Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started slowly, creeping to the front of his processor at a slow but steady pace. Bumblebee knew that he felt unusual, but he didn’t know why. He thought at first that maybe he was just tired, or that he needed some sort of hardware update. Optimus seemed to be the first to notice that something was wrong. Bee could feel the optics of the Prime resting on him for longer periods of time, analyzing him, watching him with slight concern. Then, he started to have gaps in his memory banks that he couldn’t explain. Raf pointed out to him that he had been acting weird when he was playing basketball with Bulk, first by freezing up and then chucking the ball at Bulk’s head. That set off several alarm bells in his helm. Did he have a damaged processor? Was he slipping inexplicably into brief bouts of stasis? His questions were answered when he started to hear the whisper of an unfamiliar voice was in his head, hissing threats and making unwanted comments. Bumblebee didn’t realize who it was at first, but when the puzzle pieces fell into place it was all he could do to not panic. The face that the voice belonged to began to appear in his head. A horrible, terrifying face that was impossible to miss or ignore. Alone in his room, he fell to his knees and clutched at his helm.

“:It can’t be!:”

“Ohh, but it is, scout.” The warlord’s voice, now recognizable as daylight, hissed in his mind.

Bee could practically feel Megatron grinning sadistically. He tried to calm his racing spark, tried to think about what to do next, but the panic in his processor was building steadily. Megatron had nearly killed him at Tyger Pax. Megatron had taken his voice from him. Megatron, the greatest enemy of all Autobots. Megatron was in his head. Megatron-

“I should have killed you.” The warlord’s voice made Bee freeze suddenly. “I should have taken more than your voice-box from you. You have been a pain in my processor for stellar-cycles now you rotten sparkling.”

Megatron could hear his thoughts.

Bee leapt to his pedes and lunged at the door. He needed to find Optimus, he needed to find Ratchet, he-

“You won’t be doing anything of the sort, scout.”

Bee suddenly felt a weird sensation rush through his frame. He felt himself stop, and although he tried to move his pedes, it felt like they had been frozen to the ground. He blinked, and then it suddenly felt like he wasn’t in control of his frame anymore. He tried to move any part of himself, but found that it was no use. Bumblebee realized with horror that he wasn’t, in fact, in control of his frame anymore. Megatron was. 

“:Get out of my head!:” Bee screamed at the top of his lungs. However, there was no whistle or beep from his vocalizer. It was only in his head.

The leader of the Deceptions only laughed at him. “Your head? Although this frame might have been yours originally, Autobot, I’m in control. This body is mine to use!”

Bumblebee felt his sight starting to fade as Megatron pushed him further back into his subconscious. He was no longer looking out of the optics of his frame, but was instead trapped in Megatron’s mindscape. Bee looked around the area, and tried to discern if there was any sort of exit or weakness he could use. The area looked like Kaon, again, with sharp rock formations jutting out from the streams of lava. It looked exactly like how Megatron’s mindscape had looked back in his own body. He watched in confusion as the landscape suddenly started to dissolve before his optics. The area changed abruptly, and Bee watched in an odd sort of fascination as a new place solidified and came into view. His interest soon became horror as he recognized the new landscape. 

“Ah, Tyger Pax.” Megatron’s voice made Bee jump and whirl around. “I must say, I have missed this place. It holds fond memories for me.” He grinned maliciously at the smaller bot as he came to stand directly in front of him. Bee squared his shoulders and tried not to show how unnerved he was by the location. Although he was several feet shorter, and much smaller, he gazed directly into the warlord’s optics and clenched his servos. The other bot only grinned, cruel and gloating.

“Foolish Autobot, I know exactly what you are thinking. I know how your spark races in its chamber. You radiate fear.” The gray bot bent down so he was level with the other bot. “I know how much you hate this place. It brings me great pleasure to know that I left such an impression all these solar-cycles later.”

Bee felt his fear be replace by rage in an instant. He swung wildly at the other, not caring where or how he hit him. He just needed to hit him. He needed him gone. Megatron laughed as the Autobot’s servo passed right through him. 

“You are powerless here, scout. You cannot hurt me. I, however, can hurt you.”

He stepped away from the yellow bot, and waved his hand. Bee saw another version of himself materialize, along with another version of Megatron. The ghost Megatron was upon the fake Bumblebee instantly, pounding him into the ground with his pedes and fists. The yellow plating of the Autobot began to crack, and sickly streams of blue energon began to escape from the newly-created gaps. Fake-Bee’s optics flickered, and one of them went completely dark after a particularly hard hit from his attacker. Dents, cracks, and other signs of damage started to accumulate on his frame, and the real Bee knew that there would be more to follow. He tried to swallow this rising fear and nausea he felt. The fake Bumblebee yelled weakly as he was grabbed by his throat and held aloft, and he swung his fists and legs at the fake Megatron. The feeble hits didn’t affect the leader of the Deceptions at all, and he gave the smaller bot a rough shake.

“Tell me where Optimus Prime and the Autobots are hiding!”

“Agh- I told you already, I’ll- I’ll never talk!” 

Bumblebee watched as the fake Megatron growled in frustration and hit the battered Autobot a few more times. He knew exactly what would happen, but he couldn’t look away.

“Well then, scout…let’s make it official, shall we?”

Bee watched the other version of himself scream as the pressure increased on his throat. There was the sound of creaking metal, a loud crunch and electric crackle, and then silence. The other Bee stopped moving, and Megatron dropped him into the crater that had formed when he had been beating the smaller bot into the ground. There was energon everywhere. It spurted from various broken fuel lines, dripped from cracks in his plating, and most obviously gushed from the gaping hole in his neck. The place where his vocalizer had once been sparked as it bled freely. Megatron dropped the mangled piece of metal that was once his vocalizer in the crater next to the unmoving bot, then flicked his servos to get some of the energon that covered them off. He grinned at the dying Autobot, and laughed as he turned away. It was sickening, and yet Bumblebee couldn’t look away. He blinked, and watched in surprise as the gory scene disappeared. He felt his spark sink as the figures re-appeared.

“:You sick frag:” He whispered, as he watched the scene begin to repeat itself. “:You’re sick:”

The real Megatron only laughed again. He walked away from the other bot, not bothering to turn and face him. He waved his hand again, and in one of the cliff faces an image appeared. Bee realized that it was what his optics were seeing, what his body was seeing. What Megatron was seeing while he was in control of his body. Megatron smirked at him and gestured to the image.

“If you tire of watching this pathetic scene, you can always watch what I am doing in your frame. I cannot wait to see the look on Optimus’s face as his most trusted scout kills him.” The warlord laughed at the horrified look on Bumblebee’s face. “I cannot wait to see your face as well, as I kill your precious team with your own hands.”

“:No!:” Bee charged at him, blasters raised and optics burning. Megatron only laughed and disappeared with a wave of his hand. Bee was left shooting the ground where he had stood. He whirled around to look at the image in the cliff-face, and watched in terror as his frame began to move, opening the door to his room and stepping out into the hallway. His frame began to walk towards the main control room, and Bee could only watch. Behind him, he heard the crunch of breaking metal and the crackle of electricity again, and he quickly tried to cover his audial processors to block out the sound. 

Breathe, breathe, breathe.

He began to pace back and forth, torn between watching what Megatron was doing in his body or covering his optics. He didn’t want to watch, but he also needed as much information as possible. He had no idea what Megatron was planning, but it couldn’t be anything good. If he had to guess, Megatron was going to use trick the others into thinking he really was Bee, gather as much information as he could from the Autobots, and then kill them. After he had killed them all, he was going to bring his body back to full health and transfer his mind back into its rightful place. And then, he would kill Bumblebee. He would wipe out the Autobots for good.

“:That’s not possible:” He said out loud. “:The others will notice that it’s not me. They’ll know that something is wrong:”

He continued to pace around, trying his best to ignore the repeated image of Megatron ripping out his vocalizer. It was something he saw often in recharge, and he knew that if he let it under his skin he would be unfocused and unable to find a way out of here. Megatron was showing him this memory on purpose to try and keep him disoriented. If he was frightened and unfocused, he wouldn’t be able to fight Megatron for control of his body. He was a sick, sick bot. Bee shivered and continued to pace. His frame felt like there was little surges of electricity running through it, and he rubbed a servo absentmindedly over his arm. 

“:I’m not strong enough to overpower some of the others, so presumably Megatron in my body won’t be able to either:” He glanced at the image of the outside world to see what the warlord was doing. “:But, on the other hand, Megatron has more experience when it comes to fighting than most of the others. He won’t be able to beat Optimus. He won’t:”

He stopped and sat down suddenly. The growing panic in his spark had just become too much. He sat there for a moment, covering his audials and squeezing his optics shut tight. He could still hear the sound of Megatron beating him into the ground, and he could practically smell the spilled energon. The sound of each blow seemed to reverberate in his frame, like he was actually being hit. He shivered and curled into as small a ball as he could. Bee wished he was anywhere else but here. He wished he was safe, back with his team, and not stuck watching this horrible memory over and over. He jumped to his feet again after a brief moment.

“:No! I can’t give up! I can’t:” Bee shook his head. If he gave up, Megatron would surely win. That could not, would not, happen on his watch.

Looking at the outside world again, he saw that Megatron had made his way to the main control room, and was now standing behind Ratchet. Ratchet was working on one of his devices, and had his back to Bumblebee. He was talking to him, asking him how he was doing. Bee watched anxiously, wondering if the medic would realize that it wasn’t him when Megatron answered for him.

“:I’m fine:” His vocalizer beeped at Ratchet.

“Good, good. Well, make yourself useful. Hand me that soldering iron.” Ratchet didn’t even turn around.

Bee felt a rush of despair wash through him. Ratchet didn’t know. He didn’t realize that it wasn’t really him. Megatron could strike him down right now, and the medic would think that the little sparkling that he had helped raise was his killer.

“:No, no! Please, Ratchet, that isn’t me!:” His vocalizer gave a wail of distress. Bee started to push back against the sensation in his frame, willing every ounce of strength in him to push. The landscape around him seemed to shiver for a moment, and Bee felt a little encouragement in his spark. He watched as his hands crushed the delicate piece of equipment that he was holding. Megatron, while fighting Bee, had accidentally crushed the lab equipment in his servos. Ratchet finally turned around, a look of confusion and slight disappointment on his face.

“Bumblebee, I needed that.” Ratchet was looking at him now, really looking, and Bee realized that this might be his only chance. He shoved against the mental barriers that Megatron was trying to set up. He felt his psyche entangle with the Deception’s, and they began to battle for dominance over his mind and body. The landscape around him was dissolving like sand, and Bee felt a surge of hope rush through him. He slammed his mind against Megatron’s with everything he had, and felt himself push the warlord down. 

“:Ratchet!:” Bee felt himself return to his frame again and his sight return. He raised his servos and looked at them, then wiggled his digits just to make sure he was really, truly back in his frame

“Bumblebee? Are you alright?”

“:No! No! I need- agh!:” Bee felt Megatron’s rage rush through his mind, fighting for control. He fell to his knees as he fought the other bot for control. He looked around wildly, unheeding of the medic’s concerned questions, and saw the confinement area not too far away. He struggled to his pedes, and he could feel Ratchet helping him up. Once he was standing, he immediately staggered towards the container. He could feel Megatron fighting him, but Bee was determined not to lose. The second he stepped foot into the enclosed area, he turned to face the very confused Autobot medic.

“:Ratchet! Close the door! Shut me in right now!:” When he saw Ratchet hesitate, he yelled at him, desperation seeping into the whistle and beep that came from his voice-box. “:Please, Ratchet! Please!:”

That seemed to do the trick, and Ratchet immediately closed the container door. The door sealed, and Bee heard the multiple locks click into place. They used the container for medical purposes usually, and Bee hoped that it was strong enough to hold a prisoner. 

“Bumblebee! What is going on? What’s wrong?” Ratchet turned and rushed away, and came back with his medical tools a moment later.

“:In my head- he’s in my head! Agh!:” Bee fell to the ground again, and he clutched at his helm. He couldn’t help it, and his vocalizer let out a staticky shriek. “:He’s going to kill you! He’s going to kill- kill everyone!:”

“In your head? Who-” Ratchet’s mouth dropped open as he realized who the intruder was. “Megatron?”

“:He’s getting- control. Can’t- hold on:” 

“Hang in there, Bee. Just hold on.”

As the medic tapped away frantically on his tablet, Bee writhed on the ground in agony. The struggle for control had become painful, and it felt like his whole frame was on fire. His helm was throbbing. The Autobot base echoed with the sounds of a wailing radio, as the yellow bot screamed at the top of his lungs. Out of the corner of his optics, he saw someone else come into view. Raf had his faced pressed up on the glass of the confinement area, and was looking at Bee in fear. 

“Ratchet, what’s happening?” 

“Rafael, get away from the glass.” The medic’s voice was tight. “Bulkhead, I need you to call Optimus. Immediately.”

“Ratchet, is Bee gonna be okay?”

“Not now, Rafael.”

Bulkhead glanced worriedly back at Bee, but then turned and ran towards the main control panel in the room. After a moment, Bee heard Optimus’s calm voice echo through the base, and heard Bulk yelling at the Prime. He responded, but Bee couldn’t make out what he said over the ringing in his audial processors. Raf was still there, talking to Ratchet frantically and gesturing to the scout in the chamber. Bee shuddered violently, and let out a strained yell. He could feel himself losing control. Megatron was so much stronger than him, and he was getting tired. 

“:Ratchet- I’m losing- I’m-:”

Suddenly, his optics went dark and he found himself back in that accursed place. Bee yelled in frustration as he saw the image of Megatron beating him into the ground again. He started to turn as he heard new pedesteps behind him, and jumped when a blaster shot passed harmlessly right through his chest.

“You’re lucky I cannot harm you physically, scout.” snarled the furious warlord. He leaned in closer, until his face was almost touching the Autobot’s. “If I could, I would tear you apart into tiny little shreds! The second I am back in my own body, I am going to kill you in ways you could never imagine.” He was spitting in Bumblebee’s face, and Bee moved backwards as far as he could. He tried to hide the fact that his servos were shaking violently, and that spark was beating faster than it ever had in all his solar-cycles.

The leader of the Deceptions stepped back, and gave a low growl. “Enjoy your small victory, Autobot. It is the last one you will ever have.”

He stalked away, and Bee watched him go. He felt his stabilizing servos give out from under him, and he collapsed to the ground. The panic was back, and it was stifling. He vented deeply, but it felt as though he was suffocating. He sat there for a few clicks, trying to will his spark to slow down.

:Don’t worry, Ratchet will help: He tried to reassure himself. :Ratchet can figure this out:

He winced as his fake body was dropped into the crater by the image of Megatron. There was a brief moment of nothingness, and then the horrible memory started all over again. Bee sighed and let his helm hang to the side to rest on his shoulder. He was going to go crazy if this is what he had to watch for the rest of his life. He shuffled his body a little bit so he could sit more comfortably, and vented deeply. He hoped that Optimus and the others would figure out something soon; he wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take.

“The cortical psychic patch. Megatron must have somehow managed to exit his body when Bumblebee did. He followed Bumblebee back to his own body, and now he is trying to take it over.” Ratchet rubbed a hand over his face and glanced at the yellow bot who was lying on the floor of the containment chamber. He had used the electric tools in the chamber to put the bot into an induced power-down, and was now scanning him over several times to gather as much information as he could.

“Do we know how to remove him from Bumblebee’s mind without harming Bumblebee?” Optimus gazed solemnly at the prisoner. His optics were troubled.

Ratchet sighed and turned away. “Not yet, but I’m working on it.” 

Rafael looked up at the other Autobots as they gathered around the chamber. He slipped in-between Arcee’s legs and came to stand in front of the thick glass panes. He stared at Bee through the glass and tried not to think about what might be happening to Bee at the moment. He hoped that Megatron wasn’t hurting him. He felt a weight on his shoulder, and turned to see one of Bulkhead’s fingers resting gently on his back. He gave him a gentle tap, and then offered a servo for him to stand on. Raf stepped on, and felt himself being lifted into the air. The servo stopped around Bulkhead’s chest, and now Raf was looking at Bee from above. He turned to look at Optimus, and was surprised by just how upset the Prime looked. Sure, he knew that Bee was a valued member of his team, but Raf had never seen the bot look so openly worried. Optimus seemed to feel Raf’s eyes on him, and he turned to face the little human.

“Do not worry, Rafael.” Optimus tried to smile reassuringly at him, but it didn’t quite reach his optics. “We will help Bumblebee. He will be alright.”

“Yeah.” Raf wasn’t sure what to say. He was pretty sure that anything else that came out of his mouth right now would be insincere and unhelpful. 

Arcee turned away from the chamber sharply and walked away, her pedesteps echoing through the quiet base. Raf was pretty sure he saw her swipe at her face before she disappeared into one of the hallways. Bulkhead and Optimus looked at each other, concern on their faces. Raf frowned and looked in-between both of them. 

“I can talk to her.”

“No, Bulkhead. You must take Rafael home. I will speak with Arcee.”

“No way!” Raf spun to face Optimus. “You can’t send me home! I can help Ratchet! I have to help Bee!”

Optimus looked at him a little sadly, but his determined expression told Raf that he had already made up his mind.

“Please. Please don’t send me home.” Raf tried to ignore the burning sensation in his eyes. “Bee is one of the best friends I’ve ever had, and I need to help him somehow. Please, Optimus.” The tears he had been trying to hold back spilled over, and he quickly removed his glasses to wipe them away.

Optimus sighed, and his optics softened slightly. Raf looked at him hopefully through his watery eyes. Optimus glanced between Raf and his scout, sighed again, then turned away.

“Very well. If you can assist Ratchet in any way, Rafael, your help would be welcomed. Bulkhead, I suppose you should pick up the other children and explain the situation to them. I am going to talk with Arcee now.” 

Optimus glanced once more at the yellow bot in the chamber, then turned and walked away slowly. Bulkhead placed Raf on one of the walkways by Ratchet and his computers and gave him a weak smile. 

“I’ll be back soon. Let me know if there are any updates, Raf. Like, immediately.”

Raf nodded and watched the green Autobot walk towards the exit of the base. Bulk transformed into his vehicle mode and roared away through the exit tunnel. As the sound of his engine died away, Raf pulled out his own laptop and sat down facing the old medic. Ratchet glanced at him briefly, but quickly turned back to his displays and paid him no attention. He was working furiously, obviously too concerned with the situation at hand to care about anything else at the moment. His eyebrows were screwed together, and his mouth was pulled into a tight frown. Raf hesitated, then shuffled a little closer.

“Is there anything I can do, Ratchet?”

“Yes. You can stay out of my way.”

Raf huffed. “Besides that. Anything, Ratchet, no matter how tiny or menial it is.” He looked the bot in the eyes. “Please?”

Ratchet sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine. Keep your eyes on this for me.” He turned one of his screens to face the boy. “These are Bumblebee’s vital signs. Here is the spark-rate, the energon levels, and most importantly, the processor activity. Alert me immediately if any of these change, and keep an eye on Bumblebee’s actual frame.” He turned away again, and his body language very clearly said, leave me be, for Primus’s sake. 

Rafael transferred the program to his laptop so it would be portable, and then went to sit in front of the containment chamber. He stared at the bot inside, trying not to think about all the things that could possibly be going on inside the mind of the prisoner. It was terrible, thinking about how Bumblebee was a prisoner in his own mind. He sighed and leaned back on the thick glass of the chamber. 

“Don’t worry, Bee. We’re gonna figure something out. It’s gonna be okay.”

“Arcee? Are you alright?”

Optimus ducked a little lower so his large frame could fit through the doorway of Arcee’s room. She was seated on her berth, facing away from him and the door, and Optimus saw her shoulders tense a little at the sound of his voice. The Prime walked closer, then sighed and sat down on the floor beside the berth. He waited patiently, not wanting to pressure the femme into talking. There were a few clicks of silence before the other bot spoke up, her voice soft and filled with regret.

“This is all my fault.”

“No, it is not.”

“Yes, it is!” She jumped to her feet. “I should have been the one to go! Not Bee! If I hadn’t hesitated, if I hadn’t argued with Ratchet, he wouldn’t be in this mess.” She dropped to the floor and rested her face in her servos. “…I can’t lose him. Especially not to Megatron. I thought I had killed that piece of scrap.”

“Arcee, Bumblebee is a brave scout, and he would have volunteered to go regardless of whether you had offered or not. It is in his nature.” Optimus sighed and let his mind drift to happier, gentler times. He spoke quietly, his voice reflecting the softness of his memories. “He has always been like that.”

Arcee was silent, and the two of them sat quietly, both thinking about the little yellow bot. The smaller bot sighed and lifted her optics to look at Optimus.

“I still feel responsible. I still feel guilty.”

Optimus nodded. “I know how you feel, Arcee. I feel a sense of guilt as well for not realizing sooner that Bumblebee was not himself. I knew he was acting strangely, and yet I did not ask Ratchet to look him over.”

“That makes two of us.”

They both fell silent again, each of them consumed by their own feelings of guilt. Arcee swallowed, and looked up at Optimus again. Her voice shook a little as she spoke.

“If Bumblebee doesn’t come back…if Megatron wins, I will never forgive myself. Never.”

Optimus reached out and put a reassuring servo on her shoulder. “Bumblebee is strong, he will be alright. We will defeat Megatron. We will save our scout. I promise, Arcee.” Optimus hoped that his words sounded sincere. They felt very hollow to him at the moment.

“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that Megatron, bloodthirsty leader of the Deceptions, is in control of Bumblebee, one of the nicest bots I’ve ever met? Megatron?”  Miko practically shrieked. Jack covered his ears, and Bulkhead made an unhappy noise. The Autobot had picked Miko up from detention and Jack from work as fast as he could. The three of them were driving back to the Autobot base at a steady, hurried pace, and Bulkhead was trying to explain the current situation as best as he could.

“Yeah, pretty much. As you can imagine, no one is too happy.” Bulkhead rumbled. “Bee’s locked up right now, and Doc and Raf are working on him as we speak.”

“That’s awful.” Jack rubbed at his ears and winced uncomfortably. “How are you gonna fix him?”

“That’s the thing, we don’t know. Not even Ratchet.”

“Dang.” Jack was quiet for a second. “Is Raf doing okay?”

Bulkhead hummed. “Well, kind of. He’s worried about Bee of course. Optimus almost sent him home, but he begged Optimus to let him help Ratchet. Give him a little support when ya see him.”

Jack and Miko glanced at each other, matching frowns on their faces. The rest of the drive was unusually quiet. Not even Miko was in the mood to talk. Once they had made it to the base, the humans hopped out quickly and made a beeline for the containment chamber where Bee and Raf were. The yellow bot was still on the floor, and Raf seemed to be talking to him quietly. 

“…So that’s when I told her that I knew I guy who was good with cars. I told her that you had taught me how to race!”

“You know he can’t hear you, right?” Ratchet grumbled. He did not turn to greet the newcomers. 

“I know, but…maybe he can. Somewhere deep in him.” Raf looked a little discouraged by the older bot’s statement.

Jack sat down beside the younger boy and placed a hand on his back. “I’m sure he can. How’s he faring, Raf? Bulkhead told us what’s happening.”

Raf sighed. “I mean, nothing’s changed since Bulkhead went to pick you guys up. There’s not much to do.” He leaned closer to Jack and Miko, who had joined them, and whispered, “Ratchet won’t let me do much of anything, unfortunately.”

Miko rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that sounds like the Doc-bot. So how did you know that Bee wasn’t, well, Bee?” 

“He forgot to pick me up from school, so Bulkhead did, and when we arrived he was staggering towards the container. Ratchet locked him in, and yelled at me to call Optimus. He and Arcee were on patrol. Then Ratchet used the electronics in the chamber to put Bee in a temporary stasis.” The boy looked upset. “Ratchet says he won’t come back online for at least a few hours.”

Jack and Miko glanced at the bot in the containment chamber. His optics were dark, and there was no sign of movement from the scout. His door wings were drooped across his back and one of his arms was curled under his body in an uncomfortable looking position. Jack looked back at Raf, and realized that the younger boy looked like he was about to cry. He reached out and patted Raf on the knee. 

“He’ll be okay, Raf. He’s Bumblebee; he can get through anything.”

Raf nodded wordlessly, and did not look at Jack. Jack sighed and looked at Miko. The other only shrugged at him helplessly and shook her head. The base was quiet for a few minutes, apart from the sound of machines beeping and Ratchet typing away at his data pads. Bulkhead had come to stand by the containment chamber as well, and was staring silently at his young friend on the floor. After a few minutes the Wrecker shook his head and walked in the direction of the training room.

“Let me know if anything changes. I need to go blow off some steam.” 

Miko hopped up from the floor and jogged after the large bot, leaving the two boys alone with Ratchet. They glanced at each other, and looked briefly at Ratchet. He had his back to the two of them, and gave them no mind. Jack decided that if Bumblebee was going to be out for a few more hours, he might as well get some homework done. He pulled out the Algebra homework he had gotten earlier that day, and groaned internally. Exponential functions was the last thing he wanted to be doing right now, but one guilty glance at Bee was enough to remind the teen that he didn’t have it so bad. Algebra sucked, but an evil warlord occupying your mind definitely had to outrank that. Jack sighed and settled down to work on the worksheets next to Raf. The base was quiet again, apart from the usual noise, and no one spoke for at least the next fifteen minutes. What broke the silence was a hesitant, worried statement from Raf.

“Uhh, Ratchet?”

“What, Rafael?” The medic said, his voice somewhere between annoyed and exhausted.

“Bee’s processor activity just spiked.” His eyes widened. “And…it’s staying up… He’s coming online!”

“What? Let me see.” The medic quickly took Raf’s laptop in his servos and stared intently at the display. “That’s not possible. That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Ratchet, what’s going on?” Jack stood, and Raf quickly joined him.

“I put him in a mandatory stasis. He shouldn’t be coming back online yet, that’s not possible.” The medic shoved the laptop back into the arms of its owner, and raced to his own machines. “How in the name of Primus-?” 

Raf and Jack both turned to look at the yellow bot in the chamber. He still wasn’t moving, but another look at Raf’s screen showed that his processor activity was still rising rapidly. 

“Jack, I need you to find Prime and Arcee. Now. They’re somewhere in the base. Go!”

Jack bolted, and disappeared. Raf could hear him calling for the other bots at he went. He looked at Bumblebee again, and gasped. Ratchet whirled around, and watched in amazement and shock as the bot in the chamber blinked with optics that were most definitely online. He was no longer in the induced power-down, and was gradually getting to his feet.

“Ratchet. He’s- He’s online. He’s up.” 

The young scout, now standing, waved happily at the two shocked spectators. He beeped at the two of them, and made a happy chirping sound.

“I- I can see that. But how?”

Bumblebee pointed at his helm and chirped again. 

“Bumblebee, buddy, you’re okay!” Bulkhead’s happy voice boomed through the base. He and Miko had come back into the main room, and they came to stand by the others. Miko was perched on his shoulder, beaming at the yellow bot.

“Yeah! I knew you could beat him, Bee!”

Raf narrowed his eyes at his robotic friend. He couldn’t explain it, but something was very, very wrong. He couldn’t put his finger on what was bothering him, but he knew that he needed to figure out what it was. The sound of running pedesteps echoed behind him, and he turned to see Optimus Prime, Arcee, and Jack run into the room. Their faces were all a mix of hopeful anticipation, and for a moment Raf wondered if he might be wrong. Bee whirred happily again, and Raf watched the Prime’s face drop instantly. There was suspicion in his expression, and Raf knew that the older bot could feel the thing he felt too. Bee whistled, and Jack leaned towards Raf.

“What’s he saying, Raf?”

In that moment, Raf knew exactly what was wrong, what was different. 

He could not understand Bumblebee.

“Stop! That’s not Bee! I can’t understand what he’s saying!”

Raf felt a surge of both fear and anger rush through him as he realized that he wasn’t looking into the optics of his friend. He was looking into the eyes of the enemy.

Chapter Text

Bumblebee vented deeply and let his helm rest on one of the rock faces behind him. It felt like he had been sitting here for megacycles now. The landscape had not changed in the slightest, and the memory of him getting pummeled to a pulp still played over and over. He had learned how to drown it out for the most part, but it didn’t get any more pleasant to watch in the slightest. A few yards away, Megatron was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Bee knew that if both of them were here it was probably because Ratchet had put him into some sort of stasis or shut-down. He was partially glad that Megatron was stuck here with him because he knew that that meant he wasn’t able to cause any trouble. However, he also hated being stuck in such a place with the leader of the Deceptions. Every few klicks the warlord would glance over at him and mutter some vaguely threatening sounding words. Bee just hoped that his temper would hold, and that he wouldn’t try to abuse him in any other way. After Megatron passed a little too close and left his servos shaking and his spark thrumming nervously, Bee wished he could hide somehow, but after a particularly strong surge of anger he also decided that he wasn’t afraid to fight.

“:I wish to Primus I could smack that glower right off his faceplate:” 

“What did you say, puny Autobot?” The irate Decepticon yelled, whirling around.

“:I didn’t say anything:” Bee raised his servos hurriedly. “You probably heard that.” He gestured to the repeating memory.

Megatron growled, but he didn’t argue or lash out. That was good. As much as he hated to admit it, Bee had felt his spark skip a few beats when the warlord had faced him. He sighed again, and closed his optics. He hoped that Optimus and Ratchet would figure out something soon. 

More time passed, and the two bots continued to do whatever they could to distract themselves and stay out of the other one’s way. After a while, a sudden electric feeling rushed through Bee’s frame, causing him to open his optics and look at Megatron. The warlord had his optics squeezed tightly shut, and he seemed to be concentrating on something. The electric feeling rushed through him again, and Bee shivered. He looked at the landscape around him, and felt a twist of worry in his chassis when he realized that it seemed to be shivering too. The cliff-faces seemed to shimmer, and for a brief moment the nightmarish memory seemed to stop. Bee realized with distress that that meant that he must be coming back online. If he came out of stasis, Megatron would take control of his body again. He wished that Ratchet had left him in power-down mode for a while longer. 

“Ha! Yes! Yes, finally!”

The sound of Megatron’s cackling laughter caused the Autobot to jump to his pedes and face the enemy. His optics were wide-open now, and he was staring at Bumblebee with a look of glee and satisfaction in them. Bee was hit with the realization that it wasn’t Ratchet who had gotten him out of power-down mode; it was Megatron. He watched in horror as the grey bot’s image seemed to shake slightly, and then become solid again. The older bot wiggled his servos and grinned at the smaller bot.

“Well, well, Autobot, it seems as though I will be taking my leave.” He laughed again. “If you could only see the look on your faceplate.”

