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DOTBS-Ch5-1-The Truth of a Myth

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Transformers, or any of the song/movie quotes used in this story.  However, the idea for this story does, indeed, belong to me.

HERE’S YOUR TRADITIONAL, FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD REMINDER THIS IS NOT A SLASH FIC.

NOTE: DO NOT READ THIS FIC UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN DARK OF THE MOON!!! MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUND!

Transformers: Day of the Black Sun
Chapter Five-The Truth of a Myth, Part One
Rating: T
Words (for whole chapter): 11,843
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“NOW, I WANT YOU TO THINK BACK CAREFULLY, BUMBLEBEE, and tell us exactly what Firestorm said to you right before he fell into stasis-lock.”

An hour had passed since Optimus and Ratchet had returned to the base with Bumblebee and the others, including the stasis-locked Firestorm, and now everything had more or less calmed down from the “excitement” over bringing an injured Decepticon on base.   After finally getting a good look at Firestorm’s condition, Ratchet knew that Optimus had to be right-datapads aside, there had to be something more to the situation than simply Firestorm wanting to see Optimus.  Bumblebee had, after all, the medic noted, been really stressed out by the whole thing and had only briefly mentioned what it was that the Decepticon had wanted to see the Prime, and had been really anxious to do so.  Since things had quieted down, it was time to learn exactly what had happened before Ratchet and Optimus had arrived at the scene of Firestorm’s landing.

Mirage, Prowl, Red Alert, and Computron had joined them in a room off the main hangar.  Silverbolt, Wheelie, and Brains had stayed in the main hangar to watch the Sparklings, and Sunstreaker was in the medbay, helping his brother by serving guard duty as well.  The Wreckers-Topspin, Leadfoot, and Roadbuster-were not present; currently they were based back in Florida, where they kept watch over and performed routine maintenance on the Axalon, the Autobot ship that Red Alert, Sunstreaker, and Silverbolt had arrived in.  The Autobots present would fill in the others on base and send a transmission over what was discussed to the Wreckers after the hurriedly-called meeting was over.  Will Lennox and Director Mearing were there, as well as a few other members of NEST, and so were Sam and Carly.  The night’s events could possibly effect everyone, and Optimus knew the humans needed to be included in finding out the truth-or as much of the truth as they could find out before Firestorm recovered enough to come out of stasis-lock and actually speak with them.

At Optimus’s request, Bumblebee hesitated.  He had recorded what the old Decepticon told him-as a scout he automatically did so when in a situation where information might possibly need to be gathered-but Firestorm had been speaking in Cybertronian.  If he played the recording, Optimus and the other Autobots present would understand what had been said, but the humans would not.  And, if he repeated Firestorm’s words over the comlink, again, the humans would not get the message.  That left only one option-actually speaking with his own voice-and he wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea, especially after the scolding Ratchet had given him about shorting out his voice capacitor again.  He gave Ratchet a nervous glance, unsure of what to do.

The medic vented wearily and waved his hand.  “Go on ahead, Bumblebee.  Just don’t strain your voice too much; take it slow.”

Bumblebee nodded.  He had the recording to turn to if he forgot any of Firestorm’s message, but he thought he could remember everything without listening to it again.  

“F-first, he asked me if I was an Autobot.” Bumblebee shuttered his optics in concentration, saying each word slowly so that he wouldn’t stutter nearly as much.  He was relieved to find that he could speak clearly-for now.  His voice was hoarse and shaky, but grew stronger as he spoke.  “I nodded, and then he said…he said ‘There is no time to waste. You must warn Optimus Prime.’ And I said, ‘Warn him of what?’, and he told me, ‘It is urgent.  Please, you must get him.  Tell Optimus that…tell him…he is coming.’ After that, he fell into stasis.”  The young Autobot unshuttered his optics and looked at Optimus.  “T-that’s all he told me, sir.”  Bumblebee broke off into a few coughing noises as his voice capacitor protested its use, prompting a look of sympathy from Sam and a pointed look from Ratchet that clearly warned the young Autobot to not speak again.

