Comfort Food
Originally a REALLY long one-shot, but I had to break it up. I REFUSE to have an issue like this fixed with the dreaded "reset" button. I'm sure a few of you readers would agree with me on this.
On another note, while the reviewer Irismagic is right, Bumblebee is not bulimic. He's a compulsive overeater. I had a feeling that might get lost in the quagmire.
"How long has he been doing this?"
"I don't know." Red Alert slowly pulled the camera off of Bumblebee's form. He'd suspected the spy of overeating for human months now; he should have lost his sparkling insulation vorns ago. He'd never gotten proof of it on camera until 2 weeks, 4 days ago when Wheeljack had tested an invention on Bumblebee's room and discovered his gigantic cache of food. Optimus had given him a reprimand for taking sustenance outside of his rations and donated the stash to the communal Big Fridge.
But then Bumblebee started going to the Big Fridge at night. It started out as tiny things; half-sips of energon and a shake or two of iron fillings. Red Alert, while dismayed, couldn't make himself turn Bumblebee in (lots of sparklings, himself included, found "midnight snacks" necessary while they were growing to keep hunger pangs away). Then the portions grew and grew, his diet got varied, and Bumblebee started to linger well into the morning hours, sitting and staring blindly at the shelves of food in front of him. Eventually he stopped caring what he ate; Red Alert saw Bumblebee eating food he positively HATED, almost reveling in the fact that it made him choke and sputter.
Red Alert had never done that.
He told Inferno. Inferno watched in shock and promised not to tell.
Jazz knew about in the next morning, which meant half the Ark knew about it by noon and Optimus Prime knew by night.
Which meant that the entire senior staff was now in Red Alert's security room, crowded around him and his favorite monitor and giving him nervous tank pains that were only eased by the fire truck at his side.
"Slag, man..." Jazz rubbed the side of his head in embarrassment, suddenly remembering every time he'd called for "Tubby" instead of Bumblebee.
"Poor leetle gahy..." Ironhide almost sighed and looked up to his friend. "What'er we gonna do with him, Prahme?"
"Whatever needs to be done to make sure this stops." Optimus straightened himself up and cleared his optics (when had they fogged up?). "I'm going to get him."
"N-NO!" Red Alert went to swivel his chair, but ran into Jazz's knee and Prowl's elbow first. "He'll know we've been watching him! If we betray his trust, he'll have no reason to stay loyal to the Autobot side! He might ally with the Decepticons an-"
"Yeah, Ah'm sure you know just how that works, Red!"
"That's enough." Optimus did that "leader" thing he did, effectively silencing the room with the position of his spine and the rumble of his voice. "I'm going to get him. Red Alert, make sure his room is locked. He will have to be observed for the next few days. Until we can find someone willing to watch him, he will stay in my quarters. You are all dismissed."
&
Bumblebee was jolted awake by a footstep near his back. Where was he, this wasn't hi- the fridge! He'd fallen offline in the commissary! Oh, SLAG, he was in trouble! BIG troubl-
He was in the air! "Gah!"
The sudden rush of fluids shorted his optic circuits, blurring his vision until he was upright. His arm was clutching a blue shoulder, aft cuddled in an elbow and legs dangling in front of a grill.
Oh PRIMUS, kill me now...
He wilted against Prime's shoulder and whimpered, ignoring the soothing words and warm hand rubbing his frozen joints.