A/N:

This story is set in season 2, between episodes "Alpha/Omega" and "Hard Knocks".

As usual, I'm going to say this story is probably AU, though not especially intentionally so. As always, this story is completely written. As per usual, I will upload one chapter per day (Barring anything out of the ordinary. I will attempt to give readers a head's up via A/N). This was written for my entertainment, and is being published for yours. If you find yourself not enjoying it, then you should feel perfectly free to stop reading. Heap praise or criticism upon it, whichever may suit you best. Or say nothing about it at all, if you would prefer. Do feel free to point out typos, I check my stories before publishing, but I admit my imperfection and would welcome the opportunity to correct any mistakes I may have made.

Empty (adjective): Containing nothing; having none of the usual or appropriate contents.

Working with Smokescreen was exhausting. The rookie was bright, but headstrong and full of his own power. He had an overinflated sense of Autobot importance, and little comprehension of the realities of war. It was Bumblebee's job to see that the youngster continued down the right path he'd been started on.

At least he seemed to grasp the concept of stop lights now, which was something. It was a small victory, but these days Bumblebee was willing to take any victory he could get, no matter the size.

It was raining in the area they were patrolling. Bumblebee got the impression Optimus had specifically picked this area because the weather was drastically different from where the base was, and other places Smokescreen had begun to be familiar with. The rain meant figuring out how to use windshield wipers, which seemed to utterly baffle Smokescreen.

"What're these even for?" Smokescreen wanted to know.

{For drivers, so they can see through the windshield,} Bumblebee replied evenly.

"But we don't see that way. Why are we doing this when it doesn't do us any good?" Smokescreen persisted.

{It's all part of being in disguise,} Bumblebee explained, {If we didn't use our wipers in this kind of weather, it wouldn't go unnoticed. It's not as if it hurts you any.}

"Maybe not, but the noise it makes sure is irritating," Smokescreen grumbled.

Bumblebee let out a buzz that was nothing but a chuckle, then said {Many things are, Smokescreen.}

Smokescreen tried not to crack, struggling to hold on to being annoyed by the noise. But then he finally broke and laughed too, as he recognized the absurdity of being annoyed about such a slight thing as the sound of windshield wipers against glass.

"I guess I really shouldn't complain," Smokescreen admitted, "There are worse things."

{Don't worry about it. I had trouble with the wipers when I arrived too. I kept forgetting to turn them on. Just be glad you don't need a holographic driver.}

"Don't tell me Arcee had trouble remembering that!"

{Oh yeah. But don't tell her I said that. She said she'd dismantle me for scrap if I ever mentioned it again, and I'm not sure she was joking,} Bumblebee said.

Smokescreen fell into a stunned silence, and Bumblebee tried not to laugh, but failed. The moment the buzzing sound escaped him, Smokescreen laughed too, realizing that Bee was exaggerating at least, and probably making up some or all of what he'd just said to mess with Smokescreen.

Sometimes, when he let himself, Bumblebee almost felt at home on Earth. He had been here for so long, and spent so much time familiarizing himself with the planet's people and culture that he could almost -almost- forget that this was not the place from which he'd come. That, no matter how beautiful, Earth was not -and could never be- home.

Somehow, instead of making him feel that less, Smokescreen managed to make Bumblebee feel that way even more. It was probably that Smokescreen was such an outsider, everything on Earth was so alien to him, that it made Bumblebee feel somehow more like he actually belonged to this world. Even though Smokescreen reminded him of where he'd started, not just as a visitor to Earth, but a soldier in the Autobot army, it made Bumblebee feel oddly good to know that he truly had come a long way. And it also felt good to know that Smokescreen had that same potential, to become something and someone far more than who and what he was just now.

"Gah!" Smokescreen yelped, as his wheels abruptly skidded, "What was that?"

{Oil slick on the road,} Bumblebee replied, {Be very careful of that, especially when it's raining.}

"Oil slick?!" Smokescreen yelped in disbelief, "What kind of backwards planet is this?"

Bumblebee sighed, mentally shaking his head. Smokescreen truly did have so much to learn, and seemingly very little time in which to do it. Bumblebee wasn't sure he was up to the task of educating the rookie, but fortunately it was not a task he had to go at alone. Optimus knew the import of being able to fit in, and was making good and sure everyone had a hand in this kid's upbringing.

