*peeks out from behind bomb shelter* Ummmm...Hi? *dodges bombs and flying tomatoes* GAHHHH! HELP ME! No. Not at all. Its your fault their PO'd at you. You promised them an update TWO WEEKS ago, and now, your posting a completely different story. So, nope. Not gonna help. Screw you! I thought you loved me! I do. You just need to get your priorites straight. Is it really my fault that life got in the way? No. Not really. But you should have still updated. Your no help at all. Why thank you. I try. Now! Without further ado, welcome to 'Queen Bee' adopted from Sparklespepper. This was originally called 'Mother Bee' but we got permission to change it.

So, without further ado; Enjoy!

Warning: minor OOCness, slash, language (Earth cursing and Cybertronix), may have Character Death, mention of sparkling/child abuse, mention of adult/sexual themes, mention of negligence, mention of past violence, violence, minor cross over with the Bayverse Transformers

Pairing(s): Barricade/Bumblebee, Ratchet/Arcee, Optimus/Elita, Jazz/Prowl (Bulkhead needs love! Give us an idea please!)

Disclaimer: The Homunculi Twins don't own the Transformers Animated, nor any and all Transformers characters that decide they want to appear in this story. They belong to Hasbro and Cartoon Network. We do, however, own this plot, this account, and any and all OC's that pop up. The only profit we make from this story is the reviews, because we're review whores. Thank you, and enjoy the story.

x-(-X-X-)-x

Arc I

Reversal

Bumblebee sighed dejectedly as he slowed to a stop when the light turned red, his engine humming as it idled. He had just spent the last four and a half megacycles looking for the energy signal Teletran-One had picked up earlier that day, and the yellow scout was exhausted. Spending over ten Earth hours hiking through the woods and mountains was not his idea of fun; that was more Prowl's forte. Why Bumblebee had been sent there instead of Prowl, was beyond his comprehension. The ninja-bot would have been so much better suited for it than he was.

Revving his engine when the light turned green, he quickly began to make his way back to base, albeit much more slowly due to his exhaustion and hunger.

When was the last time he had eaten? Judging from the warning signs flashing on his HUD, most likely it was a few solar cycles ago.

'Slag' the minibot grumbled to himself. 'If the Hatchet finds out, I might as well move my stuff to the Pit.'

Turning onto the highway that would lead him home, he pushed passed his exhaustion to speed up, eager to return to base. If he had been in his bipedal mode, a large, Cheshire like grin would be across his face. He loved going fast; ever since he was little and growing up in the Youth Centers he dreamed of being able to feel the wind on his face as he flew by the other Younglings and Sparklings. To be free from their mockery and teasing. It was his dream, his goal; the one thing that kept him sane in the Center.

But, like most dreams, it had been ruthlessly destroyed.

A ping from his comm. link tore the yellow and black scout from his dark musings, which he was grateful for; it was all in the past now; no need to bring it back.

::Optimus to Bumblebee, I repeat Optimus to Bumblebee, do you copy?:: Optimus' baritone voice sounded, though Bumblebee could hear an exhausted tone to it. Concern washed over the youngling as he replied.

::Optimus, Bumblebee reporting; what's up Boss-bot?:: the yellow bot asked, concern echoing faintly over the comm.

::Oh thank Primus:: Optimus' voice sounded relieved, causing Bumblebee to be even more concerned. ::Bumblebee, you need to get to Spinoza Drive ASAP. We have three 'cons – Lugnut, Blitzwing, and an Unknown – out here trying to get an AllSpark fragment.::

If he was human, Bumblebee would have swallowed nervously. As it was, he felt his engine sputter in either exhaustion or shock, he didn't know. If he was honest with himself, it was probably a bit of both. Steeling himself, the yellow and black Autobot quickly swerved into an exiting lane, ignoring the angry honking behind him.

::I'm on my way; ETA, six point nine four eight minutes. Bumblebee; out:: Bumblebee replied grimly, rocketing down the streets towards his teammates.

::Acknowledged; get here soon Bumblebee. Optimus, out::

Revving his engine, the yellow bug picked up the pace; his teammates needed him, and he'd be Unicron's bitch before he let them down.

x-(-X-X-)-x

"Bumblebee's on his way!" Optimus informed Ratchet, the two back to back as they battled against the unknown 'Con's creations – a bunch of mindless drones with some serious firepower.

