Prompt: Grudge
Universe: Generation 1
Pairing: None
Word count: 2,319
Disclaimer: Transformers is the property of Hasbro.
AN 1: This is the first of a group of short (mostly unconnected) fics that I've started writing between my work on the larger fics I'm working on (which will not be posted until I'm finished because I learnt that lesson the hard way). These will all be Bumblebee centric (that includes all his incarnations and all universes) or at the least connected to the little yellow guy in some way. Pairings will vary, as will the maturity content, you will be warned at the top of a post containing any mature or possibly disturbing content.
AN 2: This piece was a result of me being bitten by a plot bunny that wondered whether the twins ever got paid back for any of their pranks…
Reviews are as always appreciated…
Of all the mechs on the ark, Bumblebee would be the first to admit that he was probably a bit too trusting and far too forgiving when it came to his companions.
It wasn't that he was weak, like some claimed, or that he was simple, as according to a few others, it was just he seemed programmed to be friendly. However, it seemed that even he had a limit… and the twins had just reached it.
Things had been silent on the Decepticon front and while that was cause for relief for some, for most of the minibots it was a cause to start watching their backs. The twin terrors grew bored when there was nothing for them to fight, and when they were bored they turned their optics to other forms of entertainment, namely, tormenting the minibots, and their favourite victim was Bumblebee.
He supposed it was his own fault really. He didn't blow up and attack the twins like Cliffjumper or Brawn did. He didn't drive them insane with complaints and moaning like Huffer and Gears did. He didn't even vanish for long periods and act so unconcerned that the twins grew bored like Beachcomber did. Instead... he would protest briefly before clamming up and taking the abuse in hopes it would make it end faster. He didn't complain, he just took it, though Primus only knew why.
He understood that he was used as a decoy by his fellow minibots (and a few other mechs if they came under the twins attention) in order to keep the twins entertained, but this was really going too far.
He'd been tied to the ceiling of this storeroom for nearly an entire joor. He had no comm links and he was too far away from the wiring in the ceiling to even think of hacking the intercom system. Worse, the twins seemed to have completely slagged his system up so he was going to be forced into the tender mercies of their cheery CMO when he finally got down.
Irritation ran through him as his usually cheery temperament took a back seat in the light of his situation. He had been up here for nearly a joor! He grit his denta, shifting in an attempt of getting his cuffed arms to the binding around his legs. He had missed a shift and a half now, and yet no one had come looking!
His optics narrowed and he growled in frustration as he realised he just couldn't twist in the manner needed to get himself free. His ankle joints were aching from the pressure of the cord binding him. His shoulder joints were aching from the angle his wrists were cuffed at and he was getting angry.
"I'm going to kill them." He hissed to himself. "No more nice mech, they are going down!"
The intercom in the corner buzzed to life startling him.
"Bumblebee, report to Prowl's office immediately, failure to do so will result in disciplinary action being taken." Bumblebee hung there and then shouted wordlessly in frustration.
"FORGET KILLING, KILLING IS TOO GOOD FOR THOSE MOTHERBOARD SLAGGING TWINS. WHEN I GET MY SERVOS ON THEM THEY'LL WISH THEY'D NEVER BEEN SPARKED!" He twisted desperately against the bindings, he didn't care if he'd be damaged falling to the ground, he wanted down NOW.
"Did you hear that? I swear it came from down this way..." Bumblebee's optics widened, voices... he was saved!
"I'M IN HERE!" He shouted at the top of his capacitor. There was a pause and then the door slid open to reveal Hound and Trailbreaker. The two looked around before spotting him and gaping.
"What are you doing up there?" Hound asked and Bumblebee glared.
"Gee Hound, I thought it would be fun to climb to the ceiling and tie myself here before cuffing my hands behind my back. THE SLAGGING TWINS PUT ME UP HERE NOW GET ME DOWN!"
"Why didn't you comm someone?" Trailbreaker asked, looking slightly taken aback by Bumblebee's anger.
