CHAPTER 43
The Aftermath

Bumblebee was fixed up easily, but for obvious reasons, Ratchet decided to keep Trevor overnight. For that reason, Bumblebee did not leave, like he would most of the time. No, he was not letting Trevor out of his sight again for a long while. Ratchet didn't mind much either, given what they had been through the last several days, he could at least let Bumblebee be a worried father for the time being. He approached the young mech, who was practically recharging beside his son's berth with a sigh. "He's still very stable," He told the young scout. "If you wanted to leave-."

"Not in this lifetime," Bumblebee snorted. "And don't start preaching that he'll be fine, either." He added bluntly. "Last time I took that stance, he was taken away by the Decepticons," He explained. "And while I don't expect that to happen tonight I just.. I don't want to leave him yet," He explained to which Ratchet nodded with a groan.

Bumblebee did, however, hope that at some point he would finally recharge. After all, he was exhausted beyond words, and who wouldn't be after the last few days? He sighed quietly, looking at the slight burns on Trevor's body. It quietly reminded him slightly that this wasn't the first time he'd been burned, and again he thought of his biological father. It was a thought he had to push away, because it made him sick thinking he might have had to save him from his father, if this were a different time. And for that matter, he figured the boy had gone through a lot more trauma on having to relive that feeling, or at least something similar.

A feeling he'd promised himself he'd never let Trevor go through again, and ultimately failed to live up to. He carefully traced the thick of Trevor's back, cooing him slightly as Ratchet watched him. "I just hope he's going to be okay," Bumblebee half added to himself, and to Ratchet. "He was beat like pit by Michael, and then he went through this... I can't imagine what's running through that "brain" of his right now."

"Well, he's lucky," Bumblebee looked confused at Ratchet's words. "Because he has a sire that loves him. And would do anything in his power to see to it he gets through whatever he may be going through," He watched out of the corner of his optic as Trevor seemed to shift as Bumblebee stroked him. "It amazes me to watch you with him, you know. The more time you two spend the more I see you grow."

Bumblebee shrugged his shoulders, and smiled. He was growing, that much he knew. After all, there was a time where he wouldn't put up such a fight with Barricade. But now, when he had threatened and attacked his child he had pushed himself to new limits. And what was more, he was maturing, growing, learning to be a dad more and more each day. To tell the truth, he liked it, a lot. "Anyways," Ratchet sighed. "I have work to get done. Will you be alright if I leave you out here with him?"

"If I need you, you're just in your office," Bumblebee nodded. "Go ahead, Ratch."

Ratchet nodded, and made his way into his office without another word. Bumblebee leaned back, and let his optics offline and his body fall into recharge. About an hour later, Trevor's heart rate spiked, something he felt instantly. After all, Ratchet had removed the bond inhibitors and such an action was no longer dulled. He quickly onlined his optics to see that Trevor was fighting someone in his sleep, mumbling and groaning. "Trev," Bumblebee cooed. "It's alright bud, I'm here."

Trevor's eyes reluctantly flew open as he felt Bumblebee rub his back. "S-Sorry," Trevor muttered. "I thought," He shivered slightly. "I just thought..."

"Hush," Bumblebee replied gently, rubbing his son's face with a finger. "It's alright kiddo, you were just having one of those nightmares you humans have," Trevor sighed in relief, laying against the pillows of the berth. "I'm glad to see you awake even if you should be sleeping. I know that you were okay, but I could never be too sure..."

"Dad," Trevor reached a hand over, and touched his father's finger. "I'm right here, I'm okay," He then added. "I'm your son after all, right? It's gonna take more than one Decepticon attack to take me down," He chuckled, to which Bumblebee only smirked. "Are you okay? I know you were having a tough time ever since I got rescued... I didn't go into any... You know, danger zones while I was out?"

Bumblebee shook his head, throughly thankful for that. The last thing he wanted was for Trevor to sustain any horrible injuries or go into a state of shock, but luckily for both of them, there was no sign of that. "Besides the burns and other minor stuff you're A-Okay, and have been through the night," Bumblebee explained. "The real question is if YOU'RE feeling alright?"

"My body hurts," Trevor groaned. "I feel like I was hit by a semi."

"Well it's gonna hurt a while from the damage they DID do," Bumblebee explained, looking at him. "The good news is it gets you out of lessons. The bad news is, it means you're probably going to need a bit of bed rest for the next week," Trevor groaned quietly, even if no longer sleeping on the cold floor was welcome. "Don't worry, you'll have me to keep you company."

Trevor nodded slowly, turning over on the berth to look his father straight-on. He was definitely glad to be back with Bumblebee, it was the safest place to be since his parents had died after all. And he proved time and time again that he loved him and would do anything for him. After all, only a father would walk into a death trap knowingly in order to save his kid. "You really need to be recharging," Bumblebee commented. "You're both physically and mentally exhausted. Primus, we all are," He noted.

