A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating! I got massive writer's block and Egress happened and then I got all these ideas and AH! Ok, I'm done. Thanks for sticking with this story; I'll try for another update soon-ish. At least, a bit sooner than it took this chapter to get out.


"LORD MEGATRON: PROGRESS REPORT." The monotone of Soundwave reverberated throughout the Decepticons' headquarters, truly stirring the heartlessness and slightly disturbing nature of the place.

"Ah, Soundwave, I've been expecting you," a deep, sinister voice called out. It belonged to none other than Megatron, proud leader of the Decepticons.

"Oh, look at me! I'm a butterfly!" Well, almost proud leader of the Decepticons…

"Silence Blitzwing," the tyrant commanded before turning his attention back to the only other competent bot in the room, "So, how is your progress?"

"PROGRESS: ON SCHEDULE. STATUS: ACCORDING TO PLAN. AUTOBOTS: IGNORANT AND VULNERABLE."

"Excellent work, the Autobots won't suspect a thing. The Casseticons are in position, yes?"

"RUMBLE: IN-FIELD. FRENZY: IN-FIELD. LASERBEAK: SURVEILLANCE OF AUTOBOT BASE. RAVAGE: RECHARGE."

"Well, why don't we bring up the video feed?" Megatron smirked, walking towards the monitor. Within a few nanokliks, the static cleared to reveal the rec. room of the Autobot base at nightfall. "And now, we wait…"


"SARI!" Bumblebee screamed, static filling his voice due to the damage to his voice modulator and fear. He could hear Megatron's laughter filling his audio as he watched in horror as various parts of Sumdac Tower exploded in an orange haze. Smoke filled the air and the Detroit Fire Department did all they could to douse the flames. Prime and the others hadn't arrived yet. Bumblebee was alone. He could hear her screaming, yelling for help; the fear in her voice prominent through the wailing sirens and radio talk.

"Hang on Sari!" Bee shouted, running through the door and doing his best to ignore the intense heat. He didn't care if his armor got singed beyond recognition, he had to save Sari. The tower gave a massive jolt that nearly sent Bumblebee off his pedes. Regaining his balance, he forced the elevator doors open (narrowly avoiding being slagged by said broken elevator as it fell nearly fifteen stories) and used his wheels to ride up the shaft. It vaguely reminded him of his first encounter with Meltdown, but the memory was quickly shoved out of his mind by another terrified yelp.

As fast as he could, Bumblebee leapt out of the elevator shaft and into the nearly black smoke shielding the hallway from view. His Autobot insignia came to life, letting off a vibrant red light, but still couldn't but through the thick smoke. Despite the lack of direction, Bumblebee managed to run the right way, months of going to Sari's finally paying off. Seconds later, he burst through her bedroom door and gasped.

In the center of the room was Megatron holding Sari off the ground by her throat. Sari's hands clung to Megatron's unforgiving servo, trying to pry it away in an act of desperation. Bumblebee could see the fear in his friend's eyes and the glee in his enemy's optics.

"Let her go Megatron!" Bumblebee shouted, changing his servos to stingers. Megatron only laughed, changing the room's atmosphere from fear to one of absolute hopelessness. "Just…leave her alone! She didn't do anything to you, if you need someone to take out your anger on, attack me!"

"Foolish Autobot, you don't understand," Megatron said, tossing Sari up and down as he spoke, "The greatest pain I can inflict on your kind is through whatever you use to process meaningless emotions such as love and friendship. Disgusting if you ask me, you'd be better off without them." The Decepticon smirked. "It would save you from getting hurt in the long run." With that, he caught Sari in his hand and crushed her. Bee fired his stingers, electricity pouring through them at an alarming rate, but it was useless. Megatron continued to laugh until Bumblebee collapsed to the ground, physically and emotionally exhausted.

Bumblebee off-lined his optics, oil tears leaking out of the corners. Suddenly, he felt something slightly warm and wet bounce off of his frame. He didn't have to look to know what-or who-it was.