The Prime inclined his head towards the young scout.  “Thank you, Bumblebee.  You did well.  While we will not be able to learn the complete meaning behind Firestorm’s words until he recovers and can explain them, we at least know this: Someone is coming to Earth, and whoever this someone is, he is a threat.”

“A threat to just you Autobots alone, or a threat to Earth as a whole?” Mearing asked.  She had been quiet since her earlier confrontation with Optimus when Firestorm had been brought into the hangar, but their argument was more or less forgotten in the face of this newer, approaching threat.

“If something merits that we Autobots get a warning about it, you better believe that whatever it is-no, whoever it is-is a threat to everyone,” Computron spoke up.  The small Autobot was perched on the railing that surrounded an upper balcony in the hangar where the humans stood nearby; this was so that he could more or less be at optic level with his fellow Autobots, all of whom present towered over him.  “You already know what it takes to provide an actual legitimate danger to us.  Putting that together with what Bumblebee has just told us, we can logically come to the conclusion that whatever the meaning behind this warning is, it is most definitely not good.  For we Autobots, for NEST, for Earth.”

“But the way it was worded, it sounds like there’s only one part to this threat-whoever this ‘he’ is,” Will looked at Optimus.  “Any ideas about who it could be?”

“Not any clear ones,” The Prime responded.  “Firestorm was an archivist dealing with information of Cybertron’s ancient history before the war started.  I believe this being he came to warn us of is from Cybertron’s early days, but I do not know who it could be.  There have been numerous threats throughout the history of Cybertron, and it will be hard, probably impossible, to determine who it is without Firestorm’s explanation.  I am afraid that, speculating aside, there is little that we can do until he comes out of stasis-lock.”

“We can be ready,” Sam insisted, speaking up for the first time since the meeting had begun.  “I mean,” he continued, as all those present in the hangar turned their attention onto him.  “We might not know whoever this is that’s coming.  We don’t know the details.  But we can still get ready…you guys can do more training, extra patrols, warn the rest of the military…right?”

“You are right, Sam,” Optimus agreed.  He looked thoughtful.  “With no Decepticon encounters for quite some time, we do have enough time to add in extra training exercises-both for Autobots and,” he looked at Will, “for the human soldiers.”

Will nodded. “We can handle that.  And since we don’t know the details yet, we should just stick to the basics of our usual training.  We can fine-tune everything once we know what we’ll be facing.”

“That is settled, then,” Optimus replied.  “As for the extra patrols…” He turned to face Prowl.

Prowl stepped forward.  “We already do daily patrols, but we could add in some extra ones.  Of course, we won’t know what we’re looking for, so we’ll have to do the same for the patrols as for the training.  Stick to the basics, and worry about the details later.”

“And for the military…” Will trailed off, giving Mearing a cautious glance.

“I can handle that,” She replied instantly.  “By this time tomorrow, everything will be taken care of.”

Everyone was silent for a long moment following Mearing’s statement.  The same thoughts were in all of their minds-with the surviving Decepticons going into hiding, they had finally hoped that all of the Cybertronian threats were gone, but the evening’s events had proved otherwise.  By the sound of things, something really dangerous was going to happen.  They had dealt with danger before, but the fact that this new danger had come after a year of no new threats threw everyone-human and Autobot-off-balance.  

Off-balance for a brief moment, however.  The anxiety was still there, but now they had the beginnings of a plan to deal with it.  They each knew what they were doing.

Finally, Optimus spoke up again.  “We may not know the nature of this threat.  But I assure you that we will do whatever we can to ensure that Earth will not come to any harm from it.  We have brought down threats by working together before.  I have no doubts that we can do so again.”

And Firestorm is the key to this, the Prime thought.

Primus, let him not be the same type of key that Sentinel was.

