Duplicity Chapter 2

Bumblebee groaned as he went to answer him comm. link. It was too early to be a call from Sentinel Minor. Too early for anyone to be calling really. He just wanted to recharge.

: Hello? : He answered groggily.

: Bumblebee! : the voice shouted into his audio sensors. The poor bot wasn't expecting it and fell off his berth, landing painfully on his helm. He groaned, picking himself up as the voice instantly went to sputtering out apologies. : Oh my Primus Bee! I didn't mean to scream! I'm so sorry! Are you hurt? Are you leaking? Is everything okay? I'm sor- :

: Glyph, cool your circuits. You just surprised me. Ya' know? You have a big voice for such a small bot. : Bumblee said. He heard the femme laughing from her side of the link.

: I'm still a taller bot than you shorty. : Glyph responded.

: Hey, I am not that little! Now what do you want femme? :

: …I can't go to recharge. :

: Are you worried about me and Hot Head? :

A scoff. : Me? Worried about you two? :

: You know you love us. :

: Unfortunately. When are you and him going to visit anyway? I'm getting so lonely being on my own. :

: We've been training for a while. And honestly, I can't wait to get out of here. I keep getting the feeling that someone wants me gone. And it's not Wasp or Ironhide. But, I promise one of our days off we'll be visiting you. I want to know more about your research. :

: Just be careful. Though, how surprising. I didn't think you wanted to know about me 'boring' ol' research. :

: I will. And you make it less boring femme. : A smile fell on his face plate. Glyph for the longest time had acted like an older sister for him and his brother. With how accident proned the duo was, it was nice having the feeling of someone looking after them both. Speaking of his brother… it would be nice to add him to the call. He doubted he would be getting any sleep for the rest of this solar cycle, might as well put the hot head up to it as well. Luckily Bulkhead was a heavy sleeper.

Longarm, for the life of him, could not stand being around these insane autobots any longer than he had to. His troop seemed utterly hopeless. Wasp and Ironhide seemed to show some potential, though he refused to hold him in high regard. Dreams of reaching the Elite Guard. Bah they would all be useless. Along with the country bumpkin and the annoying yellow beetle who would try to talk to him, he had enough. At least he had stopped causing trouble, though the con in him wanted to slag the little scrapper where he stood.

It didn't help that Sentinel Minor had no idea what he was doing. From his research he learned he that the fragger had only just graduated. A complete and utter stuck up bot that was crawling under his servos. If it weren't for the fact he had to go through this training to reach his goals he would have slagged him long ago.

He turned his optics to the bots in front of him. Bulkhead had let out a yawn, sipping on his can of oil as the bumbler zipped around his new and only friend within the whole camp. At least, so he thought. He couldn't help but notice another bot approach the young minibot. He remembered the bot. Hot Shot was a promising young bot, not much older than the bumbler. The youngling, luckily, had another drill officer than his own team.

The bumbler was caught in the arms of Hot Shot as he rubbed his helm. Normally, if Wasp or Ironhide were to do the same the beetle would cry out, doing his best to escape. This however was different as the beetle laughed, curling to the older cadet. If the motor oil hadn't woken up Bulkhead, then hearing his 'little buddy' laugh at being caught by an unknown bot had. Wasp and Ironhide were already in the break hall, watching with a peaked curiosity at how the two bots reacted to one another. It hadn't failed to spark his own curiosity as well as he listened to their conversation.

"Come on Hot Head let go already," Bumblebee whined, though the smile on his faceplace said otherwise. He seemed to quite enjoy being in the arms of the older bot.

"Come on yourself Sparky," Hot Shot laughed, "I haven't seen you in solar cycles!"

"Well with how busy we've both been," Bumblebee sticks his glossa out at him. "You know training, getting stuffed into lockers, training, dealing with glitch heads. There isn't time in the solar cycle when we're on the same schedule."

Hot Shot poked his head, releasing him from his hold, "True. First time in a long while. And who's been stuffin' you into lockers? Who's tailpipe needs kicking?"

"Oh no one. I can deal with things myself. Besides, I gotta introduce you to someone," Bumblebee laughs, quickly changing the subject as he turned to Bulkhead. "Hot Head, this here is Bulkhead. Bulky, this glitch of a bot is my brother, Hot Shot."