"Pathetic," Megatron scoffed, walking closer and closer to the youngling, "You Autobots always surprise me. Get over it, it's just an organic, there's billions of them on this planet. Oh, but you made one grave mistake Autobot: you befriended it. Why would you do that?" he asked in mock sympathy, "You knew she would die before you. What was the point of starting something if it would end by the time you matured? Cheer up. I saved you a lifetime of misery."

"You Pit-spawned fragger!" Bumblebee yelled, propelling himself towards the massive mech before him. Megatron merely stepped a yard to the left, causing Bumblebee to crash through the large glass window of Sari's room. As he was about to fall, he quickly latched onto the window sill, knowing that he wouldn't have the strength to hold on for more than a few Earth minutes. Megatron stood over him with his well-known smirk of satisfaction.

"Go on Autobot, I want to hear you scream, scream like the weak youngling you are." Bumblebee flinched at the tyrant's words. Below him, he could hear humans shouting to one another and four engines coming closer to his location. He couldn't help the small yelp of surprise and pain that came out when Megatron's pede came down on his hand.

"I would never give you the satisfaction." Bumblebee replied through gritted denta.

"Very well Autobot, you give me no choice." Megatron left the scout for a few seconds and returned with Sari's corpse. Bee nearly purged as he got a good look at her mangled body. The sickness only spread once he realized that he was covered in her blood.

"Put her down…" He didn't like the way his voice wavered or the smirk that sat upon Megatron's faceplate.

"Oh, don't worry, I will," Megatron said, "but I think your friends would like to know what became of her. Here's the story: you betrayed the Autobots, you killed the girl, I double-crossed you, and now you are listed as a Decepticon and a murderer. How does that make you feel?"

"No, they won't believe you!" Bee shouted in desperation, "They'll know you're lying! Who do you think they'll trust: the megalomaniac or me?" His spark sank as the tyrant let out a maniacal laugh.

"But they already chose, can't you see them?" Megatron dropped Sari before transforming and flying off. Bumblebee looked up to see his team.

"Guys, don't listen to him! I would never betray you or Sari! Please, listen to me!" the scout pleaded. All he received was blank stares.

"Bumblebee, he's telling the truth." Optimus replied, kneeling down so that he was optic-level to Bee, "You set Sumdac Tower on fire and you let Sari get killed by Megatron."

"No, I didn't! Megatron set the place on fire!"

"Then why did you use your stingers on the Tower's gas line?" Prowl asked.

"I didn't! I swear!"

"Classic memory wipe kid, it will get you every time." Ratchet said, shaking his head. "You can't remember, but you sold us all out."

"Sorry little buddy," Bulkhead whispered, "but we can't get you out of it this time."

"What? No! Please guys, help!" Bumblebee shouted to them, pleaded with his optics, but no luck. His grip was slipping; he knew he wouldn't last long.

"I'm sorry Bumblebee," Optimus stated with no emotion, "but it's an optic for an optic." With that, they turned their backs on the scout and walked away, leaving Bumblebee with Sari's body and his guilt.

"No, no, no, please! Come back! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean any of this! It's not my fault!" he screamed. Bumblebee abruptly stopped once he saw Sari, a mangled bloody mess. "Sari, I'm sorry." Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open, fixed with an intense glare towards the mech.

"I don't forgive you." she whispered to him. He could only watch in horror as the teenager rose to her feet, blood dripping from every wound inflicted upon her.

"Sari, please, I wish this never happened!" Bumblebee flinched back in fear as she loomed over him.

"Wishing is never enough Bumblebee." she rasped. Part of her arm transformed into the weapon she swore she'd never use again: the energy blade that pierced his chassis. Sari raised it, preparing the final blow. Before she struck, she said three last words, laced with hatred and fury. "I hate you."

Bumblebee let go of the window sill as the blade was driven through his chassis and into his spark chamber. He felt himself fall, hurtling towards the ground. The speed would kill him. The wound would kill him. The pain would kill him. It was all just a matter of which would kill him first.