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There was, as Optimus Prime had pointed out, little more that they could do until Firestorm recovered enough to be able to tell them the full story behind his warning, so the meeting was brought to a close shortly after the decision had been made to form extra patrols, hold extra training exercises, and to inform the military of the incoming-but so far unknown-threat.  Will and Mearing had gone to discuss the changes that would need to be happening to the human portion of NEST in light of the disturbing news.  The other Autobots had gone off to continue with what they had been doing before the meeting-Prowl and Red Alert had begun their night patrol, Computron and Mirage went back to overlooking the security systems of the base, and Ratchet was back in medbay monitoring the stasis-locked Firestorm.  Optimus was heading back to the main hangar to inform Silverbolt, Wheelie, and Brains of the events of the meeting, accompanying Bumblebee, Sam, and Carly, who were going to check up on Blaster.  

And that was another important matter that needed to be attended to.  The Autobots and their human allies were all very careful when it came to the well being of the four Sparklings-five now-that were present in the Autobot base.  If this being Firestorm had come to warn them of was coming to Earth with the intent to cause harm, as the old Decepticon’s words seemed to imply, then the Sparklings were also in danger.  Optimus would see to it that no harm would befall them, and he knew that every Autobot and human on the base would do the same.  The Autobots would fight to protect the humans, but after fighting side by side with them for so long, Optimus and the other Autobots knew that the humans were quite capable of taking care of themselves; still, the Autobots offered their assistance and it was accepted.  But the Sparklings were not like the human soldiers or even the older Autobots.  To use the human terms, they were just infants, or toddlers.  They weren’t able to defend themselves and needed to be looked after.  While the Sparklings represented the future of their race, in a way, they were also a reflection of what the humans and other species native to Earth were to the Autobots-innocent lives that needed to be protected from the danger that was coming.

Civilians, Optimus Prime thought.  That is what they are.  Just like every other human on this planet.  They need our protection from this new threat, whoever it is.  And we must be ready to give it.  He shifted his attention to where the Sparklings were playing, with Silverbolt, Wheelie, and Brains keeping watch.

The area of the hangar that had been set up as the Sparklings’ play area could be more or less described as what the humans referred to as a “giant playpen”.  The Autobots had used their knowledge of what would be safe for a Sparkling-drawing from their experiences with Bumblebee when he was a Sparkling-to construct a place in the hangar that was both safe for the Sparklings to play in and where it was easy for the older Autobots to watch over them.  The humans on base had even contributed some ideas-such as the large, squishy blocks that the Sparklings could play with or on, which were nothing more than larger versions of toys that human children played with.  Adapting the human toys for the Sparklings turned out to be a great idea-the Sparklings loved them.

As he approached the play area with Bumblebee, Sam, and Carly, however, it did not escape Optimus’s notice that only four of the Sparklings were playing together.  The fifth Sparkling was partially hiding behind one of the smaller blocks, watching the others play but making no move to join them.

Bumblebee stepped forward, letting out a concerned chirp.  Blaster turned from his hiding place when he heard his caretaker calling out.  With a small squeak, Blaster tried to crawl his way over the blocks to get to Bumblebee, but his small size made that impossible, and he was only able to get his hands on top of one of the blocks.  Bumblebee hurried over and lifted Blaster up and over the block, but when he moved to sit Blaster down again, the Sparkling protested with a soft cry, so Bumblebee lifted him back up again, continuing to hold him.

“He’s been like that for practically the entire time he’s been out here on his own, since you all left,” Silverbolt was explaining to Bumblebee as Optimus, Sam, and Carly caught up to the younger Autobot.  “Wouldn’t play with the others at all.  He looked like he wanted to, but he stayed behind that block the whole time and just watched.  Trailbreaker even went over and offered him one of their toys, but he just wriggled further back and didn’t take it.”

“Is he always like this?” Optimus questioned, looking at Bumblebee.  The Prime had only seen Blaster a few times since Bumblebee had taken charge of him when he had been a little Hatchling, but Bumblebee was always giving updates on how the Sparkling was doing via his long-range communications (something that Ratchet had insisted on if the Sparkling was not going to be raised on-base), and both what the Prime had seen and the scout had reported before didn’t fit with what Optimus was seeing now.

