I almost cried when I was writing this. Take that as a warning.
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime or the lyrics to the lullaby.
XXX
Bumblebee P.O.V
"Arcee?" I asked in complete bewilderment. She smiled.
"In the flesh."
I gave a small laugh of relief. "It's so good to see you again! Who am I kidding, it's great to see you!"
"You too Bee. How long has it been?" Arcee's voice was hoarse and raspy.
"100 years, give or take a few." Arcee smiled, but in an instant it disappeared.
"I'm sorry about Raf." I shook my head a bit, trying to think of a way that she would've known about Raf. She must've seen this because she let out a heavy sigh.
"C'mon Bee. You said it yourself, *cough* it's been almost a hundred years. I would be surprised if Raf was still kicking. Jack...well...he died too. Along with Miko. They're all gone Bee, there's no one left," Arcee revealed. A tear ran down her cheek, leaving behind a path clear of mud, and beautiful silver skin shining through.
I didn't accept it. I kept pushing.
"What about June and Fowler? They have to be…" I trailed off. Arcee shook her head and squeezed her optics shut.
"They're all gone, Bee...all gone." I nodded my head in acceptance.
"Thank you. About Raf. He's in a better place now. They all are," I paused, "You sound sick." Arcee scoffed, like she was expecting that question.
"Cyber-cancer. I've had it for about 2 years now, gradually growing weaker and weaker each day *cough.* I'm ok, though. Really." I didn't believe that one bit. Arcee was known for making things seem better than they actually are. This is why I didn't believe the team when they said that I was the optimistic one. I believed it was her. But I thought that I was doing bad. I wasn't sick and covered in mud.
"Enough chatter, Autobots!" Starscream interrupted. I glared at the Seeker, trying to hide my fear for what would happen next. My mind wandered. What was he going to do to us? Torture us? Brainwash us? Kill us? None seemed acceptable. I glanced at Arcee; Starscream had removed his claws from her neck, who was coughing up energon. By my guess and estimation, she hadn't refuelled in weeks, months maybe. I hoped that Starscream would do whatever he pleased to me first, so that Arcee could get a chance to do something, run, maybe?
But luck was not on my side, because Starscream took a knee in front of Arcee. Arcee stared up into his optics and coughed energon all over his faceplate. Starscream didn't strangle her again, or slash her, instead, he simply wiped her energon off of his face.
"What do you want from us?" Arcee demanded quietly, her broken voice cracking in the middle of the sentence.
"I...we, are going to kill you, both of you. Your soulless husks will lie here for millennia, decomposing and serving as an example of the sheer might of the Decepticons! Too bad you fellow Autobot scums couldn't be here today," Starscream stood up and tapped his pointy chin. Anger coursed through my body, "I wonder why...oh, wait...silly me, they can't be here because they're all dead!" He spat, glaring at us both. He laughed maniacally.
"Now, who's first?"
My optics widened. I thought that the killing was a last resort if we didn't cooperate with a task or something. I didn't expect them to just...kill us! Just like that! Again I wished that Starscream killed me first, giving Arcee enough time to possibly break free and run. But in the back of my processor I knew who Starscream would kill first. Bulkhead's words rang in my ears,
"Starscream's not dumb. No matter what tool he has, he'll take the easy route."
And who was the easier route to take? Me, with ok health, thick armour and drive? Or Arcee, with a fatal sickness, thin armour and practically begging for death. I realized at that moment,
she was the easy route.
Arcee must have remembered too, because her dim and muddy optics widened.
"No...please," she whispered, falling on deaf ears as Starscream slowly walked towards the femme. Arcee looked over at me, her whole body shaking and eyes pleading not no die. I tried to give her a comforting look, but it ended up a look of discomfort. Arcee started to hyperventilate and cry tears of pure panic. I guessed that she made a promise to Jack to survive the war; she did it all the time. She tried to clutch her head in a desperate attempt to calm the voices in her head, but soon remembered that her hands were handcuffed behind her back. Arcee let out a cry.