Deftly, Bumblebee evaded the oil Smokescreen had run over. He could almost as easily have driven over it and compensated, but that would just be showing off. Not that Bumblebee didn't enjoy showing off. He did, most thoroughly, but now didn't seem like the time. The rookie's voice was edged a little too sharply with alarm to make fun of him just now.

"Next you'll be telling me Earth cars need antifreeze to run their engines," Smokescreen was still on edge, but he recovered from most shocks very quickly, and was already fighting to regain his sense of humor about things.

Bumblebee smiled inside, and answered in the affirmative.

"By the All Spark!" Smokescreen exclaimed, "It's a wonder humans survive at all."

{Our technology is superior to theirs in many ways,} Bumblebee admitted, paraphrasing something Optimus had once told him, {But that does not mean we are superior to them.}

Smokescreen knew a warning when he heard it. He fell silent, absorbing the unspoken meaning behind the words. Bright and good intentioned as he was, it would be all too easy for Smokescreen to become truly arrogant, instead of just cocksure. The latter was bad enough without devolving into the former.

"I understand," Smokescreen said, somewhat subdued.

Bumblebee wasn't fond of issuing rebukes, nor was it his accustomed role, so he readily allowed the subject to drop, rather than pursue it. He hoped that, if he hadn't said enough, Optimus would be able to handle it. Everything Smokescreen said and did would, of course, be in a report to Optimus.

It wasn't just because Smokescreen was a rookie, and it certainly wasn't because Bumblebee didn't trust him. But Autobots kept no secrets from one another. Certainly none kept secrets from Optimus. Smokescreen was perfectly aware of that fact, and -if he was not entirely comfortable with it- accepted it.

Bumblebee's comm unit received a signal. Checking it, he found the call was coming from the Autobot base. He answered it.

{Ratchet, is something wrong?}

"I'm not sure," came the slightly tinny reply, "I just picked up a strange energon reading. You and Smokescreen are the closest to it. The others are on their way, but I fear the Decepticons have also picked it up on their sensors. Whatever it is, we don't want it falling into their hands."

{Acknowledged,} Bumblebee said, increasing his speed as he received the coordinates Ratchet sent him, {We'll get there first and do what we can to protect it. You have no idea what it might be?}

"None," Ratchet replied, "And that is what worries me the most. Be careful, Bumblebee."

{Always,} Bumblebee terminated the transmission and increased his speed again.

Smokescreen matched him easily, but somewhat warily, still mindful of the unexpected danger of oil slicks on the road. Seeing Smokescreen could keep pace, Bumblebee further accelerated, pushing for the maximum safe speed given the road conditions. He did not want the Decepticons to beat them to whatever it was Ratchet's sensors had detected.

The sound of tires over wet pavement was almost like music and, though Bumblebee liked the sound and feel of such speed, he did not allow it to distract him. Smokescreen, on the other hand, was quickly becoming absorbed in the freedom of speed and risk stirred into an exhilarating combination, a thrill which could only be fully experienced by those who were built to do just this.

It was the closest any ground restricted Cybertronian could ever get to flying. Sometimes it felt like, if he just increased speed a little more, Bumblebee really would take off and leave the ground behind. He knew Smokescreen was caught in that feeling when the rookie began to outpace him.

{Stay with me, Smokescreen. We need to stick together.}

Smokescreen didn't grumble as he obeyed, but Bumblebee could almost taste the resistance, feel the physical want to go faster, to never slow down. He knew it was alive in Smokescreen because he felt the same urge in himself, pushing him to drive faster. It wasn't just the threat of Decepticons or the need to reach the origin of the strange reading first. It was simply this: a desire to go faster, for no reason other than because he could. It was an impulse he had to fight down every time he drove fast.

Though it didn't seem like it should be, the exertion of self control was satisfying in its own way.

{Be sure to check your speed as we leave the road. You don't want to flip or spin out.}

"Thanks, but I do know how to drive," Smokescreen said.

Bumblebee noted, however, that Smokescreen skidded slightly when they hit the mud. He quickly compensated for his error, and Bumblebee chose not to call him on it. Experience was often the best teacher, if you let it do its work unmolested. Mud was a new terrain to Smokescreen, and they'd all had to learn how to cope with it. Bumblebee remembered one of his own early experiences, where he had found himself sliding helplessly across the mud, unable to transform and stop that way because he was in view of humans. He'd had to right himself in vehicle mode, and had been thoroughly embarrassed because -not only had Arcee and Bulkhead been witnesses- Optimus Prime had seen his mistake. It had been a mortifying experience, but a valuable lesson as well.

