Chapter four
The war that would never be written down
Sam really wasn't sure where Bumblebee had managed to find that much multi-colored foam, but then again he never was one to question his Guardian. The Scout hadn't steered him wrong, yet anyway. It had only been a day since their now infamous dance off. Sam had just woken up to greet the day, and already it seemed like the Scout was attempting to get him offlined.
Sneaking into Ironhide's recharge center and putting bright pink foam in the mech's prized cannons right before he was due to get up and go to the firing range for practice, really? That was a one way ticket to the Pit, something Sam was now finding himself very aware of in his new body. Of course, Sam found himself going along with the idea anyway. It just sounded hilarious, and Bumblebee was way too persuasive. If it came down to it, the Scout would use the leaky optics on him, something Sam hated.
His best human friend was due back at any time of the day, but that was far from his processor as he sidled closer to Bumblebee, peering over the large crate they were hiding behind. Both watched as Ironhide made his way to the firing range, Will, Epps, and Fig following after him. The soldiers always enjoyed watching Ironhide blow things up, and the Weapons Specialist didn't mind the admiration over his skills.
They watched as Ironhide activated his cannon, and then aimed. There was an odd clicking noise, and Ironhide frowned. But, Ironhide being Ironhide, decided he'd have Ratchet take a look later instead of now, and just shot away. Pink foam rained down all over the firing range, and there was shocked silence among the soldiers.
"Wow, Hide, that was beautiful." Epps finally said, snickering.
Ironhide snarled, whirling around and seeing Bumblebee and Sam peeking over the top of the crate. "Bumblebee! Sam! Get over here, now!"
Bumblebee grabbed his Charge's servo, before racing out from behind the crate and laughing. Ironhide gave chase, spraying the pink foam at them, and anything else that happened to be near them. The irritated Weapons Specialist didn't really care who or what got hit in the crossfire.
Bumblebee dragged Sam into the Medbay, and ducked behind one of the few berths. Ratchet, surprised into looking up from his work on Jazz's frame, stepped closer towards them to chastise them just as Ironhide ran in, spraying away. The poor medic got the pink foam all over his faceplates and chassis.
There was dead silence in the med-bay. Ratchet looked down at himself in shock, and Ironhide did the smart thing. He backed away before the medic snapped out of it, turned around and ran for his Spark. Bumblebee and Sam looked at each other in horror, both standing up immediately.
"We're sorry, Ratchet! Sam and I will clean up the me-" Bumblebee was saying in a hurry, knowing it best to apologize and offer clean up duty before the Medic got mad. He cut himself off when Ratchet waved a servo.
"Do you have any more foam?" The Medic asked, a dangerous glint coming to his optics.
"Yes," Bumblebee said, glancing at his Charge and sharing a look with him.
"Give me some. We're going to hunt down that poor excuse for a scrap heap."
Bumblebee and Sam grinned. It was rare for Ratchet to join in on the fun like this, but when he did, it was always guaranteed to be a blast. He had only done it once before, and Ironhide had spent a week in his alt mode because of it.
Optimus was worried.
It had been oddly quiet that day, and after the progress Sam had shown the day before, he had expected it to be the opposite. The Prime knew Ironhide had been scheduled to go to the firing range that morning, and he had yet to hear any of the telltale blasts or shouts of awe from the soldiers. Ratchet hadn't contacted Optimus about skipping out on his morning Energon, either.
He vented softly to himself. It was probably wrong when he actually dreaded the sounds of everything being okay and normal, when his underlings didn't order him around, and when there was no sounds of explosions. It made him wonder if Megatron had ever needed to deal with any of it when he was alive, but then again his brother had Starscream, who seemed to constantly be out to kill him. His Autobots were his Autobots, and in the end he couldn't really mind the crazy happenings. It certainly made things interesting.
Letting out another resigned sigh Optimus got up and left the room he had claimed as his office, and then the hangar it was located in. He stopped almost immediately, taking in his surroundings. Splatters of bright pink, neon green, yellow, and white were everywhere. On the sides of the hangars, on the road, on anything in between. Walking to the Medbay, he found massive amounts of bright pink near the front. That was when his comm system activated, getting a message from Ironhide.
:Prime, I need help! The young devils and the Hatchet got me!:
Well, that comm certainly meant Optimus had a good idea of what was going on, though the foam everywhere had already done a good job of that.
:Where are you, old friend?:
:Inside the main hangar. Those fragging soldiers are laughing it up while your Medic from the Pit man-handles me!:
That was an amusing mental image. Ratchet wasn't very good in battles, but in brute strength he was pretty evenly matched with even Ironhide. Medics naturally had to be strong to handle some of their more stubborn patients, which Ironhide often turned out to be.
Optimus quickly made his way to the main hangar, slipping in almost completely unnoticed. Despite his large size he could actually walk quietly, if he really wanted to, but at this point he didn't have to. Everyone's attention was anywhere but the door of the hangar when he stepped in.