"Look at me, Autobot!" Starscream bellowed, causing Arcee to whip her head around and choke down a sob.
"Good," Starscream sneered, "now, I call this move the 'Cliffjumper execution.' What do you think, my dear?"
"No, Starscream *cough* No please! *cough*" The seeker smirked. I wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off of his cowardly face. He turned towards me, Arcee's head in grasp.
"Now. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the horror show, scout!"
"Starscream, don't!" I demanded. My optics betrayed me, however, gleaming in tears of desperation and fear. He smirked once more and released Arcee's head. No longer having a support for her neck, her head flopped forwards, but she managed to catch herself before it fell completely.
"So, scout. You care for this femme?" Without hesitation, I answered, "Yes."
"And if you could, would you switch places?"
"Yes," I answered again, injecting my words with determination, "Will you let me switch places with Arcee?"
Starscream's expression was unreadable. His optics scanned me from helm to pede, taking in every detail of my appearance. I tried my best to look tired and worn. It seemed to fool the Seeker.
"Very well scout. I shall grant you-"
"Starscream! Finish the femme first. I want to see the scout after his maternal figure is dead." Megatron sneered. My optics widened. Only the Autobots knew that Arcee had raised me.
"How did-"
"There are many things I know about you Autobots. Starscream, kill her."
"With pleasure, my liege."
I slumped down in defeat. The only person who cared for me more than a friend, a comrade, was about to die. I wasn't optimistic anymore. I had to face the truth. Arcee was going to die, and she knew it too.
Arcee had stopped sobbing.
Starscream kneeled down if front of her again, and bowed, a mockery air to his actions.
"Any last words?"
"I have three for you."
"And they are?"
"Go frag yourself!"
"Stupid femme!"
Starscream unsheathed his talons and raised his arm in the air behind him. Arcee turned to me and spoke her final words of wisdom.
"Bee," she began. Starscream dropped the arm, also dropping his bluff.
"I know that in this short time today, you've given up hope, yes? Don't. I want you to keep living your life to the fullest, however short that may be, or however long. Keep dreaming. Keep dreaming all of the dreams you'd hoped to dream. Dream for a better future, a better life. For your loved ones, and most importantly, for yourself. You of all people deserve it. Make a difference in this world. Fight back. Do whatever you can to save the people of Earth. For Raf, for Jack, for everyone. I've always loved you, my son. Never forget me-"
BANG!
Arcee drew a sharp breath. I watched her face expand, her features full of pain. From what I could see, her once beautiful cobalt blue paint faded to a dark matte gray. Her optics drained of all colour, except for her stunning violet rings. I shifted my optics behind her and saw that Megatron had shot a smoldering hole directly through her spark chamber. She breathed quickly, optics fidgeting back and forth in their sockets, flickering every second. Her arms had been un-cuffed by a mute vehicon standing beside the injured femme. She would have all of 10 seconds to do her last movement. I thought that she would clutch her now empty spark chamber, but I thought wrong.
Arcee inched forward towards me. I stood up and ran the 10 feet or so between us. I kneeled down in front of her. Arcee was on her knees, staring up into my optics.
Without warning, she reached up and took my face in her hands. Gently, she gravitated towards my forehead.
She kissed me right between the optics and whispered,
"Dream for me."
I nodded. She smiled and closed her optics. Her smile faded, along with her very existence. Her body slumped into a heap against mine, but her left hand still rested on my cheek. That was it.
Arcee was gone.
I could've yelled out in despair. I could've broken the chains that bonded me. I could've spewed every insult and curse word I knew in any language, but I didn't. I sat there with the body of Arcee draped across mine, her hand on my cheek, and I smiled. I smiled because I knew that we had the best possible farewell that could be imagined, under the circumstances. I saw the crackle of lightning, and heard the roar of thunder. Thick clouds built up over my head. I looked up to the sky, closing my optics and expecting rain to pour down on my face.
But the rain never came.
Instead, a ray of sunshine warmed my faceplate. I opened my optics and saw one single patch of cobalt blue sky with a comforting gleam of sunshine breaking free through the clouds. It was a sign.
