Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers
Time remaining: 11 months, 1 week
Over the next few weeks, Bumblebee began to notice a dull ache radiating over his entire body, and the pain only increased over time. This, coupled with quite a few sleepless nights, concerned him, so he went to Ratchet. Ironhide had been repaired and released from the Medbay (much to Ratchet's relief; the weapons specialist hated being cooped up), so Ratchet didn't have any other patients to attend to.
After performing a full scan, Ratchet eyed Bumblebee, "Well, I can't seem to find anything wrong in your systems, which limits the amount of things that could be bothering you."
He began rifling through medical datapads, "Tell me, what is it that's keeping you up at night? Anything specific?"
Bee flushed, "Well…just thinking about…someone."
"Ah," Ratchet caught his meaning immediately, "I won't ask who." He flipped through one datapad until he found what he was looking for and showed it to Bumblebee, "I think this is what you might have." The page showed the silhouettes of a mech and a femme holding servos. The text below was filled with confusing medical terms in Cybertronian.
"It's called Sparkmate's Disease," Ratchet explained. "Basically what happens is you meet your sparkmate, and your spark immediately begins attempting to bond with them, wearing out your systems inexplicably. This is normal and I'm afraid the only way to remove the symptoms is to eventually bond with them. Whoever they are, they will be experiencing the same symptoms."
"What happens…if you…don't…bond?"
"Why wouldn't you want to bond with your sparkmate?" Ratchet frowned. "Being bonded is amazing."
Bumblebee looked confused, "Have you….been...bonded?"
"I have," the medic looked strangely sad for a moment and Bumblebee decided not press the matter further.
"Just say...I didn't...want to."
"Well," Ratchet considered, "I don't believe I've ever met a bot who didn't want to bond with their sparkmate. Theoretically, what should happen is your sparks will keep attempting to bond until it wears out your sparks completely and you both offline."
"What?!..." Bumblebee's radio yelled and his optics widened. "How long...does that…take?!"
"About one Earth year," Ratchet stated and Bumblebee groaned, burying his faceplates in his servos. "What?" Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "All you have to do is bond with them; how hard is that?"
"We both…hate each other! In fact…she told me…if she ever…saw me…again…she would…offline me!"
"Oh sweet Primus," Ratchet sighed. "It's not that Decepticon femme, is it?"
Bee nodded glumly, "If I…talk to her…I'm dead…If I don't…talk to her…I'm dead…either way…I'm dead."
"I'm not sure what advice to give, Bumblebee," Ratchet sighed. "As a medic, I would tell you to try to bond with her as soon as possible, before your condition worsens, but as an Autobot the idea is….undesirable. Maybe you should ask Optimus."
Bee shook his helm furiously at this and Ratchet asked, "Why not?"
"Are you…fraggin'...kidding me?" Bee threw his servos in the air. "Can you…even imagine…how…disappointed…he'll be with me…for being…the sparkmate…of a 'Con? He'll….never…forgive me."
"It's not exactly your fault," Ratchet pointed out.
Bee shook his helm again, "Don't…tell him…yet…Ratchet…Let me… figure it out…first."
"Fine."
On his way out, Bumblebee paused and turned, "Ratchet?"
"Hmmm?" the distracted medic replied.
"What…happened to her? The…femme you were…bonded with?"
Ratchet sighed, "She was offlined."
"I'm sorry…Ratchet," Bee studied the medic sadly. "By…who?"
"Megatron."
Bee's servos curled at the name of the bot that had ripped out his voice, and had caused so much pain.
"We'll…get him…someday," Bee vowed.
Ratchet laughed bitterly, "Let me know when that happens."
He watched Bumblebee walk out of the Medbay worriedly. That mech is in for the ride of his cycle, Ratchet thought to himself, shaking his helm.
Bee decided that he had to talk to Magnia; he didn't care if she tried to offline him, he was already dead anyways. His only problem was how to get her attention.
Once he left the base, the 'Cons could track his energon signature, and would probably send a team to investigate. He couldn't guarantee she would be on the team, but maybe he could leave a message she would eventually see.
He drove away from the base until he was far out into the desert. Quickly, he transformed to his full height and began carving his message into the sand with his blasters.
By the time Starscream and Soundwave arrived, Bumblebee was long gone, and only the cryptic message remained. Soundwave recorded a visual of the message while Starscream stared at it, puzzled.
"Well, what does that mean?" Starscream growled, frustrated. The pair stared at the message for a few more moments, attempting to decode it, before returning to the Decepticon warship.
Starscream entered the cockpit where Megatron and Magnia were stationed, with Soundwave trailing behind. Magnia was waiting for Soundwave to begin her navigational training in helping him pilot the ship.
"Lord Megatron," Starscream approached. "We located the Autobot, Bumblebee, outside of the Autobot base."
Magnia's servos froze on the keyboard at the mention of his name, and she listened to the conversation curiously.
"And?" Megatron asked, bored.
"Unfortunately, he was already gone by the time we arrived. However," Starscream continued, "Soundwave has an image of a cryptic message the scout carved into the sand before he left. We believe it may be a message to another group of Autobots."
The message flashed on Soundwave's visor and Megatron read it out loud, "Mags 173815.25E? What does it mean?"
Magnia's spark sank and she sighed. The message was for her. "Mags" was the nickname Bee had given her when they were sparklings. "173815.25E" was scrambled coordinates. He wanted to meet.
Her servos curled, as Starscream and Megatron debated over what it could mean. That stupid mech! He was going to get himself offlined if he wasn't careful.
Quickly, Magnia excused herself to Soundwave, claiming system fatigue, and hurried away. Technically it was true; he body had been increasingly sore as of late, although her systems hadn't detected any malfunctions. She would have gone to Knockout about it, if it weren't for the fact that he was a much better cosmetologist than an actual medic .
Magnia exited the ship in her alt mode, a black M-22 jet with gold stripes, and flew quickly towards the coordinates Bee had given. She hoped this would be quick and she could be back before it was noticed she was missing.