Ratchet grunted, either in acknowledgment or from the effort of launching a piece of heavy concrete at the drones, Optimus didn't know, nor did he truly care. He knew that the red and white War Veteran had heard him.

::What is his status?:: Prowl asked, sending numerous shuriken into Lugnut's joints, causing the green and purple Cyclops to howl in pain. The black and gold ninjabot was leaping to and fro, hitting the large Cybertronian in known weak points of the mechs' armor; his body twisting this way and that gracefully in the air. Optimus didn't even question how the ninjabot had heard him over the roar of battle; there were somethings the leader just didn't need to do. Questioning a ninjabot was one of them.

::About six minutes. Four if he breaks all the Detroit laws on speeding:: Optimus replied dryly, making sure to broadcast it to Bulkhead, who was currently battling Blitzwing. Optimus ducked, pulled a sharp right face and swung his axe up into the face of one of the droids. With a grunt, he pulled the droid forward and shoved the now offlined body into a nearby wave of the fraggers. Snorts of amusement were his reply to his dry statement.

::I say three minutes:: Bulkhead replied mirthfully, using his wrecking ball to toss a few drones at Blitzwing. Optimus resisted rolling his optics – a trait he had picked up from Sari – and used his axe to deactivate a swarm of drones. He felt, more than heard, the whistling sound of something heavy being thrown, prompting him to duck. The red and flue truck-former glanced up just in time to see what looked like three tons of metal, earth, and grass fly above him, effectively smashing and destroying over half of the remaining drones.

::Little warning next time Ratchet:: Optimus drawled, even as he swung his axe in a large, horizontal swoop, prompting the old medic to duck himself in order not to get decapitated.

::Youngling, ya know ya just contradicted yerself, yeah?:: came the equally as dry reply from the med-bot. Giving in, Optimus rolled his optics.

::Yes, I know, and I am not a youngling!::

::Ta me kid, yer all younglings:: Ratchet scoffed, shaking his servo as he forced his electromagnets back into their holding. ::Remind me when we get back ta base ta finish repairing my electromagnets.:: The gruff med-bot said to his leader. Optimus nodded, grabbing a droid by the chasis and threw him at Blitzwing, mentally smirking at hearing the jet-former start to curse. Absently, Optimus once again wondered how the three headed 'Con knew German, though he easily pushed back those thoughts.

::Umm guys? A little help here!:: Came Bulkhead's slightly panicked voice. Preforming a quick, sharp and precise about face that would have made any military man (or woman) proud, Optimus spun around, acting quickly when he saw Bulkhead about to be hit with one of Lugnut's missiles. With a mighty heave, the red and blue truck-former threw his Energon axe, his blue optics narrowed in concentration. Out of the corner of his optic, he saw Prowl throwing a great many of his shuriken towards Lugnut, hitting the cyclops in his optic and many of the exposed protoform points in his armor. Blitzwing, seeing his partner beginning to fall into stasis lock from the combined hits to his optic and main Energon lines, which were ironically locked in nearly all the exposed protoform spots, growled and fired at Prowl.

Just as the Energon axe hit the missile, causing it to explode, the unknown 'Con appeared behind Bulkhead and, using one of his Energon swords, pierced it through the gentle giant's shoulder plating, causing him to hiss in pain. Optimus and Ratchet ducked to avoid the shrapnel of the explosion, and dimly could hear the sounds of transforming, before two loud engines cut across the sky.

Slowly, after resetting their audio sensors a couple of times, the two mechs stood up and surveyed the damage, thanking Primus that they had been in a relatively unpopulated area when the three 'Cons had shown. Dust and debris filtered down from the explosion, encasing the area around them in a dusty darkness.

A groan of pain reached their audios, and both spun around to see Prowl slowly picking himself up from where he had been blasted into the ground. A few streaks of bright blue Energon trickled down from beneath his cracked visor and out of the numerous gashes on his armor. The black and gold motorcycle-former held a servo to his head, where Energon was leaking out in a steady stream.