"You won't leave me, right?" Trevor asked.

"Nu-uh," Bumblebee purred. "Get some sleep Trevor."

It was a relief to the mech when the boy finally heeded his advice, and fell into what he hoped would be a nightmare-less sleep.

...

The next week, the Autobots treated Trevor like a fragile piece of glass. Something which was less-than-fun, especially with all the holiday preparations going around. It didn't lessen Trevor's excitement for Christmas, but it did constantly remind him of the ordeal he had only just barely gotten over. Yet he knew they only did it because they all had been scared for him, and that admittedly made him feel good. In the meantime, the new Autobot had finally arrived, a few weeks later than expected, due to some glitches, as he had stated.

Trevor hadn't learned much about him yet, as they were still working things out with the Witwicky's. But from what he had gathered, his name was Jolt, and he was an assistant medic as well as a front-liner. And lucky for the Autobots, he had agreed almost instantly to make his place on Earth guarding the Witwicky family. So, less than three days ago, Jazz was sworn in as the official guardian, and bodyguard to the youngest of the Prime family, working under Ironhide. As a result, Jazz was around him almost as much as Bumblebee, but for the moment that was his job. No one expected another strike on him so soon, but if they were, he'd have an official guardian there to keep him safe.

And that was something he obviously didn't mind, after all, Jazz was his best friend as far as the Autobots went. What's more, the mech didn't hover, he gave Trevor his space, and mostly only got confrontational with Galloway. A fact which Trevor only made Trevor fistbump the Autobot lightly. The rest of the time he spent mostly interchangeably with Optimus, Elita, and Bumblebee, all of whom he stuck around because to put it simply, he felt safer around those two mechs, and one femme than he did with anyone else.

He'd also noticed in this time, however, that Ironhide also got a bit more protective. It was the oddest to watch as Ironhide would seek out more time to be around him, but he understood. Ironhide was his mentor and great uncle after all, the concern had to be there. No matter how hard the mech tried to snort it off, and comment that he had looked lonely or bored. But that afternoon, Ironhide was actually assigned to look after him, so no conversation/argument about it took place, rather the two of them just enjoyed themselves without such talk.

It still felt weird hanging out outside of training that way. But as it turned out, the more time they spent together, the more it was clear that Ironhide was a laid-back mech outside of the field. At the moment, he was simply seated on the mech's foot, enjoying a sandwich as they watched some of the recruits training. "Your burns are healing nicely," Ironhide told him, beginning the small-talk. "It's a pity you broke a few ribs though, just when we were making great progress on yer training."

"I can train with the pain," Trevor insisted. "It doesn't matter what grandpa or dad say, it hardly even hurts."

Ironhide smirked, as per usual, he liked the fire in Trevor's heart. But, also as per usual, there was no way he was going into combat training with him until he had a full recovery. Because Primus help him, if he ever saw Trevor in the med bay that long again, let alone becase he'd been reckless, he shivered slightly at the thought. "Your time will come again, Trevor," Ironhide assured him gently. "But I don't want to even begin to risk undoing any of the healing you're doing," He explained. "I know you're antsy, but you really scared us all there for a while."

Trevor nodded his head, finishing his sandwich and grumbling something under his breath. He stood from his perch on Ironhide's foot, and put his hands in his pockets. He hated to be staying there and feeling useless, especially given that Galloway took every advantage to comment on it. "I should be helping you guys more," Trevor replied. "But I can't even help repair crap until my stitches come out and it's bullcrap."

"Sometimes, I think ye need remindin' yer still just a youngling," Trevor turned to Ironhid with a look of surprise. "The soldiers can repair what needs to be repaired. It sure as pit isn't only your chore," He then added. "And for that matter, if this is nonsense Galloway is putting in your head... Well I said it once, and I'll say it a thousand times," He spat. "Screw him and his opinions."

Trevor nodded glumly, knowing that Ironhide was probably right about that last part. But all in all, since his capture, he felt useless regardless of what made him feel that way. "I guess I just hate that I had to get captured and go back to fragile glass again," Ironhide raised an optic. "That's why everyone's hovering, right?" He questioned.

Ironhide shifted a little, and shook his head, much to Trevor's shock. "No, I actually find ye tougher for going through it as well as you did," Trevor blinked slightly. "You're taking the trauma of it all, and took the situation like a champ. At least from what I saw," He explained. "We're being weary around you only because we want to make sure it stays that way. We want to be there to pick ye up if ye break Trevor, that's all we care about."

