Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in the show.
Bumblebee happily clicked to himself as Optimus held him close to his chest, completely oblivious to the worried looks that he was receiving from the others. All of Team Prime, the humans included, knew of the current condition of the sparkling's spark. Ratchet had come to the conclusion that he wouldn't be able to turn Bumblebee back to his normal youngling state, once he found a solution, until his spark was steady and not giving off erratic pulses. At the same time, however, the medic had no idea what to do about their problem. Bumblebee noticed Jack standing with Miko and Raf at the television and started to squirm a little in Optimus' arms. The Autobot leader glanced down at the sparkling and noticed he was pointing towards the humans. He hesitated for a moment, but then carefully placed Bumblebee down next to Jack.
Immediately Bumblebee latched on to Jack's leg, letting out a happy chirp. Jack bent down and gently patted Bumblebee on the head. Arcee had already explained to him that the sparkling seemed to be under the impression that Jack was his family. The teen already considered Arcee to be family, so he didn't really mind adding Bumblebee as well. Bumblebee spared a glance at Miko and Raf. He had only spent a little time around them and he wasn't sure what to think of them. Miko was really loud and he wasn't sure if he liked that. Raf seemed nice though and he was closer to his size, which made Bumblebee wonder if he was a sparkling too. While trying to keep the sparkling entertained and happy, the human teens listened in on the Autobots' discussion.
"It's not like 'Bee's the first orphaned sparkling," Bulkhead pointed out. "Others haven't had creators to keep their sparks stable either."
"Yes Bulkhead, but those sparklings also had relatives that they had spark bonds with that helped and those that didn't were able to form small bonds with their adopted creators," Ratchet explained. "And then the ones that weren't fortunate enough to have adopted creators or relatives either suffered from a weak spark or offlined."
"Well he's fine now, so we have time to figure out something," the former Wrecker replied.
"I am afraid that is not the case Bulkhead. Bumblebee's spark was giving him pain earlier," Optimus solemnly said.
"Wait, Bumblebee's creators died when he was a sparkling," Arcee spoke up. "Why didn't he have a weak spark before?"
"Bumblebee's spark was weak, though only a little bit weaker than what it should have been. When his creators died, he was at the point where his spark could support itself for the most part. Now, he's back at the point where he can't," Ratchet said. "It is possible to try to sync his spark up with one of ours, but I am not sure if it would be a permanent solution or if it would even work."
"It is worth a try Ratchet," Optimus replied, gazing at the sparkling that was still latched on to Jack's leg. "Tell us what we need to do."
Optimus stood on the mesa above the base, holding Bumblebee close to his spark. The sparkling had been curiously looking around, letting out many clicks and chirps, when they had first come out, but was now snuggled close to his chest. It was clear to the Autobot leader that the sparkling wasn't feeling very well at the moment; no doubt his spark was starting to bother him again. Unfortunately so far it seemed that he wasn't having much luck with getting Bumblebee's spark to sync with his own. As he gently stroked the sparkling's back, he wondered if maybe he should have let one of the others try instead. Ratchet had mentioned that they might have to get closer to Bumblebee. And Optimus wasn't sure if he could do that.
Ever since he had become a Prime and had received the Matrix of Leadership, becoming close to others was a difficult task for him. The Matrix provided him wisdom from the past Primes, and all of that wisdom seemed to prevent him from forming close bonds to the ones around him. For the most part he understood why. Becoming close to others would make it difficult to send them out into battle, as well as give the Decepticons a clear weakness to exploit. But in a situation such as this, where Bumblebee needed him to become close, it was rather frustrating.
"I am sorry if I am unable to help you Bumblebee," he apologized to the sparkling, as he let out a small cry.
Bumblebee simply curled up closer to him, clearly seeking any sort of comfort he could. Optimus continued to stroke Bumblebee's back and was about to head back into the base when Ratchet came up behind him.
"I thought he might want some energon," the medic said, handing Optimus a bottle.
"Thank you Ratchet," Optimus sighed, as he began to feed Bumblebee.
"No luck so far?"
"No. I believe someone else may have to try."
Ratchet shook his head, "Optimus you're the one who wanted to be his guardian. You chose that role and Bumblebee has accepted you as it. Bumblebee will have to remain with the one who his spark is synced with the most. If it is someone else, he will think that you have abandoned him."
"I do not know what to do old friend."
"Keep trying Optimus, Bumblebee needs you. Let him spend some time with Bulkhead, so he can gain his trust, and try again later."
"This is boring," Miko complained as she watched Bumblebee crawl away from her and Bulkhead. "He's totally ignoring us!"
"Just give him a little bit Miko," Bulkhead said. "He'll come over to us when he's ready."
Miko wasn't really one for waiting though. She determinedly walked over in front of the sparkling and bent down to where he could see her face. Bulkhead warily watched as she enthusiastically said hi to Bumblebee. He wasn't sure how the sparkling would react to her suddenly appearing in his line of sight, talking to him. When Bumblebee let out a surprised chirp and started to move backwards a tad bit, the former Wrecker was expecting things to end badly. He was surprised that when Miko continued talking, Bumblebee started to move closer to her out of curiosity. Once the sparkling was close enough, the human gave him a hug, causing Bumblebee to let out another surprised chirp.
"See Bulkhead, we didn't have to wait," she grinned, trying to pick Bumblebee up. "Wow he's heavy."
"Maybe you should keep him on the ground then Miko," Bulkhead chuckled. "He's not going to like it if you accidently drop him if you pick him up."
"I won't drop him," Miko huffed as she finally got the sparkling a tad bit off the ground.
Bumblebee clapped his hands together, letting out a series of happy clicks. To him, Miko trying to lift him up was a game. Soon both the human and sparkling found themselves being lifted up in the air. Miko sat down in Bulkhead's palm, with Bumblebee sitting on her lap – a big grin placed on her face.
"I think he liked it," Miko said.
"Looks like it," Bulkhead replied, before glancing down at Bumblebee. "Hey there 'Bee."
The sparkling happily chirped at Bulkhead, before leaning back on Miko and dimming his optics. He was starting to get tired. Bulkhead noticed this and carefully picked Bumblebee off of Miko – carefully placing Miko on his shoulder as they went to find Optimus.
"Optimus, someone's getting tired," Bulkhead said as he walked over to his leader.
"Thank you Bulkhead," Optimus carefully took Bumblebee from him.
The sparkling tiredly gazed up at the red and blue Autobot leader before snuggling up against his chest and falling into a restful recharge.