Bee beeped angrily at him, and fought the urge to punch the warlord. It wouldn’t do anything anyway.

Megatron’s grin dropped suddenly, and he leaned in closer to the other bot. “After the last stunt you pulled, I won’t be giving you a window to look through, scout.” His voice dropped even lower, dripping with malice. “If you try to interfere again, I promise you that you will suffer in ways that are incomprehensible.” 

Bee tried to come up with some smart retort or comeback, but found that his voice simply wouldn’t make a sound. He fought the terror in his spark, and stared silently at the bot standing in front of him, arms crossed and optics narrowed.

“Very well. I see my message has made its way to your processor.” Megatron stepped back and smirked at Bee. He started to walk away from him, but briefly paused to look at the image of him ripping Bumblebee’s throat apart. “I think we should switch things up, don’t you?”

With a wave of his servo, Megatron was gone, and in his place was a new image. Bee felt a lump in his intake at the sight of his team, and felt coolant start to pool in his optics. He wanted more than anything to rush into the arms of his family, but he knew that they weren’t real. They were just another cruel illusion conjured up by Megatron. 

“Bumblebee.” The image of Optimus stretched his arms out to the scout, and the others all smiled at him encouragingly. 

Bee fought the urge to run to them, and took a small step back. This is too good to be true. Something is gonna go wrong, he thought. He was proven correct a moment later as another image of Megatron appeared and tackled Optimus to the ground. There were other Decepticons there too, Soundwave and Starscream among them, and they jumped the other team members a second later. Bee watched in horror as Arcee’s jaw was ripped off by Soundwave, energon spurting freely into the air. Bulkhead’s arms were ripped off by Breakdown, and the Decepticon then went for his head. 

“:No!:” Bee raised his blasters and charged at the fight. 

Ratchet screamed in pain as Knockout’s many tools tore him apart. Saws, drills, and torches pulled his plating away, attacking the fragile machinery underneath it. There was blue everywhere. It spilled onto the floor, making puddles that the bots all slipped on.

“:No!:” His hands passed right through them. The shots from his blasters were harmless.

Optimus yelled as he wrestled with Megatron, but the grey bot pinned him to the ground. The warlord hit him over and over, denting the metal of the other bot and chipping away his paint job. Megatron raised his cannon, and fired a clean shot right through the Prime’s head. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of it. The Prime’s helm was completely gone, and a few pieces of twisted, melted metal were all that remained.

“:No!:” Bumblebee couldn’t take it anymore. He fell to his knees and pressed his servos over his audial processors tightly. 

The image of Megatron stood and wiped the energon off the end of his cannon. He stepped a bit closer to Bee and glowered down at him.

“This is exactly what I’m going to do to your precious little team, scout. Do not try to interfere again, or I promise you their fate will be even worse.” 

The images of the Decepticons disappeared abruptly, leaving the bodies of the fallen Autobots on the ground. Bumblebee crawled towards them, and tried to pull them closer to him. He tried to cradle them to his chassis as he sobbed uncontrollably. He desperately tried to hold Arcee’s servo, tried to wipe away the energon on Bulkhead’s faceplate. He could not hold them, he could not care for them. His servos passed through them like a ghost. He couldn’t stop the energon.

Oh Primus, the energon.

It was everywhere. It coated the ground, it coated the bodies. It filled the air with a cloying metallic smell and seemed to take the air out of Bee’s chest. He tried to cry out, he tried to say something, but it felt like his vocalizer had ceased to exist. He reached up to his throat, grasping desperately at it to feel if it was there. He needed to feel it. He needed to—

:This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real: 

He could feel his processor trying to rationalize what was going on, but he was out of control. He could feel himself spiraling as the panic in his spark became too much. Suddenly, the images of the dead Autobots were gone and there was nothing there. Bee carefully got to his pedes and shakily started to walk away. 

:It’s not real. They’re okay. It’s not real. They’re okay:

If this nightmare was anything like the last one Megatron had created, it would likely be repeating itself in a few moments. He kept walking, his stabilizing servos threatening to give out from underneath him, desperate to get as far away as possible. 

“Bumblebee.”

Bee’s radio wailed at the sound of Optimus’s voice, and he collapsed to the ground. He continued to crawl away, dragging his frame away from the horror behind him. He heard the sound of the fight, the yelling and screaming, and then the boom of the cannon as it fired. He heard Megatron’s voice again, and screwed his optics shut tight. He crawled until he felt his helm press up again something solid. He cracked open one optic and saw that he had reached the end of his and Megatron’s mindscape. There simply wasn’t anywhere else to go. The little bot curled up into a ball, and closed his eyes again. He stayed like that for what felt like hours, trying to block out the sounds of murder around him, and trying to regain a grip in what little sanity he had left. 

Primus, he wished this was over. 

“You are correct, Rafael.” Optimus Prime glared at the bot in the containment chamber. “That is not Bumblebee.”

Miko, and Jack gasped, turning to their respective Autobot companions for some sort of confirmation. Arcee growled and stalked up to the chamber. 

“Listen here, Megatron. The second, the fragging second, you are out of Bumblebee’s body I am going to tear you to fragging pieces. I’ll rip your cannon off your arm and shove it right up your a-”

“Arcee! There are younglings present!” Ratchet snatched Raf off the ground and covered his ears as best he could. 

Bumblebee, Megatron, only laughed. It wasn’t the friendly, happy laughter that Raf heard when he showed Bee funny videos he’d found online. It was unnatural in every way, and seemed to grate on the nerves of everyone present. Bulkhead shivered, and instinctively pulled Miko closer to his chassis. Arcee scowled, her denta gnashing together and servos balled tightly into fists. Raf was almost sure he could see smoke coming from her helm. Optimus quickly stepped forward and pushed Arcee back from the glass. 

“Calm down, Arcee.”

“Calm down? Calm down? Are you serious, Prime? How could anyone be calm right now?” Arcee looked ready to explode, but another look from Optimus seemed to convince the smaller bot to take a break. She huffed and came to stand by Raf and Ratchet. Her shoulders were still tense, and she tapped on of her pedes impatiently.

“What are you doing, Megatron?” Optimus turned to face the prisoner again. “What is your goal with Bumblebee?”

The yellow bot beeped and whistled back at Prime, and started to pace slowly around the chamber.

“Ratchet, what’s he saying?” Raf looked up at the medic anxiously.

Ratchet didn’t respond immediately, as he was staring intently at the exchange in front of him. “What?”

“What is Bee- Megatron- whatever, saying? I can’t understand him anymore.” Raf felt a lump in his throat at his own words, and rapidly tried to swallow it.

“I’ll translate later. I need to listen right now, Rafael.”

Raf sighed and looked at Jack who had climbed up to the landing beside Ratchet and Raf. Jack shrugged helplessly and turned to watch the other bots again.

Raf watched as well, and realized that Optimus’s servos were slowly curling into fists. He was pretty sure that Megatron must have said something bad, because Arcee gasped and Bulk yelled, Why you little-!

Ratchet hurriedly put Raf down next to Jack, almost dropping him, and stepped forward to place his body between the cell and the angry Autobot.

“Bulkhead, no!” Ratchet spread his arms wide and glared at the other bot. “He is still in Bumblebee’s body, you can’t hurt Megatron or you’ll be hurting Bumblebee too.”

Bulkhead hesitated, then stepped back to where he had been a minute before, still holding Miko in his hands. Ratchet sighed wearily, and turned to face the prisoner. He pressed some buttons on the side of the container, and then went back to his computers. A quick look told Raf that Ratchet was doing more scans while Bee was still online. He squinted at one of the screens and walked a little closer. It was showing Bee’s processor information, but it looked different from before. 

“Ratchet.” Raf whispered as he tapped the Autobot on the shoulder. 

“What, Rafael?”

“It’s different from before. The processor activity. There’s two different lines showing up. Don’t draw attention to it though, he’s watching.”

Raf had peeked over his shoulder to see Bee, Megatron, watching what he and Ratchet were doing intently. Ratchet nodded to show that he was listening, and after a few seconds passed he glanced over at the screen Raf had pointed to. His optics narrowed as he looked at it, and he reached up and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“I don’t know a lot about Autobot anatomy and stuff, but I’m guessing that that’s unusual.”

“Extremely.”

“What could it mean?”

Ratchet pressed his digits together and hummed quietly. “Well, it could mean- What I think it means is that Bumblebee is fighting for control. Or, he’s at least active somewhere in his mind.”

Raf felt a little surge of hope. “I hope you’re right.”

After a long time had passed, Bumblebee vented deeply and gradually began to uncurl himself from the tightly formed ball he had been in. He sat up slowly and looked around him. He could still see the gory scene before him, and he quickly looked away. As he tried to calm his racing spark he realized that the mindscape didn’t look the same. It was blurrier, especially around the edges, and it was much smaller. It appeared that when he had been scrambling away earlier, he had reached the end of the area. Bee tilted his head to the side as he thought for a moment. Was it possible…? Could it be that Megatron, while creating a bigger, busier scene to distract him, had lost control over a bigger area of his mind? Bee started to think harder. How was it possible for Megatron to break free from stasis, and could he do that too?

“:Maybe- maybe it doesn’t have to be that, but something else:”

He closed his eyes and willed his mind to find Megatron’s. Megatron could hear Bumblebee’s thoughts, he could see into his mind, and that gave him a huge advantage. He could see all of Bee’s plans and fears, all of the things he was afraid of and what he loved most. If he could work his way into Megatron’s mind, if he could hear and see what Megatron was thinking, it might level the playing field. Bee exhaled and tried not to let his fear of the Decepticon get in the way of this new plan. He needed to do this, he needed to get out of here. 

He needed to stop Megatron, no matter the cost.

Bumblebee felt his mind gently make contact with Megatron’s, and he held his breath, hoping that the other bot wouldn’t notice. After a few seconds, Bee pushed a little deeper. Maybe, if he didn’t say anything Megatron wouldn’t know he was listening at all. He started to hear the whispering of voices, all of them familiar to him.

“What is your goal with Bumblebee?” That was Optimus for sure. Bee felt a wave of relief rush over him at the sound of his leader’s voice.

Megatron laughed. “Your little scout? Well, the same as the rest of you, of course. I will kill him. However,” the Decepticon had a taunting tone in his voice. “His fate will be worse than even yours, Optimus. These servos that I control, hands that you may associate with gentleness and friendship, will be the very servos that end you, Prime. He will have to live, although briefly, with the knowledge that he is what ended the Autobots.” He suddenly looked away from Optimus and grinned at the other people in the room. “And their allies, too.” 

Bumblebee almost cut the connection in shock. Raf, he thought desperately. Jack and Miko. He’s gonna kill them too. He pushed himself to his pedes and started to pace again. He needed to stop Megatron somehow, anyhow. If he fought back again, Megatron would surely give him an agonizing death. Or worse, conjure another horror for him to watch until he completely lost his sanity. 

“:Unless…:” Bee stopped suddenly. “:Unless:” 

There was a way to prevent that from happening. He could stop Megatron once and for all. The Autobot summoned every ounce of strength he had left in him, all of his anger, frustration, and hurt, and channeled it all into pushing against the now smaller walls of Megatron’s mind. The warlord felt it immediately, and Bee felt his rage and hatred slam into him like a brick wall. He ignored it as much as he could, and pushed again. This time, he would win. This time-

“:Agh!:” Bee leaned against the glass of the container to keep himself upright. The sudden transition back into his own frame was jarring, and it left him shaking.

“Bumblebee? Is that you?”

Bee slowly raised his head to look at who was in front of him. Optimus had bent down a little lower, and was gazing at him questioningly. There’s so much concern in his optics, Bee thought. So much pain, and I’m causing it.

“:I’m so- I’m sor-:”

“It’s him!” Ratchet came hurrying over to observe him. “The processor info, it’s him, Prime.”

Optimus’s face lit up and he bent closer to look Bee in his optics. “Save your strength, Bumblebee. Don’t try to talk.”

“We’re here, Bee.” Bee shakily turned to see the others, Autobots and humans, pressing up against the glass, looking at him anxiously and excitedly.

Oh no. Oh Primus. He didn’t want them to see.

“See what, Bee?”

Bee bent over as a new painful wave of Megatron’s anger rushed through his mind. He cried silently, and saw a little liquid drip down on the floor. His spark was racing in his chest, and it ached too. He hated this plan. A feeling of desperate hopelessness lay heavy in his spark-chamber, but he had long decided that it needed to be done. There was no other way. He needed to do this. He closed his optics.

“Bumblebee?”

Bee apologized to them internally, asking them to forgive him. He needed to do this right now or Megatron would get control and never let go. He wouldn’t be Bumblebee anymore, and he couldn’t let that happen. That was more frightening to him than death. He heard the whir of one of his blasters as it activated, and he tucked the slightly warm barrel under his chin. It was funny, he thought. The blaster was placed right above the vocalizer that Megatron had destroyed. Megatron might have taken his voice, but Bee wouldn’t let him take the rest of his body too. He prayed that Primus would guide him to the Well of Allsparks quickly, and pressed the blaster more firmly into position. He heard people screaming. Cussing, too, he thought. Screaming and crying, and he felt really bad. 

I’m so sorry, was the last thing he thought before he fired. 

Bumblebee felt something slam into him at the speed of light, knocking the blaster away from his head. The blast hit the ceiling, causing a wire to snap and rain down sparks. His optics flew open, and he found that the something was none other than Optimus. The much bigger bot was holding Bee in his arms tightly. The grasp was something between a tight embrace and a headlock, and although he struggled, Bee couldn’t free himself.

“Ratchet! Now!” Optimus yelled.

Bee’s radio wailed as the medic attacked him from behind, attaching all sorts of wires to Bee’s helm. The yellow bot screamed as he felt Ratchet’s digits grip tightly at his plating, and then suddenly press into the area on his head that controlled stasis and recharge. He felt coolant running from his optics as his body began to power down, and it dripped onto Optimus’s chassis. 

“:Why…?:”

Optimus looked spark-broken. He pulled Bee closer to his chest and whispered to him as Bee’s optics started to dim.

“It will be alright, Bumblebee. It will be alright. We will defeat Megatron, I promise.”

Optimus sighed deeply as the bot in his arms went completely limp, and he brushed the few stray tears on his scout’s faceplate away. The optics of his scout had gone dark again, and they stared sightlessly up at him. Optimus’s spark was racing in its chamber, and he was certain that it wouldn’t calm down for a very, very long time. He cradled the bot closer to his chest and stared silently at the rest of his team. Ratchet, seeing that the crisis was averted, dropped to the ground, put his head in his hands, and gave a very shaky exhale. Arcee was trembling violently, and there were tears streaming down her face. Bulkhead had turned his body away to shield Miko, and was looking over his shoulder with a look of horror on his face. Miko was yelling at him, begging him to tell her what was going on. Jack had his hands firmly over Raf’s eyes, despite his protests, and the older boy’s face was the whitest Optimus had ever seen. 

Optimus, after looking around the room, spoke up quietly.

“Bulkhead, Arcee, I need you to take the children out of here. I would like you to stay with them for a while as well.”

“What? No, I want to be here, Optimus!” Arcee’s anger quickly resurfaced, and she swiped at her face quickly. “I need to be here!”

“Please, Arcee.” Optimus’s voice was impossibly quiet. “Please listen to me and trust me.”

Arcee seemed to be battling internally, as many different emotions raced across her faceplate, but after a moment she sighed wearily and turned towards the door. She waved her hand at Jack and Raf, and they hurried to follow her. Well, Jack did anyways. He guided Raf out of the room still covering his eyes tightly. Optimus was almost certain he saw the younger boy crying quietly. Bulkhead shuffled after Arcee with Miko held firmly but gently in his servos. Miko, usually so talkative, was silent now. The sound of the doors sliding closed behind them echoed through the room. 

“…Optimus.” Ratchet raised his head from where it had been resting in his servos.

“Yes?”

“The charts, they said- They said Megatron wasn’t in control, but Bumblebee.”

“I know.”

“You know? How do you know?” 

Optimus vented wearily. “I know because he was trying to talk to me. I heard him trying to apologize.” He rested a gentle hand on the smaller bot’s helm. “And because it is something Bumblebee would do if he thought that there were no other options.”

Ratchet let his helm drop back into his servos. “You’re right, and I hate that more than anything. What are we going to do, Optimus?”

“I pains me to say it, but we must let Megatron remain in control. He will not want to kill Bumblebee until he is out of his body.” Optimus gently lowered Bee to the ground and stood slowly. “That will give us more time. It will keep Bee safe.”

“Do the others know, do you think?”

“I think Arcee and Bulkhead might know, but I will not tell them directly unless they ask.” A look of pain suddenly came over the Prime’s features. “We can’t tell the children, Ratchet. We-”

“I’ll tell them that Megatron was in control.” Ratchet struggled to his pedes as well. “Jack might not buy it, but if he has his suspicions I doubt he will tell the others.”

“Thank you, my friend.”

They both exited the chamber and stared solemnly at the little yellow bot on the floor. He looked so small. So vulnerable. Ratchet made an odd sound and turned away from the glass prison. Optimus walked over and stood behind Ratchet as he resumed looking at his computers, and put a servo on his friend’s shoulder. Ratchet stopped for a moment, and then continued working. Neither one said anything, there was nothing to be said that could soothe the hurricane of feelings they were both caught in. The only sound in the control room was the sound of a keyboard tapping away, and the beep of the machines that were connected to the prisoner. Optimus Prime walked back to the chamber, and gazed thoughtfully at the bot inside.

“You!”

Bumblebee flinched as the Decepticon’s fist flew harmlessly through his frame, and then straightened to stare at the enemy with steely optics.

“You ruin everything, you pathetic sparkling! What were you thinking? I am going to-” Megatron suddenly stopped when he realized that his acidic words seemed to have no effect on the bot standing in front of him. He narrowed his optics and looked, really looked, at the yellow bot. The Autobot stared back at him, completely motionless.

“Perhaps you’re stronger than I give you credit for, scout. Your plan would have been costly for both of us. Therefore,” he stepped closer, but the other didn’t move at all. “I can’t allow you to gain control of this frame again until I am free from it.”

The warlord had to admit, he was surprised when the other bot didn’t acknowledge his words in any way. He just turned and walked away from him. The grey bot watched him go, and made no move to follow him. He also didn’t conjure any sort of new image. The Decepticon could recognize, with some cruel satisfaction, that the damage had been done. What the Autobot had nearly done while he was in control of his own body was testimony enough to that. 

Bee couldn’t feel his stabilizing servos moving, but he knew he was walking away from the other bot. Once he was far enough away, they seemed to determine, they decided to give out. Bee sat down heavily, and sighed shakily. He had failed. He had failed, and now Megatron was going to win. If he had just been a little faster-

No, he couldn’t have done it. The children were there, they were watching.

Bumblebee put his helm in his servos and tried to hide the liquid that was pooling in his optics again. Primus, he felt so weak. He just kept failing at every attempt to escape, and was left a soggy, helpless mess. He gritted his denta together and resolved that he wouldn’t cry again. He needed to stay strong. He blinked a few times, wiped his faceplate, and lifted his head resolutely.

On the bright side, Ratchet had powered him down again and Megatron couldn’t do any more damage. However, that would only hold the Decepticon back for so long, as seen before. Bee sighed, and rubbed his chassis. His whole frame ached, and he felt so, so tired. He was certain that he wouldn’t be able to fight Megatron for control again for a while at least. Well then, he might as well get comfortable. Bumblebee lay down and curled his legs up to his chest. Megatron glanced briefly over his shoulder, but turned away again. Good, Bee wasn’t in the mood to deal with him. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for not crumbling in front of the Decepticon earlier, and resolved that he would just continue to tune him out as long as he could. Megatron didn’t seem interested in making another waking nightmare either, so that was also great. 

:Maybe I can get a little rest: 

He tried to anyways, but whenever his closed his optics all he could see was the horrified faces of his teammates. He thought of how devastated Optimus had looked when he had tried to fire the blaster, and felt a twist of guilt in his stomach. He hoped that Raf hadn’t seen it. He hoped that Raf thought it was Megatron. One half of his processor told him he was brave for trying to sacrifice himself and end Megatron, but the other half kept telling him that he was a coward. He wasn’t sure what to think. He thought he was making the right choice, but seeing their faces… 

It made him wonder.

Chapter Text

The training room echoed with the sound of a fight. It was physical, not verbal, luckily, and a harmless fight at that. Jack watched the two Autobots in front of him spar in the training ring, Bulkhead holding the focus mitts, and Arcee punching into the mitts with a fury that Jack had only seen a few times before. 

“Grh!” 

“C’mon, Arcee. Take it easy, I’m holding the focus mitt, not Megatron.”

The blue Autobot only responded by hitting her target harder. Bulkhead, holding the targets, grunted as he was pushed backwards from the force. Jack winced at the sound of the heavy blows coming from the training area, but reassured himself that if anyone could handle those hits, it was Bulkhead. He turned away from the sparring Autobots and looked at the other two kids sitting beside him. Miko was watching the match, but with considerably less interest than usual. Her hands played nervously in her lap, telling Jack that this whole incident had her a lot more unsettled than she liked to admit. In between them, Raf had his knees tucked up to his chest, chin resting on them, and was staring off into the distance. Jack reached out and placed a hand on the smaller boy’s back, trying to offer some support. He couldn’t imagine what Raf was going through right now. Bumblebee was his Autobot buddy, after all. Raf glanced at him, gave a weak smile, and turned away again. 

“Arcee!”

Bulkhead’s voice rang out through the training room, and all three children looked up to see Arcee let her arms drop to her side and stalk away from the other bot. Bulkhead was pressed up against the far wall, and he had the focus mitts held up in a protective stance. He dropped them to the floor, and started to walk after Arcee. She paced back and forth a few times, then eventually looked at Bulk remorsefully.

“Sorry, Bulk. I got carried away. I’m just so- so angry!” She delivered a hard punch to a nearby punching bag, and then looked back at the other bot. “I shouldn’t have cornered you like that. I’m sorry.”

Bulkhead sighed deeply, and put a servo on the smaller bot’s shoulder. “I understand, Arcee. It’s okay.” He shook his head. “I’m upset too. I get it.”

He glanced over at the kids, then pulled Arcee a little closer to him. He seemed to be whispering in her ear, and she was nodding to something he was saying. The children all looked at each other, not sure what they were talking about. They had been here for at least half-an-hour by now, and they had just been sitting quietly while the bots sparred. Jack tried to ignore the little voice in his head that was telling him that something was very wrong. He really wanted to talk to Arcee and ask her some questions, but he also knew that she was definitely not in the mood for that right now. He watched the Autobots continue to talk, and decided that he should probably ask them what was going on. However, Miko beat him to it, and broke the silence first. 

“Bulk? What had Megatron said to you guys? None of us could understand what he was saying, not even Raf.”

Raf sniffled at the reminder, and Miko looked a little guilty. Jack patted Raf’s back gently, and gazed up at Arcee. She met his eyes for a moment, but then she looked away. Something was definitely up. Jack had a suspicion of what it might be, but he really, really hoped that he was wrong.

“Uh, he was just making some threats, that’s all. There’s really not that much to tell.” Bulk was also avoiding eye contact with the children. 

“C’mon, Bulk! It can’t have been nothing if he tried to shoot Bee’s head off a minute later!” Miko threw up her arms in frustration.

“Hey!” Arcee whipped around to face Miko. “Watch it, Miko.”

“I’m sorry, that sounded worse than I meant it to.” She looked remorseful for a moment, then spoke again, her voice very small. “I just don’t understand what’s happening.”

Bulkhead sighed. “Trust me kid. No one does. But,” he added, seeing the sudden looks of worry on the humans’ faces. “I’m sure Ratchet and Optimus are figuring something out as we speak.”

There was an awkward silence as everyone mulled over the bot’s words. Raf spoke up next, surprising everyone else. Raf had not said anything since they left the main control room.

“Why did Megatron try to kill Bee? That doesn’t make any sen-”

Jack coughed loudly, and looked at Arcee. She managed to catch his drift, and she walked over to Raf.

“Megatron was bluffing, but because he’d never used Bee’s blasters before he didn’t know that they would fire.” She sighed. “Optimus could see that coming, and he didn’t want to take any chances just in case Megatron wasn’t bluffing.”

Raf still looked very uncertain, and he turned to look at Jack. Jack nodded, like he was agreeing with Arcee, and silently hoped that Raf would let it go. The younger boy sighed and looked away. Jack let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and looked at Arcee. Her shoulders were tense, and her servos were shaking slightly. Jack felt his heart sink. He was almost certain that his suspicions were true, and that realization hurt. The Autobots seemed to sense that the mood in the room was spiraling steadily, and Bulkhead reached out to Miko.

“C’mon, I’ll teach you how to do a proper roundhouse kick. Let’s work off some energy.”

Miko hopped into his hand, and the two of them walked out into the training area. Arcee sighed and sat down next to Raf. The three people on the sidelines watched Bulkhead and Miko for a few minutes, no one speaking. Raf broke the silence again as he turned to face the femme next to him.

“How long have you and Bumblebee been teammates?”

Arcee’s optics grew soft, and she let her head rest on the wall behind her. “Well, a really long time, but I knew him before we were even teammates.” She turned so she was facing both of the boys, and smiled a little. “I knew him when he was a sparkling.”

“How old is a sparkling again?” Jack said. “What age would that be in human years?”

Arcee shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, it’s a very large range, but I think Bumblebee would have been what you humans call a baby.” She grinned at the surprised looks on the boys’ faces. “So, yeah, I’ve known Bee for a really long time. I was a sparkling too, although much older. Maybe around Jack’s age, but in Cybertronian years.”

“What was he like when he was a sparkling?” Raf appeared to be fascinated with the subject. He was always eager to learn more about Cybertronians.

“Very much like how he is now. Curious, friendly, and fun.” She smiled gently. “Watching Optimus chase a sparkling around the Autobot base was always amusing.”

“Wait, Optimus?” Jack looked at Arcee. “Optimus raised Bee?”

“Yeah, pretty much. The entire base helped him, but everyone knew that Optimus was Bee’s favorite person. Ratchet and Elita-1 were very close seconds.” Arcee saw the confusion on the boys’ faces, and continued. “Optimus found Bee while he was patrolling by the Well of Allsparks one time, and took him back to base. Bee clung to Optimus like he was his lifeline, and Optimus suddenly found himself stuck with a sparkling.” She laughed. “He was so confused at first, but Bumblebee quickly had him wrapped around his digit.”

Raf was grinning, and Jack felt relieved that he was thinking about something happier for a change. Arcee seemed to feel that way too, and she continued to talk about what it was like when Bee was little.

“I remember the first time I met him. I had been in training with Elita when she suddenly got a call from Optimus. Optimus told her that he needed her in the med-bay, so we raced over there as fast as we could. When we walked in, there was this little yellow sparkling on the berth. Primus, he was so small.” She looked away for a moment, blinking rapidly, then continued. “Ratchet was just finishing an examination, and he said that he was a new-form.”

Jack assumed that that meant Bee was a newborn.

“As soon as Optimus picked him up, Bee curled up against his chassis, went into recharge, and wouldn’t let go. Optimus had a meeting that he had to attend, but he didn’t want to wake him up, so he attended the meeting with a sparkling in his arms.” Arcee grinned. “I was in that meeting, and it is still one of the best ones I remember. Everyone was so interested in Bee that most of the meeting was forgotten.”

“Were there not a lot of sparklings in the Autobot base?” Raf questioned. 

Arcee shook her head. “No, that’s the thing. There hadn’t been any new sparklings in centuries. The batch that I came from was thought to be the last one, and then suddenly this sparkling appeared out of nowhere.”

“Batch?”

“New Cybertronians are formed in the Well of Allsparks, usually in batches, and then sent to the surface. The well stopped creating new-forms when the war started, so we thought that there wouldn’t ever be any more sparklings. That’s why everyone was so interested in Bumblebee.” Arcee sighed. “He was everyone’s favorite, but Optimus, Elita-1, and Ratchet were his favorite people.”

Jack and Raf watched Arcee as she looked away from them. Jack was pretty sure he could see tears in her eyes. She gazed off into the distance, thinking about other, happier times. The group was silent, the only sound in the room coming from Miko and Bulkhead in the training area. Arcee sighed deeply, and looked at the boys again.

“I played with him a lot when Optimus and Elita were busy. Cliffjumper would sit with me, and sometimes others too. Bulkhead, Chromia, Jazz, Tailgate…” She trailed off, her face gradually growing sadder. Arcee stood suddenly, swiping at her face. “I’m sorry. I- I need to step away for a moment.”

Jack and Raf watched her go, the sound of her footsteps dying away as she walked out of the room. They turned to look at Bulkhead and Miko, who had both stopped what they were doing when they realized that Arcee was leaving the room. The room was silent, no one daring to say a thing. Jack sighed and put his head in his hands. He fervently hoped that the suspicions he had were wrong, because the stories that Arcee had been telling made it a thousand times worse than before.

“Prime!”

Optimus and Ratchet both jumped at the sudden noise from one of the computers. Agent Fowler’s face appeared on the screen, frowning as always, and Optimus quickly made his way over to talk to him.

“What is it, Agent Fowler?”

“You spot any Decepticons wearing hula skirts lately?”

Optimus raised an optical ridge. He had no idea what a hula skirt was. “No, Special Agent Fowler. Why?”

“Because I was hoping you had a lead on the ‘Cons that busted into the Kauai Naval Observatory. Place looked like it was hit by an army of wrecking balls.”

“Why would Decepticons break into an observatory?” Ratchet called over his shoulder from his spot in front of the computer.

“Does the Hoit-Nikogosian ring any bells? It’s a space telescope, and as of last night it’s missing its primary lens.”

“It is difficult to guess Starcream’s intent without knowing where the lens has been taken.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing that the lens has a tracking device.” Fowler pressed a button, and a map popped up onto the computer display. 

“The arctic? Oh joy.” Ratchet said somewhere behind Optimus.

Optimus ignored the medic and stared more intently at the geographical map on the screen. “There is a class ND7 deposit of energon in that area, but it is un-minable.”

“Until Starscream melts his way down to it with the lens.” Ratchet appeared next to Optimus and was now looking at the screen too. “Right through the glacier.”

“Melting a glacier that size would cause sea levels to rise and demolish coastal cities.” Agent Fowler looked at Optimus expectantly. “Well?”

Optimus and Ratchet both looked at each other, and both looked back at the yellow Autobot lying on the floor of the containment chamber. They both looked at each other again, Ratchet shaking his head and frowning, and Optimus looking a little more resolute.

“We will take care of it, Agent Fowler.”

Fowler looked past Optimus, raised an eyebrow, and then looked back at him. “Is everything okay there, Prime?”