Ratchet cursed as he made his way towards the ninjabot's side, preforming basic first aid, while Optimus went over to where Bulkhead was laying, concern for his teammate shining clearly in his optics.

"Bulkhead, you okay?" Optimus asked. A groan was his answer as the gentle green giant slowly sat up.

"Yeah, Boss bot, I'm fine. Just a couple of scratches; nothing the Doc-bot can't fix." Bulkhead replied, gently prodding his shoulder which was leaking a small trail of Energon. "Looks like that 'Con's sword missed most of the Energon lines, so its just a superficial wound." Optimus said, gently examining the stab wound, muttering an apology when the younger let out a strangled intake when he poked it a little to harshly.

Bulkhead nodded in agreement, grasping the Prime's servo when he offered it and heaved himself to his pedes. Gently placing a servo on the much larger mechs shoulder plating, the Prime gently led his younger teammate towards Ratchet and Prowl; the latter was sitting up with his visor off, optics shuttered tight while Ratchet gently, but firmly, patched up the nasty cut on his forehelm.

"You alright there Prowl?" Bulkhead asked, concerned for his other teammate. Prowl unshuttered one optic, turning to look at the large green bot.

"Yes." came the short, semi tense answer before the blue optic fell closed again. Ratchet gave a grunt in agreement as he sat back to inspect his handy work. Satisfied, he gently placed the ninjabot's visor back over his eyes, causing the normally gray piece to flicker a few times before turning blue, signaling that Prowl had onlined his optics again.

"Prowl'll be fine, Bulkhead. Helm wounds generally tend to bleed more than normal wounds." Ratchet informed him, even as he turned to examine Bulkhead's wound. Optimus was silent a moment, before a thought occurred to him.

"Where's the AllSpark fragment?"

Ratchet paused, one finger deep in Bulkheads cut while Bulkhead turned his helm to stare blankly at his leader. All was silent for an astrosecond, before Prowl moved, one servo still on his aching helm, and reached into his subspace, gently pulling out the very object the Prime had asked for. Optimus breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the lightly glowing shard.

"Good, I was afraid that the Decepticons had gotten it." he said, reaching for the AllSpark. Halfway towards it, the sound of screeching tires and the roaring of a jet engine caused them all to glance up, only to freeze in shock.

Speeding towards them was none other than Bumblebee, appearing as a yellow blur, and Blitzwing – who had his cannons out and was ready to fire at them.

"You vill pay for dis, Autobot scum!" the jet-former cried, launching his missiles...

Directly at the AllSpark fragment.

Bumblebee, screeching to a stop, watched in horror as the AllSpark fragment was struck by the small missile. A bright, electric white energy exploded from the fragment at the hit, surrounding the four bots within its radius before a loud explosion sounded, blasting away the yellow 'bot and the gray and purple 'con.

x-(-X-X-)-x

Bumblebee onlined his optics, groaning in pain, his HUD flashing with warning signs of impending stasis due to lack of Energon. Slowly, the yellow and black youngling sat up, his blue optics shuttering as he tried to focus on not going into stasis. Finally, when the annoying flashing warnings stopped – save for the Energon one – he slowly took in the damage...

And promptly gaped at what he saw.

Where once was a battle scared park, now sat a luscious field of nature, seemingly untouched by time, humans, or Cybertronian. Trees that had been torn apart after the initial fighting were back, and tens times bigger, while nearby (for a Cybertronian at least) Bumblebee could hear the sounds of a stream trickling downhill.

The sound of transformation disturbed the yellow and black bot from his musings, and he turned his head sharply to the left, just in time to see Blitzwing skyrocketing out of the area.

Bumblebee stared blankly at the retreating 'cons back, before gasping and hurrying over to where he had last seen his teammates.

'Please let them be alright; please let them be alright!' he prayed, frightened for what he would find. However, when he got to where they had last been, Bumblebee's processor nearly crashed from shock.

'Oh Primus...I am so fragged.'

x-(-X-X-)-x

All was silent in the city of Detroit, Michigan, night having already descended upon the motor city. Parents were inside, watching the latest football game while the children were already deep asleep, dreaming about the simple pleasures in life. However, not everything was as it seemed.

