CHAPTER 19
Protection

The night was Waspinator's ally when he would stalk Jeff. It wasn't easy to get near the Autobot base, but it was do-able, and if he flew high enough, he could often see straight into his window. His optics peered inside, watching as the sleeping boy laid unmoving in his bed. It would have been so easy to break the window, to snatch him from his bed, and fly off. But it would also have half the Autobot army on his tail, and needless to say, that was the last thing that Waspinator wanted, as it would anger Blackarachnia greatly.

His claw traced the side of the glass as he growled lightly, the boy was proving to be a pain. And though he knew that he needed, without a doubt, to handle him soon, it would not be an easy snatch. He needed Jeff alone, and the only way he could do that was to get him away from the Corvette, motorcycle, and the police car. Waspinator scowled, the police car really was the biggest issue, Jeff never seemed to leave his side, and the last thing he wanted was to anger the Autobot second-in-command.

The sound of footsteps in the night grabbed his attention, his head moved downward. With a quiet thud he landed on the ground, standing upright to face Tarantulas. "What Tarantula-bot doing here?" Waspinator optics crossed angrily "Waspinator have Jeffrey Devlin covered. Waspinator waiting to make his move, need. No. Help." He hissed.

"I simply wanted to check in on your progress." Tarantulas smirked, his optics staring him over "Still nothing. How hard is it to get him away? He's under the protection-"

"Waspinator see him with police-bot." Tarantulas's optics widened at that "When boy not with guardians, boy with police-bot. Police-bot scare Waspinator, police-bot kill him." He added.

Tarantulas didn't know how to respond to this new bit of information. Without a doubt, Jeff being around two Autobots of a substantially lower rank was one thing. But the second-in-command of the entire army? It was enough of a thought to send chills up his spine as he straightened. "That has to be stopped." Tarantulas mused "If the boy becomes close to that mech, we'll never stand a chance of grabbing him." He turned to Waspinator slowly "We need to break them up."

"How?"

Tarantulas was deep in thought after that question. It was not an easy question to answer, not for their race at least. Attachment ran deep in the sparks of any Cybertronian, and attacking someone they were close to was a dangerous thing. "We know much about May Devlin's family." Tarantulas smirked "We can separate them and make him open all at once." He chuckled quietly "Give me time to do some research." He noted.

"What Waspinator do?"

Tarantulas nodded to him thoughtfully, a grin of madness on his face. "Continue your watch over him, watch how close he has become to the second-in-command." Tarantulas smirked slowly "Perhaps he can become much more useful than just against his mother." He then added "I wonder if we could bring an end to the life of the great Prowl as well." He noted.

"But-"

"The Autobot will not allow harm to come to the child." Tarantulas hissed "Not if he cares enough to spend such time with him."

As he blended into the shadow, and made his way from view, Waspinator wondered what he could possibly have planned.

...

Prowl was glad to have things with Jeff back to as close to normal as possible. Though things would never completely be the same, it was nice to have him on the same level again. Though he was still his apprentice, their better understanding of their feelings most definitely brought their relationship to new heights, which he didn't mind. Though he had nearly blown a fuse when Jeff had explained the full reasoning behind the fight that had caused the young human to be beaten black and blue.

The mech peered over at the young man from the corner of his optics. He was sitting and doing his meditations for the morning, as they often started their morning exercises. A few moments passed before Prowl stood from his own meditation position. "Jeff?" Jeff stared up at Prowl, who stared down at him "I wish to do something different with our training this morning." He stated.

Jeff tilted his head a bit, standing himself. Prowl had always said that meditation was key, and to say the least, he felt extremely confused. As Prowl's holoform came out, Jeff watched him silently. "Not all of your skills are for tactics, you know. They do well in a fight as well." Prowl spoke calmly, his eyes watching Jeff slowly "Today, I want to teach you how to use what you've learned in a fight." He noted.

"You said that wasn't the answer."

Prowl shook his head, knowing full well what he had said. "Not always, but I worry about you, especially after what took place earlier this week." Prowl explained, his voice low and calm "If you are taken by a Decepticon, you cannot do much. But if you are attacked again, at the very least, I can teach you how to defend yourself to the best of your ability." He then noted "On Cybertron, I was one of the best fighters there was." He then added "You're in good hands training under me."