“Fine. We must go and stop Starscream.” Optimus hung up the call and turned to look at Ratchet. The medic huffed and walked back to where he had been working earlier.

“The Decepticons have always had the worst timing when it comes to their schemes.”

Optimus vented deeply, then activated his comm link. “Bulkhead, Arcee, prepare to roll out.”

“But- what about Bee?” Jack looked up at Arcee.

They were all back in the main control room, and Optimus, Bulkhead, and Arcee were prepping to leave for the arctic. Arcee glanced at Jack, then at Bumblebee who was still lying on the floor. 

“We’ll be fast, Jack. It’ll be fine.”

“What if he comes back online? He wasn’t supposed to last time, but he did. What if-?” 

“Jack-”

“No, Arcee, it’s important.” Jack stepped closer, gesturing for Arcee to bend down. She did, and leaned in to hear what he was whispering. “I- I don’t know how to say this, but…” Jack took a deep breath and prayed that he wasn’t making a huge mistake. “Megatron wasn’t the one in control, was he?”

One look at the Autobot’s face was enough to answer his question. Arcee gazed back at him, a mix of emotions in her eyes that Jack couldn’t quite place. She took a shaky breath, and whispered softly in Jack’s ear.

“I think so. I haven’t asked Ratchet directly.” She sighed. “Please, Jack. Don’t tell the other kids. They don’t need to know. They had to watch it happen, and that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Don’t tell them.”

“I won’t, but what if he comes back online again and… um, tries again? None of us are strong enough to stop him, and Ratchet’s only one bot.”

Arcee looked more distressed than Jack had ever seen. Jack could see her servos shaking. She glanced at Bee again.

“I know, Jack. I know. That’s why we need to be fast.” She stood up straight and looked down at the teen. “Will you help Ratchet in any way you can?”

“Of course. Arcee,” he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “I’m sorry if I did something wrong I just-”

“You haven’t done anything wrong, Jack. I had my suspicions that you knew. I just- I just don’t like thinking about it myself.”

She walked away to join Optimus and Bulkhead in front of the ground-bridge. Optimus kept glancing over at the containment chamber, and Jack knew that the thought that had crossed his mind must be in the Prime’s as well. Miko and Raf were standing by Ratchet, who was prepping the coordinates for the bridge. He flipped the switch and the portal roared to life. 

“Be safe!” The medic yelled after the team as they transformed and drove into the green swirling light. The team looked smaller than usual, and it made Jack’s chest feel funny. Miko and Raf waved to them as they went. Jack swallowed the lump in his throat at the sight of them. They didn’t know what Bee had done, and he was going to make sure that they never found out. Never.

As he walked to join the others, he passed by the chamber where the prisoner was. He winced at the sight of the doors, which didn’t fit so securely as they once had. In his haste to stop Bee from shooting, Optimus had practically torn the doors apart. Jack had never seen the Prime so frantic. Jack sighed and kept walking. He couldn’t stop thinking about Bee, and what he had almost done. What was Megatron doing to him or telling him that drove him to such a drastic action? He couldn’t even imagine. Jack shook his head and went to stand by Raf and Miko. Raf was gazing sadly at Bee, and Miko was watching Raf out of the corner of her eye. Ratchet was working away on his computer, various scans and diagrams were scattered across his screens. Jack stood next to Miko, and leaned a bit closer to whisper in her ear.

“We should try to do something fun to distract Raf for a while.”

“Good idea.” Miko whispered back. She cleared her throat and spoke with a louder volume. “Hey Raf, wanna go play video games? I’ll let you be player one!” 

Raf turned to look at her, and gave a small smile. “No thanks. I want to help Ratchet.”

“Umm, okay.” Jack stepped forward and started to guide the younger boy towards the area where they usually hung out. “But don’t you think you could take a little break? It’s good to take breaks!”

Raf made a face at him. “You’re acting like a mother hen right now, Jack, and it’s weirding me out. You’re worse than your mom.”

“Hey! No I’m not!”

“You kinda are.”

“Miko. That is not helpful.”

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. Sometimes he wondered how he ended up with a bunch of robots and two strange children as his friends, but whatever, he could deal with this.

“C’mon, Raf. Just take a small break with Miko. Please?” When he saw the other hesitate, he decided to try and sweeten the deal. “I told Arcee that I would help Ratchet for a while. I’ll keep an eye on Bee, and you can go play a few rounds with Miko. I promise I’ll tell you if anything changes.”

Raf sighed. “Fine, but only for a little while.” 

“Yes!” Miko pumped her fist, grabbed Raf by his arm and dragged him off. She winked at Jack as she passed him, and Jack knew that she’d do her best to keep Raf occupied.

As soon as they disappeared up into the hang-out area, Jack turned to face Ratchet. He climbed the ladder to the upper area so he could be face to face with the medic. 

“Is there anything I can do, Ratchet?”

The medic sighed. “No, Jack. I need to be left alone so I can work in peace.”

“Sorry.” Jack sat down on the floor, and let his legs dangle over the ledge of the platform. 

“You’re not going to leave until I give you something to do, are you?”

“Nope. I made a promise to Raf and Arcee.”

The Autobot grumbled something under his breath, then handed a data-pad to the teen. “Read through this and highlight any info you find on cortical psychic patches, the Cybertronian processor, or viruses.” 

Jack to it from him and started to read. Ratchet had obviously translated the data into English so he could read it, and it seemed to be something like a medical report or journal. It was kind of interesting, and it reminded him of the medical reports that his mom worked on. He kept reading, but the article seemed to be on the Cybertronian alt-modes. 

“Jack?”

Jack looked up from the data-pad. Ratchet was looking at him, and he had stopped typing away on the keyboard. “Hm?”

“What were you and Arcee discussing earlier?”

Jack felt a nervous sensation run through his stomach. There were several lies he could tell, but something was telling him that it would be better to tell Ratchet the truth.

“We were talking about… Bee. About how he tried to, y’know.” Jack stared directly at the medic. “It was Bee, wasn’t it?”

Ratchet vented deeply, and turned away. The room was quiet for a few moments, apart from the sound of the tv a little farther off. Miko’s laugh rang through the room, an odd contrast to the heaviness that seemed to occupy Jack’s chest. When the old bot faced Jack again, Jack was startled by how upset he looked. 

“Yes. It was Bumblebee who was in control. How did you know?”

“I- I just thought that it didn’t make sense for Megatron to do that while he was still in Bee’s body. I was guessing, really.”

Ratchet gave a wry smile. “I had a hunch that you suspected something was up. I could see it on your face as you left the room.” His face grew darker. “We can’t tell the younger kids, they don’t need to know. It would only scare them more.”

Jack nodded. “I know, and I agree. That’s partially why I was so pushy about them taking a break.”

Ratchet nodded. He looked at Jack and his eyes grew a little softer. “You’re a good kid, Jack. You’re sensible.”

Jack wasn’t sure what to say, so he just smiled at the bot. Ratchet handed Jack another data-pad, and turned back to his work. He stopped after a brief moment and faced Jack again

“One other thing.” He smirked at the boy. “It’s not a bad thing to be a ‘mother hen’. I’ve been called that for stellar cycles now.” He chuckled softly, and Jack was pretty sure the bot was looking in Bee’s direction. The smile seemed to drip slowly off his face. “It keeps people safe. It keeps them alive.”

Jack was silent, the medic didn’t say anything else, and they both returned to their respective tasks. The final statement hung heavy in the air, and it left Jack’s mind turning. There was no more conversation for the better part of the next fifteen minutes until Ratchet made a hrmph sound, and started to walk away from the main computer. 

“I’m getting some materials I need for a possible procedure from the storage room. I’ll be right back. You’re in charge, keep an eye on everyone.”

Jack nodded. He watched the doors close behind Ratchet, then he stood and made his way to where the others were. Miko and Raf were on the couch playing a racing game, and Jack came to stand behind them. 

“Who’s winning?”

“Me!” Miko grinned as her racer passed Raf’s. She paused. “But only by a little bit.”

“She’s beaten me six times now.” Raf put the controller down and turned to face the older boy. “How is Bee? What are you and Ratchet doing?”

Jack glared slightly at Miko, who shrugged guiltily, then faced Raf again. “No changes. Ratchet’s getting some stuff in the back for a procedure. He might be getting close to something.” 

Raf’s face lit up. “That’s great!” He hopped off the couch. “Can I help again? Please?” 

Jack hesitated, but decided that Raf wouldn’t stop asking if he didn’t say yes. “Okay, here are some data-pads to read. You’re looking for anything about the Cybertronian processor.”

Raf happily accepted the device, and declared that he was going to go sit by Bee.

“Let’s all hang out with Bee.” Miko said, jumping to her feet. She also took a data-pad from Jack’s hands.

As they started walking, Jack heard a beep come from the main computer. He ignored it for a moment, but quickly remembered that Ratchet wasn’t in the main terminal at the moment. He turned and began walking in the direction of the noise. 

“I’ll check it out. You guys go ahead and I’ll meet you there.”

Jack went back to the main computer and tried to figure out what the notification had been. The computer was still beeping shrilly, and the display was flashing. He leaned over the safety railing so he could get a better look at the screen. 

“Oh my God.”

Jack felt his heart drop into his stomach as he saw what the notification was. Big red letters stared back at him, making his skin crawl and his heart pound.

Processor Activity Detected.

Containment Chamber Doors Compromised.

Movement Detected in Containment Chamber.

At that moment, an ear-splitting shriek echoed through the main room sending Jack’s heart into his throat and his feet racing towards where the others were.

“Miko! Raf!”

Jack flew across the room, turning the corner and praying that his fears weren’t coming true. He slammed into something at full speed, and sprawled backwards onto the floor. He rubbed his head and stared up at what he had run into. He felt his heart stop and his blood run cold as he realized that it was none other than Bumblebee. The bot glared down at him, and Jack quickly realized that it wasn’t Bee, it was Megatron. 

“Jack! Get up and run!” Miko’s voice snapped Jack out of his frozen state. He realized with horror that the Autobot had Raf firmly grasped in one hand and Miko in the other.

“Run, Jack! Find Ratchet!” Raf pounded his fists against the hand holding him, but it had no effect. “Go!”

Jack jumped to his feet, and started to run in the other direction. He heard someone scream, and he jumped to the side out of pure instinct. One of Bumblebee’s feet crashed down where he had been standing a moment earlier, and left cracks in the concrete. Jack yelled, and kept running. 

“Ratchet! Ratchet!” Jack dodged another of Megatron’s attempts to squash him. “Ratchet!”

Jack had never felt so scared in his life, with the threat of being crushed looming over his head, and his friends in the grasp of a psychotic warlord. His heart was racing, and his mind screaming. He gasped as Bee’s foot narrowly missed him again, but the impact caused him to stumble. He heard both Raf and Miko scream, and then he felt Bee’s foot ram into him and send him flying. Jack yelled as he was kicked across the room, but the scream cut off when he slammed into the far wall. He fell to the ground and stayed there. He gasped for air as he lay on the floor, the wind had been knocked out of his lungs when he hit the wall. It hurt to breathe, and he groaned in pain. He was pretty sure he had hit his head too, as the room seemed to be spinning around him.

“Jack! Jack, say something! Please!”

Jack rubbed the back of his head and slowly tried to sit up. It was too much, and he slumped back to the ground. He was surprised that Megatron hadn’t ended him yet, with him being in such a helpless state. He blinked a few times to try and stop the world from spinning, and realized that Megatron had another goal in mind. He was standing in front of the ground-bridge computer and was typing something in. Coordinates, Jack thought. He’s trying to leave.  

“Jack! Please say you’re okay! C’mon!”

Jack hissed at the pain in his ribs and back where Bee had kicked him, and slowly tried to sit up again. He saw Miko and Raf looking at him desperately, and their faces quickly changed from terrified to relieved when they saw Jack sit up. 

“Oh my gosh! I thought you died!” Miko sobbed. She and Raf were being pinned in between one of Bee’s arms and his chest so that Bumblebee could use the keyboard with one hand. 

“Hngh.” was the only thing that Jack could manage to say in reply. “Urgh.”

“What?”

The sound of the ground-bridge coming to life interrupted any other attempts to say something. Jack watched in horror as Bee marched in the direction of the portal with the kids still held tightly in his grasp. They were both kicking and screaming, but their efforts were no use. Jack started to crawl towards them, dragging his aching body across the floor.

Stop them! You need to save them, keep them safe!

“No!” Jack reached out, grasping at the air as they got closer to the portal. He coughed a few times. “No! Stop!”

Bee, Megatron, paused briefly and glanced back at Jack. His optics were filled with pure malice, and Jack shuddered at the sight of them. The bot turned away, and strode through the ground-bridge. Jack could only watch helplessly as they disappeared, the sound of Bee’s footsteps and the kids’ screaming dying away. The ground-bridge closed after them, leaving Jack alone in the room. He collapsed back to the ground, head still spinning, and mind racing. He wasn’t sure what to do. They were gone, Megatron had taken them captive. He had failed. 

“Jack? What in the name of the Allspark happened in here?” 

Jack looked up from his spot on the floor to see Ratchet jogging over to him, concern plastered all over his face. 

“Are you okay? Why are you on the floor? Where are the others? Where’s-” Ratchet picked Jack gently off of the floor, and stopped when he saw the empty container on the other side of the room. His optics widened, and his voice grew hoarse. “Where is Bumblebee?”

Jack sat up in the medics arms, head pounding, and pointed desperately at the ground-bridge. 

“Ratchet, he took them. He took Raf and Miko. They’re gone. They’re Megatron’s hostages.”

Chapter Text

“He what?” 

Ratchet’s voice boomed through the empty silo. Jack clapped his hands over his ears, his head still throbbing from hitting the wall. Ratchet seemed to realize that Jack was in pain, and he quickly lowered his voice. 

“Where, Jack? Where did they go?”

“I don’t know! Megatron kicked me across the room, and I didn’t exactly get the chance to look.” Jack rubbed the back of his head.

“Kicked you?” Ratchet’s face grew more distressed with every thing that Jack said. “He kicked you?”

Jack nodded. “I hit the wall, and got the wind knocked out of me.” He looked at his hands in his lap. “I couldn’t stop him.”

“Don’t go blaming yourself, Jack. There’s too much to do.” Ratchet quickly strode over to the main computer and gently placed Jack on the walkway next to it. “Are you alright? Here, let me give you a quick scan.” He pulled out his handheld scanner and waved in up and down in front of Jack.

“That’s not important right now!” Jack cried out. “We need to save Raf and Miko! We need to call the others so they can stop Megatron!”

Ratchet shook his head. “No. It is important.” He looked at the computer and then back at Jack. “Well, nothing’s broken. However, you have a lot of bruises, including bruising on your ribs and your head.”

“How bad? I’m sure I can handle it.” Jack got to his feet, holding the safety rail for support. He fought a sudden wave of dizziness. “As long as I don’t get up too fast. Can we call Optimus and the others now?” 

“We can’t call the others, they’re dealing with Starscream and the rest of the Decepticon fleet.” Ratchet pursed his lips into a thin line. “We’re on our own.”

“How are we gonna take him down? Bee’s pretty strong.” Jack said.

“Right now, our goal isn’t to take Bumblebee down and bring him back here. Our goal is to rescue Rafael and Miko and get them to safety. Once we have achieved that, we will focus on Bumblebee.” Ratchet turned away and went over to the ground-bridge computer.

Jack watched him work frantically. He could practically feel stress coming off of the Autobot in waves. He rubbed the lump that was forming on the back of his head, and walked to join Ratchet near the ground-bridge.

“That’s odd,” the medic murmured. “Megatron has gone to the burial grounds where Optimus and I fought him.” He paced back and forth rapidly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. After a few seconds his eyes widened suddenly. “Of course! Megatron is looking for dark energon. Dark energon must be one of the only things that can restore his frame back to full health.” 

“Okay then, what’s our plan?”

“The plan is that you stay here and open the ground-bridge for me when I have the children. You send me out, and you bring me back in.” Ratchet was typing on the computer, and did not look up at Jack.

“Oh come on!” Jack threw up his hands in frustration. “I can do more than that!”

Ratchet whirled around to face him, his optics glowing dangerously. “No. I cannot, in good conscience, put you in the path of any more danger. You will be staying here, Jack, and do not try to argue with me.”

Jack almost argued back, but another wave of pain ran through his side at that moment. He sighed, deciding that the medic might be right. He walked closer to the ground-bridge controls and waited for Ratchet’s signal. The Autobot sighed, then quickly strode towards the area where the ground-bridge would activate.

“Send me through.”

Jack bit his lip and flipped the switch. He watched the bot transform and speed through the swirling green light. Be careful, he thought, but the medic was gone before he could say it out loud.

Ratchet felt the pavement underneath his wheels change into the rocky, coarse dirt that was a staple of the area he was going to. He switched gears, and sped up, exiting the portal at a fast pace. It closed quickly behind him. He looked at the cliffs that surrounded the area, and started to scan them for any signs of life. He had tried his best to hide his panic from Jack, but now that he was alone he could feel the terror in his spark building steadily. He vented, trying to calm himself, and kept reassuring himself that the children would be okay.

That Bumblebee would be okay.

“I swear to Primus that if I ever get my servos on Megatron…” he muttered darkly as transformed out of vehicle mode. He started to jog through the tighter canyon area that he had come to, and continued to scan for life. He felt his spark skip a beat when he saw a heat signature pop up in his display. He made it through the tighter area, and transformed back into his ambulance mode. He floored it, and raced in the direction of the heat source. 

“Ratchet!” 

Ratchet felt his spark soar when he saw Miko standing at the edge of a small ledge on the side of one of the rock structures. He also felt extremely nervous as he watched the girl jump up and down waving her hands wildly in the air.

“Stay right there!” Ratchet bellowed at her. “Step away from the edge, and I’ll be right there!”

The girl waved her hands in the air again, and it looked like she was screaming something at him. Ratchet couldn’t decipher what it was over the sound of his engine and the gravel crunching under his wheels. She was also shaking her head back and forth in a ‘no’ motion. Ratchet felt a feeling of apprehension creeping up on him, and decided to transform again. Immediately after doing so, he heard the whir of a blaster behind him. He leapt to the side, and a blast hit the area where he had been standing a nanoklick before. He ducked behind a large rock, spark racing, and tried to see where Bumblebee was. 

This was a trap, but it also felt off. This wasn’t normal.

He heard the blaster fire again, but he realized with horror that it wasn’t pointed at him this time. Another fire sounded off, and Ratchet heard Miko screaming at the top of her lungs. Megatron was trying to lure him out by firing at Miko. Ratchet almost screamed in frustration, and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the young girl. He hated this so much. He hated it. He knew where Bee was now, due to the last few shots, but he was in a pretty protected area. Ratchet was sure that even if he fired back he wouldn’t be able to hit the other bot. Not that he wanted to. The thought of shooting Bumblebee made his stomach turn unpleasantly. He would never, could never, do that, even if he was about to die. He was sure that he couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

“Frag it all!” Ratchet jumped behind another boulder. He felt little pebbles that he been knocked loose by the blaster fire rain down on him. That was good, kind of. At least he wasn’t shooting at Miko anymore. He peeked out from behind the boulder, and wondered anxiously where Rafael might be. He hoped to Primus that the younger boy was somewhere safe. 

“Ratchet! The cliff! It’s crumbling!” Miko’s terrified voice reached his audial processors, and sent his spark straight into his stomach. “What do I do?!” She shrieked.

“Stay as still as possible! I’m coming!” Ratchet sprinted to a new boulder, firing randomly at the area where Bee was. He ducked behind it, and peeked out cautiously to assess the situation. The small ledge was indeed crumbling rapidly, and Miko was grasping at the rocks behind her to try and get off of it. 

“Ratchet!”

“Hang in there, Miko!” Ratchet decided to throw it all to hell, and sprinted as fast as he could towards the young girl. He heard the sound of blaster fire, and transformed into his vehicle mode. The shots passed over his head as he put pedal to the metal, dirt flying up from underneath his tires. He swerved to the edge of the cliff face where Miko was, and quickly transformed back. Miko was about three yards or so above him, and he extended his arms towards the girl.

“Jump! Now!” 

“I- I can’t!” Miko clung to the rocks as the ground under her feet continued to fall away. “It’s too far!”

“Miko!” Ratchet shook his arms at her. “I’ll catch you! I promise.” Seeing the young girl hesitate again, he tried to add more warmth and conviction to his voice. “I will catch you.”

Miko whimpered, but then let go of the rocks she was gripping on to. She screamed as she fell down among the rest of the crumbling ledge, and Ratchet stretched out his arms. The rocks clattered against his plating, but he was focused only on catching Miko. He jumped, and felt her brush against his fingertips. He swept her into his arms and curled in on himself to try and shield her from the last few rocks that bounced down the side of the canyon. Ratchet felt his feet hit the ground, and he immediately started running for better cover.

“Are you alright?”

Miko was shaking in his arms, covered in dust and a few bruises, but she otherwise looked unharmed. “Yeah.” She took a deep breath, and exhaled sharply. “Thanks for saving me. I thought I was toast.”

“Of course.” Ratchet set the girl down once they were behind the rock, and started scanning for Bumblebee and Rafael. He didn’t see anything. “Do you know where Raf is? Or maybe just what it is Megatron is trying to accomplish?”

“Oh no, Raf!” Miko jumped to her feet and started to pace. “I was a decoy, Ratchet! Megatron found this purple crystal thingy, and he’s trying to get back to the silo so he can use the ground-bridge. He has Raf still!”

Ratchet felt his spark sink at Miko’s words. “I told Jack to close the ground-bridge behind me. Megatron was probably accounting for that, and is holding Raf as a bartering token of some sort.” He transformed and swung his passenger side door open. “Hop in. We’ve got to go to where the ground-bridge activated.”

Miko practically threw herself in, and as soon as Ratchet knew that she was safely buckled in he took off back in the direction of where he had originally come from. The drive was short, and as Ratchet swung around the last bend in the canyon he skidded to a halt at what he saw.

“Raf!” Miko cried out.

Bumblebee, no, Megatron, had the boy in a tight grip with a blaster to his head. Ratchet watched in horror as the bot brought the weapon closer to the boy’s head. 

“:Open the ground-bridge. Now:” Bumblebee’s voice had a strange, distorted quality to it. It sounded nothing like Bumblebee.

Ratchet took a deep breath. “Okay. I will, but I need to transform.” Miko quickly hopped out, and he transformed back slowly. Bee was watching him intently, watching for any sudden movement or tricks. 

“Ratchet…?” Raf stared at the medic, nothing but pure fear in his eyes.

“You’re going to be okay, Rafael, just hold on.” Ratchet tried to mask the terror in his voice, but it was getting increasingly difficult. He quickly lifted a servo to his helm and activated his comm link. “Jack, do you copy?”

“Yeah. Are you coming back? What’s going on?” 

“I need you to open the ground-bridge. Now.” Ratchet did not break eye contact with the other bot in front of him.

The other side of the line was silent for a moment, then Jack’s voice came through again. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Open the bridge, Jack.” Ratchet lowered his voice and whispered through the comm. “Hide immediately, and don’t come out. No matter what.”

He hung up the call before Jack could respond and stared at Bumblebee. He stared back, not even blinking. Miko was crouched down behind Ratchet’s legs, eyes locked on Raf and muttering some vaguely threatening words. Raf was staring at the medic, barely moving, with the blaster still pressed firmly against his temple.

The sound of the ground-bridge opening startled everyone present, and Ratchet felt himself holding his breath as the green glowing portal grew bigger. Once it had fully activated, the yellow bot slowly started to walk towards it, not turning his back on the medic. Ratchet waited for him to put Rafael down, but as the other bot got closer and closer to the portal he felt his spark sink faster. 

“Put Rafael down. We opened the ground-bridge for you! Put him down!” Ratchet yelled at the other bot, desperation leaking into his voice.

Bumblebee turned to look at him, and his optics looked at him almost scathingly. “:No. I do not know who is on the other side of this ground-bridge. Do you take me for a fool?:”

“No!”

Ratchet lunged forward, but he was too far away to do anything. Bumblebee disappeared through the portal with the boy before he could even transform into his vehicle mode. The bridge dissolved, leaving the medic and only one of the humans alone in the desert. Ratchet yelled in frustration and kicked a rock across the sand. Miko was silent, obviously shocked that Bee had taken Raf with him. Ratchet began to pace back and forth, leaving erratic footsteps in the dirt. 

“Ratchet? What do we do now?” 

The medic stopped and looked at the young girl sitting on the ground. She gazed up at him with big, watery eyes, and Ratchet was quickly reminded that she had been through a lot in the past fifteen minutes. He sighed and slowly sat down next to her in the dirt.

“We wait. Presumably, Megatron will use the ground-bridge to transport himself to the Decepticon warship. Once he has left, Jack will come out of hiding and open the ground-bridge for us.”

“What about Raf?”

“It is extremely unlikely that Megatron will want to take a human aboard his warship. Raf also has no use to him besides being a shield.”

Miko sighed. “That’s good I guess. How long will we be stuck here?” She scooted a little closer to the Autobot as she spoke until she was pressed up next to him.

Normally, Ratchet would have not liked the physical contact, but he decided that he didn’t mind today . “Hopefully not for long. The boys will figure it out.”

“Hide immediately and don’t come out. No matter what.”

“What?” Jack practically screeched. He did not like the sound of that.

The communication was cut before any sort of explanation could be offered. Jack thought about calling back, but decided that he needed to trust Ratchet and follow his instructions. But where should he hide? If Bumblebee was the one that would be coming through the ground-bridge he could just scan for Jack and find him easily. Maybe, instead of trying to hide, he needed to find somewhere where the bot couldn’t reach him. He looked around the room, and his eyes landed on a ventilation shaft. That might work. Jack flipped the switch for the ground-bridge and sprinted towards the hiding spot.

“I hope it’s not Bee, but something tells me it is.” Jack muttered as he pulled off the grate covering the shaft and crawled inside. He did not want to be punted across the silo again. He put the vent cover back on from the inside, and then began to move on his hands and knees. He crawled further back until the shaft was small enough that Bee wouldn’t be able to reach in and grab him out. He heard footsteps and held his breath as they grew louder and louder. Jack craned his neck and felt his heart sink at the sight of a bright yellow paint job. But at least it was just Bee, right?

“Okay, you can let me go now.” Jack’s heart dropped straight to his feet when he heard Raf’s shaky voice. “There’s no one here, so I’m not of any use to you.” 

Bumblebee beeped and whirred at the boy in his fist, but it didn’t sound like Bee. It also didn’t sound at all friendly. Jack started to crawl back towards the front of the ventilation shaft, praying that the bot wouldn’t hear him. He needed to be ready to help Raf. He wasn’t sure how, but he couldn’t let Megatron take Raf with him again. 

“…I don’t know what you’re saying.” Raf was looking directly into the Autobot’s eyes now. 

“Please don’t do anything dumb, Raf.” Jack whispered. He held his breath as he watched the two people stare at each other. The yellow bot set the purple crystal in his other hand down on a nearby crate and started to type something in on the ground-bridge computer. Probably new coordinates, Jack thought. I hope he leaves soon.

“I’m not important, I have no impact on your plan.” Raf’s voice sounded ever-so-slightly desperate now, and Jack felt a new wave of anxiety rush over him.

Bumblebee looked at the human he had trapped in his fist, and narrowed his optics. He turned to the main computer and began typing something on the keyboard. Jack felt the air leave his lungs as he realized that the bot was typing out a message.

You may not be important to my plan, but you are important to the Autobots, especially to the one I control. I am going to crush you in his own hands, and I shall make him watch.

Raf screamed as the bot suddenly increased the pressure he was exerting on the boy. The fist around the human started to close, even as Raf tried desperately to escape.

“Bumblebee, stop! Fight him! This isn’t you, you’d never hurt me! Fight him!”

There was no response, and Jack knew that there would be no winning this. He needed to try, though, and he needed to help Raf.

“No!” Jack threw himself out of the hiding spot and charged towards the bot. “Stop!”

Bumblebee looked down at Jack, eyes burning with anger, and started to raise his foot. 

Jack skidded to a stop, and dodged the foot that came crashing down to the floor. It’s like dejá-vu, Jack thought hysterically as he sprinted towards where he thought the extra Autobot weapons might be. He had no idea how to use them, but he needed something to stop Bee. He stopped when he heard Raf’s voice call out to him.

“Jack, wait!”

Jack whirled around, ready to fight, and stopped when he saw that Bee was shaking violently. There was a loud crash as he fell to his knees, and Jack raced back towards Raf. He watched in amazement as the fist wrapped around Raf’s middle suddenly loosened and set Raf down gently on the ground. The hand feebly nudged Raf in Jack’s direction, then fell to the ground.

“It’s Bee! He’s fighting Megatron!” Raf exclaimed happily as Jack reached him.

Jack looked at the shivering Autobot on the floor, and grabbed the younger boy’s hand. “Yeah, well, it doesn’t look like he’s winning. C’mon!” Jack dragged Raf behind him, racing back towards the ventilation shaft that he had been hiding in earlier. 

“But what about Bee?” Raf cried out. 

Jack hopped into the shaft and pulled Raf in after him. “We can’t do anything to help him Raf! Not now!” 

He gestured for the younger boy to follow him, and they crawled deeper into the wall. The sound of a squealing radio echoed around them, and both boys clapped their hands over their ears. It screeched and wailed for a few moments, and then suddenly went silent. 

“Is he okay?” Raf stared at Jack in the dark, and Jack didn’t know how to respond. 

Suddenly, the sound of banging and screeching metal erupted around them. The boys screamed as one of Bumblebee’s servos reached into the ventilation shaft and started reaching around, grasping at the walls and searching for the humans. 

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Raf screamed as the grate that had covered the vent was crumpled in one of Bee’s fists like paper. The furious face of the Autobot appeared at the entrance, eyes locking in on the boys and absolutely teeming with hatred.

“We need to move back!” Jack grabbed Raf by the back of his shirt and dragged him further back into the vent. “Move!”

Jack suddenly felt resistance, and then felt himself being dragged backwards. His stomach dropped, and Jack whirled around to look over his shoulder.

“He has my foot! He has my foot!” Raf was kicking frantically at the hand that was wrapped around his ankle, wiggling around like a fish trying to escape a net.

“Grab the walls! Grab anything!” Jack pulled on Raf’s shirt as hard as he could and desperately tried to keep moving further back. His aching back screamed in agony at him, but he did not let go of Raf. Gosh, he wished that he had some acetaminophen right now.

Both boys screamed as they were pulled closer to the entrance. Raf’s hands made a dragged-out squeaking noise as he frantically tried to hold on to the metal walls. Their sneakers made a similar sound, making a horrible cacophany of sound in the small area. Jack found himself apologizing to his mother as they got closer and closer to the bot that was actively trying to kill them. They weren’t going to make it out of this.