The silence was destroyed by the revving of a yellow 2006 fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro with black racing strips raced down the streets of Detroit as it speed towards an old abandoned warehouse near the edge of Detroit. The yellow Camaro slowed down as it entered the parking lot of the warehouse, creeping towards a slow crawl as it entered through the large double doors of the Autobot Base on Earth. Making its way past various rooms, it quickly entered the rec room, stopping at a human sized couch that Sari Sumdac, the Earth based Autobots' techno-organic companion, usually occupied when not sitting on her best friends' shoulder plating.

The engine of the Camaro cut off, leaving all quiet again, until the drivers door to the yellow and black car opened and out stepped a young boy, most likely thirteen or fourteen years old, with golden blonde hair and bright, shinning baby blue eyes. The teenager was wearing what looked like a yellow head gear piece covering his ears, looking, ironically, like a pair of doors with two, little horn like objects protruding from the back, two pieces of gray metal attached just under his eyes. He was clad in a black and yellow 'shirt', his shoulders bare for the world to see, while a pair of glove like objects hugged his arms tightly.

The teenager glanced around warily, before heading over to the passenger side of the Camaro, opening the door and reaching in. Gently, the teenager scooped a small, red and blue robot into his arms.

Bumblebee sighed, exhaustion shown clearly on his face as he gently set Bulkhead down next to the other three Autobots. A small smile crept onto his face plates when he saw the green sparkling shift his body until it was gently, but firmly pressing against Prowl's back.

Yes, that's right; sparkling.

He didn't, and still doesn't, know exactly how it happened, but apparently, when the AllSpark fragment got attacked the Blitzwing, it spread its energy around and, somehow, reverted Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Prowl into sparklings not even out of their first frame yet.

When he had seen his teammates, all unconscious, and way to small, Bumblebee had nearly had his processor crash for the first time in his short life – well, short in Cybertronian terms. To a human, he was ancient. It had taken him a couple of breems to get himself under control, before a new thought nearly caused him to crash from panic this time; how was he, a fragging minibot for Primus' sake! supposed to get them home?

He didn't have any trailer like Optimus did, and he sure as Pit wasn't going to walk them all home in his fragging arms; there were so many possibilities where it would and could go wrong, that Bumblebee had to spend an additional breem calming himself down. Finally, Bumblebee knew what he would have to do; get rid of his beloved alt-mode (a Volkswagen beetle) which could only hold about four people, five if they were pushing it, and get a bigger one.

So, after searching around for a nearby car that would fit his tastes, he'd stumbled upon the perfect replacement; a modified 2006 fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. It was beautiful. Even though it had been red at the time, it was easily changed with a quick override command of his paint nanites. It was easy, quick, and painless. With that settled, the yellow minibot had transformed into his new alt-mode and formed his holoform – a thirteen year old boy (which was his approx. Human age according to the doc bot). It had taken him two and a half breems to get all of his teammates into his new alt-mode – even though his insides were now bigger, he was still small. According to Doc-bot, he was one of the smallest minibots he'd ever seen. He had not liked hearing that, atall. And everyone had known his displeasure as well.

A quiet whimper broke him from his musings, and bright blue optics – 'Eyes, BB, eyes; humans call them eyes' a voice that sounded suspiciously like Sari corrected him – locked onto tired, cyan blue. Bumblebee frowned and moved over to where the Sparklings were, and gently placed a hand on the frightened sparkling that was now Ratchet.

"Shhh, it's okay Ratchet; you're alright," Bumblebee cooed softly, gently rubbing the white and red's helm. Ratchet looked up at him with dazed, confused optics, sniffling quietly. And Bumblebee felt his spark give a painful twinge at the look. Pursing his human lips, Bumblebee quickly checked his internal clock, and barely, just barely, managed to refrain from cursing.

It was nearly one o'clock in the fragging morning – even by Cybertronian standards, where the days lasted much longer on Cybertron than on Earth, it was still to early for a sparkling to be up! Another quiet whimper reached his audio sensors –'Ears Bumblebee, ears.' Sari's voice chided – making the holoform look over and see that Optimus, Bulkhead, and Prowl were also staring at him with confused optics. For a second, Bumblebee panicked; what the in the name of Primus was he supposed to do?! Until a memory from the Youth Center struck him.