And for the first time in his life, Bumblebee pleaded for death.


Bright blue optics snapped open in fear. The room was dark and quiet, not a good combination for Bumblebee at the moment. The scout quickly slid off of his berth, purging his tanks once again within less than a second. The routine was getting monotonous and the nightmares were getting worse. Warnings blared through his processor, demanding that he intake some energon before returning to recharge.

Bumblebee glanced at his clock and groaned. He'd woken up earlier than last time, only midnight. There was no way in the Pit that he was going back to recharge. Shaking slightly, Bumblebee walked out of his room towards the rec. room. Unbeknownst to him, a certain ninja-bot was tagging along for the journey.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" Bee whispered to himself, voice modulator scratchy due to the purgings. He hated the fact that it hurt to talk. Just yesterday during his shouting match with Rory he was fine. What was the difference now? He stopped abruptly and coughed into his servo, small flecks of energon coming out of his mouth. Prowl's grip subconsciously tightened on the ceiling, noticing the miniscule dots of blue on Bumblebee's yellow and black armor. The only thing was that Bee didn't seem to notice or care.

Prowl was about to jump down and berate the youngling right then and there, but the sound of metal crashing to the ground gave him a slight shock, delaying his descent by half a second. And that was bad because a lot can happen in half a second.

Fear overcame his spark as he saw Bumblebee fall to the ground, a slight trickle of energon coming from his mouth. He jumped down from the ceiling quickly and ran over to the smaller mech. Something wasn't right. Bumblebee hadn't been injured recently and nothing was popping up on the quick scans he was performing. In fact, the youngling's systems appeared to be functioning properly and all he needed was a bit of energon. However, the growing stream of energon on the floor discredited the data.

"Bumblebee, come on, wake up." Prowl said urgently, panic creeping into his voice, "Primus, why didn't you tell anyone? Unless…you didn't know or-" His panic increased tenfold when the yellow armor began flickering, as if unable to make up its mind to stay bright yellow or fade to a dull sandy hue. Prowl did the one thing he could think of in such a situation. He screamed for the one mech who could possibly know what the slag was going on.

"RATCHET!"


By ten in the morning, the plant was quiet. Bulkhead was pacing back and forth, unable to sit still enough to paint. Optimus kept glancing at the clock and sighing, trying to figure everything out, but couldn't understand a thing. Prowl sat in the corner, doing his best to meditate and get the youngling off of his processor. Of course, he failed miserably. All that he saw was Bee on the floor, possibly leaking himself dry. What if he, Prowl, hadn't been there to see the yellow mech fall? What if they found the youngling - their youngling – off-lined in the hallway? He couldn't shake the disturbing image of Bumblebee's grey frame sealed away in some tomb on Cybertron. What would they tell his Creators? Did he even have Creators?

Ratchet exited the med-bay, fatigue written all over his faceplate. He was quickly the center of attention, the three other Autobots firing questions at him. The speed at which they came could almost rival Blurr's speech pattern…almost.

"For the love of Primus, one at a time!" Ratchet yelled, feeling as though he were shouting at a couple of sparklings. Actually, with his old age, he could consider them all sparklings.

"Is he going to be ok?" Bulkhead asked. He was truly concerned for his best friend, having been through so much together. Really, their bond could not be put into words, unless it was Bumblebee stating, "You wouldn't understand." Nobody would, or could, understand their friendship. From the outside, it appeared as though Bee were using Bulkhead for his own amusement. In reality, they equally relied on one another.

"Yes, he'll be fine. I managed to stabilize him and he should be up any minute now."

"What happened?" Optimus asked next. The question had been on everyone's mind since they heard Prowl shouting in the night.

"His spark started…convulsing. I can't describe it any other way."

"Why did this happen?" Prowl asked, still very shocked about the whole ordeal. He hated uncertainty and he wanted his questions answered. However, he had a hunch that even Ratchet wouldn't be able to supply him with the information he wanted.