I glanced down at Arcee and smiled sadly.
"Thanks, Mom," I whispered, "I will dream for you." A single tear ran down my face.
"Awww," Megatron interrupted, "How simply sparkwarming. She is gone, scout. And she will never come back!" I laughed at Megatron's attempt to twist the knife deeper.
"Don't even try it, Megatron," I said with a smile. I turned to face the warlord, my mother's hand gliding down my body and laying to rest on her thigh. "Arcee...mom, wouldn't want me to think that. She was a dreamer, no matter how much she tried to hide it. And so am I. I want to dream for her. I'll dream of a bright future for both of us. For Raf, and for all of the humans that still live on Earth. And if that means that I join her in the Well of Allsparks, then so be it. I'll be happy to see her again and to tell her that though my life was short, it was full of hope, thanks to her."
I internally laughed out loud at buckethead's expression. His optics swam with confusion and his posture suggested that he secretly longed for a family that loved him. Anyone to love him, for that matter. I wished for a moment that I could give that to him, but that moment was shattered when he roared and lunged for me, sword extended. It was at that moment that the break in the sky closed, and it was at that moment when the rain started to pour.
Warrior instincts came into play and I dodged the blade and jumped over my cuffs to put them in front of my body. I picked up my mother's body and started running, while Megatron was attempting to get his blade out of the ground. He roared and pulled his sword out of the ground when I made it to the destroyed 'Welcome to Jasper, Nevada' sign. I kept running until a bright blue light flashed from behind me. I didn't want to turn around to see what had happened, but I forced myself to.
I saw a smouldering husk that once was the warlord known as Megatron, and an unidentified cybertronian ship. But I assumed because they attacked Megatron, that the passengers on board were Autobots.
The ramp to the ship descended and spilled smoke over the corners, giving the ship a very extraterrestrial vibe. I could make out 3 figures standing on the lift once it got to the halfway point. 2 looked familiar, one resembled Optimus a fair amount. My hopes rose.
The ramp landed firmly on the ground. With the smoke cleared, I could identify the figures. I thought that they were dead!
"Ratchet? Smokescreen?" I asked. Ratchet laughed and ran towards me, a smile on his lips. (A/N: Ratchet? Smiling? Perish the thought.) He embraced me with every ounce of strength he had, without harming me of course. Smokescreen followed the medic with a more relaxed pace. Once he got in arm's length, I shifted Arcee onto one arm and grasped hands with the rookie. I asked where the others were, but Smokescreen said that they were the only ones from Team Prime that were left.
Our meeting was short lived when the third figure approached us.
"Greetings, fellow Autobot," the tall cybertronian greeted, "What is your name?"
"Uh, Bumblebee. What's yours?"
"You mean, 'What's yours, sir?'" It was Ultra Magnus. I bowed then saluted.
"Yes, sir."
"I am Ultra Magnus. Commander of the Salvager Expedition. I see that you have already met my warrior and chief medical officer." I nodded furiously.
"We go way back, sir. Ratchet, I need your help." Ratchet gave me a puzzled look. I gestured towards Arcee and he understood. Ratchet looked up at the commander.
"Sir, permission to bring aboard 1 identified cybertronian and 1 unknown."
"Granted."
Ratchet placed a hand on my door wings and guided me into Magnus' ship.
XXX
I carried Arcee through the groundbridge and through the abandoned streets of dubbed 'Middle of Nowhere, Russia' up until the small children's playground where I laid Raf to rest.
After I was escorted onto Magnus' ship, Ratchet scanned Arcee and me and told me what I already knew. I was fine but dehydrated and tired, and Arcee couldn't be saved. He didn't know it was her initially, but after trying to find her identity in his medical records, Ratchet stumbled across a file that matched up. He triple checked his scans. I assured him that the deceased femme was Arcee. He patted me on the back and tried to comfort me, but I told him that she was sick and in a better place. I told him of our brief time together, how it happened, what I did afterwards, and our final goodbye. He said that she didn't deserve it. That none of us deserve it.
