Archive of Our Own ^beta

Quillfire scrambled to escape the Bee Team, unknowingly being herded towards the back wall. Strongarm smirked as she leveled her crossbow, firing one shot at the fleeing criminal. Quillfire yelped as he ducked, scrabbling against the wall and looking desperately for an exit. Thankfully for him, Sideswipe chose that moment to spring forward. Quillfire dived with a triumphant cry, firing his quills at the mecha closing in behind him. 

Grimlock dove in front of his teammates, yelping when he took the full brunt of the toxin. Sideswipe's yelp sounded just before Grimlock fell ontop of him, and Bumblebee called for his team to halt. Shaking his helm, Drift sheathed his swords. Strongarm immediately wheeled towards Bumblebee, ready to question his every decision. Bumblebee cut her off with a hardened look as he helped Grimlock to his pedes. 

"Strongarm, we can argue later, but we need to get Grim back to the base. If those toxins affect him anything like they affected me, I want Grimlock as far from humans as possible." Drift quickly slid under Grimlock's other arm, helping to balance the dino as Bee commed for a bridge. Sideswipe forced himself to his pedes with a groan as Strongarm gaped for a moment. When the bridge flashed, her doorwings drooped in defeat. Bee and Drift helped Grim through the swirling portal, and the others followed with various groans and pouts. 

Denny greeted them all with the usual cheery smile, but it fell when he caught sight of the handful of spines in Grimlock's side. Bumblebee could see the pre-emptive despair over broken antiques, but Bumblebee just lead the dino back to his room with an apologetic grin. The massive nest Grimlock had created was a very welcome sight for the two supporting almost all the dinobot's weight. With a little more teamwork, the groaning dino was curled up and ready for the spikes to be removed. 

Drift stepped back to allow Bumblebee some room to work, and Strongarm chose the wrong moment to come around the corner. The femme covered her mouth as Bee rubbed Grim's shoulder, muttering something that was too quiet to hear as he wrapped a servo around one of the quills. She didn't back away in time to avoid Bee yanking one of the quills out of Grimlock's shoulder. 

One by one they came out, and Grimlock seemed worse and worse with each removal. The dino was whimpering by the time it was over, and Bee stroked down his muzzle and neck reassuringly. Strongarm remained silent when Sideswipe joined her, and Drift held a servo up to keep them quiet. When Bee unsubspaced a medikit, Drift took his leave. Strongarm watched their lieutenant quietly set to cleaning the wounds, all the while muttering in that same quiet tone. Whatever he was saying earned a tired grin and a weak tail wag. Bee grinned in response, slowly working his way down the wounds. 

He paused whenever the pain became too much for the dino to suffer through, but eventually Fixit came rolling past with two Energon cubes. Bee gratefully accepted them, glancing up when he caught sight of the pair watching him. Bee straightened his wings, watching Strongarm patiently until the femme explained what she wanted. Strongarm just stared for another second before hesitantly saluting.  "P-...Permission to do a perimeter sweep?" 

Bee shook his helm. "Denied cadet. I'll need everyone if Grim goes all loopy on us. I personally doubt it will happen, but I know I won't be able to handle him if it does." Strongarm bit her lip, shifting her weight. "But Quillfire-"

Bee sighed heavily, giving Strongarm a decisive look. "Strongarm. We stay with those who need us the most. If Quillfire becomes an issue, we will worry about him then. But for now, Grimlock needs us to keep him safe." Strongarm nodded, and Bee turned his helm back to Grimlock. He eased the Dino's helm onto his lap before positioning the cube to his lips in a position that made drinking easy. Fixit smiled widely when Grimlock slowly began to drink.

He wheeled his way out, easily shooing the others out with him and heading off to recharge for the night. Strongarm's wings flickered sadly once more, but she followed the mini's example. 

It was early in the morning when Strongarm awoke. She groggily transformed, making her way to the main room. She muttered her usual 'Good Morning' to Bumblebee, grabbing her cube and turning to begin her morning with her first command- only to realize Bumblebee wasn't behind the console. She looked around in confusion before glancing towards Grimlock's berthroom. She slowly sipped the fresh Energon while she walked, and she bit back a grin when she finally reached the two. 

Grimlock had fallen asleep at some point, but it was obvious that the dino was still ill. He shivered under the tarp that had been thrown over him during the night, and Bumblebee diligently sat beside his helm. Bumblebee was singing what sounded like an earth lullaby in a soft voice, but Strongarm didn't know the tune. She watched her lieutenant stroke over Grimlock's helm with careful servos and found herself surprised. 

When had Bumblebee developed this soft streak? Or had it been there the entire time? If it had, why did he not show it that often?

When Sideswipe rounded the corner with confused faceplates, she put a finger to her lips. Sideswipe leaned around the corner to watch the two, and a wide grin broke across his face. Uncharacteristically quiet, he tugged Strongarm away by the arm. Back in the main hub of the scrapyard, the others waited for them. Denny greeted them both with a tired yawn, and Drift cracked an eye open from his meditation corner. Slipstream and Jetstorm sat on either side of him, and Fixit ran his preliminary scans for the morning. 

"Good morning! Sleep Dell-Quell-" he hit himself on the chest rather roughly. "-well?" Strongarm nodded before tilting her helm towards the absent pair. "Have you seen those two yet?" Judging from the grins around the scrapyard, everyone had. Sideswipe chipped in with a similar thought to the one Strongarm had been pondering. "Yeah. Who wouldda guessed the Big Bad Bumblebee developed such a soft spot overnight? I mean, it looks like he hasn't left at all!"

Drift hummed quietly from his corner. "Perhaps he has had it all along, and just feels that he cannot show us that side of him." Slipstream nodded in agreement, and Jetstorm posed his musing. "Or perhaps he shows us through his actions." 

Everyone was grinning by now, and silence reigned over the scrapyard- save for the quiet melody drifting through the air.