Trevor couldn't believe that Ironhide had just said he'd taken it like a champ. But he knew that given Ironhide was not one for lies, he at the very least meant every word of it. Even if it was, perhaps, only how he felt about the subject. "Alright, alright, I'll sit down and shut up, but I don't like it uncle 'Hide, I don't want to be kept like this for long." He gave the mech a sideways glance. "Maybe it's your stubbornness rubbing off on me but I don't like sitting around, at all."

Ironhide's engines rumbled a bit, smirking at him. Clearly, he did approve of his stubbornness rubbing off on his grandnephew if nothing else. "Well there is one thing you might be able to do for the moment," Ironhide suggested. "Fifty push-ups and sit-ups right here and now, they build up a lot of muscles. It'll do you good." He noted.

"You know I hate that," Trevor grumbled.

"Yer asking to train a little more. Beggers can't be choosers as ye humans say," Ironhide pointed out. "Now have at it, soldier."

Trevor learned quickly to never argue with Ironhide about being left out of the training again. After he'd finished, he was practically dropping to the floor if Ironhide hadn't helped him up. He quickly noticed the grin of approval on Ironhide's lips. "See? You're practically collapsin' from that," Ironhide noted. "This is why I won't put you through any more tests. Because you're still recovering, even the strongest soldiers need that." He noted.

Trevor took a deep breath, knowing that Ironhide was right despite his silence. In some ways though, he could not push the stubbornness away as much as he knew he should. But at least he could say he had pushed the pain away for a few minutes to do the challenge he had set in front of him. It wasn't much, of course, but it was a start.

...

"Michael Field harassed the Witwicky's for the fourth time last night."

Bumblebee tensed as Lennox said the words that morning. For appearance's sake, they had, of course, had to put out an "amber alert" for Trevor's disappearance. After all, if someone had gotten wind that he'd disappeared it would have looked quite bad if it wasn't reported. Unfortunately for them, it had meant, though Bumblebee had hidden it from Trevor, that Michael was indeed harassing the Witwicky family in hopes to get in touch with his son. Why he cared if he was okay, especially now that he'd been reported safe, was beyond Bumblebee. But his doorwings bristled slightly at the thought that the man was trying to somehow worm his way back into Trevor's life.

He stepped away from the computer screen he had been studying and shook his head. "He can't see him," Bumblebee told Lennox firmly, his voice unwaveringly dangerous. "He can't talk to him either. I saw that jerk, I know what he's like," He then added. "He doesn't want to get in touch with Trevor for a relationship. The fragger called him "defective" for Primus sake."

Lennox looked at him, crossing his arms slightly. It was clear that Bumblebee would on no way budge about the subject. Nor should he, given the things that the major had slowly learned over the course of time they'd learned of Michael Field. "You don't think I get that?" Lennox questioned him quietly. "I'm the one who helped you guys get the restraining order," He explained. "The thing is this jerk isn't taking "buzz off" for an answer. And I'm worried he'll do something drastic."

Bumblebee sighed quietly, wishing he didn't agree with Lennox on that point. He wished trouble like this had gone away the second Barricade went down, but the truth was life went on, unfortunately. "The only way I'd let them in the same room together again," Bumblebee stated bluntly. "Was if I was in my bipedal form, with my cannons aimed right at him," He added with great firmness. "He tried to strangle him, Will. And then he was going to punch him," He explained. "And that was when he was sober."

"I remember."

"Then you should know there is no way I am letting him near Trevor again," Bumblebee explained. "He doesn't deserve his "son"," He said that word as if someone was forcing it out of him. "Frag he can't even call him that, for that matter. I'm his father, and his family is here... And I don't think anyone here would let such gutter trash in the door."

The way Bumblebee said it almost surprised Lennox. But at the same time, he couldn't deny he'd have the exact same angry reaction if this man had been Annabelle's "glorified sperm donor". "What should I tell the Witwicky's then, Bee? He's not going to leave them alone," Bumblebee's doorwings dropped slightly at that. "I guess calling 9-1-1 next time he shows up is the best way to handle it. Let them take care of him," He then added rather bluntly. "He sure isn't any stranger to jail time from what I've read. So if he puts up a fight, I'm sure they'll have a cell reserved for him."

"Keep me posted," Bumblebee replied. "If I need to get any more involved, let me know."

As Lennox took that as his cue to leave, Bumblebee watched the man walk away. He did his best to calm his body, and cool off his systems. With any luck, this would be the last time he'd hear anything about Michael Field bothering the Witwicky's. Because if not, he could only imagine the storm they'd be in for.

...

A/N: Gah! This chapter took forever to type out. But I really had to work out where I want the next stretch of the story to go in my head. Next chapter will FINALLY be Christmas. (Two months late! LOL) But I hope this update was worth the wait.