Bumblebee shook his head.  No, sir.  Normally he’s very active and playful. Turning his attention back to Blaster, Bumblebee found a brief radio clip he could use to try to find out what the problem was. “What’s wrong-sprout?” He questioned, using his special nickname for the Sparkling in hopes of cheering him up.

In response, Blaster merely let out a pitiful sounding whine and buried his face in Bumblebee’s shoulder armor.  Despite Bumblebee’s coaxing, the Sparkling refused to show his face again.  The young Autobot looked back up at Optimus.

I think…I think he’s really upset and stressed over everything that happened tonight, sir, Bumblebee realized. And…he’s not used to being around so many others. I don’t think it would normally bother him, but after what happened…

“That does make sense,” Optimus mused.  He knew that sometimes Sparklings, especially really young Sparklings like Blaster, would react badly to sudden changes, and Optimus knew that what had happened-Bumblebee had told Ratchet about how he had been hurt and went into a spinout in vehicle mode earlier, and Ratchet had told Optimus-was not only sudden, but terrifying.  He had seen how shaken up the humans had been, and Bumblebee hadn’t fared much better from the experience.  Blaster, however, was far younger than they were and couldn’t deal with the situation as well as they could.

“Guess he’s still pretty shaken up from what happened, huh?”  Sam asked, looking up at Blaster, who still had his face against Bumblebee’s shoulder.

Bumblebee’s doorwings drooped and he chirped a soft affirmative.

“Poor little guy,” Carly said sadly, giving the Sparkling a sympathetic glance.

Optimus considered the upset Blaster for a moment, and then turned his attention to Bumblebee.  He could see the worry for Blaster in Bumblebee’s optics, but he could also see just how much Bumblebee himself was exhausted.  Caring for a Sparkling was indeed a tiring, difficult process, especially when said Sparkling was upset.  However, all of the other Autobots who were currently Sparkling caretakers had had experience before-caring for Bumblebee when he had been a Sparkling himself.  As the-until recently-youngest of the Autobots, the scout didn’t have the luxury of prior experience caring for a Sparkling; Bumblebee was completely new to this, and although he was doing a very good job considering his inexperience, Optimus knew that a gentle push in the right direction every now and then was both helpful and appreciated.  

“Perhaps the best thing would be for him to be taken home so that he can rest,” Optimus suggested.  “I believe that he might feel better after recharging.  It should calm him down, and perhaps one reason he is still upset is because he is tired-you know that Sparklings need to recharge more often than we do. And,” the Prime continued pointedly, “I believe that you could all use some rest after tonight’s…excitement.”

“It is pretty late,” Sam commented, after looking at his phone to see what time it was-he couldn’t bring himself to wear a watch anymore after the last one he had on was a Decepticon that liked to shock his nervous system for fun-and being surprised to see that it was almost midnight.  “We were so focused and worried about Firestorm that we lost track of time, looks like.”

“I have to admit, going home and getting some sleep sounds pretty good to me right now,” Carly admitted.

“I could get behind the idea of a nice long recharge,” Wheelie admitted.

“Sounds good to me,” Brains added.

“But is it okay for us to go?  I mean, considering what happened, what if you need extra help tonight?” Sam questioned hesitatingly.

“There is little more we can do now, except wait for Firestorm to come out of his stasis,” Optimus said gravely.  “While I do appreciate and accept your offer to help, Sam, and yours, Bumblebee,” He nodded at the scout, referring to their earlier conversation in the main hangar, “I think you will be better able to help if all of you get a good night’s rest tonight, and return to the base tomorrow.”

Are you sure about it, sir? Bumblebee asked, but even as he finished his question the feel of Blaster burying his face even further into his shoulder armor with another soft whimper provided the answer before Optimus responded.

“I am sure, Bumblebee.  Everything will be fine for tonight.  Please, return home, all of you.  Rest.  You need it.”

Sam looked as if he wanted to argue, but a glance up at Bumblebee allowed him to see just how tired his friend was, as well as the obvious distress he knew Blaster was in, and, when he added that with the fact that Carly had said she was tired as well (and he was pretty exhausted himself), he relented, sighing.  “All right, then.  Let’s go home.”