I’m so sorry I wasn’t honest with you. I’m sorry I wasn’t the best son I could’ve been. I’m s-

“Oof!” Jack face-planted as the force that was dragging them backwards abruptly vanished. “Oww… My nose…” He rubbed at his face, then remembered that they had bigger problems. He began crawling frantically towards the back of the vent again, but this time there was no stopping. Once they had gone back as far as they could, Jack pushed Raf behind him and placed himself in a protective stance.

“What the heck just happened, Raf?” 

“I- I think Bee was fighting back again. He just let go!” The younger boy’s voice was shaking. “What do we do, Jack?”

“Nothing. We can’t do anything.” Jack took a deep breath and stared towards the entrance of the vent. His heart was beating faster than he thought was possible, and he and Raf were both breathing heavily. Jack swiped at his nose, which he was pretty sure was bleeding. Raf was trembling next to him, and Jack was sure that he was shaking too. They sat in the dark, waiting for the next attack, but it never came. 

“Where did he go?” Raf whispered. “He’s not there anymore.”

“I don’t know, Raf.” Jack whispered back.

The sound of the ground-bridge activating interrupted them, and they sat in silence until the sound of footsteps died away and the sound of the ground-bridge disappeared. The boys stared at each other in the dark, barely breathing, until Raf spoke.

“Is he really gone? Or is it a trap?”

Jack took a deep breath, steeled himself, and started scooting towards the entrance. “Whatever happens, stay where you are, Raf.”

Raf protested behind him, but Jack ignored him. When he neared the end of the vent, he stopped and listened for any sounds in the silo. Hearing nothing, he very cautiously stuck his head out of the vent. On the ground, the grate that covered the vent was lying in a crumpled heap. Jack squinted and looked a little closer, thinking that he saw something. There were little spots of blue on the metal, and Jack realized that Bee must have nicked an energon fuel line or something when he was trying to drag Raf out. 

“What is it?” Raf called out from behind him. 

“Energon, I think. Stay there.” Jack slid out of the vent and stretched. His back was killing him. As he bent down, he saw a spot of energon on the floor, and then another. Jack realized that there was a trail, and he began to follow the little blue trail on the ground. He followed it until it came to a stop right in front of where the ground-bridge would open.

“He’s gone.” Jack felt both relieved and anxious. He started to turn back towards Raf, but suddenly felt the younger boy slam into his midsection.

“Thank you, Jack. Thank you for helping me.” Raf had his face buried in Jack’s stomach, and Jack reached out to ruffle the boy’s dark hair.

“Of course. I’m glad you’re okay.” Jack patted Raf on the back, and then looked in the direction of the ground-bridge. “What happened earlier? Where did he take you, and where is Ratchet and Miko?”

“Oh!” Raf quickly started to run towards the computer area. “He was looking for this crystal thing. I think it’s an energy source of some kind. Once he found it, he tried to use Miko as a distraction so he could slip through the ground-bridge that Ratchet traveled through. Unfortunately for him, you closed it pretty quickly apparently. He was holding on to me as a backup, and he held a blaster to my head to get Ratchet to call you to open the portal.”

“He held a blaster to your head?!”

“Yeah, but he didn’t shoot so it’s fine.” Raf didn’t look away from the screen of the ground-bridge computer. He was writing down the coordinates that Bee had just travelled to on a piece of paper. “We need to bring Ratchet and Miko back. Use the main computer to call them.”

“Raf!” 

Raf turned and looked at Jack, who was standing frozen in the middle of the room. His face was horrified, mouth open and eyes wide. 

Raf blinked. “Okay, I will admit, it was pretty bad and I was really scared, but we have bigger issues right now Jack. We’re losing Bee.” He looked at the scrap of paper in his hand. “He’s been able to fight back less and less. I’m scared that the damage might be permanent if Megatron doesn’t get out of his head soon.” He gazed sadly down at Jack. “He’s saved us so many times, we need to save him.”

Jack seemed to snap out of his frozen state, and he quickly made his way towards the main computer. “You’re right. However, we will be talking about this later.”

Raf rolled his eyes and then stared anxiously at the screen in front of him. Bee had transported to the arctic, and the other bots had gone there earlier today to stop Starscream. Maybe, he thought, it’s time to call the others. Behind him, he heard Jack make contact with Ratchet.

“Ratchet? Are you there?”

Hang in there, Bee, Raf thought. We’re coming.

“Ratchet? Are you there?” 

Ratchet and Miko had been sitting in silence, and they both jumped at the sudden noise that came from the medic’s radio. Ratchet slapped a hand to his comm link, and quickly got to his feet.

“Jack! Oh, thank Primus! Are you alright? Is Rafael there?” 

“Yeah, yeah we’re fine. Raf is here, but Bee is not. Can you tell us your coordinates?”

“I just sent them.” Ratchet was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. “Where is Bumblebee?”

“Probably on the Decepticon warship.” Raf’s voice answered somewhere in the background. “I’m opening the gate now!”

The ground-bridge started to materialize in front of Ratchet and Miko, and the Autobot quickly transformed to his vehicle mode. He swung open the door, and Miko quickly hopped in. Ratchet floored it, and they raced through the portal. Once they had made it to the base, Miko hopped out and made a beeline for Raf. 

“You’re okay!” The older girl picked Raf up in a hug and swung him around several times. “I thought you were gonna die!”

“Miko!” Ratchet and Jack both said in unison. They looked at each other, and Ratchet gave Jack the smallest of smiles.

“Thanks, Miko. I’m glad you’re okay too.” Raf squirmed in the girl’s tight hold. “Can you put me down now?”

“I’m glad that everyone is alright.” Ratchet walked over to the vent where Raf and Jack had hid, obviously seeing the crumpled vent cover and the spots of energon. “What happened here?”

Jack quickly explained everything that had happened, and watched Ratchet’s face grow more and more grave with every new thing he said. Ratchet followed the energon trail, and then quickly walked back to the ground-bridge computer. Raf handed the bot the scrap of paper that had the coordinates that Bee had traveled to written down on it. The medic quickly typed them in, and nodded as the location popped up on the screen.

“Hm. That is most likely the Nemesis.” He sighed deeply and rubbed a servo across his face. “Megatron will succeed in restoring his body if we don’t act quickly, and he will…” The medic trailed off and looked at the anxious faces of the children standing nearby.

“He’ll kill Bee.” Raf said quietly.

Ratchet nodded, and then turned towards the ground-bridge area. “Send me through.”

“Are you nuts?” Miko threw her hands in the air. “You can’t take on the entire Decepticon fleet on your own! You can’t take Megatron on by yourself!”

“I agree with Miko. We’re coming with you.” Jack picked up a nearby crowbar and stepped forward.

“Absolutely not!” Ratchet bellowed, optics flashing with a mix of fear and anger. “I will not put you in the path of danger! You have no idea how dangerous the Nemesis is, how dangerous this mission will be!”

“Yes, we do!” Raf argued. “We know, Ratchet! We need to save Bee, and you can’t do that alone.” His voice got smaller. “Ratchet, please, you can’t do this alone.”

Ratchet turned away from the humans, silent, and did not look at them for a few moments. After a while he sighed deeply and looked at the children. His optics were sad, and Jack was reminded of the stories that Arcee had been telling earlier. The medic gazed at them for a moment more, then sighed again.

“Alright, fine. You can come, but you must follow the directions I give you to the letter.”

“Yeah!” Miko ran to a crate a few steps away and returned carrying an axe. “Let’s wreck some ‘Cons!”

Raf and Jack both shuffled a little further away from the excited girl. Ratchet looked slightly concerned, but he quickly decided to accept it and move past it. 

“This is a stealth mission, but yes, be ready to defend yourself.”

Miko grinned ecstatically at the boys, and raced after Ratchet. The boys jogged after her, Jack holding his crowbar and Raf his laptop.

“Are you ready?” Ratchet had his hand on the ground-bridge switch. The kids all nodded at him, and he flipped it. He also pressed a button on the dashboard before jogging towards the portal.

“Let’s go!” Miko started to lead the charge, but Ratchet pushed her behind him. Jack felt a hand slip into his own, and looked down at Raf. Raf looked up at him with a mix of apprehension and determination on his face. Jack smiled encouragingly at him, and they ran through the portal together.

When the light from the ground-bridge faded and his eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting, Jack looked around in amazement at the room they were in. It was impressive, and it was also extremely daunting. The walls hummed with an energy that Jack wasn’t sure he liked. He felt a shiver run up his spine as he looked around. In the corner, a few Decepticon guards were lying in a heap. They weren’t moving, and Ratchet quickly gave them a scan. 

“They’re knocked out. Bumblebee has been through here.”

“Where do we go now?” Raf whispered, letting go of Jack’s hand to push his glasses further up on his nose.

“Well, when Arcee and Bumblebee were here looking for the cure for Cybonic Plauge, they pinpointed on their maps where Megatron was. I just need to follow that map.” Ratchet held up his arm and a small, blue hologram of a map appeared in the air.

“What are we waiting for?” Miko hissed. “Let’s go save Bee!”

The small group made their way to the door, and Ratchet poked his head out into the hallway. He looked left, then right, and then left again. There was a trail of downed Decepticons in the hall, clearly showing which way Megatron and Bumblebee had gone. Ratchet took a deep breath, then pushed the door open a bit wider. The children crept cautiously out of the room, and looked up questioningly at Ratchet. He looked at the map one more time, then narrowed his optics and transformed into his vehicle mode. He swung open the doors, and revved his engine quietly.

“All clear. Let’s roll out.”

Chapter Text

Bumblebee was tired. No, he was beyond tired. There seemed to be an ache in his frame that lived deep below the surface. No matter how he turned his body, no matter how much he rubbed at his tight joints, the feeling remained. It wasn’t a stinging sort of pain, but rather the dull, heavy kind. It made him want to close his optics and power off for a few cycles. He had for a while, he was pretty sure. He couldn’t remember much of anything, and when he powered on Megatron was gone. 

“:Primus:” Bee murmured, pulling his knees up to his chassis. He was so tired.

The mindscape around him was different now. It looked fuzzy and static-y, and there were short bursts of almost complete darkness. Bee didn’t know what this meant, but he was willing to bet that it wasn’t good. In his audial processors, he could almost swear that he could hear voices whispering to him, but whenever he focused on them they seemed to disappear. He shivered again and slumped back to the ground. The dirt felt cool, and he vented in relief at the small blessing. He knew that there was a good possibility that Megatron was wreaking havoc in the real world, but for some reason he couldn’t find the strength to do anything about it. The scout gazed up at the sky above him, and watched it flicker. He blinked in confusion as the scenery changed again, but it quickly went back to Tyger Pax. For a moment there, it had almost looked like Kaon. That couldn’t be good. Bee wearily sat up, taking a moment to will himself to not immediately fall over. He needed to figure out what was going on.

“:C’mon, you can do this.:” Bee heaved himself to his pedes and started to shuffle to where Megatron had previously created the window to the outside world. His feet felt like lead, but he eventually reached his destination. He pushed at the rock face, and it shimmered for a moment. He pushed harder, and he started to see the world through his real frame. He felt his spark stop when he realized that Raf was gripped tightly in one of his servos. Where was Miko? Where were Jack and Ratchet? One of the last things he remembered was kicking Jack and leaving, then the world had gone black again. He felt very bad about kicking Jack, and vowed that he would make it up to the boy if he ever got out of here. 

“:Pay attention:” he scolded himself, focusing again on what was happening in the real world. He felt his spark stop when he saw what Megatron was typing out on the Autobot computer. Raf was screaming, and Bee felt sick. The mindscape went dark for a moment, then slowly reappeared. Bee yelled in anger and panic, and reached his mind out as far as he could. Megatron appeared beside him for a moment, looking murderous as ever, then vanished. Bee pushed again, and saw Jack running around. Megatron was going to try and kick him again. Bee harnessed the flash of anger he felt at that, and twisted it into something he could use. He felt himself come back to his body again, but it didn’t feel like it usually did. His own body felt foreign to him, and he tried to push down the wave of despair that tried to swallow him whole. He was on his knees, and the room was spinning. He shoved Raf towards Jack.

“:Take him! Hide!:”

Of course, neither boy understood what he was saying, but they did indeed run and hide. Bee sighed in relief as he watched them crawl into one of the silo’s many vents. The relief didn’t last long, as he found himself back in the mindscape a second later. He wasn’t sure if he could call it his anymore. It looked more like Megatron’s had in his own body. Bee winced at the warlord’s anger, and fell to the ground. He yelled in surprise when he found that it wasn’t solid, it was like a quicksand, trying to swallow him and keep him stuck here. It was almost certainly Megatron’s doing, and no matter how Bee struggled he couldn’t free himself. He screamed in frustration, and watched as the landscape shivered and looked like the Autobot base for a brief moment. He could hear Megatron’s thoughts echoing in his head, a thick storm of hatred

He was going to kill the children. 

Bee writhed around frantically, grasping at the nearby rocks to try and pull himself out of the ground. He needed to escape, he needed to get Megatron away from here. Far away from the Autobots, far away from the humans, where he couldn’t hurt anyone but Bumblebee. Bee grunted as he finally managed to drag himself out of the pit, and he staggered to his feet again. Megatron had entered coordinates for the Decepticon warship, so all he needed to do was get control and get Megatron’s sorry skid plate through the ground-bridge. He charged at the edge of the mindscape, and gasped at the burning sensation that rushed through his frame when he came back to his own body. It had never hurt this badly before. He let go of Raf’s foot, stood slowly and staggered over to the ground-bridge. He was bleeding, but he didn’t care. He was going to be dead soon anyways, he was sure. He flipped the switch and walked unsteadily towards the glowing portal. he gasped as Megatron briefly regained control, but the warlord only reached out and grabbed the dark energon crystal that was lying nearby. Bee kept walking, trying his best to not think about the fact that he was walking towards almost certain death. 

But… the children would live. His family would live. 

It was the only thought that kept his pedes moving forward. When the light died away and the dark halls of the Nemesis stared back at him, Bumblebee let go. He was tired. He was exhausted. He had nothing left to give. He heard Megatron laughing as he slipped back into the depths of his mind, but he barely registered it. 

“Are you happy, scout?” The warlord taunted him. “You may have saved their lives, but I assure you it is only temporary.”

Bee did not respond. He collapsed to the ground of the completely dark mindscape, and stayed where he fell. He didn’t have the energy to move. Whatever strength he had left was gone. He was done. As he drifted away into the darkness, his only regret was that Raf’s last memory of him would be such a horrible one.

The Nemesis was dark, lit up mostly with purple lights that really didn’t cast that much light. Ratchet swung around a corner, skidding slightly. In the cab, Miko giggled with excitement while Raf and Jack clutched at the door handles. They were also nervously eyeing the axe that Miko was holding a lot more loosely than either of them would have preferred. Ratchet paid them very little attention, his focus was on finding Bumblebee and stopping Megatron from returning. From what Jack and Raf had been telling him, Bumblebee was starting to weaken. Ratchet’s engine hummed anxiously as his thoughts continued to race. Even if they did stop Megatron, what would the cost be? Would they lose Bumblebee? The thought of anything happening to the scout made his spark ache, and it urged him to move faster. We’re coming, Bumblebee, he thought as he swung around another curve. We will find a solution, I will help you, I will fix this. 

I won’t fail you again.

Ratchet steeled himself and continued on. He knew that if he started thinking about that, he wouldn’t ever escape from his head. He needed all of his wits about him right now. Bumblebee needed him, and he needed to keep the children safe. Self-pity wasn’t going to bet him anywhere. It wouldn’t save Bumblebee. 

“All available Decepticon soldiers report to the main control room.” An automated voice came over the ships loudspeaker, startling the group. 

“I bet Bulkhead and the others are giving them all sorts of trouble.” Miko smirked. “Serves ‘em right.” 

Ratchet slowed to a stop, causing his passengers to go still and silent. Ratchet waited, barely moving, wondering of his audial processors were playing tricks on him. He could hav sword he heard pedesteps. He decided that he would not take chances, and he flung the doors of his ambulance mode open. The children hopped out silently, all of them tense and brandishing their weapons. Ratchet transformed and quickly walked to the closest door in the hallway, opened it, and ushered the children inside. It appeared to be a storage room of some sort, and luckily no one was in there. Ratchet vented in relief, and pushed the kids deeper into the room. They ducked down behind some of the many boxes in the room, all holding their breath. The Autobot remained standing by the door, audial processors pressed to the door and listening with bated breath. He heard the pedesteps pass by, and eventually fade away. With a sigh and a hand wave, he gestured the children back over to him. 

“We are going to have to walk the rest of the way. Driving will make too much noise.”

They all nodded, and Ratchet opened the door again. He bent down and picked up Raf, who had much shorter legs than the other two kids, and placed him on his shoulder. He looked left, then right, and then started to jog down the corridor. Jack and Miko were close on his heels, and Ratchet made sure to keep a pace that the two of them would be able to keep up with. The farther along they went, the more downed Decepticon soldiers they found. Ratchet’s spark sank with each new discovery, and he found himself praying that they wouldn’t be too late. Eventually, the group came to a door that set off alarm bells in Ratchet’s head. There was energon splattered on the door and a very noticeable dent in the metal. 

“Is this from Bee?” Jack whispered below him.

Ratchet nodded. “I believe so. Everyone stand back.” He placed Raf down on the floor and shooed them off to the side. Once they were in a somewhat safe area, Ratchet raised a servo and pushed on the broken area of the door. It groaned loudly as it swung open, making Ratchet bite his glossa and the kids hold their breath in apprehension. The door opened to reveal another hallway that was slightly smaller than the main corridor. Ratchet examined the nearby rooms that branched off from the smaller hall, and looked back at the children.

“These are medical berths. We must be in the medical wing, which means that we’re getting closer.”

The kids all smiled at him, looking hopeful, and the group continued to walk deeper into the ship. Around them, the sound of humming machines echoed through the empty rooms. Faintly in the distance, Raf was sure that he could hear beeping. He tried to focus in on the sound, as there wasn’t anything else nearby making that noise. As they walked past the unoccupied chambers, Raf peered in curiously. Everything was so cold and uninviting, a stark contrast to the friendliness that the Autobot base always seemed to exude. He shivered, the thought of Bee being in here somewhere was not a good one. They kept walking, and the beeping steadily grew louder. Raf could tell that the others heard the sound now too, as Miko held her axe a little tighter, Jack’s shoulders were slowly creeping upwards, and Ratchet’s hands were balling into fists. 

Beep.

What was making that sound? Raf felt an emotion rush over him that was somewhere between apprehension and annoyance. The noise was starting to grate on his nerves.

Beep.

If they did find Bee, what would they do?

Beep.

They couldn’t destroy Megatron and save Bumblebee. He had been running this situation through his head dozens of times now, and he just couldn’t find a solution.

Beep.

They came to a door, tall and intimidating. The beeping noise was coming from the other side, there was no doubt about it now. Raf watched Ratchet lean closer to read the Cybertronian language that was next to the door. He then stepped to the side and gestured for the children to follow him. Once they were all to the side of the door, the medic crouched down and looked solemnly at the humans.

“This is Megatron’s private medical room. He and Bumblebee are most likely in here.” He looked around, making sure that no one was coming. “We need to make a plan.”

“You didn’t have one already?” Jack stared at the medic. 

Ratchet looked somewhere between embarrassed and annoyed. “I had other things on my mind.”

“How are we going to separate Megatron from Bee’s mind? There’s no way we can do that without reviving Megatron, right?”

The others turned to look at Raf, and he hurried to explain. “I mean, to my knowledge anyways. It’s not like Megatron’s gonna leave if we ask him nicely, and we need to put his mind somewhere.”

Jack and Miko both looked at Ratchet, who appeared to be searching for words. After a moment he sighed deeply and let his head hang low.

“I- I don’t know yet, Rafael.” He buried his face in his hands. “There must be another way. There must be.” 

The children were all quiet, not sure what to do. Raf felt bad, but it was the truth. He couldn’t think of a single way that this would end well for Bee. The thought of losing his friend terrified him more than anything in the world, but he needed to keep a cool head. The boy reached out and placed a small hand on Ratchet’s servo. The medic looked up, and locked eyes with Raf.

“We’ll figure something out. Right now, let’s focus on stopping Megatron.”

The Autobot took a deep breath and slowly stood up again. “You’re right. One thing at a time.” He moved closer to the door. “I will handle Bumblebee. The rest of you, just go crazy with the computers or anything else that looks important. Make sure that he won’t bring that piece of scrap back online.” He looked away for a moment. “We are running out of time.”

The kids all nodded, Miko and Jack clutching their weapons a little tighter. Raf held his computer closer to his chest, ready to use it as well. Ratchet crept closer to the door and raised his fists. He turned to look at the humans, nodded, and then stepped closer to the door. It slid open with a soft whoosh and Ratchet rushed into the room. Raf and the others ran after him. At the far end of the room, Bumblebee whirled around. He had a long black and purple cord attached to the back of his head that ran to Megatron’s own head. 

“Get out of him!” Ratchet swung at the bot, landing a solid hit on the yellow bot’s jaw and sending him staggering. He grabbed the smaller bot in a headlock and started pushing at the plating on his helm. The two bots struggled, locked in battle. They moved around the room, ramming into the walls and knocking equipment over.

“Don’t hurt Bee!” Raf yelled as he ran towards the computers by the side of Megatron’s berth. 

“It’s not Bee right now, Raf! He doesn’t have a choice!” Jack gave Miko a boost up onto the berth, where she started tugging at the main cord on Megatron’s chest. 

“Hand me the axe!” She grunted, pulling with all her might. “This stupid thing won’t budge!”

A crash nearby made all the kids turn, and they watched in horror as Ratchet was swung around the room like a rag-doll and sent flying into the far wall. Bumblebee loomed over him, bent down, and started to twist one of the medic’s arms behind his back. Ratchet yelled in pain, and Miko quickly jumped down from the berth. She snatched the axe out of Jack’s hands and sprinted towards the two bots.

“Leave him alone!”

Raf turned back to the computer screen in front of him. The Cybertronian language was completely foreign to him, and he couldn’t understand a single button on the control panel. He opened his computer, and looked at the documents about the Autobot language that Bee had given him when they first met, hoping that he might be able to translate some of the information on the screen. After less than a minute of trying, he gave up. It would take far too long to do that, and like Ratchet had said, they were running out of time. He started to push every button on the panel randomly, hoping that he’d shut something vital down. He whipped around at the sound of Miko and Jack yelling, and saw that the two of them were running around Bee’s feet, distracting him from hurting Ratchet and also trying to not get killed. Raf slapped some more buttons, and then hopped on to Megatron’s berth. He began to pull at the cord that Miko had been working on earlier. Dang, Miko was right, this won’t move, he thought, sweating from the exertion. Next to him, the computer began to flash warnings in a language he couldn’t understand. He hoped that it meant he had messed up something important. 

“Raf!”

Raf felt himself being plucked off of the berth, and then suddenly he was in the air before he could even cry out. His glasses slipped off his face, and he curled in on himself, hoping that he wouldn’t land on his head. 

“Gotcha!”

Raf felt Ratchet’s hands catch him and then smoothly deposit him on the ground by the door. In the same movement the medic had turned again and was running back towards Bee. The boy got to his feet on shaky legs, and started to move back towards the fight. He snatched up his glasses, somehow still in one piece, and ran towards Miko who was also picking herself off of the ground. Ratchet was wrestling with Bee again, pinning him against a wall. Meanwhile, Jack was whacking away at the dark energon crystal in hopes that it might shatter.

Raf looked at Miko again. “Miko! Cut the cord! Cut the cortical patch!”

Miko, nodded, eyes narrowed, and lifted her axe. She charged at the long, snaking tube that was now running all over the room. She let out a noise that could only be described as a battle cry and swung down with all her might. Raf watched anxiously, and then felt his heart sink when the cord did not break under the blade. Miko looked even more surprised than he felt.

“Move!” Jack lunged at Miko, and sent the two of them flying. Ratchet came crashing down right where she had been a moment earlier, grunting in pain. Bumblebee let out an awful metallic shriek and raised his blasters. Three shots fired off, and Miko and Jack barely made it behind a metal crate before the shots hit where they had been just seconds before. The screeching grew louder and louder, and the bot seemed to be shaking. His optics were burning with a fire that Raf had never seen before.

Megatron was furious.

Raf had never felt so scared in his life, despite everything else that had happened today. Jack was right. This was not Bee. He wasn’t sure if Bee was even there anymore. He ducked behind one of the small, decorative ledges that jutted out from the wall, and tried to calm his racing heart. There was no way this would end well. He looked around frantically, seeking something that might help, and his eyes landed on Miko’s hot-pink phone lying not far from him. It must have slipped out of her pocket sometime during the fight. He lunged at it, fingers scrabbling at the metal, desperately locking around the cell phone. He scrambled back behind the ledge, and flipped it open. His trembling fingers hit the call button next to Optimus Prime’s name. He knew Ratchet had thought that they would be able to handle this on their own, but Megatron was proving them otherwise. They needed help, or they might not make it out of here alive. He prayed that Miko got good signal in the arctic and raised the phone to his ear. He almost cried in relief when the Prime’s deep voice came over the phone.

“Miko? What is going on? Why are you calling me?”

“Optimus! It’s Raf! We’re onboard the Nemesis, Megatron has dark energon and he’s trying to revive his body!” Behind him, Raf heard Jack and Miko scream. He peeked out from behind the wall and saw that Bee had his hands locked around Ratchet’s head, slowly trying to crush it beneath his hands. The metal began to groan under the fingers of the attacker, and Raf felt ill. He screamed and ducked back behind the wall.

“Where is Ratchet? What is happening?” Optimus sounded borderline frantic, and Raf tried not to dwell on that.

“Bee is trying to kill him!” Raf sobbed. “We can’t stop him!” 

“Where are you?” 

“The medical wing! Level three on the starboard side! Trace Ratchet’s signal!”

“We’re on the way, stay there, stay safe.” The sound of tearing metal and blaster fire came from the speaker, and Raf couldn’t even begin to imagine what was happening on Optimus’s side of the line. The line went dead a moment later, leaving Raf listening to static.

“Bumblebee! Bumblebee- No-” Ratchet’s strained voice reached his ears, snapping Raf back to the present.

“Stop!”

Raf peeked out from his hiding spot again, and saw Miko and Jack trying their best to keep Bee from crushing Ratchet’s head in. They swung at the angry bot with their weapons, and Raf winced as Miko’s axe left a sizable cut in Bee’s metal plating. Jack’s crowbar got stuck in one of Bee’s cables in his arm, and remained there despite the teen’s best efforts to retrieve it. There was energon on the floor, and Raf wasn’t sure which bot it had come from. Raf took a shuddery breath and started looking around the room again. He had to do something. Anything. His eyes landed back on Megatron’s unmoving frame, and the computer that was still beeping rapidly. There wasn’t much else he could do there.  Raf ran behind the fight, praying that the others would keep the bot occupied for a while, and scrambled back on to the berth. He lifted his arms and took a deep breath. Then he yelled at the top of his lungs at the yellow bot.

“Bumblebee! Stop! I know you’re in there somewhere, but you need to fight him. Fight him!” Raf felt his heart drop into his sneakers as the bot turned to face him with a murderous look on his face. “You didn’t hurt me back at the silo, and you won’t hurt me now. Please, Bee.” he whispered as the bot stalked closer. He felt tears start to spill down his face, but he couldn’t care less. He just wanted Bee back. “Please.”

The Autobot came to stand in front of him, and reached out towards the boy. Raf gasped and covered his head, preparing for the worst. He looked at Bee again, and saw the bot freeze. Raf lifted his head hopefully, and grinned at the bot with watery eyes.

“Yeah! That’s it! You’re doing it!”

Bumblebee beeped at him weakly, optics blue and wide, then shuddered violently. He clutched at his helm, and staggered away from the boy. He tripped over Ratchet, who was still on the floor, and fell to his knees. Miko and Jack raced towards Raf, and the boy pointed at the cord again. 

“Quick! Cut the cord!” Raf continued to tug at the main cord on Megatron’s chest. “Optimus and the others are on the way, we just need to hold out until they get here.”

At the mention of the Autobot leader, the Bee’s head snapped up and looked back at Raf. His eyes looked different, and Raf felt his blood run cold. Miko shrieked and slammed the axe down on the glowing cord again. This time it left a mark, but it still didn’t cut through. After several more hits the girl wheezed and handed the axe to Jack.

“I- I gotta- take a breath. Whew!” She bent over in exhaustion. Jack accepted the new weapon and started to hack away at the cord on the ground. He stilled at the sound of a low growl, and everyone looked up to see Bumblebee getting back to his feet. Ratchet was also slowly sitting up from where he had been laying on the ground. His optics widened at the sight of Bumblebee staring at the group of humans.

“Run! Move!” The medic yelled, reaching out to the children.

“Oh no.” Raf raised his hands again, and next to him he could hear Jack resume going wild with the axe. “Bee, it’s still us. Hang-”

The bot let out a low, long whistle and then rushed at the group. Jack yelled as he was yanked into the air, and dropped the axe in surprise. Miko screamed and narrowly dodged it as it fell to the floor. Raf felt the bot’s hand close tightly around him, and then he was in the air again. He and Jack both screamed as they were sent sailing through the air, and Ratchet barely managed to catch them before they hit the far wall. Miko followed a second later. As soon as he put her down, Ratchet hissed in pain and leaned against the closest wall for support. Megatron had landed some solid blows on the Autobot’s left stabilizing strut, making it painful to put weight on it at the moment. The exhausted group could only watch as Megatron picked up the glowing crystal and walked up to his inert frame. 

Raf reached out towards him. “Bee! No! You’d never do this, you need to fight him!”

“He’s- he’s not there anymore.” Jack murmured softly, watching the Autobot ignore Raf.

“We- we couldn’t stop him.” Miko gasped.

They watched in despair as the bot plunged the dark energon into the hole in his frame’s chest. The gray bot began to shake on the berth, and Bumblebee’s head snapped back. The dark energon began to glow brightly, and everyone covered their eyes. When the light dimmed, Raf looked up in horror. Megatron was rising up from the berth, a maniacal grin on his face, and evil in his eyes. Bee stumbled backwards, shaking his head, and froze when he saw the person in front of him. 

“Primus…” Ratchet whispered.

Megatron had returned.

Chapter Text

The resurrected leader of the Decepticons stood before them in his full, restored, evil glory. He grinned down maliciously at the small yellow Autobot in front of him and bent down so that he was optic to optic with the scout. Ratchet saw the door-wings of the Autobot droop down low against his back, a sign that he was terrified. Ratchet looked around frantically, unsure what to do.