"That's the most disturbing part: I don't know. Anything that could have led to potential clues just vanished off the monitors before I could even survey them." Prowl nodded. The most important thing was that Bumblebee was alive. Maybe not well, but alive.

"So, we don't know what's wrong with Bee, we have no way of helping him, and he's going to be stubborn and say it's nothing." Bulkhead concluded.

"That pretty much sums it up."

"You forgot the part where Sari and her boyfriend come in and make things worse." Prowl added. Just before anyone could add anything else, the door to the med-bay opened slowly. All optics turned towards the small yellow mech, utterly failing at his attempted escape.

"Oh slag…" he rasped, darting back into the med-bay as Ratchet shot him a glare.

"And that's my cue." Ratchet said, entering after the youngling. Everyone fell silent once again.


Megatron smirked in the confines of the Decepticon base. Sure, he hadn't expected the virus to do that to the youngling, but no harm done; the plan would just be carried out faster. There were only a few more steps left to complete the plan. Of course, it would take about three Earth days for everything to fall into place, but three was shorter than the seven Megatron was expecting.

"My glorious leader," Megatron internally groaned as Lugnut's voice echoed throughout the halls, "what is your next ingenious course of action?"

"Patience, we must wait for Soundwave's signal and then we will strike the Autobots in their weakened state." Lugnut gave him a questioning look (not questioning his leadership of the "mighty Decepticons" mind you!), asking for a small explanation. "Let's just say, when one gear is lost, the whole mech falls apart. We're waiting for the right moment to strike the Autobots. Only then can we acquire their AllSpark fragments and launch the next step in conquering Cybertron. I've heard that the Autobots are assembling a Space Bridge, one that we can capture and use. However, they have found a way to keep us at bay for the time being. But don't worry, that will soon change. Until then, continue surveillance of the Autobot base and Soundwave's data, it will prove useful to us in the near-future."


"How many times do I have to tell you Doc-bot? I'm fine!" Bumblebee struggled to find a way past the grumpy medic to the exit. So far, he wasn't having much luck with his second escape attempt.

"You just suffered through major spark shock! You slagging aren't fine!" Ratchet responded, finally resorting to using his electromagnets to trap the fuming youngling. Bee pouted within his prison, crossing his servos over his chassis.

"Will you quit using those on me?"

"I will when you stop acting like a spoiled sparkling!"

"You're no fun…" Bumblebee complained with a pout.

"Can I let you down yet or are you going to run off again?"

"Just let me down." With a less than graceful landing, Bumblebee was back on the med-bay floor. To Ratchet's surprise the youngling was true to his word, opting instead to sulk.

"Alright kid, what's on your processor?" the medic asked. Bumblebee looked away before sighing. Honestly, the last person he wanted to talk to about the nightmares was Ratchet. If Sari would look him in the optic and spend ten minutes alone with him without her aft-hole boyfriend, he'd tell her all about it. But no, she just had to get all defensive about the whole thing and push him out of her life.

Still, Ratchet was bound to "patient confidentiality," so Prime and the others wouldn't be making "discoveries" anytime soon. If anything, Ratchet was the one he could trust the most to keep the nightmares a secret. Bulkhead, being his best friend, would keep the secret until his conscience ate away at him. Then, he would feel compelled to tell Prime, who would try to get him to talk anyway. Bumblebee didn't even think of telling Prowl and telling Prime outright would lead to conversations he'd rather not have.

Making up his mind, Bumblebee started, "Well, I've been having…nightmares, as the humans call them. They're never the same, but…well, Sari's always in them and I always have something to do with her death."

"So, what do you think of Sari?" Bumblebee cocked his head to the side, optics trained on the medic.

"Um…she's obviously my best friend."

"Is there anything else?"

"Are you implying something?" Ratchet slapped his helm. Primus, if Prime was this thick…

"No, not at all kid." Ratchet answered, not wanting to launch into a full-blown explanation of "when a spark meets a spark." Bumblebee raised an optic ridge, but shrugged it off as nothing. "Anyway, your systems are functioning normally again, so I guess you're free to go. I'll be keeping a sharp optic on you, so don't do anything stupid. I don't want you to stress yourself out until I know what's going on. That means no fighting, no long patrols, and absolutely no crazy stunts that land you in here within ten breems." As soon as the words left his mouth, the yellow mech sped out of the med-bay.

