New chapter up! And probably more on the way soon. I've been powering through this one like a nut. Thanks to all the reviewers so far!

-Juana

P.S. there's a livejournal community dedicated to TF:A fanfics.

Four: It's Been A While

The day had come and gone, and Bumblebee was still in his room, having seen no one since the night before when things had gotten a little out of control. He was just having fun! Was that so bad? It wasn't his fault that Ratchet was a grumpy old man, or that Prowl had the personality of a log. He just wanted to give them some excitement for once, trying to get them to laugh or see them smile for even a second.

He kicked the wall angrily and slammed his rear down on his recharge berth. Ratchet would be arriving in just a few breems to get him and his non-existent report on behavior, and he was going to receive another hit to the head for not having the report. He lay down on the berth and dimmed his optics, not prepared in the least for his latest punishment.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

Slag.

"Who is it," he called carelessly, not even bothering to make the question sound like a question. He already knew who it was.

"It's me, big guy."

Okay, so maybe he didn't know who it was. He had expected the grumpy old medic, not Optimus Prime to come looking for him.

"Uh...come in?" The door opened, and in stepped his commander.

"Hey, kid. How you doing?" He closed the door behind him. Bumblebee sat up and answered,

"I'm okay. I thought Ra—"

"Someone from Sari's father's lab come by to get him. Apparently they're working on something secret and needed his help. They must have needed his medical knowledge for it if it's robotic. So I'm here instead. I'm assuming you don't have that report he wanted."

"No, I don't. I mean, does he honestly think I'm going to write him a report after he smacked me in the head like that? Not cool, man."

"I know," said Prime as he sat down beside his soldier, "Don't worry; I talked with him about it. He shouldn't do it again. You let me know if he does, deal?"

"Deal," said a very happy Bumblebee. Then he said slowly,

"Are you here to yell at me? Because if you are, the suspense is killing me."

"No, I'm not here to yell. I just want to talk. Your behavior is inappropriate, and you know it. No one else acts this way, Bumblebee. I understand you're young and all, but there's no need to act that way."

"I know. I just...it's in my programming. That's who I am."

"I understand. Just...try to tone it down a bit, okay?" Bumblebee didn't answer. He didn't like being told to 'tone it down' when all he knew was how to crank it up. He acted the way he felt, and he generally felt pretty happy. Optimus Prime could feel Bumblebee's annoyance, and said,

"Listen, just come to me anytime you want to talk. Everyone needs to talk about their feelings, including you."

"Oh, right. Like everyone goes to you to talk."

"Well, yeah."

"And I suppose the super-quiet, personality-of-a-rock ninja 'bot has gone to you to talk about his non-existent feelings, too."

"Yes. And everyone else has. Even Ratchet. What's that human saying...? Oh, yes: 'Don't knock it until you try it'. Even I go to one of the other Autobots to talk about my own problems."

But it wasn't working. Prime could clearly tell Bumblebee didn't want to hear about it anymore. So he got to his feet and said,

"I just want you to know you can come to me anytime. Okay?"

"Sure."

"You can leave your room now and join us if you want. We're watching a movie in a few minutes. Bulkhead picked it out."

"Yeah, sure." The little 'bot got off his berth and followed his leader to the main room, where the others, sans Ratchet, were waiting.

Sumdac Tower:

"So what are ya humans workin' on that you need my help? And why is it so slaggin' secret?" Ratchet asked the very timid young man known as Joshua the intern.

"It...I don't kn-know, sir...I was just t-told to get you. Just followin' orders, s-sir."

"Good boy," said Ratchet. "We got a young kid back at the Autobot base who refuses to even acknowledge orders. Complete waste of a spark, if ya ask me. Always listen to yer elders, young man."

"Y-yes, sir..." stammered Joshua, hardly believing he was having a conversation with a giant robot from space. They continued to walk, Ratchet having just barely fit into the hallways of the huge corporation. They reached Sumdac's private lab and Joshua gave Ratchet a card with a code on it.

"Here, sir. I don't know this code off-hand. Dr. Sumdac says it's temporary and only you may see it. I'll be waiting out here for you, just down the hall. Please be careful in there; the doctor keeps a lot of valuable stuff in there."

"I understand, Joshua. I'm very protective with my own medical lab as well. No one is allowed in it unless there's an emergency. Thanks." He took the card and watched Joshua scamper away before punching in the code.

'Heh...good kid,' he thought as the door slid open and let him in. He walked in and looked around. It was incredibly dark, save for a few glowing wires and blank screens. He walked in cautiously and called out,

"Hello? Anyone in here?"

"Yes," came the slow, calm answer as the door slammed shut, locking the medic in. Several of the wires and screens in the room suddenly grew brighter and slowly illuminated the severed, functioning head of Lord Megatron, feared Leader of the Decepticons.

Ratchet gasped and stepped back instinctively, hardly believing what he was seeing. He ran to the door and began to pound on it desperately, screaming for Joshua to let him out. Megatron, however, had other plans. Using his telekinetic powers, he directed several thick, strong wires in Ratchet's direction, wrapping around him and carrying him over to the head of Megatron. Ratchet kicked and struggled, but it was to no avail.

"Well, well," said Megatron, "look what I've caught. My very own doctor."

"How in the Matrix...when did...where...WHAT?!" cried the defenseless doctor, unable to process what he was seeing. Megatron shook him for a moment, then yelled,

"SILENCE!" Ratchet obeyed, terrified and angry about being duped like this. He tried his best to keep his systems cool, but Megatron knew better.

"Are you frightened, little Autobot? You did not expect to see me here, now did you? Of course not! You're going to help me 'blow some steam', as the flesh creatures say."

"I ain't helping you with nothin'," growled the medic angrily.

"Oh," said Megatron, "but you are." He controlled the wires to send Ratchet against a wall before lifting him back up and dumping him into Megatron's newest and most secret invention, well-hidden behind Sumdac's many obsolete inventions he'd forgotten about.

"This," he announced proudly, "is a bio scanner. I'm going to scan your entire system and collect all your data: your personality, your likes, dislikes, habits, knowledge, memories...everything. And when I'm done, you'll return home and recharge like nothing ever happened. When I dump you outside, you will have a memory of talking to Isaac Sumdac, agreeing to his animatronic proposal, and building the first puppet in your image. You will be working on the puppet in this lab, but in a room where you will never see me. You will not remember my presence here at all."

"NO!" cried the medic. "Don't do this!"

"Too late," laughed Megatron, "it's already done." The bio scanner knocked the medic out and retrieved everything from him, not missing a single thing. When it was done, Megatron controlled his wires and carried the medic back to the door, unlocking it and dropping him out. The door slammed shut and locked itself again, snapping Ratchet back online. He jumped up and looked around, scanning his surroundings, then tried to think back.

"I...agreed to...I agreed to work on some crazy project," he said to himself as Megatron's brainwashing program told him everything he needed to know. He called for Joshua, who came running and was incredibly surprised to see that the meeting was already over.

"It was a good idea," said Ratchet. "I agreed to it right away."

"Oh," said Joshua, who found it very odd that the Autobot had only been in the lab for ten minutes, but he said nothing more about it. He led Ratchet out again and watched him transform and head home. Joshua shrugged and walked to his car and began his own journey home.

I'm glad people like it so far! Reviews are really helpful ways to let writers know you like it. If I'd received no reviews, I probably would have taken the story down. So thanks to the reviewers and those of you that added this story to you faves and alerts!!

-Juana