“Why, hello there, scout. I must express my deepest gratitude for allowing me to use your frame for a time.” He threw back his head and laughed. 

The little bot flinched at the sudden sound, and raised his servos in front of his face. Megatron grinned again, satisfied to see the reaction. 

“Get away from him! You stay away!” 

Megatron and Bumblebee both turned to see Ratchet on his feet aiming a blaster at the warlord. Bee blinked, he hadn’t seen Ratchet this scared, this angry in a long time. The three humans were all hiding behind the medic and staring at the gray bot. They looked scared out of their minds. Megatron laughed again, causing Bee to whip around and face him again. 

“Or what? There is nothing you can do.”

Before Bee could activate his blasters, Megatron had grabbed him by the arm and spun him around. Bee’s vocalizer squealed in surprise as he was sent flying into the berth that Megatron had been lying on. Ratchet and the kids all cried out, and Ratchet charged at the Decepticon. Megatron, in full health, clocked the medic in the chin with his shoulder, punched him in the stomach, and then pushed him back towards the children. Ratchet crashed to the ground, groaning and struggling to get back up. The kids all rushed to his side, supporting him and begging him to get up. Megatron barked out a harsh laugh and then turned to face the Autobot scout again.

“:Primus, Primus, c’mon:” Bee whistled quietly, struggling to his shaking pedes. He couldn’t freeze up now. This was life or death for more people than just him.

“We have some unfinished business.” 

Bee yelped as the metal claws of the warlord dug into his shoulders and broke through his outer plating. Energon started to leak out of the punctures in little blue trails and drip down to the cold, gray floor. Bee stared the other bot in his optics, trying his best to not show how terrified he was. His spark was racing faster than he thought possible, and his processor seemed to be filled with a fog that clouded his thoughts and movement. Megatron pulled Bee closer to him, until they were face to face, and bared his sharp teeth at the other bot. His optics burned.

“I haven’t forgotten the stunts you pulled, scout.” 

Bee’s servos scrabbled around desperately, searching for something, anything, that might help him. He felt his digits close around something metal in his arm, and he yanked it out without a second thought. As it turned out, it was a crowbar, and it was very effective in hitting Megatron in the face. Bee wasn’t sure how it got there, but he was thankful that it was there anyways. As Megatron stumbled backwards, Bee charged at him and swung the crowbar again. He hit Megatron in the knee, causing his leg to buckle and sending him to one knee. Bee pounced, wrapping his arms around the Decepticon’s neck as well as he could and pulled him towards the ground. Megatron roared in anger, and stood quickly with Bee on his back. As Bumblebee tried to choke Megatron, the warlord stumbled around the room and ran backwards into the walls to crush Bee. The group on the other side of the room could hear the sound of groaning metal, but they weren’t sure if it was the ship or a bot that was making the noise.

Ratchet gasped, finally back on his pedes, and started limping towards the brawl. The gray bot had his opponent pinned between himself and the wall, and was increasing the pressure with each passing second. 

“No!” Ratchet tried to push past the blinding terror in his spark and punched Megatron in the face three quick times. “No! Let go!”

Megatron gave a strained laughed and rammed Bee into the wall again. Bee’s vocalizer beeped in pain, and his face screwed up in agony. Ratchet quickly felt his fear turn to rage, and he punched the Decepticon again. Megatron growled and spat a little energon at the medic, then kicked him in the chest. As Ratchet stumbled backwards, Megatron quickly dug his claws into Bee’s forearms and rolled forward. Bumblebee’s radio let out a garbled scream as the bot was slammed down to the ground and crushed by Megatron falling on top of him. There was a loud crunch, and the horrified audience watched as one of Bee’s door-wings was bent in two. The glass of the window shattered and left little sparkly fragments on the ground of the medbay. 

“Bumblebee!” Raf screamed, reaching out to the Autobot.

The yellow bot squirmed underneath the much larger bot that was on top of him, but he couldn’t free himself. Megatron pinned down the Autobot with his knees, then reached out and grabbed Bee by the back of his helm. The warlord lifted it slightly and then rammed Bee’s head into the ground. He did it again, and then again. 

“We have to do something!” Miko shrieked, looking around wildly for her axe. “C’mon, c’mon, where’d it go?” 

“There!” Jack pointed at the weapon that was on the other side of the room. He seemed to be thinking for a moment, then turned to give the other two children instructions. “I’ll try to distract Megatron. Miko, get the axe, and Raf, go help Ratchet.” Hey hesitated, then grabbed both of his friends by the shoulders. “There is a chance that this won’t end well. Stay as safe as you can.”

They both nodded tersely and Raf quickly ran towards the downed medic. Jack held a hand in front of Miko before she could run to get her weapon. 

“Wait until I have his attention.”

Miko nodded. “Be careful, Jack.”

Jack didn’t respond. There was no way he could taunt the leader of the Decepticon army and manage to escape unscathed. He silently wished that he gotten the chance to call his mom. The teen took a shaky breath, and then sprinted in the direction of the fighting bots. 

“Hey! Get off of him!” Jack bent down and scooped up a medical instrument that had fallen off of a shelf somewhere in all the chaos. He chucked it at Megatron as hard as he could.

Megatron looked up when the object hit him, and his optics fell on the human boy standing a few feet away. He threw back his head and laughed, sending chills running down Jack’s spine. The warlord let go of Bumblebee’s head and turned slightly to face the boy. 

“What makes you think that you stand a chance against me human, if not even the Autobots can stop me? I can kill you easily.”

Jack swallowed the lump of fear that had formed in his throat, and stared back at the bot. “You’re right, I don’t stand a chance against you.” He grinned slightly. “I just needed to distract you.”

Before Megatron could respond Bumblebee fired a blaster shot in the Decepticon’s face and swept one of his ankles out from underneath him. Megatron fell to the ground with a crash, and Bee squirmed away. The yellow bot saw Jack, snatched him up, and limped rapidly towards the others. Ratchet was on his feet again, and Bee pointed to the door. He beeped rapidly and let out several whistles. Ratchet transformed immediately and threw open his doors. Miko and Raf leaped in, and Bee placed Jack inside very gently. Jack wondered if Bee had any recollection of punting him, and if that was why the bot was so careful. As soon as the doors closed, Ratchet floored it and took off towards the exit. Bee transformed behind them, and followed at a blazing pace. Jack could see in the rear-view mirror that Bee’s left door didn’t close correctly because of the damage that Megatron had done. Behind them, the group could hear the angry roar of the Decepticon. 

“Faster Ratchet!” Miko urged. “He’s gonna follow us for sure!” 

“I know!” Ratchet snapped. “Buckle your seatbelt right now, and stay in your fragging seat!”

The kids all did as they were told, and peeked in Ratchet’s mirrors to see how Bee was doing. As if he could hear them, the radio buzzed and Bumblebee’s beeping came through. 

“:We’ve got to find a way out of here.:”

“I know. Optimus and the others are here too. We have to find them as well. Maybe we can find a way to use the Decepticon ground-bridge to escape.”

“:Okay, we need to- look out!” 

Ratchet swerved as a squad of Decepticon soldiers appeared in the hallway ahead of them, blasters raised and aimed at the intruders. The children all screamed as the skidded down another hall and straightened out, Bee close behind him.

“Primus!”

“:The fight was loud, they were probably coming to check it out:” Bee’s voice was beyond tense. “:Keep going, they’ll need to catch us first:”

Miko and Jack were listening intently to Raf, who was translating, and they looked at each other in concern. 

“How are we gonna get out of here,” whispered Raf. “There’s no way the Autobots can beat all of the Decepticons.”

Miko shook her head. “They’ve beaten worse odds. As long as Megatron doesn’t catch up to-”

The sound of a jet engine cut her off and all three kids looked at each other in despair.

“Way to jinx it, Miko.”

“Hey! I didn’t do that!”

“Quiet!” Ratchet barked, shutting all the children up. “We need to focus!”

Bee was silent, trying to hide the absolutely smothering fear that he felt. He couldn’t let the kids get hurt, he couldn’t let the other Autobots get hurt. He searched his mind for all the information he had gathered on the Nemesis while stuck in Megatron’s mind and tried to determine if there might be anything helpful there. He snapped back to the present when he realized that the noise was getting louder and louder. Ahead of him, Ratchet swerved down another hall, blocked again by another group of Decepticon soldiers. Bee’s tires screeched as he swung around the bend after Ratchet, but the maneuver cost him valuable time. 

“:Oh frag, oh Primus:” he whispered as he saw Megatron’s familiar jet form in his rear-view mirror drawing closer. He knew that they would not be able to outrun the jet. 

Before either Autobot could do anything, the Decepticon fired his blasters. The shots hit the ground in front of Ratchet, and the Autobot swerved to avoid being hit. Bumblebee could hear the kids screaming over the radio as they spun out of control and hit a wall. Before Bee could do anything, a group of Decepticons were surrounding the ambulance. 

“:No!:” Bee transformed out of his vehicle mode and raced towards the others with his blasters raised. “:Stop!:”

Bee felt rough servos grab his shoulders and pull him back. He shot several of the soldiers in the face and punched a few more. He could see the children being forced out of the vehicle with their hands above their heads. Ratchet transformed back as well, and lifted his servos up in defeat. He was telling the humans not to do anything stupid. Bee head-butted another soldier and to his surprise the rest of the ones trying to pin him down all let go and stepped back. Why did they…?

“You.”

Oh. That was why.

Megatron’s servos grabbed his damaged door-wing and twisted it. Bee screamed at the sudden pain, and tried to turn to fight his attacker. Megatron’s face was slightly charred from the blaster shot he had taken to the face earlier, and he did not look happy. Bee felt a fist slam into his face and his helm snapped backwards. Megatron pulled more on his door-wing, and then suddenly ripped it off entirely. Bee’s radio screeched, echoing through the halls of the Nemesis. He fell to his knees, and watched Megatron toss his wing to the side. Behind him, he could hear the others screaming, but it sounded fuzzy. He saw Megatron lift his pede, but didn’t move in time to dodge. The kick to the face knocked him backwards to the ground. He was pretty sure he was lying in a small pool of energon from losing his wing and from the punctures in his shoulders.

“Pathetic.” Megatron snarled, bending down over him. “You are barely worthy of being called a scout.”

Bee’s hands shot up, nailing the Decepticon in the face. Megatron staggered backwards and Bee jumped to his pedes. He shot twice at Megatron and dodged one of the returning blasts. 

“Leave him! He is mine to kill! Mine!” Megatron bellowed when some of the nearby soldiers raised their own weapons at Bee. 

The two bots started to circle each other silently, waiting for the other to attack first. Bumblebee’s mind was racing. He knew that Megatron had been a gladiator once, Optimus had told him stories. There was no way he could beat Megatron in hand-to-hand combat. Megatron grinned at him, his sharp teeth glinting, almost as if he was reading the Autobot’s thoughts. 

“You cannot win, scout. You might as well give up now.”

Bee fired in response. Megatron rolled to the side and fired three times back. Bee stepped on his severed wing to fling it in the air, grabbed it, and held it in front of him like a shield. He was pushed back from the force of the shots, pedes scraping against the ground for traction. He saw Megatron charge at him, and held flung the door at the irate warlord. It hit him in the chest with a loud clang, and Bumblebee’s fists were quick to follow. 

“Gah! Accursed scout!” Megatron hissed. He slammed his helm into Bee’s face, causing the yellow bot to slow slightly. 

Ratchet could only watch in utter terror as the two of them fought. The blasters pointed at the children and himself were the only things stopping him from sprinting towards Megatron and ripping his helm off. Bee was losing energon at a slow but steady rate, and his wound needed to be patched or he would eventually enter power-down mode. His door-wing lay discarded on the ground not far from the fight, now bent, charred, and with a hole in it. Ratchet watched the fight, feeling his spark sink as he saw Bumblebee start to falter. He couldn’t hold on for very much longer. 

Bee whistled angrily as Megatron grabbed him by his back plating and swung him around. He went soaring through the air and hit a wall. Through his blurry optics he could see the Decepticon soldiers he had landed by laughing at him. He tried to push past the rush of anger that filled his chassis and started to struggle to his pedes again. Before he could do that he felt one of Megatron’s pedes push down on his chassis and pin him to the ground. 

“Why, what’s the matter, Bumblebee?” Megatron said sarcastically. “You were doing so well.”

“:Ugh- Frag- frag you:” grunted Bee. The weight on his chassis was making it difficult to vent properly.

The Decepticon only smirked at him. He bent down closer to Bee. 

“You really shouldn’t say things like that.” He bared his sharp teeth in a menacing grin. “Perhaps you shouldn’t say anything at all.”

The cold terror that rose up in Bee’s throat was unlike anything else in the world. He froze from the sheer fear that seemed to fill his processor and immobilize his body. His frame wouldn’t move. His servos seemed to be glued to his sides, and he could only stare up at the Decepticon looming above him. Megatron grinned and bent lower, slowly extending one servo. His optics burned with a fire that seemed to sear into Bee’s processor and leave him helpless.

“It is time to finish what I started.”

Ratchet gasped as the warlord grasped the Autobot by his neck and started to squeeze. Bee finally seemed to snap back to his senses as he thrashed around on the floor like his life depended on it. The Decepticon did not let go. He bent down and placed one knee on the scout’s chassis, and continued to apply pressure on Bee’s neck. The sound of groaning metal reached Ratchet’s audial processors, sending his spark straight into his pedes. Oh Primus, the medic thought. Not again. Not again. Ratchet slammed his shoulder into one of the bots that was holding him and kneed the one on his other side. He grabbed the soldier’s blaster as he fell, and quickly shot several of the guards. He charged at Megatron and Bumblebee, unheeding of anything else in the hallway. 

“Let go of him! Now!” Ratchet bellowed, leaping at Megatron’s back. 

His arms wrapped around the Deceticon’s neck, and Ratchet pulled back as hard as he could. Megatron growled as he was pulled backwards from the medic’s weight. Bumblebee scrambled away as fast as he could, and tried to stand on his shaking legs. Megatron managed to shake off Ratchet, and he turned to face the older Autobot with a scowl. They stared at each other, and then Megatron looked right past the medic. He smirked, and Ratchet felt his spark sink.

“You forgot about your little pets, Autobot. It looks like they are in need of assistance.” 

Ratchet whirled around to see the three kids cornered by several Decepticons. Miko had picked up her axe when Ratchet had bolted, and the boys were attempting to lift the blaster that Ratchet had gotten from one of the guards. 

“They’re children.” Ratchet gasped, as he saw the soldiers raise their blasters. “Children. Don’t, Megatron.”

The warlord threw back his head and laughed. “Since when have I been above hurting children, Autobot? Humans, no less.”

Before anyone could do another thing, the sound of another jet engine reached their ears and grew steadily louder. Everyone in the hallway froze as they waited for the arrival of the newcomer. A sleek black jet rushed in a second later, and transformed to reveal Soundwave. Ratchet bit his lip in apprehension, waiting to see what the Decepticon would do. 

“Ah, Soundwave, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Megatron grinned. “Tell me, how has the Decepticon army fared in my brief absence?”

Sounwave walked closer to his commander and bowed deeply. Once he straightened up again, he beeped at his commander and played an audio clip. 

“I, Starscream, am the true leader of the Decepticons! Now that Megatron is out of the way-”

Megatron’s face grew sour. “That sorry excuse of a Decepticon is the reason I was out of commission. He will regret this.” He started to pace, thinking for a moment. He stopped and looked at his second in command “Soundwave, Optimus and the other Autobots are on board the Nemesis as we speak. We must draw them out, and at the same time make Starscream pay for his insolence.”

Sounwave tilted his head and pointed at Ratchet, Bumblebee, and the children. Megatron glanced at them, and then smiled widely.

“Clever as ever, Soundwave.”

He pointed his blaster at Ratchet. “Walk over to the humans, and stay there. Their lives depend on your cooperation.” He then turned back to Soundwave. “Have the soldiers chain them and bring them to the main control room.” 

Soundwave nodded and moved to follow his directions. He prodded Ratchet to join the children at the other side of the hallway. Ratchet frantically looked back at Bumblebee, who was starting back at him with wide optics. 

“You, scout,” snarled Megatron, facing the yellow bot once more. “Will be the bait to lure Optimus out of hiding. Surely,” he said, grinning. “Optimus could not bear to see one of his own suffer.”

Ratchet’s spark skipped several beats. Behind him, he heard the kids cry out in horror.

“No! Stop! I’ll be the bait, please!” Ratchet yelled at the warlord, whirling around to face the Decepticon leader. The soldiers raised their weapons at him, and Ratchet took a deep breath to calm himself. “Just don’t hurt Bumblebee.” He could hear the desperation in his own voice, but they were far past the point of keeping up appearances.

Megatron looked at the medic with a sadistic sort of glee. “Oh, I would, but you see…” He stalked over to Bumblebee and grabbed him tightly by one of his arms. “I have a personal issue with this meddlesome scout.”

Bumblebee stared back at the Decepticon, shaking, and tried to steel his nerves. He had never, never, been so afraid in all his solar cycles, but he couldn’t fall apart now. He needed to stay composed for the others. Ratchet would be alright for at least a little while, and so would the children. They would be okay. It would be okay. But I…, thought the Autobot, looking at the bot that was now dragging him in the direction of the control room. I might not be so lucky.

Optimus Prime was a very cool-headed person. In situations like the one they were in now, he always knew what to do next. Right now though, he was at a loss at how to approach the situation. He had contacted Arcee and Bulkhead as soon as he had gotten off of the phone with Raf. He had already been on the top of the Nemesis to stop Starscream, but the other two Autobots were still on the ground fighting Breakdown. Optimus had managed to use the lense to cut through the top of the Nemesis and then destroy it so that Starscream couldn’t melt the glacier any further. Now, here he was, deep in the heart of the Decepticon warship with little to no plan formed and not sure where he needed to go. He had given Arcee and Bulkhead a different mission, so they would not be joining him for at least a while. Optimus ducked into a room at the sound of a jet engine, and waited for it to pass. As soon as it did, he continued to run down the halls to where he thought the others might be. He couldn’t track Ratchet or Bumblebee’s signals, something on the ship was probably blocking it. 

“Where would the medical wing be?” Optimus mused quietly as he turned another corner. Raf had said that it was on the starboard side of the ship on level three, but that was about all the info he had. 

As he ran down the dark halls of the warship, Optimus couldn’t help but think about all the things that could possibly be going wrong. Ratchet and the children might be hurt, Megatron might return, Bumblebee might-  Optimus shook his head. He couldn’t think about that, or else he might lose his focus. Bumblebee was strong, he tried to reassure himself as he got closer to where the medbay supposedly was. Bumblebee would be alright. 

“Just hang in there a little longer,” he whispered.

He reached a door that looked damaged and had little, blue energon splatters near the handle. That couldn’t be good. Optimus quickly pushed the door open and continued to run through the now smaller hall. As he passed open doors, he could see that he was, in fact, in the medical wing of the ship. He just hoped he wasn’t too late. He skidded to a stop as he came to another door that was damaged slightly. It looked like a hurricane had swept through this room. There were tools and equipment strewn all over the room, and a closer look revealed that there was more energon on the floor. Optimus stood up from where he was examining the blue droplets and started to look around. It was obvious that the fight Raf had been telling him about had happened in here, but where was everyone now? Were they alright?

As if on cue, one of the nearby broken screens crackled to life. Optimus raised his blaster at the sudden sound, and did not lower it when he saw the faceplate of his sworn enemy appear on the display.

“Ah, Optimus! As you can see, you’re a bit late to the party.”

“Megatron. I see you’re back in your own frame.”

“Yes, your scout was quite helpful in that regard.” Megatron grinned and walked away from the screen. “In fact,” he said, his voice growing malicious. “He still is quite helpful. Your medic is so very hesitant to try and escape when there is a blaster pointed at the little bot’s helm.”

He reached out of frame and pulled something into view. Optimus’s spark sank when he realized that it was none other than Bumblebee. The yellow bot looked terrible. He was leaking energon steadily from several places, one of his optics was flickering, and Optimus realized with a surge of anger that he was completely missing a door-wing.

“Leave him be, Megatron!” 

Megatron only laughed. “I think not, Optimus. I’m just getting started.” To drive his point home, he threw Bee to the floor and sunk his claws into his lower back area. Bee’s vocalizer wailed, and Optimus felt a mix of horror and fury fill his chassis. In the background, he was sure he could hear Ratchet and the children yelling. With one hand holding the scout down, Megatron raked his other clawed servo across Bumblebee’s back plating. Optimus slammed his own servo down on a nearby table and yelled at the Decepticon through the computer.

“I said leave him be!”

“You’ll have to come get him. That is, if you aren’t too afraid.” Megatron leered at the Prime. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“:Optimus- no- it’s- trap…:” Bee beeped with a staticky voice. He cried out again when Megatron dug his talons deeper beneath his plating. 

The call cut off abruptly, leaving Optimus alone in a fearful silence. He knew that it was a trap, there was no doubt about it, but he needed to get to Bumblebee. He transformed abruptly and raced out of the room. He wasn’t afraid of any Vehicons stopping him, Megatron had almost certainly told them not to interfere. He called Arcee and Bulkhead as he sped through the halls. 

“Change of plans. Soundwave has optics on all areas of the ship. Meet me.”

“Got it. Bee?” Arcee’s tense voice came through the radio in staticky bursts, probably Soundwave’s doing as well.

“In danger, as well as the others. Hurry.” Optimus tried not to let his rising fear seep into his voice, but he was sure that the other two Autobots could hear it.

He turned a corner and mowed down an unlucky group of Vehicons that happened to be walking in that particular hallway. Optimus didn’t slow down in the slightest, and raced on. All he could think about was the energon pouring from Bumblebee’s body. There was so much. Almost as much as when he lost- No! Optimus tried to shake the burning memory out of his mind and focus on the problem at hand. He needed to focus for Bee, for the others. 

“Optimus!”

Optimus quickly transformed and faced Bulkhead, who had appeared out of an adjoining hall. “Bulkhead, where is Arcee?”

“Catching up. She’s cleaning up some Decepticons.” Bulkhead stared at the Prime. “What’s the plan?”

“Megatron is holding Bumblebee and the others hostage. Bee is injured and losing energon.” Optimus vented deeply. “Megatron wants to fight, and Bee said that it was an ambush.”

“Oh great.”

Both bots turned and saw Arcee marching up to them, fuming. Optimus didn’t ask about the blue on her servos, he was more concerned with other things.

“We need to go now.”

Optimus bent closer to the two bots. “Remember what we talked about earlier, what we need to do after we get the others. Arcee, you’re the fastest besides Bumblebee, so you are going to need to go do that.”

Arcee nodded impatiently. Bulkhead pounded his fists together and scowled. Optimus closed his optics for a moment, then opened them, looking more determined.

“Let’s roll out.”  

Ratchet was watching Bumblebee closely. The yellow bot was lying on the floor in a pool of his own energon. He hadn’t moved in a while, and the medic was desperately trying to determine whether the scout was still online. The suspense was sickening. After a few more clicks, he couldn’t stand it any longer, he needed to make sure Bee was alright. Ratchet banged his cuffs on the bars of the small cage that the children were in, apologizing internally to them, but he needed to get someone’s attention.

“Hey! A hostage doesn’t do you much if the hostage is dead!” Ratchet scowled at Soundwave. “Let me patch him up.” He gestured at Bee.

Megatron had gone to whoop Starscream’s aft, leaving his second in command in charge. The Decepticon stared silently back at him, and then shook his helm. He paused for a moment, then extended a long digit towards someone in the shadows. 

“Me? Oh come on.” 

Ratchet recognized the bright red paint job of the Decepticon medic immediately. 

Knockout rolled his optics dramatically, and gave a large sigh. “Why do I have to waste my time and materials to patch him up when Megatron is just going to kill him?”

Soundwave said nothing and stared at the other Decepticon. Knockout muttered something under his breath, then slowly walked over to the Autobot on the floor.

“Whatever. You’re in charge…” He grabbed Bee by one arm, and dragged him towards the far side of the room. A trail of blue followed them. “Waste Decepticon materials, I guess.”

Ratchet ground his denta together in frustration and rage. He did not trust that half-aft excuse of a medic anywhere near Bumblebee, but he’d have to trust the other bot not to kill Bee. He tapped a pede against the ground and glanced back at the children. Raf was looking around the room, discreetly reaching through the bars of the cage, and poking at any tech within reach. There was a quiet snap, and he pulled something inside the cage. Jack was shielding him from view, and Miko appeared to be trying to pick the lock of the cage with a hairpin. Ratchet faced Knockout and Bumblebee again, anxiously watching the red bot pull out a soldering iron and some extra metal sheets. The main control room was silent apart from the beeping of computers and the footsteps of Decepticon soldiers. The sudden sound of scraping metal reached Ratchet’s audial processors, and he saw several others turn towards the main door. The door flew open, and a gray blur was flung across the room. Ratchet realized that it was none other than Starscream as the Decepticon hit the wall. 

“Please! Please, no! No! I beg you!” He cowered to the ground, clutching one of his wings. “I- I made a mistake-”

“Yes, and it will be your last.” Megatron appeared in the doorway, burning with fury. “You have tried, and failed miserably, to overthrow me too many times, Starscream. I grow tired of it.”

“I’ll never do it again! I swear! I-”

Megatron threw his head back and laughed. “You’re right about that. I won’t give you the chance.” He turned to Soundwave. “Any updates on Prime?”

Soundwave played a sound clip of Optimus and the others talking to each other, and Megatron grinned. 

“Well, perhaps today will be the day we are rid of the Autobots. Permanently!”

Ratchet felt his spark sink, and he looked dejectedly at the cuffs around his wrists. He heard Miko gasp quietly behind him, but he didn’t dare turn to face the children. He didn’t want them to see him in such a downed state. He looked at Bumblebee, who was propped up against one of the far walls. His helm was drooping down on his chassis, unmoving, but his optics were online. He blinked, confirming to Ratchet that he was indeed online. Ratchet inhaled sharply when he saw Bee’s face contort in agony. Knockout carried on with patching up the Autobot, ignoring his pain completely. 

“Decepticons! Your orders are to take down the Autobots, but leave Optimus Prime for me to fight. Is that clear?” 

All the nearby Vehicons nodded. None of them wanted to go toe-to-toe with a Prime anyways. 

“Excellent. Soundwave, hold the scout where the Autobots will see him as soon as they step in the room. You may use force.” Megatron grinned at Bumblebee, who blinked back in response.

“What about the humans?” Knockout wrinkled his nose in their direction. “We aren’t keeping them, are we? They’re so…ugh, squishy.” 

Megatron rolled his optics. “If Sounwave does not want them for experimental reasons, then we’ll discard them.” He waved a servo dismissively. “Just don’t let the medic escape. I want Optimus to watch me execute his precious team in one fell swoop.” 

Knockout nodded, and kicked Bee with a pede. “Get up.”

Bee tried to get to his servos, but he was just too drained. His legs shook as he struggled to stand, and his knees buckled suddenly. Ratchet and the kids all gasped as he hit the ground again with a crash. The Decepticons around him laughed, and Ratchet tried to control the blinding rage that filled his spark. Soundwave walked closer to the bot on the floor, and extended his tentacles to lift him up. Bee couldn’t fight them, and quickly found himself tightly wrapped in the thick cords and held up like some sort of trophy. He didn’t make a sound, but he lifted his helm slightly to look at Ratchet and the children. His optics were filled with worry as he stared at Ratchet.

“Don’t worry,” the medic whispered, hoping that Bee could understand what he was saying. “I’ll find a way. I’ll get them out of here.”

Soundwave buzzed and pointed at the main door. Megatron grinned and turned to face it. The sound of engines was growing louder, and the Vehicons raised their weapons. The three bots that had been standing by Ratchet stepped in front of him, their focus diverted from the prisoners.

“Ratchet!”

The medic quietly looked behind him at Miko, who had whispered at him. She pointed at Raf, who was holding some sort of device in his hands and smiling from ear to ear.

“The cuffs. Hurry.” The boy scooted to the edge of the cage and held it out. “While they’re distracted.”

The medic slowly moved his arms towards the cage. “Quickly, Rafael. It’s about to fall apart in here.”

The first thing that Optimus Prime saw when the doors to the main control room of the Nemesis opened was Megatron and a swarm of Vehicons. The next thing he saw was his scout being held aloft in Soundwave’s clutches. He felt a rush of anger fill his spark, and he heard Arcee growl beside him. Bulkhead slammed his fists together, making several of the Decepticon soldiers flinch.

“Ah, the Autobots! How kind of you to join us. We were-”

Optimus didn’t let him finish. The Prime charged forward with a yell, and he heard Arcee and Bulkhead close behind him. Megatron looked surprised for only a moment, then he grinned and placed himself in a fighting stance. Optimus’s fist cracked into the warlord’s face with astonishing force, sending him stumbling backwards. The gray bot lifted his cannon and fired at the Autobot. Optimus dodged it easily, and watched the blast hit a group of Vehicons behind him. Apparently Megatron had not considered how small the room was, and how that might impact the fight. Optimus could see Arcee tearing through the Decepticon ranks in the background, racing in between them and blasting them in all the right places.

“I swear. I swear to Primus I’m gonna kill this entire fragging ship.” Arcee hissed as she whizzed by the battling leaders, considerable amounts of energon on her servos.

Megatron cackled, and turned back to Optimus. “It appears that I hit a sore spot when I occupied your scout’s frame, Optimus.” 

Optimus scowled at him in response, as they were now locked in an arm wrestling match of some sort. He stared into the glowing red optics of his long-time enemy, and felt a new surge of anger fill him at the malicious glee he saw in the optics. He growled and twisted Megatron’s arm with a sudden burst of energy, causing his opponent to yell in pain. Meanwhile, Bulkhead had managed to fight his way over to where the other prisoners were. He punched a Vehicon in the face, and ran to Ratchet, who was standing and rubbing at his freed wrists.

“Ratchet! You’re okay!” Bulkhead bent down and started to pull at the bars of the cage that the children were in. 

“I’m fine,” snapped the medic. “Bumblebee is not. We need to get to him. Now.”

Bulkhead nodded, and turned back to the battle. “I’ll clear you a path. Can you handle Soundwave on your own?”

Ratchet took a deep breath, channeling all the fear and rage he felt into one, burning fire. He gritted his denta together. “Absolutely.”