"Ok, most awkward conversation with Ratchet I've ever had," Bumblebee told himself. He smirked slightly, "He never said anything about performing stunts that would land me in his med-bay within eleven breems." Even as he worked out the loophole, he did so half-heartedly. Upon entering his room, he shut the door, sighed, and leaned against the wall.

"Primus, what's wrong with me?" he couldn't help but ask. The nightmares and the purgings seemed like more than just his past catching up with him. All he ever dreamed about was Sari dying and his friends killing him, nothing about Wasp or Boot Camp or any other trauma-inducing experiences. So…what did they all mean?

"It means I'm completely useless." For a few minutes, he let everything sink in. He stared at the opposite wall, almost willing it to give him some sort of answer to how his life had changed. Well, it mostly had to do with Sari's excuse of a boyfriend. Bee snorted, mentally claiming that he would and could be a much better boyfriend. And that's exactly where his thoughts came to a screeching halt.

Was it possible to like Sari in that way? They'd been friends for a while and he thought he'd never see her as something more. Maybe this was why he got so protective. Maybe this was where all those deep set fears were coming into play. Or…he was just thinking about this way too much. Yeah, that had to be it.

Glancing out the window, Bumblebee noticed that the sun was still out, hours away from setting. Perhaps now would be a good time for a drive, even if it was just to clear his muddled processor. Nobody could object to that, right?

Less than a minute later, the sound of screeching tires filled the rec. room as well as the voice of a cursing medic.


"So what do you want to do now Sari? After all, it is a Saturday." Rory said as he and Sari walked through downtown Detroit. They'd already walked through the park and walked around the shops. For a fairly large city, there wasn't a whole lot to do.

"We could go back to the Tower," she suggested, "or we could see a movie."

"What, no visiting the Autobots?" Rory joked, nudging her softly with his elbow.

"Please, you want to go there and get yelled at by Bee again?" Sari asked incredulously. "You're crazier than I thought."

"Minus getting yelled at by him, I think they're pretty cool. I mean, they've saved the city more times than we can count. And then there was when Megatron got resurrected or something. Oh, and when Soundwave came and put a virus in them-"

"You weren't there for any of those." Sari stated.

"Yeah I know; I've just heard a lot about them. Plus, you've told me all the stories at least three times each." Rory smirked, eliciting a giggle from Sari.

"What can I say? They're my best friends and they were my first real friends. Of course, Optimus is still pretty over-protective, but I can't blame him after what happened…" she trailed off and gazed at the sidewalk.

"Come on: spill. What happened?"

"Do you…promise not to break up with me?" She sounded so downcast.

"I promise. Besides, it looks like you need to get this off of your…um…you know…"

"Chest?"

"Yeah sorry, your phrases are kind of weird to someone who hasn't been here too long." Rory scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.

"It's ok. You haven't lived here in, what, six years? I get it. English makes absolutely no sense." Sari took his hand in hers, deciding to focus on his eyes.

"So…about that-"

"Alright, I'll tell you. But first, let's find a place to sit down." After a few minutes of walking, they found a bench next to a mailbox. As soon as they sat down, Sari recounted her story of becoming a teenager by using her key, destroying half of Detroit in the process. "I thought it would be a good idea, but it didn't go so well," Sari admitted. "After I defeated the rock monster, I lost control of my body. It's the worst experience in the world, knowing what you're doing is hurting so many people but not being able to do a thing about it. Anyways…I did something bad, something that I can never forgive myself for."

"And what would that be?" Rory inquired, pressing her tale onwards.

"I…I stabbed Bumblebee. I almost killed him and…I'm just lucky I missed his spark. And…and I've never regretted anything more. Ever since, I haven't talked to him and I know he's annoyed, but I don't think I can face him without seeing my blade through his chassis. You know, I've sworn to never use my energy blades ever again…it would feel too wrong," she finished with a sigh. Rory's eyes widened, realization dawning on him.

