CHAPTER 27
Too Much "Excitement"

Prowl felt that Primus had blessed him with many things over the course of his life. He'd been blessed with a job that brought him great joy, blessed to have survived the destruction of Cybertron, and now he'd been blessed to have Jeff living with him. The boy had unpacked and was currently taking up a side of his couch, some television series playing on the television. Normally, he may get irritated, and tell the person watching to turn it off, but he didn't seem to mind that night. "Jeff?" Th boy looked towards him slowly "You hungry, yet? It's nearly seven o'clock." He added.

"Prowl, I ate an hour ago, you know that." Jeff shook his head "Just relax man."

Unfortunately for them both "relaxation" was never, and had never been, at the top of Prowl's vocabulary. He'd never been in charge of another being beyond a few hours to a day, now Jeff was his responsibility. Suddenly, the realization that it wouldn't be all fun as he might have hoped hit him, and he now realized he may have added on more stress than before. "Forgive me, Jeff." Prowl finally spoke up "Perhaps I am nervous as this is my first night of being someone's caretaker." He explained "I do not wish to, as you would put it, "screw up"." He added.

"Oh trust me, you will." Jeff replied "But that's because everyone always does, not because you're bad at it. At least, that's how I see it." He smiled a little bit at him "Come on Prowl, just relax, sit down, grab an energon cube, watch the boob tube with me." He pointed towards the couch "It's Bates Motel, good, quality-" He began.

"It's based on a classic film known as "Psycho"." Prowl replied, having looked it up "More horror drivel."

Jeff rolled his eyes a bit, flipping through channels until he came upon a more "appropriate" show. Or at least, what Prowl would call "appropriate". "Here, The Fox and The Hound. Great, classic Disney fluff." Jeff replied in an amused tone "Now will you send that holoform of yours over here and we can watch it?" He then smiled "You deserve to take a thirty minute break at least."

For a moment, Prowl was silent, but slowly, his holoform appeared on the human sized couch. A couple of moments passed, and he felt body weight against him, slowly peering down, he could see Jeff there, his head leaned against his shoulder. "Jeff..." Jeff stared up at him, chewing his lip a bit "Since when do you like contact such as this?" He questioned.

For a moment, the boy was silent, as if searching for an answer himself, but slowly, he shrugged. "Why not, you're kinda like my family now..." Jeff replied, honesty in his facial features "Besides, I know you're not going to hurt me." He slowly started to move "But if this is awkward for you, I uh..." He bit his lip again "I'll move." He finished.

Prowl simply moved his arm around his charge gently, moving him back to where he was. Prowl didn't mind the boy being near him in the least, in fact, the mech preferred it. Had it been any other human, he was likely to find it awkward, but he did enjoy this closeness with whom he hoped would be his future son. "No, I believe I can handle it." Prowl chuckled "I've done this before, haven't I?" He questioned.

"Still sorry about that."

"Yes, well, you were scared." Prowl stroked the boy's arm gently "I'm glad to see that has changed. Because you are right, Jeffrey. I would never hurt you."

About an hour had passed before Prowl noticed the figure outside the window. His optics twisted, and, staring down with his holoform, to make sure Jeff was distracted, he quietly made his way to the window. It was not often that Prowl got the feeling he was being watched, but when he did, the second-in-command was often correct. Outside the night was silent and still, but the more he scanned, the more he was convinced. Until he saw him.

Slag!

Prowl deactivated his holoform quickly, bringing out his blaster from his subspace. "Prowl, what's going on?" Jeff questioned, standing to his feet, and staring over at the mech "The movie wasn't THAT cheesy, was it?" The lights went off slowly, Jeff taking a step forward "Prowl?" He questioned.

"Shush."

It was the first time that Prowl had ever spoken aggressively to Jeff. But the moment the glass sprayed, Jeff could understand why. He stared up to see the blood red optics and reeled back in utter terror, crawling backwards. "Jeff, run!" Prowl shouted as he narrowly dodged the swing of the new Decepticon's blade, Jeff had backed up to the wall frozen in terror "JEFFREY!"

The massive Decepticon, who nearly blended into the shadows, lurched his head towards Jeff. The boy had never been as scared as he was now, a Decepticon had literally leapt into the Autobot's base, something that was supposed to be a sanctuary. "Ohhhh, you have a little pet." The Decepticon chuckled evenly "Come here little human, I won't hurt you." The Decepticon teased.

