"Optimus and the others seemed to have run into a little trouble," informed Jazz as the duo skated down the abandon and destroyed streets of the city.

Not too long ago had Jazz finally given Bumblebee his human back, and Sam looked slightly shaken up from his guardian getting hurt like that and simply getting up and shaking it off like it was nothing. Everything around them seemed to echo destruction, bodies on the ground abandon. Gun shots rained farther away, however the sounds could be heard from far out of town, it seemed. No life was liable to show up anywhere; everyone and everything seemed as dead as a doorknob, as the humans would say. Bumblebee felt his spark pang; stupid Decepticons, always ruining everything!

"Opt' said they had a run in with Megatron," Jazz continued as they rounded a corner into yet another destructed street. Sam seemed to cling on to his guardian a little more as he looked around at the quickly passing destruction around them. "Prowl was right; 'ere was 'n ambush waiting for 'im. I heard Optimus took a good shot, too."

Instantly Bumblebee's spark stopped beating when he heard that line sputter out of Jazz's mouth; Optimus got hurt? What happened? Why? Questions spiraled in his head, however he didn't need to ask them; mixed with his own facial expression, cast with worry, Sam spoke up.

"Well is he alright? Is he hurt badly? What happened?" the human asked, the tone acknowledged as worried in his voice. One that would have matched 'Bee's and so much more if he could have spoken.

"Now don't 'chu worry," Jazz responded calmly; with a tone that seemed to calm Sam, however still left Bumblebee in a panic attack that he was trying desperately to hold back. "Ol' Rach' fixed 'im. He didn't take that much damage; you'll 'ave t' thank 'Raj for the pre-warning that he caught just in time."

At that Bumblebee mentally sighed and relaxed; Mirage was always good at that, seeing things before they happened. Or rather, knowing what was going to happen before it did so. He was a spy, for crying out loud. Wasn't he supposed to do that sort of stuff? Well, he hadn't been sent on any missions lately, but still. He had to give the spy credit. Or ninja, as Skidz and Mudflap enjoyed calling him. What was with the term Ninja, again? It seemed quite popular with those two…

"Careful," came Jazz's warning as he began to slow down as they reached the next bend; the sounds of gun fire and shouting growing louder than it should have been. "We're headin' int' the heart o' battle, so watch yer back." Jazz looked as if he were ready to dash forward, Bumblebee holding Sam close so he could follow, before turning and pointing an index finger towards his smaller companion. "An' don' get knocked out this time, 'kay, bro?" came the order, however was followed with a sly grin.

Bumblebee smiled - if he could have - as he gave a mock salute and a nod. Jazz smiled and nodded back before dashing out onto the battle field, shouting things incoherent to the younger bot. Watching after him for a moment, Bumblebee finally looked down at the human he was carrying; who was starting blankly out onto the battle field. No matter how many fights he would be in, no matter how many wars he helped win, it seemed that Sam would never get used to all of the violence and killing that happened around him. 'Bee almost felt sad for the youngling, however knew that it was the same case for him; having been with the Autobots since he could remember, the tides of war still scarred him for life.

Taking in what would be counted as an inhale of breath, Bumblebee braved up and dashed forward; being instantly engulfed by the smoke from guns and explosions. Everything around him was foggy and he could barely see as he dashed from behind one little wall to another, eyes dashing for Will and crew so he could set Sam down and fight without him getting hurt. As he ducked behind another fallen piece of building, an Autobot went flying past him and into a wall, making him flinch and hold back from upchucking, as humans would say.

"Take this, mother fuckers!" shouted a familiar voice, and both Bumblebee and Sam almost wanted to laugh at how out of place it was; while most were shouting orders and asking for more things such as ammo, Epps must have thought it would be better to shout out a come back of some sort.

And it didn't take long to find him either; most of the humans were grouped up into three squads, Epps' being the closest. Sam pointed out in a loud voice as they approached that he seemed to be having a little too much fun kicking Deception aft, even though he didn't seem to be hitting anything. Bumblebee nodded in agreement as he chuckled as best he could. Slinking behind the current low wall the soldiers were using for protection, most moved out of the way of the Transformer as others simply ignored the fact that the scout was trying to slip in in the first place; they knew they wouldn't get stepped on in the first place. After Bumblebee sat Sam down gently, the boy jogged over to Epps.

"How good we doing?" Sam had to yell over the sounds of shouting, gun fire, and explosions going on around them. Epps, having turned around and getting ammo into his gun, shook his head.

"Not too bad, but not too good, either," he responded as he finished, throwing the box the bullets came in onto the ground; not like it was going to matter anyway. "If the Seekers weren't giving us such a god damned beating, we'd actually be doin' some good. Plus, ol' Megsy keeps appearing and disappearing, so it's not working out too well."

Sam was about to respond when Epps suddenly shoved him the gun he was holding, grabbing another from one of the men next to him when it was offered. Sam opened his mouth to protest, most likely because he couldn't really shoot a gun and because he wasn't an official military person, nor did he had a gun carrying license, meaning that he couldn't legally carry a gun in the first place, however, knowing that he was in safe hands, Bumblebee didn't stay long to heard Sam's reasons.

