AN: Okay, uhm, I'm not really sure what to say about this. This is just the prologue to a story idea, where eventually it will be Bayverse but Bee and Barricade will have a sort of relationship going on. Depending on whether or not I feel like continuing it, or it might just be a oneshot. Comments are appreciated!
AN2: 4/30/2014. Idk man, I just decided that I wanted to try and actually make a legit story that started out on Cybertron then went to Earth and my mind came back to this idea. So I think I'll be working on it again. Reworked the first chapter a bit, too.
Young, blue optics took in a sight that the mech's processor could barely understand. Coolant leaked down his faceplates as he held the unresponsive servo close to himself, desperately wishing for a response.
Bumblebee was just old enough to understand what death meant, the finality of a mech or femme going to the Well of Sparks, leaving an empty husk of cold metal behind. Both of his creators were Autobots, and they had given Bumblebee a little Autobot brand on his chest so he could be one too. He knew of the Great War, had heard his Creators whispering about it in hushed tones when he was supposed to be in recharge, and had learned how bad it was when an Autobot named Prowl had come to request his Creators to join the fight against the Decepticons on the frontline.
His creators had difficulty leaving him, and Bumblebee hadn't wanted to be without them. Even the Autobot Prowl looked as if he wished that the order hadn't been given, but that did little to assuage Bumblebee's feelings. Bumblebee's creators placed him in one of the main day cares of Kaon, getting a close friend to let him recharge over at their home during the night.
An indecipherable amount of time later to the young mechling, and the Decepticons had made Kaon theirs.
At first, everything had been fine. The mechs and femmes working the Kaon Day Care prioritized the mechlings, femmelings, and sparklings, and surrendered to Decepticon commands. Any messages trying to leave the city were scrambled, and even most inside of the city were, too. An Autobot, designated Swiftstreak, had attempted to escape to get help from the others, but he had been trapped. The Decepticons had put the mech in the center of the town, ordering everyone out to see, including the younglings. A single blast had been shot right through his Spark chamber; a warning without words.
And now, after an attempted rebel by the heads of the Kaon Day Care, and others in the town, the Decepticons had left their relatively peaceful tactics behind. Shockwave led the Decepticons, attacking the day care first and foremost, the heart and hope of Kaon.
Bumblebee and a few others were hidden away in a secret bunker underground, and told to stay put and stay quiet. Bumblebee was one of the few small enough to fit in the ventilation systems, sent by the older younglings and those few lucky enough to be between a youngling and an adult to get them out so they could 'help'. Bumblebee never managed to make it back once he did find his way out, needing about five joors to do so in the twisting and winding passage ways.
The destruction he saw had stopped him in his tracks. The Kaon Day Care center was completely destroyed, nothing more than a pile of rubble now, and the once pristine streets were covered with the marks of battle. He could hear the sounds of plasma rounds and cannons going off, the screams of the dying and the wounded, all much too close for comfort.
All of it left a little Bumblebee shell shocked, nothing in his almost vorn had prepared him on anything to do, or anything to even feel. Scanning the rubble, he saw a familiar faceplate, and went over to the body of his favorite femme Caretaker, Starshine.
Blank, grey optics stared unseeingly up at him, faceplates twisted in a permanent scream of pain, scaring the little mechling even more than the previous sights and sounds had. Bumblebee's optics blurred, coolant starting to leak down his faceplates. Bumblebee grabbed Starshine's cold servo, hugging it as he cried.
"Come here, little mechling." A rough voice cooed, sickeningly sweet and immediately letting off alarm bells in Bumblebee's processor. "Do you want to join your Caretaker?"
Bumblebee looked up at a large black mech, fear filling his spark instinctively even before he saw the Decepticon brand on the shoulder. A Decepticon Seeker stood tall, smirking down at the mechling. A cannon was already out and powered up, pointed at him in an almost lazy manner.
"I'll help you," The mech continued, smirk widening. "You won't feel much, little one, I promise."
Bumblebee shook his head desperately, nothing but static coming out of his vocalizer as he attempted to get away from the large mech and the cannon. He backed up, tripping over Starshine's servo and falling to the ground. The mech laughed, the sound of it chilling Bumblebee to the core, and the mechling closed his optics, not wanting to see the Decepticon fire his cannon.
"Grindor!" A snarl, and both Bumblebee and Grindor looked as another mech joined them.
Bumblebee looked at the newcomer in surprise, while Grindor looked nothing but annoyed. This mech couldn't have been that many stellarcycles older than Bumblebee, still a youngling himself even though he sounded as if he should be in a larger frame. But he had the Decepticon brand, cold red optics, and energon splattered across his claws.
Grindor sneered, "What, Barricade? I'm busy."
"Shockwave wants you." Barricade reported. Both of the Decepticons looked at Bumblebee, Grindor hesitating. "I'll take care of the trash. Go."
Barricade walked over to Bumblebee, reaching down and yanking the mechling up by his arm roughly. Bumblebee was unable to stop a pained whimper from escaping; the Decepticon mechling was straining several joints. Grindor smirked at the sound, before simply nodding and transforming, leaving the two behind quickly.
Barricade watched until he couldn't see Grindor anymore, releasing Bumblebee and moving away, much to Bumblebee's shock.
"The Autobots have a back-up force, the Prime himself is here." Barricade said, as if this should explain everything to Bumblebee. He growled when Bumblebee just looked at him with confusion, "I'm taking you to them, you stupid glitch! Now come on, before Grindor gets back. And stop crying, you sound horrible!"
Barricade grabbed Bumblebee's servo, giving the youngling no time to reply as he dragged him along behind. Bumblebee did his best to keep up, but kept tripping and stumbling over the rubble in his way. Bumblebee wiped away the coolant tracks with his free servo.