Bumblebee, still holding Blaster against his shoulder, looked back at Optimus.  Sir, when would be the best time for us to come back tomorrow?

“There is no rush,” Optimus informed the young Autobot.  His next words were addressed to Sam and the others, as well.  “Take as much time as you need, and come back to the base when you feel ready.”

“But what if Firestorm wakes up before then and you need us?” Sam asked.

“Firestorm will not come out of stasis for a few days yet.  But if he were to do so for some strange reason, I would let you know immediately.  Now, go on.  Things will be handled here.  Do not worry about it-just focus on getting the rest you need.  We will see you when you return tomorrow.”

Optimus watched as Bumblebee handed Blaster to Sam (the little Sparkling only protesting with a slight whine, apparently too tired now to do much more), before Transforming back into his Camaro form, opening his doors so that his adopted family could get in.  

Bumblebee turned to leave, but hesitated, comming Optimus one last time before doing so.  Tomorrow, then, sir?

“Yes, tomorrow,” Optimus nodded.

You will let us know if anything happens, right?

“Of course, but I highly doubt that anything will.”

Still with a handful of misgivings, but feeling more at ease than he had been since the metal from Firestorm’s entry had slammed into him, Bumblebee drove from the hangar, eager to get home and rest.  Goodnight, sir.

“Goodnight, Bumblebee,” Optimus replied, watching as the young Autobot drove away.

He only hoped that the reassurances he had given Bumblebee and the others would hold to be true.

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Despite his exhaustion, Bumblebee found himself wide awake nearly two hours after he and his family had returned home from the Autobot base. Blaster had fallen into recharge on the drive back, waking only long enough to be fed once they were home, and Sam and Carly had fallen asleep shortly after entering their room when they had gotten back inside their house.  Wheelie and Brains had also gone into recharge in one of the upstairs rooms as well.  Bumblebee, however, hadn’t found rest easy to achieve.  He had tried several times to go into recharge, but when he failed to do so each time he finally gave up, resigning himself to the fact that the night’s events swirling around in his processor had made recharge impossible.

Wearily venting a sigh, the young Autobot unshuttered his optics and sat up, pushing himself away from the wall he had been leaning against, stretching slightly as he did so.  The lighting in the room was dim-Sam had turned off most of the lights but had left one that had different brightness settings on low so that if he or Carly needed to go downstairs for something they would be able to see-and Bumblebee adjusted his optics so that he would be able to see better in the limited light.  Not that there was much to see in the room. Not yet, anyway.  Some furniture was set up, but there were still quite a few unpacked boxes scattered around.  The boxes were actually the most interesting thing in the room-one open box in particular-and Bumblebee leaned forward to check on the contents of the opened box that was close to him, careful to be quiet as he did so.

Thankfully, Blaster was still inside the box that was being used as a temporary berth until they could set up his proper one, curled up in a pile of towels, deep in recharge with his left fist partially in his mouth.  Bumblebee hadn’t heard the Sparkling get up, so he hadn’t doubted that he would still be in the box, but as Blaster was known for sneaking off and hiding at times, he’d felt it was best to check-with the house not being completely moved into and everything in disarray, if Blaster had wandered off he could have gotten hurt.  The young Autobot scout made a mental note to try and discover any potential hiding places fit for a Sparkling so that he would know where to look if…no, in Blaster’s case it would most likely be when…the need arose.  At least that kind of precaution would not be needed when Blaster was in the Autobot base, where there was a secure play-area for the Sparklings and more than enough older mechs-and humans-to keep a watchful eye, or optic, on them.

The base…

Bumblebee leaned back against the wall, venting quietly as he turned his thoughts back to the idea that had started forming in his processor when he had accepted Optimus’s offer to help out around the base.  The meeting that followed and the drive home, combined with the sheer exhaustion he and his family were all feeling, had driven it into the back of his processor, but now that he was unable to recharge and was the only one still awake in the house, it came to the forefront again.  It was something that he wanted to do, something that he felt was necessary, but at the same time, he was reluctant to carry out the idea, worried about what his family-especially Sam-would think about it.  

