Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in it.
"What's taking you so long Arcee? I thought you would be here by now."
Arcee tried to ignore the taunting voice though her comm as she searched for the possible location of where Airachnid was hiding and holding Jack and Bumblebee, but Airachnid was trying to make that impossible for her. The sudden sound of Jack screaming in pain made her freeze in her tracks. What was Airachnid doing to him!
"A warning Arcee, the longer you take the more fun I get to have with Jack. And I'll make sure you get to hear every moment of it."
"Leave him alone!" Arcee could hear Bumblebee shout.
A moment later it sounded like he was almost gagging and gasping in pain.
"What did you do to him!" Arcee demanded.
"I just shot a little acid where his voice box is, or what remains of it that is. It should keep him quiet for a little while. Hurry up Arcee. You don't want to keep us waiting."
Airachnid cut off communication then, leaving Arcee standing in silence. Acid going through his already damaged voice box had to be excruciating for Bumblebee and Arcee knew that pain had to bring up some memories that the youngling didn't want to remember. She didn't want to remember it herself.
Arcee rushed through the hallways of the outpost to get to the medical bay. No one had told her what had happened, all she knew is that they had just found and rescued Bumblebee at Tyger Pax and that she needed to be in the med bay where Bumblebee was at. She could hear footsteps behind her and knew that Cliffjumper was trying to catch up – her current partner had worked with Bumblebee a few times in the past and they were friends, so he probably wanted to know if he was alright just like she did.
"Arcee wait up."
"Sorry Cliff, but I need to be in there with him," she said pausing for a brief moment to let Cliffjumper reach her.
"I know you do 'Cee, but he's not dying, the medics would have told you if he was, so you can slow down just a little."
"What's the matter, can't keep up?" Arcee teased.
"Please 'Cee, I can beat you in a race anytime anywhere."
"And then 'Bee can beat you."
"Hey I almost had him last time! Now let's get in there so we can find out when I can have my rematch with him"
When the two of them finally arrived in the med bay they saw Bumblebee laying on a medical berth in stasis. Various dents and gashes covered his yellow frame, and Arcee could see a scar along his neck. Ratchet was near his berth looking over a few scans and it took him a minute to notice the two new arrivals.
"What happened to him?" Arcee asked when Ratchet walked over to her and Cliffjumper.
"Megatron tortured him, ripped out his voice box, and then left him for dead. I'm patching him up and I can guarantee that he will live, but his voice box is beyond repair. I've done all I can do to fix it… I'm sorry."
"So 'Bee's never going to be able to speak again?" Cliffjumper asked.
"Did I say that! No, Bumblebee will not be able to speak like you and I. However he will be able to speak in shorthand. It is not the most effective form of communication, but it is communication nonetheless and it is the best I can do right now."
"How long is he going to be in stasis?" Arcee questioned.
"I'll take him out of stasis as soon as I'm finished with his repairs. If he doesn't handle the news about his voice box well, I may have to put him back into stasis until he calms down."
"I want to be here when you tell him."
"I know. Optimus is on his way here, he wants to be here when Bumblebee is told as well."
That news didn't surprise Arcee in the slightest. Optimus Prime was like a father to Bumblebee, and herself, so it made sense that he would want to be there whenever Bumblebee found out that he wasn't going to be able to talk normally again any time in the near future. She walked over next to Bumblebee's berth and laid a hand on his head. She should have been on that mission with him. Maybe then he wouldn't have been captured and he would still be able to talk. It wasn't right that this had happened to Bumblebee.
A lot of the things that had happened to Bumblebee hadn't been right. He had saved Optimus from Cybonic plague and then Megatron had ended up inside his mind. And now he had been captured by Airachnid and she was torturing him and Jack. It wasn't fair to either of them. Airachnid was no doubt going to focus her torture on Jack, but Arcee knew that Bumblebee wouldn't just stand by and let that happen. He would try to draw her attacks away from Jack, which would result in him getting more damaged. Of the two of them Bumblebee would be easier to repair, but if he was too damaged it could be life threatening for him. Arcee was going to have to hurry and find them before that could happen. The only question was where to look.
Airachnid would want Arcee to find her, that she was certain of. She would want to see the look on her face when she tried to kill Jack before trying to kill Arcee as well. If that was the case she would have to be in a three day radius from the location where Jack and Bumblebee had been taken. She also would have to be hidden in a place where it would be hard for them to escape and where she could keep a close optic on them – a cave maybe? She tried to think if she had seen any caves anywhere around Jasper, but none came to mind. Of course it most likely wouldn't be in plain sight if that's where Airachnid was hiding. It would have to be hidden. Arcee sent a quick status update to base and asked Ratchet to search the scanners for any nearby caves. She didn't need to waste any unnecessary time. If Ratchet could find some caves before she could, then she could focus on searching them instead of trying to find just one. Arcee just hoped that she would be able to find them in time.