Wasp and Ironhide nearly choked on their oil, letting out a cough as they turn their helms to the conversation going on behind them. Bulkhead blinks but chuckles, "So this is the famous Hot Shot you've been telling me about Bee?"

"Famous? What's the little scrapper been telling you?" Hot Shot glanced around, optics shifting rapidly from side to side.

"Oh noooothiiing," Bumblebee hummed, dragging the duo to sit down with him at one of the tables. This was so worth it to him, seeing the look of shock and bewilderment on his two tormentors.

It almost made Longarm feel bad about what he was going to do to the beetle later on. Almost. However, what Lord Megatron didn't know, wouldn't get him offlined. He needed to take his anger out on some bot.

Bulkhead, no matter how hard he tried, could not shake the smile from his face plate. Meet Bumblebee on its own had been an adventure. However adding Hot Shot into that mix… the duo of hyper race bots could tire out anybody. But, no matter what they did, they made sure Bulkhead felt involved with it. The fun didn't last, as they'd have to separate to go to their respective drill sergeants. It was bad enough Sentinel Minor didn't like him and his little buddy. Arriving late would only make the other bots dislike them more.

"I'm glad you and Hot Head are getting along. That's a good sign. Maybe on our day off you can come with us to see Glyphy," Bee laughed as the duo walked down the hall. Bee was a very social bot, the polar opposite of Bulkhead. However, despite their differences they grew close in their days at camp. While the other bots bagged on him for the occupation he chose for his dreams, Bumblebee surprisingly stood up for him. He wasn't very special and all the mechs in camp knew it. But Bee seemed to see something in him that the others didn't.

When they chose bunkmates, Wasp, Ironhide and Longarm left them to themselves. Outcasted in their own cadet troop. However, his little buddy didn't seemed bothered by that, dragging him to their bunk room. The minibot was filled with surprises, even asking him about space bridges and how he got interested in it all. He talked more in that one lunar cycle than he had in ages. Bumblebee knew that he knew what he was talking about. He was the first bot outside of his family that showed any faith in him. That meant a lot.

He managed to learn about Bee in the solar cycles that followed. He learned how Bee couldn't stand the quiet, how He did have a short temper,but kept it under control to the best of his abilities. How he would train after each training session because he didn't want to fall behind. He even offered to help Bulkhead with training so they could both stay in shape.

The minibot was an odd one, but Bulkhead didn't mind. No matter how many times he found his friend trapped in a locker, or being yelled at, or in some kind of trouble, he was always grinning and upbeat. It was hard not to be motivated when he was around. He didn't see how anyone could hate his little buddy.

"Hey Bee?" Bulkhead asked, bringing the minibot attention back to him.

"Yeah Bulky?"

"Maybe… after I meet your sister and after camp…. Do you and your siblings wanna visit the energon farms with me?" He knew a one day break wouldn't be enough to really get to know the grounds around the farms, or to meet his large family.

Bee blinked his optics, staring up at the taller mech. Out of all the things he expected to come from the big guy, it wasn't that. "You mean like… meet your family? Your Carrier? Your Sir? The whole shebang?"

"Yeah. I'm sure they'd love you Bee."

For once, Bee was completely quiet as he mulled over what Bulkhead just asked. Normally Bee would wouldn't shut his vocal processor unless he was waiting for answers. Bulkhead wondered what was running through his buddy's processor when the beetle smiled again, "Sure Bulky. Sounds like fun."

He hadn't missed the pained glimmer in his friends optics. It only lasted a nanoklik, but it was there. Bulkhead couldn't help but wonder what made him so upset.

Glyph, for the spark of her, was bored senseless. It wasn't often she got bored over the little things, but with her two hyperactive besties gone everything was far too mute. She was left to her research and studies for archaeometry but this was far from her passion. As much as she loved researching, her time could be devoted to more than simply dating specimens. Though maybe she could work on a few of her projects.

She had much more time than her boys, and just like her boys a bored Glyph was a dangerous Glyph. Sitting at one of her computers, she started pulling up different files. Perhaps one of these can stimulate her processor enough to find a project to work on.

A/N: Updates will be slower. I just had most of this chapter written up before. Then again I'm in a TFA mindset so maybe not. Feedback is appreciated.