I reminded him of Magnus blasting and killing Megatron. The warlord was no more. But Ratchet reminded me the world doesn't work like that. You can't just expect everything to fall into place once the head is blown off. Others will rise to Megatron's place and take his throne. There will still be a war to fight, comrades lost.
While he was talking, I recalled what Arcee had said,
"Dream for a better future, a better life...You of all people deserve it."
And I did dream. I dreamt of her and for her. Every day. I would lie in my quarters and dream of a world that was pure. No evil was committed there. My loved ones miraculously came back to celebrate with me every night. And best of all, when I was lonely, my mother would sing a song to me. One that she had sang to me when I was little. One that she had read about in books from earth...
'Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly,
Lavender's green
When you are king, dilly, dilly,
I shall be queen
Who told you so, dilly, dilly,
Who told you so?
'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly,
That told me so'
I thought that mom deserves a better end than to be dismantled for spare parts. I asked Ratchet if he could help me paint her back to her original glory, and he agreed. We spent 2 hours painting her from helm to pede, but in the end she looked dazzling. With a goodbye to Ratchet, I picked Arcee up and activated the groundbridge. Which brings me back to the playground.
Digging a grave with my bare servos in the black of night, my mother lay beside me, and a comforting presence surrounded me like a blanket of warmth. I recognized her warmth and kindness, and also the familiar presence of Raf. With those thoughts and spirits I carried on through the night and into the early morning.
My hands were filthy and my body sore, but I lifted Arcee up and gently placed her in the grave I had dug. I lifted her head up and placed a pillow with a lavender scent below her, before laying her back down to rest. I thought I was fine, I was strong, but apparently I wasn't.
The emotions of burying my mother figure got to me at about 4:30 in the morning. I was sitting at the edge of her grave, bawling my optics out like a sparkling. I didn't have the courage to place the unearthed dirt back into the earth on top of Arcee. So I undid all of my hard work, picked Arcee up out of the grave and scooped the dirt handful by handful back into the grave to fill the space.
With the grave filled and the grass pillow-like, I placed the actual pillow down at the head, and Arcee onto the pillow. The scent of lavender filled the air around me. I looked around for anything that could decorate her shrine, I decided to call it, thinking 'grave' sounds too much like death. Shrine sounds like 'passed on.'
Luckily, I found the town's old flower gardens. Thousands of flowers lined rows of volcanic ash. Lilies, daisies, tulips, bluebells, you name it. I picked a fair amount of flowers and travelled back to mom's shrine. I placed a bouquet in her hands and placed her hands on her lap. I placed flowers on her pillow and surrounding her body, like an outline. The ones I had to spare littered her body at random. Those would fly off, but they would stay in proximity. When I was finished with the shrine, I just had one final thing to do.
Clearing my throat, I sang…
'Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly,
Lavender's green
When you are king, dilly, dilly,
I shall be queen
Who told you so, dilly, dilly,
Who told you so?
'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly,
That told me so'
I finally felt satisfied that Arcee had gotten the proper send off. I turned on my heel and walked back to my original arrival coordinates.
"Bumblebee to Ratchet, I need a bridge."
"Coming up Bumblebee. Are you ok now?"
I glanced back at Arcee's shrine and heard the sweet sound of her voice singing the lullaby that I loved. It might have been my imagination, or maybe it was a daydream. But I knew for certain that she was here with me always. I no longer felt sad. I knew that while this might have been the end of Arcee's story, it was the beginning of my new story. One without war, one without death, one without sadness. Only happy thoughts, hope, and dreams. After all, I was the optimistic one.
My lips pulled back into a smile as I answered Ratchet.
"I'm ok now."
Humming the lullaby, I entered the groundbridge and into my new story. But before the bridge closed, I looked back a final time. I blew a kiss out of the groundbridge's swirling portal.
With a bright flash and a pop, the bridge closed.
"Closure."
XXX
And that brings 2094 to an end. It was a looooong one-shot. Hope the story wasn't too sad for you. I know I bawled my eyes out. T_T
Reviews are very much appreciated!