When he had been younger, hiding away from the bullies that picked on him because of his doorwings, he used to help the Femme Caretakers take care of the Sparklings that were brought in. Letting his human hand gently move from helm to helm in an attempt to calm them, Bumblebee quickly brought back his memories of taking care of the sparklings there, and nearly jumped for joy when he finally remembered what to do.

Glancing down at the still whimpering sparklings, the holoform gave them all a quick smile and pressed his forehead – take that Sari's Voice! - to each of their helms before gently lifting Ratchet into his arms and taking his place between Optimus and Prowl, Ratchet firmly pressed against his chest. Grabbing the other three sparklings, the youngling placed Optimus in his lap, his helm resting on his shoulder, while Bulkhead and Prowl were on either side of him, his arms wrapped securely around all of them. Once everyone was all situated, though they were still keening in confusion, Bumblebee closed his eyes and, with force, split his mind; one half remaining with his holoform, the other returning to his alt-form.

Wincing slightly at the dual sensations his processor was receiving, Bumblebee kept his eyes closed in attempt to alleviate the processor ache that was slowly forming, and made his true form shift from alt-form to bipedal form, making sure to do it slowly as to not startle the sparklings any more than necessary. When everything was in their correct place, Bumblebee shifted his head to look at the frightened sparklings.

Cooing gently at them in soft Cybertronix, he slowly began to walk to the 'kitchen', ignoring how pale is holoform was thanks to the dual sensations. Grabbing a cube of Energon, while at the same time cooing softly to the sparklings in his lap – ohhh, this wasso going onto his 'Weirdst Slag I've done' list – the yellow and black car-former quickly hurried back towards the sparklings and Holo-Bee and, after gently piercing through the pink cube while shifting Optimus so he was facing his bipedal form – definitely going on the fragging list; in the top three – and gently began to feed his Prime and commanding officer.

And that, was going directly underneath the whole 'Split-Mind' on the fragging list; feeding his teammates that were currently sparklings.

Bumblebee vented a sigh – another trait he had picked up from Sari – at this entire ordeal; he'd probably end up having to see on of the psychiatrist thingies Sari told him about. When Optimus pushed the cube away from him, making a face of disgruntlement, Bumblebee stopped the flow of Energon long enough for his holoform to shift Optimus back into his shoulder and to bring Ratchet forward for his feeding.

While the red and white car-former began to suckle on the cube of Energon, Holo-Bee began to gently rub the Prime's abdomen area, to help ease the process of Energon intake, causing the sparkling to vent softly, his 'breath' brushing softly across his 'skin' – which was actually just a bunch on nanites put together to mimic the human body. Bumblebee watched as Optimus' optics began to fade, indicating an impending recharge.

When Ratchet also pushed away the cube, Holo-Bee gently switched Optimus and Prowl, letting the red and blue truck-former snuggle up to his side with a contented sigh like vent, his optics shuttering close as Prowl eagerly began to suckle on the Energon. Repeating the process that he had done with Optimus, Holo-Bee began to rub Ratchet's abdomen, while keeping an eye on Bulkhead, who was watching the entire scene with bleary optics.

It took less time for Prowl to feed, though Bumblebee wasn't worried; Prowl was the smallest of the group, just behind Ratchet, and as such, didn't eat as much as the others. With Optimus, and now Ratchet, firmly in the grasp of recharge and Prowl slowly drifting off, bipedal-Bee began to feed Bulkhead, who drank the rest of the cube, which wasn't surprising. Both Bulkhead and Optimus consumed at least one-third of the cube by themselves, with Ratchet and Prowl eating a third together.

When the green sparkling was finally done, there was only about a small sip left, which Bumblebee quickly downed before slowly standing from his kneeling position and putting the cube back into the 'kitchen'.

Knowing that he had to have Energon to or else he'd be forced into emergency stasis, the yellow and black minibot grabbed one of Sari's cans of Energon, which they had made especially for her. Thanks to her revelation of being a techno-organic, Ratchet had quickly tested to see if their young friend would need Energon; which she did. Badly. Apparently she had been surviving on unconsciously absorbing the energy from this galaxy's sun, along with eating fatty human food products, though it was only just barely keeping her functioning. If they hadn't come along when they did, Sari would have offlined –died – within two or three Stellar Cycles.