Bulkhead told the kids to stay where they were and then charged into the fray again. Ratchet ran after him, optics locked on the yellow bot that was still being held up in the air. He had to get to Bee before Megatron could use him against Optimus. He punched an attacking Vehicon in the stomach and carried on, totally on the warpath. He only slowed slightly when he saw the soldering iron that Knockout had been using earlier on a nearby table. He scooped it up, and ran towards the Decepticon and his prisoner. Soundwave saw him coming, and quickly held Bee further behind him, keeping him out of reach. The Decepticon raised his blaster and fired, but Ratchet snatched a nearby soldier to use as a shield. He then tossed the limp frame at Soundwave as hard as he could.

“Catch, you piece of scrap!”

Soundwave stumbled slightly, but slightly was all that Ratchet needed. He pounced on the Decepticon, locking his arms around his neck, and plunged the still-hot soldering iron into one of the black tentacles. Soundwave screeched, and involuntarily let go of his prisoner. Ratchet let go and rolled towards the falling bot. He just barely managed to catch Bumblebee, and he dragged him as fast as he could towards a safer area. Once they were tucked away in a corner, Ratchet knelt and started to give the other bot the fastest check-up ever. The patch job that Knockout had done was shoddy, he obviously didn’t give a scrap about Bee.

“Oh, Primus.” Ratchet whispered, trying to plug the seeping wounds on Bee’s back. “Oh Primus…”

Bumblebee was losing energon still, and he didn’t have the materials to stop it. If Bee didn’t stop bleeding soon, he might power down, or worse… Ratchet shook his helm fiercely, that would not happen on his watch. Bee looked at him, his optics brimming with fluid. He must be in a lot of pain, Ratchet thought. We need to stop this. 

Bee gave a small beep and lifted a shaky finger to point over Ratchet’s shoulder, Ratchet whirled around, expecting to see an enemy, but he saw that Bee was pointing at Arcee. She was being cornered by a large group of Decepticons despite her rage-filled fighting. Bee beeped again, a little more frantically this time.

“Alright, alright, I’m on it.” Ratchet got to his pedes and got ready to fight. “You stay right here, you understand? Do not move, I’ll be right back.” 

He raced towards Arcee, transforming as he went, and he ran through the clump of soldiers, knocking them down like bowling pins. He transformed back and stood back-to-back with the other Autobot. She looked over her shoulder and gave a sharp nod.

“Thanks. You’d think that there would be a lot less of them, considering how many we took out while fighting Starscream.” 

Ratchet barked a laugh. “There’s always more. That’s just how it is. We need to go back to Bumblebee, he needs medical attention.”

“Got it. Where is he?”

Ratchet went to point at the corner where he had left the scout, and felt his spark stop when he realized that the Autobot wasn’t there anymore. He looked around wildly, searching for the bot through the battle. His optics landed on the bright yellow paint job moving quickly through the crowds. He appeared to be crawling away on his hands and knees. 

“Where the frag does he think he’s going?” Ratchet bellowed, racing after him, Arcee close on his heels.

Ratchet realized with a rush of fear that the bot was racing to reach the kids on the other side of the room. Soundwave was chasing the three screaming humans across the room, and Ratchet watched as they crawled under a control panel where the Decepticon couldn’t reach. The Decepticon bent down, his arm reaching around trying to grasp at least one of the kids. After a moment, he stood and extended on of his remaining tentacles towards the frightened humans. Before he could reach them, a very angry Bumblebee had arrived and threw a left hook into the Decepticon’s face. The anger seemed to have given Bee a much needed boost, as he began to wrestle the larger bot away from the kids.

“Yeah! Kick his butt, Bee!” Miko stuck her head out from the hiding spot to yell encouragement before Jack dragged her back to safety.

Bumblebee was, unfortunately, not kicking Soundwave’s butt like Miko had hoped. The Decepticon was hitting the smaller bot over and over, and Ratchet was almost certain he saw the scout’s plating starting to dent. After one hard hit to his throat area, Bee let out a loud radio screech, getting the attention of everyone in the room.

“Bumblebee!” Optimus started to run towards the bot in distress before Megatron caught him by the arm and pulled him back into their fight. 

Ratchet twisted the arms of a Decepticon who tried to stop him, and kept pushing through the enemies to get to Bee. Arcee, however, got there first. Optics blazing with fury, fists flying, she jumped at Soundwave’s faceplate. The force from her hits loosened his grip on Bee just enough for Arcee to wrestle him free. She grabbed her friend by his shoulders, shoved him to the side, and attacked the larger bot again. 

“I’m gonna kill you, I swear I will.” The femme head-butted Soundwave when he tried to grab her, and shot him three times in the chest. “Frag you, and everyone else here!” She tried to blink back the angry tears that were beginning to pool in her optics. She was going to make them pay for what they had done to Bee.

Ratchet reached Bee and started to drag him towards the children. The sound of metal screeching wasn’t pleasant, but it really wasn’t any worse than the sound of battle that filled the room.

“What were you thinking? I told you to stay put!” Ratchet scolded Bee as he dragged him away. “Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

“:Kids- Danger- :” he gestured, then paused. “:Sor- Sorry:”

Ratchet frowned, he didn’t like how glitchy Bumblebee’s vocalizer was. He prayed to Primus that the damage wasn’t like last time, that this could be fixed. He was nearing where the children were when he heard Optimus call out. 

“Ratchet! Look out!”

The medic didn’t have time to process the warning before the gray frame of the Decepticon leader crashed into him, knocking him to the ground. He pushed himself to his elbows, and watched in horror as the warlord’s servos closed around Bee’s yellow plating once more.

“No!”

“Everyone stop! Silence!” Megatron bellowed, raising Bee into the air again. The scout looked terrified, and very unhappy to be so close to the Decepticon again.

“Megatron don’t-”

“Silence, Optimus! You are in no place to be making demands.” The servos around Bee’s arms tightened, and Ratchet screamed internally as he saw more energon start to dribble out of the new punctures. The room was silent, no one daring to move. “I’m done playing games with you, Prime. What do I need to do to show you that I am serious? This?”

The Autobots all cried out as Megatron threw Bee to the floor, placed a pede on his back, and started to crush the bot into the ground. Optimus lurched forward, barely being held back by dozens of soldiers.

“Perhaps this?”

He reached out and dug his claws into Bee’s side in between his outer plating. He pulled out wires, grinning as they sparked in his hand. Arcee screamed like a banshee and tore some of Soundwave’s arm plating away as she fought to escape his grasp. Bulkhead tossed a group of Decepticons out into the hallway.

“Or possibly this?”

He started to twist Bee’s remaining door-wing as the rest of the room dissolved into chaos. Jack stuck his head out from under the computer they were under, watching the fight resume, then quickly pulled his head back in. 

“Raf, I hope to God you’re right.” Jack hissed as the three children army-crawled across the floor. They were still partially hidden by staying tucked under the computers, but they needed to hurry before anyone else saw them.

“I know I am!” Raf whispered back. “We just need to go a little farther…”

“Can you hurry up? Bee is literally getting slice-and-diced out there.” Miko scowled at Jack. “Stop talking, start moving!”

Jack frowned and kept crawling along. His back and knees were killing him. 

“Okay, we’re here. Let’s go, boost me up.”

Jack and Miko lifted the younger boy up onto the control panel that they had crawled to. He looked around, face deep in thought, then he nodded. While he was doing that, Miko grabbed Jack’s arm and shook him slightly. She pointed at a nearby table that had their confiscated items on it, and then she crawled towards it. Jack watched anxiously as she hoisted up her axe and grinned at him. He jumped when Raf’s face peeked back into view.  

“This is definitely the control panel. Unfortunately, we need an access code to be able to change anything. They must have locked the system when Optimus and the others arrived.”

Jack groaned. “Well that plan was a bust.”

“Not quite.” Raf pointed towards a darker area of the room. “We have one more chance.”

Jack squinted, then smirked at the sight of the downed Decepticon hiding away in the corner. “Miko, hand me that crowbar.”

Starscream was not the bravest Decepticon, despite what he might claim, and camping out in a corner waiting for the dust to settle was definitely an in-character choice for a bot like him. He watched the fight intently, wincing at each blow, and grinning at each new torture he saw Bumblebee subjected to. He thought he was well-hidden, so when he felt something tap him on the shoulder, he jumped and let out a shriek.

“Wow, you scream like a baby.” The girl human looked at him smugly. “You act like one too.”

“Just what do you think you’re doing? Get out of here!” Starscream tried to shoo her away. He gasped when another human appeared beside her.

“We need your help.” 

Starscream scoffed. “Why would I help you? You little miserable human.”

“Because,” the tall boy said. “You don’t want Megatron to catch you, right? We heard everything, that bot’s gonna tear you to pieces as soon as he’s done with the Autobots.”

Starscream glanced back at the fight, and saw that Megatron was fighting Optimus again, the scout lying motionless on the floor in between the pedes of the sparring bots.

“Also, we both have weapons. We’re crazy humans, we’ll absolutely use them!” The girl grinned at him, her eyes glinting dangerously. Starscream eyed the gleaming weapons in her hands, and swallowed nervously.

“Alright! Alright, fine! What do you need, and how does it benefit me?”

The humans grinned at each other. The boy pointed at the smaller boy who was atop one of the ship’s control panels.

“We need an access code, and then some directions.”

Starscream stood and quickly walked over to the other child. He typed in the numbers needed to access the system, and then stepped back.

“There. May I ask just what it is you are trying to accomplish? I highly doubt a human like you can comprehend such nuanced machinery and-”

The Decepticon’s jaw dropped as he watched the small human work away at the controls. He barely hesitated as he slapped different buttons and pulled levers on the dashboard. The other two humans laughed at his expression.

“Don’t underestimate Raf, that’s all I’ll say,” said the other boy. “Now, the directions. Where is the ground-bridge on this ship?”

Starscream raised and eyebrow ridge. “There are several. The closest is down the hall, no more than two clicks away.”

“Great. Thanks for your help, and hold on to something.” The two kids on the ground started to run back towards the fight, jumping over the frames of the downed Vehicons.

“What? What does that mean?” The bot screeched after them. “How did this benefit me at all?”

“Run to the ground-bridge when we do.” The remaining human didn’t turn around.

Starscream realized with a jolt that the child had accessed the controls of the ship. He wasn’t the only one, Soundwave’s head popped out of the fray and whipped around to look at where the disturbance had come from. Starscream was certain that the other Decepticon was glaring daggers at him. 

“Oops. Oh well.” Raf said sarcastically, shoving one final lever into position. He hopped from the dashboard to the table where Bumblebee’s broken wing still was. 

Starscream felt the ground beneath his pedes begin to tilt, and he realized with shock that the crazy human was trying to crash the Nemesis. Decepticon soldiers started to slide as the ship tilted further, some of them sliding right out the door and down the hallways. The Autobots were grabbing on to nearby objects, having been warned by the other humans. There was a clang, and Starscream saw the smallest human sliding away on the broken door-wing, using it like a sled. Bulkhead reached out from his spot by the doorway and scooped the boy and his makeshift sled up before they could go flying out the door. The ship was now tilted at around forty-five degrees.

“You pathetic humans!” Megatron’s irate voice reached his audial processors, and he was quickly brought back to the present. “What have you done?!”

The girl made a gesture with one of her fingers, and stuck out her tongue. Bulkhead gave a short laugh, and held her and the smaller boy a little closer.

The warlord growled, clinging to a groove in the floor and dangling over the open door. He was effectively blocking the exit, and Soundwave was using his undamaged tentacles to move himself towards the control panel. Starscream dropped away from the computer, and landed closer to the Autobot medic. Ratchet did not acknowledge his arrival, optics locked on the Decepticon leader. He seemed to be thinking.

“Arcee, hold Bumblebee.” He handed the limp bot to the femme beside him. “Get ready to go. You know where the ground-bridge is?”

“Passed it on the way in.”

“Good.” The medic narrowed his optics. “Don’t wait for me.”

He leaped from the ledge where he and the others were, pedes extended and face determined. Arcee called after him, voice frantic. His feet landed on Megatron’s hand, causing him to lose his grip, and the two tumbled towards the door. The Autobots all cried out, arms and servos extending in desperation. The medic closed his optics accepting his fate. The others could escape now.

“Gotcha!” 

Ratchet’s optics flew open as he felt a strong servo wrap around his own. Optimus Prime stared down at him, worry on his faceplate, but also relief. Below him, Ratchet could hear Megatron’s yelling fading away. Optimus swung Ratchet back and forth, then let go, sending Ratchet safely to the adjoining hallway that they needed to go down. 

“Hurry! He’s going to come back!” Ratchet hollered at the rest of the group.

They wasted no time, all of them quickly joining him. Optimus scooped Bee into his arms and held him close to his chassis. Bee let out a very faint beep, and the Prime held him closer, his face sorrowful. They ran along the sides of the walls as fast as they could, and when they felt the ship righting itself under their feet, they went back to running on solid ground. They heard pedesteps behind them, but when Arcee whirled around, blasters ready, it was just Starscream.

“Don’t shoot! He helps us get into the Decepticon system!” Raf cried out. “We said he could escape with us!”

The others didn’t protest, there was no time. The group sprinted down the hallway, and faintly behind them they could hear the sound of a jet engine getting louder. Starscream pointed to a door near the end of the hall.

“There!” 

They threw open the door, and immediately set to warming the machine up. 

“Don’t use the base coordinates, they’ll track us!” Ratchet hollered over his shoulder at Arcee as he checked on Bee yet again. The bot was gradually getting less and less alert, a very bad sign.

“Well where the frag are we supposed to go?!” Arcee retorted. “Bee needs medical help, and we can’t get that in the middle of fragging nowhere!”

“Anywhere! Anywhere but here!”

“I’m telling Fowler to go to the base as fast as possible and open the ground-bridge for us from there.” Optimus said quietly, shifting Bee slightly in his arms. “Anywhere, Arcee.”

There was a second of silence, then Arcee flipped the switch. “Let’s get outta here.”

The portal opened, and Starscream shoved past everyone else, sprinting through the glowing green light. Bulkhead and the children ran after him, Arcee close on their heels. Bumblebee opened his optics slightly, feeling more movement as Ratchet and Optimus started to run. He couldn’t make sense of anything going on around him right now, it felt like his head was spinning faster than his wheels in a race. 

“Okay, we’re out. What next?” Bulkhead’s deep voice reached his audial processors. “That ground-bridge might not close in time!”

The group started to run, and Bee beeped in discomfort. The sun was in his optics, and the bouncing movement from Optimus running wasn’t doing his aching frame any favors.

“I know, Bumblebee. I’m so sorry.” Optimus’s soft voice washed over him, and Bee felt a little bit of relief just knowing that the Prime was there with him.

“Six o’clock! Megatron!” That was Arcee. Bee felt his spark skip a beat. He just wanted Megatron gone. Preferably for good.

He felt himself being lowered to the ground, and he felt the sensation of hot sand meet his outer plating. He whistled softly, and Optimus said something in reply, but he couldn’t make it out. He slowly opened his optics and looked up at the bright blue sky. A second later Raf’s face popped into view.

“Bee! It’s me, Bee, can you hear me?” He placed a cool hand on Bee’s dented helm. “I’m here with Jack and Miko. The others are fighting Megatron.”

“Hi Bee!” Miko’s voice sounded cheerful, but hollow. She wasn’t her usual upbeat self, Bee could tell. “Just hang in there, Agent Fowler’s gonna open the ground-bridge and get us out of here.”

“Careful, you guys. Don’t overwhelm him.” That was Jack. “He’s probably in pain right now, and confused I bet.”

“Okay.” Raf didn’t say anything else, but he kept his hand on Bee.

Bee whirred at the group, blinking his optics a few times. He tried to look past all the warnings that were popping up in his visuals, but they just kept appearing one after the other.

Warning: Energon levels low, and depleting rapidly. 

Warning: Extensive damage to internal and external systems. Possibility of permanent damage.

Warning: Mandatory stasis will be enacted in three clicks. Possibility of permanent system shut-downs.

Bee blinked again, there was a new warning, and it was different from the others. He tried to focus on the words, his head still spinning.

Warning: Projectile inbound. Explosive.

Oh scrap.

Bee launched himself into a sitting position, scooped up the children, and rolled away as fast as possible. He tried to transform, but he quickly found that his frame was just too damaged to transform. A cannon blast hit where the group had been just a second before and the shock of the blast threw Bee and his charges forward into the sand. Facedown in the dirt, Bee felt too tired to even lift a finger. He was just so, so tired. He lifted his head and saw that the children were farther in front of him, sitting up slowly and spitting out mouthfuls of sand. He saw a shadow cast over him, and he knew who it was immediately.

“Bumblebee.” Megatron reached down and flipped the scout onto his back. “You cannot escape me, not now, not then, not ever.”

Bee squinted at the larger bot, the sun was in his eyes, but he could still see the Decepticon’s horrible, glowing red optics. It was like one of his nightmares had come to life.

“Even if I cannot end Optimus Prime and the Autobots today, I will end you. I want them to suffer.” Megatron reached down, grabbed Bee by the throat, and lifted him into the air. “I want Optimus to know that he failed. I want revenge for the stupid things you did today, and for all the times you foiled my plans.”

He started to squeeze, but unlike before, he was not drawing it out, he wasn’t trying to make Bumblebee suffer. He wanted Bee dead.

“Even if by some miracle you survive, I win. I will never leave you.” The warlord cackled. “Even if I’m not occupying your frame and mind, I’ll still be there. You’ll hear my voice when you’re alone, you’ll see me when you try to recharge. You’ll never, never, be free of me.”

Bee struggled, but he was just too exhausted. He had nothing left in his tanks. The metal groaned, his systems screamed warning at him. And then suddenly, there was a snap. He went limp. He heard screaming. He smelled energon, and could taste it too. He heard laughing, and the sound of his systems shutting down, this time for good. 

“I win, Bumblebee.”

Chapter Text

Bumblebee was aware that Megatron let go. He felt himself drop down into the dirt with a thud, sending grains of sand flying into the air. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t even cry. Bee could only lie there in agony, staring up at the sky and Megatron looming above him. Through all the warnings in his visuals he could see someone slam into Megatron, shoving the warlord away from Bee. He could faintly hear the sound of fighting and screaming through the ringing in his audial processors. It felt like he was in a thick fog that was clouding up his processors and all of his functions. Bee felt someone drop down into the dirt beside him, but he couldn’t turn his helm to look.

“-on! Just hang in there! Stay with me, Bumblebee!”

Ah, it was Ratchet. Bee tried to protest when he felt the medic’s servos working away on him, he was in so much pain, but no noise came from his vocalizer. Ratchet wouldn’t have stopped anyways. Bee could see that the older bot had that look on his face that he got whenever he was in his deepest focus. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, and his optics seemed to burn with an unnatural fire.

“-be okay? Please say-”

Was that Raf? It sure sounded like him. Bee saw the little boy’s face come into view, screwed up in worry and tears streaming down his cheeks. Miko and Jack were there too. Jack was trying to pull the younger children away, Ratchet had probably told him to. His face was so white Bee wondered if he might pass out. His vision went black for a moment, and he was reminded that he himself might pass out at any moment as well. Ratchet pressed down on a particularly deep wound in his chest, and Bee gasped from the pain. Three short, staticky bursts of sound escaped his vocalizer, and Ratchet’s face melted into sorrow. 

“I’m so sorry, Bumblebee. I’m so sorry. I need to stabilize your neck.” He took a deep breath, and vented sharply. “Brace yourself, it’s going to get worse.”

Worse? How in the name of Primus could this get any worse? Bee barely had time to ponder the medic’s statement before another white-hot flash of pain raced through his frame. He writhed around in the sand, trying to escape the torture, but Ratchet held him fast.

“Please, Bumblebee, don’t struggle. You’ll only make it worse!” Ratchet’s face was covered with a mix of sadness, remorse, and pain. He obviously couldn’t stand seeing the scout in such a state. “Don’t struggle, just lie still.”

Bee tried to, he really did, but the discomfort was just too much. His frame shook in the dirt, the sand clumping together from the spilled energon. He heard Ratchet call out for someone, but he couldn’t tell who. He wondered fleetingly what the others were up to, where they were. He wished they were here.

He wished the pain would stop.

He wished that Megatron was dead.

He wished that the others would be safe and free from the threat of the Decepticons.

He wished that his family was here with him.

He thought- He thought that maybe- 

He wished he was dead.

“Die!” Arcee shot at Megatron several times in a row, most of them missing. The rage she felt was disrupting her focus, but she was beyond caring. “Die, you worthless piece of scrap!”

After Optimus had tackled the warlord away from Bumblebee, he and the other Autobots had teamed up to beat Megatron’s aft. Megatron was currently being punched back and forth between Optimus and Bulkhead like a ping-pong ball, with Arcee shooting at him all the while. Bulkhead seemed to be letting all of his anger out whenever he managed to hit the Decepticon, swinging hard and fast, and giving passionate yells of anger. Optimus was completely silent, too angry to even talk. He dodged a blast from Megatron’s cannon, and fired back without a pause. The whole time, Megatron was laughing that horrible, grating laugh. Arcee wanted to crush his own neck just to make it stop. To avenge Bumblebee.

“I need assistance over here!” Ratchet’s strained voice cut through the sounds of the fight. “Now!”

Bulkhead looked at Optimus, who gave a curt nod, then ran over to the medic and his patient as fast as he could. Arcee watched Bee struggling feebly on the ground before Bulk reached out with careful servos and held him down. Arcee finally got a clear view of the damage, and she couldn’t help but gasp at the horrible sight.

“Oh my Primus- oh-”

Bumblebee’s neck was crushed, almost snapped completely in two. His helm lolled back and forth in the sand as he tried to move, almost not even attached to his body anymore. Energon gushed from the severed fuel lines, and Ratchet was working frantically to stop it. The sight of it filled the femme with fresh fury, and she turned back to face the horrible bot who had done this. Arcee bared her teeth and charged when Optimus stumbled back, not wasting a second to slam her fists into the warlord as hard as she could. Hit, after hit, after hit, she relished the sound that the metal made as it clashed together. She silently rejoiced when she felt the sensation of fresh energon on her knuckles. She hated how the son of a glitch continued to laugh, like this was all some big joke.

“Shut up!” She hissed through gritted denta. “Shut the frag up!”

He just continued to laugh at her, before he grabbed her by the plating of her arm and tossed her aside. Optimus was there, however, to immediately continue what Arcee had started. Megatron quickly sobered when he realized that the Prime was now definitely out for energon. Optimus Prime’s optics were filled with a sea of emotions, the strongest one right now being fury. Arcee got to her pedes as fast as she could and raced back towards the fight. Out of the corner of her optics she thought she saw the green light of a ground-bridge starting to appear, but she continued on. Hopefully it was Fowler, because if the rest of the Decepticons arrived they were as good as dead. Optimus had Megatron pinned down now, the two of them wrestling in the sand. Megatron was saying something to the Prime, but Arcee didn’t catch it. Whatever he had said must have been bad, because Optimus gave an angry shout and fired his blaster at Megatron, who dodged it by a hair. 

“You will never touch him again!” Optimus pressed Megatron harder into the ground, optics burning. “Never!”

Arcee raced forward and hit Megatron’s face as Optimus held the warlord down. She just punched and punched, optics watering and spark racing. She ignored the calls of the other Autobots around her, focusing purely on her task. She needed this bot dead, she needed him gone.

“For Bumblebee!” She slammed down both fists at the same time. “For Cliffjumper!” Megatron’s face was starting to dent. “For everything you ever ruined, you son of a glitch.”

“Arcee!”

She felt a servo stop her from swinging down again. She whirled around in anger to confront whoever had interrupted her vengeance. Optimus had gotten off of Megatron, and was now holding her servos in his own. 

“The ground-bridge. We must go now.”

“No! We need to finish this!”

“Arcee, the Decepticons may arrive at any moment, we need to go to base now. Bumblebee needs immediate medical attention.”

“If you want to leave, if you want to run, fine, but I won’t.” Arcee tore her servos out of the Prime’s grasp.

“Arcee, no.” Optimus reached out again, trying to pull her away. “We need to go now, for Bumblebee’s sake.”

“Go ahead! Open a bridge for me later, but I need to do this.” She felt tears spill down her face, but she didn’t bother wiping them away. “This is for Bumblebee.”

Optimus’s face grew sad for a moment, and Arcee seriously thought that the Prime might agree with her. Then, he shook his head and lifted Arcee away from the downed Decepticon. Behind them, Arcee heard Megatron give a harsh laugh, but it was weaker than before.

“I can’t let you do that.” He ran towards the others, who were at the opening of the ground-bridge, Arcee kicking and screaming all the way. “Arcee,” whispered the Prime as they got closer. “Bumblebee needs you right now.”

Arcee looked and saw that the yellow bot was looking around frantically with just his optics. His face grew slightly calmer when they landed on Arcee and Optimus and saw that they were safe. 

“He needs you more than he needs vengeance.”

Arcee sighed as the Prime put her down, and walked quickly over to her little friend. “Hey, Bee. Just hang in there, bud, we’re almost there.”

She started to walk through the ground-bridge with the others, Ratchet urging everyone to go faster for Primus’s sake. She looked back, and to her surprise she saw Optimus running back towards where Megatron was. The Decepticon leader was slowly picking himself up off the ground, swiping at the energon on his face. Farther away, a second ground-bridge was starting to open. A wave of Decepticon soldiers started to emerge from the portal.

“Optimus!”

The sound of a single blaster shot was heard, and then Optimus was running back towards join the group before the ground-bridge closed. His expression was steely, and his optics hard. No one asked what he had done. It was obvious that his previous words had been a vow. 

“Just what have they gotten themselves into this time?” Agent Fowler grumbled as he stood by the ground-bridge controls. “Starscream and the lens shouldn’t have been too much trouble…”

His musings were cut off as the Autobot crew came through the green portal. Fowler opened his mouth to question them, then realized with a start that they were carrying Bumblebee. Optimus and Bulkhead were carrying the yellow bot between them, Ratchet supporting his head. Arcee raced ahead to the medical area of the base and started prepping the area. Then, Fowler saw the kids. They were covered in dust and bruises, and their expressions were ranging between fear, horror, and concern. 

“What-”

“Lay him down.” Ratchet was racing back and forth, rushing to care for the injured bot. “Quickly. Careful! Support his head. Arcee, get me all the necessary equipment for surgery. Bulkhead, get the extra metal sheets and warm up the welding equipment. Optimus, try to reassure him and support his helm. Somehow, he’s online, but just barely.”

The bots immediately jumped to their tasks. Optimus Prime knelt down next to the medical berth that Bee was on and reached out a gentle servo. He placed it gently on the scout’s helm, rubbing it back and forth in a soothing motion. Bee let out a very small sound that sounded a lot like purring. Ratchet looked pained, then quickly carried on with his own duties. Arcee arrived with several trays, placing them on a table by the berth, and then she practically collapsed next to the yellow bot, squeezing his servo and looking into his optics. 

“Stay with us, Bee. Stay with us.”

“What in the hell-” whispered Fowler, quickly walking towards the children and the Autobots. He grabbed Jack by the arm. “What is going on here?”

“Megatron. He had control of Bee’s body for a while. He-” Jack swallowed and carried on. “Megatron came back, and he…well, he did this.”

Agent Fowler looked the kids up and down. They were covered in dirt and spots of energon, and they had visible cuts and bruises on their bodies. Oh God, he thought, then he turned back to look at the bots. From what he understood, the Autobots could take some pretty hard hits, so this must have been awful. It sure looked awful. There was blue everywhere, and as he looked closer he was pretty sure that Bumblebee’s head was hanging on to his body by just a few cords. Fowler felt his stomach churn, and he quickly looked away. The kids were slowly creeping closer to the berth, trying to get close without disturbing the bots at work. However, Ratchet spotted them and quickly decided that he didn’t want them to see this. They had been through enough already today.

“Jack, take the other kids and go get some energon cubes from the storage unit. It’s the fifth door on the right in the west hall.” He was strapping Bee to the berth now with large metal clamps. “Can you do that?”

Jack gave a quick salute and started to lead the others out. “How many cubes?” 

“Several. I don’t know yet. At least three, maybe four.”

 “Got it. We’ll be fast.” Jack, Miko, and Raf all ran in the direction of the west hall. After a moment of hesitation, Agent Fowler followed them. 

There was silence in the main room apart from the beeping of machines. No one spoke. Suddenly, Bee let out a garbled sound and his optics started to dim.

“Ratchet-” Optimus started, but the medic was already there. 

“Let him power down. He’ll be in less pain.” He bent closer to Bee and whispered to the injured bot. “You can rest, Bumblebee. We’ll take care of everything. We’ll take care of you.”

A quick look of relief flashed across the bot’s face, and his optics went completely dark as Optimus continued to rub his helm comfortingly. However, Ratchet felt extremely uneasy. Something was wrong, or something was going to go wrong soon, he was sure of it. He quickly placed several different patches on Bee’s chassis, helm, and arms to monitor his vitals, and he watched with a sinking spark as they continued to drop on the monitors. His spark skipped several beats as the glowing lines on the screen dipped dangerously low with no signs of stopping.

“Oh Primus. Oh Primus.” 

“What is it, Ratchet?” Optimus could hear the fear in the medic’s voice.

Before he could respond, a shrill, sustained beep came from one of the monitors. 

“We’re losing him!” 

The Autobots all cried out in horror, and leaped to their pedes to help Ratchet.

“Battery packs! Now!”

“Here!” 

Ratchet snatched the battery pack out of the air and immediately started prepping them. He tapped them together and slammed the paddles down on Bee’s chassis, sending an electric charge through the inert bot’s body. Bee jolted when the charge ran through, and then went still again. The spark monitor continued to scream, showing no change.

“Oh my God, what’s happening?!” Raf and Jack appeared in the doorway pushing an energon block on a small cart that they had found. Raf sprinted towards the medical berth, leaving Jack to struggle with the cart. “Don’t say he’s-!”

“Not yet,” growled Ratchet. “I won’t let him. Clear!”

He sent another charge through, bigger than before. Arcee was pacing back and forth like a caged animal, and Optimus was still as a statue. Bulkhead had quickly gone over to Jack and scooped up the energon cube. The beeping continued and the line on the screen didn’t move. 

“Oh my God. Oh my God.” Jack was running his hands through his hair, then ran forward and pulled Raf closer to him. Raf was sobbing freely, begging his friend not to leave him. Begging him to fight. Ratchet tried to ignore the liquid escaping from his optics and dripping onto the lifeless little bot on the berth before him. Behind him, he heard Miko and Agent Fowler enter the room with more energon, Miko screaming like she’d been shot when she realized what was happening, and Agent Fowler cussing loudly.

“Energon infusion started!” Bulkhead blurted out. “Levels rising slowly, but they aren’t staying steady.”

“That’s good. Good. Ready? Clear!” Ratchet dialed up the charge again and pressed the paddles firmly into Bee’s chest. Bumblebee wasn’t his normal bright yellow color, much to Ratchet’s horror. He was a pale, buttery yellow that was slowly crawling into the gray area. He shut his optics tight and sent out the charge.