The scout snuck away quickly, hoping to feel useful and perhaps see if Optimus was alright. He knew that the Autobot leader was alright, he knew he was; but something told him to find him anyway, call it a gut feeling. Not like anyone would protest; if you were in the way, most expected you either start helping out or get out of the way. Ducking and weaving, and occasionally firing a bullet or more - of which most likely hit nowhere - he slunk away, hiding as best he could so he wouldn't be shot at, even though bullets with no aim or ricocheting bullets often flew past him.

"I need more ammo!" came Ironhide's gruff voice as Bumblebee scattered behind another wall for protection, another explosion sounding nearby as ground exploded. "Can't a mech get a little help around here?"

Feeling more comfort than most in the gruff weapons specialist's voice at the moment, the young mech ducked and covered, making his way towards where he heard his guardian's voice; and sure enough, Ironhide was the front liner, anything in his path exploding due to his cannons and few guns he actually carried. Bumblebee remembered when he was younger, and still had to share a bed and room with the larger mech; often would he use the powerful canons, of which most mechs were afraid of, a pillow. Bumblebee had to hold back a laugh at the thought, slinking in beside his guardian and Prowl as well.

"Well I was startin' to wonder who killed ya, kid," he heard Ironhide joke above him as another loud and large blast erupted from his cannons, leaving hot, smoldering, lava-like Engergon practically leaking from them.

Trailbreaker was nearby, shouting orders to the other mechs that had merged with their team. Bumblebee wondered when the other Autobots had began meeting up in one direct spot, and then wondered where the others could have been; he remembered Ratchet being grouped with Trailbreaker, and, betting that the medic was somewhere on the battle field with Mikalea, peeked his head over slowly to asses where he could have been.

"Hey, kid," again came Ironhide's voice, making look up from where he was peeking over the small wall at the battle raging, "think we could get'cha t' do somethin'?" Bumblebee nodded. "Follow me," Ironhide said, the words coming out less than an order than they should have been.

Bumblebee followed as Ironhide ducked behind a low-hanging wall - looking to have fallen from a high building and then haven been caught on something - and blasting away a few enemies along the way; 'Bee's mask appearing over his face as his guns appeared again on his arms in defense. Looking around, 'Bee realized that he wanted just to hurl; so many dead bodies, it seemed, and so many comrades within them. Why couldn't the Decepticons just give up? There was nothing more they wanted on this planet, was there? In all honesty, he was expecting the Decepticons to make a treaty of some sort the first time, when Megatron had been killed, however that was just a simple hope lost.

Looking around, Bumblebee realized that he had no idea as to where they were going; ducking behind buildings, 'Hide still firing shots at enemies that dared try to come near them, 'Bee guessing that it was the protective instinct in him. And Bumblebee made sure to direct fire as well; often he wouldn't see a Decepticon coming, therefore had to be unnaturally ready for anything. Well, almost anything.

"Hey, Optimus," sounded 'Hide as they got to a rather well hid area, however one could still see the battle outside, and few could actually see those in cover.

It was more of a large building than anything; with small rays of light shining in, which was enough for Ratchet, it seemed; a few injured bots had been drug in here, Ratchet fixing them one by one with Mikalea's help. The girl honestly seemed a mess; her hair frizzled up, covered slightly in Energon and grease. Neither seemed to acknowledge the two newcomers when Ironhide boomed for the Autobot leader; however Mikalea turned for a second before looking back and her current patient.

Optimus was leaning over an injured bot, however was one of the few that Mikalea and Ratchet had fixed up; Optimus must have been talking to him before Ironhide and Bumblebee walked in, and turned around before Ironhide had even said anything. His mask was on, hiding his face; however his eyes showed that of sorrow for the other bots. He was slightly covered in Engergon as well; however more dust and grease than anything, showing that he was alright. A relief for Bumblebee, however the black and yellow Camero tried not to show it.

"Remember that problem you had earlier?" Ironhide continued as Optimus stepped forward so they could have a more private conversation. Bumblebee, for a moment, paused; trying to hold back the heat that seemed to be coming to his checks; after a moment he managed to calm down, telling him self that he needed to pay attention more towards the battle and less towards Optimus.

"Yes," their leader nodded; giving a small look towards the scout that Ironhide didn't seem to notice yet Bumblebee looked down slightly when he did so before looking back towards the weapons specialist with a confused look. "Why?" he asked quizzically. "You have an idea?"

A smile crossed Ironhide's lips, one that both of the other mechs, as well as one watching the conversation, did not like. It was a habit that Ironhide's plans never ended or began well, and it was true that while he meant well, Optimus never really liked using his old friend's plans to begin with. He often tried to put him down nicely, saying that they could find another way other than his, however the mech was too stubborn and hard headed.

"Why yes," he replied simply, shifting as he finally retracted his cannons, "yes I do."

XXX

Don't cha just LOVE cliff hangers? Read on to the next chapter to see what Ironhide's plan is. I plan on making it devious. XD

Muse:

The Only Hope For Me Is You - My Chemical Romance

Waiting For The End - Linkin Park