Maybe that’s why I can’t recharge, Bumblebee thought.  I’m too busy worrying about this. I should just-

“Bee?”

Bumblebee’s optics widened and his antennae lifted in surprise. He’d been so deep in his worry over whether or not to carry out the idea he had that he’d failed to notice that Sam had come out of the bedroom.  He raised his head and looked up to see Sam leaning over the railing that ran the length of the loft-like second floor, giving him a concerned look.

“You okay, Bee?” Sam asked.

Bumblebee nodded with a soft chirp, giving Sam a thumbs-up.

Frowning slightly, not believing that everything was fine despite what Bumblebee had done, Sam motioned the young Autobot over.  He’d woken up thirsty and had gotten some water, but he’d heard Bumblebee’s “sigh” from the living room and had gone to check on his friend.  He looked over the young Autobot, concerned.  Bumblebee was clearly tired; Sam could basically feel the scout’s exhaustion just by looking at him.  His normally bright optics were dim, his antennae and door wings were drooping-all telltale signs of how tired he really was- and yet he was still awake.

“Why are you awake?” Sam asked, smothering a yawn.  “Shouldn’t you be asleep…er, recharging?”

“Can’t. Tried,” Bumblebee pieced together as he came up to the loft, resting his hands on the railing (thankfully the railing had been reinforced to support an Autobot leaning against it, probably by the ones who had installed the door in the back that Bumblebee could use), lowering the volume of his radio so that he wouldn’t disturb Blaster or any of the others who were still asleep or recharging.

“Are you still worried about what Firestorm said?”

Bumblebee looked down for a moment, and then, meeting Sam’s eyes again, he nodded. “It-sounded-dangerous,” he transmitted.  He could tell that Sam understood his meaning by the expression on his friend’s-brother’s-face.

“Optimus is going to handle things, Bee.  The military and NEST and everyone are going to work to make sure whoever this jerk is that’s coming can’t do a thing to hurt anyone,” Sam told Bumblebee firmly.  “And we’ll look out for each other like always, right? It’ll be okay, Bee, so no worries.”

“No worries,” Bumblebee repeated.  He wished he felt as confident about this as Sam.  Oh, he believed that Optimus Prime could handle everything.  He had complete faith in his leader; he knew that the Prime would lead the Autobots and their human allies through whatever was coming as safely as was possible-and that was the main problem. The fact that this coming threat was unknown was what really bothered him.  Firestorm knew who it was, but he was currently in stasis-lock, and he hadn’t said how long it would be before the threat arrived, only that time was short.  What if it arrived before Firestorm came back online and told them the full story behind his warning?

How could they protect their human allies and their home if they didn’t know what they were facing?

Bumblebee didn’t know what would happen to his friends, his family, and his home if that happened.  He didn’t want to know.  However, he was willing to take the steps necessary to make sure he would be able to protect them, no matter what this threat was, and that was where the idea he had been turning over in his processor came in.

The young Autobot looked down, vented quietly, then slowly met Sam’s gaze again.  Here goes, he thought anxiously.  “S-Sam,” he began, speaking quietly in his own voice and ignoring the pains he felt as his voice capacitor protested its use, “I...I w-want t-to…”

Sam met the gaze from his optics evenly, and Bumblebee saw understanding in his human brother’s eyes.  “You want to be on active duty in NEST again, don’t you, Bee?”

Bumblebee turned his optics away and fell silent.  There wasn’t any need to continue speaking, in any form.  Sam always knew what he meant.  He could decipher the meaning behind Bumblebee’s spliced together radio transmissions, always seemed to know what he meant before Bumblebee himself had even finished trying to speak, and even on those occasions (which were many) where he couldn’t speak in any way at all, Sam always understood him.  Bumblebee loved that; after going so long without being able to talk at all, having someone who understood him completely was wonderful.  At times, however, Sam’s perceptiveness about what he was saying made Bumblebee anxious, especially if he wasn’t too sure if he really wanted to continue saying what he was going to say.