The place was a mess. One huge over turned table, made for any needed Autobot conferences, was over turned on its side, while its twin was on the other side of the hangar, mirroring it. How they had even been made to fit through the hangar door Optimus wasn't sure. In between them stood Bumblebee and Sam, their frames shaking with laughter, as Ratchet literally attempted to drag Ironhide out from behind one of the large tables. The soldiers stood off to one side, hooting and cheering Ratchet on. Ironhide, however, wasn't making it easy on the medic, and was occasionally spraying him, and the soldiers, with bright pink foam.
"Just what is going on in here?" Optimus asked as he walked over to Bumblebee and Sam, "This place is a mess."
Bumblebee snickered, and Sam looked up at the Prime with a grin, before a new thought struck him. Smirking, Sam recalled the instructions Bumblebee had given to access his arm cannon and then fire. He then made another huge step into the acceptance of his body and his new place among the Autobots.
He shot Optimus Prime in the face with white foam.
Sam and Bumblebee hid behind a hangar wall. After Sam's little move, it had turned into an all-out war. Ratchet remained on their side, though they usually left him behind since Ironhide was gunning for the medic. Optimus was out for either Bumblebee or Sam, but was much more interested in Sam after his little stunt.
"You just couldn't hold yourself back any longer." Bumblebee started, surprising Sam as he peered around the wall with him.
Sam shot Bumblebee a look, worried their hiding place would be given away.
Bumblebee continued, undeterred. "You just had to shoot your white stuff in Optimus' face."
That made it click, his still completely human thinking easily caught on to what Bumblebee was teasing him about. He then became extremely amused, and slightly embarrassed. If he had still been human he probably would have ended up blushing.
"Bee!" He hissed at his Guardian, "Keep it up and you're next."
"Checked my phone and I saw you rang, and I jizzed in my pants."
Sam snorted, before spraying Bumblebee. It wasn't always a good thing to have a Guardian who got a kick out of teasing you. The young Scout said and did nothing in retaliation, he was laughing too hard.
Miles had sent Mikaela away on the promise that he would talk to Sam, or at least Bumblebee, to see if she could come. Judy and Ron knew a bit more about their son's condition, but not the whole entire thing. His parents now knew a lot more, though only what Will had directed Miles to tell them. So they were still in the dark about giant alien robots, but reassured of their son's safety. And now Miles was standing in the middle of the base, looking around the area in shock.
When Will had come to pick him up he had certainly seemed amused, though he hadn't thought anything of it. Not long after they had arrived, Will had ditched him, running for the safety of the soldier barracks. Miles could now see why Will had opted to hide, and why the soldier had been so amused.
The area had splatters of some kind of bright pink, neon green, yellow, orange, and white foam. Particular areas had more than others, like the Medbay, and the main hangar. It looked like some strange kind of war zone, and that threw Miles for a loop.
"Miles!"
He looked up when he heard his name called, seeing Sam grinning at him. Bumblebee waved from beside his best friend, and it looked like the two were attempting to hide behind a corner, though they were failing at it. Sam gestured for Miles to come to them. Ironhide growled from his hiding spot, though the mech remained hidden.
"Frag that!" Ironhide growled, "He's with us! You have the Hatchet on your side!"
"He's my friend!" Sam fought back, raising his cannon to where he heard Ironhide, and could just see the Weapons Specialist's helm.
Miles blinked, taking a moment to realize what was going on, before grinning.
"I've turned rogue, Sammie."
The next thing he knew, he was running from two separate jets of white and yellow foam aimed straight at him. He went to where he could see Ironhide's helm, nearly running straight into a crouching Optimus' faceplates.
In the end, a truce was called. Miles was the first to receive a kill shot, and then Ironhide had been taken out by Ratchet. Optimus took out Sam and Bumblebee, and then he and Ratchet had gone at it for a while. The Prime was fast and agile from the battlefield, but Ratchet did twin chasing, patient chasing, and a number of other things that made him more than enough to be the Prime's equal in a foam war.
They called it off when night fell for a number of reasons. They had, by then, run out of all the foam Bumblebee had. When Ratchet and Optimus went to the others, they saw that Sam had worn himself out and was in recharge, leaning against Guardian as Bumblebee kept an arm wrapped around him. Miles was nodding off on his friend's shoulder, and Ironhide had gone to get Energon, and a bit of food, for them all.
When Ironhide returned, Miles and Sam were woken up, and Bumblebee went to take Miles to bed. But first they had to make a detour, Miles instructing Bumblebee to take him back to where he'd been dropped off.
"Why, exactly, did you get this?" Bumblebee asked, carrying Miles in one hand, and a boom box in another.
"Mikaela dragged me to a yard sale to carry crap for her, punishment for not telling her about Sam in the first place, and suggested I get it. You can use it as an alarm to wake him up."
Bumblebee snorted, "We can try."
"Where do you want it?" Miles asked, grinning.
"You can have it in your room. I might see if Ratchet will make a few modifications first."
Miles nodded eagerly, though felt a little nonplussed. He had seen the boom box and had just gotten this overpowering urge to buy it, and he didn't really have a reason as to why.
It was happy. It was happy because its kind was happy, and because the boy had brought something back with him. Something large enough, but also small enough, that it could use. And once it had its body, it could get to work on bringing its kind together once more.