They rounded a natural wall of steep rock, and Bumblebee almost hit the brakes too hard and slipped sideways just a little. He transformed before approaching the sight before him. He could feel the power from it, and it made him deeply uneasy. Smokescreen evidently felt it too, and was rendered cautious in his approach for once. Neither of them spoke.

A huge object, half again as large as both Bumblebee and Smokescreen put together, was jammed into the ground. It was roughly cylindrical in shape, but had what appeared to be stabilizing fins that knifed out from the sides of it. From it came a slowly pulsing light, purplish in hue. Bumblebee had developed an intense distrust of anything which was purple, especially if it was glowing. More than the color, however, Bumblebee was made uneasy by the continuous, low thrumming issuing from its core, a sound of immense power being generated within.

Slowly, uneasily, Bumblebee walked a circle around the object, looking for markings that might tell him more about it. It was clearly of Cybertronian design, and there was a certain threatening aspect to its appearance that made his instincts all scream it was of Decepticon origin, but that didn't tell him much, and he knew better than to be certain of what was -at best- an educated guess.

"What is it?" Smokescreen asked after a long moment's silent study.

{I don't know,} Bumblebee admitted without hesitation.

He continued to stare at it, caught between fear and fascination, wondering about its possible function. It didn't seem to have any buttons or levers or markings offering instruction as to its use. There was probably a touch panel somewhere, that would open a panel to reveal a control system, but he hadn't found it by the time Smokescreen called out an alert.

"Decepticons!"

Bumblebee snapped instantly from his examination and whirled towards Smokescreen, then the direction he was pointing. Decepticons, indeed. It was Soundwave, and Knockout was driving along beneath and behind him. They each had about a half dozen vehicons in tow.

The vehicon jets swept to either side of Soundwave and then sped on ahead of him, flowing back together as a unit. They opened fire before they'd even entered range. Smokescreen was a beat behind them, but Bumblebee waited until he was sure he could at least hit them. After all, it wasn't as if a few warning shots was going to get rid of them. But he had no time to play mentor to Smokescreen just now. Besides which, he knew that Smokescreen was a more than capable fighter.

The two Autobots each rolled for cover, choosing opposite directions in the hopes of splitting the vehicon forces. The ploy worked, three went for Bee and three followed Smokescreen. The air became alive with the sound of blaster fire, the light of which reflected blindingly off each and every drop of rain. Bumblebee lost track of Smokescreen momentarily, absorbed in his own problems.

He realized that Soundwave had reached the device. Rather than open a touch panel, Soundwave simply plugged into it. The power levels increased in response to him, the light growing brighter and the sound louder, the pulsing became instantly faster.

Bumblebee ducked and dodged his assailants, and took a shot at Soundwave, who didn't appear to take any notice of him for a moment. When Bumblebee's second shot hit closer, the Decepticon roused himself, withdrawing the tentacle which had plugged into the machine. Almost casually, he flipped that appendage and used it to knock Bumblebee sideways.

"Bee!" Smokescreen's voice yelled out.

"Don't shoot the panels!" the warning came from Knockout, sounding genuinely alarmed.

Soundwave turned just slightly. That movement was enough for Smokescreen to miss him entirely... and hit the control panel. Smokescreen let out a yelp of alarm as the panels sparked and then exploded, and the light from the core went into an absolute frenzy of pulsation.

Both Autobots and Decepticons turned in horror, sensing the power buildup. It was going to explode.

{Take cover!} Bumblebee yelled to no one in particular.

For him and Soundwave, there was no cover in range. They both just hit the mud. Smokescreen and Knockout both dropped as well, but their scraps of cover were meager.

In a deafening cacophony of noise, the object pulsed more brightly, and the energy output was no longer confined to the core. A blinding light expanded in a sphere from it, blanketed everything. To Bumblebee, it felt as if the universe suddenly lurched and held, like a sharply indrawn breath, and then released. The power flooded over him, and then, suddenly, everything was dark, silent, and still.

He didn't hear the report so much as feel it.

System overload, drive crash imminent, power reserves fluctuating... conscious program... failing.