This was one of those times.

He looked back at Sam.   “It’d only-be for-a little while.  Until this-whole mess-blows over.” He meant that, and he wanted to make sure that Sam knew he meant that, pushing all the sincerity he could into his optics as he held his brother’s gaze.  It wouldn’t be like the last time he had gone on active duty, where he had promised to visit and had not done so for a year. Sam looked worried, and Bumblebee knew that he was also thinking about the last time.  It won’t be like that again, he promised silently.  I’ll only do this until the threat is gone, and then I’m done. No more active duty, no more fighting. Ever. I promise, Sam.

Sam’s shoulders slumped as he appeared to come to a decision, and he offered Bumblebee a small grin.  “It’s okay, Bee.  I don’t mind.  Hey, besides, I’m going to have a job at NEST too, remember?  We’ll be working at the same place, maybe even together, who knows?”

Bumblebee felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.  He should have known Sam would be accepting of his decision.  He’d worried about it for nothing.  Still, he couldn’t help asking, “Are you sure-you have-no problems-with-this?”

Sam leaned forward and gave Bumblebee’s check an affectionate pat.  “I’m fine with it, Bee.  The important thing is that it’s what you want to do, and I know that everything will work out in the end.”

I hope you’re right, Bumblebee thought, still unable to completely erase that same glimmer of worry inside his Spark.  Sam’s words had been comforting, though, and he was grateful for that. “T-thank y-you, Sam.”

“No problem, Bee.  That’s what brothers are for, remember?”  Sam paused, and looked over the Autobot again in concern.  “How are your burns?”

“Alright,” Bumblebee responded with a shrug.  It was basically true; apart from small twinges of pain now and then, his burns weren’t bothering him at all, really.  The Energon solution Ratchet had used on the burns was doing its job, working with his own repair systems to heal the burns faster than the systems alone could.

“That’s good.”  Sam looked around Bumblebee and down towards the floor, so that he could see the box that Blaster was recharging in.  He fought against another yawn and failed.  “Blaster’s got the right idea, Bee-sleep for me, recharge for you.”  He hesitated, and then continued, “Is he okay?”

“He-hasn’t-woken up,” Bumblebee replied, looking back at Blaster.  The little Sparkling hadn’t woken up since falling back into recharge after being fed, which was actually a good sign-it showed that Optimus had been right and a nice long recharge was just what Blaster needed to feel better after the trying events of that night.  He returned his attention to Sam, another worry pushing at his thoughts.  He was almost afraid to ask his next question, but he needed to know the answer.

“Sam…are…are y-you…j-jealous?”

Sam’s eyes widened and he looked at Bumblebee, startled.  “Jealous?  What are you talking about, Bee?”

Bumblebee vented.  He’d been wondering about this for quite some time, but had tried to not focus on it too much.  But now, after Sam’s acceptance and answer for his previous question, he knew that not only did he need to ask Sam this question, he could accept whatever answer Sam gave him.  Slowly piecing together radio clips, he explained his question.   “I-always have-to take more-care of-Blaster-focus on him –more than -spending time-with you.”

To Bumblebee’s surprise, Sam frowned.  “You think I’m jealous of how much care and attention you give to Blaster?”

The young Autobot shrugged helplessly.

With a sigh, Sam looked up at Bumblebee.  “Bee, Blaster is a Sparkling.  Just a baby in your terms, right?  And a baby needs more care and attention than someone my age does.  Besides, if I was jealous, would I help you take care of him?  Would I play with him?  He’s a baby, Bee.  Why would I be jealous?”

Confused, Bumblebee tilted his head to one side as he looked at Sam. “I…”

Sam drummed his fingers on the loft railing for a moment, as he thought of how to phrase his explanation.  “Let me put it this way, Bee.  If the situation was reversed, and Carly and I were the ones taking care of a baby and giving it lots of care and attention, would you be jealous of that baby?”