"My comm has been completely destroyed." Bumblebee ground out. "Now... I have been hanging here for almost an entire joor. I have now missed two shifts and have been called to Prowl's office. My ankle and shoulder joints are quite painful. I am low on fuel and am literally kliks away from completely losing my temper. So would you PLEASE just get - me - down." His voice was overly calm and the two exchanged glances before shrugging.
"That explains why the twins have been absolutely bouncing all day." Trailbreaker murmured.
"And why they found Bumblebee being called to Prowl's office so funny." Hound added, comm-ing a few others to come help.
Bumblebee simply blanked his expression, his optics fixed resolutely on the wall. He was angry, and he'd had enough of the twins and their idea of a slagging joke. Well he was going to show them why you didn't slag off an ops mech.
Prowl had refused his offer of pulling a double shift to make up for the two he missed, citing the fact it wasn't his fault and the twins would be more than enough to make up for it. This hadn't really pleased Bumblebee as he still felt like he'd done wrong but he let it drop, not wanting to push the tactician too far.
Instead he focused on what he was going to do to the twins. Bumblebee knew that revenge was something you had to take your time on. Act too swiftly and you risked messing things up, not to mention running the risk of being caught.
For a while he contented himself with avoiding the twins as much as he could, and acting coolly towards them when he couldn't. He refused all aid towards them (unless unavoidable) and made it quite clear that they'd managed to get securely on his (previously thought nonexistent) bad side.
"Hey Bee!" This didn't stop them from trying him though. He turned and leveled a blank look at Sideswipe who grinned slightly nervously. "Ah, look Bee, I know we've had our differences and all but I was wondering if you could do me a favour… see… I'm kinda tired having just pulled a double and I have another shift in a cycle… so I was wondering…" Bumblebee kept staring at Sideswipe, knowing exactly where this was going.
"Right… so I was wondering if you'd mind taking my monitor shift for me? You ops guys like those right?" There were a few grumbles from around the room; the double shift had been punishment for stringing the small yellow spy up and now the red toughliner was using that same bot as a means of getting off lighter.
Every bot knew that Bumblebee rarely turned down a plea for him to cover a shift, especially shifts like patrol or monitor duty.
"No."
"Great! So it… wait… what?" Sideswipe wasn't the only bot gaping. Bumblebee smiled sweetly.
"I said no." He repeated as he turned and left the room, half of the occupants staring after him in shock.
"Oh Bumblebee!" They heard Bluestreak hail the bot as he entered the hallway. "I'm sorry to ask you to do this but I just pulled an extra long patrol to help Sunstreaker and I'm afraid I'm scheduled for another one in just over a cycle… I was wondering if you could cover for me? I know you're probably busy but…" Everyone waited almost breathlessly.
"Sure Blue, happy to help." Bumblebee's voice drifted back into the room, tone cheerful. It only took a moment before a few of the mechs cracked up at Sideswipe's complete disbelief.
"Neva thought I'd see th' day Bee held a grudge." Jazz chuckled, clapping Sideswipe on the shoulder on his way past. "But it looks like ya really fragged him off this time Sides. I'd watch my back if I were you."
More than one bot snickered at that, most positive that Bumblebee wouldn't do anything else. Jazz just smirked, his little spy was clever, and the twins weren't going to know what hit them.
There was something almost insanely thrilling about pulling off a good prank successfully, Bumblebee considered thoughtfully, his helm tilted to the side as he examined his handiwork amidst the laughter of what appeared to be at least half the Autobot force.
Of course, when that prank was payback… the thrill was even better.
He smirked up at the twins, knowing he was justified in looking pleased to see them where they were, and he'd be the last suspect because really… how would he have ever gotten them up there?
Everyone knew that Bumblebee wasn't really strong enough to lift one of the twins, let alone hold one up long enough to weld them to the ceiling of the refectory…
Which was exactly what had been done.
The twins were stuck there in two incredibly odd positions, which, if one cared to take notice of human culture, were actually ballet poses. The fact that they were tied and welded to the ceiling ensured they wouldn't be escaping or moving any time soon.