It was a scary thought.

So, in an attempt to make sure that their techno-organic friend got her Energon, but without wasting the limited supplies they had until Sentinel came back to Earth, they had opened two cubes of Energon and replaced it into can like objects that were about the size of a fifty-two ounce cup and had given them to her. The little techno-organic had been eternally grateful to them, and, under Ratchet's orders, drank at least one of the barrels in two days.

Luckily, Jazz had 'forgotten' fifteen cubes of Energon the last time they had visited, so they had plenty to last them at least a Stellar Cycle or two with rationing along with making sure that Sari got her fill as well. One of Sari's Energon was about a quarter or more of Energon for them, so Bumblebee knew he'd be just fine drinking one of her's. He would be at about thirty-percent, but he'd been worse than that before and had survived.

Quickly downing the Energon, the yellow and black bot tossed both the empty cube and the empty can into the garbage disposal before making his way out towards the rec room where Holo-Bee was gently petting Optimus' and Prowl's helms. Upon reaching the couch, he gently scoped the small figure of his leader into his servo, mentally ogling about the fact that the Prime was just barely bigger than his own servo now, before placing him gently into the crook of his arm, right above his spark chamber. Then he grabbed Ratchet, who gave a grumpy growl at being moved, but quickly relaxed at the presence of a warm spark and body as he was gently set next to Optimus, who didn't even twitch at the addition. Prowl came next, leaning tiredly against Ratchet, though he quickly sifted towards Bulkhead's larger frame when the green sparkling was curled in next to him.

Making sure that they were all situated, Bumblebee dispersed Holo-Bee, shuttering his optics in relief when the strange, dual sensation drifted away. Onlining his optics again, the yellow and black scout began to walk towards his berthroom, before pausing.

He'd already decided that he wasn't going to separate the sparklings; it was dangerous at this stage in development that they stayed near a steady spark at all times, to anchor them from returning to Primus and the Well of Sparks. However, his berthroom was the smallest of them all thanks to his small stature. Which meant that his berth was to small, and there was no room for anyone else to sleep on his berth.

Bumblebee bit his lip – again, another habit picked up from Sari – as he thought of a solution, before brightening.

Bulkhead. Bulkhead was a very large mech, and he was only in his fourth frame, with one more upgrade to go before he was classified as an 'adult' in Cybertronian terms. They'd measured one day, he, Sari, and Bulkhead, and knew that four of him could easily fit on the berth. With a grin, the yellow mech quickly changed course and headed for Bulkhead's berthroom, punched in the code, and walked over to the large berth.

With ease not many associated towards the yellow youngling, he set his precious cargo down on the berth, making sure to grab some of Sari's blankets from the pile of spares he and Bulkhead usually kept in there room for whenever the little techno-organic would come over. Gently he placed a firm, but soft barrier between the sparklings and the wall, before gently draping a thick comforter over the sleeping forms of his teammates. Even though it was the middle of summer here on Earth, sparklings didn't have any true way to fully regulate their heating systems, which was always at a solid ninety-seven degrees Fahrenheit; sadly, a Cybertronians internal heating is supposed to be at one-hundred twenty-nine degrees. As such, it was up to the Creator/Carrier/Caretaker to help regulate the sparklings temperature until they reach roughly about half a vorn; which was, sadly, about forty-one Earth years from now.

Satisfied that they were completely covered, the young yellow and black bot gently lowered himself onto the large berth, throwing an arm carefully over the sparklings, and offlined his optics. They quickly snapped open again when he felt something press against his chasis. Glancing down, he had to reset his optics a few times, before he was finally able to process what had just happened.

All four of the sparklings had shifted from there spots to press themselves firmly against his yellow and black chasis; right above his pounding spark chamber. A small grin crept onto his faceplates, as a fierce wave of protectiveness rippled through his very being. Offlining his optics again, the yellow and black bot curled into a protective ball around his charges as he finally let recharge take him over.

x-(-X-X-)-x

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Ciao!

The Twins