Bumblebee’s optics brightened slightly as he understood what Sam was telling him.  “N-no.  It’s j-just g-getting what it n-needs.”

Sam nodded.  “Exactly, Bee.  You’re just taking proper care of Blaster.  Why would that make me jealous?”  He paused, and then grinned mischievously.  “You’re being a good daddy, Bee.”  His smile widened as Bumblebee let out a very quiet, raspy laugh at being referred to as a “daddy”.  Sam folded his arms on the loft railing and rested his chin on them.  “And I’m not jealous, so don’t worry.  We still hang out, don’t we?  Everything’s fine.”

Bumblebee chirped gratefully.  He was glad that his worry that Sam might be jealous had been proven unfounded.  He lightly touched Sam’s shoulder with a finger to express his gratitude, and Sam smiled at him before letting out another yawn.

“Well, Bee, I’m going to head back to bed.  Think you can recharge now?”

Bumblebee nodded.  The troubling thoughts that had prevented him from resting earlier were gone (for the most part), and his exhaustion was finally seeping through the barrier his concerns had built.

Sam got up from leaning against the rail and headed back to the bedroom he shared with Carly.  Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he turned back to look at Bumblebee again.  “Hey, goodnight, Bee.  Remember-no worries.  Right?”

Bumblebee nodded.  Sam offered him a tired smile before he opened the door and went back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

The young Autobot settled back into his former location, leaning against the wall.  He shuttered his optics as he was finally able to successfully start his recharge cycle.  Before he completely drifted off, he repeated what Sam had told him in his processor.  No worries.  I hope you’re right, Sam, but we’ll have a lot of work to do to make sure there really ARE no worries.  The next few days would be long and full of hard work, but it would be worth it to keep his family safe.

Bumblebee fell completely into recharge hoping that he would be able to do so.
:icondonotuseplz::iconmyartplz:

:star:Art Tidbits:star:

Previous Chapter: [link]
Part Two: [link]

Cross-posted to Fanfiction.net: [link]

Prequel-Moon Shadows:[link]

Companion Fic-Dusk and Dawn:[link]

:star:About the Work!:star:

Longest Chapter yet! And I managed to get it done earlier than I thought! :iconsuperw00tplz: Unfortunately, that means the file size is too large, so I had to divide it up. Oh, well.

Sorry for the delay; I had some other things that required my attention (*cough*Pokémon Mystery Dungeon-Explorers*cough*), but I finished with them, so now I can focus on this story again.

I had the story for this chapter planned out for a long time. And then, episode 24 of Transformers: Prime airs and I find that the story I had planned is told in that episode almost WORD FOR WORD. Wow, am I really that good at predicting things? I mean, it’s happened before, but still, it’s spooky! So I’m going to try to reword my version of the story. If it comes out like the Prime version still, oh, well. I tried, and it all ends up the same basically anyway, so why change it too much of it works?

Bumblebee speaks more clearly in his actual voice in this chapter than he will in the entire story and the only reason he is able to do so is because he just had Ratchet work on his voice capacitor, so don’t get used to him speaking without stuttering.

Also, the Autobots “get” a new ship. Yay! This will come into play much later in the story, but I threw the name in this chapter so them having another ship to replace the Xantium doesn’t come out of nowhere.

And, before you ask, I didn’t forget about Epps. He’s around; you’ll be seeing him later. Just not at the moment.

In this chapter, we deal with some fluff, and the pieces of the puzzle finally begin to come together.

P.S. If you want to know what Firestorm’s voice sounds like, try to find a video of Hugo Weaving’s performance as Grimble in the movie Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. That’s what I imagine Firestorm sounding like.

Dialogue Guide:

“radio speak”

Comm speak/Thoughts

“normal speech”

“Cybertronian”


Enjoy.


Note: This fic does not take place in the same branch of the movie continuity that my other TF fics do. Relax, Adventures with Autobots and Transformers: Shift will not be impacted by this storyline-wise.


Until next time,

Cheers.:music:
© 2011 - 2024 rosa-pegasus
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