Optimus Prime closed his optics, praying to every higher power he could think of. Please, he thought. I beg you, let him live. Let him live. I cannot lose him.

I cannot lose him.

Beep. 

Beep.

Beep.

“Oh thank Primus!” Ratchet hollered at the top of his lungs dropping the batteries and immediately picking up the welding supplies. “Thank you, Primus!”

Around him, the others cheered, gave enormous sighs of relief, or continued to cry. Optimus hung his head to hide his face from the others and covered his mouth with his hand. He tried to calm his racing spark, tried to reassure himself that Bumblebee would be okay, but he still felt more scared than he had ever been. He realized with a start that Bee had come back online when Ratchet shocked him back to life, and the scout was staring at the ceiling with a look of pain and confusion on his faceplate. Optimus quickly knelt by the berth-side and looked into the smaller bot’s optics.

“Go back to recharge, Bumblebee. You’re alright. It’s alright.”

Except it almost wasn’t. He had almost gone offline. Bee reached a shaking servo towards the Prime, who grasped it gently, then gazed into the Prime’s optics. His own eyes were starting to dim, and Optimus held his hand until he had powered off completely again.

“More energon! I’m starting to patch the fuel lines now, and we need to get his levels up.” Ratchet flipped a welder’s mask down over his face and started working away. “Humans shouldn’t watch this, it’ll damage your eyes.”

Agent Fowler and Bulkhead quickly guided the children out of the room again, and a few minutes later Bulk returned with two more energon cubes in his arms. Arcee was working alongside Ratchet, the two of them working quickly. Optimus was removing Bee’s outer plating as gently as possible so that Ratchet could easily reach his damaged inner parts. Bulkhead placed another cube into the energon pump. 

“Levels?”

“Twelve percent. Not rising, not falling.”

“Hmm, that’s still better than before… Processor activity?”

“Low. Declining.”

Ratchet swore, and stood abruptly. “Arcee, keep working on the energon lines, I need to work on his neck and helm. We can’t have him go comatose.”

The medic had stopped the bleeding as well as he could back in the desert, but there was still significant energon loss. Ratchet patched the fuel lines in the neck, then quickly started to work on the other extremely sensitive cording and wiring. If I can’t repair this properly, he thought as he worked. If I fail, there is a chance Bee won’t be able to do… anything ever again. The medic felt his spark stop at the awful thought, then quickly tried to shake his nerves away. He would not, could not, fail this time. He grabbed some of the extra metal sheets and began to form a new neck for Bumblebee. There wasn’t much neck left to repair, besides the cords and inner workings. The outer plating and the stabilizing parts were pretty much completely gone, hence why he was making a new one. 

“Ratchet, will he be alright?”

The old bot looked up at Optimus Prime briefly, then back down at his urgent work. “Not the best time to ask, Prime. I can’t say at this moment.”

Optimus nodded, and continued working. The Autobots all worked in silence, the monitors beeping away in the background. They patched, they welded, they repaired. A while later, Ratchet let out a dismayed noise, causing the other bots to look at him. He reached around in Bee’s crumpled neck hollow and pulled out the scout’s voice box. Everyone winced at the sight of the mangled machinery.

Ratchet shook his head. “I- I don’t know if I will be able to repair it. It was bad before, but this…” he trailed off, working on the vocalizer with a vengeance.

“Will he be able to make any noise at all? Communicate in any way?” Optimus tried to keep his voice steady, but he could hear it shake slightly. 

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Optimus placed a servo on the medic’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”

“It was. It is.”

“No, Ratchet. The blame falls on Megatron, and Megatron alone.” Optimus felt a brief flash of anger at the name. “He is responsible for all of this.”

The medic didn’t respond, touching up a few last things in the voice box, then carefully placing it back in Bee’s neck hollow. He then gently started to attach the new neck stabilizers and plating, welding it together and hiding the cords, wires, and damaged vocalizer away. Bee’s head was now firmly secured to his body, instead of hanging on by a few cords. Optimus blinked a few times. He didn’t think that he would ever be able to erase that memory from his mind. At least not for a very, very long time.

After almost two more hours of tense silence and hard work, Ratchet laid down his tools and took a step back. He wiped the sweat and splattered energon from his brow and let out a long sigh. 

“That’s… all we can do for now. The cosmetics can happen later.”

The others stared at him silently, covered in grime, energon, and dust. They each slowly set down their tools and stepped away from the berth. Optimus looked over his shoulder longingly at the little bot. He still had not returned to his normal coloring, and it made the Prime nervous. 

“Bulkhead, Arcee, you should go reassure the children and Agent Fowler that Bumblebee is still online.” Ratchet went to stand in front of one of the computers. “I need to finish a few more things and clean up some of this energon.”

Bulkhead and Arcee left the room to go find the humans, leaving Optimus and Ratchet alone. Optimus picked up a rag and began wiping up the puddles of blue on the berth.

“Do you think he will be alright now?”

“Only time will tell. We’re not out of the woods yet.” Ratchet rested his head in his hands. “We won’t know if all of his functions and his T-cog are working properly until he is awake and I can test them. Right now, we just need to make sure he makes it through the night.”

Optimus walked to join him and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You’ve done everything you can, old friend. You should rest.”

Ratchet scoffed. “I should have been better. I should have prevented this from ever happening in the first place.”

“You saved him. Bumblebee would have died today if it wasn’t for you.” Optimus tried to look the medic in his optics, but the other bot wouldn’t look away from the computer screens. “Ratchet, you must stop blaming yourself for these things. It was never your fault. You know that Bumblebee would never blame you for what happened.”

Ratchet finally turned to face his leader, optics watering and mouth pressed into a thin line. “Maybe he should. I should have protected him. I wish it had been me.”

He turned away again, blinking rapidly, typing on the keyboards and cataloging Bee’s vitals. Optimus realized that nothing he could say right now would comfort the medic. So, he just stayed by his side as he worked. They were silent, but they both appreciated the other for being there. 

After a while, Ratchet sighed and stepped away from the computers. “It appears that the internal damage has been repaired enough to keep him alive. His vitals have been holding steady, although they aren’t perfect.”

“That is good news.”

“Yes, very.” The medic glanced at a clock and gave a heavy sigh. “Well, it’s getting late. We should try to get some rest.”

Optimus nodded. “Let’s update the others.”

Ratchet gave the Prime a thumbs-up and the two of them walked towards the training room together. When the doors opened, everyone in the room looked up, their faces questioning and frightened. 

“The interior damage has been fixed. I’ll work on the outer plating and other cosmetic stuff tomorrow.” Ratchet said. 

“Will he be okay?” Raf looked at the medic anxiously.

Ratchet sighed. “Too early to tell, Rafael. But there is nothing more we can do tonight. It’s late, and it’s been an extremely long and exhausting day.” He rubbed at his face and optics. “It’s getting late. You all should probably head home before your folks get worried.”

“What?”

“No! We need to stay!”

Ratchet turned to Optimus for support. The Prime waited for the kids to stop yelling, then reiterated what Ratchet had said, much to their disappointment. 

“Can’t we stay here? We can tell our parents that we’re having a sleepover at a friend’s house. Please?” Raf looked up at the bots with big, sad eyes. 

“I don’t like this.” Ratchet grumbled under his breath, but Optimus felt his spark soften looking at the little boy. 

“Will they allow that?” 

“Let’s find out!” Miko whipped out her phone. “My exchange parents will probably be glad that I’m getting out of the house and making friends and stuff.”

“My mom is working overnight tonight. She won’t notice I’m gone.”

“My mom said yes!” Raf held up his phone with a big grin on his face. Arcee smiled slightly at his enthusiasm, and Ratchet lifted his hands in surrender.

So, it was decided that the kids could stay overnight. They would move the couch into one of the other empty rooms so it wouldn’t be in the main room where they could see Bee. Bulkhead did that, and the kids went to bed pretty soon after, exhausted from the day’s events. Agent Fowler stated that he would be leaving for the night, but that he would stop back some time tomorrow to see how everyone was doing.

“If there’s anything you need, Prime, anything at all, don’t hesitate to let me know.” Fowler looked at the tall Autobot in front of him.

Optimus shook his head, his eyes sad. “Thank you for the offer Agent Fowler, but there isn’t much that can help our scout now.”

The agent wished the little bot a speedy recovery again, then took his leave, and the Autobots watched him go. They then turned to look at the unconscious patient on the medical berth. 

“Someone should stay with him at all times.” Ratchet stated.

Arcee nodded. “We can take turns so everyone can rest.”

“I can start,” offered Bulkhead. “I don’t feel very tired at all.”

It was settled. Bulkhead would start, then Arcee, then Optimus would finish the night watch. They all agreed that Ratchet should sleep through the night because he had been doing most of the medical stuff today, and would need to do it all again tomorrow. Everyone said goodnight and retired to their respective rooms. Although Optimus Prime was in his berth, he did not recharge. He couldn’t. Every time he closed his optics, all he could see was Megatron tearing Bumblebee to shreds before his very eyes. He had a feeling that the others were in the same position as him. Through the walls he could hear Ratchet tossing and turning. At some point in the night, he heard Bulkhead and Arcee switch positions. As Bulk was passing Optimus’s door, a small voice caught his attention.

“Bulkhead? Can we stay with you?” That was Miko’s voice. “I- I had a nightmare, and we’re all kinda on edge.”

Bulkhead’s voice was kind and soft. “Of course you can. I’ll carry the couch into my room.”

A few minutes later Optimus heard the soft giggles of the children as they were carried on the couch towards Bulkhead’s room. Optimus smiled in the dark. He was glad that the children weren’t alone, and that Bulkhead was willing to have the sleepover in his room. A few more sleepless hours later, Optimus swung his pedes off the berth and made his way towards the main room. Ratchet was snoring now, and Optimus was glad that the medic had managed to fall into recharge. He stopped briefly to check in on Bulkhead and the children, and smiled when he saw Miko and Raf on the bot’s shoulders. Jack was sprawled out on the couch, limbs askew. Thankfully, they were all sound asleep. He continued on to the main room and saw that Arcee was sitting by Bee with her helm on his shoulder.

“Arcee. You should rest now.”

She jumped slightly, then sighed and rubbed her face. “I don’t think I’ll be able to. Are you sure you don’t want me to finish the night?”

“I’m sure. You need rest.” Optimus gently guided her away from the berth. 

She stopped to press her helm to Bee’s helm and murmur a few words of encouragement, then she silently walked away. Optimus sat down beside the small bot on the berth, and let out a sigh. He placed a servo on Bee’s chassis, just to feel the thrum of Bee’s spark beneath the metal. It was weaker than usual, making Optimus worry more than he already was. He checked the monitor, and although it might be lower than normal it was still at an acceptable place. Optimus still kept his servo there just for peace of mind. Several hours passed without incident, both Optimus and Bumblebee not moving.

Then suddenly Bee moved.

Optimus jumped when he felt the bot move slightly underneath his servo, and he quickly looked at the monitor than was displaying processor activity. The lines were moving more than before, and the Prime felt a surge of hope. He stood, thinking about getting Ratchet, when Bee suddenly began to shake violently, arms and legs swinging around wildly.

“Bumblebee! Bumblebee, it’s me. Listen to my voice. You’re alright.” Optimus quickly bent down again and held Bee to the berth so he wouldn’t rip off any of the patches, cords, or tubes that Ratchet had so carefully placed. “You’re alright.”

Bee’s optics flew open, looking around wildly. Several broken beeps and whistles escaped his damaged vocalizer, and Optimus tried to determine what the scout was trying to say. His spark sank as Bee repeated himself over and over again, and he finally started to understand some of the things he was saying.

“:Mega- No! Hurts- let go- where? Where- they? Okay?:”

 “Bumblebee, I’m here. It’s alright, everyone is alright. You’re having a nightmare.” Optimus tried to hold the frightened bot in a way that would feel more like a hug than a restraint or a chokehold. “I’ve got you.”

Bee’s optics finally landed on the Prime, locking in on him like the Autobot was his lifeline. He beeped again. “:I- sorr- sorry. Please- stay- stay:”

“I won’t leave you.” Optimus promised, pulling Bee closer. “I’ve got you. You’re alright. I won’t leave you.”

The little bot slumped against Optimus’s chassis, still shaking, and Optimus began rubbing his back in a soothing motion. I won’t leave you, Optimus thought. Not again. He held his scout a little tighter to his chassis. Eventually, Bee went completely still again. Optimus gently pulled him away from his chest and laid him back on the berth. His chest felt cold and tight. He needed to get Ratchet. A quick glance at his internal clock told him that it was almost five in the morning in earth time. He stood, going to get the medic, then hesitated. He didn’t want to leave Bee alone. He didn’t want to leave Bee, period. So, he activated his comm and called Ratchet.

“Ratchet.” 

The Autobot medic was there in under ten seconds. He materialized in the main room, optics worried and frame tense. 

Optimus was still next to Bee, and he looked up at the newcomer. “He woke up.”

Ratchet’s optics widened, and he quickly began examining the gathered info on the computer as Optimus explained what had happened. 

Ratchet sighed. “I’m relieved and concerned all at the same time. I’m overjoyed to hear that he can move and understand what is being said to him. However,” his voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m unhappy that his vocalizer is glitching like that. It’s far from a good sign.”

“Are his vitals alright? Are they getting better?”

“Yes, but he’s still not doing as well as I want him to be. He’s still in danger of going offline if they turn for the worse. His systems are just too weak right now, and they’re under too much stress.”

Optimus was silent, and he shifted a little closer to the injured bot. Ratchet sighed and began to pace back and forth, thinking. Optimus exhaled and let his head hang low. He could feel the liquid escaping from his optics and dripping down onto the berth, but he did not care anymore. The leader finally let himself feel, he knew that he could mourn freely in Ratchet’s presence. The bot had seen him mourn before, after all. So Optimus Prime mourned without restraint. He mourned his dear scout, he mourned all the loss and pain that the little bot had endured in his short lifetime. Optimus mourned the fact that he might never hear Bumblebee’s voice again, and the fact that he hadn’t heard it in thousands of years. Most of all, he mourned that Bee would permanently be affected by Megatron, and the possibility that the gentle Autobot might never be the same again.

“I know. I know how you feel. I feel it too.” Optimus heard the choked-up voice of the medic behind him, and felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“I have failed him.”

“No, Prime. You didn’t.”

“He never deserved this. He didn’t deserve any of this.” Optimus cradled Bumblebee’s face in his servos and pressed his forehead to Bee’s. “Oh Primus, why him?”

“Optimus…” Ratchet sounded at a loss for words.

They were silent for a long time, the only sound coming from the machines and computers. Optimus’s tears slowly came to a stop, and he lifted his head from Bumblebee’s. He turned to see that Ratchet’s face was covered with tear streaks as well. They stared at each other for a moment, then wrapped the other into a firm, much-needed, embrace. They had both lived through the horror, both the first and second time. They both had scars, freshly opened by this event. They both were thinking of the little yellow bot when he was big enough to fit in their arms, and how much they missed his laugh. They both thought of how they might never hear it again.

Arcee jerked awake from a nightmare, spark racing and blasters raised. She wasn’t surprised by the fact that she had had one, she was more surprised that she had managed to fall into recharge at all. The blue bot swung her legs off the berth and stretched for a few minutes. She could definitely feel some aches and pains in her frame, and there were definitely a few dents in her plating that needed to be buffed out. However, that could wait. Today, Ratchet needed to put all of his attention on Bee and make sure that he would be okay. The femme sighed and walked out of her room. She made her way to the main room and found Optimus and Ratchet with Bumblebee. They both nodded a greeting as she came to stand by the medical berth. 

“Any updates?”

Ratchet looked over his shoulder and gave a small nod. “Yes. He woke up very briefly.”

Arcee’s optics widened, then immediately narrowed into a glare. “And you didn’t tell us?! You didn’t let us talk to him? C’mon!”

“He wasn’t in a good state, Arcee.” Optimus said softly. “He had a nightmare, and he was unable to tell where he was or who was with him.”

Arcee softened slightly, but still let out an offended huff. She leaned down closer to Bee and whispered in audial receivers. “Next time, power on when I’m here, got it?” She gave his servo a small squeeze, then stood and made her way to stand by Optimus. However, Ratchet intercepted her and guided her towards a crate and made her sit.

“Check up,” he said, already working out some of the dents in her plating. “I already worked on Optimus and myself this morning.”

She nodded absentmindedly, carefully watching Bee. Deeper in the silo, a peal of laughter rang out, making Optimus smile a little. 

“It sounds like Bulkhead and the children are up.”

“I still don’t know why we let them stay over-night,” grumbled Ratchet. “They have houses, they have beds.”

“Yes, but what they don’t have is someone who would understand the situation.” Optimus frowned. “If they had a nightmare, how would they explain to their parents what had happened, what the nightmare was about?”

Ratchet gave a small hum, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Bulkhead and the kids appeared a few moments later, their energy levels varying greatly. 

“How is Bee? Is he doing any better?” Raf was by Bee’s berth-side almost immediately, looking at Optimus with worried eyes. 

Optimus tried to smile encouragingly. “He is doing a little better today, Rafael. You may sit with him until Ratchet is ready to work on him again.”

The young boy lit up like the sun, and Optimus helped him onto the berth. Miko came bouncing over, filled to the brim with energy, and she gave Bee a fist bump.

“You’re doing great, Bee! You’ll be racing around in no time!” Bumblebee, of course, did not respond.

Jack sat down on the floor by Arcee, sighing as he did so. Arcee looked at the teen and saw that he had dark circles under his eyes and a few bruises on his face. He looked at her and gave a small smile. The boy stayed with her until Ratchet dismissed her and called over Bulkhead. Arcee stood and stretched, feeling nearly good as new. She wished the same could be said for Bumblebee. The children and the Autobots spent around an hour together, either working or just hanging out. Bee did not wake up again, much to everyone’s disappointment, but Ratchet said that it was still very encouraging that Bee had not slipped into a coma. 

After around an hour and a half, Jack noticed that Raf had grown very quiet, and his face was thoughtful. Uh oh, Jack thought. He’s thinking about something, and it doesn’t look like it’s good. He tapped Arcee on the arm to get her attention, and pointed at Raf. Arcee looked at the teen, slightly confused, then her optics widened. Before either of them could say anything, the smaller boy spoke. 

“Optimus, I have a question.”

Oh boy.

“What is it, Rafael?”

“Um, I don’t really know how to ask this, but…” he trailed off. “Did Bumblebee try to shoot himself? I mean,” he hurried to explain. “It didn’t make any sense. Megatron wouldn’t have shot himself while he was still in Bee’s body because he would’ve died too. I just-” the boy stopped abruptly.

The room was completely silent. Jack had one hand covering his mouth, and Arcee had her servos balled into fists. Bulkhead stopped playing with Miko, and the two turned around very slowly. Optimus and Ratchet were both staring at each other, looking at the other bot for advice. Eventually, Optimus cleared his throat.

“Unfortunately, yes. Bumblebee did try to resort to that in order to end Megatron.”

“Oh my God I knew it,” hissed Miko. She grabbed her hair. “But why? Why would he do that? He knew we were trying our best to help him!”

Raf placed his head on Bee’s chassis, tears running down his face. “I can’t believe it, and yet I can,” he whispered

“He thought he had no other options!” Bulkhead hurried to explain. “Megatron had just threatened to kill all of us, and then he threatened to kill you guys too. That’s when Bee must’ve decided that-”

Arcee cut him off. “I need you all to understand that Bee isn’t a coward. He wasn’t crumbling under the pressure from Megatron, he was trying to protect all of us.” The bot looked like she would murder anyone who dared to suggest that her friend was weak.

“Yes, but it also very important to recognize that he shouldn’t have done that, and that there is a deep-set issue that must be addressed.” Ratchet interjected. “Bumblebee must realize his own worth and importance.”

“You’re gonna talk to him, right?” All heads turned to look at Raf. “You’re gonna tell him that he shouldn’t have done that, right? You’ll tell him how important he is, how much we need him? We need him, I-” Raf’s choked up voice broke the hearts of everyone else in the room. “I need him.”

Optimus knelt by the crying boy and carefully placed a finger on his shoulder. “Yes. It will be properly addressed.” He pulled the human boy into a hug as he continued to cry. “I know, Rafael. I know.”

Bulkhead patted Miko gently on the shoulder. She had sat down by the medical berth as well, and she wouldn’t make eye contact with any of the Autobots. The trembling of her bottom lip told Jack that she was trying very hard to keep it together. The young girl glared at him with watery eyes when she noticed that Jack was analyzing her and sharply turned away. The hopeful mood that the room had had earlier was completely gone, and it was replaced by a heavy, exhausting air. Ratchet sighed and turned away from the group to check Bee’s vitals again. Jack closed his eyes and placed his head in his hands. He pressed the palms of his hands into his face to try and stop the burning sensation in his eyes, but the feeling didn’t leave. 

They really did need Bumblebee. Each and every one of them, in their own way. The team wouldn’t be the same without him. 

After a while, Arcee dared to break the silence first. “Any updates, Ratchet?” 

The medic turned around slowly, his faceplate paler than usual. “Yes. He’s showing less processor activity than before, and it is still dropping.” The old Autobot’s voice shook as he spoke softly.

“We are losing Bumblebee.”

Chapter Text

“No!” Arcee’s guttural cry captured the feeling that everyone was experiencing. “How?! Why?!” 

“Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.” Miko, curled up in a ball, started to rock back and forth on the floor. Bulkhead tried to pat her on the back to calm her down.

Jack flopped back on the floor, trying to stop the nausea he was experiencing. What had his mom always told him that would help with nausea? Around him the room dissolved into chaos. Raf was almost dropped by Optimus from the shock of Ratchet’s statement, and Optimus was now apologizing to the boy profusely. Bulkhead bent down, grabbing his helm and trying to take deep breaths. Jack closed his eyes and tried to swallow his growing queasiness. Raf was white as a sheet, gripping Optimus’ thumb like his life depended on it and staring at the computer screens.

Ratchet held up his servos helplessly. “Everything that I’m doing to try and stimulate processor activity isn’t working. Everything. Bumblebee is simply slipping away in his own mind.”

“There’s gotta be something else. There has to be!” Bulkhead started to pace. “What haven’t you tried?”

Optimus placed Raf on the ground and held up a servo, silencing the commotion in the room. He turned and looked at the Autobot medic. “As Bulkhead said, what haven’t you tried yet?”

Ratchet turned back to his computers, rapidly tapping away at the keys. Raf raced away to pull out his own badly battered laptop and started typing as well. After a few minutes of tense silence Ratchet looked back at Optimus. 

“I haven’t tried electro-stimulation. I didn’t want to, but if it comes to it, I will. I suppose I could also try-”

“A cortical psychic patch!” 

The room all turned to look at Raf, who looked up from his screen with a look of pure inspiration on his face. He stood and hopped back on the medical berth.

“Think about it,” he gestured to Bee. “Megatron was showing brain activity when Bee and Arcee found him, but he wasn’t waking up. But then, after Bee entered his mind, Megatron woke up!”

Arcee huffed. “He woke up because he wasn’t in his own body anymore, and he had hijacked someone else’s.”

“But it might still work!” Raf argued. “Megatron really came to his senses when he realized that Bee was real and actually in his head. If someone went in Bee’s head, Bee might realize that he’s stuck and be able to break free from his mind!”

The bots and the humans looked at each other, seeming to be thinking it over, before Ratchet nodded, made a determined noise, and started pulling a long cable out of one of the nearby crates. Optimus stepped forward and placed a servo on the medics shoulder. 

“You are considering it, Ratchet?”

“Oh, I’m more than considering it.” Ratchet yanked the last few feet of the cord free from the box. “I think Rafael might just be onto something. It’s a better, safer idea than the electro-stimulation anyway.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Arcee interrupted. “Will the person trying to enter Bee’s mind be lost? Will they get stuck outside their own body?” 

Ratchet rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well, it is a risk, but a small one I would say. After all, Bumblebee was able to re-enter his own frame just fine despite Megatron’s interference.” He began to pace back and forth, the cord dragging along behind him. “I still believe that the pros outweigh the cons in this situation, as the risks are pretty small statistically.”

Jack leaned over and patted Raf on the back. “Good job, bud.” He got a big smile in response.

“Alright then, what are we waiting for?” Bulkhead threw up his hands. “Let’s help Bee!” 

Ratchet looked more hopeful than he had for the last few hours. He jogged to the computers and started to pull up all the necessary info and programs that they would need for the procedure. He then ran to Bee and moved him so that the scout’s helm was hanging off the edge of the berth. He placed a few supports underneath it so that his helm would be held up and the cord could be plugged in at the same time. He secured the first end of the cord on Bee’s head, then stepped back. 

“If the process seems too dangerous for anyone, I am more than willing to go.”

“No. You should be out here in case something goes wrong.” Arcee stepped forward “I’ll go.” 

Bulkhead stepped forward as well, a servo placed on his chest. “No, I’ll do it, Arcee.”

“Nah, I’ve got this. You should stay with the kids.”

“I can totally handle this. I know you don’t like cortical-”

“We are not talking about that! I’m not afraid!”

“Woah, hang on, I didn’t say you were!”

Ratchet and the children watched the two bots bicker, their heads turning back and forth like they were watching a tennis match. Ratchet sighed and rolled his optics, placing a servo on his hip. 

“Young bots, I swear. I’m about to go in myself.”

“There will be no need for that.” Optimus walked to join the medic. “I am going.”

Bulkhead and Arcee both stopped fighting and whipped around, mouths open in shock. Jack would have chuckled at the look on their faces if the situation wasn’t so dire.

“What?! No, no, absolutely not!” Arcee swung her arms back and forth. “No way! If you get lost, the Autobots won’t have a leader.”

“We wouldn’t have a Prime!” protested Bulkhead.

Optimus didn’t budge. His face was set in a determined look, and the fire in his optics told Jack that the Prime had already made up his mind.

“I am going.” Optimus stated again. “I will not put either of you in the way of potential harm. Also,” he looked down sadly at the scout. “This would have never happened if Bumblebee didn’t have to enter Megatron’s mind to find the Cybonic Plague cure for me. He did that for me, so I would like to do it for him.”

Neither Arcee nor Bulkhead spoke, not wanting to upset Optimus. Arcee vented deeply and turned away. Ratchet nodded and guided Optimus over to the wall by the computers. The larger bot sat down and the medic began preparing him for the cortical psychic patch.

‘Now remember, you’re just there to stir up Bee’s consciousness. Don’t do anything too drastic, and try to calm Bumblebee when you are there. Help him not to panic. Also, like last time, we will be able to see what is happening through your optics and communicate with you.”

Optimus nodded, optics narrowing.

“Good luck, Optimus.” Bulkhead said from the berth-side. The kids all chimed in after him, also wishing good luck and a quick journey.

Arcee glared at Optimus for a moment, then sighed. “Good luck. You better come back or I am gonna kill you. Bring Bee back too.”

Optimus gave her a small smile.

“Ready?” Ratchet looked at Optimus with the end of the cord in his servos.

“I am ready.”

The Prime felt a pressure on the back of his helm, and then everything went dark.

The group that remained watched Optimus’ head droop forward. Ratchet quickly made sure that he would be comfortable and went to the computers. There was only static on the screen for a few seconds, then the image started to come through. It gradually became clearer and clearer as more time passed, then became fully visible. The mindscape that Optimus was looking at was unfamiliar to the children, but it made the Autobots all gasp. Amid the metal landscape was a building with the Autobot logo on the door.

“It’s home!” Bulkhead cried out. “It’s the Autobot base on Cybertron!” His faceplate lit up at the realization.

Arcee was smiling slightly, a look of fondness on her face. Ratchet looked pleasantly surprised and also a little sad. Jack had moved to sit down by Raf and Miko, and he pulled them a little closer. He couldn’t imagine how homesick the bots must be. He couldn’t imagine having to flee his home planet to survive. After a moment, Ratchet reached up and activated his comm.

“How are you doing Optimus?”

There was a crackling noise, then the leader’s deep voice came through. “I’m fine, Ratchet. I was just surprised to see the base after so long.” 

The image on the screen moved as Optimus turned his helm and looked back and forth. He started to walk towards the base at a steady pace. 

“It’s safe to assume that Bee will be inside, right?” Miko looked up at Bulkhead. 

He nodded. “Most likely. Seems like the best place to start looking.”

The group watched in silence as Optimus reached the doors and stretched out a hand to open them. They swung open before he could touch them, almost as if they sensed that someone was there. The halls were empty and silent. The image moved around as Optimus thoroughly examined the new area. 

“If you were Bumblebee, where would you be?” Ratchet murmured, rubbing his chin. “Where would he be in the Autobot base?”

Optimus began walking again, deeper into the heart of the base. He checked any of the doors that were open, but he did not find the scout. There were computer rooms, bedrooms, storage closets, and practically any other room that could be thought of. A few minutes into his search he peeked into what appeared to be a shared bedroom of some sort. Two berths were in the room, and there were many random items on shelves or on the floor. Optimus bent down to examine one of the objects, and Arcee gasped in surprise. 

“That’s my room! Mine and Chromia’s!” She pointed at what Optimus was holding. It was a small metal sculpture that was bent to look like some sort of motorbike. “Bee made that for me. He gave to me as a birthday gift. It took me a moment to recognize it, it’s been so long.” She had an odd look on her face that Jack couldn’t quite place.

“Your room’s so cool!” Miko blurted out. Arcee smiled at the younger girl appreciatively.

“It’s probably a comforting memory for Bumblebee,” stated Ratchet. “I think it’s possible that Bumblebee’s mind is hiding him in a place where he feels safe, and creating images that bring him comfort or happiness.”

Arcee nodded, optics watering slightly. “He did spend a lot of time in my room.” She gave a small laugh. “He loved to play with Chromia and me when he was younger.”

Optimus set down the sculpture and carried on, closing the door respectfully. As he went along, more of the doors were open. Bulkhead and Arcee pointed out the things they remembered to the children while Ratchet watched Optimus closely.

“That’s the training room! We used to spar there a lot.” Bulkhead grinned. “I remember the first time the little guy transformed in here.” 

“He was so excited.” Arcee smiled.

“He was practically shaking from happiness. Then we found out that he was one of the fastest bots on wheels.” Bulkhead barked out a laugh. “We had a hard time keeping up with him.”

“He and Blurr always had this friendly rivalry going. They were always racing.”

“Always crashing too.” Ratchet interjected. “I had to patch ‘em up far too many times.”

The bots all laughed softly, remembering the fond memories they made in this building. Optimus was silent, and although they couldn’t see it, he was smiling too.

