aft." He added.

Jeff smirked a bit, standing to his feet, he wordlessly made his way towards the bedroom. Sideswipe hadn't gotten the "thank you" Arcee had, but a part of him had noticed the change in Jeff. They hadn't gotten through to him quite yet, that was certain, but for the first time, Sideswipe could notice the faintest glimmer of progress.

And that was at the very least a start.