"You remember the last time Bee and I fought?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, when you left the room…Bee said some stuff."

"Like what?"

"He…he mentioned you stabbing him. I didn't know what he meant at the time, but he seemed really upset and mad. He blamed you for the accident." Sari's jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

"No, he wouldn't…that doesn't sound like Bee…" Sari whispered in denial.

"I'm so sorry; I know it wasn't your fault. Anger brings out the worst in people and he just let it slip. To me, it sounded like he wasn't ready to forgive you." He noticed the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. With a sigh, he scooted closer to her, wrapping her in his embrace.

"I-I don't know…" Sari half-sobbed, "Did he-he really?"

"Shh…it's ok, just cry it out. Looks like you've been holding this in for a while," Rory soothed, "I'm sorry you had to find out like this. I thought…it was best for you to know. I'm so sorry."

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," Sari said, wiping away her tears. "You're the best boyfriend I could have asked for."

"Is there anything you want me to do?" he asked.

"No, you've done so much for me already," she said with a smile. Quickly, that smile turned into a frown, "But I'm going to have a talk with Bumblebee."

"You want me to come?"

"No. I've got to do this alone. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" Rory nodded. As Sari stood up, they shared one more kiss before going their separate ways. However, once her back was turned, Rory smirked triumphantly. With his luck, that yellow bot was going to be out of the picture.


It was nearly sundown when Bumblebee skidded back into base. Dark grey clouds were beginning to move in overhead, signaling a possible thunderstorm. And right now, the last thing Bee wanted was to drive in the rain. The slick surfaces didn't serve him well for "stress driving."

He'd red-lined countless times, broken so many speed limits, and tried to break the sound barrier with the turbo jets Optimus didn't realize he still had. It almost worked, but an incredible pain overcame his frame as well as a warning for more energon. So, he returned to base…against his will.

"Bumblebee, where have you been?" Optimus asked with his servos crossed. The Prime was obviously not happy with the youngling's disappearing stunt.

"Driving," Bee answered simply, walking over to the energon dispenser. He continued to sip at the cube as his commanding officer reprimanded him.

"Driving? What if a Decepticon found you alone?" The question had a slight edge to it.

"I would've outrun him or I'd call you guys for backup." Both mechs engaged in a small staring competition. After a few seconds, Prime gave in and sighed.

"Bumblebee, I'm just worried about you. Something's wrong with your spark and we have no idea what the problem could possibly be. I don't want you taking stupid risks, especially not now." Optimus explained. Unfortunately, the bot in question had already been annoyed about another issue. Piling this one on top of the other one sent him over the edge.

"I don't need to be sparkling-sat Boss-bot," he stated with more malice than intended, "I can take care of myself just fine." Optimus balled his servo into a fist before composing his reply.

"Fine Bumblebee, just be a bit more cautious." With that, he left the rec. room, leaving Bee even more frustrated. The yellow mech growled and punched the wall. He didn't mean to get that upset or to say something that…moody to Prime. After a brief internal debate, he put down his half-finished energon cube and began walking to Optimus' office. However, before he could take another step, he sensed the presence of a certain techno-organic.

Happiness flooded his spark and he quickly turned towards the entrance. Before he could greet Sari, his spark sank. The look on her face indicated that she was not here for pleasantries. It looked as though she'd been crying earlier, despite her best efforts to mask the sadness. She also looked hurt and angry, a bad combination of emotions. Bumblebee was about to speak, but Sari beat him to it.

"Bumblebee," she sighed, body shuddering slightly, "we need to talk."


A/N: I know, I'm evil. :) Tell me your thoughts on Rory 'cause I think you should have figured it out by now! Also, I've got a poll up on my profile that involves this story and two other Bee stories. If you be so kind to check it out, it'll help me write the ending for this story! Sorry 'bout the shameless plug. ^.^;