Of course the fact that they had also been painted in the brightest fluorescent paint Bumblebee had been able to get his servos on probably wasn't helping their tempers any. To add insult to injury, the majority of it had come from Sideswipe's personal and supposedly highly secret stash.
"STOP LAUGHING AND GET US DOWN!" Sunstreaker roared causing further hilarity as Jazz and Prowl had entered in time for the outburst. Prowl had stopped dead but Jazz had stared at the twins, glanced at Bumblebee, looked back to the twins and started snickering.
"I warned ya!" He chortled. "I warned ya ta watch yer back!" Sideswipe turned his helm as much as he could to glare at the saboteur.
"DAMN IT JAZZ! IF YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS!" Jazz just laughed harder earning a disapproving glance from Prowl, though he too seemed amused by their predicament.
"I never knew you had taken such an interest in human dance." Prowl stated dryly and Bumblebee grinned, optics glinting wickedly.
"I say we leave them there." Ratchet spoke up, grin splitting his face. "They make nice decorations."
"We can't leave them there." Prowl told the CMO flatly.
"I dunno Prowl… I think we should, might give 'em a better idea why Bee's still fragged off." Jazz piped up. All optics turned on Bumblebee and he saw the suspicion rising.
"How did you two get up there?" Prowl asked slowly, optics flickering between the yellow spy and the two on the ceiling.
"We don't know! We entered recharge in our quarters and came out of it stuck up here!" Sideswipe grouched. "And I want down NOW!" Bumblebee snorted.
"I'm all for leaving them there." He said with a smirk as they shot identical glares at him. "A joor for a joor sound fair?"
"When I get down there..." Sunstreaker growled the threat. Bumblebee continued to smirk.
"You come after me and I expect to see a row of bots in med bay, I have done less than most of them."
"DON'T GIVE ME THAT SLAG! YOU PUT US UP HERE!" This accusation sent almost everyone into fits of laughter. Bumblebee just stared up at the two in disbelief.
"Yeah... ok... HOW?"
"That's what I would like to know." Prowl said slowly, expression suspicious. "You aren't strong enough personally... but everyone knows you were rather annoyed with them... and I am sure you could have convinced somebody to help you." Bumblebee turned and looked at Prowl before shrugging.
"You can go through the entire crew Prowl. Not one bot will be able to admit to doing what you suggest, because nobody did." He glanced up at the two. "But whoever put them up there screwed with what I was going to do to them... I think I like this more." He grinned.
"What DID ya have planned?" Jazz asked, amusement clear in his voice.
"Oh just a few data shots I've collected over time, a bit of information here and there... the loss of blackmail material would have been worth it." Jazz and Mirage both chuckled appreciatively.
Prowl grumbled slightly as he turned and headed for the doors.
"Jazz, come with me." He ordered as he left. Jazz grinned and caught Bumblebee's optics as he turned to follow his fellow officer. Bumblebee smirked at him and un-subspaced a datapad tossing it to the 3IC.
"Thanks for lending me that." He said and Jazz shrugged with a light smirk.
"No problem." He left the room and slowly the room emptied until only Bumblebee remained staring up at the twins, evil grin on his face.
"You know... you're going to forever wonder if I did this. What would be worse? Knowing for certain I was capable of something like this, wondering who I had on my side that was capable of this, or wondering if I was capable and just hiding it?" His optics flashed at them.
"Isn't that something to consider... Sweet Treat?" The twin's optics widened in horror and Bumblebee's grin widened. "Or was that Soft Spark? I wonder how many bots will know the story behind that by the time you get down?" He turned and headed for the entrance, laughing to himself as the two shouted and fought desperately.
Ah yes, revenge was sweet; the twins were lucky he wasn't one to hold grudges.
Jazz started the data pad Bumblebee had passed him, anticipative expression on his face. When Prowl came looking for him a breem later he found Jazz rolling around on the floor of his quarters, laughing himself sick.
All he'd been able to say was: Jetpack, override, and genius, before he descended into laughter again. Prowl cycled a sigh and put it down to yet another quirk in the saboteur that only the bot himself could understand.