"Prowl, I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't."

Prowl threw a fist with that, Jeff quickly ducked, though it was a soft enough blow that it was an easy one. Jeff knew at that moment that Prowl was serious, quickly throwing an uppercut, Prowl had his fist caught and his arm twisted behind his back quickly. "When you're low, you want to kick." Prowl spoke cooly "Punching requires you to rise, and is too easily caught, on the ground, you can knock my feet from under me." He flipped Jeff onto the grass, careful and gently.

Jeff carefully climbed to his feet, with a start, he slammed his fist forward. Prowl caught it again, but this time, the boy had seen it coming, as a knee shot up into his holoform's chin, knocking him back. "Very good." Prowl smiled with pride "Now you're using your skills. Continue to watch my movements, predict what I do next." He knocked Jeff back softly "Remember it's a sparring match, the object is not to hurt each other. Make your moves smooth and steady."

Jeff didn't even manage to get more than a few blows at Prowl. The mech was an exceptionally skilled fighter, before he could block his moves, Prowl had already predicted it and reacted. Jeff had known he was the Autobot second-in-command, and known he had to be a fighter because of that, but there was nothing that could have prepared him for each move he made. Even while going easy on him, Prowl had managed to make his body a great deal sore, and by the time they were done, Jeff felt like collapsing.

"You'll get better." Prowl commented.

"You kicked my butt." Jeff muttered.

Prowl smiled, putting a hand out, and helping lift Jeff to his feet, the boy could feel his weak knees. Taking a deep breath, Jeff rubbed his knees, and let himself relax despite the soreness his body felt. "You're good, you know that?" Jeff muttered "What was that? Tai-kwan-do, taijitsu?" He questioned.

"Circuit-su." Prowl replied "A famous form of martial arts on Cybertron, only mastered by a few."

Jeff swore inwardly, wondering how Prowl could have ever thought he'd pull off facing him. Jeff had never been trained in martial arts of any kind, and going against the master of anything may as well have been bringing a knife to a gun fight. "Jeez, Prowl." Jeff replied finally "How do you expect me to keep up with that? It had to have taken you like, years..." He noted.

"Centuries of your time actually." Prowl commented "But now that I have established you have no prior experience in martial arts... I will simply teach you the basics of combat. Enough to know how to protect yourself." He explained, taking a step forward, and setting his hand on the boy's shoulder "Another day, of course, as I can already tell you're ready to collapse." He explained.

Jeff stared up at Prowl's holoform calmly, nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, the basics would probably be good enough." Jeff chuckled silently "But..." He straightened a bit, putting his guards up "If I'm going to learn from you, I'm going to learn from you." He commented "Why not show me now? I still have some energy left in me."

"Are you certain?"

"You have me for four hours of training, Prowl. Do your magic."

Prowl had to smile a bit at that, stepping behind Jeff, he put his hands on his arms. "One leg forward, and one back." Prowl explained, Jeff did as he was told "You want to position yourself as a "boxer" in your kind would do. You will not fight in such a manner but the stance." He moved the boy's fists in front of his face "But you will start out with this in order to stay on your guard." Moving his hands to his waist, Prowl hesitated "Can you...?"

Jeff noticed, and for a moment, he felt tension, fear. His mind wondered what Prowl could be doing, if he would hurt him. But then he closed his eyes, he reminded himself that this was Prowl, he wouldn't hurt him. Biting his lip, Jeff nodded his head. "It's cool, Prowl. Just, show me what I gotta do..." He smiled "I'm not afraid... Not anymore." He explained.

Prowl smiled wider, moving his hands onto his waist, and moving him gently to one side. "Like this." He spoke calmly "Now, when I say the word..." Prowl moved to step around him, standing in front of him "I want you to swing your fist as hard as you can in a vertical motion." Jeff nodded his head slowly, uncertainly "Go." He replied.

As Jeff began to go at it again, from a distance, an almost amused Optimus Prime stood in the doorway to the inside of the base. The mech's mouth curved into a smile, optics gleaming a bit. It was most certainly not ending up the way he had expected, not in the least. But it seemed his feelings about the boy, and his place on the base, were coming true after all.

...

A/N: You'll get some Sideswipe/Arcee/Jeff interaction next chapter. :P I know that's been lacking for a few chapters. Anyways, reviews make my day!