Prowl sprang at the Decepticon like a lion leaping upon a gazelle. Jeff had never seen the second-in-command in actual battle before, but it was quite the sight to see him tackle the large Decepticon to the ground, holding him there. "I wouldn't touch him if you want to keep your head." Prowl threatened, taking hold of the top and bottom of his head for emphasis "Jeff, get up, run. Get Optimus." He shouted.

Jeff found his feet just in time for the Decepticon to launch Prowl from his back. He felt cold metal clamp onto his waist as the Decepticon gave a deep, but low, chuckle as Jeff screamed. "Jeff, eh? Well, Jeffy-boy, would you like to go for a ride?" Placing a finger on the side of his helm, the Decepticon spoke "Strikefist to Balthazaar, I've got one human hostage, found with SIC Prowl." He paused "Bringing him along." He added.

"Get away from him!"

Prowl launched himself again, but the mech had already leapt out the shattered window he'd created. Strikefist fell several feet with the screaming human before his alternate form, a large military aircraft formed around him. Jeff could barely move before the seat belt shot over him. And not even a second had passed before Prowl had leapt out of the window himself, and latched onto the plane. Falling from the air was, by all accounts, the most frightening thing Jeff had ever experienced.

The deafining thud that the Decepticon made as they crashed scared him. All sides of the alternate form seemed to crush inward, his body trembling as he believed he would be crushed alive. The sound of a cockpit being ripped off was the most relieving sound he'd ever heard, finding Prowl standing over him. "Primus Jeffrey, I told you to run." Prowl snapped "Can you move?" He questioned.

"How did you-?"

"I'm a trained Autobot second-in-command. I'm prepared for most situations." Prowl commented "But we need to move. The Decepticons are still attacking the base and I need to get you to safety." Jeff nodded his head slowly "Did you get hurt?" Jeff nodded his head slowly, the mech did a slow scan over his body "Minor sprains, a few cracked ribs." He slowly reached inside, and plucked Jeff out "You're going to be in pain, but what matters now is that we keep you out of Decepticon hands." He explained.

"But the base."

"We can go back once the Decepticons have cleared out and it has been repaired." Prowl replied firmly "If this one went for you, they'll all go for you. We won't risk that happening." He paused "I won't let that happen." He slowly transformed around him, moving Jeff into the backseat of his alternate mode "Try not to move or hurt anything more until we get to our destination." He explained.

"Where are we going?"

Prowl didn't respond, simply flooring it and driving through New Chicago in a hurry. Jeff was silent, listening and looking for any sign of where they were headed. He quietly wondered how the Decepticons had attacked so quickly, so brutally. Were they really so powerful? He was almost certain that if Prowl hadn't managed to bring the Decepticon down, he wouldn't be alive right now. Slowly, the mech pulled to a stop an hour later, popping open his door. Prowl's holoform gently helped him out of the back seat, and Jeff got his first view of the small home they had come to.

"Where are we?" Jeff questioned.

"Safe House." Prowl replied "It's owned by a former ally of ours, he houses anyone we need to protect here whenever our base is compromised." He explained, Jeff only nodded his head slightly "C'mon, now. His wife is a medic, she'll look at your wounds." He shook his head a bit "I am quite sorry for nearly hurting you further. I had no other way of ensuring your safety." He added.

"It was pretty awesome anyway." Jeff smiled weakly "No one's ever cared that much."

Prowl stared at the young boy as he leaned his head against Prowl's shoulder. The mech shifted him a bit, thinking the night over for himself. This had not exactly been how he'd planned to spend his first night as Jeff's guardian, but it was better than what could have happened. "As I've told you before, Jeff. Nothing will happen to you while I'm around." Prowl replied bluntly "But when I tell you to run, you need to run. This is usually Bumblebee's job." He explained.

"Feel safer with you."

Prowl allowed himself to smile slightly at that, but quickly headed for the front door. With any luck, this would be the most excitement they'd have for a while.

...

A/N: I figured the 'Cons had been too quiet, so I thought I'd make this chapter. Hope you enjoyed, reviews make my day!