“This is so cool,” whispered Raf to Jack. “This is incredible! We are literally looking at another planet!”

Jack grinned at the younger boy’s enthusiasm. He seemed much happier than before, and the issue of Bee’s attempted sacrifice seemed to be pushed to the back burner for a while. He was glad, as he didn’t think Raf dwelling on it would do any good. 

“That’s the Medbay.” Bulkhead pointed. “We all spent way too much time in there for Ratchet’s liking.” 

Ratchet huffed, but he had a smile on his face. Optimus gave a small chuckle, surprising everyone on the outside of Bee’s mind. He kept walking through the halls, then stopped at an intersection of several different hallways. 

“Do you hear that?”

Everyone fell silent, craning to hear what Optimus supposedly had heard. Then, they distinctly heard the sound of a motor getting louder in the distance. Optimus turned, and gasped as two vehicles appeared in one of the other halls. He leapt to the side, narrowly missing them, but they didn’t stop. It was like they didn’t even see him.

“That was Jazz and Cliff!” Arcee cried out. “Wait, Optimus! Follow them!” 

Optimus immediately ran after the bots down one of the hallways. The Prime ran faster, not wanting to let them out of his sight for a moment. They were the only bots that he had seen so far, so it was a safe bet that they would be useful in some way. Ratchet gripped the edge of the dashboard in anticipation, and the kids were all breathless. Everyone was on the edge of their metaphorical seats as the chase continued. Eventually, the two Autobots came to a door and transformed. 

“Cliffjumper is the red one,” whispered Bulkhead to the kids. “Jazz is white with the visor.” 

Cliffjumper was holding two blocks of energon in his arms, and Jazz another two. They grinned at each other and opened the door. A cacophony of sound poured from the other room, and Optimus quickly followed them in. He and all the other viewers gasped at the sight.

“Oh my Primus,” whispered Ratchet. “It’s- it’s all of us.” 

And it was. The room, which was very large, was packed with Autobots from wall to wall. They were all milling about, laughing, talking, and having fun. Bulkhead, Arcee, and Ratchet were all pointing out all of the old friends that they could spot as Optimus walked further into the room.

“There’s Chromia!”

“It’s Tailgate! And there’s Prowl!”

Ratchet spotted him at the same time Optimus did. “There’s Bumblebee.” 

The others all watched as Jazz and Cliffjumper approached the table in the center of the room. Bee was sitting at the table, surrounded by many other bots.

“We brought the last of the energon!” Cliffjumper held up the energon blocks. There were a few cheers.

“And I brought the music!” Jazz grinned. “Let’s get this party started!” He pressed a button on his arm, and the sound of an energetic electric song echoed through the room.

There were more cheers and hollers, and people began to dance. A loud cry rang through the crowds, somehow being heard over the music.

“Long live the Autobots! Down with the ‘Cons!”

A victory song was being sung now, Autobots linking arms and swaying back and forth. Almost everyone had huge grins on their faces, and a few bots were wearing party hats.

Miko was grooving to the music beside Jack, and Raf looked at the older boy. “Does that mean that they defeated Megatron and the Decepticons in this world?”

“It sure looks like it.” Ratchet nodded. “Boy do I envy them…”

Optimus faced Bee again, and began walking closer. He passed right through the crowds of dancing and singing bots, as he wasn’t really a part of Bee’s mind. As he drew closer, he realized that the group around Bee was extremely familiar.

“Hey!” Miko stopped dancing to point at the screen. “It’s you guys!”

It indeed was them. Arcee was sitting in between Bee and Cliffjumper, and she was holding the red bot’s servo and smiling. Ratchet was on Bee’s other side, drinking a blue drink and smiling fondly at the group. A party hat was perched precariously on his helm, obviously wrestled on by someone else. Bulkhead was talking to Cliffjumper about an arm-wrestling match, and they were both grinning competitively. Optimus was walking briskly towards them, but at the sight of another Autobot, he froze.

“Oh scrap.” Ratchet looked at the screen, and then at the other two bots in the room. They were both wincing, and Bulkhead had a servo over his mouth.

“Who is she?” Jack asked, closely watching the pink femme that bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to Bumblebee’s helm.

Ratchet’s voice sounded hoarse. “That’s- that’s Elita-1.”

Oh no.

Jack remembered that name from the stories that Arcee had told. He watched in shock as the other Optimus in Bee’s mind wrapped Elita-1 in a hug and pressed their foreheads together. They then reached out and wrapped Bumblebee up in the embrace. Bee looked happier than Jack had ever seen. His optics were glowing and he was smiling, smiling, at the two bots that held him. 

“Am I losing my mind, or do I see Optimus Prime, the Optimus Prime, in love?” Miko’s jaw was practically on the floor. Jack was sure that his and Raf’s were wide open as well. 

Raf shook his head a little bit to clear his mind and asked another question. “Bee doesn’t have a mouth covering here. Can he- can he talk here?”

He got no response. The others were all staring at the screen with their mouths open. Ratchet seemed to be the first to recover, and he quickly started to talk to Optimus.

“Optimus, keep going. You’ve got to keep going.” He looked pained. “When Bee sees that there are two of you in his mind, he might realize…” he trailed off, voice dropping to a whisper. “He might realize that this isn’t real.”

That, thought Jack. Sounded incredibly cruel. There was no other way to do it, however, and it wasn’t like they were intentionally being hurtful. 

“Alright.” Optimus’ voice sounded strained. He resumed walking towards the bots, albeit slower than before. Once he reached Bee, he reached out and tried to grab him by the shoulder. His servo passed through Bee like a ghost.

“You can’t touch him. He can’t touch you.” Ratchet watched with apprehension. “Talk to him, Prime.”

Optimus took a deep breath and tried to get the scout’s attention again. “Bumblebee. Bumblebee!”

The scout’s optics flew open, wide with shock and a little bit of fear. The music cut off abruptly, and the rest of the room seemed to freeze. Bots were paused mid dance move, others with food or drink halfway to their lips. The embrace that the yellow bot was in still held him tightly, and the olde two bots gazed lovingly into their companion’s optics. The real Optimus tried not to look at her for too long. He didn’t think he could stand it. 

“Optimus? I don’t understand.” Bumblebee didn’t move, but he was looking at Optimus now. The observers all gasped at the sound of the scout’s voice. It was a voice. There were no beeps, no whistles or clicks, just the voice of a young bot that Jack would place in his very early twenties or late teens if he were a human. 

Optimus reached out his servos. “Bumblebee, it’s me. The real me.” He watched the yellow bot look back and forth between the bot holding him and the bot in front of him. “I am real, and I am in your mind. This,” he gestured. “Is and illusion that your subconscious created.”  

Bee’s face was screwed up in confusion, and Optimus watched as he slowly started to remember what was happening. His optics dimmed and his servos balled into fists as more of his memories began resurfacing. The scout closed his optics, and Optimus saw a little liquid run down the bot’s cheeks. Bumblebee suddenly let out an anguished noise and let his helm drop onto Elita’s chassis. 

“You’re telling me that none of this, none of it, is real?”

“I-” Optimus sounded more unsure than the children had ever heard him before. “Yes. I’m so sorry, Bumblebee. You were hurt badly and your processor activity was declining. Ratchet thought you might not come back online, so I came to find you through the cortical psychic patch.” The Prime’s voice grew slightly desperate. “I came to bring you home.”

Bumblebee looked away, his optics roaming over the scene of the party in front of him. He let them rest on each and every Autobot there. He slowly looked back at Optimus. 

“It’s not real.”

“No. I’m sorry.”

“They’re all gone? I still can’t talk?”

“Yes, they’re gone. I’m so sorry, Bumblebee. I-” Optimus stopped, then struggled through. His voice was choked up with emotion. “I haven’t heard your voice in centuries, I thought I’d never hear it again.” He held out his arms. “I missed it. I miss you. I miss-” He looked away from Elita.

Bee slowly, regretfully, extracted himself from the embrace and came over to Optimus. He stumbled forward, tears running down his face. 

“:Megatron- kzzt isn’t dead?:” There was a crackling sound, then Bee continued speaking. This time, it was only the usual beeps and whistles, no voice. “:He’s still alive?:” 

Optimus wanted to weep at the sound of Bee’s damaged vocalizer making an appearance again. Bee’s face screwed up when he heard it too, and he put his head in his hands.

“:Oh Primus:” Bee fell to the ground and grabbed wildly at his helm. Optimus dropped down beside him. “:I- I can’t-:”

Optimus tried to hold the distraught scout, but his arms passed right through the other bot. “Bumblebee, I killed Megatron. He’s gone. Please, listen to me, hear my voice.”

Bee was shaking, the room was dissolving around them. Optimus watched it crumble in apprehension, feeling his spark sink as the bots he once knew left him again. He took one last look at the sweet face of Elita-1 before she vanished like a dream. He tried to push down the anguish he was feeling so he could help Bee through his own turmoil. He moved closer to the bot on the floor.

“Bumblebee, please, come back to us.” Optimus was begging now, desperation seeping into his voice. “We need you!”

The landscape was changing, Optimus realized, as rock formations and buildings began to materialize before his very optics. He quickly realized with a start that it was Tyger Pax. Bee was curled into a ball on the ground, servos clasped over his audial receptors and optics shut tight.

“:Not there, not there,” he was beeping quietly. “Not there.”

“Bumblebee! Listen to me, you’re not there! He cannot hurt you anymore!” Optimus couldn’t touch the scout, he could only hover around anxiously and try his best to get the other bot to listen. “Bumblebee, you need to wake up!”

On the outside, the rest of the observers were frantically trying to come up with solutions as they watched the Prime panic.

“I can’t stand this,” hissed Arcee, pacing back and forth. “I can’t watch it anymore.” She squeezed her optics shut tight.

Jack felt Raf’s hand slip into his own and grip it tightly. He gave it a squeeze in return. Both boys were watching the screen intently, both feeling like they were intruding on something very private, but unable to tear their eyes away. We shouldn’t be here, we shouldn’t be seeing this, Jack thought. These are Bee’s most personal, inner fears. The thought of other people seeing his deepest, darkest fears made him feel ill.

“Ratchet, why isn’t he coming online?” Bulkhead cried out. “Why is he there?”

“I don’t know!” Ratchet slammed a fist on the control board. “I don’t know!” No one wanted to point out the liquid in the old bot’s optics. 

Miko reached up and smacked Bee on the arm. “Wake up! Wake up already!” Jack pulled her back down, and she collapsed to the floor with tears running down her face. Jack and Raf each grabbed one of her hands and held her tightly.

Ratchet was pressing all sorts of buttons, pulling different levers. He ran back and forth between Bee and Optimus, checking each of their frames and making sure that their vitals were alright. Neither of them were moving. 

“Frag! Frag, frag, frag it all!” Ratchet slammed down a fist on the control panel again when he saw the numbers on the computer screen start to drop. He raced over to Optimus and attached a new wire to his chest. The numbers kept going down, slowly crawling towards the danger zone. 

“Ratchet…” whispered Bulkhead, optics glued to the screen.

“Optimus, you’ve got to get out of there.” Ratchet’s voice was shaking. “Now. Get out now!”

“I cannot leave Bumblebee.” Optimus replied. “I will not leave him.”

“Optimus!”

“No!” Optimus reached forward again and tried to grab Bee by his shoulders. “I cannot leave him again!” He vented deeply and poured all his focus into holding his scout. His scout. 

His scout.

His dear scout.

His sparkling.

He felt metal under his servos and gripped tighter without hesitation. Bee’s vocalizer whirred in surprise at the feeling, and the trembling bot looked up at the bot holding him. Optimus pulled Bee into his arms, held him tight, and wrapped him up into a hug. Bee clung to him like a child, like he was afraid that Optimus would disappear if he let go. Optimus held him and let him cry, rocking back and forth gently. He felt liquid from his own optics run down his face and drop down on the yellow plating of the bot in his arms. Maybe he was hallucinating, maybe it was a trick of the mindscape around them, but Optimus could almost feel the arms of his love around them, comforting them as always. He vented deeply and let himself imagine that she was there. Just for now.

When Bee finally stopped shaking and the mindscape changed again, Optimus slowly let go and held him at arms length. Bee looked up at him with spark-broken optics. 

“:I’m sorry.:”

“There is nothing you should be apologizing for. I should be the one apologizing.”

“:What? Why?:”

“I should have never left you. I should have stayed.” Optimus gazed into the other bot’s optics. He gently cupped Bee’s face in his servo. “I should have stayed.”

Bee shook his helm slightly. “:Don’t blame yourself. We didn’t know, and there really wasn’t anything that could be done:” After a few silent minutes passed, he turned and looked at the new mindscape around them, then gave a little sigh.

Optimus realized that it was the silo. It was their current home. A little ways away, he could see the images of the others. Ratchet at the computers, Bulkhead and Arcee cheering on the kids, who were racing remote-controlled cars. They looked happy. He and Bee both looked at each other, and gave small smiles. Optimus watched sadly as the mouthpiece that Bee had in the real world folded back up over the scout’s mouth. Bee touched it gingerly, then gave a resigned sigh. 

“:Thank you. Thank you for coming to get me, for saving me.” Bee looked at Optimus. “I don’t think I could have come back on my own:”

Optimus held Bee’s servo. “I will always come for you. Always.”

Bee’s optics got a little watery, and he squeezed Optimus’ hand. “:I think it’s time to go:”

Optimus smiled. “I agree.” They both stood, and Optimus stepped away from the yellow bot. “I will see you in a moment.”

Bee nodded, and watched the Prime disappear from his mindscape with a flash of green light. He gave a sigh, waiting for just a moment. He didn’t want to end up in Optimus’ mind like Megatron had ended up in his. He went over to the images of his family, and squatted down by Raf and the other children. They really did look happy, he thought. I should go now. I want to see everyone, really see them. Not just an image or a memory. He stood and vented deeply, stretching out his arms. The real world might suck for a while, but the others would be there to help make it suck a little less. He might not be able to talk, but he would still be in the company of people who understood him. That would make it a little better, a little more bearable. He realized with a small smile that he couldn’t wait to see his family and friends. 

Bumblebee walked away, and let his consciousness break free.

When Optimus Prime came back online he opened his optics to see Ratchet directly in front of him. 

“How are you feeling?” Ratchet was now shining a light in his face. “Any dizziness? Any pain?”

“No, I assure you, I’m fine.” Optimus waved the light away and slowly got to his pedes. “I’m fine, old friend.”

Ratchet looked at him with an odd look on his face, optics gleaming. He nodded silently, and let the Prime pass him. Optimus immediately went over to Bee and stood by the berth-side. Arcee and Bulkhead both came up to him, and he turned to face them. They both looked relieved beyond measure, and they greeted him and made sure he was okay. On his other side, the children had pushed a few crates up to the berth, and they were sitting on them now.

“You did it!” 

Optimus faced the humans, and saw Raf beaming up at him.

“You saved Bee. You did it.” Raf couldn’t help himself and wrapped his arms as far as he could around the Primes leg. 

Optimus chuckled softly, and patted the boy on the back. He also received an extra-enthusiastic fist bump from Miko and a relieved smile from Jack. He looked back at his scout and waited anxiously for him to come online. As the minutes ticked by, Optimus found himself worrying that perhaps Bumblebee had decided that he wanted to stay in his subconscious permanently. No, he wouldn’t do that. He had promised, hadn’t he? Optimus started to worry even more. Ratchet was staring at the computer screen intensely, waiting for any sort of sign that the bot might be returning to the land of the living. Arcee was pacing again, her optics never leaving Bee’s frame. Bulkhead was tapping his pede nervously. 

“…He’s coming back right?”

As soon as Miko popped the question, the computers began to beep. Everyone watched in anticipation as the processor activity began to climb drastically. 

“Ahaha! Yes!” Ratchet leapt away from the controls and came to stand by the medical berth. “Yes! He’s back! He’s coming online!”

There were several cheers, and the group crowded around the bed excitedly, waiting for the bot to come completely online. Miko let out an excited whoop when Bee’s optics flickered and lit up in their usual bright blue. They spun for a moment before focusing on the group above him. He looked at each and every one of them before locking on Optimus.

“Hello again, Bumblebee. I’m glad you’ve returned.” Optimus felt a warmth in his spark that felt like it had been gone for ages. 

“Oh thank Primus, thank Primus.” Ratchet couldn’t contain his relief any longer, and reached down to wrap the scout in a tight embrace. As he held him, the rest of the group leaned in for a group hug. There wasn’t a single dry eye or optic in the room.

“You’re okay, you’re okay!” Raf wormed his way into the center of the embrace and threw his arms across Bee’s chassis. He was laughing from the sheer joy that Bee was alive and alright. 

Bee carefully reached a servo up and patted Raf on the head. The group eventually let go, and the Autobot medic entered his mother hen mode, as he had previously told Jack.

“Never, do you hear me, never do that again!” Ratchet gently swatted Bee on the shoulder. “It’s like you’re trying to send me to the scrap heap.”

Bee’s optics twinkled mischievously, but he made sure to hug the old bot again as he gave the scout a very thorough check up. Ratchet sighed deeply and hugged Bee tightly back. The rest of the group hovered nearby, unwilling to leave Bee’s side for even a moment. 

“Optics are responding to stimulation, good. Energon levels are up and rising. You’re online and mostly alert, very good…” Ratchet trailed off as he went through his checklist. “T-cog, we’ll check that later. I don’t want you trying to transform for a least a week.”

Bumblebee looked offended at that, and started to say something. “…—…” His optics widened when he realized that no sound was coming out of his vocalizer. He reached up to his throat and touched it gingerly, feeling around for what might be wrong. Ratchet quickly reached out and stopped him, not wanting Bee to mess up anything in his new neck. He’d probably have to explain that to the younger bot later.

The room froze. Optimus and Ratchet both looked at each other sadly. Arcee, standing behind him, reached out and put a servo on Bee’s shoulder. Bee jumped at the contact, obviously not expecting it, and smacked her servo away. Arcee looked surprised, but she quickly apologized for touching him from behind with no warning. Bee reached out to her, feeling bad for pushing her away and trying to apologize with no voice. Optimus felt his spark sinking in his chest as he watched the interaction. All of his fears were coming true.

“Bumblebee, I’m sorry, but your voice box isn’t completely fixed yet.” Ratchet said gently. “I was trying to keep you alive, and wasn’t able to spend a lot of time on it. I promise I’ll take another look at it when you’re feeling a little better.”

Bee nodded silently. He couldn’t do much else. The good mood in the room was dampened slightly as Ratchet continued his check up. Raf watched the procedure intensely, hoping that Ratchet would hurry up and say that Bee was properly on the mend. He was silently praying that Ratchet might announce, by some miracle, that he had diagnosed Bee wrong and that the scout could talk perfectly again. Wishful thinking, he knew, but he could dream. The thought of not being able to communicate with his best friend made his stomach twist, and he knew that if he felt this way Bee must feel a thousand times worse. 

“Alright. Everything looks to be doing better.” Ratchet stepped away to enter the information on the computer. “However, I still think that at least a week or two of berth-rest will do you good. Ah ah ah, don’t argue with me.” He said as Bee raised his arms in protest. “Do. Not. Argue with me.” He narrowed his optics dangerously at the scout. “I could do more, you know. I could say three weeks, or even a month.”

Bee’s vents let out a huff as he exhaled dramatically and laid back down on the berth. He didn’t look at all happy. The rest of the group looked at each other uncertainly, not sure what to do next. Bee closed his optics, and Raf saw his servos ball into fists. He figured that trying to distract the bot in any way might help, but he wasn’t sure what to talk about that wouldn’t upset Bee. Bulkhead seemed to take charge, and he cleared his throat a little bit before shuffling to where Bee would be able to see him. 

“Hey, buddy. Feel like playing a game?” He smiled encouragingly, and the others all nodded along to show support.

Bee opened his optics, sat up, and looked at the green bot at his berth-side. Raf was shocked by how different the scout’s eyes looked. Although they were the exact same physically, there was a distance in them that wasn’t there before. He looked tired. He looked drained of life. There was no familiar spark in them. Ratchet seemed to see it too, and he quickly came back over, faceplate concerned and lips pressed together.

“Sorry, Bulkhead, but I think it would be best if Bumblebee rested for a while.” He carefully reached out his hand where Bee could see it and rested it on the scout’s shoulder. 

Bulkhead waved a hand. “That’s okay, it was just an idea. We can play a game later.”

There was more awkward silence, and the group watched as Bee stared sightlessly into the distance. Despite the fact that the kids were at the foot of the berth, he seemed to be looking right past them, not even noticing they were there. His optics were unfocused, and almost glassy. Raf felt his hope slipping away as he looked at his friend. Despite Ratchet’s thorough examination and tender care, it was glaringly obvious that there was some damage that the doctor wouldn’t be able to fix. At least not for a very long time anyway. Ratchet appeared to have sensed this too, as his face grew more sorrowful each passing moment. Optimus stepped forward and gently pushed Bee back down onto the berth.

“Doctor’s orders. We’ll let you rest.” Optimus turned and tilted his head towards the hallway. 

The rest of the group got the message, and they all started walking towards the exit. They told Bee to rest easy and feel better over their shoulders as they walked. Optimus and Ratchet started to follow, after making sure that Bee would be alright, before a hand stopped them. Bee was sitting up again, optics open wide. He was gripping Optimus’ servo like his life depended on it, optics begging the older bot to stay. Optimus immediately stopped and turned back to him. 

“Bumblebee, I must talk to the others for just a moment. Ratchet will stay with you, and I will be right back. I promise.” When the little bot hesitated, Optimus leaned forward and gently pressed his helm to Bee’s. “I promise,” he whispered again.

Bee nodded and let go of the Prime’s servo. Ratchet was right there to fill the space that Optimus left behind. The medic helped Bee lie down again and held his hand. Optimus and Ratchet made eye contact, and nodded silently at each other. Optimus quickly walked away and joined the others in the hallway. He glanced back quickly and saw Ratchet talking softly to the injured bot and rubbing his helm comfortingly. Optimus faced the others again and tried to focus on the task at hand. 

“Arcee, Bulkhead, I think it is time for the children to go home.”

There were cries of disagreement from the humans, which were quickly silenced by a shushing sound from Ratchet. The old bot glared, then turned back to his patient, who was powering down again.

Optimus vented deeply and continued. “I am sorry, but I think that it would be for the best. We allowed you to stay over-night and most of the morning. You have injuries that we did our best to help with, but require human care. You have families that haven’t seen you in over twenty-four hours.”

“But what about Bee?”

“Rafael, Bumblebee requires rest. There isn’t much that you or I can do to help him with that.” Optimus looked resigned. “I promise he will be alright if you leave for a while.”

“So you’re basically kicking us out,” pouted Miko. “That feels unfair, he’s our friend too.”

Optimus sighed. “Miko, we also want to talk to Bumblebee about what happened. I do not think he will want everyone around for that. I do not know if he is aware that you all know what really happened.”

“Do you think he would feel a little better if we pretended not to know about… all that?” Jack gestured vaguely with his hands. “We could totally do that if it helps him.”

“I am not sure yet, but that certainly is a possibility. I would appreciate that if that ends up being the case.”

“Optimus, I’d like to be there when these discussions happen. I definitely have some things I want to say to Bee.” Arcee crossed her arms. Bulkhead nodded in agreement. 

“And you will be. You are just dropping the children home and coming back.”

“Can we-” Raf hesitated. “Can we come back tomorrow? Please?”

Optimus gave the boy a small smile. “You may. Our scout might be feeling up for company by then.”

Raf smiled, and the group walked back into the main room of the silo. Bulkhead and Arcee prepared to transform into their vehicle modes, and the humans got ready to go. Optimus waved goodbye, and he and Ratchet quickly swapped places. Ratchet came hurrying over and quickly looked over each of the kids one more time. 

“Make sure you put ice on that, Jack. Have your mother check you for a concussion, but I don’t think you have one…” he muttered as he carefully poked at one of the bruises on Jack’s face. “Miko, at least try to rest. I know that’s an extremely tall order for you, but I mean it. Rafael, ice those bruises as well. Twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. At least, that’s what I read you humans should do.”

Jack and Raf amicably agreed, Miko rolled her eyes and reluctantly stated she’d try. Ratchet patted each of them on the back looked at them earnestly. After a beat of hesitation, he pulled them into a tight hug. Bulkhead and Arcee laughed at the looks of shock on the children’s faces. Is Ratchet really giving us a hug, mouthed Miko to the other boys. Raf grinned and Jack shrugged, also smiling. After a moment, the old bot released them, still looking at them with a strange look on his face. 

“I’m so glad you all survived. So very glad.” He shook his helm. “I can’t imagine trying to explain that to your families. I don’t think we would have made it out today without you. Your quick thinking, nerves of steel, and stubbornness were incredibly useful today.”

“I agree.” Optimus nodded solemnly from the berth-side. “You all helped us save our scout, and that’s something we will never be able to repay you for.” 

“You guys saved one of my best friends.” Bulkhead said.

Arcee came over and gave the humans a quick hug. “Thank you.” Her voice was thick with emotion.

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat. This was all getting very emotional. He really couldn’t wait to hug his mom and hang out with her for the rest of the day. In addition to that, he’d finally get that pain medicine. Thank God. 

“You’ll never have to repay us,” said Raf. “You risk your lives daily to protect Earth. That’s more than enough.” He looked over at the bot on the medical berth. “And Bee’s our friend. Of course we’d help save him.” 

Ratchet cleared his throat and patted Raf on the back. He pushed all the children in the direction of Bulkhead and Arcee, who transformed and started their engines. 

“See you tomorrow.”

The two remaining bots in the silo watched the others drive away. Arcee and Bulkhead had said they’d be back as soon as possible. Ratchet came to stand by the Prime, and the two of them looked sadly at the yellow bot on the berth. Optimus was still holding Bee’s servo, too afraid to let go of it. The Prime was a little afraid that the patient would wake up if he did, and Primus knows he needed as much rest as possible. Ratchet pulled up a crate and sat down with a sigh.

“What are we going to do, Prime? He needs to communicate somehow.”

“I have every confidence that you will be able to repair part of it. It does not need to be perfect.”

“What if I can’t fix it? What if I fail? What happens then, Optimus?” Ratchet reached out and buffed away a scuff mark on Bee’s arm plating. “He needs it. He can’t be cut off like this, it’ll harm him mentally.”

“We’ll figure something out.” Optimus wouldn’t look at the medic. He could only stare at the face in front of him. Several minutes passed before either of them spoke again. When Ratchet did choose to speak, his voice was hesitant.

“Optimus… I hate to ask, but are you okay after seeing everything you did. Everyone?” The old bot asked more pointedly. 

Optimus vented deeply and closed his optics. He waited a few minutes before answering. “I will be alright, someday. I won’t lie to you, I know I could never fool you. That was both a painful and comforting sight.”

“Yes, it was.” Ratchet was quiet for a moment. “I will admit it was nice to see the faces of old friends. It was nice to know Bumblebee still remembers everyone so dearly.”

“He loved them all.”

“He did.” Another silence fell upon them until Ratchet spoke again. “I miss her too.”

Optimus closed his optics again. He could still see her face. He could hear her voice. He knew in his spark that she would always be a part of him until one day they were reunited in The Well of Allsparks. Sometimes he found himself looking forward to that day. Today, however, was not one of those days. Today he was grateful to be here with Bumblebee and the rest of the team. 

“Bumblebee reminds me of Elita quite a bit.”

Optimus turned to look at the medic, and saw his friend gazing at the younger bot with a wistful look on his face. “He has her spark.”

“I agree.” Optimus smiled at Ratchet when he turned to face him. “I think he has her optics too.”

“He definitely has her determination.”

“Her smile.”

They both smiled at each other again, optics wet and sparks somewhere between aching from loss and thrumming with happiness. It was hard to place the feeling. Optimus felt Ratchet’s servo on his shoulder. He reached out and placed his free servo on the medic’s knee joint.

“He was her sparking, and he is yours.” Ratchet gently poked a finger into the center of Optimus’ chest. “He has your kind and gentle soul.”

Optimus swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded gently. “Yes. He is mine.” Was there ever really any doubt?

They stayed there for a long time, holding servos and gazing fondly at the little yellow bot. They only moved when they heard the roar of engines in the exit tunnel signaling the arrival of the rest of the team. Ratchet stood and walked towards the computers to check on Bee’s vitals. Seeing that they were fine, he came back to stand behind Optimus.

“You’re gonna have to share though.”

“Excuse me?” Optimus looked over his shoulder, confused by the random statement.

“Your sparkling. I basically helped raise him, he’s mine too.” Ratchet grinned at the look on Optimus’ face. “That kid was practically the entire base’s sparkling, so sharing him with me shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

Optimus Prime raised an optical ridge. “Ratchet, he’s been your sparkling for stellar cycles now. I would hope that you’d continue in your position, I don’t think I could handle him all on my own.”

Ratchet laughed, Optimus joining in with him. Arcee and Bulkhead came in at that moment, transformed back, and started walking over to join the other two bots.

“Well look who’s in a good mood,” commented Arcee. “Good news?”

The two older bots smiled. This conversation had felt like a breath of fresh air, or like a light in a dark tunnel. Ratchet shook his head and turned to Bee, still smiling slightly.

“Ah, we were just talking. Bee is fine, he’s just recharging. Why don’t we all just sit and rest for a while as well? It’s been an exhausting couple of days.”

Arcee and Bulkhead did so, joining them at the berth-side and checking on Bumblebee. They talked for a very long time about a lot of things. They talked about some of the frustrations and feelings that they had, what they thought should happen moving forward, and the things that they had seen in Bee’s mind. They enjoyed reminiscing about their old friends, each of them sharing a few favorite memories. Bumblebee continued to recharge, which Ratchet was very pleased about. He needed to get as much rest as possible, the doctor said. Agent Fowler called later in the evening and apologized that he wasn’t able to stop by today. He asked how Bee was doing, and was glad to hear that the scout was on the mend. As night approached, the Autobots decided that the system from yesterday had worked well, but that they would mix up the order slightly and add Ratchet into the lineup. Optimus was going to take the first watch.

“If he wakes up, you’d better call us in!” Arcee called over her shoulder as the rest of the Autobot team walked away.

Optimus smiled after them, letting his optics soak up every detail of his beloved team. The way Bulkhead was trying his best to walk quietly, or how Arcee liked to walk in front of everyone else. The way Ratchet put a servo on Arcee’s shoulder and on Bulkhead’s arm and guided them out with a tired smile on his faceplate. Once they had all left the room, Optimus gave a sigh and closed his optics. He was so relieved that everyone had survived this battle. They were all, or would all be alright. He looked down at his sparkling and smiled softly to himself. He was still holding Bumblebee’s servo, and he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon.

They were all, and would all, be alright.