For sixty kliks, Barricade never once paused or said anything, and Bumblebee didn't attempt to get the older mech to talk. Neither youngling was big enough to have an alt mode yet, and by this point ped was the easiest way to travel through the ruined city. They ran most of the time, Barricade occasionally slowing to survey the area, but never actually coming to a stop. Bumblebee tried to keep his optics closed as much as possible, or solely on Barricade's peds.
Barricade finally pulled them to a stop behind a broken wall, what was left of some random building the Decepticons or the battle between the two factions had destroyed. Both younglings were venting harshly by this time, their systems trying to get enough air flow to cool down their bodies.
Bumblebee whimpered, "That- That was Starshine! They killed Starshine!"
The reality of the Caretaker's death was just sinking in; the mechling felt as if he was going to lose what little energon he had in him. He'd already wasted too much energy in the run and when he was leaking coolant, but the suddenness of the war's horrible reality was almost too much for him to take.
"Enough of your slagging whimpering!" Barricade snapped, rounding on Bumblebee. "Acting like a sparkling won't get you anywhere."
Bumblebee was shocked into silence, staring at Barricade as the tiny Decepticon turned back around to make sure they were safe. Bumblebee looked at the ground, almost ashamed in the face of the more experienced youngling. How many battlefields had he already seen? How many times had this mechling seen death, or nearly died himself?
"I'm Bumblebee." Bumblebee said after about a klik of silence, "Thank you for helping me."
"Barricade." Barricade replied, before sneering. "And don't thank me yet, we haven't made it to the Autobots."
Cold red optics turned to Bumblebee, a clawed servo flexing into a fist with irritation. Bumblebee looked at Barricade with awe. This gave him something to focus on besides the terrible reality surrounding them, and Bumblebee clung to the idea of finding out about the mysterious youngling with almost hysteric joy.
"How are you in the war?" Bumblebee asked, optics drifting to the Decepticon symbol on Barricade's chestplates.
"I'm older than you," Barricade replied shortly.
"By a few stellarcycles, maybe! How can you just walk through all of this without a shutter of your optic?"
It was almost scary how unaffected Barricade seemed by anything. The only emotion Bumblebee could discern from the older youngling was anger, and that was only by his voice, or the way his optics lit a deeper shade of red.
"This isn't a time for questions, glitch." Barricade growled, "The Autobots are near. Get moving before I decide to let Grindor have you."
Bumblebee frowned, but somehow he knew Barricade wouldn't let the other mech have him that easily. He reached out his servo for Barricade to take again, but the young Decepticon snarled and batted it away this time. Bumblebee caught a whimper before it could escape, knowing he had to try to not act like such a sparkling if he didn't want left behind. Bumblebee followed after Barricade, never once thinking that the older mech could be leading him into danger.
Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, removed his Energon sword from the dead husk of a Decepticon seeker. His faceplates twisted in disgust, the seekers were little more than cannon fodder to Megatron with their great number. He sent them into battle even if an air move wasn't strategic, only keeping his most valuable safe.
Around him laid the dead bodies of several more Decepticons. The young Prime was getting used to killing by now, but each lost Spark would forever leave an impression on him.
"Prime."
Startled, Optimus looked around when he heard his designation called. He had ordered Ironhide, his Weapons Specialist and bodyguard, away when Ratchet, the Chief Medical Officer, was under attack. He was by himself, but few dared to take him on unless they had a number of three or more. His optics fell on a yellow youngling, standing in the middle of the battlefield with a confused look on his faceplates. The yellow youngling had an Autobot brand, identifying which faction his Creators belonged to, at least.
"Keep him."
Optimus realized the voice was coming from a pair of red optics, and he knew full well it was a Decepticon. Almost all of them had red optics, and the way the mechling was attempting to hide was a big giveaway. Another youngling, only discernibly older from the yellow one by his voice, was attempting to use his black paint scheme to blend into the shadows, and failing at it. He could just make out the Decepticon brand, and he looked between the yellow and black younglings.
The yellow youngling turned to the red optics, whimpering. "Can't you sta-"
"For Pit's sake, shut up!" The black youngling snarled, and Optimus blinked in surprise, but the yellow youngling hardly seemed phased by it. Red optics turned to Optimus, "I charge you with his protection now."
Optimus nodded, reaching down and picking the yellow youngling up in his servos. It struck the Prime as odd that a Decepticon had gone so far out of his way to save an Autobot, but he was happy with the outcome. Perhaps it was due to their age; the older mechling probably hadn't wanted to see somemech so young meet their end.
The tiny mechling leaned against his chestplates, both of them watching as the red optics disappeared. Optimus very nearly lost the Decepticon mechling completely, and Bumblebee had lost Barricade as soon as he could no longer see the tale tell red optics.
"What is your designation, little one?" Optimus asked softly, peering down at the yellow mechling in his arms. Bright blue optics looked back at him, perfect mirrors of the fear and misery the youngling was experiencing on the inside.
"Bumblebee. My creators are Nexus and Platen." The mechling responded instantly, a spark of hope and happiness lighting up his optics.
Optimus felt his spark sink a little, remembering seeing the names on the death toll that Prowl had brought him a few solar cycles before. Bumblebee took the silence hard, optics filling with coolant tears.
"I am so sorry, Bumblebee. They are with Primus now." Optimus said sadly, holding the sad lump of mechling close. He wasn't too surprised when the coolant started to flow freely, stroking the tiny doorwings to try to comfort the mechling as he cried.
"I think your little friend wanted you to be here with us," The Prime said, shifting the mechling in his arms. "So you can stay, if you'd like."
Bumblebee nodded sadly, he no longer had anything else to return to, after all. Even the mechling who had protected him was long gone. Optimus held him close, moving so that his servos hid the youngling from sight and gave him a sense of protection.